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 dark ride or ghost train is an indoor amusement ride on which passengers aboard guided vehicles travel through specially lit scenes that typically contain animation, sound, music and special effects. Appearing as early as the 19th century, exhibits such as tunnels of love, scary themes and interactive stories have been the subject of rides under the original definition.
Canada's Wonderland is a 134-hectare (330-acre) theme park located in Vaughan, Ontario, a suburb approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) north of Downtown Toronto. Opened in 1981 by the Taft Broadcasting Company and The Great-West Life Assurance Company as the first major theme park in Canada, it remains the country's largest. The park, currently owned by Cedar Fair, has been the most visited seasonal amusement park in North America for several consecutive years.
Six Flags Over Georgia is a 290-acre (120 ha) theme park located west of Atlanta in unincorporated Cobb County, Georgia, United States. Featuring characters and themes from a couple of Warner Bros. properties such as Looney Tunes and DC Comics, the park opened to the public in 1967 as the second of three theme parks built by Six Flags. It features 11 roller coasters, including top-ranked Mind Bender and Goliath that have been recognized annually by Amusement Today, and over 30 other rides, shows, and attractions. Hurricane Harbor, a 7-acre (2.8 ha) water park included in the price of admission to the amusement park, was added in 2014.
Six Flags Great America is an amusement park located in Gurnee, Illinois, 45 miles north of downtown Chicago. Originally opened in 1976 by the Marriott Corporation as Marriott's Great America, Six Flags has owned and operated the park since 1984. The park features nine themed areas and fifteen roller coasters, as well as a 20-acre (81,000 m2) water park called Hurricane Harbor. Over 3 million guests visited the park in 2017, ranking it among the top 20 amusement parks in North America for attendance.
Arrow Dynamics was an American manufacturing and engineering company that specialized in designing and building amusement park rides, especially roller coasters. Based in Clearfield, Utah, the company was the successor to Arrow Development (1946–1981) and Arrow Huss (1981–1986), which were responsible for several influential advancements in the amusement and theme park industries. Among the most significant was tubular steel track, which provided a smoother ride than the railroad style rails commonly used prior to the 1960s on wooden roller coasters. The Matterhorn Bobsleds at Disneyland, built in 1959, was Arrow's first roller coaster project.
Kentucky Kingdom is an amusement park in Louisville, Kentucky. The 65-acre (26 ha) park includes a collection of amusement rides and a water park named Hurricane Bay. Kentucky Kingdom is located at the intersection of Interstate 65 and Interstate 264, sharing a parking lot with the Kentucky Exposition Center.
Michigan's Adventure is a 250-acre (1.0 km2) amusement park in Muskegon County, Michigan, about halfway between Muskegon and Whitehall. It is the largest amusement park in the state and has been owned and operated by Cedar Fair since 2001. As of 2019, Michigan's Adventure has 52 rides, more than any other park in the state.
The Grand National is a wooden roller coaster located at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in Blackpool, Lancashire in the United Kingdom. It was designed and constructed by Charles Paige in 1935 and is now one of only two surviving wooden Möbius Loop roller coasters in the world. It is themed and named after the Grand National; with elements of the ride signposted to mimic features of the horse race. The trains climb the lift-hill and pass under the 'They're Off' sign and race through 'Becher's Brook', 'Valentine's' and 'Canal Turn' before returning to the 'Winning Post'. The ride stands at 62 feet (19 m) high and has a track length of 3,302 ft (1,006 m). The current trains for this ride were manufactured by Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters
Libertyland was an amusement park located in Memphis, Tennessee. Opened on July 4, 1976, it was located at 940 Early Maxwell Blvd. It was structured under the nonprofit 501(c)4 US tax code. It closed due to financial reasons in 2005.
Gadget's Go Coaster is a junior roller coaster at the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California and Tokyo Disneyland theme park, located in Urayasu, Chiba, Japan, near Tokyo. The ride is based on the work of the character Gadget Hackwrench from the Disney animated series Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers at Tokyo Disneyland and formerly at Disneyland. Gadget is depicted on top of a small weather-vane on a building towards Chip and Dale's Tree House, as well as on a postage stamp in the attraction's loading area.
La Ronde (Round) is an amusement park in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, built as the entertainment complex for Expo 67, the 1967 world fair. Today, it is operated by Six Flags under an emphyteutic lease with the City of Montreal, which expires in 2065. It is the largest amusement park in Quebec and second largest in Canada.
Chance Rides Manufacturing is a roller coaster and amusement ride manufacturer. The company was formed on May 16, 2002, when the former Chance Industries Inc. emerged from bankruptcy. The main office and manufacturing facility are located in Wichita, Kansas.
Mick Doohan's Motocoaster is a 605-metre (1,985 ft) long motorcycle roller coaster at Dreamworld on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The A$10 million ride, constructed by Intamin and opened to the public in September 2007, is associated with Australian motorcyclist Mick Doohan. It is the first motorcycle coaster in Australia, the first Intamin MotorBike Launch Coaster worldwide, and the first to feature life-size replicas of 500 cc racing bikes. In its debut year, the coaster was "narrowly beaten by a 1989 Vekoma ride for the title of world's worst steel roller coaster": the coaster ranked 356th out of the 357 coasters in the Best Steel Roller Coaster Poll. The ride was rated higher in 2008, coming in at number 278 of 392.
SpongeBob SquarePants Rock Bottom Plunge is a Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter roller coaster located at Nickelodeon Universe in the Mall of America, Bloomington, Minnesota. Standing 74.5 feet tall, it is the tallest roller coaster in the park. It also features a beyond vertical drop. It is the first roller coaster themed to SpongeBob SquarePants, and opened with the Nickelodeon Universe grand opening on March 15, 2008. The ride features a vertical loop, and a heartline roll. The ride was installed by Ride Entertainment Group, who handles all of Gerstlauer's operations in the Western Hemisphere. The roller coaster replaced the Mystery Mine Ride which housed Spongebob Squarepants 4-D, and The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera (ride) which was alternately named as Yogi's Big Rescue.
The Pleasure Beach Great Yarmouth is a historic pleasure park located in the seaside resort town of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, on the English east coast. The park first opened in 1909 and has been operating ever since.
Kumbak is a Dutch amusement ride manufacturing company. In addition to manufacturing its own rides, the company primarily specialises in changing existing rides and attractions, originally made by other manufacturers.
Preston & Barbieri is an amusement ride manufacturing company based in Reggio Emilia, Italy. The company was founded in 2000 as a merger of the Preston and Barbieri Rides companies. The company manufactures a wide range of flat rides, water rides and roller coasters out of its 70,000-square-metre (750,000 sq ft) property in Italy.
Jazz Railway was an early model line of wood roller coasters incorporating a steel-frame structure. These operated at various amusement parks and fairgrounds during the mid to late 1920s. The coaster model is considered to be the first of the Wild Mouse style roller coaster.
The Sesquicentennial Cyclone was a steel-framed wooden roller coaster which was operated at the Philadelphia Sesquicentennial Exposition in 1926. Designed and built by Harry Traver of Traver Engineering, the coaster was a medium-sized prototype of Traver's later Giant Cyclone Safety Coasters.
