Ice Cream Stand
Pittsburgh, PA Photo courtesy Mark Hackett
Sometimes the food stands are almost as much fun to look at as the rides. Kennywood Park near Pittsburgh is loaded with great old signs and buildings, including these colorful Art Deco refreshment and ice cream stands along the midway. With their streamlined shapes, neon, and vintage lettering, they look like they've been waiting for you to walk up and order something for decades.
Kennywood opened way back in 1898 as a trolley park, and that's part of what makes wandering around here so much fun. Unlike amusement parks where everything seems shiny and new, Kennywood still has plenty of little reminders of earlier days tucked between the rides. The Star Refreshment Stand dates to the 1950s, while other old food stands and neon signs help give the midway its distinctive look.
Art Deco Refreshment Stand
Pittsburgh, PA Photo courtesy Mark Hackett
Of course, sooner or later the sound of a wooden roller coaster is going to get your attention. The famous Thunderbolt has been running in its present form since 1968, incorporating part of the old Pippin coaster that dated back to 1924. Kennywood has plenty of other classic rides too, but don't spend the whole day rushing from one line to another.
Take a walk around the midway after dark and check out the neon. Grab some ice cream. Look at the old buildings. Sometimes those little refreshment stands glowing between the rides are just as memorable as the roller coasters.
If you're a fan of classic amusement parks, old neon, and vintage roadside architecture, Kennywood is one place where you'll want to keep the camera handy.
Now here's a ride you don't see every day. The Turtle Ride at Kennywood has six giant turtles circling around a wavy track, complete with smiling faces and, at least in the old days, bubbles floating out of their mouths. Add that great neon TURTLE sign overhead and you've got another one of those Kennywood attractions that seems to belong to another time.
Kennywood Turtle Ride
Pittsburgh, PA Photo courtesy Mark Hackett
The ride first appeared at Kennywood in 1927 as the Tumble Bug. Twenty years later it was given turtle-shaped cars, and in 1948 the Turtle as we know it began making the rounds. The cars travel around a circular track, climbing and dipping along the way while swinging from side to side. Nothing too complicated, just good old-fashioned amusement park fun.
What makes the Turtle especially interesting today is how rare it has become. Similar Tumble Bug rides once operated at amusement parks around the country, but one by one they disappeared. Kennywood's Turtle is now the last full-sized operating Tumble Bug of its kind.
And somehow the old ride still fits perfectly among Kennywood's wooden coasters, neon signs, and vintage refreshment stands. When that TURTLE neon lights up after dark, you might want to take another ride around.
UPDATE: After an extensive restoration, the Turtle returned to operation and remains one of Kennywood's classic rides for the 2026 season. Kennywood remains open, with many of its vintage midway buildings, refreshment stands, and signs still adding plenty of old-fashioned character to the park. 08-26
Playland Park (Gone)
Springfield Township, OH Photo courtesy Steve Felder
Another great roadside
find, Playland Park on the south side of Akron
is located near the "Rubber Bowl." But eventually this marquee
may be all you'll see, as this funland has become just another statistic
in the great defunct parkside in the sky.
The park opened in 1952 as Fallon's Kiddieland and later grew into Playland, with a roller coaster, skyride, miniature train, monorail, and plenty of other rides filling the midway.
The rides stopped running after the 1984 season, although the skating rink remained open for years afterward. For a while, that old Playland marquee was about all you needed to know that an amusement park had once been here.
UPDATE: Playland Park is gone, and the roadside marquee has also been removed. 08-26
Sno-Cone
Monticello, Indiana Photo courtesy Steve Felder
Hungry for a little midway food? This Sno-Cone and Cotton Candy stand at Indiana Beach has all the right ingredients, colorful signs, sweet treats, and that classic boardwalk look.
Indiana Beach Amusement Park opened along Lake Shafer in 1926 as Ideal Beach and grew into a full-fledged amusement park. Even though there's no ocean anywhere nearby, walking the midway can feel a little like being at one of those old seaside amusement parks.
Grab a Sno-Cone or some cotton candy and keep moving. There are still plenty of rides waiting just down the midway.
UPDATE: The Indiana Beach Amusement & Water Park remains open and is celebrating its 100th anniversary season in 2026. 08-26
Seaport Aquarium
Wildwood Boardwalk, NJ Photo courtesy Steve Felder
Here's a combination you don't see every day. Fish, sharks, and salt water taffy all seem to come together beneath the colorful signs along the Wildwood Boardwalk. Seaport Aquarium is one of those small boardwalk attractions that fits right in among the arcades, food stands, and flashing lights.
This isn't one of those giant modern aquariums that takes all day to explore. Seaport is more of an old-fashioned boardwalk attraction, with sharks, eels, stingrays, turtles, and other critters waiting inside. And with all the candy shops nearby, you're never very far from a box of salt water taffy.
The aquarium is still here today, along with its colorful entrance and oversized sea creatures out front. Just another interesting stop while wandering the boards in Wildwood.
UPDATE: Seaport Aquarium remains open seasonally on the Wildwood Boardwalk. 08-26
Riverside Park Thunderbolt
Coaster
Agawam, MA Photo courtesy Mark Hackett
Here's a good little wooden coaster that's been rattling riders around Massachusetts for decades. The Thunderbolt at the old Riverside Park comes complete with a great neon entranceway and plenty of wooden track twisting overhead. The coaster opened in 1941, with its design based on the Cyclone that ran at the 1939-40 New York World's Fair. It's not the tallest or fastest coaster around, but with its compact figure-eight layout and classic wooden coaster shake, who needs all that?
Riverside Park became Six Flags New England in 2000, but the Thunderbolt kept right on rolling. Today it's the oldest operating coaster in the Six Flags chain.
UPDATE : Riverside
Park in Agawam was bought by Six Flags and has been converted to
a mega park as is their style. However the good news is the coaster
has survived the change. Many thanks to Paul Roy for info.
UPDATE: The Thunderbolt remains in operation at Six Flags New England, more than 85 years after it first opened. 08-26
Cedar Point Games Building (Gone)
Sandusky, OH Photo courtesy Mark Hackett
Here's a little old-fashioned midway fun at one of America's biggest amusement parks. The Fascination Games Building at Cedar Point once greeted visitors with this great colorful facade, looking more like something from an old boardwalk than a modern roller coaster park.
The games were housed in Cedar Point's Coliseum, a grand old building that dates all the way back to 1906. Fascination itself was a simple game where players rolled balls toward numbered holes, trying to light up a winning combination before everyone else. No giant video screens or fancy electronics needed.
Cedar Point has changed quite a bit over the years, with bigger roller coasters and newer attractions continually appearing along the peninsula. Still, buildings like the old Coliseum offered a glimpse of an earlier Cedar Point, when arcades, dancing, midway games, and the Lake Erie beach were as much a part of the experience as the rides.
Fascination lasted until 2001, when the game finally disappeared from the midway. The old Coliseum, however, is still there, so take a look the next time you're racing from one roller coaster to another.
UPDATE: The Fascination games and colorful facade are gone, but the historic 1906 Coliseum remains open on Cedar Point's Main Midway. 08-26
Ice Cream Stand
Art Deco Refreshment Stand
Kennywood Turtle Ride
Playland Park (Gone)
Sno-Cone
Seaport Aquarium
Cedar Point Games Building (Gone)
