Old-Timey Amusement Rides

[Chupaca bruh]

Meteor. I rode this one at the Seattle Worlds Fair. They were super fun.

 

[Figmentv]

Paragon Park at Nantasket Beach in Hull outside of Boston 1970s

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We had a lot of amusement parks around Boston/MA from the late 1800s, but one by one, they all closed. It was hard to turn a profit and insurability became an issue. A few survived in western MA and NH. (Six Flags NE, and Canobie Lake Park and Storyland in NH, with a few smaller ones around.) I wondered how places like Dorney Park in Allentown, PA (a favorite) managed to survive - anyone know? There was a small park we enjoyed in Buffalo, NY, about 12 yrs ago but from what I understand, it is now closed, too. We used to drive to Coney Island, too.

I was going to post about the wooden coaster at Paragon Park. Spent many, many wonderful days and nights there. Well, except for the one day when I broke my nose on that coaster.

Another great Massachusetts amusement park that closed is Lincoln Park in Dartmouth.

 

[Skywalker3]

Haunted House ride, Pontchartrain Beach. Don't remember any other ride, probably too young/small to ride anything like the Zephyr, but have faint memories of riding this. Even though we lived close to NO, only went once that I can remember. and once to Astroworld,

 

[BlueStarryHat]

Everyone posting in this thread would love Knoebel's. They take old rides from other places and refurbish them. Their whip ride dates to 1915. The took the old Golden Nugget ride from the Wildwood boardwalk where it was to be demolished and sold for scrap. It's now called the Black Diamond. Knoebel's is a great place, always a lot of fun.

p.s. Nobody could make a Tilt-A-Whirl spin like my Mom. She would yell "Left!" or "Right!" and we'd all quickly lean that way, and around the car would go.

https://www.knoebels.com/

 

[RedAngie]

My favorites are Whips and Flying Scooters.

The best flying scooters I have tried are at Knoebels. They are the old version compared to the newer Larson model most parks have and they are so easy to snap.

Knoebels seems to be the only place where snapping the Flying Scooters is still permitted. Most other parks prohibit it.

 

[RedAngie]

Meteor. I rode this one at the Seattle Worlds Fair. They were super fun.View attachment 657619

Oh em gee!!! I haven’t seen the Meteor in over 50 years. They used to have them on the State Fair Midway/carnival circuit in the 60s.

 

[RedAngie]

Aladdin's Castle fun house, an amazing attraction Riverview

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Dan, I wish I had the chance to visit Riverview. At Marshall Fields downtown in 1988 they had a Chicago souvenir department and I bought a book about the park. Looks like it was an awesome place.

 

[RedAngie]

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The Round Up (Canobie Lake Park)

Their version of the little Whip. I remember being on these when I was little, and my kids were on them, etc.

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Antique cars

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Little boats w bell to ring

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I liked this much larger version of the Round Up. I only ever saw it at Canada’s Wonderland.



Dorney Park: Well, for starters, it received tons of valuable publicity from being featured in the 1968 film “Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows.”



I begged my parents to take me there after seeing the film. It was a smallish local amusement park then, but expanded and modernized throughout the 70s and 80s, added a waterpark, and managed to become an actual destination for ride lovers.

Hersheypark likewise expanded and became a successful destination theme park, but it always had the advantage of being in a tourist town.

Nuns on roller coasters: In Catholic grammar school every June, we’d go on a class trip to the long defunct Willow Grove Park north of Philadelphia. One time I was riding The Alps coaster by myself and at the last second an older nun told me to scoot over. She was probably in her 60s. Rosalind Russell was likely 60 or so in the film. Many younger nuns rode, but I was kind of surprised by the older nun.

But, hey, I’ll be 61 in less than a week and still enjoy many but not all coasters.

 

[RedAngie]

I forgot about The Paratroopers. I preferred the version where the arm came parallel to the ground and all cars could be loaded at the same time, rather than the tilted ferris wheel method.



One awesome relatively newish ride is Xcalibur at Six Flags St. Louis. It used to be called Evolution at 6F Great Adventure in NJ but was closed more than it was open. It’s been operating successfully in StL for about 15 years now.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Dan, I wish I had the chance to visit Riverview. At Marshall Fields downtown in 1988 they had a Chicago souvenir department and I bought a book about the park. Looks like it was an awesome place.

This book, Angie? Great book. I have it also.

Riverview was amazing. Our family went there usually twice every year in the 50's. And then as a teen, went withthe guys a few times a year. And then it was gone.

https://www.amazon.com/Riverview-Gone-Forgotten-1904-1967/dp/0911694072

 

[RedAngie]

This book, Angie? Great book. I have it also.

Riverview was amazing. Our family went there usually twice every year in the 50's. And then as a teen, went withthe guys a few times a year. And then it was gone.

https://www.amazon.com/Riverview-Gone-Forgotten-1904-1967/dp/0911694072

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Yes, that exact book.

 

[Skippy918]

Also for the NYers. Who remembers Nellie Bly? The kiddie amusement park?

 

[mylilnikita]

Now to the gruesome. The Rotor, the Hell Hole. A true torture instrument.

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I wouldn’t go anywhere near it these days.

[QOUTE]

Back in late 79’s early 80’s this was known as The Time Shaft at Kings Dominion Virginia. I loved it!
After riding a few times yes you would walk around like a drunk monkey but those were good times

 

[JoanneAZ]

I think all of the posters on this thread would enjoy this film “Great Old Amusement Parks”. It’s been shown on PBS in the past.

 

[leebee]

Paragon Park at Nantasket Beach in Hull outside of Boston 1970s

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We had a lot of amusement parks around Boston/MA from the late 1800s, but one by one, they all closed. It was hard to turn a profit and insurability became an issue. A few survived in western MA and NH. (Six Flags NE, and Canobie Lake Park and Storyland in NH, with a few smaller ones around.) I wondered how places like Dorney Park in Allentown, PA (a favorite) managed to survive - anyone know? There was a small park we enjoyed in Buffalo, NY, about 12 yrs ago but from what I understand, it is now closed, too. We used to drive to Coney Island, too.

I was going to post about the wooden coaster at Paragon Park. Spent many, many wonderful days and nights there. Well, except for the one day when I broke my nose on that coaster.

Another great Massachusetts amusement park that closed is Lincoln Park in Dartmouth.

We LOVED going to Paragon Park and Lincoln Park! Canobie Lake is still open; took DD, the nieces, and nephew many times over the years as it's about an hour from my sister's house. They have a huge, crazy old wooden coaster! When we were little, we used to go to Pleasure Island in Wakefield MA- they had all kinds of fun "kid" things to ride and different "lands" to explore, as well as a "whale" in the lake that would surface. Many fun times were had there! There is still a small amusement park, York's Wild Kingdom in York Beach, ME, that has many of these older rides, like the Scrambler, mirror houses, Ferris wheel, merry go round, bumper cars, etc. They used to have a fun house that had a giant barrel that was positioned horizontally and rotated, so you could try and walk through the barrel (like a tunnel) as it turned. The high school kids were big enough to stand in it with their arms and legs spread, kinda like a starfish, and rotate completely around, as the barrel turned. There is also a small zoo, arcade with skee-ball, and mini golf course. I also remember the rides at Revere Beach... I'm pretty old!

Yes, Knoebels is great for old-time rides that are in tip-top shape!

 

[bcla]

There are a lot of the county fair style rides that are also installed in permanent amusement parks. The Italian company Zamperla makes a lot of these.

https://www.zamperla.com

 

[RedAngie]

QOUTE]

Back in late 79’s early 80’s this was known as The Time Shaft at Kings Dominion Virginia. I loved it!
After riding a few times yes you would walk around like a drunk monkey but those were good times

I remember The Time Shaft being deep within a “mountain” at Kings Dominion. By that time I had started to avoid such rides, but after waiting in line not knowing what I’d discover, I decided to ride.

There was also a slow train ride within the mountain; some kind of Land of Strange Creatures, like the 7 Dwarfs or gnomes.

Plus maybe another mountain ride or two.

 

[Alicefan]

This sucker right here was the best! The way the arms would just drop out from under you, would take your stomach so good! lol The one called The Spider with the wavy arms that you see more often wasn't as fun because the arms didn't drop fast. We called this the Octopus. I haven't seen one since I was a kid.

 

[Alicefan]

And this one! My best friend and I are 50 Years old and on our way to Disney last year, we passed that Tanger Outlet that has the fair every once in a while. We both yelled, "Look! A Zipper!!" Next thing you know, we're exiting off the freeway and strapped in to a bad idea. It does not feel the same at 50 as it does at 15. Let me just tell ya. Everyone kept laughing at us and their first thought was, "So you were on your way to DISNEY, but you stopped at the fair to ride a ride?" Yes...yes we did. lol

 

[PollyannaMom]

"Look! A Zipper!!"...

That's one ride I would never do at our fair!