Amusement Parks in Oregon - Thrill-Ville USA, Oaks Amusement Park, Jantzen Beach, Pixieland, Enchanted Forest, Lotus Isle (Paperback)

Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Not illustrated. Excerpt: Thrill-Ville USA was an amusement park in Turner, Oregon, United States. The park was located next to the Enchanted Forest south of Salem on Interstate 5. Opened in the 1970s, the park grew to more than 20 rides before closing in 2008. Rides included roller coasters, go karts, classic carnival rides (such as Octopus, Rock-O-Plane, Tilt-A-Whirl, Paratrooper, and many more) a 55' double water slide, and a regular slide. The park also had an area called "Thrill-Zone" which included a Sky Coaster, Big Sling ride, SCAD Freefall Tower, and Turbo Force. In the early 1970s what later became Thrill-Ville USA opened as a go-cart track. The Vettrus family added the go-carts as a childrens amusement feature next to the familys recreational vehicle (RV) park. The Vettrus brothers later owned and operated the amusement park that grew to more than 20 different rides. In 1984, the park added a 55 foot tall waterslide. The park was renamed as Thrill-Ville USA in the early 1990s. Marion County told the operators in the early 1990s that the parks land needed to be re-zoned or face possible closure. In 1995, Thrill-Ville was allowed to stay open after meeting a variety of conditions set by the county including noise abatement and establishing a parking plan. By 1999, the park had an annual attendance of 200,000 people. In May 2008, the park announced that due to higher insurance costs and a slowing economy that the park would not open for its usual season of Memorial Day to Labor Day in 2008. The park also said that Thrill-Ville USA may not ever re-open. Roller coaster and slide in 2009The park had two roller coasters, The Ripper and the Little Ripper. The bigger one was 60 feet (18 m) tall. Another ride was the Skycoaster, which lifted people... More: http://booksllc.net/?id=19460043