Idlewild Park
Idlewild Park is the nation's third oldest amusement park. It is located an hour east of Pittsburgh in the Laurel Highlands. This park has several themed areas such as Olde Idlewild, Hootin' Holler, Story Book Forest, Jumpin' Jungle, Raccoon Lagoon, Soak Zone, and Mr. Roger's Neighborhood.
Raccoon Lagoon is an area of the park that is 9 acres. This part of Idlewild was made for younger and inexperienced guests. It is the largest Kiddie Land in the United States. It has thirteen rides including Cattail Derby, Dino Soars, Doodlebug, Flowers, Little Rascals, Motorcycles, Pollywog Regatta, Red Baron, Rainbow Wheel, Scampers, and Turtles.
Olde Idlewild has sixteen major rides. They are the Balloon Race, Caterpillar, Ferris Wheel, Mad Scrambler, Merry-go-round, Trinado, Super Round Up, Whip, Paratrooper, Skooters, the Spider, Tilt a Whirl, the Wild Mouse, and the Rollo Coaster. The Rollo Coaster and the Wild Mouse are the only roller coasters in Idlewild.
Mister Roger's Neighborhood contains a trolley ride through different areas of the park. There are also different characters on the ride including King Friday, X the Owl, Henrietta Pussycat, Lady Elaine Fairchilde, and Daniel Striped.
Jumpin' Jungle is an interactive play area for parents and young children. There are ball crawles, rope swings, and climbing ropes. Also there is a tree house, swings, and slides. Some attractions are the Alligator Swamp, Blow Balls, Bubbling Springs, Flying Turtles, Net Climb, Tarzan Swing, Tube Slide, Tunnel Crawl, and a three-story Tree House.
The Soak Zone has fourteen wet water rides, four of them being head first racing slides. Also, there is the Pipeline Plunge, which is a two person raft that drops 50 feet. The plunge also includes water curtains. The tipping bucket contains gallons upon gallons of water that tips over when the bucket is full.
Idlewild Park came into existence when William Darlington, the owner of the property, transformed the grounds into pleasure grounds. To promote the park, Idlewild advertised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In February of 1983, Kennywood Park Corporation took ownership of the park. The 1990s was when the Wild Mouse Coaster was built. The 21st Century brought attraction water slides and that is why Idlewild is now named Idlewild and Soak Zone.
