Will Idora Park return from the dead?

Every once in a while, I always hear something about Idora Park (Youngstown, OH) being rebuilt, but then the "talk" seems to end. If you take a look at this site, you'll see that there is indeed some conversation about a revival of Idora Park (at least in some shape or form). Does anyone know about this... are there actual plans for a rebuilt Idora Park, or is this just wishful thinking on the behalf of someone that loved the park dearly? If there are plans, where will it happen? I know that the church that owns the land is not willing to sell, and that the "neighborhood" has really gone downhill, so the park would obviously have to go somewhere else in the Youngstown area.

Anyone?

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-Rob, thinking it sounds like an excellent plan
A.C.E. member since 1990
Posting @ Coasterbuzz since 2000
E.C.C. member since 2002

No more Idora. It was a novel idea, but some things are not meant to be.

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"Step on that lapbar and make it nice and tight!"

I wish people would just let it go. Youngstown is easily the worst city in the state, and I've been to Lima.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - My Blog
Blogs, photo albums - CampusFish
What time does the water show start?

Jeff theres a few citys here in southwestern Ohio that are worse than Lima and Youngstown.

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Hi.....whats your name again?

Tenchi-online.com Theme park photos and more. Your new home for the Jeff Siebert fanpage

It won't happen, but what I am truly hoping for is that someone will reincarnate the wildcat. It was supposed to be incredible, I personally want it to stay as furious as ever with an exception to that second turn, it sopposedly broke ribs, that isn't good. But it looks like a great ride. RIP.

What would be the point of rebuilding the park, the coasters are gone and if one was to rebuild a park the Youngstown area wouldn't be the ideal place at all, I know some of the areas south of Youngstown are getting better but the area as a whole sux, that's why my grandfather moved outta there back in the 1930's, they outta put there energy into saving other parks in trouble.

I believe that "Two Worlds Park" Idora thing is in the Lake Milton area and not Youngstown proper.

Youngstown is more likely to be the home of a casino if certain parties get their way.

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Ripple Rock Amusement Park

PKIEMPSOB, I grew up in SW Ohio, and I've never been to any cities worse than Youngstown and Lima. Dayton comes close, but not quite.

Anyway, if they're going to rebuild Idora, may I suggest a new name.... perhaps Mafialand?

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A day is a drop of water in the ocean of eternity. A week is seven drops.

I've never been to these citys in OH, but whats make them so bad? I am just wondering.

Thanks
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http://coastertrackrecord.tripod.com/

The same thing that ruins every other city in the nation - that ugly highway strip full of strip malls and fast food joints. Talk about blight! The inner city is run down but at least it's interesting :)

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Ripple Rock Amusement Park
Flying Scooter coming soon!

I don't understand why people will not let Idora park go.

I've never visited the park because i was to young but it looked like a cool park. I take that back the Wildcat looked really cool but the Jack Rabbit looked slow and boring.

So bring back the Wildcat and leave the other things to history. Get over it will never happen.

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Your Park only has 1 good coaster! That's too bad!

Hey, it can happen. They tried to build Autoworld in Flint, Michigan (gone after six months) and Michigan's Adventure is still operating in Muskegon... Both were once named the two worst cities to live in the nation.

The likeliness is fairly low though.

-Danny
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Coaster Insomniacs- Coastin' the Night Away

First of all, what is "Two Worlds Park"?

Second, what were the original plans... to rebuild Idora as it was? I can't see how that would have happened, as the Wildcat certainly couldn't be rebuilt as it was (I never rode it, but have heard more than enough about it to figure that out), rib-cracking fan turns and all. And without the Wildcat, it looks as though Idora was just another neighborhood amusement park that had run its course.

I was just curious to find out how concrete those supposed plans were...

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-Rob
A.C.E. member since 1990
Posting @ Coasterbuzz since 2000
E.C.C. member since 2002

Rob - the answers to your questions can all be found in that website you cited in your opening post (www.idorapark.org).
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Ripple Rock Amusement Park
Flying Scooter coming soon!

Sorry, for some reason, I didn't even see the link to that on the site!

From what I read, it sounds like the plans for this "Two Worlds Park" are pretty concrete (they even chose GCII to rebuild the Wildcat and Jack Rabbit, which seems like an odd choice because those are two types of wooden coasters that GCII has never really done before). From the way it sounds, this isn't a matter of "if" but simply "when". If so, how come this gets so little discussion compared to other projects that never seem to go anywhere, like Myrtle Beach?

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-Rob
A.C.E. member since 1990
Posting @ Coasterbuzz since 2000
E.C.C. member since 2002

I would love to see Idora Park rebuilt. It's a piece of my childhood, too. I guess I'll believe it's being rebuilt when I see a press release announcing its opening.

I remember that last season it was open. It was really depressing seeing Wild Cat and the Midway looking the way it did, but the Jack Rabbit being transformed into the Back Wabbit was cool.

I'll never forget my sister and cousins and me running between the parachute ride, the kiddie coaster, and the tilt a whirl. Our parents and grandparents would just come back once in a while to check that we were somewhere between our three favorite rides and then go back to whatever they were doing. Too bad that's just a memory...

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Awww, bad day? Take a different perspective on things. Try upside down, a barrel roll, a cobra roll or a corkscrew. Life can't be all that bad when your feet are over your head!

Youngstown and Lima, been there. Warren is right up there too.

I live in Warren, and it is up there. But on topic, I would love to see Idora return. I was too young to ever go to the park, but I have seen videos of the park and think it was a great way for a family to spend a day. I will definitely support this project in anyway, because rebuilding this park might lead to the revitalization of other parks (i.e. Conneaut Lake).
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Fear, not the distance from which you fall, however, the velocity with which you hit the ground.

The land where Idora was located is owned by a Church. I believe they boutght the land and everything for a dollar. No one would want to build a park in Youngstown, maybe somewhere close in mahoning county. There are really nice parts of mahoning county. But the problem with building a park in that area is that there are three good parks that are rather close. SFWOA is 45 minutes from Youngstown, Kennywood is an hour, and Cedarpoint is 2 1/2 hours. It would be nice to see another park rebuild the Wildcat. A few years ago there was talk of rebuilding the two coasters at Conneaut Lake. Someone has the original blueprints for both coasters. The only thing we can do now is support the smaller parks like Conneaut.

The new site is located off route 534 just north of I-76 (about a half mile up on the right) which is closer to Lake Milton (where a park once stood, and where a sister park to Geauga Lake was once rumored to go) than to Youngstown.

As for it happening, the person in charge (Carl Severino) was also the person who was involved with Conneaut Lake Park before it became non-profit.

Carl is better known for his wedding band, than running amusement parks. The last I heard (through TV 27, one of our local stations), was that there were plans for both an indoor and outdoor amusement park on the plot of land (which I believe is around the size of the original Idora, about 36 acres). Also planned, according to Mr. Severino, is some kind of arena/convocation center/convention center. At the time of the report (about two months ago) they had about 1% of the money they needed to build it.

I thiink it's safe to say, it most likely won't happen, however there is supposed to be some kind of Halloween attraction on the site to raise money for the project.

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Goccvp1