VINTAGE ROLLERCOASTER AND AMUSEMENT PARK PICS

[rollermatic]

if anyone else here loves old amusement park pics, especially vintage rollercoasters and other rides i am starting to put all my old pics on facebook at this time.

i have a ton of pics since i worked at cedar point 10 years, (valleyfair 2 of those years) and americana amusement park for 3 years. i have never posted them anywhere before.

my favorites are old coasters, von roll skyrides, and any old ride not found today.

i am taking a break from appliance repair to get these pics finally posted! i chose my facebook page because they are pics mostly taken by me and represent a big part of my life.

if you would like to see some great old coasters and other rides just visit me on facebook at "pete leaf". it is a work in progress and will take me several more months to complete.

i am also going to put pictures of all my old dishwashers and washers on facebook as well, once the park pics are done. although most of my friends think i'm nuts for collecting these they still are interested in seeing them

i have the same love for old amusement park rides as i do old appliances!. they are a part of our history and should be preserved!

thanks

pete

 

[bugsyjones]

Wichita has/had an old amusement park called Joyland. It opened in 1949 and was owned by Ottoway. Built on 40 acres, in the heart of the brand new Oaklawn housing development, it's best features were it's acres of shaded park area for picnics and the 'out and back' wooden coaster that you can see when you pull up to the park. In the mid 50's, they opened a kiddie land park on Central Ave. This was merged with the main Joyland property on Hillside Ave. Kiddie Land was a mother goose rhyme-themed park. Some features still exist. There was a sculpture of 'The Old Woman Who Lived In A Shoe' that is still there. Ownership changed over in the 1960's. They own the park to this day. Over the years, Joyland has featured many different rides to suit different tastes, and some VERY rare rides that are exlusive to only this park. One is the coaster which is one of the only examples left built by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company. Original cars and all. The other is the Whacky Shack dark ride. This classic Tracy ride was the prototype for all the current existing Whacky Shack dark rides. Joyland also had a carousel, pool, tilt-a-whirl, and a Wurlitzer Band organ that was originally intended for the roller rink, but when that closed, they moved the organ to the park. Oh, remembering Joyland with the sounds of the Wurlitzer. A VERY rare instrument, one of only two working of it's kind. Other interests included a Western town with gunfights (My great uncle used to act out gunfights there), The Log Jam flume ride, a miniature train and the Dodge 'Em bumper cars. Joyland remained under the same ownership from the 1960's through 2002. It was leased to investors in 2003 and things were looking up for Joyland. The 2004 season was to be the last. City noise ordinances, vandalism, and lease disputes closed the park indefinitely.

The Oaklawn neighborhood is a low-rent area now with a terrible crime problem. Joyland continues to be vandalized with fires and theft. There may be hope afterall, though. There is someone interested in the park. I really hope they don't let this piece of history slip away. I have many fond memories.

I've stared collecting Joyland memorabilia here and there. One of my prized rarities is an ashtray that I fought someone tooth and nail for on Ebay. I've also got post cards and brochures and a wooden nickel from the western town.

I make custom western wear and I've even commemorated Joyland with a custom-embroidered jacket.

So sorry this is so long! I was just excited about this thread! I might post some Joyland pictures.

~Tim

 

[bugsyjones]

Louie the Clown at the Wurlitzer

He moved to the beat of the music.

 

[bugsyjones]

The Whacky Shack the way it originally was.

 

[bugsyjones]

Here's the coaster from the view of the parking lot.

The building in front used to be the roller rink. It's now storage.

 

[bugsyjones]

Here's the pool back in the 60's.

It closed after a couple of people drowned. It was an unsupervised pool. No lifeguards.

It was subsequently filled in and a SkyCoaster ride was put in it's place.

 

[bugsyjones]

This is the Western town as it was in 2005. This section of the park was fenced off and it became a dumping ground for old ride parts and general clutter. Today this area is deplorable with dilapidaded and burned-out buildings and rusting ride parts, tree limbs, old trucks, and other stuff.

 

[bugsyjones]

The Western Town in it's former glory.

 

[jeffg]

Pete, are you going to post a link to your Facebook page?

Tim, when I think of all the lost amusement parks across our country it makes me wanna cry. In southern California we had Pacific Ocean Park (known as "P.O.P.") in Santa Monica, The Pike in Long Beach, a huge and beautiful Busch Gardens in Van Nuys, and when those weren't enough you could always go to Disneyland, Magic Mountain or Knott's Berry Farm. Even our small and not-wealthy Catholic grammar school was able to afford a carnival every October, with rides like the Hammerheads and (my all-time favorite), the Zipper. The Zipper was invented by a company in Wichita, Kansas. It was small and didn't look like much, but good grief, if you timed it right you could get those cages spinning so fast you'd nearly pass out from the G-forces.

 

[mattywashboy]

I found this video on YouTube. It is a really nice video of DisneyLand how it was in the early days then how it is in 2009 hosted by Walt Disney himself.
Its a long video but it really is magical, it shows how technology has made things different and more beautiful. But also how it was in the 70's
I shed a tear as the video went on, even tho i have never even been there, its a dream i hope to achieve this year should things go to plan.

There is also a link to a site that has all the old rides that do not exist anymore in Disneyland, how they were built and photos etc... Its a real nice look into the history of the Park.

Enjoy guys.
Matt

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Yesterland - Disneyland History & Other Disney Park History

Yesterland, a Theme Park on the Web, featuring Discontinued Disneyland Attractions

www.yesterland.com

 

[tolivac]

Old amusment parks-COOL!!!Hope someone can rescue Joyland-would be a great "escape" from the usual as amusment parks were meant to be.Joyland makes me think of Glen Echo amusment park that was in Northwest Wash DC area-It used to be what was called a "trolley park"It was owned by the trolley company as a means of extra business on weekends.during the week patrons would use the trolley to commute to work or school-on the weekend customers could then use the trolley to take them to the amusement park-double business for the trolley company.The only things you see at Glen Echo-unless changes were made-were the Carrausel and the dance hall building.The "Crystal Pool" is now weeds.Like the swimming pool at Joyland-this closed for liability reasons.Then it was abandoned.Another thing I remember at Glen Echo was the shooting gallery---Tried my skill at it in the early 60's as a boy-they let you use a .22 rifle loaded with special .22 short loads that made a bright spark and a "clang" when the bullet struck the steel targets.LOVED IT!!!The gallery mechanisms,targets,and building are now grown over with weeds.You can still enjoy the merry go round though-used it quiete a lot-and your ride was accompanied by Wurlitzer 165 organ music-same with the shooting gallery when it was in use.The music and clang of the targets made a nice sound.
Remember seeing some Youtube video cuts of Joyland-some of the videos showed the organ playing---but NO LOUIE.louie and his keyboard were gone from the YouTube clips I watched.You did see the windsheild wiper like arms protruding from the front of the organ that made Louie move as the organ played.Yes that is a RARE Wurlitzer model-probably custom made for Joyland at the time the organ was built-Wurlitzer did make some custom non-stock models of their band and theater organs.I will have to look up on the Internet to see what is going on at Glen Echo-Its owned by the State of MD and the Govt as a historical landmark.Oh yes-one of the operators of the 165 organ there got rolls from an unexopected source--he went to a yard sale and found a box of "piano rolls"and bought them-they were Wurlitzer 156 organ rolls!That is the foundation for their music library.And the crash cymbal on the roof of the organ works!!You need to listen to the song of the "Ben Her Chariot Race" on that organ-the crash cymbal is VERY busy!!And you can watch it work!When I left DC years ago-the park was an Artist Park.You could watch,learn art and buy the items the artists made.

 

[rp2813]

The local favorite here is the Giant Dipper at the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz. Built in 1924 and it's one wild and relentless ride!

 

[rollermatic]

thanks for those beautiful pics!

love them all. that joyland sign is great! and the big dipper at santa cruz is a coaster i have always wanted to ride! love louie and the wacky shack too!

i do not know how to post links to any web pages. i would like to learn as i occasionally run across something on you tube i would like to share. if anyone can tell me how to do this i would be happy to learn!

 

[petek]

Look forward to seeing your pictures. Here's a Youtube of the rickety wooden coaster at Playland in Vancouver. We used to live about 3 blocks away. I think it's way more fun than the bigger new metal ones that do loops etc because they're too smooth and lack danger feel LOL

 

[petek]

the missing link

forgot the linky

 

[rp2813]

Posting links is easy. Copy the entire URL from the top of the page (the "http://www" verbiage) and then paste it in the "URL Link to share" field just below where you type your message to post here on the fourm. After clicking on the "preview" button you can check to make sure the link works.

Pete, I just presumed you had already been on the Big Dipper in Santa Cruz. It's worth the trip if you have any California travel plans on the horizon.

Ralph

 

[iheartmaytag]

BugseyJones
Thank you so much for the memories. I remember Joyland in it's day. It was such fun walking over the top of the pool to enter the park. They used to have a skating rink as well but as the park had financial problems, you noticed they had more and more "accidental" fires. After the collected the insurance money they just closed that part of the park and continued.

The floods of 98 and the legal battles of late have senteced the park to death, I am afraid. I heard recently that Louie is missing, and last summer another building burned.

With the death of Joyland and the fiasco of Wild West World, one has to travel to KC or OKC TO visit an amusement park now.

 

[laundromat]

Kisses

When I was younger,my Mom and Dad would get all of us together and we'd pack a big lunch then drive up from baltimore to pennsylvania to go to Hershey Park.In Downtown Hershey,they had street lights that were Hershey kisses and every other one was open showing their chocolate.The Comet was their older wooden framed roller coaster that rocked!Among the thre of us,my brother,my sister and myself, I was the only one who had the nerve to ride it.To this day,my siblings hate rides and would get sick when they got on.Another few places we went were Gwynn Oak Park in Baltimore which closed down after the riots that occured when MLK was assassinated.there was also Dorney Park but,it's been so long since I went there that I forget where it was.Of course,living in Orlando, Florida and having a roommate that worked at Disney World,I had a yearly pass every year for 12 years that I'd get either for my b'day or Xmas from Orma whom I just reuinited with.She and I had a fall out caused by a thug who got between us.But,love does concor all.She's planning on visiting this coming fall.

 

[duetboy]

Ahhh, Joyland

As a kid, I remember that's where our school's "fun night" was always held. A big highlight for this country bumpkin! That was when you made the "big trip" to Wichita (South Wichita to be exact) which was maybe 12 miles from our house but in those days seemed like a huge trip.

I remember swimming in the pool with Mom and my 2 sisters. My brother was 9 years old than I was so he always had a summer job.

The story that I've heard down in Pawnee, OK at the steam engine show (Pic attached of Joyland's old Steam Traction Engine) was that Mr. Ottaway would design/build rides in his one barn and then hire high school kids to test out the rides. From some of the kids that rode on them, who are now in their 60's...they were scary but fun!