Location: Erie, Pennsylvania Years Active: 1896 – Active Waldameer & Water World is an amusement park and water park in Erie, Pennsylvania located at the base of Presque Isle. Waldameer is the fourth oldest amusement park in Pennsylvania, the tenth oldest in the nation, and one of only thirteen trolley parks still operating in the United States. The park is admission-free, with a midway, and covered picnic facilities. The…
Location: Erie, Pennsylvania Years Active: 2003 – Active Splash Lagoon Indoor Waterpark Resort is a Polynesian-themed large indoor waterpark located in Erie, Pennsylvania. The park is approximately 80,000 square feet. It features seven water slides, two hot tubs, one large activity pool, a four-story Tiki activity tree house, and a children’s area. The resort is connected to a Holiday…
Location: Bucks County, Pennsylvania Years Active: 1980 – Active Sesame Place is a children’s theme park and water park, located on the outskirts of Philadelphia in Middletown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania (Langhorne postal address). It is one of two theme parks in the United States based entirely on the children’s educational television program Sesame Street and includes a variety of rides, shows and water attractions suited to young children. It is also the first theme park…
Location: Bushkill, Pennsylvania Years Active: 1977 – 1982 Magic Valley theme park opens. “The Pocono Record. June 30, 1977. p. 13. The Poconos’ first theme park officially opens its doors today at the base of Winona Five Falls near Bushkill.” Magic Valley Park Map 1981 Magic Valley Park Brochure 1981
Location: Altoona, Pennsylvania Years Active: 1894 – Active Lakemont Park, located in Altoona, Pennsylvania, houses the world’s oldest-surviving roller coaster, the Leap-The-Dips. On June 19, 1996, the roller coaster was added to the list of National Historic Landmarks by the National Park Service. The park opened in 1894 as a trolley park and became an amusement…
Location: Elysburg, Pennsylvania Years Active: 1926 – Active Knoebels Amusement Resort is a family-owned and operated amusement park, picnic grove, and campground in Elysburg, Pennsylvania. Opened in 1926, it is America’slargest free-admission amusement park, offering a unique charm distinct from the major theme parks in the US like Disneyland or Universal Studios. The amusement park is…
Location: West Mifflin, Pennsylvania Years Active: 1898 – Active Kennywood is an amusement park located in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania (just southeast of Pittsburgh). The park first opened on May 30, 1899, as a trolley park attraction at the end of the Mellon family’s Monongahela Street Railway. It was purchased in 1906 by F. W. Henninger and…
Location: Lingonier, Pennsylvania Years Active: 1878 – Active Idlewild and Soak Zone, commonly known as Idlewild Park or simply Idlewild, is a children’s amusement park in the Laurel Highlands near Ligonier, Pennsylvania, United States, about 50 miles east of Pittsburgh, along US Route 30. Founded in 1878 as a campground along the Ligonier Valley Railroad by Thomas Mellon, Idlewild is the oldest amusement park in Pennsylvania and the third oldest…
Location: Hershey, Pennsylvania Years Active: 1906 – Active Hersheypark (known as Hershey Park until 1970) is a family theme park located in Hershey, Pennsylvania, about 15 miles east of Harrisburg, and 95 miles west of Philadelphia. The park was founded in 1906 by Milton S. Hershey as a leisure park for the employees of the Hershey…
Location: Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Years Active: 1959 – 1980 Fantasyland opened in 1959, and was owned and operated by Kenneth and Thelma Dick on 23 wooded acres (later expanded to 35) on the east side of the Taneytown Road south of General Meade’s Headquarters and the present National Park Service Visitors Center. Noted for its beauty, tranquility…