Early Home Video Footage of Heritage USA, July 1987- Vid #1

In early July 1987, I had the opportunity to go to Heritage USA with a friend of mine, Todd Skidmore, and his parents. This was only months after Jim & Tammy had departed from the ministry leadership. Up until I had found these videos, the only early videos I had of Heritage USA from the 80's were ones I had recorded in June 1988. At that point, even though it was summer, the park was pretty much a ghost town.

In this video, you will see quite a large number of visitors inside the park. At times the train & trams are half full or less, and at other times (particularly in the evening), they are much fuller. Yet even with all the people shown visiting the park in these home videos of mine dated 1987, the park still appeared to be only about 30% to 50% as busy as it was during the previous years in the summer.

Even by early July 1987, just months after Jim & Tammy had been ousted, the park attedance seemed to have dropped considerably. Yet, you will notice people walking around the HGH (Heritage Grand Hotel), Main Street, and even the huge cafeteria, which was right next to Main Street. The cafeteria might not be visible in this video, but it is in one of the five YouTube videos I will be uploading which relate to my July 1987 trip to Heritage USA.

To my knowledge, there are no other images on YouTube about the inside of the cafeteria, which appeared to have been modeled after an opulent French or English outdoor-seating style eatery.

Keep in mind as you watch these home videos that the quality is not the greatest. I was using an ancient video camera / portable VCR combination, and even the slightest movement of the recording deck (the portable VCR) caused considerable noise lines in the video. The newer VCR I used today to transfer my old videos to DVD has automatic tracking, and it was trying its hardest to deliver the best possible picture.

Also keep in mind that several people were using the camera at different times, so, at times, depending on who was holding the camera, the picture is either smooth or jittery. I tried to edit out most of the boring or extremely jittery parts so you wouldn't get too dizzy or fall asleep.

Worth noting in these early 1987 home videos is that, even with Jim & Tammy gone, the park was still trying to make some sort of attempt at normalcy, such as hanging the red, white & blue flags for the July 4th holiday, having all the trees lit up in Main Street, operating the water park, and having the transportation modes still operating (trams, train & vans). Yet, sadly, little by little, and one by one, every single one of these amenities was eliminated as the funds dried up with the park as a whole.