Disastro Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 Anyone miss Aquarena Springs in San Marcos? I hope people contribute to this thread and discuss their memories of the place. I have some pictures I can put up later...Dis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheeats Posted July 29, 2008 Share Posted July 29, 2008 Yes. Some very good pictures of the hotel, the rides, etc. can be found here: http://gallery.lonestarthrills.com/v/Aquarena-Springs/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disastro Posted July 29, 2008 Author Share Posted July 29, 2008 Yes. Some very good pictures of the hotel, the rides, etc. can be found here: http://gallery.lonestarthrills.com/v/Aquarena-Springs/ That's a great site, She! All kinds of good archival stuff there. I've got some recent (post theme park) and pics taken in the early 90s (park still open) pictures I hope to put up later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJones Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 Funny you should ask this as I happened to drive by there today on my way to Sea World witht he family. I was telling my wife how I wish they still had the Mermaid Show and the swimming pig. I think you can still do the glass bottom boats.I believe I have posted this in another thread, but here is a nice link.http://www.texasescapes.com/FEATURES/Splas...ena_springs.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heights2Bastrop Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 We were talking about Aquarena Springs just last weekend at a nature outing here in Bastrop. My GF is doing a dig on 304 at Cedar Creek, an Indian encampment dating back some 5000 years. A woman in that group was at the outing, and she was saying that there is an archeological Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarrisCountyEx Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 I was in San Marcos at Texas State over the weekend. Here's a site about the research at the springs:http://www.aquarena.txstate.edu/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan the Man Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 Ironically, I was thinking about Aquarena Springs yesterday. I remember going there in the 1980s, and seeing the mermaid show and swimming pig. However, my favorite attractions were the gondola ride and the candle-making shop. The glass bottom boats were pretty cool too. Texas Highways magazine did a feature article on it in the 1980s. I'll bet it has some great photos in it.We went back around 1997 or 1998, but it was really disappointing. Most of the attractions had been shut down, and the place was starting to fall into disrepair. I guess Sea World & Schlitterbahn stole some of its thunder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasVines Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 I have snuck in a dove in Aguarena Springs before and it is sweetI feel it is in better hands now.....the mermaids and swimming pig as fun as they were would never hold the attention of todays youth and Aguarena Springs is in much better hands and can do much more for Texas being a part of Texas State and being preserved and researched as the great natural environment it is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disastro Posted July 30, 2008 Author Share Posted July 30, 2008 I have snuck in a dove in Aguarena Springs before and it is sweetI feel it is in better hands now.....the mermaids and swimming pig as fun as they were would never hold the attention of todays youth and Aguarena Springs is in much better hands and can do much more for Texas being a part of Texas State and being preserved and researched as the great natural environment it isI agree...but it would have been nice to have kept the rides going too. The glass-bottom boats are cool though.However, I understand the economics involved with trying to keep a park open with low attendance...It's a shame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheeats Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 What about the diving clowns? They were so wonderfully creepy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disastro Posted July 30, 2008 Author Share Posted July 30, 2008 What about the diving clowns? They were so wonderfully creepy! Nothing creepier than a weird-ass clown! Be afraid...be very afraid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheeats Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 Seriously. The stuff of my nightmares. Dark water + clowns = terrifying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
citykid09 Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 I never heard of this place, I thought this was about Wonder World.http://www.wonderworldpark.com/html/index.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heights2Bastrop Posted July 30, 2008 Share Posted July 30, 2008 I heard they were going to reopen the underwater show. Some company out of Houston will open a branch in San Marcos at the Springs. I think the company is Gold Cup.What Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disastro Posted July 30, 2008 Author Share Posted July 30, 2008 I heard they were going to reopen the underwater show. Some company out of Houston will open a branch in San Marcos at the Springs. I think the company is Gold Cup.What's with that? Hey THAT would...not...be scary! LOL!!! I never heard of this place, I thought this was about Wonder World.http://www.wonderworldpark.com/html/index.html I've been there...it made me "wonder" why I went... Nah, it was ok...something to do on a nice day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WillowBend56 Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 I was there two weeks ago during spring break. It had been 30+ years since I was last there.The glass-bottom boat tours continue. Still a nice attraction.Everything else that was kitsch will remain closed down. Thank goodness!The University managing the springs is not going to let the silly amusement park trappings re-open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plumber2 Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 I'm drinking coffee out of my Aquarena Springs souvenir coffee cup at this very moment. BTW, it's Seaport Coffee, dark roast. Yummy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cottonmather0 Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 I spent my 4th grade year in San Marcos growing up while my mom was getting her paralegal certificate at SWT- errrr, I mean, "Texas State." I attended Travis Elementary which was literally next door to Aquarena Springs on the other side of the golf course and just over the hill. This was almost 30 years ago, and the park was still going strong then. We would ride the school bus past the SWT football stadium (which seemed big to me), cross next to the golf course, and then to school. The golf course was always crowded and I remember the space needle tower ride thingee rising about the playground every day during recess. San Marcos was (and I guess still is) quite the party town then. I didn't really appreciate it being so young, but there was lots to do and it was a very happening place even for a 10 year old. I can imagine how great it would have been for college kids. I do remember lots of frats and frat houses, for sure.It was also very pretty with all of the rivers and the hill country and whatnot. I remember swimming and tubing in the river and eating at the restaurant built over the old dam at the head of the lake - it was called "Peppers on the Falls" back then. I seem to remember the last time I drove through San Marcos the restaurant was closed, just like Aquarena Springs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fringe Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 I have a lot of great memories of that place from when I attended SWT in 69 and 70. Last time I was there was the mid 80's. It was starting to go down hill even then. From those photos it looks that the old hotel has deteriorated to a point that it needs to come down (if they haven't already done so). It's a shame. A lot of history there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 I went there yesterday. The gondola station and wires remain, but it no longer runs.The hotel stands as a nature center.The glass bottomed boats are nice.But the amphitheatre is completely closed. The ramp (it looks freakishly narrow) is overgrown and the actual theatre had the glass cracked in 1998 and it filled with water. It would be nice to pump out the water and remodel it, but that won't happen anytime soon. Photos coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmac Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Took more than a few dates to eat there during my years at SWT, and played a whole lot of bad golf. It was a fun place to spend an afternoon or evening, with Ralph, chicken-tac-toe, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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