Before "Theme Parks," There Were Amusement Parks... (Boston: coupons, condo)

[goyguy]

With every "official start of summer," I think back to when it was easy and relatively cheap to load up a picnic lunch and travel to an amusement park. The kids - at least - would forget about sitting and steaming in traffic as soon as the rides were in view and the "carnival music" could be heard. For less than $10 per person your admission and the first set of tickets - talk about "reeling in," lol - were all set. Nothing else in life was quite as thoroughly and blissfully wearying as a day at Rocky Point or Whalom Park. While the "little ones" were content with the merry-go-round or in small cars tricked out in various ways that made steady circuits around a track, the "big fourth-graders" and middle-schoolers and teens dared each other to go on the main-attraction roller coaster(s) or to visit the Tunnel of Love and/or Haunted House with fill-in-the-name-of-boy-or-girl. The picnic lunch might've been "healthy;" the same couldn't be said for the fried dough or blue cotton candy or corn dogs which had to be bought. Whether from the thrill rides or the junk food or too much sun or all of the above, most juvenile stomachs were queasy to some degree by nightfall. But it was FUN.
Now most of the amusement parks in New England - think "Adventureland" - are relics from the past. Canobie Lake hangs on, and so do the attractions at Salisbury and Hampton Beach. But Riverside has morphed into Six Flags (with insane admission prices) and all the other fun spots have died. I was an adult - on paper, at least, lol - when I arrived in these parts. But I have fond recollections of Paragon Park in Hull, where the expanse of Nantasket Beach awaited across the street when the rides (and ride lines) and the arcade got to be boring. You could even tear off coupons from Stop & Shop grocery bags to make an outing there cheaper. What do the rest of you remember about Paragon Park and all the other departed places like it? Some must've had "a whale of a time" at Whalom Park, met their high school sweetheart in a ride line on Revere Beach, barfed on the coasters at Rocky Point, gotten sunburned at Lincoln Park...

[neil0311]

I used to live down the street from Whalom Park which was located in Lunenburg. Maybe 60 years ago it was a great place to go, but in its later years it was a dump and closing it was the right thing to do. People didn't want to go to a little place where the rides were very old and safety was in question. In its later years, the attendance at Whalom was terrible. If they could have made money, they would have. Parks like Six Flags are a much better option for both the consumer and the owner.

It's nice to remember this kind of thing from your childhood with fondness, but I had a huge problem with these people who lived in other towns but wouldn't let the owners of Whalom sell it and tear it down to build something nice that would add to the local tax base. Instead they held on to their silly nostolgia and blocked the development until the economy tanked. Now I think the project is in limbo and the site is an eyesore, and these silly fools hang onto their misguided nostalgia about somehow bringing back Whalom.

I sold my home just before the market tanked and got the heck out of dodge....Whalom still sits there while these twits argue about past glory versus sensible development.

[missionhill]

Mountain Park in Holyoke, one of the old trolley car parks, was going strong into the '70s. I loved the dodgems and the funhouse. My friend and I went up there on our bikes once in April before the park opened and stumbled through the dark funhouse--it was really dark and hard to navigate the twists and turns, sloping floors, and other features meant to keep you off balance. Amazing now to think you could just walk through a place like that--no security, no locks, and apparently no damage done. I didn't have enough nerve for the roller coaster until I was out of college but went once or twice there, and more often at Paragon Park which was famed for the height and speed of its coaster. Passenger boats run all over Boston Harbor now but the one I miss is the Nantasket boat. I also remember a visit with cousins to Norumbega Park, another trolley car park from when the Commonwealth Ave streetcars ran all the way to Auburndale; it's now the site of the Newton Marriott. Small and piney. The real old timers talk about the Totem Pole ballroom there.

[lrfox]

I grew up sneaking into the ruins of Lincoln Park in Dartmouth, MA. I was never old enough to see it operational (though I do have good memories of riding the Corkskrew and Enterprise at Rocky Point). I can understand the nostalgia for those places. I'd give a lot to see Rocky Point operational again.

[goyguy]

There was an attempt made at keeping Rocky Point alive. During the mid-90's it became quite the place for all-night "raves" among the ride remains, and the big dining hall hosted mobs of "shore dinner" seekers. But the novelty wore off across the board before long and there's a condo development there now.
Seeing Mountain Park mentioned made me remember the #1 place in the Valley for beginning skiers: Mt Tom Thumb!

[KarynO]

Old Orchard Beach is a good take.

[wheelz]

I loved the Turnpike at Whalom and the Pirates Den! They also had a great FunHouse, they used to have you sit on that big revolving wheel until the thing would throw you like a rag doll. They were only charging 6 bucks after 5 P.M. the last couple of years they were open.