Old Chicago - Bolingbrook, Illinois

The mall section had a very closed in feeling. It really was like you were walking down a small street that was lined with shops so you got used to being closed in. With that in mind when you reached the Fairgrounds and it's massive indoor space it was more than a wow. It left you breathless.

It was hard walking down those ramps. Not because they were steep or slippery because I just wanted to run. Old Chicago was to me at that time the worlds biggest playground and I wanted to go play.

We visited Old Chicago often. We didn't always visit the park but whenever I could I walked up to it's entrance and gazed out upon this wonderland.

The Chicago Cat was my first rollercoaster and it seemed to me like the cars could fall off the track as we zipped around it's turns. The Chicago Loop was more than a little bit impressive to watch. I used to sit right under it's corkscrews and watch it go overhead. It seemed like it went so high it almost touched the roof and what I remember of the time that I rode it was looking up as we went through the corkscrew and seeing Old Chicago's floor above me.

The Four Seasons ride was one of my favorites. I have real vague memories of what it's actual story line was. It took you thorough the four seasons of the year and my memories are of the winter section where it was suddenly cold and there was an ice covered pond and snow everywhere.

There were a few shows at Old Chicago but the Circus was the most memorable one for me. The circus was nice but what I remember most about it was that the Chicago Loop wrapped around the back of the bleachers. I always sat up at the back and always waited for the next time the coaster to speed by every couple of minutes.

When Old Chicago opened the Fun Factory play area we visited the park quite a bit more as you could pay to just enter that area and it was quite a bit less expensive than a trip into the Fairgrounds as a whole. You could run, crawl and climb all over the whole thing as it was a massive playground. I loved the big punching bags that you could run through and bash into each other with.

Once in a while my Mom would take my sister and me to Old Chicago on a week day when the park was empty. She'd pay for the two of us to get in and then take a seat near the entrance and just let us go play. We'd go hit the Fun Factory and the Four Seasons but often we'd go and marathon on the Old Chicago Log Race.