Joyland Amusement Park (Wichita)
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Joyland Amusement Park opened in Wichita, Kansas, United States on June 12, 1949, and was in continuous operation until 2003. Since 2003 the park has been opened only for a single season and is currently closed. It had been the largest theme park in central Kansas and the only park in the region with a world class wooden roller coaster.
Origins
The park was originally founded by Lester Ottaway and his sons, Herbert and Harold, to serve as the home for a miniature 12 inch (300 mm) gauge steam locomotive that Herb Ottaway had purchased in Fort Scott, Kansas, back in 1933. The train had been part of a defunct amusement park in Fort Scott and was originally built by the Miniature Railway Company of Elgin, Illinois, between 1905 and 1910. By 1934, Herb Ottaway, who worked as a race car builder, had fully refurbished and restored the steam locomotive and cars and began transporting the miniature train to county fairs in western Kansas and eastern Colorado. Ottaway soon built a track for his miniature locomotive around the Manitou Springs, Colorado, racetrack and operated the train there for some time. The current location of Joyland Amusement Park came into existence on June 12, 1949, primarily to give Harold's miniature locomotive a permanent home in Kansas. The park was originally located at 1515 East Central in Wichita (between New York and Mathewson streets) but soon moved to its current location at 2801 South Hillside. After Lester Ottaway's death in the mid 1950s, his three sons, Herbert, Harold, and Eddie, continued running the park as a family operation.
Roller Coaster
Portion of the roller coaster that extends out into the parking lot Joyland's 1949 era roller coaster, a Philadelphia Toboggan Company coaster designed by Herbert Paul Schmeck, is world renowned for being one of the last surviving original wooden roller coasters, and is one of 33 surviving roller coasters of only 44 original coasters designated as an ACE Coaster Classic. Originally called simply Roller Coaster but recently renamed the Nightmare, it has a 2,600 ft. (790 m) track span, 80 ft. (24 m) drop, and a 50 mph (80 km/h) top speed. It has the distinction of being the only remaining roller coaster in North America using vintage rolling stock with fixed lap bars. The film King Kung Fu was filmed on location at several locations in the Wichita area, including at Joyland. One scene in the film features several minutes of footage shot on the Roller Coaster.
Other original attractions
In addition to the miniature train and classic wooden roller coaster, Joyland also boasts a Mammoth Military Band Organ, also known as a Wurlitzer Style 160. It was the largest of the Wurlitzer's early band organs. The organ was built around 1905 by the DeKleist Musical Instrument Works and was sold by the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company. It contained 486 wood and brass pipes and used two perforated paper music rolls. The organ represented the effect of a military brass band of 20 to 25 musicians. It was the largest available band organ from Wurlitzer at the time, and was designed primarily for the skating rink industry. In 1915, the organ was taken back to the Wurlitzer factory and remodifed into a Wurlitzer Style 165. The organ was sold to W. P. Brown of Coffeyville, Kansas, who owned and operated the Silurian Springs Bath House, which also featured a skating rink. The organ was used to provide music for the skating rink. In the 1930s the organ went into storage. It was heavily water damaged and some of its brass parts were stripped off during World War II scrap metal drives. In 1948, Jess Gibbs of Parsons, Kansas, purchased the old organ and began the painstaking work of restoring the instrument. In 1950 he sold the refurbished organ to the Ottaway family, who installed it in Joyland Amusement Park. The Ottaways added Louie the Clown Organist, an automated clown who sits before the organ keyboard and ''plays'' the instrument. Louie the Clown and the Mighty Wurlitzer have been a fixture at Joyland ever since. It creates a sound that resonates through the entire park. The Joyland organ is one of only two Mammoth Organs still in existence and, until the park closed, it was the only one in public view.
Joyland also features an original Allen Herschel Carousel, which was built in 1949. It has all of the original Carousel Horses. The carousel is disassembled at the end of every season, which has been carefully done for protection every year for the last 59 years.
Joyland today
Joyland's Whacky Shack
The Ottaway brothers retired from the amusement park business in the late 1960s and sold the park to Stanley and Margaret Nelson. The Nelsons were the driving force behind Joyland Park for over 30 years and a large percentage of the park's current rides, including the Bill Tracy designed Whacky Shack dark ride, added to the park in 1974, come from the Nelsons' time as owners. Though there are a few Whacky Shacks still in use across the country today, this classic two story dark ride was the prototype, and the closest one can find to Tracy's original designs. In addition, the original miniature train retired with the Ottaway family and was replaced with the first ever C. P. Huntington miniature train. This train carries serial number 1 from the factory.
Today Joyland has over 24 working amusement rides, including:
Round Up, a circa 1960 Hrubetz High Speed Circular ride
Zumur, A Chance Rides Wave Swinger!
Dodge'm, Classic Bumper cars
Tilt-A-Whirl
Log Jam, a Log flume style ride
Giant Slide
Paratrooper
Ferris wheel
Scrambler
Skycoaster
Joyland also has a valuable collection of kiddie land rides, including:
Dune buggies
Horse and carriages
Bulgy the Whale
and other Herschel Rides
It also features an Old West Frontier Town and Go Kart Track.
Reopening & Closing
The park was showing its age with many attractions requiring extensive repairs when the Nelsons shut it down in mid 2004. However, in 2006 the Seattle Based T-Rex Group, who were instrumental in turning around a pair of small parks in Washington state, leased the park from the Nelson family and reopened it with plans for a complete refurbishing. Nevertheless, financial problems continue to plague the old park. On April 25, 2007, The Wichita Eagle reported that Joyland would not open for the 2007 season. Also in April 2007, the Support Joyland advocacy group was started to draw public interest in the historic amusement park. In June 2008 a lawsuit began between with the Nelson family suing Michael Moodenbaugh and Robert Barnard.
