Confusion at Olde Idlewild?

Since 1878, this little amusement park in Ligonier, PA has had been a wonderfully preserved Victorian amusement park that has grown into a facility with seven themed areas – now known as Idlewild & SoakZone. Idlewild is the third oldest amusement park in the country! In the original section, referred to as Olde Idlewild, neatly manicured greens spaces, landscaping, cozy, clean white buildings with red, tar shingled roofs and gingerbread fascia have long been hallmarks of this place. In recent years, Idlewild management has appeared to have deviated from this, unfortunately. Let’s take a look and think of this as a little case study of this one area of Idlewild!

First, a little background on Idlewild & SoakZone:

What began as a campground along the Ligonier Valley Railroad and built by Thomas Mellon, eventually became an amusement park. the Mellon family sold to the Macdonald family in 1951. In 1956, an entirely separate fantasy-themed land known as Storybook Forest was added as a separately gated attraction, alongside the old amusement park. Kennywood Entertainment Corporation. purchased Idlewild from the Mellon family in 1983 and later sold it to Parques Reunidos (American subsidiary, Palace Entertainment in 2008).

After its purchase of the park, Kennywood Entertainment began an impressive decade of investment that resulted in the addition of FIVE new lands. Interestingly enough, the park had become a theme park in its own right but has never called itself one.

• The original section of the park was branded as Olde Idlewild while celebrating its existing victorian look and feel.
• What had long been a second gate known as Storybook Forest was then considered a part of Idlewild Park itself. Although one admission ticket then entitled the guest to Idlewild Park and Storybook Forest, retained their individual look and feel with clear delineation between both areas.
• The vintage Kiddieland rides were moved to a wooded area of the property and incorporated in a new land called Raccoon Lagoon.
• Jumpin’ Jungle was built in the space between Olde Idlewild and Storybook Forest. It included a ball pit, dry slides, climbing nets, and a suspension bridge.
• Nearby, buildings were relocated from the Historic Village (originally built in the current parking lot in 1976) and clustered together with new western-themed buildings and attractions in what became known as Hootin’ Holler.
• The area near the original swimming pool took on new water slide attractions that earned the area the name H2Ohhhh Zone, that was later renamed SoakZone.
• Fred Rogers was partnered with in the design of a large-scale attraction branded as its own themed area known as Mister Rogers Neighborhood, now know as Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.

Under their ownership, Kennywood Entertainment transformed Idlewild into a carefully balanced attraction with more than a full day of wholesome offerings and family fun. Once sold to Palace Entertainment, Idlewild’s unfortunate stagnation began.

A look at Olde Idlewild

What was known as Old Idlewild continued to be a pristine, wonderfully preserved Victorian amusement park. As you can in these photos from 2006, right before the sale of the park to Palace Entertainment, Olde Idlewild was holding steadfast to its original look and feel.

Look to the future:

It appears Idlewild & SoakZone is the most neglected property in the Palace Entertainment chain of parks. It’s an absolutely beautiful park in a stunning setting that epitomizes Pennsylvania’s natural beauty. It also has tremendous potential for growth, a new creative vision that plays on the park’s history and existing themed realms, and even bigger potential for new profit centers that compliment Idlewild’s existing offerings.

Last year, Idlewild started repainting neglected buildings. That should be budgeted annually so that the facility does not have to go on multi-year never-ending cycles of neglect and catch up. Pay more attention to the details. Amusement parks are where emotional connections are made – with each other and with the park itself. Guests don’t want to spend money at a place that doesn’t look better than the outside world they live in every day. A pristine park just makes people feel good, it puts them in a better mood, and makes them want to stay longer and spend more money!

People LOVE Idlewild! It’s the company’s responsibility to not only maintain it, but lovingly, and constantly reimagine it. It will take this creative vision and love to get it to where it was and beyond…

Please let me know your feedback.

This was just a quick look at only one of the areas of Idlewild & SoakZone. I’d like to do a couple more studies on Idlewild; perhaps Hootin’ Holler and Storybook Forest would be good candidates. Stay tuned.