Joyland was founded by Lester Ottaway and his sons Herb and Harold, but this was not the beginning of the family's amusement park endeavors. Prior to opening Joyland, Herb operated a small park called Playland in Planeview, Kansas in the late 1930s to the early 1940s. Boeing had moved a large portion of production to Planeview during World War II, so the town was home to thousands of people looking for entertainment.

Playland was small and featured only a few rides, including a Tilt-A-Whirl, a Ferris wheel, and a merry-go-round. During this time, Herb had also built a miniature steam train. A few years after Playand opened, Lester Ottaway purchased some land in Wichita were he would run the steam engine. Located on Central, on the south side of the street and east of where the Yard Store stands today, this would become the first location for Joyland.

The Ottaways operated both Playland and the Central Avenue location for about a year before moving the Playland rides to Wichita to form the original Joyland amusement park. Over the next few years, the Ottaways accumulated more rides, adding a shooting range, a kiddie ride and a building for a bumper car ride.

Running the park in the 1940s proved to be a challenge, as anything that did not go towards the war was taxed at 20 percent. In addition, the electric company wouldn't provide any service to the park because they didn't feel that it was a necessary use of power, so the park ran on a generator that had to be fired up manually every time the park was opened.

Despite these challenges, the Ottaways persevered and continued to grow. When the Ottaways began considering the addition of a major attraction (the roller coaster), they started looking for a new location for Joyland that would allow for more growth in the future. This is when Joyland moved to the location that most visitors will remember at 2801 S. Hillside. Again the rides were moved. The building that housed the bumper cars was actually cut in half in order to be moved to the Hillside location and many new rides, including a brand new roller coaster were added.

Anticipation ran high in early June of 1949, as preparations had been made to open the new amusement park in Wichita. Only the final touches remained before Joyland would officially open its gates. The park opened for business on June 12, 1949.

"It was considered the biggest amusement park in the southwest when it opened," said Roger Nelson, son of Stanley and Margaret Nelson, who would later own the park. "When they built that roller coaster, that was a big deal. A huge deal. It was amazing."

When Lester Ottaway passed away in the 1950s, his sons continued to run the park as a family business. They did so until their retirement in the mid 1970s, when they sold the park to Stanley and Margaret Nelson, who had both worked in the park and were friends of the Ottaway family. Stanley and Margaret met in the park, when Stan was working in the ticket booth and Margaret manned the skeeball station.

Roger Nelson grew up in and around Joyland, though his experiences were different than those of other park guests. He got his first job at Joyland, and worked in a variety of positions at the park over the years he spent there.

"I spent a lot of time in the park, but I didn't really have time to hang around. If I was there, I was working. That's just how it was," he said.

Though he spent much of his time working, Nelson, like any little boy who grew up in an amusement park, had one ride he favored above the rest.