Amusement parks

Amusement parks are destinations where there are grouped rides and attractions, with the aim of having as much sensible fun as law, safety and common sense allows.

An amusement park can be a small venue within a town, the main attraction of a resort, or even make up a resort town in itself.

Understand


The concept of a "pleasure garden" (in some form), is thought to be as old as antiquity, but it was during the late 19th century, and early 20th century that amusement parks evolved as fixed locations, where various attractions could be enjoyed.

By the 1920s, a number of amusement parks had already been established in Europe and North America. In the United Kingdom, major seafront resorts also had pleasure beaches, initially bringing in attractions from travelling fairgrounds, with many innovations of their own.

A theme park is a concept of the mid-20th century, where venues have a similar theme; sometimes with similar parks in different states or countries. Early theme parks include a false ghost town constructed at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park (California) in 1940 and a Santa Claus village established 1949 in North Pole (New York). Many others opened in the post-war era. Although it was not the first, "the happiest place on Earth" opened in 1955, changing culture for good, and paving the way for franchise-based theme parks and fiction tourism.

Prepare
For the best attractions, and some popular ones, be prepared to queue. You can spend most of your time in line but you don't have much choice. Some parks will also operate fast-pass schemes which unfortunately are prone to abuse.

What to expect
Amusement parks often have a particular theme which directs the attractions that it would offer. Disneyland for example offers characters from Disney children's cartoons (such as Mickey Mouse), and rides from some of the studio's related studio films such as 'Pirates of the Caribbean'.

Some parks offer 'Dark Rides' where you sit in a 'car' and pass through a series of enclosed and lit tableaux. Depending on the ride these can vary from simple effects, through to multi-million-pound interactive experiences. The British 'Ghost Train' remains a firm favourite dark ride at some seaside parks in the UK.

Others offer thrill rides ranging from cutting edge roller coasters, to scaled up versions of carnival or fairground favourites. The types of thrill ride can be as varied as the themes.

Top Tier
The Top Tier parks are those that attract the most visitors, and which frequently implement the cutting edge in attraction design.


 * Universal Studios - Started off by providing tours on Universal's backlot in California, but has since expanded into a fully-fledged movie-themed amusement park. It has at 5 locations: 2 in the United States, 1 in Japan, 1 in Singapore and 1 in China.


 * Disney parks are widely regarded as being in a category of their own. For these see the individual articles. It has 6 locations: 2 in the United States, 1 in France, 1 in Japan, 1 in Hong Kong and 1 in China.

Europe
Of special note:



Japan
Japan has a number of amusement parks, often utilising cutting edge technology, including:
 * Super Nintendo World
 * Super Nintendo World
 * Super Nintendo World
 * Super Nintendo World
 * Super Nintendo World

North America
Given that in North America, amusement parks of varying levels of quality are widespread, the interested traveller should consult region or city articles, to find parks in any given locality.

Of particular note however are:-