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Since the beginning of time, family fun and lots of entertainment has been just as important as hard work and dinner around the table.  It's the work and the fun that is an important life-shaping experience in the development and growth of a child.  One of those important elements has to be Popcorn and Cotton Candy.  Food many times can be that common-denominator while with your family at a theme park. 

 

 

 

 

 

A great deal of effort, planning and time goes into making safety the number one priority in a theme park or other entertainment venue.  In addition to safety there is beauty, sights, sounds and the tastes all of which must be coordinated.  When a family arrives at a theme park their number one objective is to cram as much fun into one or two days as they can.  With that in mind, planners have found that input from attendees is the most important information that they can gather. 

In these busy days it seems like our schedules are many times going in opposite directions and safe family entertainment is hard to come by.    Enter the Amusement Park.  Today's Amusement Park seems to be the common denominator for all family members.  It offers entertainment, thrills, exercise, food and lots of fun.  It's almost a rite-of-passage for American children to venture to a local amusement or theme park.  The experiences can give any partaker months and months of stories to tell, pictures to share and thrills to remember.  It's a busy world we live in and for many families, having fun together has almost become a lost art—but this fun proves to be a simple, effective way to reduce the risk of youth substance abuse and to raise a happy family.  Before family fun goes by the way of the dinosaur, Welcome Home makes the effort every week to encourage family outings, adventures and good old fashion fun which certainly includes Amusement Parks.   The importance of regular family activities to share ideas and find out “what’s happening” is a great way for a parent to be involved, discuss rules, monitor activities and friends, and be a good role model.  Welcome Home promotes family entertainment for the trade and makes it's annual pilgrimage to IAAPA to discover the latest trends. 

 

Many are familiar with the big-box amusement parks and more intimate local parks that dot our country's landscape, but the history of the amusement park dates back some 500 years.   Back in the mid 1550's "Pleasure Gardens" were first introduced in Medieval Europe. These gardens were filled with entertainment, games, music, and the first amusement rides. Finally, political problems caused many of the gardens to close down in the 1700's.  Amazingly, one of these parks remains in existence today. It is called "Bakken" and it is located north of Copenhagen. It was originally opened in the 1580's. It is undoubtedly the world's oldest amusement park.  It dates back to 1583, when a young woman named Kirsten Piil discovered a magic spring in the forest.  The word spread, and the pure water, that was supposed to have curative powers, soon attracted lots of people, especially around Midsummer Eve in June, when the healing water was considered to be most powerful. With  more and more people coming to the spring, known as Kirsten Piil's Spring, all sorts of entertainers followed as well as people selling their products and services.

Merchants started their businesses in tents and small wooden houses. Bars and restaurants sprang up around the area. Acrobats, jugglers, clowns, magicians, mummers and other performers came here to entertain people.

And so, the area around Kirsten Piil's Spring became a very lively spot, which over time evolved to Bakken Amusement Park.   Over the years things developed, and when the spring area became too crowded, the whole establishment gradually moved further up the hill to where it's located now.  Bakken Amusement Park is one of the best amusement parks in Denmark. A great place to visit. And incredibly popular. More than 3 million people, including lots of tourists, come here every year.

Entrance is free, and prices are very reasonable.

Bakken has a lot of soul and a wonderful unpolished charm. The whole atmosphere is fun, cosy and very casual.  

 

The number of rides continued to grow and become bigger when, in the sixteen hundreds, the Russians built a ride which used a sled on which to ride, and a long, icy slide. This ride is said to have evolved into the ever-popular roller coaster. An innovative man by the name of LaMarcus A. Thompson created what he called, "The Switchback Gravity Pleasure Railway" at the end of the 1800's.  This was considered to be the first roller coaster in America. However, Lina Beecher created America's first vertical roller coaster in Toledo, Ohio a few years later.
 

 

 

Following the roller coaster was George Ferris who unveiled his wheel ride at the Chicago Columbian Exposition. The Ferris Wheel stood over two hundred and fifty feet high and it amazed young and old alike! 

 

Amusement parks continued to grow in popularity with the invention of more and more rides. New York's Coney Island had started up in the 1870's, and their rides and games entertained a countless number of visitors.

 

An amusement place called Water Chutes Park was opened up for business in Chicago in the late 1800's. Its founder was Captain Paul Boynton.  It was the first park that was actually enclosed. To gain admittance, visitors had to pay a charge. Boynton's park also had a midway full of games and other attractions. Unfortunately, the Water Chutes Park's history is short as it only lasted for about twelve years until it closed its doors. Boynton went on to open up his popular Sea Lion Park at Coney Island, though.

 

Then, in the early 1900's, Luna Park opened up at Coney Island too. By 1910, there were an estimated two thousand amusement parks in existence.  The crash of the Stock Market in later years forced many amusement parks to close down.   Today, however, there are many amusement parks in operation that include all sizes with all different types of themes.

 

 

Amusement park food can be a highlight of a family vacation, since so many destinations pride themselves on both their traditional and diverse treat options. Below are some of the best theme park eats around, and where you can find them!

 

Many of us have childhood memories of eating cotton candy after a ride on the carousel, or stealing a bite of a sibling’s ice cream cone at the Boardwalk. It’s true that over the years, amusement parks have provided snacks and sweets synonymous with our young and carefree days.   Our children are now possibly enjoying these same indulgences, as parents relish in the opportunity to once again experience a funnel cake or finish off a bag of saltwater taffy guilt-free.

 

However, today’s amusement parks are not only expanding the range of options available to guests, they are upping the quality and trade marking specific goods like never before. From old time seashore attractions to the latest and greatest, amusement park food has become even more memorable than in days gone past.   And while there are plenty of stands and stops along the route of a typical amusement park day, fine dining restaurants are meeting great success in parks as well. Some have an ethnic flair, and some offer gourmet versions of classic favorites. Whatever you feel like eating, chances are today’s amusement park menus can provide it.  

 

The food your family encounters can be fun and it can also be healthy.  All amusement parks today offer fruits, and veggies in addition to low-fat meals and drinks.