Williams Grove Amusement Park

 

Williams Grove - Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania

By Kayla Miller

September 13, 2021

Photo Credit: Public Domain

There is something haunting about an abandoned amusement park. You can almost imagine the smells of popcorn and the sounds of rides in motion mixed with laughter and memories forming. It always amazes me that something so special and magical in nature can come to a screaming halt. A coaster, sitting in the station patiently waiting for its next riders that will never come. This brings us to Williams Grove amusement park in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. 

Photo Credit: Williams Grove Amusement Park Facebook Page

Williams Grove Amusement Park has been drawing in visitors since around 1850. It started off as a little picnic area in a grove that was maintained by the Williams family. The first transition this area experienced was the growth from a small family picnic area into the Mechanicsburg Fairgrounds in the 1870s. It would be almost another 60 years before the first rides made their way to Williams Grove. The park even further expanded in popularity when they opened the Williams Grove speedway across the road from the amusement park in 1938, only ten years later. 

.

Photo Credit: Public Domain 

1972 was an eventful year for Williams Grove. First, the Williams family made the decision to sell the amusement park and speedway to Morgan Hughes. That same year more rides were brought in from a freshly defunct amusement park, New Jersey’s Palisades Amusement Park. The park had a promising path ahead of it with the new management and the new rides, however, nature had other plans. Hurricane Agnes of 1972 almost completely destroyed the amusement park. This, mixed with the frequent flooding from the nearby creek, provided a devastating setback for the amusement park. 

Photo Credit: Williams Grove Amusement Park Facebook Page

Luckily, the amusement park was able to recover with a fresh batch of rides. The most famous ride being the old Philadelphia Toboggan Company (PTC) manufactured coaster, Cyclone. Cyclone opened in 1933 under the name Zipper. The coaster underwent a name change when they got new cars from the Palisades Park Cyclone. The ride featured a height of 65 feet and a top speed of 45 miles per hour. Towards the end of its lifetime, the coaster had gotten particularly rough. This seemed to only ramp up the adoration and excitement of coaster enthusiasts even more. You can find a Cyclone point-of-view video on youtube. The link will be at the end of the post. As of 2017, the retired roller coaster is still standing along the edges of the ghost town amusement park. However, there were rumors that the park had planned to relocate the trains to a museum in New Jersey for display. At this time, I have not been able to confirm if this ever ended up happening. 

Photo Credit: Williams Grove Amusement Park Facebook Page

Of course, there were numerous other attractions at this small amusement park. Another honorable mention was the park’s only steel coaster Wildcat. The coaster operated at a number of other parks before reaching Williams Grove Amusement Park. These parks included: Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Playland Park, and Steel Pier. In 2005, when the park shut its gates for good, Wildcat was relocated once again to its present location of Adventure Park USA in Maryland. As previously mentioned, the park had a number of other rides and attractions, these will also be listed at the end of the post. 

Photo Credit: Williams Grove Amusement Park Facebook Page

Ultimately, what happened to this cute family-oriented amusement park? Truthfully, it did not deserve the ending that it had. In 2005, the Hughes family chose to focus solely on the speedway. They attempted to sell the amusement park, however, there were simply no buyers. With that, they closed the park for good at the end of the 2005 season and it never reopened. They did end up selling a good portion of the rides that were on the property, but not all of them. To this day, the owners of the park live on property and attempt, half-heartedly, to maintain the historical buildings. With the park still subject to flooding and undergoing frequent visits from trespassers that have left their marks of vandalism, the park is in a rather rough condition and is still off-limits to the public and visitors. The only exception to this rule, as far as I know, was in 2016 when the park had a Halloween event on the grounds. This event included a walk-through of the abandoned location. Hopefully, we’ll see a revisit of this event in the upcoming years. If so, you can guarantee I’ll be there. 

Wrap-Up Information

List of Rides at Williams Grove Amusement Park

• The Cyclone (Zipper): 1933 - 2005 The wooden coaster, 65 ft high and 45 mph

• Wildcat: 2001-2005, Steel Coaster, 45 ft high, relocated to Adventure Park in Maryland

• Kiddie Coaster: 1992-2005, kid-friendly coaster

• Little Dipper: 1950-1963, a little family coaster

• Dante’s Inferno: Dark Fun House Ride, featured a walk through portion called “Allotria”, still standing today

• Two Water Slides: Built in the 1980s, the slides have been removed but the platforms are still standing

• Flat Rides:

• Twister

• Tilt-A-Whirl

• The Octopus

• The Carousel

• Kiddie Train Ride

• Kiddie Whip

• Bumper Cars

• Laser Tag

• Airborne

• Musik Express

• The Swing Ride

• Go-Karts

• Show Boat

• Heartbreaker

• Kiddie Rides

• The Dream

• Convoy

• Helicopters

• Motorcycles

• Antique Cars

• Spinning Teacup Ride

Important Links

• Cyclone POV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9ut3eb84bY 

• Wildcat POV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmQ4GTIA-go 

• Williams Grove Amusement  Park Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Williams-Grove-Amusement-Park-509151325835451/?ref=page_internal 

• Further information and photos regarding the actual day-to-day operations of the park can be found here

Sources

http://www.abandonedbutnotforgotten.net/pages/williams-grove-amusement-park 

https://www.abandonedspaces.com/public/pennsylvanias-creepiest-abandoned-amusement-park-williams-grove.html?chrome=1 

https://maps.roadtrippers.com/us/pa/attractions/williams-grove-amusement-park 

https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/pennsylvania/abandoned-williams-grove-pa/ 

https://rcdb.com/718.htm 

The Final Launch - Wicked Twister

The Final Launch - Wicked Twister

By Kayla Miller

September 6, 2021

Photo Credit: Kayla Miller

“Break the scream barrier” (cedarpoint.com) On May 5, 2002, Cedar Point launched their brand new coaster, Wicked Twister. When it opened it was the tallest and fastest impulse coaster in the world, manufactured by Intamin. On top of that, it was also the first of its kind to feature a twist on the back spike. This coaster features a total of 5 launches; the fastest launch being 72 mph. Overall, I have always found it to be a very enjoyable ride. 

This summer I have gotten the opportunity to work at America’s rockin’ roller-coast. I was to ride Wicked Twister 35 times in my lifetime. When the season began, along with practically everyone else, I had no idea I was witnessing Wicked Twister’s last season. On my days off, I often found myself riding the impulse coaster. This was mostly due to the fact it almost always had the shortest wait in the park. However, there was a certain charm to the ride. 

Photo Credit: Kayla Miller

Throughout the season I had heard multiple rumors from my co-workers and guests about the removal of Wicked Twister. I was always the one who insisted that Wicked Twister’s life was far from over at the park. I don’t think I will ever forget when Cedar Point made the announcement. I was working in the Guest Services office at the front of the park, my supervisor pulled the announcement video up on the computer and we all gathered around to watch. Sure enough, Wicked Twister was leaving Cedar Point on September 6, 2021. 

Photo Credit: Cedar Point

Fast forward, what was it like to be there on Wicked Twister’s final day? I was lucky enough to be there. My roommate and I showed up at Cedar Point around 9:30am. At this point, the line stretched all the way to WindSeeker. By the time the queue was about to open at 11am the line had stretched all the way into a snail-like shape in the grass between Wicked Twister and WindSeeker. Nothing can describe the energy in the queue lines, everyone was excited and nostalgic over the coaster’s last day. After riding, there were associates standing at the exits handing out farewell buttons as guests left the ride. It was after our first ride that my roommate and I decided to purchase the regular fast lanes, this enabled me to ride a total of 10 times on its final day. 

Photo Credit: Kayla Miller

At the end of the night, a large group of people had surrounded the station to watch the coaster on its final launches. I was lucky enough to ride the coaster on the second to last general public launch. After the regular queue line had finished filtering out, the final riders were able to board. These final riders were guests that were lucky enough to find a manager wearing the “golden ticket.” This ticket allowed them to reserve the final ride. The coaster ended its journey with a round of applause and cheering from the crowd. I can truthfully say that this coaster received the honorable send-off that it deserved.

Sources

https://www.cedarpoint.com/rides-experiences/wicked-twister

https://www.ultimaterollercoaster.com/coasters/wicked-twister