Do you like amusement parks?

I dislike long lines. Gimme an empty park and I might like it.

In the words of Tony The Tiger, "They're GRRRRRRRRREAT !"

I love them, if it weren't for the crowds who turn up to spoil MY theme park then they would be even better.

I've always enjoyed county and state fairs more.

I guess it depends on how you define "amusement." I used to love carnival type events with the smaller rides such as ferris wheel and the bullet. Loved all the arcade games.

I'm not all that keen on places like Six Flags where it is mostly an effort to see how quickly you can lose your cookies on a gravity defying 30 second ride after standing in line for an hour to get to it.

I do love places like Marine World and Disneyland where there's more variety and interest for both kids and adults.

There's a carnival visiting in one of the shopping centers near my house this weekend. I drove by it and felt a tug drawing me to it but quickly sped on by knowing if I stopped, I'd spend way too much money there.

I am not far from Busch Gardens. This attraction has an amusement parkarea. It also has shows, an animal area, and many other types of actrivities. I like some of the amusement section, but would get terribly bored it were the entire park.

One of the things that I REALLY like is a bridge that spans a water ride. If you stand in just the right place, when the ride crosses under the bridge., a giant wave will come up, and you will get soaked. I LOVE that. Alright, so I'm just a kid at heart!

My 67 year old body will no longer tolerate those jerky, bumpy, fast rides. Otherwise, I enjoy watching children enjoying themselves; it brings back memories of when our children were young, and we took them to Disneyland. c.i.

Theme parks boring.
Motorcycle FUN.
So jaded now, nothing else compares.

Carrying around 250 sloppy pounds at age 63 has dampened my enthusiasm for such places; however, if the day is temperature comfortable, I do enjoy observing the people and family children. The flavors of life are oft times present in such mixing bowls.

Hi Mapleleaf,

Sorry I haven't been able to paticipate in more of your threads recently. One reason is at work I have to work and at home I often have to fight my daughter for the computer--this weekend she's reading Harry Potter!

I liked Disneyland--especially the imaginative-illusion rides like PeterPan's London. I am a SciFi-Fantasy fan and like to see "other worlds"--even a good House of Horrors amuses me. I get a kick out of tilted floors and distorting mirrors too--anyone here remember the old Palisades Park in NJ? or Freedomland in the Bronx? Can't take thrill rides anmore but as a kid--before puberty--liked to prove my courage. Post puberty they made me nauseous.


If you're travelling in Europe, I recommend the Prater in Vienna. You can ride the Third Man big Ferris Wheel and a delightful model railroad through a pretty park setting. Also can get Wiener Schnitzel and Apricot cakes in the restaurants/cafés.

TrailBlazer, I did ride on the big ferris wheel in Vienna. As I recall, it was designed by a Englishman. I also remember seeing a Russian Sputnik on the grounds. Am I correct? c.i.

Speaking of Europe, Copenhagen's Tivoli is an excellent amusement park and is celebrating its 160th anniversary this year. It's been many decades since I went there with my family. I'd love to see it again!

Butrfly, I also remember a Madam Toussauds adjacent to Tivoli, and across the street in the shopping mall on the top floor is a mannequin of Charli Chaplin with one of his hats. Also, the main train station was about three blocks away. c.i.

Phoenix wrote, in part:

" ... One of the things that I REALLY like is a bridge that spans a water ride. If you stand in just the right place, when the ride crosses under the bridge., a giant wave will come up, and you will get soaked. I LOVE that."

me, too; me, too; me, too!

I hate lines and can think of better things to do; but the water rides are grrrreat! Not to mention those waffles with all the strawberries smothered in whipped cream - yum.

I love going to the midway at fairs. I'm not so wild about 'amusement parks' as such. I go each year with my best friend and her kids. hamburger and mrs. hamburger started taking M.A. and me over 30 years ago - now it's our turn to be the ones saying 'meet us at 2 in front of the clock'.

we go early in the day - hit the rides before the crowds arrive, do the rest of the fair, and then come back to the midway as the fair buildings are closing to hit a few more rides before the fair closes. I love the whirly, twirly type rides!

I love amusement parks,..I really miss some of the older ones around here (Paragon Park), the old wooden roller coasters that sounded and felt like they would fall apart,..they were my favorite!!

I love the "high drop" rides too, and the water ones, and the bumper cars and the haunted houses, and the giant slides (the ones you had to sit on a potato sack or else you'd burn your skin off sliding down), and the Tilt a whirl, and the Yo-Yo.

I'm not so fond of he "spinny" rides (The Round-Up,..bad experience with the person next to me throwing up),..don't do "dizzy" well, or the rides where ya hang upside-down,....but other than those, I love'em all!!

As a child, of course I loved them. Is there a child alive that doesn't/didn't love an amusement park? In Chicago, when I was a kid, long before Great America and Six Flags, there was Riverview. I can still remember the excitement we felt the night before a visit to Riverview. We could hardly sleep.

eoe, Didn't Riverview have that parachute ride? I rode on one with one of the prettiest gals I ever met, but this was about ten lifetimes ago. c.i.

Yep, Riverview certainly did have the Parachute ride. About ten lifetimes ago.

hey, this is interesting. most of you who posted seem to like amusement parks pretty good, but the poll results show a majority of people who can think of better things to do / abhor amusement parks!

so ... you people who dont like amusement parks - dont hesitate to post, as well - i'm just as curious about your why-not, you know ;-)

i guess i also underestimated the range of things that fall under "amusement park". i was thinking the six flags kind, possibly disneyworld. but the way i get it now is, there's basically three categories:

a) the (local/county) fair kinda things, smaller and perhaps a bit old-fashioned (this is what in holland we would call "kermis"),

b) the big, hypermodern action/rides amusement parks of the six-flags model (what in holland we'd call "pretpark"), and

b2) the fairy-tale park, with, like, tivoli's "gigantic dragon girl, waterfall, and glittering diamond tunnel". we've got "de efteling" here, like that. disneyland's part that, part rollercoasters etc, right?

as a kid, i hated the "kermis", but now i think they're kinda cute. i still dont like the six-flags type thing, & my parents abhorred it i think. but de efteling is cute. should check out tivoli, huh?