An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often featuring multiple areas with different themes. Unlike temporary and mobile funfairs and carnivals, amusement parks are stationary and built for long-lasting operation. They are more elaborate than city parks and playgrounds, usually providing attractions that cater to a variety of age groups. While amusement parks often contain themed areas, theme parks place a heavier focus with more intricately-designed themes that revolve around a particular subject or group of subjects.
A roller coaster is a type of amusement ride employing a form of elevated railroad track that carries passengers on a train through tight turns, steep slopes, and other elements usually designed to produce a thrilling experience. Trains consist of open cars connected in a single line, and the rides are often found in theme parks around the world. Roller coasters first appeared in the 17th century, and LaMarcus Adna Thompson obtained one of the first known patents for a roller coaster design in 1885, based on the Switchback Railway which opened a year earlier at Coney Island.
Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend to the north and includes the subsection of Sea Gate on its west. More broadly, the Coney Island peninsula consists of Coney Island proper, Brighton Beach, and Manhattan Beach. This was formerly the westernmost of the Outer Barrier islands on the southern shore of Long Island, but in the early 20th century it became connected to the rest of Long Island by land fill.
Six Flags Fiesta Texas, formerly known simply as Fiesta Texas, is a theme park located in Northwest San Antonio. It opened on March 14, 1992, in the La Cantera master-planned development and district as the first business in that development. Spanning 200 acres (81 ha), the park was originally built to become a destination musical show park with its focus on the musical culture of the state of Texas. The park was purchased by Time Warner in 1995, and branded as a Six Flags park for the 1996 season.
Steeplechase Park was an amusement park that operated in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City, United States, from 1897 to 1964. Steeplechase Park was created by the entrepreneur George C. Tilyou as the first of the three large amusement parks built on Coney Island, the other two being Luna Park (1903) and Dreamland (1904). Of the three, Steeplechase was the longest-lasting, running for 67 years.
The Cyclone, also called the Coney Island Cyclone, is a wooden roller coaster at Luna Park in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City. Designed by Vernon Keenan, it opened to the public on June 26, 1927. The roller coaster is on a plot of land at the intersection of Surf Avenue and West 10th Street. The Cyclone reaches a maximum speed of 60 miles per hour (97 km/h) and has a total track length of 2,640 feet (800 m), with a maximum height of 85 feet (26 m).
A Suspended Family Coaster is a steel inverted roller coaster built by Vekoma designed for families with no inversions. Just like all inverted roller coasters the train runs under the track with the seats directly attached to the wheel carriage. This latter attribute is what sets it apart from the older suspended swinging coaster, which runs under the track, but "swings" via a pivoting bar attached to the wheel carriage.
Astroland was a 3.1-acre (1.3 ha) amusement park in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City that opened in 1962. It was located at 1000 Surf Avenue on the boardwalk. It ceased operations on September 7, 2008.
Rockaways' Playland was an amusement park that operated from 1902 to 1987 in Rockaway Beach in Queens, New York City. Bounded by Beach 97th and Beach 98th Streets between Rockaway Beach Boulevard and the Rockaway Beach and Boardwalk, Rockaways' Playland was created in 1902 by roller coaster designer LaMarcus Adna Thompson. By 1903 a ferry dock was added not far from the park, making it more convenient to reach than some of the competing amusement parks. The park was sold in 1927 to Robert Katlin, who added amenities such as a gym and swimming pool, and the following year to A. Joseph Geist, who achieved greater success than the previous owners. Between 1928 and 1970, Rockaways' Playland was extremely successful, drawing 175 million visitors. It closed in 1987 due to a sharp increase in the price of insurance.
The Wonder Wheel is a 150-foot-tall (46 m) eccentric Ferris wheel at Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park at Coney Island in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The wheel is located on a plot bounded by West 12th Street to the west, Bowery Street to the north, Luna Park to the east, and the Riegelmann Boardwalk to the south. As with other eccentric Ferris wheels, some of the Wonder Wheel's passenger cabins are not fixed directly to the rim of the wheel, but instead slide along winding sets of rails between the hub and the rim.
Spook-a-Rama is a dark ride haunted attraction from the Pretzel Amusement Ride Company located at Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park on Coney Island and run by Million Amusement Corp. It opened in 1955. The rider is pulled around in a car resembling an old wooden barrel. These barrels look like connected cars, but separate from each other at the beginning of the ride, so the rider must go in alone, passing paintings that change imagery, and a skeleton before the car itself forces the doors open. Inside, the ride is one large, poorly lit room. The ride had a major renovation done by Scarefactory Inc of Columbus, Ohio prior to the 2013 season.
The Ghost Hole was a horror-themed dark ride on Coney Island operated by 12th Street Amusements, a division of Li'l Sassy Anne, Inc. In 2021, the ride was removed and replaced by an expansion of Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park, featuring a Vekoma suspended coaster named the Phoenix, and a kiddie coaster from SBF Visa in 2021.
Great Old Amusement Parks is a 1999 PBS television documentary produced for VHS and DVD produced by Rick Sebak of WQED Pittsburgh which aired on PBS, on July 21, 1999.
Roller coaster amusement rides have origins back to ice slides constructed in 18th-century Russia. Early technology featured sleds or wheeled carts that were sent down hills of snow reinforced by wooden supports. The technology evolved in the 19th century to feature railroad track using wheeled cars that were securely locked to the track. Newer innovations emerged in the early 20th century with side friction and underfriction technologies to allow for greater speeds and sharper turns. By the mid-to-late 20th century, these elements intensified with the introduction of steel roller coaster designs and the ability to invert riders.
Luna Park is an amusement park in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City. It opened on May 29, 2010, at the site of Astroland, an amusement park that had been in operation from 1962 to 2008, and Dreamland, which operated at the same site for the 2009 season. It was named after the original 1903 Luna Park which operated until 1944 on a site just north of the current park's 1000 Surf Avenue location.
The Jumbo Jet was a prefabricated steel roller coaster at Morey's Piers in Wildwood, New Jersey. Jumbo Jet was a Jet Star 3 / Jumbo Jet model coaster built by noted roller coaster designer Anton Schwarzkopf. In 1975, the Morey brothers traveled to Germany and purchased the Jumbo Jet for $400,000. Morey's Surfside Pier had to be extended a total of 250 feet (76 m) to make room for the Jumbo Jet. Despite the expense, however, Jumbo Jet became one of the most popular roller coasters on the Jersey Shore, and was credited for increasing attendance at Morey's Piers. It was the second and final Jet Star 3 / Jumbo Jet model coaster to be built in the state of New Jersey.
Jumbo Jet was a prefabricated steel roller coaster located within the Fun Fair section of Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey. Erected in 1975, the attraction was an example of the Jet Star 3 / Jumbo Jet model line designed by Werner Stengel and manufactured by Anton Schwarzkopf.
Fun Spot America Theme Parks is a group of amusement parks. Since 1979, the group has owned and operated a number of small amusement parks over the years and currently has three locations in Orlando, Florida, Kissimmee, Florida, and Fayetteville, Georgia.
A boardwalk is a promenade along a beach or waterfront. In North America, and particularly in the United States, many waterfront commercial boardwalks have become so successful as tourist attractions that the simple wooden pathways have been replaced by esplanades made of concrete, brick or other construction, sometimes with a wooden façade on the surface. An entertainment boardwalk often contains an amusement park, casinos, or hotels on a pier-like structure. One of the earliest such boardwalks was designed in New Jersey and opened June 26, 1870, in Atlantic City, and one of the longest is Mazatlán's Malecón, at 13 miles (21 km) of oceanfront boardwalk.
