Origins 's 'Sea-On-Land'
carousel, where riders would pitch up and down as if they were on the sea, was the first amusement ride installed in
Dreamland Margate in 1880 England. in
Lambeth, United Kingdom, founded in 1661, one of the first
pleasure gardens The amusement park evolved from traditions in the European
Middle Ages. An amusement park is a contemporary arrangement, designed to combine components of a fair, carnival, and theme park. An early example of an amusement park is the
Bartholomew Fair. By the 18th and 19th centuries, they had evolved into places of entertainment for the masses, where the public could view
freak shows,
acrobatics,
conjuring, and
juggling, take part in competitions and walk through
menageries. A wave of innovation in the 1860s and 1870s created mechanical rides, such as the steam-powered
carousel (built by Thomas Bradshaw, at the
Aylsham Fair), and its derivatives, notably from Frederick Savage of
King's Lynn, Norfolk whose fairground machinery was exported all over the world; his "galloping horses" innovation is seen in carousels today. This inaugurated the era of the modern funfair ride, as the working classes were increasingly able to spend their surplus wages on entertainment. The second influence was the
pleasure garden.
Bakken ("The Hill"), the world's oldest amusement park, opened in
mainland Europe in 1583. It is located north of
Copenhagen in Klampenborg,
Denmark. In many European countries, traditional amusement parks evolved from pleasure gardens, combining mechanical rides with landscaped spaces, live music, and seasonal festivities. Another example in early gardens was the
Vauxhall Gardens, founded in 1661, in London. By the late 18th century, the site had an admission fee for its many attractions. It regularly drew enormous crowds, with its paths often noted for romantic assignations; tightrope walkers, hot air balloon ascents, concerts and fireworks providing amusement. Although the gardens were originally designed for the elites, they soon became places of great social diversity. Public
firework displays were put on at
Marylebone Gardens, and
Cremorne Gardens offered music, dancing, and animal acrobatics displays.
Prater, located in
Vienna, Austria, began as a royal hunting ground which was opened in 1766 for public enjoyment. There followed coffee-houses and cafés, which led to the beginnings of the
Wurstelprater as an amusement park. The concept of a fixed park for amusement was further developed with the beginning of the
world's fairs.
The first World fair began in 1851 with the construction of the landmark
Crystal Palace in London, England. The purpose of the exposition was to celebrate the industrial achievement of the nations of the world and it was designed to educate and entertain the visitors. at the
World's Columbian Exposition in
Chicago in 1893 In the
United States, cities and businesses also saw the world's fair as a way of demonstrating economic and industrial success.
Trolley parks and pleasure resorts Many modern amusement parks evolved from earlier pleasure
resorts that had become popular with the public for day-trips or weekend holidays, for example, seaside areas such as
Blackpool, United Kingdom and
Coney Island, United States. In the United States, some amusement parks grew from picnic groves established along rivers and lakes that provided bathing and water sports, such as
Lake Compounce in Connecticut, first established as a picturesque picnic park in 1846, and
Riverside Park in Massachusetts, founded in the 1870s along the
Connecticut River. The trick was getting the public to the seaside or resort location. For
Coney Island in
Brooklyn, New York, on the
Atlantic Ocean, a
horse-drawn streetcar line brought pleasure seekers to the beach beginning in 1829. In 1875, a million passengers rode the Coney Island Railroad, and in 1876 two million visited Coney Island. Hotels and amusements were built to accommodate both the upper classes and the working class at the beach. Its first amusement ride, a
carousel, was installed in 1876; the first
roller coaster, the "
Switchback Railway", in 1884. in
Blackpool, United Kingdom, in 1895 In England,
Blackpool was a popular beachside location beginning in the 1700s. It rose to prominence as a seaside resort with the completion in 1846 of a
branch line to Blackpool from Poulton on the main
Preston and Wyre Joint Railway line. A sudden influx of visitors, arriving by rail, provided the motivation for entrepreneurs to build accommodation and create new attractions, leading to more visitors and a rapid cycle of growth throughout the 1850s and 1860s. at the Promenade in Blackpool, United Kingdom, In 1879, large parts of the promenade at Blackpool were wired. The lighting and its accompanying pageants reinforced Blackpool's status as the North of England's most prominent holiday resort, and its specifically
working class character. It was the forerunner of the present-day
Blackpool Illuminations. By the 1890s, the town had a population of 35,000, and could accommodate 250,000 holidaymakers. The number of annual visitors, many staying for a week, was estimated at three million. In the final decade of the 19th century, electric
trolley lines were developed in many large American cities. Companies that established the trolley lines also developed
trolley parks as destinations of these lines. Trolley parks such as
Atlanta's Ponce de Leon Park, or
Reading's Carsonia Park were initially popular natural leisure spots before local streetcar companies purchased the sites, expanding them from picnic groves to include regular entertainments, mechanical amusements, dance halls, sports fields, boat rides, restaurants and other resort facilities. in
Atlantic City, New Jersey, Some of these parks were developed in
resort locations, such as bathing resorts at the seaside in
New Jersey and
New York. A premiere example in New Jersey was
Atlantic City, a famous vacation resort. Entrepreneurs erected amusement parks on piers that extended from the boardwalk out over the ocean. The first of several was the Ocean Pier in 1891, followed later by the
Steel Pier in 1898, both of which boasted rides and attractions typical of that time, such as Midway-style games and electric trolley rides. The boardwalk also had the first Roundabout installed in 1892 by William Somers, a wooden predecessor to the
Ferris Wheel. Somers installed two others in
Asbury Park, New Jersey and
Coney Island, New York. Another early park was the
Eldorado Amusement Park that opened in 1891 on the banks of the
Hudson River, overlooking
New York City. It consisted of 25 acres.
Modern amusement parks in
Copenhagen, Denmark, opened in 1843. Tivoli is always evolving, Georg Carstensen said in 1844: "Tivoli will never, so to speak, be finished", a sentiment echoed just over a century later when
Walt Disney said of his own Tivoli-inspired theme park, "Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world". The first permanent enclosed entertainment area, regulated by a single company, was founded in Coney Island in 1895:
Sea Lion Park at
Coney Island in Brooklyn. This park was one of the first to charge admission fee to get into the park in addition to sell tickets for rides within the park. Fire was a constant threat in those days, as much of the construction within the amusement parks of the era was wooden. In 1911, Dreamland was the first Coney Island amusement park to completely burn down; in 1944, Luna Park also burned to the ground. Most of Ingersoll's Luna Parks were similarly destroyed, usually by
arson, before his death in 1927.
20th century During the
Gilded Age, many Americans began working fewer hours and had more disposable income. With new-found money and time to spend on leisure activities, Americans sought new venues for entertainment. Amusement parks, set up outside major cities and in rural areas, emerged to meet this new economic opportunity. These parks served as a source of fantasy and escape from real life. and Idora Park, near Youngstown, OH, took passengers to traditionally popular picnic grounds, which by the late 1890s also often included rides like the Giant Swing,
Carousel, and
Shoot-the-Chutes. These amusement parks were often based on nationally known parks or
world's fairs: they had names like
Coney Island,
White City,
Luna Park, or
Dreamland. The American Gilded Age was, in fact, amusement parks' Golden Age that reigned until the late 1920s. The Golden Age of amusement parks also included the advent of the kiddie park. Founded in 1925, the original Kiddie Park is located in
San Antonio, Texas, and is still in operation . The kiddie parks became popular all over America after World War II. This era saw the development of new innovations in
roller coasters that included extreme drops and speeds to thrill the riders. By the end of
World War I, people seemed to want an even more exciting entertainment, a need met by roller coasters. Although the development of the automobile provided people with more options for satisfying their entertainment needs, the amusement parks after the war continued to be successful, while urban amusement parks saw declining attendance. The park also installed other rides common to the time including a smaller roller coaster, the Joy Wheel, Miniature Railway, The Whip and the River Caves. A ballroom was constructed on the site of the Skating Rink in 1920 and in 1923 a Variety Cinema was built on the site. Between 1920 and 1935 over £500,000 was invested in the site, constantly adding new rides and facilities and culminating in the construction of the Dreamland Cinema complex in 1934 which stands to this day. Until 2011, the
Blackpool Pleasure Beach ranked among the top free of charge attractions in Britain. Blackpool Pleasure beach was developed continuously, requiring frequent large-scale investments. The construction of many new rides could be counted on. Rides included the Virginia Reel, Whip, Noah's Ark,
Big Dipper and Dodgems. In the 1920s the "Casino Building" was built, which remains to this day. In 1923, land was reclaimed from the sea front. It was at this period that the park moved to its current location above what became Watson Road, which was built under the Pleasure Beach in 1932. During this time Joseph Emberton, an architect famous for his work in the amusement trade was brought in to redesign the architectural style of the Pleasure Beach rides, working on the "Grand National" roller coaster, "Noah's Ark" and the Casino building to name a few. The
Great Depression of the 1930s and
World War II during the 1940s saw the decline of the amusement park industry. War caused the affluent urban population to move to the suburbs, television became a source of entertainment, and families went to amusement parks less often. The park would have been called
Mickey Mouse Park, built across the street with a western area featuring a steam driven paddleboat, a turn of the century town, and a midway. It was rejected by the Burbank city council in fear of a carnival atmosphere. In 1952, he created
WED Enterprises to design the park, which was now to be built in Anaheim, and in 1953, was able to convince the bankers on funding the park with the help of a studio artist, Herb Ryman, by making an aerial drawing of Disneyland. By July 1954, construction had started with a deadline of one year.
Disneyland opened on July 17, 1955, and two months after the park opened, it welcomed its one millionth guest. Because of the financial success of Disneyland, the amusement industry was reinvigorated. What became
Busch Gardens Tampa opened in 1959 as a garden and bird sanctuary.
Six Flags Over Texas opened in 1961, themed to the six countries that ruled over Texas. In 1964,
Universal Studios Hollywood opened to the public with a studio tour of their backlot that had multiple adventure scenes and became a proper theme park. That same year,
SeaWorld San Diego opened and displayed many varieties of aquatic and marine life. Initially meant to house Walt Disney's dream idea,
EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow), Disney executives decided to settle on building the park first in
Walt Disney World and the city later. After six years of construction, Walt Disney World opened to the public on October 1, 1971. Meant to be a larger east coast version of Disneyland, it had copies of most of the attractions from Disneyland (except for
Liberty Square and the
Hall of Presidents), yet it was financially the most ambitious project Walt Disney Productions had ever undertaken, and succeeded once the holiday crowds came in during Thanksgiving. In 1992, Disney opened its first European park,
Euro Disneyland, outside of Paris, France, designed to be like the
Magic Kingdom in Florida, yet it caters to the European tastes through changes, including removing
Tomorrowland and replacing it with Discoveryland, themed to the great futuristic thinkers of European culture such as
H. G. Wells and
Jules Verne. A recession in the French economy and the immense public backlash against the park led to financial hardship, putting the park into debt. However, this did not stop Disney from expanding Disney-MGM Studios with
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, in 1994, and building their fourth Walt Disney World park,
Disney's Animal Kingdom. File:Entrance of Universal Studios Beijing (20210907121707).jpg|The entrance of
Universal Studios Beijing 21st century In the early 1990s, after the opening of Universal Studios Florida, Universal sought to build a second theme park, one aimed more towards children and their families. Universal acquired the theme park rights to many properties including DC and Dr. Seuss to build the park around. In 1999, Universal Studios opened
Universal Studios Islands of Adventure under the new resort name Universal Studios Escape. The park was allegedly designed by former Disney Imagineers who left after the financial disaster of Disneyland Paris. In the late 80s, the
Oriental Land Company (the owners and operators of
Tokyo Disneyland resort which opened in 1983) wanted a second park. None of the current non-Magic Kingdom parks satisfied the Japanese, but one concept thrown away for Disneyland's second gate inspired a new one:
DisneySea.
Tokyo DisneySea is themed after stories based on the ocean and nautical adventure. It was constructed at a cost of ¥335 billion and opened on September 4, 2001. The park's two signature attractions are a modernized version of
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and
Journey To The Center of The Earth.
Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris was the second Disneyland Paris park. Disney had to build a second park or risk losing the land to the French government. The park opened March 16, 2002, with only three rides and California Adventure style theming. However,
Hong Kong Disneyland was higher quality than the other black sheep, but still lacked the number of attractions that was needed, just like California Adventure and Walt Disney Studios Park. It opened on September 12, 2005, with only four lands, and had exorbitant wait times on opening day for everything from rides to food. Today, there are over 475 amusement parks in the United States, ranging from mega-parks and those that are operated by Warner Bros.,
Disney,
Six Flags and
NBCUniversal. The amusement park industry's offerings range from immersive theme parks such as
Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi, the
Disneyland Resort and
Universal Orlando Resort to thrilling coaster parks such as the
Six Flags parks and
United Parks & Resorts parks. Countless smaller ventures exist across the United States and around the world. Simpler theme parks directly aimed at smaller children have also emerged, such as
Legoland. Examples of amusement parks in shopping malls exist in
West Edmonton Mall,
Pier 39 and
Mall of America. Family fun parks starting as miniature golf courses have begun to grow to include batting cages, go-karts, bumper cars, bumper boats and water slides. Some of these parks have grown to include even roller coasters, and traditional amusement parks now also have these competition areas in addition to their thrill rides. In 2015, theme parks in the United States had a revenue of and theme parks in
China had a revenue of , with China expected to overtake the United States by 2020. File:Castle of Magical Dreams.jpg|The castle of magical dreams at
Hong Kong Disneyland File:Stuntfall.jpg|Stunt Fall at
Parque Warner Madrid File:Parque Salitre.JPG|The Samsung Wheel and Double Loop Roller Coaster at
Salitre Mágico ==Other types of amusement park==