Williams Grove has its rides up for sale

There's an ad on www.usedrides.com with the heading "All Major Rides," listing the rides for sale or trade. (Ad ref no 25440) From the descriptions of the rides and the phone and e-mail address given, it's apparent it's WG. And it's pretty much everything except for Cyclone and the motorboat.

Hope this doesn't mean the end of the road, or at least the grassy path, for this place. :(

Yeah, I submitted this to news three days ago but it never made it.

Guess, I'll never get to ride the best Twister and only Scary coaster on the planet again :(

Very puzzling. The current owner of the park seemed very dedicated to selling the park as a park. I wonder what happened?

I guess this is the end of the road for a great little park that was rough around the edges but still exceptional in its own way. It's a tragic loss for a number of reasons, one of them being that the park- as a whole- is the closest "living" connection to Palisades Park.

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RatherGoodBear said:
it's pretty much everything except for Cyclone and the motorboat.

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... and Dante's Inferno

But what about that weird little part of the ad that says "for sale or trade?" What does that mean? I think there is something else going on here.

The owner was a ride broker for years bring in rides from Europe for not just Williams Grove but other places as well.

As Altolf said on another board. He's gotta a sure thing and big money maker in the Racetrack and probably just wants to retire.

Just because he's getting rid of rides doesn't mean he won't keep the land or some part of the operation like the picnic groves and antique steam show.

Aparently Family doesn't want to take over.
Chuck

Bummer, the people from http://sinistershadows.com/dantes.htm just refurbished the Inferno. *** Edited 10/28/2005 7:10:59 PM UTC by PerrysburgGuy***

These types of posts always bring me down. I know that one person alone can not make a difference, but Williams Grove was one of those parks I had hoped to get to this summer. But with having to move (go imminent domain) and changing jobs, the summer season was just cut too short to fit in the "let's visit every park in PA we have not been too yet" tour.

I had read those past TRs that talked about the thrill/scare factor of their coaster just because it seemed like it would fall apart at any given moment, and it just made you want to go and ride it. But I didn't, and now probably will never be able to. Hopefully I'll be proved wrong and I can link back to this post in a TR next summer :)

I know it's not my fault that the park may be closing, but I just feel bad. If all of us who were planning on going and did not get a chance actually did make the trip, would it be the same demise for Williams Grove? If so, perhaps because the guy wants to retire, then oh well, I would just feel like I missed out. But if it was due to lack of attendance, and we could have made a difference...

Sorry so mopey!!!

~marci~

It would be great to see a few of these rides turn up at Spring Grove Park near Pine Grove about an hour north of Williams Grove.

Has that ever been made a actual park again?

I was under the impression it's a campground with a couple kids rides.

Chuck

Oh, I think cpunk means Twin Grove. They refurbished and re-opened the carousel two or three years ago, and there is talk about gradually adding a few more rides and attractions.

I was under the impression that there were no direct heirs (children) to take over WG. Obviously, the big chains wouldn't be interested in acquiring this park, and probably not even the mid-size ones like Kennywood. So who does that leave who could step in and take things over?

Even if some of the rides are picked up by other parks, what does it mean for Williams Grove itself? If it couldn't make a go with 2 dozen rides, how could it manage with a fraction of that? What a desolate shell that would be! What happens to Cyclone?

(Note: this is the cue for the "amusement parks are a business first and foremost, it's all about the bottom line, what the hell do I care when I can afford my own personal gold-plated Qbot" faction to pipe in-- if they even bother reading threads that don't concern the corporates.)

On a more optimistic note, as millrace pointed out, the ad does mention "for sale or trade." Trade for what? Hopefully we're talking something more substantial than mardi-gras beads here. Maybe rides for slides? Who knows, maybe WG has decided to make the move to become central PA's only major waterpark?

RGB = Rose-colored Glasses Bearer

I got to get Sky Master.

Yea, Twin Grove Park is what I meant. I'm not sure where I came up with Spring Grove.

yes, that's sad. The Disco Star is a very nice Matterhorn from Mack.

Twin Grove is rumored to have some very interesting plans that go way beyond kiddie rides. There is an old circle swing on the property that they are restoring (I saw a picture though I can't remember where it was) and some have said they have a few other nearly defunct rides in storage including a cuddle up!

According to their website (Twin Grove's), the cuddle up is in operation, and they're planning to bring back an airplane swing.

http://www.twingroveparkcampground.com/facilities.html

I may need to take a gander someday.

The pics of the changes of Dantes Infirno look pretty cool, wonder if Knoebels is looking into any of this. DA isnt listed on the site, wonder what will happen to that.

Wow...I didn't know the cuddle-up was operational. I wonder if it is one of the large 4+ tubs version like I've been hearing.

The airplane swing they mention is the old circle swing. Most of those had airplanes and were later converted to rocket ships.

I think my 2006 plans are taking shape already!

I had no idea the Cuddle Up was up and running (and cuddling?) Twin Grove is in a position to surprise a lot of amusement park "traditionalists" in the near future... and they just may!

And it's even closer to my house than Knoebels is! If they develop Twin Grove further as an amusement park, they'd practically have a built-in clientele. Take I-81 from Hershey and it's 4 exits north to Twin Grove. 4 more exits and it's the turnoff to Knoebels.

If Williams Grove manages to keep going, a person could potentially visit 4 parks with about 2 hours of total drive time between them.