cathyJ Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 Recently at an used book store I purchased a book about those old drive-in movie theatres. Seems like back in the 60s and 70s, such places were all the rage...in Alaska. Even in the winter !! With that being said I am surprised that a city as big as Anchorage never had an amusement park to call its own. If that city had one, I couldn't find anything about it online. Does this make Anchorage the largest American city to never had a park to call its own? I know Hawaii doesn't have any amusement parks but for some reason I remember hearing that Honolulu had a small kiddie park back in the 60s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DBru Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 According to RCDB, there has never been a park in Alaska OR Hawaii... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downunder Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 ^That is only parks that have (or had) coasters on rcdb, was there any that never had coasters, that might be a bit harder to track down? At least there is one coaster that mentions Alaska - Disaster Transport at Cedar Point, I know many people wouldn't mind that one being relocated to Alaska. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 I know I have pictures of myself at a small kiddie park somewhere in Alaska as a kid. Again, no coaster, but I'm pretty sure they had some bad kids rides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpenguy Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 Alaskaland in Fairbanks has a train and a shop area kind of like the older part of Knott's. There's also mini golf, a carousel, and the only coaster enthusiast attraction: the salmon bake. Hmm, apparently it's called Pioneer Park now, lame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Baynham Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 Hi all I'm a collector of amusement park and roller coaster-related books and films. During my search to discover interesting titles, I came across a series of books by Carole Marsh who appears to have penned a number of rollercoaster/park titles covering every state of the US. Carole Marsh - "Alaska Rollercoasters: The Ups and Downs of Our States Most Popular Amusement Ride." http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Alaska-Rollercoasters-The-Ups-Downs-of-Our-States-Most-Popular-Amusement-Ride/Carole-Marsh/e/9780793352272/ I must stress that I have never physically happened across these 50 or so titles... Somehow I doubt their very existence. Simon B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roland303 Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 While I don't know about Alaska (never been there) Hawai'i does have a waterpark (ironically enough) and it did have a decent state fair for a while. I know, I know, they're not amusement parks per se but some stuff was related to what this site discusses. I would think Alaska is A) too cold and wet, b) earthquake hazards (near the coast), and c) too many critters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kennyweird Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 I'm not surprised by Alaska's lack of coasters. The Alaskan summer is very short, not nearly long enough for an amusement park to make an appreciable profit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airtime&Gravity Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 I know I have pictures of myself at a small kiddie park somewhere in Alaska as a kid. Again, no coaster, but I'm pretty sure they had some bad kids rides. The closest thing Alaska has to a park is AlaskaLand/Frontier Land. Could this be what you are talking about? It's located right next to the Alaskan Salmon Bake if that helps. Granted, this park is in Fairbanks which is a long drive from Anchorage. I wouldn't be surprised if this park or even the Anchorage Zoo(a nice family owned zoo) added a small coaster some time in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIP Psyclone Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 People move to Alaska to get away. I think Alaska is more about nature than manmade amusement parks. As for Hawaii...it's sort of geographically limited. Not much space to build an amusement park. Also, native Hawaiians are sensitive about disturbing graves of those who died hundreds of years ago, so new construction always has hurdles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wood Dragon 1988 Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 Just for the record, Alaska is one of the top "non coaster places" I want to visit in the U.S. It looks just beautiful, and it was one of the only highlights of the Simpson's movie for me. I actually hope the place stays coaster-free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XII Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 They could have an indoor park similar to Nickelodeon Universe. I'm sure that would be possible. But I don't think we'll ever see an outdoor theme park in Alaska. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
griffon Posted May 10, 2008 Share Posted May 10, 2008 I'll be in Alaska next month on my honeymoon, and I too was disappointed but not surprised about the lack of Amusement Parks and rollercoasters. However.... I quickly found the next best thing. www.alaskazip.com/ I'll be sure to write a report about "Alaska's Best Thrill" when I return. Or maybe someone else has been on these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathyJ Posted May 10, 2008 Author Share Posted May 10, 2008 They could have an indoor park similar to Nickelodeon Universe. I'm sure that would be possible. But I don't think we'll ever see an outdoor theme park in Alaska. Anchorage I think could support something like NU. Now for an outdoor park, actually I have heard that winter weather in Anchorage is similar to Buffalo and Cleveland with LESS snow. Maybe an outdoor park could work there. Fairbanks OTOH, the winters ger very cold there but summers are actually quite warm. Now their state cap. Juneau considering the only way to get there is by air or sea, not a chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanks4me05 Posted May 10, 2008 Share Posted May 10, 2008 You know, there are these things called indoor amusement parks. Seeing as they have rides as large as Mind Bender at Galaxy Land, that shows you can fit some pretty big stuff in an indoor park. Plus, has anyone ever thought of building an underground amusement park? You could go about this two ways: 1: Build a giant underground "cave" where everything is visible. 2: The cheaper way: Build everything as a network of tunnels. Everything will be dark rides, but you will have almost no off ride film opportunities. Kind of like how Oblivion is built underground. Hawaii is pretty small, but if there is a couple of hundred acres on just one of the islands, there is huge potential, seeing as the terrain is pretty mountainous for some of the islands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gldude Posted May 11, 2008 Share Posted May 11, 2008 An amusement park in Alaska would make almost no sense, the largest city Anchorage only has about 280,000 people in it and a metropolitan area of 350,000, the entire state only has about 630,000 residents. I doubt many tourists would go to an amusement park in Alaska because Alaska tourism is mainly nature driven, so an amusement park would probably not be such a great business venture. Alaska does have an indoor water park with a master blaster though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miniviews Posted May 25, 2008 Share Posted May 25, 2008 Here's the two traveling roller coasters from Hawaii's 50th State Fair. In previous years, there was a spinning mouse, but apparently sold it or it was a lease. The grey in the sky is vog (Volcano "Smog") from the Big Island. Kiddie Coaster Wild Cat - IIRC, in use for at least 15 years Wild Cat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now