Idora Park-Youngstown Ohio- The Way it Was!

Memories of a great amusement park that burned in 1984. For all of us that lived there!

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Idora
• Park
• Remembered

[arturony]

This is absolutely awesome. Who'da thought. Idora on Utube.

What I remember more than the rides is the beer garden - plenty of Renner's Golden Amber as I recall

[Lellis819]

Lines were long for that special garden and a fun time for all! Ahhhhhhhh I remember it well !

[Janko1492]

I like the last picture of the steps. Hundreds of years from now archeologists will wonder what they were used for.  Nothing, just a place to sit.

[jfsz08]

They had the best fries, I am 41 and Midland would have our school picnic there. Great park!

[Retvet1996]

Was a great place back in the day. Worked here on the rides (Sky Diver & Wild Cat) and games when I was in high school, that's how I bought my first car. Shame it's gone now. :(

[ohwhynotsing]

The last time I was at Idora Park, I walked the midway with Boots Bell of WHOT on HOT day, talking about music. Played in one of the bands. I've lived all over the US, since then. Miss that place. It was a place like, no other. Lucky to have lived it, when it was all good. :) Thanks for sharing.

[ProChoiceJesus]

@daviddaich Sorry for implying that you were lying. I rode Wildcat 30 to 40 times one day in the summer of 1982. From 82 to present, having ridden most of America's wood coasters, and all of those which are considered the best in the world, Wildcat stands firmly among the most thrilling and greatest of that time period. Idora & Wildcat were truly a tragic loss to America. Idora was a real treasure. There's still a few left. I make it a habit to visit as many as possible yearly. List below.

[daviddaich]

@ProChoiceJesus A simple "sorry for insinuating that you're lying without knowing the facts" would have sufficed. There was a series of humps in a straight line. We would push up off the seat going down the first one and sit on the back of the seat through the series. You would float a couple inches off the seat in the negative G part. I can't recall if there were 2 or 3 of these. We would slide back in the seat going up the last hill in the line. Never said it was smart, but I was 17.

[ProChoiceJesus]

There are a few traditional, real amusement parks left. Knoebel's Amusement Resort (Elysbugh, PA.), Lakeside Park (Denver), Conneaut Lake (PA. barely hangin on), Idlewild Park (PA.), Waldameer Park (PA.), Kennywood (Pittsburgh), Lake Winnepesaukah (Tenn.), Beech Bend (KY.), Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk (CA.), Playland (Vancouver), Arnold's Park (Iowa), Camden Park (WV), a few I've certainly missed. All wonderful & meaningful like Idora. Go visit them for an incredible, awesome time!

[ProChoiceJesus]

@daviddaich Let me re-phrase. Because Wildcat was such an incredible, violent, wonderful ride, I am amazed that you did such a thing as ride on the seat back. Wow! Was it fun? Did you do it through the partial tunnel during the Wildcat's final turn? That turn was my favorite part of the ride. It seems that it could have be-headed you. Did you hold on somehow while on the seatback? This is my hobby, so I know of several deaths resultant of such acts, so I stand amazed that you & others did this.

[daviddaich]

@ProChoiceJesus Find whatever you like. I wasn't the first and I wasn't the last. We didn't go through through the whole loop that way, just some of the hills. I would never have tried it if I hadn't seen other employees do it before me. I suspect one or two of them will show up here eventually and say the same thing. But in any case, thanks for taking a great, nostalgic thread and introducing your brand of negativity Mr. roller coaster expert.

[ProChoiceJesus]

At 2:30 is a photo of Mr. Twister (defunct) of the original Elitch Garden's Amusement Park, Denver, Colorado. This top-ranked wooden wonder almost ended up not too far from Idora Park, for in the 80s, Dick Knoebel of Knoebel's Amusement Resort, Elysbug, PA. researched moving it from Denver to Knoebel's when Elitch's closed forever. Knoebel's had already moved a wood coaster but Mr. Twister was too big for the land they had available, so Knoeble's built a woodie similar to Mr. Twister (Twister).

[ProChoiceJesus]

@daviddaich I find it hard to believe that you sat on the seat back of the Wildcat with your feet on the cushion/seat. You must have been holding on somehow, for Wildcat had extreme lateral & negative forces, and during it's life in the early 80s was considered to be one of the top 10 roller coasters in the world. Often ranked #1 by coaster enthusiasts like myself. To this day, having rode most of America's wood coasters from 82 to present, I rank it among the top 5 wood coasters I've ridden.

[ArmPittsss16]

@jfsz08 love mill creek park too.... nothin like it is now .......been gone for many years ........but never forget the times we had on the back rabbit !!!!!