Americana 1900- The Complete Presentation

[James G.]

(optional atmospheric sounds for Morrison Farm)



​

Morrison Farm, just down the road and across the covered bridge from Maple Grove, was the “breadbasket” of the town. The rich soil and hard work of the Morrison family coaxed a remarkable harvest of wheat, corn, and oats from their farm’s fields, and their herds of cattle, pigs and sheep were a vital source of meat for the tables of Maple Grove. Like Maple Grove, this farm was bypassed by the invading Union Troops, and life on Morrison Farm continued as it had for generations until Americana 1900 welcomed it into its family. Hundreds of acres of fields that are directly adjacent to the Township and that are included in the Farm Tour (to be discussed later) are still farmed in the traditional way- by horsepower and horse-drawn plow, occasionally by one of them new-fangled steam tractors, and by hand. The crops planted are traditional heirloom varieties, and only chemical-free, all-organic fertilizers and insect-control methods are used. The cattle, pigs and sheep are all heritage breeds, the chickens are free-range with no artificial chemicals additives in their feed, and the fruits and vegetables grown and served in the restaurants of Americana 1900 are all raised and harvested using the time-honored traditions of nineteenth-century American farming. The Morrison family even sells seeds for many of their heirloom varieties of grains, flowers, fruits and produce to allow American farmers and families from across the nation to rediscover the natural flavors and innate hardiness of these early, non-GMO varieties of traditional American agricultural bounty.

Grandma Morrison was famous for her good old-fashioned cooking, and snagging an invitation to Sunday dinner at her farmhouse was both a social coup and a culinary delight. She decided to open her home as a restaurant, and it immediately became so popular that crowds of people were willing to wait hours for the chance of enjoying her State Fair-winning pies, cakes and home-style pot roast. Grandpa Morrison decided to cash in on this, and invited a traveling carnival to set up permanently in some of his barns and other outbuildings. Soon Morrison Farm became not only the most popular destination for families in Maple Grove looking for good old-fashioned family dining, but also the location of some of Americana 1900’s most popular family rides and attractions.​

​

America in 1900 was an agricultural nation. 38% of American laborers worked on one of the nearly six million farms that fed over seventy-six million Americans. The Industrial Revolution was just beginning to reach these farms, and it seemed that just as many horses as tractors were seen in the fields, pulling the plows and hauling the wagons carrying the harvest to market.

Morrison Farm is a tribute to the impact that agriculture had on the history of our nation, a tribute that is both educational and entertaining. The buildings housing the rides and attractions that make Morrison Farm such a visually interesting place are constructed using traditional building designs, and in many cases original materials that came from barns and other farm buildings found throughout the nation were used in their construction. These buildings surround a large open plaza, the Barnyard, where several antique John Deere tractors, plows and early threshing machines are sitting on display as if ready to head out into the fields to bring in the harvest. Nearly every farm building is painted in one of the traditional farm colors- red, white or blue.

The main entrance to Morrison Farm is from the west side of Century Plaza, where three roads (Morrison Road, Century Lane West and Green Springs Road) converge and lead guests into the heart of the Barnyard. A small side lane, Bisby Lane, connects Morrison Road past the Critter Corral Petting Zoo to the northeast end of the Barnyard. While walking down Morrison Road towards the farm’s main entrance, with the beautiful vista of Century Plaza on their left, guests might be distracted and not notice the barn on their right, a barn painted a rich navy blue in tribute to the famous “Mail Pouch Tobacco” barns that once stood in thousands of farms across America. However, since Americana 1900 is a tobacco-free park, this barn has painted on its side the phrase, “Eat Morrison Farm Tomatoes- Treat Yourself to the Best” in white across its blue background. At the far end of the barn, directly beside the main entrance to Morrison Farm Township, is a towering silo wrapped in what appears to be scaffolding…or coaster track...but more about that later. We’re about to enter Morrison Farm.​

Layout

​

When entering Morrison Farm from its main entrance, where the three streets converge on the east side of the farm, visitors see the massive Barnyard spread out before them, surrounded by the barns, sheds, chicken coops and farmhouse of a successful farming enterprise. Proceeding clockwise around the Barnyard, the first major attraction seen, occupying most of the left (south) side of the Barnyard, is Hog Jam, a wet ‘n’ wild family water ride. Just past the main barn of Hog Jam (which contains this Township’s restrooms) is Saladworks, a salad bar restaurant. The western end of the barnyard is a sight that almost looks incongruous with the carefully-maintained farm structures of the rest of Morrison Farm. This is Vulture, with its faded, rotting barn and crooked silos that appear to be standing upright simply because they are too dilapidated to bother falling down.

Proceeding down the other side of the barnyard, visitors come across a square wooden shed painted quite differently from the rest of the buildings in Morrison Farm- it’s green. Bright green with yellow trim. John Deere green, appropriate because this building contains Haybaler, a spinner ride sponsored by John Deere. Beside Haybaler is a huge wooden barn painted bright red. Here lives Barn Cat, and beside it, entered from a white chicken coop, is Field Mouse. On the visitor’s right, standing in the center of the barnyard, is a large, open-sided shelter with food stands and picnic tables- the Barnyard Picnic Grounds.

Continuing down the left side of Morrison Farm to the northeast section of the barnyard is the white clapboard two-story farmhouse that is the former home of the Morrison family, now occupied by Grandma Morrison’s Homestead Restaurant. Just past the white picket fence that surrounds the front yard of the home is a farm lane leading to the Morrison Farm Field Tour (an attraction considered to be one of the most important experiences in all of Americana by the park’s Founder, Jack Cahill). The northeast end of the barnyard has the Critter Corral, a petting zoo for all ages, and the blue barn mentioned earlier and seen from Morrison Road, a barn that contains two attractions- The Flying Pigs (a suspended indoor-outdoor coaster) and Funnel Cloud, a rotor-style ride inside a tornado.​

 

[D Hulk]

Morrison Farm's backstory feels like an homage to Knott's Berry Farm. Much appreciated!

 

[Chaos Cat]

Proceeding down the other side of the barnyard, visitors come across a square wooden shed painted quite differently from the rest of the buildings in Morrison Farm- it’s green. Bright green with yellow trim. John Deere green, appropriate because this building contains Haybaler, a spinner ride sponsored by John Deere.​

Did someone say John Deere?

(I will make this guy a meme, even if it kills me.)

 

[James G.]

(optional atmospheric sounds for Morrison Farm)



​

Morrison Farm, just down the road and across the covered bridge from Maple Grove, was the “breadbasket” of the town. The rich soil and hard work of the Morrison family coaxed a remarkable harvest of wheat, corn, and oats from their farm’s fields, and their herds of cattle, pigs and sheep were a vital source of meat for the tables of Maple Grove. Like Maple Grove, this farm was bypassed by the invading Union Troops, and life on Morrison Farm continued as it had for generations until Americana 1900 welcomed it into its family. Hundreds of acres of fields that are directly adjacent to the Township and that are included in the Farm Tour (to be discussed later) are still farmed in the traditional way- by horsepower and horse-drawn plow, occasionally by one of them new-fangled steam tractors, and by hand. The crops planted are traditional heirloom varieties, and only chemical-free, all-organic fertilizers and insect-control methods are used. The cattle, pigs and sheep are all heritage breeds, the chickens are free-range with no artificial chemicals additives in their feed, and the fruits and vegetables grown and served in the restaurants of Americana 1900 are all raised and harvested using the time-honored traditions of nineteenth-century American farming. The Morrison family even sells seeds for many of their heirloom varieties of grains, flowers, fruits and produce to allow American farmers and families from across the nation to rediscover the natural flavors and innate hardiness of these early, non-GMO varieties of traditional American agricultural bounty.

Grandma Morrison was famous for her good old-fashioned cooking, and snagging an invitation to Sunday dinner at her farmhouse was both a social coup and a culinary delight. She decided to open her home as a restaurant, and it immediately became so popular that crowds of people were willing to wait hours for the chance of enjoying her State Fair-winning pies, cakes and home-style pot roast. Grandpa Morrison decided to cash in on this, and invited a traveling carnival to set up permanently in some of his barns and other outbuildings. Soon Morrison Farm became not only the most popular destination for families in Maple Grove looking for good old-fashioned family dining, but also the location of some of Americana 1900’s most popular family rides and attractions.​

​

America in 1900 was an agricultural nation. 38% of American laborers worked on one of the nearly six million farms that fed over seventy-six million Americans. The Industrial Revolution was just beginning to reach these farms, and it seemed that just as many horses as tractors were seen in the fields, pulling the plows and hauling the wagons carrying the harvest to market.

Morrison Farm is a tribute to the impact that agriculture had on the history of our nation, a tribute that is both educational and entertaining. The buildings housing the rides and attractions that make Morrison Farm such a visually interesting place are constructed using traditional building designs, and in many cases original materials that came from barns and other farm buildings found throughout the nation were used in their construction. These buildings surround a large open plaza, the Barnyard, where several antique John Deere tractors, plows and early threshing machines are sitting on display as if ready to head out into the fields to bring in the harvest. Nearly every farm building is painted in one of the traditional farm colors- red, white or blue.

The main entrance to Morrison Farm is from the west side of Century Plaza, where three roads (Morrison Road, Century Lane West and Green Springs Road) converge and lead guests into the heart of the Barnyard. A small side lane, Bisby Lane, connects Morrison Road past the Critter Corral Petting Zoo to the northeast end of the Barnyard. While walking down Morrison Road towards the farm’s main entrance, with the beautiful vista of Century Plaza on their left, guests might be distracted and not notice the barn on their right, a barn painted a rich navy blue in tribute to the famous “Mail Pouch Tobacco” barns that once stood in thousands of farms across America. However, since Americana 1900 is a tobacco-free park, this barn has painted on its side the phrase, “Eat Morrison Farm Tomatoes- Treat Yourself to the Best” in white across its blue background. At the far end of the barn, directly beside the main entrance to Morrison Farm Township, is a towering silo wrapped in what appears to be scaffolding…or coaster track...but more about that later. We’re about to enter Morrison Farm.​

Layout

​

When entering Morrison Farm from its main entrance, where the three streets converge on the east side of the farm, visitors see the massive Barnyard spread out before them, surrounded by the barns, sheds, chicken coops and farmhouse of a successful farming enterprise. Proceeding clockwise around the Barnyard, the first major attraction seen, occupying most of the left (south) side of the Barnyard, is Hog Jam, a wet ‘n’ wild family water ride. Just past the main barn of Hog Jam (which contains this Township’s restrooms) is Saladworks, a salad bar restaurant. The western end of the barnyard is a sight that almost looks incongruous with the carefully-maintained farm structures of the rest of Morrison Farm. This is Vulture, with its faded, rotting barn and crooked silos that appear to be standing upright simply because they are too dilapidated to bother falling down.

Proceeding down the other side of the barnyard, visitors come across a square wooden shed painted quite differently from the rest of the buildings in Morrison Farm- it’s green. Bright green with yellow trim. John Deere green, appropriate because this building contains Haybaler, a spinner ride sponsored by John Deere. Beside Haybaler is a huge wooden barn painted bright red. Here lives Barn Cat, and beside it, entered from a white chicken coop, is Field Mouse. On the visitor’s right, standing in the center of the barnyard, is a large, open-sided shelter with food stands and picnic tables- the Barnyard Picnic Grounds.

Continuing down the left side of Morrison Farm to the northeast section of the barnyard is the white clapboard two-story farmhouse that is the former home of the Morrison family, now occupied by Grandma Morrison’s Homestead Restaurant. Just past the white picket fence that surrounds the front yard of the home is a farm lane leading to the Morrison Farm Field Tour (an attraction considered to be one of the most important experiences in all of Americana by the park’s Founder, Jack Cahill). The northeast end of the barnyard has the Critter Corral, a petting zoo for all ages, and the blue barn mentioned earlier and seen from Morrison Road, a barn that contains two attractions- The Flying Pigs (a suspended indoor-outdoor coaster) and Funnel Cloud, a rotor-style ride inside a tornado.​

As I will be attending Cedar Point's Winter Chill-Out Saturday morning, I will be presenting the next episode in Americana 1900 this evening, Friday, Feb. 25th. The next one after that will return to the regular schedule on Sunday morning, Feb. 27th. Thank you for your understanding and your support of this epic adventure! It's greatly appreciated.

 

[Knight2000]

As I will be attending Cedar Point's Winter Chill-Out Saturday morning, I will be presenting the next episode in Americana 1900 this evening, Friday, Feb. 25th. The next one after that will return to the regular schedule on Sunday morning, Feb. 27th. Thank you for your understanding and your support of this epic adventure! It's greatly appreciated.

I was wondering about that

 

[Suchomimus]

I was wondering about that

Change of plans. Though as we have attractions here, I’m wondering if they would come before or after the merchants have been covered.

 

[James G.]

Change of plans. Though as we have attractions here, I’m wondering if they would come before or after the merchants have been covered.

Before.

 

[James G.]

Hog Jam (AAP)

​

The entrance building of Hog Jam is an open-air pole barn with solid wooden fencing to guide visitors through the queue. It is decorated with posters describing the various heritage breeds of pigs that the first settlers of Maple Grove and Morrison Farm would have raised (and which are still being bred and cared for in Morrison Farm). In several spots in the queue, visitors might notice some bowling balls lying around in the yard surrounding the barn. Bowling balls? To explain this, a sign near one of these piles of bowling balls explains that pigs LOVE to play with bowling balls! ​

​

The balls are practically indestructible, and they’re large enough that a pig can’t get its mouth around them to chew on them. They shove them around, rolling them and chasing them around their pens- even the pigs have fun in Morrison Farm! There are several small pens near the queue where live pigs are occasionally displayed, with animal care experts on hand to answer visitor’s questions and dispel the myths about pigs being dirty- pigs love to be clean, but they also love to be cool and since they don’t sweat very well they search out something to cool them off. Mud is usually the most convenient thing, but here in Morrison Farm the pigs are indulged with a misting area where cool, clean water can gently rain on them in their paved pens, keeping them comfortable and clean...and they always have their bowling balls to play with!​

​

Now that the edutainment of the visitors has been accomplished, it’s time for some fun! Hog Jam is a funny, silly cruise for the entire family, a water ride that doesn’t try to get riders totally soaked (ok, perhaps just lightly splashed a little bit at the end) but instead carries them through a series of animatronic barnyard scenes, both indoors and outside, as the hogs of Morrison Farm are getting ready for the big barn dance that the hogs hold every year to celebrate “Hogmania.” Two hundred years ago, when the original owners of Morrison Farm emigrated to America from Scotland, they brought a few Scottish hogs with them. In Scotland, the New Year’s celebration is called Hogmanay, and over time the hogs of Morrison Farm, now thoroughly Americanized, moved the celebration from the cold of early January to the warmth of the summer, and “Hogmanay” became “Hogmania,” a big summer festival for all the farm animals (but especially for the hogs!). The highlight of the Hogmania Festival is the big barn dance, the “Hog Jam.”

Riders board boats that look a bit like metal watering troughs for the hogs, but instead of being full of water, they are dry inside, have comfortable seats (that bear a faint resemblance to feed bags), and float along a water-filled channel (which also resembles a very long watering trough). This watercourse carries them up several lift hills, through farm buildings and hog pens, and eventually into the main hog barn where the riders see the hogs and their farmyard friends dancing, singing and enjoying the biggest animal party of the year- Hogmania! On the way to the barn, riders see the pigs getting ready for the dance, scrubbing the mud off of themselves in large, clean water troughs-now-bathtubs, and even practicing a few dance steps. One building shows the sows getting themselves dressed in colorful calico square dance dresses, applying curlers to their tails and make-up to make themselves even prettier than they already are. Yes, this is one place where you’ll see lipstick on a pig! The boars are brushing their tusks, combing their bristly hair, buffing their hooves and putting on their best new bib-overalls, all to impress their favorite sow.​

​

The final scene, in the huge red main hog barn with white trim (which has the date “1900” displayed in its multicolored slate roof), shows the hogs and their barnyard friends dancing to a country music band made up of cows, sheep, chickens and horses, all playin’ “good ol’ country music” while the hogs dance, flirt with each other, enjoy the party food from the buffet trough, and have a wonderful time. Finally it’s time to leave the Hog Jam, and as the hogs and their barnyard friends wave “good-bye” to their human visitors, the riders in their floating troughs exit the barn and slide down the final chute to a slightly wet but totally fun splash-down, and return to the ride’s pole barn, having been treated to a party with the animals of Morrison Farm at this year’s Hog Jam!​

Vulture (AAP)

​

At the far end of the Barnyard stands a barn that looks a bit different from the rest of the buildings in Morrison Farm. It is in serious need of a paint job- whatever color it might have once been has faded and peeled off. The twin silos that flank the barn look a bit twisted and crooked, with weeds growing around their base. A now-dead tree has shoved its peeling trunk out through a split in the side of one of the silos, and sinister-looking ivy is growing up their sides. This ivy might be the only thing holding these silos together. One of the twin cupolas on the decrepit barn’s half-missing roof is ready to fall off, and the weather vane on the other is bent and twisted. Some of the barn’s roof is still clinging to the rotting roof joists, just enough to be able to read in the faded decorative shingles the date “1918,” (which just happens to be the year the Spanish Flu Pandemic began, and which might explain what happened to cause this once-solid, classic barn to be abandoned). The most disturbing sight, though, is the phrase portrayed across the side of the barn. Unlike the carefully painted advertising sign on the side of the Flying Pigs at the entrance to Morrison Farm, this sign is not painted. It is made up of what appears to be bones- hundreds of bones, bones from all sorts of animals. They have all been picked clean, and have been bleached white from exposure to the sun and the elements. They spell out this menacing phrase:​

​

Vulture, a wing coaster named for the American scavenger bird also known as the “turkey vulture” or “buzzard,” roosts in the dilapidated barn at the end of the Barnyard. This breathtaking wing coaster, like its namesake, dives over a toxic wasteland of rotting vegetation, skeletal trees and abandoned farms and fields, searching for dead animals and picking their bones clean. Ok, not really, but this Mack Rides steel coaster is a wild ride, taking riders on a feeding frenzy of soaring dives, steeply banked turns, a record-breaking seventeen inversions and a terrifying plunge through the crumbling silos that flank the entrance to the Vulture’s nest in the barn.​

​

The flight of the Vulture begins as the “bird” exits the barn, turns to the right and begins an LSM (linear synchronous motor) acceleration to the top of a 195ft. hill. As it soars over the top of the hill, it immediately plunges down the far side, twisting to the left and beginning a series of banked turns, inversions and dives meant to imitate the diving of a vulture as it searches for weakened or dying animals or carrion to consume and to feed to their young back in their nest. The most fear-inciting portion of this flight is undoubtedly the flight through the silos, narrowly clearing the jagged holes as Vulture is forced to fly sideways to avoid colliding with the rusted metal framework of the dilapidated grain storage bins. More soaring climbs, more terrifying dives, a dizzying series of extreme coaster elements and a speeding race just above the level of the rotting fences, collapsing barns and dead trees that are Vulture’s hunting grounds make the flight of this death-inspiring winged coaster a unique experience for every coaster enthusiast and thrill-seeker.​

​

 

[James G.]

Haybaler (Sponsored by John Deere)

​

Haybaler is a Matterhorn-type spinner ride located inside an open-air farm shed (with barn doors that can be closed in case of inclement weather). The seating is inspired by early steam tractors, and like all John Deere equipment is painted the famous John Deere green with bright yellow trim. Several bright yellow John Deere emblems in the center of the ride rotate in the opposite direction from the ride vehicles, to add to the feeling of speed experienced by the riders.​

​

The building itself, a splash of green and yellow in an otherwise red, white and blue Township, has several antique John Deere tractors and other examples of farm equipment from the early 1900s displayed around the building, a tribute to the impact that the John Deere Company had- and still has- on the development of agriculture in America.​

 

[James G.]

The northwest side of the Morrison Farm Barnyard is dominated by two rides that, while totally independent of each other in operations, still find a way to playfully interact with each other. This is the Barn Cat and Field Mouse.

Barn Cat
​

Barn Cat is, in reality, a “wild mouse”-type of roller coaster, mostly located inside the largest barn in Morrison Farm. The main ride building was actually constructed from several barns, all well over a century old, that were destined to be demolished but were salvaged by Americana 1900, dismantled and used to create the huge barn that houses Morrison Farm’s barn cats. Riders enter the barn, and it’s immediately obvious that the barn cats have taken over. They are everywhere! Animatronic cats perch on the overhead rafters, stare at mouseholes that have been gnawed through the walls and grain bins while waiting to pounce on any mouse unlucky enough to peek its head out, and happily lap fresh milk from a bucket accidentally left out by Grandpa Morrison. Guests proceed through the queue, which is composed of a series of switchbacks made from wooden stable walls and animal pens, observing and enjoying these vignettes of barn cats in control (which any cat will tell you is all the time) to the loading platform. The ride vehicles are themed to look like barn cats (a bit stylized, but definitely cats with whiskers sticking out of their faces and tails sticking out from their rear), and each has its own unique appearance. One might be a beautiful tabby, another a calico, while a third might look like it had been in a few catfights- and came out the loser! Each cat carries up to four riders, two rows of two riders each.​

​

The “cats” and their riders begin a crazy journey through the barn, passing around, over and under the barn’s thick wooden beams and massive hand-hewn supports, through the haymow, feed bins and animal pens. Then the riders come across something unusual in a wild mouse coaster- a second lift hill inside the barn. Upon reaching the top of this hill, the track turns and exits the barn, makes several hair-pin spiral descents around the barn silo located directly beside the barn, then careens away from the silo and goes racing out, around, up, down and over the field used by the neighboring “Field Mouse” ride. The track runs on top of the fences that criss-cross the Field Mouse’s field, and the hungry cats appear to be actually chasing the field mice beneath them, frustratingly just out of reach. Finally, the cats decide to return to the barn, where the riders say “good-bye” to their feline ride vehicles and exit through the “Barnyard Gift Shop” to the Family Album photo counter and a shop offering a complete selection of shirts, stuffed farm animal toys, barnyard playsets and other mementos of their ride on the Barn Cat.​

Field Mouse
​

Field Mouse is a family ride that lets young children and their families experience life as a field mouse, racing through the tall grass of a farm field, past towering flowers, through dense weeds, and even being “chased” by hungry barn cats. The ride loading structure looks like a traditional wooden chicken coop (repurposed and cleaned out now by Grandpa Morrison), painted white with mesh-covered windows, and covered with a bright red roof with a weathervane shaped like a chicken on the top of its white louvered cupola. A wooden ramp leads riders up into the building’s interior queue, then after passing through a series of switchback queues and observing posters and photos of Morrison Farm chickens that won blue ribbons at the State Fair (with the ribbons proudly displayed on the picture frames) guests exit the coop and descend down another wooden ramp into the loading area inside the fenced-in field behind the coop and beside the large red barn where Morrison Farm’s barn cats reside.

The driver-controlled “micemobiles” are similar in concept to the antique or speedway cars so popular at many theme parks. Each mouse can carry four passengers, with two rows of two passengers each, and children are allowed to drive them as long as they can reach the foot pedal (with an adult supervisor beside them). Their colors range from white to light brown, tan to dark brown, silver to gray, and if one of them is mostly black with a tan face, is wearing red pants, has white gloves on its front feet and yellow shoes on its back feet, and looks both familiar and as though it got caught and beaten up by one of the barn cats, I’m sure it’s just a coincidence. Tracks keep the “mice” from veering off the road while allowing some steering and speed control by the driver.​

​

A curved section of black drainage pipe (with just enough drainage holes in it to provide light) is the first thing that riders drive through after leaving the ride station, and when they emerge from the other end of the pipe they realize that they are now the size of an actual field mouse! The twisting, turning path carries them through tall grasses, past towering wildflowers, around and through some giant, rusty tin cans, and even across a giant mousetrap that tries to snap shut but is too rusty to work very well. Suddenly, as the riders in their mousemobiles cruise beside a huge (to them) split rail fence they see a barn cat racing along the top of the fence, far above them but ready to pounce at any moment! During this part of the Barn Cat and Field Mouse rides, the cats and mice are interacting, with the cats overhead, chasing the mice and the mice racing around trying to avoid being the barn cat’s next meal! It’s all in fun, and soon the cats give up and return to the barn, and the mice once again enter another curved piece of black drainage pipe and return the riders to normal size as they arrive back at the chicken coop and disembark. The Field Mice at Morrison Farm is truly a fun farm experience the whole family can enjoy together.​

The Flying Pigs and Funnel Cloud

​

Two rides occupy this classic barn-and-silo combination at the entrance to Morrison Farm, in the area between Morrison Road, the Barnyard and Bisby Lane. The barn is painted blue, in tribute to one of the most famous advertising campaigns ever created- the Mail Pouch Tobacco Barns. From 1890 until 1992, thousands of barns throughout the nation were painted with the advertising phrase:​

​

Block Brothers Tobacco Company of Wheeling, West Virginia, would paint a farmer’s barn for no charge, and pay him $1 for a small barn or $2 for a large barn per year to advertise their brand of chewing tobacco. Farmers loved having their barns painted for free, and Mail Pouch Tobacco became one of the best-known brands in the nation. Americana 1900 has decided not to advertise, sell or permit the use of tobacco products in the park, so instead decided to paint the side of the barn facing Century Plaza with the phrase, ​

​

using the same style of painting as on the original Mail Pouch barns. On original Mail Pouch barns, only the sides visible from the public roadway were painted with the advertisement- the rest of the barn was just painted a solid color of the farmer’s choice. The entire Morrison Farm barn is painted blue with “Morrison Farm Tomatoes” in yellow and the rest of the text in white. The other three sides are painted the same colors, with the text advertising the attractions inside.​

 

[James G.]

The Flying Pigs (AAP)
​

This combination indoor-outdoor suspended coaster is based on “Bisby’s Spiral Airship,” a ride built in 1902 in Long Beach, California (at an amusement park called, coincidently, “The Pike”). This original Spiral Airship is considered the first suspended roller coaster, but for some reason only operated for a few years. ​

​

The original Spiral Airship carried riders in suspended gondolas up an incline to the top of a round tower, where gravity pulled them into an ever faster spin as they descended down the spiral track around the tower. Centrifugal force causes the gondolas to swing out away from the tower as they approach the bottom.​

This YouTube video (all rights retained by the creator) demonstrates the thrilling feeling that riders on this attraction will experience.



​

While inspired by the original Bisby’s Spiral Airship, here at Morrison Farm the ride is just a little bit different. The brightly-painted blue barn with yellow and white text, previously-mentioned advertising and the date “1876” displayed in the varied-colored roof shingles, is entered by riders through an open barn door. Once inside, they enter the queue, constructed (like all queues in Morrison Farms) from wooden fencing and animal pen dividers. Along the length of the queue is informative signage describing some of the heritage breeds of pigs that are being bred and cared for in Morrison Farm, and which will soon be ridden (in ride vehicle form) in the fleet of flying pigs that are flown by Swine Airlines. ​

This signage is accurate in their descriptions of the different breeds, but also describes the different breeds in the same way that a human airline might describe the different models of Boeing aircraft that they fly. A few examples are:

Chester White 247- an all white flying pig with floppy ears for extra control

Hampshire 447- the work-pig of the Swine Airlines fleet. Black with a white belt around its front legs

Tamworth 547- a gorgeous, deep red with upright ears and a narrow body for speed and maneuverability

Berkshire 647- reliable, with a black body and white snout and tail

American Yorkshire 747- a wide-bodied, all-white classic, capable of carrying heavier cargos with no loss of speed​

When riders reach Gate “P” in the barn-turned-terminal (there is also Gate “I” and Gate “G” for future expansion), they board their flying pig and secure their seatbelts, having already received the usual in-flight safety “spiel” from the human employees of Swine Airlines. Each flying pig can carry four riders, two in front and two behind. The “flying pigs” are suspended underneath a track that carries them up and throughout the inside of the barn on a unique suspended “wild mouse” experience, soaring through the interior framework of this 1876 reconstructed and restored barn. As they reach the bottom of this first section, a second lift hill carries them back into the rafters of the barn, and as they pass a control tower for “Swine Airlines,” they see and hear several animatronic pigs- their air traffic controllers- give them clearance to land. The track exits the top of the barn through a hayloft window, and the flying pigs begin their downward spiral descent around and around the silo, just as in the original Bisby’s Spiral Airship. As the flying pigs descend faster and faster, they begin to swing out and away from the silo, nearly perpendicular to the ground. Brakes finally engage and slow them down near the bottom, but not before the riders see another Flying Pig who didn’t pull up fast enough and splashed down into the mud at the bottom of the silo- filthy, muddy, but relatively happy in the cool mud. They coast back into the barn through an open barn door and return to the arrivals gate, where the passengers exit this historically-inspired unique suspended coaster.​

The Flying Pigs at Americana 1900- where pigs really do fly!

Funnel Cloud (AAP)
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Funnel Cloud occupies the inside of the silo that supports the outdoor portion of the Flying Pigs. This attraction, sponsored by The Weather Channel, has an open-air covered queue connected to the Flying Pigs barn, and displays photos from the early 1900s showing tornados and their destructive power. Past this switchback queue section is a holding “pen” where the ride attendants, who call each other “Cousin Bill” or Cousin “Mary” or whatever their real names are, assemble groups of up to thirty-six in a holding pen. The cousins explain, with some obvious concern, that both the Farmer’s Almanac and Grandpa Morrison’s big toe has been warning them that there’s a chance of some bad weather today, maybe even a twister, and that they need to get their guests into some shelter. They open the door to the (luckily) empty corn crib that stands attached to the side of the barn, a corn crib that (also luckily) can hold just about thirty-six people. The cousins rush their guests (safely but urgently) into the corn crib and close the door to the outside. A corn crib, for those not rurally experienced, is a long, narrow structure usually attached to a barn, where ear corn was stored to be used as feed for the animals living in the barn. In reality, the corn crib was often constructed with its side boards spaced apart to allow air to flow through and keep the corn from getting damp and rotting, and the corn crib here appears to be built that way, also...but not all is as it appears. Between the interior and exterior walls is a solid series of LED screens and fans facing towards the inside, because as soon as riders are inside and the door is closed, the light coming through the slats dims, darkens, then turns a sickly grayish-green, the color that many people report that the sky turns when a tornado is forming. The wind begins to gush through the gaps in the boards, with lightning flashes and peals of thunder. Drops of water even begin to spray on the riders- not enough to be drenched, but enough for them to know that the storm has arrived.​

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The cousins, who have taken shelter inside the corn crib with the riders, call out with obvious urgency that they need to get everyone down into the storm cellar under the silo, and a door at the far end of the corn crib is opened which leads to a concrete ramp leading downwards (only a few feet) to the open door leading into the “underground” storm shelter where they are going to ride out the storm.​

“Hurry up!” the cousins urgently encourage the riders as they direct them to their positions against the storm cellar walls and begin to check that all are safely in position and the security restraints are in place. “The twister is almost here!” As soon as all safety checks are done, one of the cousins says to the other, “Where’s Grandma and Grandpa Morrison?”

“I don’t know! I thought they were with you!” the other answers frantically.

“We’ve gotta go find them! You go that way, I’ll go this way!” they say, pointing to both doors in the room (the one they entered by and the one that will be the exit door). “Don’t y’all go anywhere!” they order the now-safely restrained riders, who couldn’t get out if they tried. The cousins rush out the doors, closing them with a loud, ominous “bang!” and the riders are locked into the storm cellar, with the only light coming from a few dim bulbs along the walls above their heads. They hear the wind begin to rise outside, the room begins to shake noticeably, and then most of the lights flicker, dim and go out- plunging them into near-total darkness.

The funnel cloud has formed, and they are directly beneath it!​

Funnel Cloud is based on the classic amusement ride, The Rotor, but has been updated to maximize and intensify the ride experience. The thirty-six riders enter the round interior of the Storm cellar under the silo and stand against the metallic mesh walls of this round room in one of thirty-six safety restraints. ​

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Comfortable restraints provide safety for the riders as the room goes dark, the wind begins to blow and the wall they’re leaning on begins to spin, first slowly, then more rapidly as centrifugal force keeps the riders pinned firmly against the wall. Suddenly, in classic Rotor fashion, the floor drops away, leaving the riders pinned to the rapidly spinning walls as lightning flashes throughout the room, the sight of wind-driven debris can be seen through the mesh walls of the room and the deafening roar of the tornado they have suddenly been sucked into nearly masks the massive peals of thunder- and the screams of the riders! The walls begin to lean outwards at a twenty-five-degree angle from the bottom, forcing the helpless riders to look up into the massive and horrible maw of the funnel cloud they are trapped inside. The curved interior of the silo’s dome, far above them, is actually a screen where the inside of the swirling funnel cloud and the debris that has been violently ripped from the earth and trapped with the riders inside the tornado’s deadly vortex spins wildly overhead and around the riders. Soon, though, the funnel cloud begins to dissipate, the walls and floor return to their original position, and finally the room stops spinning.​

The familiar voice of Jim Cantori, well-known weather forecaster from The Weather Channel, is heard.​

“Every year hundreds of people are injured or killed by tornados throughout the world. Even now, with our advanced technology, we still can do nothing to stop their destructive power. We can only predict when they might appear, and hope we are right.”

“Look to the sky!”​

A sudden blast of thunder and lightning shakes the room, one last reminder of the power of nature.

The doors open and the storm chasers enter, now obviously relieved.

“Boy, that was lucky!” one says. “Grandma and Grandpa were already in the basement over at the homestead, and the twister just touched down and jumped back up into the clouds and dissipated. Sorry to scare y’all like that. Is everyone ok?” they ask as they release the restraints and begin to guide the riders towards the exit door, opposite from the door they entered. They play along with the riders as if they had no idea what they had just experienced as they empty the room for the next group of riders.​

The riders exit the storm cellar/silo up another short ramp, having survived a terrifying encounter with the most deadly weather phenomenon to be found on the plains of America- the funnel cloud of a tornado!

 

[spacemt354]

The northwest side of the Morrison Farm Barnyard is dominated by two rides that, while totally independent of each other in operations, still find a way to playfully interact with each other. This is the Barn Cat and Field Mouse.

Barn Cat
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Barn Cat is, in reality, a “wild mouse”-type of roller coaster, mostly located inside the largest barn in Morrison Farm. The main ride building was actually constructed from several barns, all well over a century old, that were destined to be demolished but were salvaged by Americana 1900, dismantled and used to create the huge barn that houses Morrison Farm’s barn cats. Riders enter the barn, and it’s immediately obvious that the barn cats have taken over. They are everywhere! Animatronic cats perch on the overhead rafters, stare at mouseholes that have been gnawed through the walls and grain bins while waiting to pounce on any mouse unlucky enough to peek its head out, and happily lap fresh milk from a bucket accidentally left out by Grandpa Morrison. Guests proceed through the queue, which is composed of a series of switchbacks made from wooden stable walls and animal pens, observing and enjoying these vignettes of barn cats in control (which any cat will tell you is all the time) to the loading platform. The ride vehicles are themed to look like barn cats (a bit stylized, but definitely cats with whiskers sticking out of their faces and tails sticking out from their rear), and each has its own unique appearance. One might be a beautiful tabby, another a calico, while a third might look like it had been in a few catfights- and came out the loser! Each cat carries up to four riders, two rows of two riders each.​

​

The “cats” and their riders begin a crazy journey through the barn, passing around, over and under the barn’s thick wooden beams and massive hand-hewn supports, through the haymow, feed bins and animal pens. Then the riders come across something unusual in a wild mouse coaster- a second lift hill inside the barn. Upon reaching the top of this hill, the track turns and exits the barn, makes several hair-pin spiral descents around the barn silo located directly beside the barn, then careens away from the silo and goes racing out, around, up, down and over the field used by the neighboring “Field Mouse” ride. The track runs on top of the fences that criss-cross the Field Mouse’s field, and the hungry cats appear to be actually chasing the field mice beneath them, frustratingly just out of reach. Finally, the cats decide to return to the barn, where the riders say “good-bye” to their feline ride vehicles and exit through the “Barnyard Gift Shop” to the Family Album photo counter and a shop offering a complete selection of shirts, stuffed farm animal toys, barnyard playsets and other mementos of their ride on the Barn Cat.​

Field Mouse
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Field Mouse is a family ride that lets young children and their families experience life as a field mouse, racing through the tall grass of a farm field, past towering flowers, through dense weeds, and even being “chased” by hungry barn cats. The ride loading structure looks like a traditional wooden chicken coop (repurposed and cleaned out now by Grandpa Morrison), painted white with mesh-covered windows, and covered with a bright red roof with a weathervane shaped like a chicken on the top of its white louvered cupola. A wooden ramp leads riders up into the building’s interior queue, then after passing through a series of switchback queues and observing posters and photos of Morrison Farm chickens that won blue ribbons at the State Fair (with the ribbons proudly displayed on the picture frames) guests exit the coop and descend down another wooden ramp into the loading area inside the fenced-in field behind the coop and beside the large red barn where Morrison Farm’s barn cats reside.

The driver-controlled “micemobiles” are similar in concept to the antique or speedway cars so popular at many theme parks. Each mouse can carry four passengers, with two rows of two passengers each, and children are allowed to drive them as long as they can reach the foot pedal (with an adult supervisor beside them). Their colors range from white to light brown, tan to dark brown, silver to gray, and if one of them is mostly black with a tan face, is wearing red pants, has white gloves on its front feet and yellow shoes on its back feet, and looks both familiar and as though it got caught and beaten up by one of the barn cats, I’m sure it’s just a coincidence. Tracks keep the “mice” from veering off the road while allowing some steering and speed control by the driver.​

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A curved section of black drainage pipe (with just enough drainage holes in it to provide light) is the first thing that riders drive through after leaving the ride station, and when they emerge from the other end of the pipe they realize that they are now the size of an actual field mouse! The twisting, turning path carries them through tall grasses, past towering wildflowers, around and through some giant, rusty tin cans, and even across a giant mousetrap that tries to snap shut but is too rusty to work very well. Suddenly, as the riders in their mousemobiles cruise beside a huge (to them) split rail fence they see a barn cat racing along the top of the fence, far above them but ready to pounce at any moment! During this part of the Barn Cat and Field Mouse rides, the cats and mice are interacting, with the cats overhead, chasing the mice and the mice racing around trying to avoid being the barn cat’s next meal! It’s all in fun, and soon the cats give up and return to the barn, and the mice once again enter another curved piece of black drainage pipe and return the riders to normal size as they arrive back at the chicken coop and disembark. The Field Mice at Morrison Farm is truly a fun farm experience the whole family can enjoy together.​

The Flying Pigs and Funnel Cloud

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Two rides occupy this classic barn-and-silo combination at the entrance to Morrison Farm, in the area between Morrison Road, the Barnyard and Bisby Lane. The barn is painted blue, in tribute to one of the most famous advertising campaigns ever created- the Mail Pouch Tobacco Barns. From 1890 until 1992, thousands of barns throughout the nation were painted with the advertising phrase:​

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Block Brothers Tobacco Company of Wheeling, West Virginia, would paint a farmer’s barn for no charge, and pay him $1 for a small barn or $2 for a large barn per year to advertise their brand of chewing tobacco. Farmers loved having their barns painted for free, and Mail Pouch Tobacco became one of the best-known brands in the nation. Americana 1900 has decided not to advertise, sell or permit the use of tobacco products in the park, so instead decided to paint the side of the barn facing Century Plaza with the phrase, ​

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using the same style of painting as on the original Mail Pouch barns. On original Mail Pouch barns, only the sides visible from the public roadway were painted with the advertisement- the rest of the barn was just painted a solid color of the farmer’s choice. The entire Morrison Farm barn is painted blue with “Morrison Farm Tomatoes” in yellow and the rest of the text in white. The other three sides are painted the same colors, with the text advertising the attractions inside.​

I really enjoy the interactivity between the attractions - it adds a lot of kinetic energy to the area!

 

[James G.]

Critter Corral

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Not every attraction in Morrison Farm is a thrill ride, or any kind of ride. In the northeast corner of the Barnyard, with an entrance near Bisby Lane, is found the Critter Corral, a petting zoo with dozens of farm animals for families to pet, feed, watch and enjoy. Lambs, goats, rabbits, chickens, calves and many other farm animals live here and can be interacted with by farm visitors, and sometimes even be fed carefully-regulated food and treats under the careful supervision of trained animal experts. Visitors can enter the large fenced-in corral areas and can interact with some of the smaller animals. Other, larger animals can be observed in separate enclosures. Each animal in the Critter Corral is carefully managed, kept in clean, sanitary enclosures, and receives professional health care from a full-time veterinarian. The animals are rotated between time with visitors and “quiet” time in areas behind the barn to lessen potential stress, and any animals that perhaps don’t seem to care for the human interaction are removed and transferred to other areas in Americana’s extensive livestock complex, or even to area farms which work with Americana 1900 to care for them. The Critter Corral is an integral part of Americana 1900’s mission of educating while entertaining.​

The Morrison Farm Field Tour (Sponsored by John Deere)

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A farm lane between the Critter Corral and Grandma Morrison’s Homestead Restaurant leads to the Morrison Farms Field Tour, where visitors climb aboard wagons pulled by distinctive green and yellow John Deere Tractors and take a twenty-minute tour of the fields and barns of the Back Forty Farm, the operating farm that occupies several hundred acres of land around Americana 1900 (and several thousand more acres nearby in Americana Park that are not on this tour). These tours are designed to inform and educate visitors who might not have much if any first-hand knowledge of farming practices. Tour guides explain to the farm visitors some basic concepts of farming- preparing the fields, planting, weeding, rotation of crops and harvesting, and emphasize Americana 1900’s commitment to organic farm practices and the cultivation and preservation of heirloom crops and heritage breeds of livestock. ​

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Much of the acreage in the non-exhibited fields is used to grow feed crops for the hundreds of heritage breeds of animals being raised and bred in Americana 1900, and while all are farmed using strictly organic, non-GMO farming methods, these thousands of acres of crops are not shown to visitors because they are not especially “historic.” Modern farm equipment is used in the cultivation and harvesting of the corn, soybeans, wheat and oats that keep the animals healthy and well-fed. The fields seen in the Farm Tour feature what are often referred to as “heirloom” grains, especially early varieties of wheat such as Einkorn, Emmer, Spelt and Triticale. Other, better-known farm crops such as corn and soybeans are also shown on the tour, but more for the benefits of crop-rotation practices than their historic, heirloom properties. Corn has been so mutated and cross-bred by both nature and humans over the centuries that it is difficult to identify any form that could be considered a true “heirloom,” and soybeans are native to Asia, but have been raised on American farms for decades. They are included on the tour more for their historic importance than their heirloom qualities.​

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It is in the breeding of heritage farm animals where Morrison Farm is considered one of the nation’s most important agricultural resources. Many heritage breeds of cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry whose populations were considered critically endangered have been brought back from near extinction and now thrive in Americana 1900 thanks to the hard-working farmers that care for these endangered breeds of animals. Among the rare breeds of farm animals rescued from becoming footnotes in the history of American farming are:​

Cattle

Ayrshire, Devon, Lincoln Red

Pigs

Choctaw, Mulefoot, Berkshires, Tamworths

Sheep and Goats

Gulf Coast Sheep, Florida Cracker Sheep; Spanish Goats, Tennessee Fainting Goats

​

 

[James G.]

Chickens

Sultans, Campine, Redcaps

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Agricultural experts are becoming more and more aware of the importance of biodiversity and genetic diversity, and Morrison Farm has become much more than a simple farm tour to entertain park guests. It continues to grow and expand its impact on agricultural practices, heirloom varieties of crops and heritage breed protection, helping to make American agriculture the world’s leader in heritage research and preservation.

The Morrison Farm Tour is not just fields and pastures of grazing animals. Morrison Farm, both the Township attraction buildings and the working farm buildings, contains one of the nation’s most important collections of historic barns, many of which were abandoned and/or threatened with demolition. Every structure is unique in design and construction, based on the original use of the building. Cattle barns are built differently than storage barns. Most are constructed of local varieties of wood, but some use stone dug out of the fields for their foundations or even for their walls. Dutch barns, bank barns, crib barns, even a rare and unique round barn can be seen throughout the Morrison Farm Tour. The simple, utilitarian yet impressive architecture that is exemplified in these important structures is an essential part of the story of American agriculture, and has not been forgotten by Americana 1900.​

It all sounds very serious, doesn’t it? It is, but there is one thing it is not- boring.​

This farm tour is not a boring biology lesson, but explains to visitors the importance of agriculture, especially sustainable organic agriculture, for our food supply, and does so in a friendly, light-hearted manner, with a few bad farming jokes thrown in and a knowledgeable tour guide who can answer just about any question asked of them. These tours are offered seasonally, and are adjusted according to what crops are being planted, growing and harvested, and depending on what animals are out in the fields.​

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[James G.]

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Finding something to eat in Morrison Farm is not hard. What is hard to find is fancy, gourmet “haute cuisine”- the food here is basic, healthy, family fare with large helpings and plenty of selection. Full-service, buffet and counter service dining and quick-serve food carts can all be found here.​

Grandma Morrison’s Homestead Restaurant (HDP)

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The Morrison Homestead is a simple white clapboard two-story farmhouse with deep blue shutters, a red shingle roof and a wrap-around porch with simple wooden Doric columns and intricately carved brik-a-brak ornamentation where the columns support the porch roof. Simple shaker-style benches line the porch, which rests on a fieldstone foundation surrounded by carefully-tended flowerbeds and leafy shade trees.​

​

Grandma Morrison’s Homestead Restaurant offers a unique dining experience for guests to Morrison Farm and Americana 1900. Every room in the house has been decorated- or redecorated- to serve as a dining room for those lucky enough to receive an invitation for one of Grandma Morrison’s amazing home-cooked dinners (which usually just requires an advanced reservation or patience enough to wait for an open table). Some rooms, such as the home’s original front parlor or the original dining room are a bit fancier, with the best furniture and fanciest wallpaper, while the back parlor, the family dining room and even the original kitchen have been refurnished with good, solid antique tables, chairs and sideboards, each of a slightly different design as if Grandma Morrison acquired them at garage sales, estate sales or auctions as she continued to expand her operations. Soon she included the bedrooms upstairs, so that now all twelve rooms in the original house are used for serving meals. Eventually, Grandpa Morrison built a new house for them to actually live in, one carefully hidden from the rest of Morrison Farm and Americana 1900 to grant them some privacy when he wasn’t out working in the fields and she wasn’t running her restaurant in what used to be their home. Weather permitting, Grandma even sets up some tables on the back porch, in the summer kitchen behind the house and on the brick patio just outside the back door- if the weather is comfortable and it’s not raining.​

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Every meal at Grandma Morrison’s is served family-style with diners offered two entree choices per table of four, as well as various side dishes and salads, a loaf of freshly baked bread and dessert. Beverages are included, but are strictly “temperant”- no alcohol is allowed in Grandma Morrison’s home! She wants to make every one of her guests feel like they’ve been invited to Sunday dinner, so she features traditional Southern Sunday dinner items such as a platter of fried chicken, pot roast, catfish or pork chops; sides could include a bowl of green beans simmered with smoked ham hocks, corn-on-the-cob or steaming hot spoonbread served fresh from a cast-iron skillet. Desserts could be a cherry pie, Angel food cake or hot-from-the-oven bread pudding. Beverages are included in the prix fixe price of meals, and additional selections can always be ordered for an extra charge depending on the item.​

​

Grandma Morrison is always on hand to welcome guests to her home. She often strolls through the dining rooms, chatting with her guests, sharing stories about where she bought the table they’re eating on, complimenting children who cleaned their plate or encouraging them to finish their vegetables, and making a meal at her Homestead Restaurant a fun, interactive experience. Even the servers are in on the role-playing fun. Grandma Morrison has plenty of family members- nieces, nephews, daughters, and lots of grandchildren who she’s hired to help out serving her guests, and they all work as hard as Grandma Morrison to make lunch or dinner at Grandma Morrison’s Homestead Restaurant a special event and a treasured memory of a visit to Morrison Farm.​

 

[James G.]

Saladworks

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Saladworks is a counter service/self-service restaurant that lets hungry visitors to Morrison Farm create salad masterpieces from over one hundred items found on the seemingly endless salad bar, including the freshest fruits and vegetables and an amazing selection of toppings and salad dressings. Diners can also choose from over a dozen freshly-prepared salads offered by Saladworks, including eight signature salads only available at Americana 1900. Saladworks has created eight specialty salads, each named for and inspired by one of the eight Townships in the park. Also on the menu are prepared sandwiches and wraps, soups and combo selections designed to satisfy any level of hunger.​

​

Saladworks is a national franchise with over one hundred outlets throughout the nation. This is the first outlet in a theme park, and it was decided that this location, in a Township where agriculture is the theme, was a perfect fit for Saladworks and its commitment to healthy eating and quality ingredients. Diners can enjoy their healthy meals inside the restaurant in air-conditioned comfort, or outside on a patio shaded with umbrellas and awnings and cooled with overhead fans. The patio gives diners a thrilling view of Vulture as it races through the crumbling silos in front of the main ride station, directly next to the Saladworks dining patio. Whether a vegan, vegetarian or just a hungry visitor to Americana 1900 looking for a fresh combo of soup, salad and sandwich, Saladworks is the place!​

Barnyard Picnic Grounds

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In the center of the Barnyard is the Barnyard Picnic Grounds, an open-air shelter filled with and surrounded by picnic tables of various sizes. Ceiling fans in the rafters keep the air gently moving and comfortable, and several quick-service carryout windows provide simple but satisfying meals at reasonable prices. Flame-grilled burgers, hot dogs and sausages, ribs and fried chicken are some of the traditional picnic items available to satisfy hungry visitors. Traditional side dishes such as potato salad, coleslaw and fries (including sweet potato fries), fresh desserts and beverages are also available. The food is not fancy, but it’s filling, tasty and perfect for a family picnic in the Barnyard Picnic Grounds.​

 

[Okee68]

Saladworks

​

Saladworks is a counter service/self-service restaurant that lets hungry visitors to Morrison Farm create salad masterpieces from over one hundred items found on the seemingly endless salad bar, including the freshest fruits and vegetables and an amazing selection of toppings and salad dressings. Diners can also choose from over a dozen freshly-prepared salads offered by Saladworks, including eight signature salads only available at Americana 1900. Saladworks has created eight specialty salads, each named for and inspired by one of the eight Townships in the park. Also on the menu are prepared sandwiches and wraps, soups and combo selections designed to satisfy any level of hunger.​

​

Saladworks is a national franchise with over one hundred outlets throughout the nation. This is the first outlet in a theme park, and it was decided that this location, in a Township where agriculture is the theme, was a perfect fit for Saladworks and its commitment to healthy eating and quality ingredients. Diners can enjoy their healthy meals inside the restaurant in air-conditioned comfort, or outside on a patio shaded with umbrellas and awnings and cooled with overhead fans. The patio gives diners a thrilling view of Vulture as it races through the crumbling silos in front of the main ride station, directly next to the Saladworks dining patio. Whether a vegan, vegetarian or just a hungry visitor to Americana 1900 looking for a fresh combo of soup, salad and sandwich, Saladworks is the place!​

Barnyard Picnic Grounds

​

In the center of the Barnyard is the Barnyard Picnic Grounds, an open-air shelter filled with and surrounded by picnic tables of various sizes. Ceiling fans in the rafters keep the air gently moving and comfortable, and several quick-service carryout windows provide simple but satisfying meals at reasonable prices. Flame-grilled burgers, hot dogs and sausages, ribs and fried chicken are some of the traditional picnic items available to satisfy hungry visitors. Traditional side dishes such as potato salad, coleslaw and fries (including sweet potato fries), fresh desserts and beverages are also available. The food is not fancy, but it’s filling, tasty and perfect for a family picnic in the Barnyard Picnic Grounds.​

That picnic restaurant is an aesthetic little eatery. But can you specifically order cold fried chicken for authenticity? I actually prefer it cold.

 

[James G.]

That picnic restaurant is an aesthetic little eatery. But can you specifically order cold fried chicken for authenticity? I actually prefer it cold.

I hadn't thought about that. I understand and agree with you, especially in a picnic setting. Since Americana 1900 strives to satisfy its guests, I suppose that, if you stopped by before you were ready to eat, placed the order and paid for it, then asked them to put the fried chicken in the fridge for an hour or so, and if it met the temperature regulations of the local health department, that could be arranged. If there was enough of a demand for it, I wouldn't be surprised if it was added to the menu, either in Saladworks or more likely in the Barnyard Picnic Grounds. I'll check with the Americana Food and Beverage Director of Services the next time I see him. Thanks for asking!

 

[DisneyManOne]

​

Finding something to eat in Morrison Farm is not hard. What is hard to find is fancy, gourmet “haute cuisine”- the food here is basic, healthy, family fare with large helpings and plenty of selection. Full-service, buffet and counter service dining and quick-serve food carts can all be found here.​

Grandma Morrison’s Homestead Restaurant (HDP)

​

The Morrison Homestead is a simple white clapboard two-story farmhouse with deep blue shutters, a red shingle roof and a wrap-around porch with simple wooden Doric columns and intricately carved brik-a-brak ornamentation where the columns support the porch roof. Simple shaker-style benches line the porch, which rests on a fieldstone foundation surrounded by carefully-tended flowerbeds and leafy shade trees.​

​

Grandma Morrison’s Homestead Restaurant offers a unique dining experience for guests to Morrison Farm and Americana 1900. Every room in the house has been decorated- or redecorated- to serve as a dining room for those lucky enough to receive an invitation for one of Grandma Morrison’s amazing home-cooked dinners (which usually just requires an advanced reservation or patience enough to wait for an open table). Some rooms, such as the home’s original front parlor or the original dining room are a bit fancier, with the best furniture and fanciest wallpaper, while the back parlor, the family dining room and even the original kitchen have been refurnished with good, solid antique tables, chairs and sideboards, each of a slightly different design as if Grandma Morrison acquired them at garage sales, estate sales or auctions as she continued to expand her operations. Soon she included the bedrooms upstairs, so that now all twelve rooms in the original house are used for serving meals. Eventually, Grandpa Morrison built a new house for them to actually live in, one carefully hidden from the rest of Morrison Farm and Americana 1900 to grant them some privacy when he wasn’t out working in the fields and she wasn’t running her restaurant in what used to be their home. Weather permitting, Grandma even sets up some tables on the back porch, in the summer kitchen behind the house and on the brick patio just outside the back door- if the weather is comfortable and it’s not raining.​

​

Every meal at Grandma Morrison’s is served family-style with diners offered two entree choices per table of four, as well as various side dishes and salads, a loaf of freshly baked bread and dessert. Beverages are included, but are strictly “temperant”- no alcohol is allowed in Grandma Morrison’s home! She wants to make every one of her guests feel like they’ve been invited to Sunday dinner, so she features traditional Southern Sunday dinner items such as a platter of fried chicken, pot roast, catfish or pork chops; sides could include a bowl of green beans simmered with smoked ham hocks, corn-on-the-cob or steaming hot spoonbread served fresh from a cast-iron skillet. Desserts could be a cherry pie, Angel food cake or hot-from-the-oven bread pudding. Beverages are included in the prix fixe price of meals, and additional selections can always be ordered for an extra charge depending on the item.​

​

Grandma Morrison is always on hand to welcome guests to her home. She often strolls through the dining rooms, chatting with her guests, sharing stories about where she bought the table they’re eating on, complimenting children who cleaned their plate or encouraging them to finish their vegetables, and making a meal at her Homestead Restaurant a fun, interactive experience. Even the servers are in on the role-playing fun. Grandma Morrison has plenty of family members- nieces, nephews, daughters, and lots of grandchildren who she’s hired to help out serving her guests, and they all work as hard as Grandma Morrison to make lunch or dinner at Grandma Morrison’s Homestead Restaurant a special event and a treasured memory of a visit to Morrison Farm.​

Dude, you're making me hungry. With every post, I wish this concept would eventually become reality; because I really want to enjoy a meal at Grandma Morrison's!

 

[James G.]

Dude, you're making me hungry. With every post, I wish this concept would eventually become reality; because I really want to enjoy a meal at Grandma Morrison's!

I almost hate to tell you this, but as far as restaurants go I'm just getting started.