---- THE LATEST SMALL PARK NEWS ----

(9/18/20) Adventureland (NY) Also Suffering From Lack of Guidance From New York Government (MORE...)

(8/25/20) Wild Waves Gives Up On Reopening in 2020 (MORE...)

(8/24/20) Palace Entertainment Closing Idlewild, Story Land and Dutch Wonderland Early

(8/21/20) Oak’s Park Cancels Plans To Open In 2020 (MORE...)

(8/8/20) Bay Beach Revises Plans For Future Development

ADVENTURE CITY (Buena Park, CA)

2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time... and nothing added for the 2016 - 2019 seasons.

ADVENTURE PARK (Maryland)

2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time... and nothing added for the 2016 - 2019 seasons.

ADVENTURE POINTE (Near Houston, TX)

???? - New Park - Under Construction - (9/29/19) It has been awhile since we heard anything about the Adventure Pointe theme park project in Texas. The last we heard about the 35-acre park seemed to indicate that construction had started. While construction did begin, it came to a halt, with some rides even semi-setup on the property and some half-built buildings now standing. The owner of the park, Harvey Slusky, has now filed a lawsuit against his former attorney and the teams of architects and builders who he claimed ‘defrauded him’ and ‘lied to him’, taking his $10 million for their own profits rather than building the park.



(12/13/18) After years of waiting, it looks like construction has finally begun on the Adventure Point theme park project just outside Houston, Texas. According to their Facebook page crews were installing the power to the site back in August and just last week they posted pictures of what looks like the park's main entrance structure and gates being installed. It also looks like a few small rides may have been installed over the summer as well, so maybe we'll see it open in some form in 2019. Anyone know more?



ADVENTURELAND (Altoona, Iowa)

Park News - (5/31/20) According to a local news report the Tornado wooden roller coaster at Adventureland suffered from a small fire on Saturday. Fortunately the fire was put out very quickly but was believed to be started as part of prep work to reopen the park when propane heaters were being used to heat bearings and ignited some of the wooden structure of the coaster nearby briefly.



(5/28/20) Adventureland has announced that the park will reopen on June 3, 2020. The ticket booths out front will open on June 1 and 2, but only for advanced ticket sales, the park will remain closed on those days. June 3 and 4 the park will open, but only for season passholders. It will open to the public on June 5th and attendance will be limited to 50% of the park’s capacity.



(5/20/20) Adventureland in Iowa has confirmed that they are removing the park’s Dragon coaster. Dragon is a rare steel looping coaster from Hopkins that opened back in 1990 and had two loops, but was not known for having the smoothest or most comfortable ride. According to RCDB, Hopkins made only 7 coasters between 1985 and 1996.

Aerial footage posted by a local news station gives us our best look at the demolition site where a good portion of the coaster’s track has already been taken down. The park has yet to comment, other than to post an odd graphic of a knight poised to slay a dragon with a sword, with the text, “The Dragon Slayer” above it along with a message saying “Coming in 2021…..”

So at least we appear to have a possible theme for whatever replacement ride may be coming next season.



2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time...

2021 - Dragon Slayer - (7/7/20) In case there was any remaining doubt, Adventureland has posted a video confirming that the new Dragon Slayer coaster coming in 2021 will indeed be an S&S 4D Free Spin.



ADVENTURELAND (Long Island, NY)

Park News - (9/18/20) Yesterday we reported how Luna Park has been having an impossible time getting any kind of response or guidance from New York about how they could have tried to reopen the Coney Island amusement parks. In a video posted by Adventureland in Long Island, it sounds like that park has also been having the same problem and was forced to stay closed for all of 2020. They were planning to reopen when New York went into Phase 4 of the reopening plan in July, only to be stunned when they were left out of the reopening list in July.

Like Luna Park, they were led to believe they would have been able to reopen and bought countless supplies and paid for modifications to the park to allow for social distancing, only to be ignored by the state and left without any guidance or indication as to when they would ever be allowed to reopen. Keep an eye at about the half-way point in the video to see footage of the park’s brand new Sports Tower ride in action, as it is ready to go as soon as the park can reopen.

To help keep things going at the park, they are hosting a Halloween drive-in movie series called Nightmare at the Movies. The park is also hosting a series of drive-in Concert events as well. You can find information about how to attend both of these events to support the park on their official website.



2020 - Sports Tower -(4/27/20) A post from Rides-4-U shows off a new sports themed Air Balloon Observation Tower ride from SBF-Visa Group that will be coming to Adventureland (Long Island) this summer. They will call it the Sports Tower.



ARNOLD’S PARK (Iowa)

Park News - (6/27/20) The local news reports that Arnolds Park reopened to the public once again on Friday after a brief closure. There will be new rules in effect this time around however, all all guests are required to wear face coverings except for those under 2 years old. They are asking for more social distancing and hand washing, and mandatory temperature screenings will be required before you enter the park. Rides will close for brief times throughout the day to undergo cleaning as well.



The new opening date for Arnolds Park Amusement Park is Wednesday, June 3rd! We are so excited to welcome everyone back to the Park for summer. ??? pic.twitter.com/oqOw7GpMRX — Arnolds Park Amusement Park (@arnolds_park) May 27, 2020

2020 - Park Improvements - (3/29/20) According to this article, when Arnolds Park reopens this summer the park will have some new improvements to enjoy. The list includes a new Iowa Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame exhibit that first reopened last year in a new location. The newly renovated museum is now three times the size of the previous one and now features some interactive exhibits. The former Hall of Fame was in the former “Roof Garden” next to the park which was demolished to make way for a brand new “Roof Garden” building that will look like a historic ballroom. Other restoration projects are also in the works at the park such as the building of a new 15,000 sqft boardwalk that they hope to be finished by May and a renovation of the State Pier that they hope to have finished by July 4 that will include a new plaza, fountain, sculptures, benches and new decorative lighting.

BAY BEACH (Green Bay, WI)

Park News - (5/30/20) Under a plan from Green Bay’s Parks & Rec department they have a tentative date to reopen the Bay Beach amusement park on the weekend of June 20, 2020, with a bigger opening starting on June 26, 2020. Capacity will be limited to 50%, which is estimated to be around 2000-3000 guests at a time.



(5/10/20) While the Bay Beach amusement park rides may be sitting closed, apparently the small park in Green Bay is hoping to stay active by selling food with curbside pickup. They started this concept on Saturday with a surprise post to their Facebook. They offered up amusement park burgers, hot dogs, brats, chicken sandwiches, and more. Oh… to give you an even better taste of the amusement park experience, they were also offering to sell Cheese Curds, Bavarian Pretzels, Cotton Candy and Popcorn in souvenir containers. As a nice touch, if you bought a “Family Deal” they would throw in $5 worth of park tickets to use at Bay Beach when they are able to properly reopen.

Now this isn’t a daily thing, but given the apparent popularity of the experience from the comments posted to their Facebook page, they say to keep and eye on it for more future dates for the curbside service, where they may even add a few more surprise items!

I like the innovation on display here, and wouldn’t mind seeing other attractions across the country open up some pick-up areas where they could serve a collection of their own signature treats and food items. Can you imagine a drive-through lane at Universal where you could get a real Butterbeer right now? How about a drive-though pick-up of Dollywood’s famous Cinnamon Bread? Set up a line of state fair style carny food stands in a parking lot somewhere and offer to sell candy apples, deep-fried twinkies, funnel cakes, massive corn dogs, street tacos, massive brats or grilled corn? The possibilities are endless for these unique food items that people usually go to a theme park or state fair to have. With theme parks and boardwalks closed and state fairs being cancelled left and right, the time may be right to offer up a little amusement ‘comfort food’ to the masses.



2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time...

2021 - (8/8/20) Look for Bay Beach to replace the park’s old Falling Star ride with something new for 2021, possibly just a newer version of the same ride.

???? - Beach/Pier Proposal - (8/8/20) According to the local news the City of Green Bay has revised their future expansion plans for Bay Beach. Previously the focus on was construction a sand beach at the property, but concerns over water levels and funds have forced a revision to the future plans that would now seek to build a pier, a shoreline walkway along with with placement of a stormwater management pond and erosion control measures as part of the new Phase 1. Phase one will cost an estimated $4.8 million. All Phase 1 plans will go into action sometime between Fall 2020 and Spring 2021.

Phase 2 will follow for an estimated $5.6 million that will include the sand beach area and a replacement for the old Falling Star ride at the park. Other Phase 2 projects would include a bathhouse, the relocation of the original train ride, and paving a parking lot. The Falling Star ride may be replaced in 2021, ahead of schedule, due to a $500,000 donation from the Friends of Bay Beach group for that purpose. The rest of the Phase 2 projects will happen as the funds become available, though the beach and boathouse projects will require the water levels to go down 12 inches from current levels.



(2/9/18) According to the local news the mayor of Green Bay is looking to bring “The Beach” back to Bay Beach. Proposed plans would see a new 1,000 foot sand beach built “from the property line to the new tot rides” with a boardwalk and 400 foot long pier with the ability to fish off the end of it. The estimated budget is around $5 million, but while the planning is taking place, the city has yet to approve any kind of budget for it.

BEECH BEND PARK (Bowling Green, Kentucky)

2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time... and nothing added for the 2017 - 2019 seasons.

BOSQUE MAGICO (Mexico)

2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time... and nothing added for the 2017 - 2019 seasons.

CALAWAY PARK (Alberta, Canada)

2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time...

CAMDEN PARK (WV)

Park News - (6/20/20) According to this news report Camden Park (West Virginia) has now set July 1, 2020 as the date to reopen the park. This falls under the Governor’s reopening plan that will also allow fairs, festivals as well as amusement parks to all open for business on that same date. Social distancing must be maintained and all frequent point of guest touch must be cleaned between each guest use, though I don’t see any mention of face masks.

Looking over Camden’s website, it is nice to see that the park’s Mini Golf course is already open and that the park has also been offering curbside delivery (on select days) of some of their popular food items, including treats like Funnel Cakes, Caramel Apples, Fried Oreos and more. Check out the official website for the menu.

2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time... and nothing added for the 2017 - 2019 seasons.

CASINO PIER (Seaside Heights, NJ)

2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time...

CASTLE PARK (California)

2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time... and nothing added for the 2016 - 2019 seasons.

CEDAR VALLEY’S WILD FRONTIER (Michigan)

2020 - Two New Rides - (5/26/20) Cedar Valley’s Wild Frontier amusement park, a small attraction in Michigan, features a small collection of unique rides and will add a couple of new rides this season. The first is said to be an S.D.C. Galaxi style coaster that previously ran at Missouri’s Hydro Advetntures park as Galalxy 500. The second will be a Fabrri water jumping flume ride to be called Water Jumper. While we were sent a photo of the new ride set up at the park, it may be easier to watch the video below that to see just how the ride works as the small cars go flying down a coaster style drop where the track comes to a sudden end and they fly through the air, only to land and splash across a small trough of water.



CLEMENTON PARK (New Jersey)

(Purchased by Kieran Burke / Gary Story in Nov. 2011)

Park News - (2/29/20) Based on the fact that no news has come out of Clementon Park regarding any kind of operational schedule for 2020 along with the fact that now the entire Clementon Park website has been wiped off the face of the internet. As rumored, it looks like the plug was pulled on the park, begging the question about who exactly now has ownership of the property at this time.



(9/29/19) While I’m not going to name-names just yet, Screamscape has heard word that a smaller size park operator may be pondering a possible purchase of Clementon Park in time for next season. That’s all I’m going to say for now, as we don’t want to spook the deal, but it is nice to know that there may still be a future for the park, so stay tuned!



(9/25/19) While we learned nothing new about the status of Clementon Park at this time, we are starting to hear rumors that Premier Parks may have been looking to sell off not just Clementon Park, but the other three parks they do own: Wet ‘n’ Wild Toronto, Ocean Breeze and Nashville Shores. While the Toronto park just reopened in 2017 after being brought back by Premier Parks, they have failed to add anything new to any of these parks for the 2018 and 2019 seasons. In fact they went so far as to announce they were working on a Proslide Mammoth slide for Ocean Breeze intended for the 2018 season, but then failed to build anything at all.

Rumor has it that both Cedar Fair and Six Flags may be considering possible offers for some of these properties, though it looks like there were no takers for Clementon Park, or at least not yet.



(9/23/19) A new article posted to 42Freeway.com was able to take the information we dug up regarding the status of Clementon Park and add in even more pieces of the puzzle. In addition to being able to verify the information we shared on Screamscape last week, they were also able to interview the person in charge of the Clementon Fall Festival event which was to be held at the park this October.

Unfortunately they confirmed that not has the Clementon Fall Festival been forced to cancel this year’s event due to the park’s early closure this year, but they were also informed that the corporation that owns the park (Premier Parks) has been looking for buyers for some time for Clementon Park, and while they’ve had a little interest, there have been no takers thus far. They also reported being told that since Premier Parks was unable to sell the park, “they had to let it go to bank ownership” which is expected to take place at the end of this month.



(9/20/19) Something is apparently not right with Clementon Park. Currently the park’s website says that they are closed for the season, where the park’s last day of operations was on Sept. 8th, 2019. However an odd new story surfaced the other day about a family who had bought tickets online weeks ago for a special priced last-day of the season “Appreciation Day” event set for Sunday, Sept. 15th. Guests who bought tickets and traveled to the park were met with a closed sign and security guards telling them that the park was closed for the season.

While I’m unable to pull up any kind of previous operational calendar that may have been posted earlier this year, I’ve heard elsewhere that the park normally used to run their season into late September or even October in years past, so this early closing is already a bit strange.

Today I received a report from an anonymous source that telling us that on Monday park owner Kieran Burke arrived on site and gathered all of the park’s year-round Full-Time staff and informed everyone that they were being let go, and final checks were handed out. According to this source, at the start of the season the park’s schedule had them open as late as October 19th, but that date was suddenly pushed up just a few weeks ago.

And while the Clementon Park website is still up and running, the park’s Twitter account has suddenly been changed to a “protected” status, where only those approved can see their tweets. The park’s Instagram account has officially been closed/removed, and even the park’s Facebook page appears to have been deleted.

For all intents and purposes, Clementon Park appears to be NO MORE. But is it closed for good? Or perhaps we have to ask if the park in the middle of being sold to a new owner… or even a land developer? The fact that the website isn’t even trying to sell 2020 Season Passes really is telling. If anyone knows more about what is going on, please let us know.

2020 - Operational Status Unknown for the 2020 Season

CLIFF’S AMUSEMENT PARK (Albuquerque, New Mexico)

2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time...

CONNEAUT LAKE PARK (Pennsylvania)

Park News - (5/28/20) Bad news for Conneaut Lake Park. A few hours ago the park posted a new update to their website to announce that the park’s Board of Trustees made the hard choice to cancel the park’s entire 2020 season. Since the park is operating under a Chapter 11 Bankruptcy reorganization, things are a little more complicated for them. Add that into an unknown timeframe of even when they might be allowed to reopen, limited capacity during any possible reopening, and added costs for required safety and sanitization upgrades and procedures. All together it would put a strain on the limited resources the park has at the moment that they might not be able to endure, so with that in mind they will instead focus their efforts on the 2021 season.



(5/4/20) Screamscape sources tell us that Conneaut Lake Park is actually working on adding a new game-room to the midway for this season that will feature the classic Fascination game. I know there are quite a few classic amusement park fans out there with a love for the Fascination game, so this should prove to be a welcome addition when the park is able to reopen.



(4/30/20) According to the local news Conneaut Lake has officially postponed their previously planned May 23rd park opening date. While the campground and marina will be opening soon as limitations on outdoor activities are lifted, the amusement park will remain closed until the state’s restrictions on gatherings and what businesses can open are relaxed. On top of this, the park was forced to stop their preparations for the 2020 season before they were finished, including a refurbishment project on the Blue Streak.

2020 - Park Will Remain Closed For the 2020 Season

DELGROSSO’S AMUSEMENT PARK (Pennsylvania)

Park News - (5/16/20) DelGrosso’s Amusement Park has made the difficult decision to remain closed for the 2020 season due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic. The ongoing uncertainty of when the park would even be allowed to open by the state along with concerns about the safety of their employees and guests were primary factors in making this hard choice. 2020 Season Passes and vouchers will be honored for the 2021 season, and passholders will be given a $25 food credit also added onto your pass for the 2021 season.

2020 - CLOSED FOR THE SEASON - nothing added for the 2017 - 2019 seasons.

DIGGERLAND USA (New Jersey)

2020 - The Water Main - (9/18/19) Diggerland USA, a small park in New Jersey, will be adding ‘The Water Main’ aquatic park in time for the 2020 season. Guests will be able to swim and splash around a 2-acre outdoor aquatic park with two “multi-zone pools featuring a slide tower, Wibit-brand challenge course, swim vortex, in-pool basketball area, themed splash park, plus family and leisure swim zones.” Admission into The Water Main will be included with park admission.



?? Breaking News ?? Just in case you haven't heard... we're EXPANDING! We're so excited to announce THE WATER MAIN, our BRAND NEW Aquatic Recreation Center opening May 2020! Access to The Water Main in 2020 is included with your SEASON PASS! Buy yours today ??. pic.twitter.com/zvssdwILj7 — Diggerland USA (@DiggerlandUSA) September 17, 2019

DIXIE LANDIN’ & BLUE BAYOU (Baton Rouge, LA)

Park News - (5/10/20) For those wondering what happened to the former Hot Shot tower ride that used to be at Dixie Landin’, we now have an answer. Would you believe that the ride has already been shipped to a new home across the Atlantic and is already being installed at Movieland Park in Italy? Follow the link and we’ve got a picture of it.



(5/9/20) A Screamscape source has confirmed that the S&S tower ride at Dixie Landin’ was sold, taken down and removed from the park back in March. No word yet on who may have bought it.



(5/7/20) Screamscape sources tell us that Dixie Landin’ seems to have sold their Hot Shot S&S space shot tower. While you can still see it on the park map, the website no longer lists it as an available attraction. It was still listed on the site in late 2019, so this change is definitely one that has happened recently.

According to another source, the park has been trying to sell a number of attractions, so the Hot Shot may not be the only thing to be removed. If anyone happens to live nearby, you might want to take a drive-by to see if the Hot Shot is even still standing or not.



(10/14/19) A couple years ago we had posted a story about how Blue Bayou / Dixie Landin’ had put a good number of their rides up for sale on the used ride sales sites, but we nothing in the way or new attractions ever came of it. Now I’m told that the park appears to have put their single largest attraction, the Vekoma Boomerang (Ragin’ Cajun) up for sale on Italintl.

That comes with a big question mark however, as while the photos on the for sale page definitely show the Ragin Cajun’ coaster, the fact sheet lists it as a 1991 Vekoma Boomerang while the actual Ragin Cajun’ was first run at a park in the UK and opened back in 1987 before moving to the US. So is this a case of selling an entirely different coaster and using the wrong photos, or is it the right coaster, but with the wrong year posted? Making the matter a little more confusing, according to RCDB, Vekoma only sold one Boomerang in 1991, which was the Sidewinder at Hersheypark. Ironically enough, rumors about Hersheypark removing Sidewinder do seem to come up every season, so perhaps it is just a matter of time.

2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time... and nothing added for the 2017 - 2019 seasons.

DUTCH WONDERLAND (Pennsylvania)

Owned by Parque Reunidos

Park News - (8/24/20) Following along with Kennywood and Lake Compounce, most of the other Palace Entertainment parks are also closing down for the season after the Labor Day Weekend comes to an end on Sept. 7, 2020. The list of other parks includes Idlewild, Story Land and Dutch Wonderland.



(8/2/20) According to the local news Dutch Wonderland is adjusting their schedule for the rest of the summer and will now be closed two days a week (Tuesdays and Wednesdays) starting August 4, 2020.



(7/4/20) The local news reports that Dutch Wonderland has set dates to reopen the theme park. There will be a four day period for the park to open only to passholders from July 14-17 and then the park will open to the public on July 18, 2020. You will need an RSVP Reservations to visit in advance through the park website, and temperature checks and face masks are required to enter the park.

2020 - The Cartoon Network Hotel - (11/27/19) The new Cartoon Network Hotel is now accepting bookings for June 2020, when the new resort opens right next door to the Dutch Wonderland theme park. Some photos and artwork of the new hotel along with new details can be found over at an MSN report on the project this week, which was delayed from the original expected opening in 2019.



(11/4/18) The owners of Dutch Wonderland have announced plans to open a Cartoon Network themed hotel very close to the small theme park. According to Palace Entertainment, who are owned by Parque Reunidos, this first ever "The Cartoon Network Hotel” will offer unique family lodging themed to popular network shows and characters from Adventure Time, The Powerpuff Girls, We Bare Bears and more when it opens in 2019.

To accomplish this they are taking over of an existing hotel formerly known as a Continental Inn, giving it a complete make-over to the rooms and add an outdoor amphitheater, giant movie screen, lawn games, fire pits, a water play zone, a brand new resort pool, and a new “interactive lobby”. As for the rooms themselves, Cartoon Network claims that each guest room will feature “interchangeable show themeing" that will allow for the rooms to be changed or even customized to certain themes going forward, keeping it current with the networks popular offerings at any given time. There will also be a focus on adding indoor fun elements so that in addition to the hotel’s existing indoor pool facility, it will have Cartoon Network themed fun to offer families all year round.

EDAVILLE USA (Carver, MA)

2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time... and nothing added for the 2016 - 2019 seasons.

ENCHANTED FOREST (Oregon)

Park News - (7/3/20) A reader from the region traveled out to see the Enchanted Forest theme park this week and see how things have changed. They posted a detailed video report about the experience.



2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time...

EVERMORE (Utah)

Park News - (6/6/20) I’m happy to see that Utah’s unique Evermore interactive park has still been growing and evolving since it opened, creating numerous new storylines and themed events to keep the park new and fresh constantly for their guests. The latest such creation is a new story model they are introducing called “Evermore Epics”, a collection of different adventures that will let the guests control the flow of events.

Truely, the choices that the guests make during the course of the adventure to effect the various outcomes possible for the storyline adventure. Pick a different side, decide who lives or who might die and you end up with a very different outcome. The Evermore Epics are separate ticket events, and you can run through the story as much as you like, you just have to buy a separate ticket for each run.

The fun thing is that events in the Epics can take place in areas visited by the rest of the guests at the same time, but will allow for the guests participating in the Epic to have greater interactions with certain characters to lead them on their storyline quest. Each Epic adventure will run for two weeks and be changed out for a new one at the end, with the current Epic being called “The Bow of the Last Shackle”.

What’s fun is that the various stories told in Evermore since it opened has helped shape the park and create a sort of ongoing cannon based on the history of the land thus far. The Evermore creative team will keep track of the choices guests make during the Epics, and tally up the different outcomes. The most popular ending to each Epic will then become part of the official Evermore cannon, which will then have an effect upon future adventures to be had in the land of Evermore.

FAMILY KINGDOM (Myrtle Beach, SC)

Park News - (5/25/20) The small Family Kingdom amusement park in Myrtle Beach has announced that they will reopen June 1st. So far the website has posted nothing other than that date, so no word on if they will require masks or enforce any other restrictions upon visitors.

2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time... and nothing added for the 2015 - 2019 seasons.

FANTASY ISLAND (Grand Island, New York - near Niagara Falls)

Formerly: Martin’s Fantasy Island

Apex Parks Group

Park News - (7/10/20) The local news spoke with Empire about their plans to reopen Fantasy Island this week. Included was the mention that Empire has “partnered” with Store Capital REIT to reopen the park. As you may recall, they are the ones who actually own the land that the park sits on.



(7/3/20) Empire Adventure has laid out their new plans to revive the former Fantasy Island amusement park for the local news. According to the report they released a three phase plan that covers what they intend to do between now and 2022.

2020 - Phase 1 - “Once things are set in stone, we plan to use the rest of 2020 to make necessary beautification efforts to park grounds, such as cleaning up the mess left by previous management. In addition, we also plan on bringing in the initial line-up of new rides and attractions that will open with the park in May 2021.”

2021 - Phase 2 - “We intend to reopen Fantasy Island in time for the summer of 2021. Our initial line-up of attractions will include the park’s famous wooden roller coaster, along with a wide selection of kids, family, and thrill rides. Popular amenities, such as free parking and the ability to bring your own food and drinks into the park, will rightfully return.”

2022 - Phase 3 - “As proven successful throughout the industry, we are currently working on a 5-year plan to introduce new rides and attractions annually, eventually transforming the park into a world-class regional attraction. With Empire Adventures, you can be confident that Fantasy Island will always remain focused on providing a safe, quality, and family-friendly day of “Fun? WOW!” ”

The park has also now launched an all new teaser website that confirms they will also keep the Fantasy Island name.



(6/18/20) In an interesting development an investment group called Empire Adventures Inc. has said that they were looking into either buying the former Fantasy Island amusement park site outright or leasing it if they can’t swing a deal to buy the land. The plan is to try and open a brand new attraction on the site in time for the Summer 2021 season.

Currently there isn’t much left on the site other than some waterslides and the wooden roller coaster, so in order to get a new attraction on site in less than a year they would pretty much have to bring in mostly portable rides along with some easy to set up smaller rides that could possibly reuse any existing pads on the site. The group has a Facebook page, but they have yet to use it to comment on their future plans.



(6/14/20) For anyone wanting a look at the former Fantasy Island park some aerial photos of the park taken back in late April can be found on Facebook. They didn’t waste any time clearing out as much as they could from the site.



2020 - PARK CLOSED

FUNTOWN USA / SPLASHTOWN USA (Saco, Maine)

Park News - (4/29/20) The owners of the Funtown / Splashtown USA amusement and waterpark in Maine say that they have made the decision to remain closed for the 2020 season. They say this is due to the evolving COVID-19 safety protocols that will limit large gatherings through June and restrictions on the J-1 Visa program they use to hire temporary workers.

2020 - Park To Remain Closed This Year - nothing added for the 2015 - 2019 seasons.

GALAXYLAND (Inside the West Edmonton Mall Edmonton, Alberta, Canada)

2020 - Galaxyland powered by Hasbro - (12/24/19) Just a quick clarification… the Hasbro revamp of Galaxyland is indeed intended to be a general rethemeing of the entire park to put it all under the Hasbro IP in the same way that Triple Five’s other parks are themed as Nickelodeon Universe parks. Given the state of the park, I’m told that the overlay of Hasbro theming onto Galaxyland may be a bit minimal in most places and that we can expect to see mostly a lot of new paint, and some tweaks to some ride names and such, but not a lot of major work.

The plan will be for Galaxyland to remain open during the transformation, which will be done in phases from January through to Fall 2020 as sections will close one at a time for the overlay as well as maintenance work. While the early promotional material mentions 25 rides, the park currently only has 24 rides, so at least one new ride should be added. There could be more however, as we’re hearing that an existing ride or two may also be removed along the way. One ride our source has suggested that could be on the way out may be the dark ride, “Quirks in the Works”.

And one final thought from myself... with the announcement that Triple Five is moving ahead with the second American Dream mall project in Miami, I do have to wonder what theme any kind of theme park may get at that site. Universal now owns Dreamworks Animation, so a Dreamworks waterpark theme is out, and Universal does like to occasional use a few Nickelodeon IP’s, such as SpongeBob, so there could be difficulty in creating a full Nickelodeon Universe theme park in Miami as well. This makes me wonder if they could be testing out some of the Hasbro IPs up in Canada just to see what the guests seem to respond best to, and what they don’t, as the Hasbro IPs really have not been theme park tested before.



(12/20/19) Galaxyland at the West Edmonton Mall in Canada will be getting a major transformation next year inspired by Hasbro toys. According to this article the amusement will be expanded to include over 25 new rides, food spots and shopping areas inside Galaxyland for an area to be called “Galaxyland powered by Hasbro”. Construction is starting now and expected to be finished by late 2020.

To be fair, I’m a little unsure how much of this will be “new” in terms of an expansion, rather than being new and replacing any existing attractions already there, or if this is mostly just a “rebranding” of the existing park. If anyone knows more, please do let us know.

GALVESTON ISLAND HISTORIC PLEASURE PIER (Galveston, Texas)

2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time... and nothing added for the 2013 - 2019 seasons.

GILLIAN'S WONDERLAND PIER (Ocean City, NJ)

2020 - Huss Frisbee - (5/23/20) A reader sent in some new pictures from Gillians Wonerland Pier to share, showing off the fully assembled new Frisbee ride. The park has also removed the Zamperla swing ship attraction entirely and has now loaded it onto a flatbed truck for transport away to a new destination.



GILROY GARDENS (Gilroy, California)

Park News - (3/18/20) NewsPlusNotes has posted a story about Gilroy Gardens this week. The non-profit park owned by the city is now reviewing possible expansion plans in order to expand and improve the park over the next several years.

2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time... and nothing added for the 2015 - 2019 seasons.

GLENWOOD CAVERNS (Colorado)

2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time...

IDLEWILD (Pennsylvania)

Parques Reunidos

Park News - (8/24/20) Following along with Kennywood and Lake Compounce, most of the other Palace Entertainment parks are also closing down for the season after the Labor Day Weekend comes to an end on Sept. 7, 2020. The list of other parks includes Idlewild, Story Land and Dutch Wonderland.



(7/26/20) According to a notice from Idlewild and SoakZone, the parks will now only be open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays for the remainder of the season, with the exception of also being open Monday, Sept. 7th for the Labor Day holiday.



As we continue learning about how COVID-19 impacts us, we have changes to our operating schedule to share. Starting July 21, Idlewild and SoakZone will be closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, this summer. Guests with purchased tickets may use them any other 2020 operating day. pic.twitter.com/JkTh7skzUw — Idlewild & SoakZone (@idlewildpark) July 15, 2020

2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time... and nothing added for the 2017 - 2019 seasons.

JOLLY ROGER (Ocean City, MD)

2020 - Two New Rides - (11/28/19) According to this report the Jolly Roger Amusement Park in Ocean City bought an SBF/Visa “Drop N’ Twist Tower” ride from IAAPA to install for the 2020 season along with a Mini Dance Party 360 ride.

JOYLAND AMUSEMENT PARK (Lubbock, TX)

Park News - (7/22/20) Good news for Joyland, as the local news reports that the park is now set to reopen on Saturday, July 25m after being closed to repair severe storm damage.



(7/11/20) May news for Joyland Amusement Park in Texas. The park announced on social media that it will be closed until further notice after the park suffered from extensive damage from a severe storm on Thursday night that blasted the area with 80-100mph winds. According to the local news, the early estimate from the park is that they will be closed for at least two weeks to repair the damage to several rides, many fallen trees and broken power lines across the property.



(6/4/20) Joyland Amusement Park in Texas has confirmed that they will reopen on June 12. No word on what their policy will be regarding reservations, face masks or temperature checks.



2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time...

KEANSBURG AMUSEMENT PARK (Keansburg, NJ)

2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time... and nothing added for the 2015 - 2019 seasons.

KEMAH BOARDWALK (near Houston, Texas)

Landry’s Restaurants (SAT MAP)

Park News - (6/8/20) I’m happy to report that the Kemah Boardwalk attractions and rides all reopened this weekend.



The adventure is BACK! Join us this weekend as we celebrate the REOPENING of all our rides and attractions. pic.twitter.com/iRKC2S7KBR — Kemah Boardwalk (@KemahBoardwalk) June 5, 2020

2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time... and nothing added for the 2015 - 2019 seasons.

LAKE WINNEPESAUKAH (Chattanooga, TN)

Park News - (6/20/20) Lake Winnie is getting ready to come back to life, starting off today, June 20, with only the waterpark open again. Since only the waterpark is open, admission to the park is now $25 less than normal. Guests arriving can choose to walk through the closed park to get to the Soakya Water Park or ride the train.

They do hope to reopen the amusement park side of Lake Winnepesaukah, but as of this time they have not yet set a date to do so. One step at the time I suppose, as they will want to see how things go with just the waterpark open at first. Note that face masks are encourage while visiting the park, but will not be required while eating or when in the water attractions.

2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time... and nothing added for the 2019 seasons.

LAKESIDE AMUSEMENT PARK (Denver, CO)

2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time... and nothing added for the 2019 season.

LOST ISLAND THEME PARK (Iowa)

2022 - New Park - (7/12/20) Green roller coaster track was spotted being unloaded from a shipping container on the site for the new Lost Island theme park in Waterloo Iowa this week. Check out the photos below. The distance that the photos were taken makes it difficult to really see any track detail other than the color. Squinting a bit, I will say that this doesn’t look like the Intamin style track from the former Kannon coaster purchased from Liseberg. If anything it looks more like Vekoma/Arrow style track, and the park was rumored to have purchased a Vekoma SLC for the park, possible the retired Cobra from Ratanga Junction.



OAK’S PARK (Portland, Orgeon)

PARK NEWS - (8/21/20) According to the local news Oak’s Park has now canceled their plans to try and open for the 2020 season after spending the past few months preparing to reopen at limited capacity. The park has sent in a request several times to the Govenor or Orgeon but has yet to be given a green light to proceed, so at this point they have no choice but to give up and focus on making plans to open in 2021.

2021 - AtmosFEAR 360 - (8/8/20) While the new ride is a little late for the 2020 season, workers are now putting up the new AtmosFEAR flat ride at Oaks Park. Pictures of the ride going up can be found here. According to the article the ride seems to have two modes, one where it can flip riders upside down 360º and the other is a more mild 180º swing mode. According to the CEO who test rode another version of the ride elsewhere, he described the 360º as “Terrifying” and was guessing that Oaks Park guests will experience the 180º swing mode “most of the time”.



(5/28/20) According to this article Oak’s Park is replacing their old Screamin’ Eagle ride (an Afterburner pendulum style ride) with a new similar ride concept called AtmosFEAR 360. Similar in concept, this new version will be able to flip riders upside-down instead of just swinging side to side.



(10/29/19) According to information posted at Oaks Park website, the park has retired their Scream’n Eagle ride and will replace it with a new spinning/swinging pendulum ride that will flip riders upside down.

PACIFIC PARK (Santa Monica Pier, CA)

2020 - West Coaster Update - (2/7/20) The local news reports that the Santa Monica West Coaster will get a $1 million refurbishment this off season. When it reopens in the summer it will be rethemed as a tribute to Route 66 with a new coaster train themed as a classic roadster and various bits of themeing added to the station such as gas pumps, Route 66 maps and other automotive memorabilia.

PALACE PLAYLAND (Maine)

2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time... and nothing added for the 2019 season.

PHARAOH’S ADVENTURE PARK (California)

2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time... and nothing added for the 2015 - 2019 seasons.

PLAYLAND at the PNE (Vancouver, Canada)

Park News - (8/2/20) Playland at the PNE is adding 11 more thrill rides to their mix of available attractions. When the park first opened in July, most of the rides available were mostly kiddie and family rides, but now they are opening some bigger thrill rides. The slide of bigger thrills now open include: Atmosfear, The Beast, Breakdance, Gladiator, Music Express, Pirate Shop, Revelation and Wooden Roller Coaster.



(7/11/20) According to posts on social media, Playland at the PNE in Vancouver reopened on Friday, July 10, 2020, but with only 12 rides running at first. Date specific tickets must be purchased online in advance to ensure reduced capacity limits and face masks are required.

As for the available rides, they are only running the follow kid and family rides for July:

Honeybee Express, Choppers, Kettle Creek Mine Coaster, Tea Cups, Cap’n KC, Merry-Go-Round, Balloon Explorers, The Flutterbye, Cool Cruzers, Pacific Adventure Golf, Bug Whirled and Sea-to-Sky Swinger.



2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time, nothing added in 2019 season either.

PLAYLAND’S CASTAWAY COVE (Ocean City, NJ)

2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time...

SANTA’S VILLAGE AZOOSMENT PARK (Dundee, Illinois)

2022 - Yuletide Plunge - Planned - (12/1/19) Santa’s Village (Dundee, IL) has announced plans to open Yuletide Plunge, a log flume ride, in time for their 2022 season. The ride hardware was purchased from IRM Rides and is actually the former Log Jammer ride that existed from 1992 to 2009 at the Kiddieland park in Melrose Park, IL. The OD Hopkins flume ride is 1,100 feet long, stands 40 feet tall with a 35 foot drop and able to handle 600 riders per hour. (Click here to see a couple of pictures of the ride just before it was closed down forever.)



SANTA’S VILLAGE (Jefferson, HN)

2020 - The Great Humbug Adventure REFRESH - (6/2/20) Sally Dark Rides has confirmed that they have been working on a ‘refresh’ of The Great Humbug Adventure dark ride at Santa’s Village in New Hampshire. The park’s dark ride adventure is being updated with new scenes, scenery and effects, while keeping some classic elements of the original. They hope the have the new version of the dark ride ready to open when the park is ready to open for the 2020 season.

In addition to all new animatronics and effects, the dark ride vehicles have also been updated from 2-passenger to 4-passenger cars, doubling the ride’s capacity. Follow the link to see some of the new animatronic figures of Scrooge which are very impressive looking.

SEABREEZE (New York)

2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time...

SELVA MAGICA (Guadalajara, Mexico)

2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time... and nothing added for the 2015 - 2019 seasons.

STORY LAND (Glen, NH)

Parques Reunidos

Park News - (8/24/20) Following along with Kennywood and Lake Compounce, most of the other Palace Entertainment parks are also closing down for the season after the Labor Day Weekend comes to an end on Sept. 7, 2020. The list of other parks includes Idlewild, Story Land and Dutch Wonderland.

2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time... and nothing added for the 2015 - 2019 seasons.

STORYBOOK LAND (New Jersey)

2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time...

TRIMPER’S RIDES (Ocean City, Maryland)

2020 - 11 New Attractions - (7/3/20) The local news reports that Trimper’s opened The Inlet Eye, a new 150 foot tall observation wheel with 36 enclosed gondolas, providing a view of the surrounding landscape for miles in all directions. From the sound of things this is a portable wheel, and is only expected to be at Trimpler’s for the 2020 season. Tickets to ride at $10 for adults and $6 for children under 12. There is also a family of four special for $25.



(4/27/20) A little more detail about what exactly went on at Trimper’s with the old family management leaving and a new side of the family taking over has been posted by OceanCityToday. The goal is to re-energize the park’s performance to ensure the long term success of the park, after seeing it slowly deteriorate over the past decade.



(3/19/20) Changes are on the way to Trimper Rides going forwards. According to the local news the “Granville Trimper Family” is stepping aside to allow “a different branch of Trimpers” to take the park forward into the next decade. They say that going into the 2020 season the small amusement park will introduce new rides as well as “Thrill Cards” that will offer a variety of special price and discount offers to customers.

According to a note on the park’s website they will add “11 new and exciting rides including Madagascar and Hang Ten coming to the park this spring, while still maintaining historic favorites such as our 1902 Herschel-Spillman Carousel, Himalaya and Tidal Wave that have been enjoyed for generations.”

WESTERN PLAYLAND (Sunland Park, New Mexico)

2020 - Nothing is known at this point in time...

WILD WAVES Theme & Water Park (Seattle-Tacoma, WA)

(Formerly known as Enchanted Village and Wild Waves)

Owned by EPR Properties

Managed by Premier Parks, LLC

Park News - (8/25/20) Wild Waves has confirmed that the park has given up on opening for the 2020 season at all due to the ongoing operation restrictions, along with an unknown timeline of when they would even be allowed to reopen at all.



2020 - Shark Frenzy & Wave Pool Update - (11/15/19) Wild Waves has announced that they will be upgrading the park’s wave pool over the winter, retiring the decades old technology from when it was built to use a new modern wave generation system. The park will also be added a new ride in 2020 called Shark Frenzy which appears to be a Tilt-A-Whirl style ride with Shark themed ride cars.



WONDERLAND PARK (Amarillo, TX)

Park News - (6/18/20) Wonderland Park (Texas) will open to guests again on June 19, 2020, but not until 5pm, which seems to be the norm for this park on Fridays in the summer. You can see their revised summer calendar here.



2020 - Two News Rides - (3/30/20) Wonderland Amusement Park in Texas posted a photo on their Facebook page the other day to say that they were adding ‘New Rides in 2020!”. In the comments the park states that they will be unveiling a new coaster (SBF/VISA Spinning Coaster) as well as a new Antique Car ride.



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