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The
Hernando's Hideaway section of the park opened in 1979 as part of an
expansion which included the park's first wooden roller coaster, Rolling
Thunder.
The section was given a southwestern theme,
with red barrel tile roofs, adobe style buildings and bright colors.
Included in the section was a small games
area, a shop (later becoming a shooting gallery) and the La Cantina
Restaurant which served Mexican food.
In 1983 the Tilt-A-Whirl ride was moved to
the section along the edge of the lake, and later the the Swabinchin ride
was moved to the site and with the addition of a large fiberglass hat,
became El Sombrero. The same site became home to the Tweety
Roundup Carousel for the 2005 season.
In 1986, the section was expanded for the
addition of the Ultra Twister ride, and a
bridge connecting to the Western section was added, solving the problem of
two dead ends. The area in front of the Ultra Twister
included a remote control boats pond. When Ultra Twister
was removed in 1990, the site sat vacant for some time, with plans at one
point to relocate half of the Lightnin' Loops to the area. The
plan never panned out, and instead the Viper
was built on the Ultra Twister plot, where it ran until 2004 and was
removed in 2005.
In 1999 the Rodeo Stampede ride was added
to part of the Viper queue where it ran until August of 2005.
Hernando's Hideaway was integrated with the
Western section on the other side of the lake to become part of Frontier
Adventures during the 1990's.
September 4th 2005 was the final day for
the Hernando's Hideaway area, which was closed off in preparation to
become Plaza del Carnaval for the 2006
season.
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| Overview of the area in
the mid 1990's. The central fountain was added during the
Warner ownership of the park |
As part of the
improvements to the theme, the buildings were repainted in brighter colors
and a Looney Tunes mural was added |
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| A set of portable games
was added in the middle of the games in 2003 |
October 21st 2005 view of
the section as remodeling begins |
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| Looking into the area with
Kingda Ka looming in the background |
October 28th 2005 view as
the pavement is being removed |
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| View from the Skyride in
2005 |
The shooting gallery |
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| Looking toward the lake in
2005, with Tweety Roundup and Taz Twister |
Taz Twister |
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| The original
paint scheme (1988) |
Original paint
(1989) |
Looking from
Rolling Thunder towards Bugs Bunny Land (1989) |
View form the
Skyride with the vacant ride spot (formerly the home of Tilt-A-Whirl) and
the overgrown topiary (1990) |
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| The updated
paint job (1993) |
Updated
paint. Note the matching pergolas on each side one of which
was removed later (1996) |
The original
Los Sombreros hat shop (1993) |
View from the
Rolling Thunder Station. Note the colorful banners above the
street (1994) |
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What
a difference fresh paint and the right details make!
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| The games area
before it became a pool hall (2001) |
(2001) |
(1997) |
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| The newly
relocated Rotor becomes Taz Twister (1996) |
A re-themed
Del Rio Waffle Cone better fits the area (1995) |
The original
fountain, now located in Looney Tunes Seaport (1995) |
The snack
stand remodeled for the arrival of Viper (1995) |
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| Casa De Taco
(1992) |
The original
look of the Waffle Cone stand (1992) |
The fountain
in 2005 |
Overview of
the entrance (1995) |
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| Views of the
overall area from September 4th 2005, the final day for Hernando's
Hideaway |
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| Views of the
overall area from September 4th 2005, the final day for Hernando's
Hideaway |
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| More 2005
views of Hernando's Hideaway |
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