October Favorite 1970s Megapark Poll

Out of 168 votes, we determined our favorite 1970s (ish) regional mega-park. The 1970s were a time of great expansion in the industry that coincided with the growth of the suburban areas in the United States. As a result of the great expansion into urban areas in the 1950s and 1960s, the old trolley parks that were once located in the outskirts of cities, were fully urbanized now. In this time period, many of those parks were closing. Walt Disney proved that there was life in the theme park model once again. Due to the smashing success of Walt Disney, many parks attempted to duplicate that success regionally, in many places with parks built from scratch.

Kings Entertainment was established and they built Kings Island and Kings Dominion. Six Flags was established in 1961 and opened up a flurry of parks. Anheuser Busch opened up several parks, two of which excelled, Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Tampa. Marriott opened up both Great America parks. Several wealthy individuals such as Warner LeRoy (Great Adventure), Earl Patterson Hall (Carowinds), and others, worked on some ventures to create parks.

The park garnering the most votes was Kings Island, with 35 percent of the vote.

With 13.69 percent of the vote, Busch Gardens Williamsburg came in a distant second.

Six Flags Great America came in third with 10 percent of the vote.

Kings Dominion came in fourth with 9.5 percent of the vote.

Magic Mountain came in fifth with 8 percent of the vote.

Carowinds came in sixth with 6.55 percent of the vote.

The remainder of the parks, California's Great America, Six Flags Great America, Great Adventure, Busch Gardens Tampa, Six Flags over Georgia, Six Flags over Texas, and Canada's Wonderland, all received less than 5 percent of the vote.

Be sure to vote in our November "Favorite US Class of 2014 Coaster Poll!"

Available now is our 2015 Roller Coaster Calendar. It is on early-bird special and available through 

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