Funtown Splashtown USA, often referred to as simply Funtown, is a family-owned amusement park and water park located in Saco, Maine.
History In 1960, Ken Cormier and his wife Violet opened Marvel Drive-In, a drive-in restaurant, next door to a miniature golf course owned by Ken’s brother-in-law, Andre Dallaire. The golf course had been installed the previous year. In 1963, Andre opened a go-kart track behind the golf course, and in 1964 and 1967, Ken added batting cages and an archery range, respectively, behind Marvel Drive-In. Over the next few years, Cormier and Dallaire added several kiddie and carnival-style rides including SkySlides and Swinging Gyms.
In 1967, Cormier and Dallaire formed a partnership and established Funtown USA. Over the next few years, Funtown added a Zipper, bumper cars, and a Bayern Kurve named “Luv Machine”.
In 1996, Cormier bought out the remaining Dallaire interest at the park, and renamed it to Funtown Splashtown USA with the addition of a water park to the property.
The park features a wooden roller coaster called Excalibur, as well as New England's longest and tallest log flume, Thunder Falls. It also has a drop tower called Dragon's Descent. One of the park's most popular rides is the Astrosphere, an indoor Scrambler which features a laser light show while playing Electric Light Orchestra's "Fire on High".
The Splashtown water park features Pirate's Paradise, a large interactive water playground. For the 2007 season, the water park's size was doubled in an expansion that added two new water slides, Tornado and Mammoth. An additional expansion in 2012 added another six water slides to Splashtown.
Current attractions
Funtown Name Type Manufacturer Year opened Adult Bumper Boats Bumper boats Unknown 1993 Antique Cars Antique Taxi Cars Arrow Dynamics 1982 Astrosphere Scrambler Eli Bridge Company 1976 Balloon Race Ferris Wheel Zamperla 1994 Barney Oldfield Roadsters Rail-tracked vintage sports cars Unknown 1993 Cactus Canyon Canoes Kiddie water ride Unknown 1982 Casino Trabant Chance Morgan 1987 Classic Carousel Carousel Chance Rides 1982 Dragon's Descent Turbo Drop drop tower S&S – Sansei Technologies 2001 Excalibur Wooden roller coaster Custom Coasters International 1998 Flying Trapeze Swing ride Chance Rides 1988 Frog Hopper Frog Hopper junior drop tower ride S&S Worldwide 2001 Grand Prix Racers Go-karts Johnson 1993 Helicopters Spinning helicopter kiddie ride Unknown 1972 Kiddie Boats Spinning boat kiddie ride Unknown 1976 Kiddie Bumper Boats Kiddie bumper boats Unknown 1993 Kiddie Cars Spinning vehicle ride Hampton Amusement Company 1972 Kiddie Swings Kiddie swing ride Unknown 1972 Kiddie Train Miniature railway Unknown 1987 Merry-Go-Round Carousel Unknown 1967 Red Baron Planes Spinning plane kiddie ride Unknown 1976 Sea Dragon Swinging ship Chance Morgan 1987 Sock It To 'Em Bumper Cars Bumper cars Soli 1975 Tempest in the Tea Cup Teacups Zamperla 1987 Thunderbolt Flying Bobs Chance Morgan 1988 Thunder Falls Log flume Hopkins 1984 Tilt-A-Whirl Tilt-A-Whirl Sellner Manufacturing 1976 Whispering Pines Haunted Hotel Dark ride Sally Corporation 2023 Wild Mouse Steel wild mouse roller coaster Maurer AG 2009
Splashtown Name Type Manufacturer Year opened Amphitrite's Challenge Whizzard WhiteWater West 2012 Corkscrew Mat slide Unknown 1982 Fun Lagoon Lagoon-style pool Unknown 1999 Liquid Lightning Inner tube slide WhiteWater West 1999 Mammoth Dark Mammoth ProSlide Technology 2007 Pirate's Paradise Water playground Unknown 2003 Poseidon's Plunge AquaDrop WhiteWater West 2012 Splash Inner tube slide WhiteWater West 1999 Splish Inner tube slide WhiteWater West 1999 Swimming Pool Wading pool Unknown 1982 Tornado Tornado 45 ProSlide Technology 2007 Triton's Twist FlatLine Loop WhiteWater West 2012
Former attractions
Ride name Ride Type Year opened Year closed Notes Balloon Flight Spinning balloon ride 1984 1986 Removed to make way for Casino Captain Isaiah Cutler's Haunted House Funhouse 1967 1995 Closed due to high operational costs Ferris Wheel Ferris wheel 1975 2000 Replaced by Frog Hopper Galaxi Steel roller coaster (Galaxi) 1978 2008 Removed to make way for Wild Mouse Giant Slide Fun slide 1972 1986 Hydrobumpers Bumper cars 1967 1974 Replaced by Sock It To 'Em Bumper Cars Hydrofighter Water gun fight tower ride 1988 2000 Removed to make way for Dragon's Descent Kartland Go-Karts Go-karts 1967 2000 or 2002 Luv Machine Bayern Kurve 1975 1981 Removed to make way for Antique Cars Noah Zark Play area 1982 2000 Paratrooper Paratrooper 1982 1987 UFO Spinning ride 1972 1981 Water Bugs Bumper Boats Bumper boats 1984 1992 Zipper Zipper 1967 1974
See also List of amusement parks in the Americas List of amusement rides Palace Playland
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