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.
Six Flags America is a theme park located in the Woodmore CDP of Prince George's County, Maryland, near Upper Marlboro, and in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.
SeaWorld is an American theme park chain with headquarters in Orlando, Florida. It is a proprietor of marine mammal parks, oceanariums, animal theme parks, and rehabilitation centers owned by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. The parks feature orcas, sea lion, and dolphin shows and zoological displays featuring various other marine animals.
Geauga Lake was an amusement park in Bainbridge Township and Aurora, Ohio. It was established in 1887, in what had been a local recreation area adjacent to a lake of the same name. The first amusement ride was added in 1889, and the park's first roller coaster – later known as the Big Dipper – was built in 1925. The park was sold to Funtime, Inc., in 1969 and was expanded over the years with additional rides and amenities. Funtime was acquired by Premier Parks in 1995, and for the 2000 season, they re-branded Geauga Lake as Six Flags Ohio, adding four new roller coasters. The following year, Six Flags bought the adjacent SeaWorld Ohio and combined the two parks under the name Six Flags Worlds of Adventure.
Busch Gardens is the name of two amusement parks in the United States, owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. The original park is in Tampa, Florida, and the second park is in Williamsburg, Virginia. There were also previously Busch Gardens parks in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California (1964–1979) and Houston, Texas (1971–1973). The "Busch Gardens" name was earlier used to refer to the gardens developed by Adolphus Busch near his home in Pasadena, California, which were open to the public from 1906 to 1937.
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay is a 335-acre (136 ha) animal theme park located in Tampa, Florida, United States, with the entire park landscaped and designed around themes of Africa and Asia. Owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, the park opened on June 1, 1959. The park has an annual attendance consistently exceeding 4 million, often ranking second among SeaWorld parks behind SeaWorld Orlando. The park features many roller coasters and thrill rides, including a Dive Coaster called SheiKra, a "family-style" thrill coaster themed around cheetahs called Cheetah Hunt, a launched roller coaster called Tigris, a classic seated steel roller coaster called Kumba, a wood-steel hybrid hypercoaster called Iron Gwazi, Falcon's Fury, and Montu, which was the tallest and fastest inverted roller coaster in the world when it opened. The park also features several rides and attractions aimed for children under the age of nine, as well as two water rides — a river rafting ride and a classic log flume.
Movie Park Germany is a theme park in Bottrop-Kirchhellen in western Germany, 50 kilometres (30 mi) north of Düsseldorf, with an area of 40 hectares. It consists of 7 areas based on movies and TV series. Nearby the park are several film studios.
Seabreeze Amusement Park (Seabreeze) is a historic family amusement park located in Irondequoit, New York, a suburb of Rochester, where Irondequoit Bay meets Lake Ontario. According to the National Amusement Park Historical Association (NAPHA), Seabreeze is the fourth-oldest operating amusement park in the United States and the thirteenth-oldest operating amusement park in the world, having opened in 1879. The park features roller coasters, a variety of other rides, a midway, and a water park.
Kraken is a steel roller coaster located at SeaWorld Orlando in Florida, United States. Manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, the ride opened as the second longest floorless coaster in the world on June 1, 2000, with a track length measuring 4,177 feet (1,273 m). It features a total of seven inversions and reaches a maximum speed of 65 mph (105 km/h). The coaster was named after a fictional sea monster of the same name. In late 2016, Kraken underwent a refurbishment and reopened as Kraken Unleashed in June 2017. A virtual reality experience was added to the ride, but due to technical difficulties and extensive wait times, the feature was permanently removed the following year.
SeaWorld Orlando is a theme park and marine zoological park. While its name includes the City of Orlando, the park complex is actually located in Unincorporated Orange County, Florida near Orlando, Florida. It is owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. When combined with its neighbors Discovery Cove and Aquatica, it forms SeaWorld Parks and Resorts Orlando, an entertainment complex consisting of the three parks and many hotels. In 2018, SeaWorld Orlando hosted an estimated 4.594 million guests, ranking it the 10th most visited amusement park in the United States.
SeaWorld San Diego is located in Mission Bay Park, San Diego, California, United States. Owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, the park is multifaceted, animal-focused marine mammal park, oceanarium, and aquarium—with both indoor and outdoor aquatic exhibits. Behind-the-scenes, SeaWorld San Diego is also a noted marine animal rehabilitation center. The park's shared waters of Mission Bay connect directly to the Pacific Ocean, and it is this seaside location—and accessibility by boat—which enables the rescuing, rehabilitating and re-releasing of injured, orphaned or stranded marine animals.
SeaWorld Ohio was a theme park and marine zoological park, located in Aurora, Ohio. It was owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, formerly known as Busch Entertainment Corporation. The Ohio location was the second SeaWorld park to be built in the chain, following SeaWorld San Diego which opened just six years earlier. The park was developed by George Millay, founder of the SeaWorld brand. Wildwater Kingdom, a waterpark built by Cedar Fair in 2005, occupied the property until its closure in September 2016.
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.
Simulator rides are a type of amusement park or fairground ride, where the audience is shown a movie while their seats move to correspond to the action on screen.
Wild Arctic is an animal exhibit featuring beluga whales, walruses, and harbor seals at SeaWorld Orlando and SeaWorld San Diego. It previously featured a motion simulation at both parks. This attraction replaced Mission: Bermuda Triangle at both locations.
This is a list of events and openings related to amusement parks that occurred in 2011. These various lists are not exhaustive.
This is a list of events and openings related to amusement parks that have occurred in 2012. These various lists are not exhaustive.
This is a list of events and openings related to amusement parks that occurred in 2013. These various lists are not exhaustive.
Antarctica: Empire of the Penguin is a theme area at SeaWorld Orlando which featured a motion-based, trackless dark ride and a penguinarium. The ride has been closed indefinitely since March 2020. The Antarctica-themed area is spread across 4 acres (1.6 ha) inside SeaWorld Orlando.
This article is a list of events and openings related to amusement parks that occurred in 2016. These various lists are not exhaustive.
Wheelchair accessible
Must transfer from wheelchair