A Walk Through the Remains of Idora Park

Today, a friend of mine and myself, we took a walk through the remains of Idora. It was devastating. All there was were weeds that were four feet tall, an old midway that is being covered by weeds, pieces of rotting wood, cement bases where rides once stood, and rusty pieces of metal. You could see where buildings once stood. Halfway into the park, I found white pieces of wood that once were supports for the Ed Vettel Jackrabbit.

Then, I saw what I was looking for, a piece of wood that was of a faded yellow orange color. It was a piece from Schmeck's Wildcat.

Most of the wood from the coasters was rotten, and was not easy to find, since the coasters were demolished in July of 2001. But the only thing fully in tact was a waiting area for the train.

Also you could see idora.org spray painted on some brick walls.

So, after stepping on a nail and considering that I was not appropriately dressed for a hike, and seeing tow other people walking a dog, I decided that it was time to leave.

Today, Idora is rotting wood, a crumbling midway, and a thick forest of weeds. This is Youngstown today, Idora in the 1950's was the Youngstown of the past. Considering that there is not a no trespassing anywhere on the entire Idora property everyone in Youngstown should have the chance to relive the past at Idora Park.

Wow, sad to hear that park gone, I looked it up on RCDB and those coasters looked pretty awesome.

-Colin-

That's sad. I never visited the park but I HATE seeing coasters (any coasters) go to waste. It's kind of like walking through a graveyard.

Sounds like it's in worse condition than Chippewa Lake.

-Tina

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Cedar Point Junkie 2007 said:
Considering that there is not a no trespassing anywhere on the entire Idora property everyone in Youngstown should have the chance to relive the past at Idora Park.

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Yeah, I don't have a sign in front of my house either. Do you think it's OK to come into my back yard? Don't be a moron.

I drove by Idora many times back in the late 80's and early 90's when much of the coaster still stood and it was sad to see things rotting away.

At one time a church was said to be purchasing the property, other times there was talk of resurrecting the park, etc.

My fondest memories are of my grandfather and I discussing rollercoasters (he was so jealous that I had a job where I drove under Magnum every day) and he would tell me about his endless summers at Idora.

I never had the chance to visit Idora when it was open but I feel like I walked those midways with him.

I didn't think that it was stupid of me to walk around the ruins. People go there all the time. So Jeff, if it were illegal, I would never had done it. I was just trying to get a grasp of what the park was like.

Banks get robbed all the time, too. I've never seen a sign at a bank that says "No Stealing," though.

I miss Idora and the Wildcat.

The Wildcat is definately in my top 10 of all time,one mean coaster,one of the few I couldnt ride twice in a row.

Was there right after it was tore down,got a nice section of catwalk from it. :)