Waldameer Park

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Waldameer Park
60px‎
Location Erie, Pennsylvania
Website Waldameer.com
Owner Paul Nelson
General Manager Steve Gorman
Opened 1896
Operating season May to September
Rides 75 total
  • 4 roller coasters
  • 18 water rides


Waldameer Park and Water World is an amusement park in Erie, Pennsylvania located at the base of Presque Isle. Waldameer is the fourth oldest amusement park in Pennsylvania, and the eleventh oldest in the United States.[1] The park is admission-free, with a busy midway, well appointed grounds, and covered picnic facilities. The roller coasters and other major rides require the display of a paid wristband. The water park operates an assortment of water slides and raft rides and is admission by fee only. The name "Waldameer" can be translated literally as "Woods by the Sea" in German.[2]

Contents

[edit] History

The park began as a picnic area called Hoffman's Grove. The Erie Electric Motor Company leased the park in 1896 and renamed it "Waldameer." The trolley car company extended service to its new park, making Hoffman's Grove picnic area a terminus on the line in the hopes of increasing passenger traffic. [3]

Waldameer sold its classic carousel at auction in 1988 for more than $1 million, using the proceeds to replace the carousel and purchase new equipment. A new carousel with sixty operating horses was obtained from Chance Manufacturing. The owner intended to construct a new restaurant called The Carousel next to the Rainbow Gardens banquet hall. A 10-foot giraffe and a jumping horse from the classic carousel were reserved from the auction to be used in the new restaurant. Part of the auction proceeds was used to erect four additional water slides -- a speed slide, free fall slide, one-man and two-man raft sides -- all built by Molded Fiberglass Company of Union City. [4]

The park operates two classic dark attractions: the Whacky Shack, a two-story ride, and the Pirates Cove, a walk-through funhouse. Both were designed and built by the dark ride master Bill Tracy and his company, Amusement Display Associates of Cape May, New Jersey.

For the 2007 season, Waldameer opened X-Scream, a new 140-foot-tall drop tower ride. The Ravine Flyer II is open for the 2008 season

Pavilion
Pavilion
Whacky Shack & Pirates Cove
Whacky Shack & Pirates Cove
Wonder Wheel
Wonder Wheel

[edit] Roller Coasters

  • Comet (an ACE Coaster Classic[5])
  • Ravine Flyer 3
  • Steel Dragon
  • Ravine Flyer II

[edit] Other Rides

[edit] Water Attractions

  • Presque Isle Plunge
  • Lake Erie Dip
  • Midnight Plunge
  • Awesome Twosome
  • Wild River
  • Raging River
  • Endless River
  • Bermuda Triangle (3 slides)
  • Free Fall Slide
  • Speed Slide
  • Giant Hot Tub
  • Tad Pool play area (3 wading pools and 5 slides)

[edit] References

  1. ^ National Scenic Byways Program. Waldameer Park and WaterWorld. Federal Highway Administration.
  2. ^ Futrell, Jim. Amusemant Parks of Pennsylvania, 104. ISBN 0811726711. 
  3. ^ Walling, Emory A (1928). Memoirs of Erie County, Pennsylvania, Bench and Bar. 
  4. ^ "Sale of Waldameer Carousel Brings More Than $1 Million to Fund New Water Park and New Restaurant", Erie Daily Times, 12 December 1988. 
  5. ^ ACE Coaster Classic Awards

[edit] External links