Amusement Parks
The History of Amusement Parks
and
Examples of Today’s Popular Rides
Bartholomew Fair in England
•Began in 1543 and was a center of amusement with entertainment, food, games,
and attractions for every social class.
Oldest Amusement Park
Bakken in Denmark began as a place for “healing water”
in 1583 and developed into an amusement park when
people sold food and had games.
Bakken in 2010
Tivoli Gardens in
Copenhagen, Denmark
Walt Disney visited it while he was building Disney
world and got some ideas.
The first Ferris Wheel
at the Columbia Exposition in Chicago in 1893
264 feel high with 36 cars, each holding 60 people
Round trip ride took 20 minutes
Cost $300,000 to build--Designed by George Ferris
The “Midway” at the Columbia Exposition
had rides, food, shooting galleries and penny arcades.
Amusement Parks were built near resorts
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York
The “Golden Age” of amusement parks was from
the 1890’s through the late 1920’s.
Coney Island Luna Park 1920
Trolley Parks were build at
the end of trolley lines.
The first roller coasters in 1884 used gravity
and were made out of wood.
People sat sideways to enjoy the view.
Scenic Railway Big Dipper
Several things caused amusement
parks to become less popular.
 Great Depression
 World War II
 People moved away from
cities to the suburbs
 Television became a popular
source of entertainment
Walt Disney opened Disneyland in
1955 in Anaheim, California.
Early rides at Disneyland
Modern Amusement Parks can be
Theme Parks
Roller coasters are driven almost entirely by basic
inertia, gravity and centripetal forces.
Millenium Force at Cedar Point in Ohio
Wonderland in Canada
“Survivor The Ride”
at California’s Great America
Thunderhawk at Michigan’s Adventure Park
Raptor at Cedar Point in
Sandusky, Ohio
Mean Streak, Cedar Point
This is a
wooden roller
coaster.
50 riders strap in with their feet dangling below as
the giant ring they're seated in starts to spin. Then,
the ring is set into a pendulum motion, reaching a
height of 140 feet! Fly back and forth during this
2-minute, 30-second ride.
Pendulum-type ride
Two giant arms with 20 riders each, swing
opposite of each other, reaching a height of
125 feet! Powered with pneumatics, Skyhawk
swings smoothly and comfortably at speeds of
60 mph in both directions.
Windseeker at Cedar Point
NEW in 2011 - Soar high above the
Cedar Point Beach on WindSeeker, a
301-foot-tall, nothing-below-yourchair-but-air thrill ride experience!
Suggested questions about rides—
Do you have others?
 How does a roller coaster stay on its track?
 How do bumper cars move?
 What keeps a Ferris wheel from toppling over?
 Why don't you get flung out of certain rides?
 How do some rides get you from 0-60 mph in less
then two seconds?
 How safe are rides?
 http://kathika.com/rollercoasters/