Endangered Parks

Just as there are endangered species, there always seem to be some endangered amusement parks. Here are a list of some of them with pertinint comments. Maybe some of you have other parks that should be mentioned.

Pavilion -- Going - Going - Soon gone. -- We do have the new Hard Rock Park to look forward to, however.

Erieview -- Another park that has announced its closing. Maybe Conneaut Lake can benefit from this.

Joyland (Kansas) -- They have had trouble getting their coaster back in operation. Also, a new Western theme park might be on the way here that could seal its fate.

Santas Village (Illinois) -- Closed this season, up to its elf ears in debts and liens. May go on the block in October.

Ghost Town in the Sky -- Closed at present but it plans to reopen next spring.

Bushkill -- Flood damage closed the park in 2005. They reopened this year but the future remains in doubt.

Conneaut Lake -- They barely got off the ground this year but the park has improved. If they can work out the land sale to clear their debt, this park might survive.

Six Flags Magic Mountain -- Up for sale and it sits on million dollar an acre land. Condos, anyone?

Frontier City -- a former Six Flags park whose future is clearly in doubt. What will the buyers do with it?

Six Flags Elitchs Gardens -- The city wants it to remain a park but are the investors around to make this possible?

Don't forget SFNO. That is likely dead and awaiting burial. Libertyland is also gone. Whalom Park is sitting and rotting away but stands a SLIGHT chance of coming back to life. Camden has been on thin ice for years but seems to be making a comeback. Hope that works...

Williams Grove

Yes. Some parks are SBNO and they may or may not come back. CLP is one that did come back even though it still has some problems. Cincinnati Coney Island is another, even though is is now a ghost of its former self. I also mentioned Bushkill as a park that has been coming back following the flood that closed it for a year.

Among the SBNO parks that I am aware of, Ghost Town in the Sky apears to have the best chance of returning.

Santas Village is a real question mark. It all depends upon whether someone comes forward that can make the necessary investments in time to get it going again and to clear the liens.

WG sold one of its coasters and the wooden coaster is not in that great of shape. Does that look promising?

Whalom appears to be in the process of being sold to developers.

Six Flags is trying to get out of the SFNO commitment. They are not in a good position to rebuild the park.

Libertyland sold one coaster to a Pennsylvania park and Zippin Pippin is slated for demolition if its buyer doesn't remove it. This park is not likely to reopen.

The issue we keep hearing with Williams Grove is that they are looking for someone to manage/operate the park and that the owner wants to keep it as a park, and not sell it for any other use. But then we hear they're trying to sell off rides.

The speedway is apparently doing well, at least enough that some local TV stations do reports on the weekly races.

Many family parks face the same problems as other family run businesses: no retirement/succession plan.

I'd say LeSourdsville is "endangered", but I think Couch is doing his best to keep it off that list by killing it outright... :(

Gator, Aparently Couch has moved some rides around in the park and plans to have some type of a park along with his camper village. I honestly don't know how he's gonna do it. But the coaster, skyride, flying scooter, Tilt and a couple other rides were never on the FOR SALE LIST as well as the Screechin Eagle.

As of last week, The Pirat, Scoooters, coasters flyers and several other rides were still at LL.

As for endangered parks.
SFDL I would not say is in danger at this point.

SFEG is a gonner.

Chuck

The city says SFEG will remain an amusement park....but with whose money? ;)

SFDL is promising, in a good location, and I can't see it turning into anything but another amusement park. Supes, with new ownership, that's a good fit... :)

IMO, LeSourdsville cannot succeed without corporate picnics and family outings...Coney seemed to be doing OK with that formula, and I was there on a Tuesday...

Dude, you put 200 campers a nite at 60-70 dollars each hookups, Charge $10 a person for a ridepass and your sucssful.

Chuck, who says Coney's never been in trouble. People were back two years after KI Moved to mason and the pool never closed.

^Chuck: I always wondered why that formula never worked for CLP. Their camping rates are way cheaper.

-mark(have camped in Camperland many times.

Camperland was PACKED this past weekend (despite the rain). Unfortunately, it was also really noisy with a couple of groups of inconsiderate drunk baffoons who found it necessary to honk horns, whoop, and holler late into the night.

If the large camping population doesn't translate into lots of admissions (and I don't know if it does or doesn't), I suspect it has something to do with people who aren't all that interested in the amusement park and are either (1) old people traveling the country in those giant RVs, and (2) People who want to get drunk and obnoxious while sitting around a campfire but can't do it at state park campgrounds because those don't allow alcohol.

Santa's Village in Illinois was once a part of a chain with three Santa Claus parks. The other two were in California but are now gone. .

Santa's Village in New Hampshire and Santa's Village in Ontario are not associated with the Illinois park and neither is in danger of closing at this time. Two other Santa parks that were in danger recently were Santa's Workshop in New York, and Santa's Land in Vermont. Both survived and are doing better now although the Vermont park's future may still be somewhat questionable at this time. Santa's Land in North Carolina is just over a mouuntain from Ghost Town in the Sky and appears to be doing all right. Same for Santa's Workshop in Colorado on the slopes of Pikes Peak. Of course, no one has any misgivings about Holiday World which has grown far beyond its Santa area and is on the verge of becoming a major theme park.

I would sincerely want to see the Illinois park reopen and survive. I have been in online contact with the park manager who is one of the leading professional Santa Clauses in the Midwest.

It's really pretty funny that a person can actually be called a "leading professional Santa." Are there many qualifications besides the obvious?

Phillip Wenz has appeared as Santa in major Christmas parades in Chicago and Houston. He has done various advertising appearances as Santa Claus. In addition he appears at many Christmas parties and special events, primarily in the Chicago area but sometimes elsewhere.

His involvement with Santa's Village included a major role as Santa at the park. He is one of the few Santas that devotes his work time exclusively to Santa related matters on a full-time basis. *** Edited 8/21/2006 7:31:22 PM UTC by Arthur Bahl***

Can't forget the Santa at Holiday World.

X Factor

Add Atlantic City Steel Pier to the list. This is its last year.

One word:SIX FLAGS!

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Arthur Bahl said:Ghost Town in the Sky -- Closed at present but it plans to reopen next spring.

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Don't forget about Tweetsie Railroad, also in the North Carolina mountains. I don't think they've moved foward any with their land lease problems.

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BATWING FAN SFA said:
One word:SIX FLAGS!

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That's TWO. :)

Joyland is on the way back. After so many years of neglect it will take awhile to get things going. Wild West World sealing its fate thats highly unlikely. Joyland has much to offer that wild west world wont have.