 Amusement Parks

Amusement park is the generic term for a collection of rides and other entertainment
attractions assembled for the purpose of entertaining a large group of people. An
amusement park is more elaborate than a simple city park or playground, usually
providing attractions meant to cater to adults, teenagers, and small children. A
theme park is a type of amusement park which has been built around one or more
themes, such as an American West theme, or Atlantis. Today, the terms amusement
parks and theme parks are often used interchangeably.

Amusement parks evolved in Europe from fairs and pleasure gardens which were
created for people’s recreation. The oldest amusement park of the world (opened
1583) is Bakken, at Klampenborg, north of Copenhagen, Denmark. In the United
States, world's fairs and expositions were another influence on development of the
amusement park industry.

Most amusement parks have a fixed location, as compared to traveling funfairs and
carnivals. These temporary types of amusement parks, are usually present for a few
days or weeks per year, such as funfairs in the United Kingdom, and carnivals
(temporarily set up in a vacant lot or parking lots) and fairs (temporarily operated in a
fair ground) in the United States. The temporary nature of these fairs helps to convey
the feeling that people are in a different place or time.

Often a theme park will have various 'lands' (sections) of the park devoted to telling a
particular story. Non-theme amusement park rides will usually have little in terms of
theming or additional design elements while in a theme park all the rides go all with
the theme of the park, for example Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World.

The modern amusement park

The Blackgang Chine amusement park, established in 1843 by Victorian

entrepreneur Alexander Dabell, on the Isle of Wight, UK can be considered the
oldest existing theme park in the world. The first amusement park on Coney Island,
Sea Lion Park was built around a nautical theme. Today, central Florida and most
notably Orlando boasts more theme parks than any other worldwide destination. The
northeastern USA region, most notably Pennsylvania, is now a hotbed of traditional
surviving amusement parks. In its truest traditional form is Conneaut Lake Park in
Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania. Others include Kennywood in West Mifflin,
Pennsylvania, Idlewild Park in Ligonier, Pennsylvania, Lakemont Park in Altoona,
Pennsylvania, Dorney Park in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and Waldameer Park in
Erie, Pennsylvania.

Modern amusement parks now run differently than those of years past. Amusement
parks are usually owned by a large corporate conglomerate which allows capital
investment unknown by the traditional family-owned parks. Starting with Disneyland
in the 1950s, the park experience became part of a larger package, reflected in a
television show, movies, lunch boxes, action figures and finally park rides and
costumed characters that make up the "theme." These parks offer a world with no
violence or social problems. The thrills of the theme parks are often obscured from
the outside by high fences or barriers re-enforcing the feeling of escape, they are
kept clean and new thrill rides are frequently added to keep people coming back. In
addition to this experience, the theme park is either based on a central theme or,
divided into several distinctly themed areas, lands or "spaces." Large resorts, such
as Walt Disney World in Florida (United States), actually house several different
theme parks within their confines.

Family-owned theme parks

Some theme parks did evolve from more traditional amusement park enterprises,
such as Knott's Berry Farm. In the 1920s, Walter Knott and his family sold berries
from a roadside stand, which grew to include a restaurant serving fried chicken
dinners. Within a few years, lines outside the restaurant were often several hours
long. To entertain the waiting crowds, Walter built a Ghost Town in 1940, using
buildings relocated from real old west towns such as the Calico, California ghost
town and Prescott, Arizona. In 1968, the Knott family fenced the farm, charged
admission for the first time, and Knott's Berry Farm officially became an amusement
park. Because of its long history, Knott's Berry Farm currently claims to be
"America's First Theme Park." Knott's Berry Farm is now owned by Cedar Fair
Entertainment Company. Lake Compounce in Bristol, Connecticut may be the true
oldest continuously operating amusement park in the United States, open since
1846. Santa Claus Town, which opened in Santa Claus, Indiana in 1935 and
included Santa's Candy Castle and other Santa Claus-themed attractions, is
considered the first themed attraction in the United States: a pre-cursor to the
modern day theme park. Santa Claus Land (renamed Holiday World in 1984)
opened in 1946 in Santa Claus, Indiana and many people will argue that it was the
first true Theme Park despite Knott's history. In the 1950’s the Herschend family took
over operation of the tourist attraction, Marvel Cave near Branson, Missouri. Over
the next decade they modernized the cave, which led to large numbers of people
waiting to take the tour. The Herschend family opened a recreation of the old mining
town that once existed atop Marvel Cave. The small village eventually became the
theme park, Silver Dollar City. The park is still owned and operated by the
Herschends and the family has several other parks including Dollywood, Celebration
City and Wild Adventures.

Other theme parks include: Children's Fairyland in Oakland, California. Another

variation of the theme park were the animal parks that reintroduced the concept of
Sea Lion Park such as Marineland of the Pacific which opened in 1954 which paved
the way for SeaWorld parks which eventually added thrill rides

Disneyland and the corporate-owned park

Walt Disney, however, is often credited with having originated the concept of the
themed amusement park, although he was obviously influenced by Tivoli Gardens in
Copenhagen and De Efteling, Netherlands to which Walt was a regular visitor.
Disney took these influences and melded them with the popular Disney animated
characters and his unique vision, and "Disneyland" was born. Disneyland officially
opened in Anaheim, California in 1955 and changed the amusement industry
forever. Key to the design process of Disney's new park was the replacement of
architects with art directors from the film industry.

The years in which Disneyland opened were a sort of stopgap period for the
amusement park industry, as many of the older, traditional amusement parks had
already closed and many were close to closing their doors. Cedar Point was set to
be torn down in the 1950s when local businesspeople were intrigued by the success
of Disneyland and saved it from destruction. Other parks were not as lucky, with
Steeplechase Park at Coney Island closing in 1964; Riverview Park, Chicago,
Illinois, closed in 1967. Some traditional parks were able to borrow a page from
Disneyland and use television to its advantage, such as Kennywood, a park started
in 1898 and continuing to operate to the present which used television advertising
and featured television personalities at the park.

The first regional theme park, as well as the first Six Flags park, Six Flags over
Texas was officially opened in 1961 in Arlington, Texas near Dallas. The first Six
Flags theme park was the vision of Angus Wynne, Jr. and helped create the modern,
competitive theme park industry. By 1968, the second Six Flags park, Six Flags Over
Georgia, opened, and in 1971, Six Flags Over Mid-America (now Six Flags St.
Louis) opened near St. Louis, Missouri. Also in 1971 was the opening of the Walt
Disney World resort complex in Florida, which is still the largest theme park and
resort complex in the world.

During the 1970s, the theme park industry started to mature as a combination of
revitalized traditional amusement parks and new ventures funded by larger
corporations emerged. Magic Mountain (now a Six Flags park) opened in Valencia,
California. Regional parks such as Cedar Point and Kings Island, popular
amusement parks in Ohio, moved towards the more modern theme park-concept as
well as rotating new roller coasters and modern thrill rides. Also during the mid-
1970s, Marriott Corporation built two identical theme parks named "Great America"
in northern California and Illinois. The former is now California's Great America and
is owned by Cedar Fair, L.P., which now also owns Kings Island and Cedar Point;
and the latter is now Six Flags Great America. Many theme parks were hit badly by
the Arab oil embargo of 1973 and a number of planned theme parks were scrapped
during this time. Most of today’s major amusement parks were built in the 1970s.

Perhaps the most indirect evolution of an attraction into a full-fledged theme park is
that of Universal Studios Hollywood. Originally just a backlot tram ride tour of the
actual studios in Hollywood, California, the train ride that started in 1964 slowly
evolved into a larger attraction with a western stunt show in 1967, "The Parting of the
Red Sea" in 1973, a look at props from the movie Jaws in 1975, and the "Conan the
Barbarian" show in 1984. By 1985, the modern era of the Universal Studios
Hollywood theme park began with the "King Kong" ride and, in 1990, Universal
Studios Florida in Orlando opened. Universal Studios is now the third-largest theme
park company in the world, behind Disney and Merlin.

Although domestic visitors still make up around 80 percent of admissions to theme

and amusement parks, an aging population in the U.S. and a slowing economy in
2008 are forcing The Walt Disney Company and its competitors to seek their
fortunes in emerging tourist markets such as in the Middle East and in China. The
Walt Disney Company, accounts for around half of the total industry's revenue in the
US as a result of more than 50 million adventure seekers pouring through the gates
of its U.S.-based attractions each year.

Present and future of amusement parks

Since the 1980s, the amusement park industry has become larger than ever before,
with everything from large, worldwide type theme parks such as Disneyland and
Universal Studios Hollywood to smaller and medium-sized theme parks such as the
Six Flags parks and countless smaller ventures in many of the states of the U.S. and
in countries around the world. Even simpler theme parks directly aimed at smaller
children have emerged, including Legoland in Carlsbad, California (the first Legoland
opened in Billund, Denmark). The only limit to future theme park ventures is one's
imagination.

In 2001, Disney opened the Disney's California Adventure which includes Paradise
Pier, a recreation of the traditional seaside amusement park of yesteryear.
Amusement parks in shopping malls began in the 1990s, blending traditional
amusement park entertainments - roller coasters, water parks, carousels, and live
entertainment-- with hotels, movie theaters, and shopping facilities. Examples of
giant mall parks are West Edmonton Mall, Alberta, Canada; Pier 39, San Francisco;
Mall of America, Bloomington, Minnesota. Amusement park owners are also aware
of the need to satisfy their aging baby boomer customer base with more restaurants,
landscaping, gardens and live entertainment. Kennywood has created the "Lost
Kennywood" area with classic rides that recall the possibly more tranquil times of the
early twentieth century.

Family fun parks starting as miniature golf courses have begun to grow to include
batting cages, go-karts, bumper cars, bumper boats and water slides. Some of these
parks have grown to include even roller coasters, and traditional amusement parks
now also have these competition areas in addition to their thrill rides.

The popularity of theme parks has led to the increase of theming--"the use of an
overarching theme, such as western, to create a holistic and integrated spatial
organization of a consumer venue"-- in non-theme park venues. While theme
restaurants, casinos, and other themed spaces lack the rides and other features of
theme parks, they owe much to the legacy of the theme lands and spatial
organization that became popular in theme parks.

Admission prices and admission policies

Amusement parks collect much of their revenue from admission fees paid by guests
attending the park. Other revenue sources include parking fees, food and beverage
sales and souvenirs.

Practically all amusement parks operate using one of two admission principles:

Pay-as-you-go

In this format, a guest enters the park at little or no charge. The guest must then
purchase rides individually, either at the attraction's entrance or by purchasing ride
tickets (or a similar exchange method, like a token). The cost of the attraction is
often based on its complexity or popularity. For example, a guest might pay one
ticket to ride a carousel, but would pay four tickets to ride a roller coaster. The park
may allow guests to purchase unlimited admissions to all attractions within the park.
A wristband or pass is then shown at the attraction entrance to gain admission.

Disneyland opened in 1955 using the pay-as-you-go format. Initially, guests paid the
ride admission fees at the attractions. Within a short time, the problems of handling
such large amounts of coins led to the development of a ticket system that, while
now out of use, is still part of the amusement-park lexicon. In this new format, guests
purchased ticket books that contained a number of tickets, labeled "A," "B" and "C."
Rides and attractions using an "A-ticket" were generally simple, with "B-tickets" and
"C-tickets" used for the larger, more popular rides. Later, the "D-ticket" was added,
then finally the now-famous "E-ticket," which was used on the biggest and most
elaborate rides, like Space Mountain. Smaller tickets could be traded up for use on
larger rides (i.e., two or three A-tickets would equal a single B-ticket).

The advantages of pay-as-you-go include:

- guests pay for only what they choose to experience
- attraction costs can be changed easily to encourage use or capitalize on popularity
The disadvantages of pay-as-you-go include:
- guests may get tired of spending money almost continuously
- guests may not spend as much on food or souvenirs

Pay-one-price

An amusement park using the pay-one-price format will charge guests a single, large
admission fee. The guest is then entitled to use almost all of the attractions in the
park as often as they wish during their visit. The park might have some attractions
that are not included in the admission charge; these are called "up-charge
attractions" and can include bungee jumping or go-kart tracks or games of skill.
However, the majority of the park's attractions are included in the admission cost.

The “pay-one-price” ticket was first used by George Tilyou at Steeplechase Park,
Coney Island in 1897. The entrance fee was 25 cents for entrance to the 15-acre
(61,000 m2) park and visitors could enjoy all of the attractions as much as they
wanted.

When Angus Wynne, founder of Six Flags Over Texas, first visited Disneyland in
1959, he noted that park's pay-as-you-go format as a reason to make his park pay-
one-price. He felt that a family would be more likely to visit his park if they knew, up
front, how much it would cost to attend.

The advantages of pay-one-price include:

- guests can more easily budget their visit
- guests may be more likely to experience an attraction they've already paid for
- guests may be willing to spend more on food and souvenirs

Rides and attractions

Mechanized thrill machines are what makes an amusement park out of a pastoral,
relaxing picnic grove or retreat. Earliest rides include the carousel which was
originally developed as a way of practicing and then showing-off expertise at
tournament skills such as riding and spearing the ring. By the 19th century,
carousels were common in parks around the world. Another such ride which shaped
the future of the amusement park was the roller coaster. Beginning as a winter sport
in 17th century Russia, these gravity driven railroads were the beginning of the
search for even more thrilling amusement park rides. The Columbian Exposition of
1893 was a particular fertile testing ground for amusement rides. The Ferris wheel is
the most recognized product of the fair. All rides are set round a theme.

A park contains a mixture of attractions which can be divided into several categories.
Many thrill rides, such as the enterprise and the gravitron, include spinning people at
high speed coupled with other accelerations.

Thrill rides

There is a core set of thrill rides which most amusement parks have, including the
enterprise, tilt-a-whirl, the gravitron, chairswing, swinging inverter ship, twister, and
the top spin. However, there is constant innovation, with new variations on ways to
spin and throw passengers around appearing in an effort to keep attracting
customers.

Roller coasters
Since the late 19th century, amusement parks have featured roller coasters. Roller
coasters feature steep drops, sharp curves, and inversions. Roller coasters may be
the most attractive aspect of a park, but many people come for other reasons.
Amusement parks generally have anywhere from two to seven coasters, depending
on space and budget. The record for the most coasters in one park is held by Cedar
Point with 17; Canada's Wonderland and Six Flags Magic Mountain are tied for
second with 15.

Train rides
Amusement park trains have had long and varied history in Amusement parks in the
US as well as overseas. Based on what I have discovered visiting various website
and speaking with various historians, the earliest park trains weren't really trains --
they were trolleys. The earliest park trains were mostly custom built. Some of the
most common manufacturers were:
Allan Herschfield Cagney Brothers Chance Rides(C.P.Huntington) Crown Metal
Products Custom Locomotives Minature Train Co.(MTC) The National Amusement
Devices Co.(NAD) Ottaway Sandley Tampa Metal Products

Water rides

Amusement parks with water resources generally feature a few water rides, such as
the log flume, bumper boats, and rowing boats. Such rides are usually gentler and
shorter than roller coasters and many are suitable for all ages. Water rides are
especially popular on hot days.

Transport rides

Transport rides are used to take large amount of guests from one area in the park to
another. They usually cost extra, even in parks where rides are free. They are
generally popular as they offer an alternative to walking. Transport rides include
chairlifts, monorails, and trains.

Cuisine

Amusement parks generate a portion of their income through the sale of food and
drink to their patrons. Food is routinely sold through food booths, push carts and
indoor restaurants. The offerings vary as widely as the amusement parks
themselves, and range from common fast food items, like hamburgers and hot dogs,
and local street foods up to full-service gourmet dishes. Amusement parks with
exotic themes may include specialty items or delicacies related to the park's theme.
Many restaurants and food stands are operated by the amusement parks
themselves, while others are branches of regional or national chains.