The Amusement Park

Experience the electrifying, never-before-told true story of amusement parks, from the middle ages to present day, and meet the colorful (and sometimes criminal) characters who are responsible for their enchanting charms. Step right up! The Amusement Park is a rich, anecdotal history that begins nine centuries ago with the "pleasure gardens" of Europe and England and ends with the most elaborate modern parks in the world. It's a history told largely through the stories of the colorful, sometimes hedonistic characters who built them, including: Showmen like Joseph and Nicholas Schenck and Marcus Loew Railroad barons Andrew Mellon and Henry E. Huntington The men who ultimately destroyed the parks, including Robert Moses and Fred Trump Gifted artisans and craft-people who brought the parks to life An amazing cast of supporting players, from Al Capone to Annie Oakley And, of course, this is a full-throttle celebration of the rides, those marvels of engineering and heart-stopping thrills from an author, Stephen Silverman, whose life-long passion for his subject shines through. The parks and fairs featured include the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, Coney Island, Steeplechase Park, Dreamland, Euclid Beach Park, Cedar Point, Palisades Park, Ferrari World, Dollywood, Sea World, Six Flags Great Adventure, Universal Studios, Disney World and Disneyland, and many more.

There is something both sad and creepy about an abandoned amusement park. Perhaps it’s because a place that was once packed with fun seekers has become slowly choked with weeds. Or maybe it’s because the sound of kids’ excited laughter has been replaced with the quiet creaking of rusted rides. When the only visitors are the spirits of those who died there long ago, an amusement park can be a scary place to visit. Among the 11 amusement parks in this book, children will discover a roller coaster left to rot after nearly killing its passengers, a theme park that is now home to alligators and snakes, and the ghost of a man who is still trying to take a ride on a Ferris wheel that stopped working years ago. The haunting photographs and chilling nonfiction text will keep children turning the pages to discover more spooky stories.

Cyclone, Revolution, Corkscrew; Luna Park, Pleasure Beach, Dreamland – names and places instantly familiar to rollercoaster and amusement park enthusiasts. But what first gave rise to the concept and nomenclature of the amusement park; how did amusement parks develop in Britain and elsewhere, and what fate awaits historic amusement parks and their rides today? This thought-provoking and timely book brings together leading writers from a variety of disciplines to explore the social history and cultural heritage of the amusement park. Rooted in the British experience but informed by extensive international coverage, it provides a thematic, comparative exploration of the origins, development, decline and significance of the amusement park. The rich set of case studies presented comment on the interrelationships between history, culture and heritage, challenging traditional academic boundaries while offering important contributions to policy-making and regeneration initiatives. The book provides new insights into a neglected aspect of popular culture and will be a valuable resource to students and scholars of history, heritage, tourism, leisure, technology and design.

It's time to go to the amusement park! Giant rides loom around you, and countless parts are in motion. But many simple machines are at work too. See the Ferris wheel? That's a wheel and axle. Try your luck at skee-ball. You're using an inclined plane. Find out more about the simple machines behind the excitement.

A photographic retrospective covers more than 100 years of images from the history of the American amusement park.

"Citizen Kane does Adventureland." —The Washington Post The outlandish, hilarious, terrifying, and almost impossible-to-believe story of the legendary, dangerous amusement park where millions were entertained and almost as many bruises were sustained, told through the eyes of the founder's son. Often called "Accident Park," "Class Action Park," or "Traction Park," Action Park was an American icon. Entertaining more than a million people a year in the 1980s, the New Jersey-based amusement playland placed no limits on danger or fun, a monument to the anything-goes spirit of the era that left guests in control of their own adventures--sometimes with tragic results. Though it closed its doors in 1996 after nearly twenty years, it has remained a subject of constant fascination ever since, an establishment completely anathema to our modern culture of rules and safety. Action Park is the first-ever unvarnished look at the history of this DIY Disneyland, as seen through the eyes of Andy Mulvihill, the son of the park's idiosyncratic founder, Gene Mulvihill. From his early days testing precarious rides to working his way up to chief lifeguard of the infamous Wave Pool to later helping run the whole park, Andy's story is equal parts hilarious and moving, chronicling the life and death of a uniquely American attraction, a wet and wild 1980s adolescence, and a son's struggle to understand his father's quixotic quest to become the Walt Disney of New Jersey. Packing in all of the excitement of a day at Action Park, this is destined to be one of the most unforgettable memoirs of the year.

OBriens multi-book series pays homage to the greatest of the great--those who made the amusement parks, theme parks, and waterparks what they are today.

In the amusement park's Haunted Fun House, twelve-year-old Leo hears the sound of a voice pleading for help.