by George Root

Created on: April 13, 2009

As a lifelong amusement park enthusiast, I can tell you from personal experience that things have definitely changed in amusement parks over the past twenty years. Gone are the days when you could just pack up the family on a moment's notice and zip on out to the park. Now you need to save up just to afford the gate tickets, and it is probably a good idea to call ahead and reserve those gate tickets just in case the park is really busy that day. Don't forget that you will also need to have money on hand to buy food once you get in the park, and you will also need money to play any of the midway games that draw you in with their blinking lights and cheerful ringing bells.

Gone are the days when you could pack a picnic lunch and bring it with you into the park to have later in the day. For security reasons, which undoubtedly involve the financial security of the amusement park, you are no longer allowed to bring large containers into the park anymore. You may also want to be prepared to have a stranger rifling through your purse as you try and get through the main gate, all in the name of security.

When it comes to changes in our amusement parks it is not all bleak news over the last twenty years, there have been some amazing advances that can make a day at the amusement park today seem much more enjoyable than it was just two decades ago.
The concept of the virtual amusement park ride allows a large group of people to enjoy the sensation of zooming through outer space or being in a submarine deep underwater without ever leaving the room. The ride may be virtual, but the resulting motion sickness is still very real. At least some things have not changed much in the last twenty years.

Another positive development in amusement parks in the last twenty years is the intense competition that has sprung up which causes benefits to the customers that we did not see years ago. Yes admission prices have changed, but now we can customize our park admission to include only those attractions that we want to see, which means we will not have to pay for the things we would rather not be involved in. If you have visited an amusement park in the last year or so, it is extremely apparent that while admission prices are high the advances in technology make the value better now than it ever was. Twenty years ago if an amusement park offered something as forward thinking as a virtual ride, they would charge extra admission just to try it out. Today it is all included in your admission price.

Change is inevitable and with amusement parks that last twenty years have seen a lot of change.
It is hard to tell what amusement parks will look like in another twenty years, but the rapid advances being made in amusement park technology today could make the next twenty years worth the wait.

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