Cotton candy memories of the midway are part and parcel of the American experience, ranking alongside football and baseball as key ingredients in the national psyche. Screaming through a loopty-loop or receiving whiplash from bumper cars are experiences embedded in the memories of many Americans. Yet the distinct American pastime of amusement parks traces its ancestry back across the Atlantic.
According to the National amusement Park Historical Association, the roots of the amusement park industry go all the way back to the so-called “pleasure gardens” of medieval Europe. Usually located just outside major cities, these featured firework displays, live entertainment and occasionally even primitive rides.
The oldest operating amusement park in the world — Bakken — opened in 1583 in Denmark. And many historians credit 17th-century Russia as the birthplace of the roller coaster, with its ice slides — stair-stacked wooden structures layered in ice built for repeated sledding.
The advent of the Ferris Wheel near the end of the 19th century ushered in the Golden Age of amusement parks, with New York’s legendary Coney Island at the front of the line. At its height it housed three different parks, plus many smaller attractions.
The attraction is also one of many that lays claim to the birth of the hot dog, according Jeffrey Stanton in his article “Coney Island — Food and Dining.”
In the early 1900s, Charles Feltman, a German immigrant who was a food vendor at Coney Island, began putting sausages in a roll. This humble beginning led to a major restaurant, called Feltman’s, and an all-time record of serving 100,000 people and 40,000 hot dogs in a single day.
By 1919 more than 1,500 amusement parks had opened in the United States alone. But the Great Depression quickly stripped Americans of their luxury of amusement and the number of parks would drop to 400 in just 16 years.
But market forces from the baby boom after World War II soon revolutionized the amusement park, not only in the increased volume of potential customers but also conceptually — bring the kids and the parents will follow.
Enter Walt Disney and the dawn of the theme park. While it’s hard to imagine anyone ever doubting the selling power of Mickey Mouse, Disneyland — which opened in Anaheim, Calif., in 1955 — was nearly devoid of traditional amusement park rides, an initial concern to investors. Instead, the park offered its guests the chance to explore five different “lands” — Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland and Main Street, U.S.A.
Despite 110-degree opening-day heat and inoperable water fountains, the success of Disneyland forever changed family entertainment. By 1965, more than 50 million people had visited the park.
Today, on 47-square miles near Orlando, Fla., sits the spectacular extension of Walt Disney’s dream. Walt Disney World — which openend in late 1971 — is the world’s largest theme park, according to Guiness World Records.
Theme parks continued to spring up around major cities across the country throughout the 1960s and 1970s.
Several copies of the new Disney format were attempted but none succeeded until Six Flags Over Texas opened its doors in 1961. On its Web site, the Six Flags company proclaims its founder, Texas oil tycoon Angus Wynne, as the trailblazer of the themed ride.
This legacy continues today thanks to exclusive licensing with DC Comics and Warner Bros.
As its rides expanded, so did the Six Flags enterprise, opening Six Flags Over Georgia in 1968. Several sister parks across the United States were soon to follow, building to a current total of 29 parks.
The potential of regional theme parks such as Six Flags was quickly realized, and with it, the potential to further develop the great wooden roller coaster.
Soon rides incorporating water — such as log flumes and water slides — were introduced, and there followed parks completely built around a “wet ‘n’ wild” theme, such as White Water in Atlanta, which opened in 1983.
America was introduced to the wave pool by Decatur’s Point Mallard when it opened in 1970.
Theme parks spread rapidly to the rest of the world in the 1980s. Today they thrive as technological breakthroughs allow for thrills once never thought possible.
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