Castle Park, formerly Castle Amusement Park, is a 25-acre

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

and family

amusement center A family entertainment center, often abbreviated FEC in the entertainment industry also known as an indoor amusement park, family amusement center, family fun center, or simply fun center, is a small amusement park marketed towards families with s ...

located in

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...

. The park utilizes a medieval "castle" theme and includes attractions such as a miniature golf course, arcade, and 22 amusement rides including two

roller coaster A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides are o ...

s such as Merlin's Revenge, a junior rollercoaster, and Screamin' Demon, a spinning

Wild Mouse A wild mouse is a type of roller coaster consisting of single or spinning cars traversing a tight-winding track with an emphasis on sharp, unbanked turns. The upper portion of the track usually features multiple 180-degree turns, known as fla ...

rollercoaster. The main "castle" themed building, houses the arcade as well as its only dark ride, "

Ghost Blasters Ghost Blasters is an interactive dark ride franchise, designed and created by Sally Corporation. The franchise includes many locations at various amusement parks throughout the United States and Canada. Riders on "Ghost Blasters" are equipped with ...

", an interactive attraction, designed by

Sally Corporation Sally Corporation is a dark ride and animatronic manufacturing company based in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. The company serves amusement parks, attractions, museums, and retail clients worldwide. It offers complete design/build service ...

, which can also be found at other amusement parks throughout

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. The park was designed, built and operated by

Bud Hurlbut In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or embryonic shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of a stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormant condition, or it may form a shoot immediately. Buds may be specia ...

, who designed several rides at

Knott's Berry Farm Knott's Berry Farm is a theme park located in Buena Park, California, owned and operated by Cedar Fair. In 2015, it was the twelfth-most-visited theme park in North America and averages approximately 4 million visitors per year. It features 40 ...

. Castle Park is currently owned and operated by

Palace Entertainment Palace Entertainment is a subsidiary of Madrid, Spain based Parques Reunidos which operates various attractions including amusement parks, zoos, and water parks around the world. Palace Entertainment is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and is ...

History

The park opened in 1976 as a

Family entertainment center A family entertainment center, often abbreviated FEC in the entertainment industry also known as an indoor amusement park, family amusement center, family fun center, or simply fun center, is a small amusement park marketed towards families with s ...

, featuring a castle themed building housing a large two level video game arcade, and an outdoor

miniature golf Miniature golf, also known as minigolf, mini-putt, crazy golf, or putt-putt, is an offshoot of the sport of golf focusing solely on the putting aspect of its parent game. The aim of the game is to score the lowest number of points. It is played ...

course. In 1985, the park expanded by adding an adjacent amusement ride area, featuring a collection of classic rides such as a Dentzel carousel built in 1905, a miniature railroad, and a log flume ride, thus becoming a legitimate amusement park. In 1999, the park opened

, an interactive dark ride designed by

. The ride features laser guns which riders use to shoot at targets to accumulate points. The attraction is the park's first and only dark ride, and occupies the entire second floor of the former arcade area inside the main castle building, reducing the arcade to only the first floor. In 2008, the park opened "Dragon Flyer", a spinning flat ride, and "Screamin' Demon", a spinning wild mouse rollercoaster. On May 25, 2019, A woman was critically injured and her husband and child suffered less-severe injuries when the log ride malfunctioned and threw them into the water. The guests recovered mostly from their injuries.

Attractions

Rides: *Antique Car Ride *Bumper Cars *Castle Park Railroad - A

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

railroad. *Crazy Plane - A rotating "bus" ride. *Dragon Flyer - A "flying" ride. *Dragons Tower - A vertical drop ride. *Fireball - A looping ride. (Reopening soon as a wheelchair ramp is currently being built) *Flying Animals - A "Dumbo" style flat ride. *Flying Saucer - A spinning gravity ride (A Gravitron). *Ghost Blasters - An interactive

Dark ride A dark ride or ghost train is an indoor amusement ride on which passengers aboard guided vehicles travel through specially lit scenes that typically contain Animatronics, animation, sound, music and Special effect#Live special effects, special e ...

located in the arcade. *Kings Crown - A swing ride. *Log Ride - (Under Refurbishment) *Merlin's Revenge - A junior rollercoaster. *Merry-Go-Round - A Dentzel Carousel built in 1907. *Riverside Express - A gauge ridable miniature train ride. *Rockin' Tug *Scrambler *Screamin' Demon *Sea Dragon - A swinging ship. *Sea planes - A children's flat ride. *Spaceships - A children's flat ride. *Spider - A spinning twirling ride. *Tilt-a-Whirl *Whip - A centrifugal ride. *Wiggle Racers Other Attractions: *Buccaneer Cove - A water play area. *Arcade - A video game arcade also housing the "Ghost Blasters" attraction. *Miniature Golf - An 18-hole miniature golf course area. *Anthony The Magic - A magic show *The Big Top - A private parties facility. Former Attractions: *Little Dipper - A children's rollercoaster. *Motorcycles *Falling Star - A rotating pendulum ride *Thunderbolt *Trabant *Ferris Wheel *Tornado Coaster - Zamperla Powered Kiddie Coaster *Cyclone Racer - Musik Express *Samba - A children's helicopter ride. *Go Karts - Was originally part of the "Big Top" area. Its former site is now occupied by "Screamin' Demon".

References

External links

* * {{Amusement Parks & Theme Parks of California Amusement parks in California Palace Entertainment Tourist attractions in Riverside, California Buildings and structures in Riverside, California 1976 establishments in California