Our Rides and Attractions

Where are they now?

Forgotten Miracle Strip rides now relocated

The Miracle Strip Amusement Park was founded in Panama City Beach in Florida in 1963. The main attraction of the park was its phenomenal rides. However, the park got closed in 2003 and its rides were relocated to other themes park. Later on, a new Miracle Strip at Pier Park was launched in 2009 in Panama City in Florida. The Pier Park attempted to re-launch some of the famous rides of the old Miracle Strip Amusement Park, but eventually, Pier Park was also shut down completely by the end of 2015. At present, some of the popular rides of the old Miracle Strip Amusement Park are alive and well, all the while having been placed in some other Amusement Parks. You won’t believe where they’ve ended up!

The rides expressedly, which were relocated, include the Big Eli Ferris Wheel, the Bullet, the Haunted Castle, the Musik Express, the O2 Tower, the Paratrooper, and the Shockwave. The Abominable Snowman ride (which was an Eli Bridge Scrambler) was not the original ride but one that was from the same year that was purchased exclusively for the Miracle Strip at Pier Park, but as that park was shut down, there is no information available about the presence of that ride now. Many of these rides were sold-off to: a company that sells new and used amusement park rides.

On the other hand, the big ticket item: the Starliner that was the most popular ride in the Miracle Strip Amusement Park is being expected to be launched again. The former owners of the Miracle Strip parks are making an effort to re-launch this ride at a suitable location. It was tracked down in 2010 from avid roller coaster fan: Johnny Upsidedown

As far as the other aforementioned rides are concerned, they have been relocated to different attractions and resorts you might never expect them to end up. Furthermore, they all are still functional at the places where they have been moved, with one exception. The ride named the ‘Bullet’ has found it’s resting place in Oregon as an old storage item. It not functional but perhaps one day it will be restored and operational one day. Among the aforementioned Miracle Strip rides, the Big Eli Ferris Wheel is now placed at the Winnepesaukah Lake that is located in Rossville city in Georgia, not to be confused with Rossville town in Indiana. In an ironic twist, two other rides including: The Bumble Bees and The Free Whale that were also sold in 2005- went to live on at Winnepesaukah Lake.

On the other hand, the 85 foot high O2 Tower ride, that was the latest ride at Pier Park and was installed at a cost of around two million dollars, is now placed at the Dixie Landing Amusement Park that is located in Baton Rouge city in Louisiana. Similarly, another popular ride ‘The Paratrooper’ is now placed at the: Fun Spot, that is also a complex of some amusement parks located in Orlando, Florida. The Haunted Castle is another ride that was relocated to another fun oriented location. It is now located at "The Terrortorium" that is a Halloween party themed attraction situated in the Oxford city in Alabama. The story of the relocation of this ride is the most exciting among all others. This ride was actually demolished in 2009, but then a group of some individuals bought its parts and assembled them together into the present version that is placed in the Terrortorium. In addition, the Musik Express and the Shockwave are the other two popular rides of the Miracle Strip Amusement Park. The Musik Express is placed at the Cliff's Amusement Park that is located in Albuquerque city in the New Mexico. On the other hand, the Shockwave ride was bought by the Flaherty Family Amusements. Therefore, this ride is functional at the Flaherty Family Amusements Park in New South Wales in Australia.

All in all, not too bad for nostalgic fans who were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of these original rides before the initial closure. If you happen to be in any of these areas where the original rides are currently, we encourage you to check them out for yourself to see how they’ve held up over the years.

Ten best classic rides at Miracle Strip

The Miracle Strip Amusement Park- smack dab in Panama City Beach in Florida was founded in 1963 and remained very popular due to its amusing rides. In 2003, the park was closed by its owner and the land was sold for constructing a proposed residential site. Nonetheless, the park had been an attraction to people for over forty years. Some of the best classic rides at the Miracle Strip Amusement Park were easily pretty obvious to those who already loved riding them every season prior to it closing.

These rides include: “The Starliner Roller Coaster”, “the Abominable Snowman”, “the Train”, “the Dante’s Inferno”, “the Dungeon”, “The Haunted Castle”, “the O2 Tower”, “the Big Eli Ferris Wheel”, “the Sea Dragon”, and “the Musik Express”. These rides can also be considered on the official list of the top 10 best attractions from the Miracle Strip Amusement Park. Now- due to the thrill element associated with these rides, each was also considered a real treat to ride on in their own right. All of these rides additionally provided a source of personal enjoyment for anyone who visited the park. Without question, the Starliner Roller Coaster was particularly the most popular ride among all of them and was in fact -the main attraction in the park! It used to reach the peak of 70 feet at the very top of the main drop and had an initial dive of 65 feet. A real thrill for those who are roller coaster enthusiasts who traveled across the country to experience the Starliner. Moreover, it also passed through a dragon-shaped tunnel, which always excited the riders.

In addition, the other rides also had thrilling features. For instance, Dante’s Inferno, the Abominable Snowman, and the Dungeon rides had several artificial effects such as the sudden changes in temperature, smoke, and lighting, etc. These rides were housed inside special dome structures that were much more controlled in the heat and humidity of Florida. Special rides for kids were also available in the park too. For instance, the Musik Express was a ride that was specially made for younger kids. It was an easy ride as compared to the others. For the sake of the safety of kids, it was only run in a forwards direction, despite a backward running feature that was also available. Another easy ride was “the Train” that was just a diesel engine powered multi-passenger train, but the highlight was passing through dungeons and tunnels snaking around the park in its own special way.

Minor attractions that were always popular included the Sea Dragon that was another ride that was in the shape of a Viking boat that used to swing forward and backward. The Haunted Castle ride was also one of the most exciting dark rides in the park. It entailed passing through a haunted castle shaped house that had dead trees, dummies, spiders, and a maze inside. As if most people wouldn’t know about this gem, the Big Eli Ferris Wheel was another superb attraction that was liked by many people. It had neon light effects all over it, which made it a beautiful spectacle! Apart from these rides, the O2 Tower was the latest addition installed in 2002 at a cost of around two million dollars. It used to rocket up a dozen riders for a couple of seconds to the top from where the riders could see the exceptional view of the whole beach. Then, the ride used to land down the riders on a soft surface. The whole experience itself would take place very quickly, which is why riders would cue-up in lines right after the ride was over to get another thrill once again.

In a nutshell, the Miracle Strip Amusement Park in the Panama City Beach in Florida had amazing rides that are still fresh in the memory of Amusement park fans and enthusiasts who happened to visit the park before it finally shut its doors forever in 2003.