Kemah is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, southeast of Houston along west Galveston Bay. The city's population was 1,807 at the 2020 census, down from 2,330 at the 2000 census. Located in Galveston County, Kemah's main industry is shipping. Originally a small fishing town, the city has become a tourist destination for the area's restaurants and attractions, which are contained within the Kemah Entertainment District. In 2012 Kemah was ranked the top tourism spot in the Greater Houston area.
Six Flags AstroWorld, also known simply as AstroWorld, was a seasonally operated amusement park in Houston, Texas. Owned and operated by Six Flags, the park was situated between Kirby Drive and Fannin Street, directly south of I-610. The park opened on June 1, 1968, and was developed originally and constructed as part of the Astrodomain, the brainchild of local philanthropist and former Houston mayor Roy Hofheinz, who intended it to complement the Astrodome. The Hofheinz family sold AstroWorld to Six Flags in 1978.
Hersheypark is a family theme park in the eastern United States in Hershey, Pennsylvania, about fifteen miles (25 km) east of Harrisburg, and 95 miles (155 km) west of Philadelphia. The park was founded in 1906, by Milton S. Hershey as a leisure park for the employees of the Hershey Chocolate Company. It is wholly and privately owned by Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company. Hersheypark has won several awards, including the Applause Award.
Clear Lake, or the Clear Lake Area, is a region in parts of Harris and Galveston County in Texas, United States. It is part of the Galveston Bay Area, which itself is a section of the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area. The area is geographically characterized by the bodies of water in it and around it, including Clear Lake, Taylor Lake, Clear Creek, and Galveston Bay.
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.
Landry's, Inc., is an American, privately owned, multi-brand dining, hospitality, entertainment, and gaming corporation headquartered in Houston, Texas. Landry's, Inc., owns and operates more than 600 restaurants, hotels, casinos, and entertainment destinations in 35 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. The company also owns and operates numerous international locations. The company is owned by President & CEO Tilman Fertitta.
The Gravity Group is a wooden roller coaster design firm based in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. The firm was founded in July 2002 out of the engineering team of the famed but now defunct Custom Coasters International. The core group of designers and engineers at The Gravity Group have backgrounds in civil, structural and mechanical engineering. Their experience comes from work on over 40 different wooden roller coasters around the world. The first coaster designed under the Gravity Group opened as Hades at Mount Olympus Theme Park in 2005. The Gravity Group also designed The Voyage at Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana, which opened in May 2006 and is the second-longest wooden roller coaster in the world. These first two accomplishments of the team have been received with great success by both the industry and coaster enthusiasts alike.
The Joker's Jinx is a steel roller coaster at Six Flags America in Prince George's County, Maryland. The ride utilizes linear induction motor technology to launch the train from 0 to 60 mph (97 km/h) in just over three seconds.
D. H. Morgan Manufacturing, later simply known as Morgan, was a manufacturer of roller coaster trains, custom amusement rides, roller coasters, children's rides and other amusement devices. Founded in 1983, the company was originally headquartered in Scotts Valley, California. In 1991, the company moved to La Selva Beach, California, and into a new 55,000-square-foot indoor manufacturing facility. That facility was later increased to 75,000 square feet. The company produced a variety of rides from 1983 until 2001, but is probably best known for its steel hyper coasters.
Boardwalk Fun Park was a 28-acre (110,000 m2) amusement park located in northeast Grand Prairie, Texas near the intersection of Belt Line Road and Interstate 30. It was originally a water park.
The Galveston Bay Area, also known as Bay Area Houston or simply the Bay Area, is a region that surrounds the Galveston Bay estuary of Southeast Texas in the United States, within Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area. Normally the term refers to the mainland communities around the bay and excludes Galveston as well as most of Houston.
Tilman Joseph Fertitta is an American billionaire businessman and television personality. He is the chairman, CEO, and owner of Landry's, Inc. He also owns the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s Houston Rockets. Fertitta is chairman of the board of regents of the University of Houston System.
Hurricane Ike caused major destruction in Texas with crippling and long-lasting effects, including death, widespread damage, and impacts to the price and availability of oil and gas. Hurricane Ike also had a long-term impact on the U.S. economy. Making landfall over Galveston as a Category 2 hurricane, at 2:10 a.m. CDT on September 13, 2008, Hurricane Ike caused extensive damage in Texas, with sustained winds of 110 mph (180 km/h), a 22 ft (6.7 m) storm surge, and widespread coastal flooding.
The Boardwalk Bullet is a wooden roller coaster at the Kemah Boardwalk amusement park in Kemah, Texas, United States. Opened August 31, 2007, it is the only wooden roller coaster in Greater Houston, and one of only four wooden coasters in Texas. It is a 96-foot-tall (29 m), 3,236-foot-long (986 m) twisted wooden roller coaster designed by The Gravity Group built on a 1-acre (0.40 ha) footprint, making it one of the most compact wooden coasters in the world. The bullet is one of the most popular rides at Kemah Boardwalk.
Houston's Luna Park, was an amusement park that was operated from 1924 until about 1934. The 36-acre (150,000 m2) "Coney Island of Texas" was built at a cost of $325,000 and featured a carousel, picnic areas, live entertainment, a dance hall with spring-supported floors, and various mechanical rides, including the Giant Skyrocket roller coaster. At night the park was bathed in the light emitted from 50,000 light bulbs. While it was a trolley park, Houston's Luna Park was one of the first amusement parks to offer free automobile parking to its patrons.
An animal theme park, also known as a zoological theme park, is a combination of an amusement park and a zoo, mainly for entertainment, amusement, and commercial purposes. Many animal theme parks combine classic theme park elements, such as themed entertainment and amusement rides, with classic zoo elements such as live animals confined within enclosures for display. Many times, live animals are utilized and featured as part of amusement rides and attractions found at animal theme parks.
Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier is a pleasure pier in Galveston, Texas, United States. Opened in the summer of 2012, it has 1 roller coaster, 15 rides, carnival games and souvenir shops.
Martin & Vleminckx is a roller coaster manufacturing and construction company headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada with an affiliated office in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, a manufacturing facility in Haines City, Florida, United States, and two subsidiaries, including a warehouse, in China.
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.
