Old Tombstone Western Theme Park — Attraction in Tombstone

Interesting, loads of old equipment, photos, pictures, memorabilia in every place I went. Take a water bottle for each member of your party. There are public restrooms at each end of the tourist area. The tourist area is small enough to walk. I went to Tombstone in early March. Cold out, sunny, very windy all day.

Public parking available for free [least it was where I parked, which was 2 blocks from tourist area]. When summer tourist season arrives, it will be hard to find close parking.

Watched a comedic version of a gunfight. Emphasis was more on talking between actors than shooting, and a bit of audience participation. Very well scripted, lots of fun word play for educated people.

Chuckwagon Restuarant had great burgers. You can't take your water bottles in with you. They did give me a paper bag to put my water bottle in.

Tombstone Epitaph is full of newspaper memorabilia, small gift shop and no entrance fee.

Birdcage Theatre loaded with memorabilia and costs $12 fee per person for entrance past lobby. It's worth the money if you appreciate history. Lobby has nice selection of memorabilia and is worth seeing. There's also a guide talking about the artifacts, historical people who visited the Birdcage, and the building.

Went to 5pm / Vigil Mass at local Catholic Church. Church on historic register. Beautiful and small Church. Priest had a lovely singing voice. Out back are huge rose plants that are part of the historic designation.

Rode trolley type bus for tour of tourist section of Tombstone. Think it was $8 per adult; less for children. A tour is the best way to see all the places there are to see [this is how I found the Church and the Tombstone Epitaph]. Driver knew the town well, knew many trivial facts, stories and general area info.

Tombstone town has a well-organized arrangement for tourists. I would...

We headed to the O.K. Corral at 2:45 pm, hoping to see the 3 pm reenactment of the O.K. Corral gunfight. A couple of guys dressed up like gun-slingers were standing in front of the O.K. Corral announced that the gun show was about to start down the block at the “Old Tombstone Western Theme Park.” We had no reason to doubt them, so that’s where we went. The gun fight we did see was at the same time and cost the same as the one we thought we were going to see, but it was not the reenactment. It was a standard theme park gun fight. I’m not sure if the reenactment was also happening somewhere else or if I misunderstood the advertising. Anyway, despite that, we had a good time. The three actors did a fantastic job and kept the show entertaining. They did a great job keeping the audience engaged. A couple of notes: -The guns are loud. A family with small children sitting in the front row left early, because the gun shots were scaring their kids; if you have small kids, consider sitting further back. -When you pay for your tickets with a credit card, you’re asked for a tip on the screen. Don’t tip at that point, because after the show the gunfighters stand at the exit asking for tip donations. If you’re like me, and want to support the actors, but have already tipped, you’ll feel bad/embarrassed not putting cash in the spittoon as you leave (or, like me, you’ll put some cash in anyway, and feel like you tipped way more than you...

Misters were working a bit too well in the stands overlooking the Gunfight Show on a hot August morning in Tombstone. I needed to clean my sunglasses several times. This was one of three shows at the Western Theme Park. I had seen a few staged western theme gunfights in my home state in the past. This one didn’t rank as high in terms of shootouts however the dialogue among the characters was sharp and funny. They channeled movies and TV shows in their quick-witted banter. They engaged the spectators very well. The plots were easy to understand for the paying customers. I thought the price of $11 for seniors and $12 for adults was quite reasonable. I found myself wishing for a bit more gunplay however the ending or climax to the gunfight was “loaded” with action. One of the funniest moments for me was the miner saying, “I love my Jenny,” from the movie Forrest Gump. Jenny was the name of his mule. The bad guy gunslinger had stolen Jenny from the miner and turned around and sold the animal. The hero, our lawman, didn’t exist without character flaws which made him human. He was fighting his own problems while protecting others from the outlaws. I assume the characters switch roles to keep them sharp. Later, I saw a couple of the characters at one of the intersections vocally encouraging tourists to come over for a show. They really earn their tips. They make it clear that tips are their main source of income from...