Waldameer Park

Last updated
Waldameer Park
Waldameer-logo.png
Waldameer overview.png
Water World and a portion of Waldameer Park as seen from the Tom Ridge Environmental Center
Location Erie, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Coordinates 42°06′31″N80°09′20″W / 42.108691°N 80.155458°W / 42.108691; -80.155458 Coordinates: 42°06′31″N80°09′20″W / 42.108691°N 80.155458°W / 42.108691; -80.155458
SloganYou're gonna love it!
OwnerPaul Nelson
General managerSteve Gorman
Opened1896
Operating seasonMay to September
Area34 acres (14 ha)
Attractions
Total36
Roller coasters5
Water rides1
Website Waldameer.com
StatusOperating

Waldameer Park and Water World is an amusement park and water park in Erie, Pennsylvania located at the base of Presque Isle. Waldameer is the fourth oldest amusement park in Pennsylvania, the tenth oldest in the nation, and one of only thirteen trolley parks still operating in the United States. [1] The park is admission-free, with a midway, and covered picnic facilities. The roller coasters and other major rides require either the display of a paid wristband scanned upon riding, or the use of "Wally Points" on their "Wally Card" system. A gift shop is located in the park selling Waldameer souvenirs. The water park operates an assortment of water slides and raft rides and is admission by fee only. The name "Waldameer" can be translated literally as "Woods by the Sea" in German. [2] Waldameer's operating season runs from May through September.

Contents

History

The park began as a picnic area called Hoffman's Grove. The Erie Electric Motor Company leased the park in 1896 and renamed it "Waldameer." The trolley car company extended service to its new park, making Hoffman's Grove picnic area a terminus on the line in the hopes of increasing passenger traffic. [3]

The park operates two classic dark attractions: the Whacky Shack (built in 1970), a two-story ride, and the Pirates Cove (built in 1972), a walk-through funhouse. Both were designed and built by dark ride specialist Bill Tracy and his company, Amusement Display Associates of Cape May, New Jersey.

Waldameer sold its classic carousel at auction in 1988 for more than $1 million. A new carousel with sixty operating horses was obtained from Chance Manufacturing. The park owner intended to construct a new restaurant called The Carousel next to the Rainbow Gardens banquet hall, though this idea never came to fruition. A 10-foot giraffe and a jumping horse from the classic carousel were reserved from the auction to be used in the new restaurant. Part of the auction proceeds was used to erect four additional water slides—a speed slide, free fall slide, one-man and two-man raft sides—all built by Molded Fiberglass Company of Union City. [4]

For the 2007 season, Waldameer opened X-Scream, a 140-foot-tall drop tower ride. In 2008, the highly anticipated Ravine Flyer II wooden coaster opened, leading to 20% increase in attendance, and the busiest season in park history. [5] The coaster won the Golden Ticket Award for the best new ride for 2008. [6] The 2009 season saw the extension of the midway south to coincide with the addition of a new Disk-O ride, Mega Vortex. A modern, "cashless" pay system called a Wally Card was introduced for 2010. A new family-oriented area, The North End, located within the train turnaround, opened in 2011. The rides located in the area are the Flying Swings, S.S. Wally, and Wendy's Tea Party. New additions for the 2012 season included the Zamperla-manufactured Happy Swing (located in the Kiddieland area), a second train for the L. Ruth Express, a redesigned loading area for the Whacky Shack, and the requirement that all in-park transactions must be made with a Wally Card. For the 2014 season, Waldameer painted the slides in Water World, as well as added new decorative items throughout the park. In 2015, Waldameer began a waterpark expansion with the opening of the largest wave pool in the tri-state area. [7] The 2016 season saw the addition of slides and a splash pad for younger children known as Kidz Zone. [8] A water playground, dubbed Battle of Lake Erie, was introduced for the 2017 season. [9] New additions for the 2018 season included a bowl slide from ProSlide Technology, called CannonBOWL, and a Zamperla Samba Balloon Ride, named Balloon Race. [10] In 2019, the park unveiled Chaos, a Zamperla Discovery pendulum ride called the Chaos. [11] For the 2020 season, the park added a compact spinning coaster from Italian manufacturer SBF Visa and named it Whirlwind. It is located adjacent to Ali Baba and was the park's first new coaster since Ravine Flyer II in 2008.

Pavilion Waldameer pavillion.JPG
Pavilion
Whacky Shack & Pirates Cove Shack and cove.JPG
Whacky Shack & Pirates Cove
Waldameer's Ferris Wheel Waldameer wonder wheel.JPG
Waldameer's Ferris Wheel
Mega Vortex Mega Vortex - panoramio.jpg
Mega Vortex

Awards

In 2008, Ravine Flyer II was named "Best New Ride" by Amusement Today and was ranked #11. That same year, Paul Nelson was named "Person of the Year" by Amusement Today.

In addition, Waldameer’s two Bill Tracy dark rides, Whacky Shack and Pirate's Cove, have won numerous dark ride awards from DAFE.org. Both attractions have consistently ranked in the top 10 for their respective categories (Classic Dark Ride and Walkthrough).

Current rides

Roller coasters

NameYear OpenedTypeManufacturer/ModelComments
Comet 1951 Wooden roller coaster Herbert Paul Schmeck ACE Coaster Classic [12]
Ravine Flyer II 2008 Adult wooden roller coaster The Gravity Group
Ravine Flyer 3 2000 Junior coaster E&F Miler Industries
Steel Dragon 2004Spinning coaster Maurer Söhne
Whirlwind2020Spinning coaster SBF Visa Group

Thrill rides

NameYear OpenedTypeManufacturer
Ali Baba1999Ali BabaARM Rides
Chaos2019Discovery Revolution Zamperla
Flying Swings2011Midi Family Swinger Zamperla
Mega Vortex2009Disk-O Zamperla
Music Express2013Music Express Bertazzon
Paratrooper1973Paratrooper Hrubetz MFG
Scrambler1964Scrambler Eli Bridge Company
Sea Dragon1992Sea Dragon Chance Rides
Spider1977Octopus Eyerly
TIlt-A-Whirl1964Tilt-A-Whirl Sellner Manufacturing
Wipeout1995Wipeout Chance Rides
X-Scream2007Super ShotARM Rides

Family rides

NameYear OpenedTypeManufacturer
Balloon Race2018Balloon Race Zamperla
Dodg'ems1970sBumper carsMajestic
Ferris Wheel1994Ferris Wheel Chance Rides
Grand Carousel1989 Merry-go-round Chance Rides
L. Ruth Express Train1972Train ride Chance Rides
Sky Ride1978Scenic elevated gondola ride Hopkins
S.S. Wally2011Rockin' Tug Zamperla
Wendy's Tea Party2011Teacups Zamperla

Dark attractions

NameYear OpenedTypeManufacturer
Pirates Cove1972Walk-throughBill Tracy
Whacky Shack1970Ride-through haunted houseBill Tracy

Kiddie rides

NameYear OpenedTypeManufacturer
Big Rigs1999Convoy Zamperla
Frog Hopper1999Frog Hopper S&S Power
Happy Swing2012Happy Swing Zamperla
Kiddie Wet Boats1950Kiddie Boats Allan Herschell Company
Lil Toot1994UnknownUnknown
Pony RideUnknownUnknownSpinning pony ride
Sky FighterUnknownUnknownSpinning rocket ride

Water attractions

NameYear OpenedTypeManufacturer
Thunder River1996 Log flume Hopkins Rides

Water World

Water World is a water park located in Waldameer Park. Established in 1986, and completed in 1992, Water World contains 11 major slides, an Endless River, Heated Relaxing Pool, and several kids' zones. In June 2015, Waldameer opened a wave pool that can accommodate 1,000 people.

Water World slides and attractions

Kid Zones

Past rides and attractions

Past rides

Past attractions

Incidents at Waldameer Park

Ravine Flyer

During the late evening hours of August 8, 1938, the Ravine Flyer failed to clear the hill following the bridge crossing Peninsula Drive. As the train continued to travel back and forth over Peninsula Drive, a woman became hysterical. Her brother then rose out of his seat in an attempt to calm her. He lost his balance, which resulted in the fall to his death in the middle of Peninsula Drive. [13] [14] The Ravine Flyer was shut down for further investigation, which revealed no direct cause of the accident. However, the roller coaster was demolished as the owner's wife was devastated by the event. The Ravine Flyer was finally replaced 70 years later in 2008 by the Ravine Flyer II in which Peninsula Drive was spanned again. [5]

Chaos

On June 28, 2019, the Chaos ride was going through its usual cycle. At around 1:30 p.m., the ride became stuck upside-down for about two minutes. There were no injuries reported during this incident. The ride was closed for the rest of the day and reopened the following day with the upside-down feature removed. On July 3, the cause of the malfunction was stated to be because of loose wires. The ride was opened to its full ride cycle on July 4 without further issues.

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References

  1. ↑ National Scenic Byways Program. "Waldameer Park and WaterWorld". Federal Highway Administration. Archived from the original on 2011-06-09. Retrieved 2007-05-25.
  2. ↑ Futrell, Jim (2002). Amusement Parks of Pennsylvania. pp.  M1 104. ISBN   0-8117-2671-1.
  3. ↑ Walling, Emory A (1928). Memoirs of Erie County, Pennsylvania, Bench and Bar.
  4. ↑ "Sale of Waldameer Carousel Brings More Than $1 Million to Fund New Water Park and New Restaurant". Erie Daily Times . 12 December 1988.
  5. 1 2 "Long-awaited roller coaster debuts in Erie County". schurz-dailyamerican. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  6. ↑ Baldwin, Tim (September 2008). "Amusement Today's 2008 Golden Ticket Awards" (PDF). Amusement Today. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Wave Pool Opens at Waldameer Park". YOURERIE. 2015-06-09. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  8. ↑ Palattella, Ed. "Waldameer adding attractions to last summer's $9 million expansion". GoErie.com. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  9. ↑ "'Battle of Lake Erie' Opens in Waldameer's Water World" . Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  10. ↑ Bruce, David. "Erie park to open two new rides in 2018". GoErie.com. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  11. ↑ Rink, Matthew. "Waldameer adding some Chaos in 2019". GoErie.com. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  12. ↑ "ACE Coaster Classic Awards". Archived from the original on 2015-09-08. Retrieved 2008-02-21.
  13. ↑ "Article 404 - GoErie.com - Erie, PA". GoErie.com.
  14. ↑ Futrell, Jim (2013). Waldameer Park. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. p. 39. ISBN   9780738598376. OCLC   820434675.
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