Every part of the United States is teeming with theme parks. California and Florida don’t have a mortal lock on the industry…far from it! In truth, many of the best parks in the country are far away from the coasts. We’ll prove it in this article. Here are the best eight theme parks in the Midwest, several of which have remarkable historical significance.
8. Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park
Image: Mt. OlympusIf I’m being honest – and honesty is the best policy – this list is exceedingly top heavy. The top five entries all deserve placement on any ‘best of’ list. The other three I’m adding fall into the category of, “they’re about the same, and I couldn’t decide which one(s) to exclude.”
Mt. Olympus deserves a mention as a means of explanation. The Wisconsin Dells area is the water park capital of North America. I debated whether I should mention anything from there since it’s a different type of themed entertainment. I settled on picking the most popular hybrid park,
This place is precisely the kind that I would have loved as a kid. It combines a bunch of waterslides with a handful of thoroughly enjoyable roller coasters and even some go-kart tracks. It’s a retro-style multi-purpose children’s entertainment center with a lot to offer unassuming guests.
7. Nickelodeon Universe
Image: Nickelodeon UniverseThe curiosity of this list is Nickelodeon Universe, a theme park that somehow resides inside a mall. Yes, the comically disproportionate Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, decided it wasn’t over the top enough. Someone believed that the logical progression was to add a few roller coasters. Hey, it was the early 1990s. Excess was in.
While Nickelodeon Universe sounds like overcompensation from some mall executive, the park is actually quite charming. It once had a Peanuts theme, but then the place changed to Nickelodeon soon after losing Snoopy and the gang. The new theme is present on several child-friendly attractions like Fairly Odd Coaster, Avatar Airbender, and SpongeBob SquarePants Rock Bottom Plunge. While none of the rides is going to get included on any “Best in the World” list, the novelty of going to a mall to ride a roller coaster never gets old.
6. Six Flags Saint Louis
Image: Six FlagsThis place is a part of theme park history. An entrepreneur named Angus G. Wynne had an ambitious plan for family entertainment. He wanted to build parks around the concept that Texas has had six different nations, thus the six flags in the name. The attractions at the first park highlighted the state’s eclectic nature.
Then, a railroad company (!) bought Six Flags and built two more properties, the one in Atlanta and Six Flags Saint Louis. The location, actually located in Eureka, is the last of the three original Six Flags locations. The Pennsylvania Railroad’s owners, in their infinite wisdom, decided that the Texas theme would work better outside the state of Texas. They were so accurate with this philosophy that virtually no one who has ever visited a Six Flags knows about the meaning of its name.
The park that calls itself Missouri’s Coaster Capital has changed so much since it opened in 1971 that none of the original lands remain. Imagine Walt Disney World without Adventureland or Tomorrowland. It’s the same situation, only this park opened a few months earlier.
Despite all of the changes, Six Flags Saint Louis is a generic Six Flags with very little special to differentiate it from others. I happen to like Six Flags, so I don’t see that as a positive. If you can only pick one for your vacation to the Midwest, however, it’s not the best choice.
5. Silver Dollar City
Image: Silver Dollar CityHomer Simpson once told his son, Bart, that Branson, Missouri, is “like Vegas if it were run by Ned Flanders.” While the place has become a major tourist destination today, Silver Dollar City’s opening occurred long before the town’s transformation.
During the 19th century, a man named William Lynch bought Marvel (formerly known as Marble) Cave and planned to build a town around it. Half a century later, his family would sell a 99-year lease to the Herschend family.
A widow named Mary worked with her sons to turn the cave into a tourist attraction, something that nobody else had managed. Eventually, she built a frontier town overlooking the Ozarks, just like Lynch had planned but failed to do.
The most famous ride at Silver Dollar City is Fire in the Hole, a steel roller coaster built in 1972. The attraction even has a sibling, Blazing Fury at Dollywood, which was once known as Silver Dollar City, too. But you’ll really visit the park for the theming, which is the second-best, in my opinion, surpassed only by…
4. Holiday World
Image: Holiday WorldI often say that Disneyland was the first themed land in the world. Whenever I type the words, I feel a bit conflicted. One other park has a claim to this title, and it’s located in Santa Claus, Indiana. Yes, workers there have heard all of the jokes about the town’s name. A gentleman named Louis J. Koch felt frustrated that kids would visit the city, only to learn that Kris Kringle wasn’t there.
Koch built a modest themed land based on Santa Claus. It had a toy shop, a restaurant, and a gift shop. The toys for sale were available by mail order, too. Describing the early days of Holiday World as a theme park is a stretch. People have better amusement attractions and holiday decorations in their backyards today, but it was something special at the time.
Around the time that Disneyland opened, Holiday World began to charge admission…but only for adults at first. Children still got to visit Santa’s workshop for free back then. Over the years, the park has evolved into a larger operation that’s combined with a water park, Splashin’ Safari.
I wouldn’t say that Holiday World is on a par with the top three Midwestern parks in terms of rides, but its history elevates it. And The Voyage is a genuinely phenomenal wooden roller coaster.
3. Kings Island
Image: Cedar FairThe lines get blurry between theme parks and amusement parks these days. Theming is everywhere, but some old school park operators prefer the latter term. When they describe their businesses as amusement parks, they can get out from under the shadow of Disney.
Foremost among these companies is Cedar Fair, which currently claims the top three most visited amusement parks in North America, two of which are on this list. Canada’s Wonderland doesn’t qualify because, you know, Canada. Not in the Midwest.
Kings Island is an extremely well-run and comprehensive amusement park, offering a spectacular 100+ attractions. Fourteen of them are roller coasters, including the spectacular duo of Banshee and The Beast. Visitors will also get to ride a bit of history here, as The Racer leveraged its appearance in an episode of The Brady Bunch into leading the charge for the great coaster renaissance of the 1970s.
2. Six Flags Great America
Image: Six FlagsEarlier, I mentioned the original three Six Flags parks. This one opened during the same era but didn’t become a Six Flags property until 1984. Despite its age, it doesn’t have the history of some of the other places mentioned here. Instead, it’s suffered through a great deal of turmoil and upheaval over the years.
Recently, Six Flags has sagely focused on ride experiences, adding some of the most popular concepts from their collection. This place is home to X Flight, one of the first wing coasters, and a clone of Justice League: Battle for Metropolis, an interactive 4D dark ride.
The most famous attraction is Goliath, which set three world records when it opened. This wooden coaster is among the fastest in the world at 72 miles per hour, and it also comes with a 180-foot drop at 85 degrees. The new reason to visit Six Flags Great America is Maxx Force, the fastest launch coaster in the world. It hurdles guests from zero to 78 miles per hour in less than two seconds, which is just…wow.
In terms of pure entertainment value, Six Flags Great America is the second-best place in the Midwest for adrenaline junkies to visit. But it’s obviously not the best. That honor belongs to…
1. Cedar Point
Image: Cedar FairIf I could choose a trip to any theme park in North American that isn’t part of the Disney brand, I’d pick Cedar Point…and I say that as someone passionate about The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Cedar Point is my happy place, and I used to visit it annually until quite recently.
The roller coasters here are legitimately the best in the world. I realize that this title is competitive, with many theme parks staking a claim to the title. The reason why I favor Cedar Point is that its attractions stand the test of time.
When Millennium Force opened in 2000, it usurped Magnum XL-200 as the best ride in the park. The latter one didn’t lose that title. Something better had to take it. Even today, 30 years after its introduction, Magnum XL-200 is still a blast to ride. Similarly, Millennium Force is about to turn 20, yet it’s currently ranked as the second best steel coaster in the world at the Golden Ticket Awards.
Building an excellent ride for today is a remarkable achievement. Building one that will still be a great ride in several decades is the holy grail of theme park design. Outside of The Walt Disney Company, the place that has done the best in this regard is Cedar Point. It’s not just the best theme park in the Midwest. It’s a destination vacation spot for any self-respecting theme park tourist.
