Today's amusement parks are filled with amazing, high-tech rides. Some even take the fun to the water! Amusement parks of the past were exciting places as well. Amusement parks have been around for hundreds of years. Discover the history of these fun-filled places!

This title introduces readers to Water Parks. A short history of water parks is included as are the components of effective water park design such as drop, curve, gravity, friction, and lubrication, and safety features. Notable water parks from around the world are examined including Noah's Ark, World Waterpark, Aldeia das Aguas Park Resort, Tropical Islands, and Walt Disney World's Blizzard Beach. Elements of a waterpark are highlighted, such as waterslides, wave pools, water coasters, surfing simulators, and water catapults. Xtreme facts provide additional information on this exciting sport. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. A&D Xtreme is an imprint of Abdo Publishing Company, a division of ABDO.

Explore amusement parks and some of the most thrilling roller coasters around the world while discovering concepts of perimeter and area. Amusement Parks explains how measuring perimeter and area helps in the planning and construction of amusement parks and helps to ensure fun and safety for guests.

"Citizen Kane does Adventureland." —The Washington Post The outlandish, hilarious, terrifying, and almost impossible-to-believe story of the legendary, dangerous amusement park where millions were entertained and almost as many bruises were sustained, told through the eyes of the founder's son. Often called "Accident Park," "Class Action Park," or "Traction Park," Action Park was an American icon. Entertaining more than a million people a year in the 1980s, the New Jersey-based amusement playland placed no limits on danger or fun, a monument to the anything-goes spirit of the era that left guests in control of their own adventures--sometimes with tragic results. Though it closed its doors in 1996 after nearly twenty years, it has remained a subject of constant fascination ever since, an establishment completely anathema to our modern culture of rules and safety. Action Park is the first-ever unvarnished look at the history of this DIY Disneyland, as seen through the eyes of Andy Mulvihill, the son of the park's idiosyncratic founder, Gene Mulvihill. From his early days testing precarious rides to working his way up to chief lifeguard of the infamous Wave Pool to later helping run the whole park, Andy's story is equal parts hilarious and moving, chronicling the life and death of a uniquely American attraction, a wet and wild 1980s adolescence, and a son's struggle to understand his father's quixotic quest to become the Walt Disney of New Jersey. Packing in all of the excitement of a day at Action Park, this is destined to be one of the most unforgettable memoirs of the year.

With hundreds of insider tips, this budget-minded guide explores America's top 25 theme parks, including Six Flags, Busch Gardens, Coney Island, and Cedar Point. Photos & maps.

A comprehensive guide to 13 parks in the state, complete with information on rides and attractions. Packed with vintage postcard images and photos.

From the first pleasure gardens to the global theme park companies, this book provides an understanding of the nature and function of theme parks as spaces of entertainment. It portrays the impacts of theme parks as global competitive actors, agents of global development and cultural symbols, in the context of their role in the developing economy.

This guidebook to the most thrilling fantastic amusement parks in North America, covering more than 290 locations, delivers the goods - what to see, what to do, and when - or where to go for the rides of your life. Check 'em out! Spiderman Adventure: This Orlando ride has it all - moving vehicles, 3-D filmed action, and live action. Millennium Force: Experience a 300-foot, 80-degree drop on North America's tallest coaster in Sandusky, Ohio. Hold on! Soarin' Over California: Sit below glider wings, swing into a dome-shaped movie screen, and fly from the Golden Gate Bridge to the San Diego Bay - while your body remains in Anaheim. Hypersonic XLC: Go from 0 to 80 in 1.8 seconds on this pneumatically powered coaster in Doswell, Virginia. (4 3/4 X 8 1/2, 336 pages, b&w photos, icons)

A ride on a rollercoaster is the highlight of any trip to an amusement or theme park, and such attractions have been entertaining the public for well over a century. From the first mass-produced rollercoaster, the Switchback Railway, through to the giant wooden coasters of the inter-war period, seaside historian Martin Easdown uses historic postcards and photographs to chart their development and that of other amusement rides including revolving towers, aerial rides, Ferris wheels and water chutes, all of which were produced from the late Victorian era in myriad forms. Essential to the very existence of such amusement venues as Blackpool Pleasure Beach and Margate Dreamland, these much-loved rides are not so far removed from their modern-day equivalents as they might at first appear.

From Fantasy Island to Darien Lake, Western New York's 100 year amuseument park history is documented in this fast-paced photographic tale. For more than 100 years, western New Yorkers have enjoyed the region's exciting amusement parks. During the days of trolleys and steamships, area businessmen created Celoron Park, Crystal Beach Park, and other fine local summer resorts. Decades later, lifelong memories were formed for neighborhood baby boomers who visited Glen Park and Fantasy Island, as well as one of New York State's finest theme parks, Darien Lake. Western New York has always been a proving ground for some of the nation's most famous roller coasters. The terrifying Cyclone, the fast and furious Silver Comet, and the extreme Ride of Steel have attracted the very bravest of visitors. In the new millennium, the summer tradition of visiting local amusement parks continues with a blend of family-orientated parks and theme parks that appeal to all ages.