Travellers' Checks | Gay old closing time – Flintstones theme park near the Grand Canyon shuts up shop

In the unlikely event that the Grand Canyon failed to impress the kids, there was still Bedrock City to look forward to, a half-hour’s drive south of the visitor centre, on Route 64. Here, from 1972 until its recent closure, road-tripping American families could pull their RVs and station wagons over, meet the Flintstones, and have “a gay old time”. With a bronto­saurus slide, a ride-though volcano (above right) and a restaurant serving Bronto Burgers, Dino Dogs and Mammoth Milk­shakes, it was a classic American roadside tourist attraction.

In 2015, Bedrock City was put up for sale and it finally closed a few weeks ago. Some of its last reviews on TripAdvisor describe it as “Poorly maintained and kind of sad”, “a little run down” and “a once proud depiction of life in the Flintstocine era that has gone to seed like an abandoned amusement park”. But people seemed sad to see it go. “Most of the signing and characters are falling apart and are in need of a paint refresh, but the fact that something like this still exists is amazing,” said one return visitor. “This crumbling gem is among fading attractions that in today’s day and age would never be built,” noted another, “and when these places are gone they will be gone forever.”

The Flintstones – and indeed Bronto Burgers – are now pulling in the crowds in the United Arab Emirates, where the recent­ly opened Warner Bros World Abu Dhabi contains its own rather more polished, indoor version of Bedrock – “a rocking land full of Stone Age family fun and adventure”.

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