Palace Entertainment is a subsidiary of

Madrid, Spain Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

based

Parques Reunidos Parques Reunidos (meaning "Reunited Parks") is an international entertainment operator based in Madrid, Spain. The group operates over 60 parks in about dozen countries. Parques Reunidos operates theme and amusement parks, zoos, water parks, fami ...

which operates various attractions including amusement parks, zoos, and water parks around the world. Palace Entertainment is based in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

and is primarily involved in the operation of attractions in the United States.

History

Palace Entertainment was established in 1998, after the acquisition of four independently owned family entertainment companies. These four companies consisted of five brands: Camelot Parks, Palace Park, Boomers!, Grand Prix Race-O-Rama and Family Fun Center. In the early 2000s the company purchased various Water Parks and Family Entertainment Centers. On February 27, 2006, it was announced that

MidOcean Partners MidOcean Partners is a New York-based alternative asset management firm that specializes in mid-sized private equity and alternative leveraged investments. The firm, founded in February 2003, is based in Midtown Manhattan. MidOcean was original ...

was to acquire Palace Entertainment. This transaction occurred in the second quarter 2006. On August 24, 2007, MidOcean Partners sold Palace Entertainment to

for $330 Million. This transaction took place in the third quarter of 2007. Fernando Eiroa joined Palace Entertainment in 2007, serving as president and Chief Executive Officer. On December 11, 2007 Kennywood Entertainment Company entered an agreement to sell their Five Properties (

Kennywood Kennywood is an amusement park located in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, just southeast of Pittsburgh. The park opened on May 30, 1899, as a trolley park attraction at the end of the Mellon family's Monongahela Street Railway. It was purchased in ...

Idlewild and Soak Zone Idlewild and Soak Zone, commonly known as Idlewild Park or simply Idlewild, is a children's amusement park in the Laurel Highlands near Ligonier, Pennsylvania, United States, about east of Pittsburgh, along US Route 30. Founded in 1878 as a ...

, Sandcastle Waterpark,

Lake Compounce Lake Compounce is an amusement park located in Bristol and Southington, Connecticut. Opened in 1846, it is the oldest continuously operating amusement park in the United States. It spans , which includes a beach and a water park called Crocodile ...

and

Story Land Story Land is a theme park located in Glen, New Hampshire, which opened in 1954. The park is meant to appeal to children up to the pre-teen ages. History In the few years prior to opening, the founders, Bob and Ruth Morrell, had purchased a lar ...

) to Palace Entertainment's parent company

. By 2009 Palace had taken over operations of all five parks. On November 12, 2010, Palace Entertainment announced the acquisition of

Dutch Wonderland Dutch Wonderland is a theme park just east of Lancaster, Pennsylvania in East Lampeter Township, appealing primarily to families with small children. The park's theme is a "Kingdom for Kids." The entrance to the park has a stone imitation cas ...

Family Amusement Park in historic Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, from

Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company Hershey may refer to: People * Hershey (name), a list of people with the surname, given name or nickname Places * Hershey, Nebraska, a village * Hershey, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community, home to the chocolate company * Hershey, Cub ...

. On March 2, 2012, Palace Entertainment announced the acquisition of Noah's Ark Water Park in

Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin Wisconsin Dells is a city in Wisconsin, straddling four counties: Adams, Columbia, Juneau, and Sauk. A popular Midwestern tourist destination, the city forms an area known as "The Dells" with the nearby village of Lake Delton. The Dells is ho ...

. In 2014 Palace Entertainment acquired

Miami Seaquarium The Miami Seaquarium is a oceanarium located on the island of Virginia Key in Biscayne Bay, Miami-Dade County, Florida located near downtown Miami. Founded in 1955, it is one of the oldest oceanariums in the United States. In addition to mar ...

in Key Biscayne, Florida. Later that year Palace Entertainment sold 15 properties to the newly formed Apex Parks Group Including Big Kahuna's, 10 Boomers locations as well as an additional Family 4 Entertainment Centers. This was in an effort to move away from Family Entertainment Center operations for Palace Entertainment. In March 2020 it was announced that Palace Entertainment would open a new corporate facility near the Kennywood property. This new facility will house 25 executives as well as their East Coast team. In December of 2021 Palace Entertainment would acquire Adventureland in

Altoona, Iowa Altoona is a city in Polk County, Iowa, United States, and is a part of the Des Moines metropolitan area. The population was 19,565 at the 2020 census. Altoona is home of the Adventureland amusement park and Prairie Meadows horse racing trac ...

Amusement parks

Water parks

Marine animal parks

Family entertainment centers

Hotels and campgrounds

Former properties

References

External links

*
MidOcean Partners website Parques Reunidos Group website
�� {{Parques Reunidos Amusement park companies Entertainment companies based in California Companies based in Newport Beach, California Entertainment companies established in 1998 1998 establishments in California Parques Reunidos