Anyhoo...
My first "big" amusement park might have been Cedar Point (on Lake Erie) which my grandmother took me and my sister to for one day at an early age. I only have the vaguest memory of being there, nothing specific. I also very vaguely remember one at Buckeye Lake, east of Columbus, but am not even positive whether we went to it or just saw it from the road. Another one seen from the road at an early age was the Palisades one in NJ opposite upper Manhattan. And on one of those childhood trips to NYC in the late '50s we did drive out to Coney Island one afternoon. Again, only the faintest of memories, but there might be a bad black-and-white snapshot or two somewhere.
As for SOLID memories... well, definitely the "midway" portions of the Ohio State Fair and a couple of county fairs in Ohio. If we're going to count things like that, and we might have to. Those were always my favorite parts of any fair.
Honestly, though, until we get to the age where I was going to Disneyland and Walt Disney World, I don't have a lot to contribute in the way of true amusement parks (as opposed to "theme parks"). In L.A. I went to Magic Mountain several times and liked it a lot, but way back in the mid-'70s. However, with that exception, I haven't been drawn to the huge contemporary Six Flags type of parks. Which is probably silly. But I missed the glory years of all the incredible seaside parks -- on both coasts -- like the one BK so beautifully invokes in the Kritzer books. I would absolutely love going to some of the remaining old amusement parks, like Kennywood which is near Pittsburgh, and somehow or other I need to make that happen.
More later as I think of it.
