Why were amusement parks invented

Rather than lands with broad themes such as adventure or fantasy, parks have been developing immersive a word the attractions cognoscenti love to toss around and transportive environments devoted to single intellectual properties such as the Harry Potter franchise at the Universal parks and the Star Wars mythology at the Disney parks.

Parks have long had an egalitarian appeal, though marred by the history of segregation. People from all backgrounds and political camps can come together in a common pursuit of fun. Because of their enormous popularity, however, some parks have been raising prices considerably. Costs may be shutting some people out.

This is especially true at theme park resorts such as Disney World and Universal Orlando. Most of its visitors are from outside the area and must factor in transportation, hotel, dining, and other costs in addition to the admission prices. Known as destination parks, the resorts provide even more of an escape from the everyday. Visitors literally leave their homes and live at on-property hotels.

In addition to money, parks often require significant investments of time and energy. The more they cost, the more people feel compelled to organize their visits and make sure they get the most value for their dollar. There may be a middle ground between the destination parks and day trips to regional parks. By requiring less time to visit, the parks could be more accessible. They would probably charge less to visit than the major parks as well and may be easier to get to depending on their locations.

We need places where we can encounter one another, share experiences, and enjoy stories together. We need the reassurance, the connection to the past, and the hope for the future that parks provide. Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment: to empower through understanding. Financial contributions from our readers are a critical part of supporting our resource-intensive work and help us keep our journalism free for all.

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Soon hundreds of trolley lines are constructed around the country. To maximize revenue, operators seek ways to attract riders during lightly used evenings and weekends periods. Amusement parks, typically built at the end of the trolley lines, provided the ideal solution. It is later relocated to New York's Coney Island. A true wonder of the then modern world, the Ferris wheel weighed in at over 4 million lbs.

The ornate building facades and brilliant electric lights, dictated amusement park design for the next 60 years. Built by Captain Paul Boyton, Chutes Park was the first amusement park to be enclosed and charge an admission. After relocating in , Chutes Park closed in Electric light and power companies charged the traction companies a flat monthly fee for electricity on which they ran their trolleys.

It didn't matter how much or how little the trolleys were used. Naturally, the trolley magnates became frustrated because little need existed to operate trolleys during the weekends although they still had to pay for the electricity to operate their systems. A solution was to get the general public to ride the trolleys on Saturdays and Sundays, thus creating more revenue for the traction companies.

How did they do this? By building an amusement park at the end of the trolley line, hence the term, "Trolley Park", and a new era began. Soon hundreds of trolley parks were in operation throughout the United States.

However, only twelve remain. The electrical "Arabian Nights" style of architecture attracted over 40, patrons that first evening. Luna Park burned down in Over rides and concessions made Euclid Beach the epitome of amusement parks. As the years passed, Euclid Beach Park changed. Trolleys were replaced by buses, and families in automobiles began to arrive more frequently.

Although the park made provision to host these new guests, attendance began to decline after World War II. Slowly at first, and then with startling rapidity in the s, the once-loyal patrons turned to other diversions. The park closed forever on 28 Sept. In Ohio created Euclid Beach State Park on the easternmost 16 acres of the old amusement park, restoring some vestige of the land's former purpose. In the first park on the west side of the city opened.

Owner and manager John E. Gooding took his cue from Euclid Beach and offered free grounds admission. The truly outstanding attraction was the Cyclone roller coaster, higher and faster than any other coaster in the Cleveland area.

Puritas Springs drew west-siders for years, but its magnetism also began to fade after the war. In a fire destroyed the dance hall, and another fire forced the park to close in A residential neighborhood was developed on the Puritas Ave. In another east side park opened for what proved to be a brief run.

Served by the same streetcars, the 2 parks became a common destination for a day's outing. Unlike Euclid Beach, White City charged an admission fee. Following a damaging gale on 24 July , it never reopened. The grounds are now the site of the Easterly Sewage Disposal Plant. Copied from the Coney Island park of the same name, Luna Park was a fantasy of "Oriental" architecture and electric lights. Complete with the first-ever Ferris Wheel, designed by bridge architect George Washington Ferris for the midway of the Chicago Columbian Exposition of , with its wide array of rides and concessions, was a huge success and dictated amusement park design in the United States for years to come.

Argued by leisure historians as the first amusement park in the world, the Chicago park embraced the midway concept and used rides as its main draw rather than picnic facilities or a lake for the day-trippers from Chicago. The success of his Chicago park inspired him to open a similar facility at Coney Island resort in New York in , which during its peak was home to three amusement parks alongside dozens of smaller attractions including the famous sideshows.

By the turn of the twentieth century amusement parks were opening throughout America. The amusement park industry in America grew tremendously over the next three decades. This new permanently located entertainment venue was open daily all year round with some parks operating seasonally. New innovations provided greater and more intense thrills to the growing crowds. By there were to amusement parks in operation in the United States. The late s saw a downturn for the amusement industry in the United States, especially after when the country entered the Great Depression.

Only amusement parks remained by , and many of these were struggling to survive. World War II further affected the industry. Many parks closed and others were unable to afford new attractions. Attendances and revenues grew as more parks opened across the country. New ideas were introduced, including "Kiddieland", an amusement park for children that introduced a younger generation in the rapidly growing suburbs to the joys of the amusement park.

Unfortunately, this resurgence was short-lived: emerging youth cultures, including rock-and-roll, together with the growth of television took their toll on the ageing, urban amusement park.

However, as in the nineteenth century when the industry appeared outdated and old-fashioned, an injection of modernity was needed to entice back the public which arrived with the introduction of the theme park. Belle Vue developed into a fully-fledged amusement park in its own right in the s from the concept of the American-style amusement park. Although the attractions dated back to the s, it was in the s and the s that the amusement park took shape and became a worthy competitor to British and American counterparts with its array of death-defying attractions and latest technological marvels coupled with the seaside atmosphere of the flea circus, fairground games and side-shows.

With the sale of Belle Vue in , Sir John Henry Iles concentrated on expanding the amusement park and introduced the latest in white-knuckle modernity to the pleasure gardens. Belle Vue Amusement Park would become one of the largest of its kind in the United Kingdom and a showcase for modern fairground rides of the late s including the Caterpillar, the dodgems and the ghost train. The famous Bobs ride arrived in and in the children's area was expanded. It was designed by Fred Church and built by Harry Travers, two of the greatest names in roller coaster history.

However, it was the Bobs which became a fixture at Belle Vue until it was demolished in Rising to a height of 80 feet and with twisting slopes of 45 degrees enabling a speed up to 60 miles an hour, this wooden masterpiece was acclaimed by the Guinness Book of Records as the world's fastest ride.

The name Bobs was thought to have been coined after the price of the ride - one shilling, but it was actually named after part of a design feature of articulated couplings of two-seater cars similar to bobsleds which Church had used on other parks throughout the United States.

In the ride attracted worldwide attention when student Vance Sutton completed non-stop circuits on the Bobs. By the s, the amusement park at Belle Vue was one of the most popular attractions at the resort, with visitors in Easter reputedly waiting for 45 minutes.

The guide-book describes it as "the Colossal Amusement Park" and in it attracted over , visitors, a record attendance on Good Friday. The sale of Belle Vue in to Sir Leslie Joseph and Charles Forte presented new developments on the site with the construction of the Water Chute in and the introduction of Louis Tussaud's Waxworks, altering the landscape of the park and replacing the Centenary Gardens.