Local Amusement Parks 2007 Part 1

Following suit with the water park write up, I figured I'd take a look at some of the smaller local amusement parks and what they are up to for this season. Here's a selection for your viewing pleasure:

Nut Tree Family Park. This small family park, located in Vacaville, CA, actually just opened toward the end of 2006.

The park is a modern reincarnation of the Nut Tree park that existed for decades until the '90s. It features several small family and children's rides, and the Harvest Express roller coaster, a family Miler Coaster ride.

While there are no big expansion plans for this year, the park is new and certainly fits the bill as a local amusement park. More info.

Lakeside Amusement Park. A traditional and historic park located in Denver, CO, Lakeside is a favorite of many park enthusiasts.

It's home to the Cyclone, a classic wooden coaster adored by many. Also located at the park, along with a fair share of other rides, is the Wild Chipmunk, a small steel coaster, which is one of the most hilarious names for a ride I've ever seen.

This year Lakeside plans to add Zoom!, a 140 foot tall drop tower from Larson, Int. The park is also adding a tea-cup flat ride, a favorite of many guests. More info.

Indiana Beach Amusement Resort. Located in Monticello, IN, this park is home to a large variety of rides, as well as 5 roller coasters.

For the summer of 2007 the park will be thrilling visitors with their new aquatic stunt show, Pirates Revolt: The Pillage of Paradise Island. It sounds like Disney isn't the only place to find pirate action this summer. More info.

Wild West World. Band new park! Located outside Wichita, Kansas, this park actually opened for the first time a couple weeks ago.

Themed to... you guessed it, the Wild West, the park features 25 rides, has an acrobat show, games, shops, and plenty of food choices.

The park must not be content with just opening, as they have already promised a drop tower thrill ride for 2008 and a "giant wooden coaster" for 2009. More info.

Canobie Lake Park. This traditional amusement park is located in Salem, NH. Home to classic attractions such as the Yankee Cannonball wooden coaster, the park has not forgotten to keep up with the times.

Recent additions include Divinchi's Dream, a Wave Swinger, Star Blaster, an S&S tower ride, Whipeout, and now, for 2007 - the Xtreme Frisbee.

The spinning ride looks like it'll be a lot of fun. More info.

Cliff's Amusement Park. This Albuquerque, New Mexico park made a major expansion in 2002 when they added the New Mexico Rattler wooden coaster.

After the ride put them on the map, so to say, the park has grown, and 2007 is no different.

This season brings 3 new rides to the park. One adult and two children's rides. The SideWinder is a spinning thrill ride for the adventurous, and the Doggie-Go-Round and Baja Buggy are for the little ones. More info.

Martin's Fantasy Island. This New York amusement park was also put on the map when they built their wooden coaster, the Silver Comet.

The ride opened the door for further expansion of the park, and this brings us to 2007. The park is adding Full Tilt, a unique sounding flat ride.

The 60 foot tall ride rotates passengers up and around while tilting them forward up to 25 degrees. Sounds like fun if you ask me. More info.

Ghost Town in the Sky. After closing in 2002, this amusement park in North Carolina will reopen for the 2007 season.

They've cleaned up the park, renamed the roller coaster to Cliff hanger, made some changes, and things seem ready to go for their May 25th opening.

Hopefully all will go well and the park will stay open for the foreseeable future. More info.

Waldameer Amusement Park. In Erie, PA, you'll find this small park and it's various rides and attractions.

They recently added the Steel Dragon coaster, which is a fairly unique spinning coaster. They haven't stopped there, though, as they are now adding the X Scream freefall tower to the park.

Standing 140 feet tall, the ride thrills 12 passengers at a time. Freefalls are great attractions at parks, not only are they thrilling to ride but they provide something fun for non-riders to watch as well! More info.

Phew! There's even more to come in part 2!