History of Amusement Parks

Parque Jaime Duque is a theme park built by Jaime Duque Grisales, in Bogotá, Colombia, which has about 700 bizarre sculptures, including a male Statue of Liberty.

Amusement parks are a collection of rides and other entertainment attractions put together at one place for the sole purpose of entertaining people. These parks evolved in Europe from fairs and pleasure gardens, which were held to attract and entertain a large number of people.

In America, World's Fairs also had an influence on the development of amusement parks. The most striking development from pleasure gardens and fairs to amusement parks is that most amusement parks have a fixed location, while the fairs were set up on a temporary basis for a week or two. Here we gives you a brief evolution of amusement parks.

Before the advent of amusement parks, it was pleasure gardens that people used to visit for recreational purposes. Pleasure gardens and periodic fairs are considered to be the parents of amusement parks.

Dyrehavsbakken, commonly referred to as Bakken, is the world's oldest operating amusement park. It opened in 1583 near Klampenborg, Copenhagen, Denmark. The amusement park caters to about 2.5 - 2.7 million visitors per year. The park was created at a place where clean spring water was available.

People were attracted to the spring water because Copenhagen didn't have a good-quality water resource. Due to this large attraction, hawkers and entertainers flocked the area, and this set the tone for the amusement park. Over time, entertainment shows were organized, and many rides were introduced. Today, Bakken has six roller coaster rides, the most popular of which is Rutschebanen.

Apart from pleasure gardens and picnic spots, the modern amusement park drew inspiration from other fairs and parks that were developed in the 18th and 19th centuries. These included the various World's Fairs, and Trolley Parks.

The different World's Fairs, that first began in 1851, were a huge inspiration that helped develop amusement parks. These fairs, which were held all around the world, exhibited the success of the industrial development of various countries. Companies from America and Britain used the fairs to demonstrate their economic and industrial success.

The World Colombian Exposition, held in Chicago in 1893, was the first fair to have a Ferris wheel. It celebrated the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus finding the new world. Spread over an area of over 600 acres, the fair had participants from almost 50 countries, and was a great combination of entertainment, engineering, and education.

The fair had a good mix of music, hokum, and a 'hootchy-kootchy' version of belly dance. Due to great concessions, this part of the fair made a lot of profit, and in times to come, became one of the most significant areas of the amusement park.

In the 19th century, many amusement parks were developed by trolley and streetcar companies. These were known as trolley parks, and were built mostly in America. By 1919, there were about 2,000 such trolley parks in America. The main reason behind building these parks was to promote streetcar services, and give people a reason to use streetcars on weekends.

These companies used to buy electricity at a flat monthly rate and build parks. The parks had pavilions that held dance events, concerts, and firework shows. One of the most famous trolley park location was Coney Island.

Coney Island was already a popular seaside resort that had a lot of visitors from different parts of the country. The place covered a huge area, and part of it was undeveloped. Thus, the place provided good and cheap recreation. The horse-drawn streetcar line was one of the main attractions of the place.

Merry-go-round, was first installed at Coney Island. Also, the first roller coaster for an amusement park, i.e., Switchback Railway, was constructed at the Island from the designs of LaMarcus Adna Thompson. However, all these attractions were a part of Coney Island. It was only in 1895 that the first amusement park, Sea Lion Park, opened at Coney Island.

This park was the first to charge for admission and sell tickets to enjoy the rides.

In 1897, another park, Steeplechase Park, opened in the Coney Island area. In 1927, the famous Cyclone roller coaster was introduced in Steeplechase Park, which became the main attraction.
Steeplechase Park burned down in a fire in 1907, but was rebuilt in 1908.

The 'Pavilion of Fun' was one of the main attractions in the park after it was rebuilt. Luna Park and Dreamland were other parks that opened on Coney Island.

With urban development, trolley parks began to decline. As people had their own automobiles, trolley parks didn't seem to appeal to them. By 1920s, due to Great Depression, trolley parks lost popularity.

Even traditional picnic grounds, like Atlanta's Ponce de Leon and Idora Park, were turned into amusement parks by incorporating rides like the giant swing and the merry-go-round. This period was known as the Gilded Age, or the Golden Age for Amusement Parks.

These events forced the urban population to move to suburbs, and people preferred staying indoors. Their main source of entertainment during this period was the television, and families didn't want to go to amusement parks.

During this period, many parks were shut down to make way for urban development. Steeplechase Park shut down in 1964, with only Kennywood, Cedar Point, and a few others surviving. However, after World War II, there was a sudden increase in the popularity of amusement parks. New parks opened and people started visiting amusement parks again.

The credit for the concept of theme parks goes to Walt Disney, thanks to his development of Disneyland. Disneyland was loosely based on Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Children Fairyland in Oakland, and other World's Fairs. It officially opened in 1955 in Anaheim, California. The quality of parks improved with the creation of Disneyland.

Family-friendly shows were shown, the food served was of good quality, overall hygiene was maintained, and the rides were safe. This was the rise of theme parks.

The Walt Disney Company opened a second theme park, Magic Kingdom, in Florida. After the success of Disneyland, other theme parks, like the Great Adventure in New Jersey, and Universal Studios Hollywood in Los Angeles, were developed.

The only attraction that the studio had was the Backlot Tram train ride. Over a time, a stunt show, props from the 'Jaws' film, and the 'King Kong' ride were added. As the popularity of this studio increased, Universal Studios opened a second theme park in Florida, the same place where Disney opened their second theme park.

As the popularity of theme parks began to increase, traditional amusement parks started to lose their popularity. People preferred visiting these newly developed theme parks over the old amusements parks. Today, theme parks are categorized into educational, family-owned, and regional parks.

The park had dolphins, marine displays, swimming pools, restaurants, and gift shop. Over the years, water parks evolved, and indoor water parks were introduced. The World Water park, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada is spread over 20 hectares of land, making it world's largest indoor water park.

A lot of parks have been developed in recent years, from small and medium-sized theme parks, like Six Flags parks, to theme parks aimed at kids, like Legoland. From indoor water parks to strange attractions, amusement parks today have evolved to give way to different theme parks and water parks, providing better facilities, and more entertainment to users.