DIVERSITY | Offering a place for everyone
30 June 2008
U.S. Amusement Parks: An Industry That Entertains Millions
Exciting rides, other attractions keep customers coming back
Washington -- The thrill of riding a gravity-defying roller coaster and the hope of winning a giant toy animal are powerful incentives that keep families and thrill-seekers visiting the 400-plus amusement parks operating throughout the United States.
Today’s parks offer an experience that cannot be duplicated elsewhere. Americans continue to seek the thrill and excitement of leaving the real world behind and venturing into a fantasyland full of wild rides and larger-than-life attractions.
Originally conceptualized in Europe as “pleasure gardens,” amusement parks were introduced in the United States in the late 1800s and have evolved into an industry that draws as many as 335 million visitors a year.
Amusement parks were first established in America as a way to increase ridership on trolley lines. Parks with picnic areas, dancing and music were built at the end of the trolley line and provided a place to take the family for a day of fun.
The first World’s Fair in Chicago, in 1893, introduced the Ferris wheel and the midway (a concessions area, located in the middle of a facility, where patrons could purchase food and beverages and win prizes), which ultimately shaped the industry’s future. In 1894, Paul Boynton opened the world’s first modern amusement park, Paul Boynton’s Water Chutes, in Chicago. Boynton’s parks charged admission and used rides to draw crowds.
When Boynton’s first park became a huge success, he opened three more at New York City’s Coney Island, the site of some earlier attractions. Steeplechase Park was the first to open in 1897, followed by Luna Park (1903) and Dreamland (1904).
Over the years, new amusement parks opened and new rides were created. By 1919, more than 1,500 amusement parks were in operation in the United States.
By the 1950s, traditional amusement parks were suffering. Following the Great Depression of the 1930s and World War II in the 1940s, many of the original parks -- including those on Coney Island -- either had burned down (most structures in the early parks were wooden) or closed.
Modern theme parks like California’s Disneyland, which opened in 1954, and Six Flags Over Texas, which opened in 1961, revived the industry. Texas oil baron Angus Wynne helped form the concept of the theme park, which expanded the traditional amusement park of the past into self-contained areas based around a central theme.
Both Disneyland and Six Flags Over Texas were successful immediately. By the 1980s, the theme-park industry was bigger than ever before. Hundreds of new theme parks cropped up, banking on the success of the early pioneers. In 1971, a Disneyland spin-off -- Walt Disney World Resort -- opened near Orlando, Florida. It now ranks as the most visited and largest recreational resort in the world.
The most popular attraction at any amusement park is the roller coaster. The Switchback Railway, the first American roller coaster, opened at Coney Island in 1884. The concept was created by La Marcus Adna Thompson as a faster way for railroad owners to transport coal down a mountain. Soon the railway started carrying passengers instead of coal, and the ride quickly became a hit because of the high speed. The idea was patented and transformed into the Switchback Railway at Coney Island.
No other experience quite equals the excitement of coasters, which have garnered a widespread fan base of extreme enthusiasts. Amusement parks compete to launch the fastest, tallest and scariest roller coasters, and thrill-seekers buy tickets to experience the adrenaline rush.
Coasters come in every shape and size, and take riders through loops, upside down, standing up and inverted on the track. The Kingda Ka ride at Six Flags Great Adventure park near Philadelphia currently claims to be the world’s tallest and fastest roller coaster, reaching almost 139 meters high and reaching speeds up to 205 kilometers per hour in as little as 3.5 seconds.
Parks such as Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, and the Six Flags theme parks are in constant competition for the honor of engineering the tallest and fastest ride. The promise of a bigger thrill just waiting to be unveiled keeps patrons eager for more, and will continue to propel the amusement park industry into the future.
