Amusement Parks

One of the world’s most fascinating and popular attractions today is an amusement park. Ranging from water parks to theme parks, amusement parks have served as a leisure spot worldwide. People love taking a break from their lives to enjoy a day at one of the thousands of amusement parks around the world. Amusement parks have changed immensely over the years, but they have been and shall remain an enjoyable and exciting attraction for people of all ages.

Amusement Parks have evolved from small fairs and fun centers to huge parks filled with rides, games, and entertainment for the entire family. The modern amusement park originated from community fairs that took place during the mid 1500s. The first fair was held in England during the Elizabethan Period in 1543. From this point on, fairs slowly evolved into a fun attraction with games, food, and entertainment.

Pleasure gardens can also be called one of the origins of amusement parks. Pleasure gardens became especially crowded during the Industrial Revolution. People would take trips to the pleasure gardens to break loose from their mundane lifestyles. Bakken in Europe is home to the oldest existing amusement park (Labo, 2011). Merchants from different countries came to Bakken to start businesses in tents and wooden houses. The Bakken Amusement Park became a very eventful place filled with acrobats, magicians, and jugglers for people’s entertainment (Labo, 2011).

World fairs are also a parent to present- day amusement parks. They took place for people to celebrate the industrial advancements around the world. Trolley parks sprung up in the 19th century (Wikipedia, 2011). These were popular sites until they were expanded into regular amusement parks. Other parks started being built in the United States. Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York was one of the most popular amusement parks in the 19th century (Wikipedia, 2011). The growth of amusement parks was benefitting for the U.S. It gave people something to do and...