Amusement Parks

1.  An Amusement Park is a place where people go on thrill rides, roller coasters, water rides, transport rides and rides that are gentler for children and/or older people. 

2.  Amusement parks were started in Europe during the Middle Ages.  They began as fairy and pleasure gardens.  People would attend for fun, recreation and shopping. 

3.   In 1894, Paul Boynton opened the world's first modern amusement park.  It was located in Chicago and was called "Paul Boynton's Water Chutes".  It charged an admission to get into the enclosed park and used rides to draw people to it.  In 1895, he also opened a park at Coney Island.

4.  In the late 1800s amusement parks started taking hold in the United States. Most amusement parks were built at the end of a trolley line. They usually had picinic areas, dance halls, restaurants, games and a few rides. They were immediately successful.  They offered thrills and entertainment for a small price.

5.  The oldest amusement park in the world was opened in 1583 in Bakken, Denmark.

6.  Disneyland, Disney World, Great America, and Knott's Berry Farm are some of the larger and more popular amusement parks in the United States.

7.  The United States is home to more Amusement and Theme parks than any other country in the world.

8.  Amusement parks are a multi-billion dollar industry.

9.    The World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago introduced the ferris wheel and the midway. The midway had a wide variety of rides and concessions and largely influenced amusement park design.

10.  Today, most of the major amusement/theme parks continue to create faster and more thrilling rides in order to get people to visit.