Oaks Park Review | West Coast's Oldest Amusement Park

Oaks Amusement Park is the oldest remaining amusement park on the west coast. Located in Portland, Oregon on the banks of a river, this park features a mix of old classic flats and an influx of modern rides. Find out everything you need to know about this park in this review!
Video Credits
Biking (Active Towns)- • Evaluating three cycle...
Great Old Amusement Parks (PBS)
Background Music
Upbeat Funk Positive by Infraction [No Copyright Music] Groovy Town- • Upbeat Funk Positive b...

[@jasonshymoniak6163]

I too found out about this park from great old amusement parks. My cousins used to live in Portland and I visited this place back in 2002, which I think was before the roller coaster was built! I remember it being a great little park! I can’t remember if rode the old bumper cars

[@CanobieCoaster]

I think they had Rolling Thunder back then.

[@Hi_its_me_actually_me]

*looping thunder

[@PhantomBugler]

Was a rider operator there one summer many years ago. The Pavilion next to the carousel used to be a dark ride. When I was a child in the 70s and 80s it was the Haunted Castle, then the Haunted Mine, then ended its run in the 2000s as the Lewis and Clark Adventure before being completely gutted. There have been so many rides that have come and gone over the decades (many destroyed by the floods). Before Adrenaline Peak was the smaller Looping Thunder, and before that the infamously rickety Monster Mouse coaster.

[@CanobieCoaster]

I heard how bad the Lewis and Clark ride was.

[@verybighomer]

Nice park in a beautiful setting, I am sure it is a great location to have fun and spend some relaxing hours at the river. I love how those smaller US parks take good care of their classic rides. We do not really have such parks in Germany and on the fairgrounds the very few surviving classic rides are for kids.

[@CanobieCoaster]

The atmosphere is quite nice.

[@zacg_]

It's nice but it really should serve as a supporting park while the Portland metro should have something bigger and better. And I think of Enchanted Forest as being more a park in the Salem area so I don't count that. I spent my teen years in Eugene, Oregon. And after having initially lived in southern California, my biggest complaint about Oregon (which is otherwise an amazing and beautiful state) is that it really needs some better offerings when it comes to theme parks. For reference, I went to grad school in Iowa well before Lost Island's opening and Iowa was far more stacked for amusement parks and had some good ones not too far away in other states. You'd think the Pacific Northwest would have a bit more given the size of Portland, Seattle and Vancouver BC but the offerings are very limited (though Enchanted Forest is nice and PNE Playland offers Coaster.) Silverwood is way to isolated to carry the whole region. Sorry, this is my usual rant when Oaks is covered.

[@CanobieCoaster]

I wish Wild Waves got more investment. That park has a great location and land.

[@benkizer9509]

I get the argument, and yes, the theme park offerings between Portland to Vancouver BC are pretty mediocre, but people don't come to the Pacific Northwest to go to theme parks. You come here to hike, bike, ski, surf, go to the coast, go mountain climbing, boating, fishing, eating the amazing food, drinking beer, etc. There is so much to do in this region that you don't really need theme parks. Plus, we don't have the weather of California, Texas or Florida where the parks can stay open year round and get good attendance. Iowa doesn't have all that much to do, so they need a big amusement park like Adventureland, which is only open for about 4 months a year. And if people really want a good theme park experience, flights from Seattle, Portland or Vancouver down to SoCal are cheap, frequent and make it easy to go to Disneyland, or Magic Mountain, or Universal, or Knott's, or etc.

[@user-pv2cg8ui3y]

Hi, this is Kenneth. I always hang out with my Club EMU friends at Oaks Amusement Park Carnival. We really love Oaks Amusement Park Carnival rides.

[@CanobieCoaster]

Have fun!

[@RankingTheMouse]

I'm fairly new to the rollercoaster game & just found your channel. Crazy enough, I live in the PNW & have NEVER been to Oaks. Absolutely will be checking it & Enchanted Forest out ASAP once the 2024 season opens. Fantastic review!!!

[@CanobieCoaster]

Thanks!

[@Xhadp]

Excellent review! Live in the area but haven't been to Oaks Park since oh a decade. Hearing you pronounce Willamette river made instantly told me you are not from the area. Our locations are named after Native Americans so they can be tough. Ride ticket option? It used to be here along with a dark ride. But nobody ever used the ride ticket option that I'm aware of. Lines were a major issue when I went but maybe that was because I was going off of an operated school schedule. Haven't ridden Adrenaline peak nor its cousin it retired. Not for me. The kiddie Ride (Zoom Coaster) has been around for a long time. Always a reliable ride. Atmos fear, or as it was when I was there Screamin' Eagle. It is a fun ride to experience but can be difficult to do repeated runs on due to line length. Has great views while on the ride though which is fun. Rock-O-Plane. I can see why people think it is a fun ride. Love the mechanical element you can control on it for flips but due to that it can make throughput and queue length be extremely long so it isn't my favorite for that reason. I will give it props for being unique in the sense that you can't find other rides to it elsewhere. Spinning rides, only one worth of note for me is Zero Gravity which I love due to its simplicity. Others just have one or more complaints from me. Carousel, you should look up the Jantzen Beach Carousel if you want to go down a rabbit hole. Bumper Cars, another okay one along with Lewis And Clark Adventure Dark Ride, which doesn't exist anymore. Roller Rink, glad to see this aspect of Oaks Park still go the distance. My personal underrated ride is Rock 'n Roll due to having an extremely short queue line and being something more extreme from the mid-way rides with it being tucked away. Mini Golf Course wasn't a thing when I was around. Picnic area, went there for an event a few years back and holy crap the picnic area is huge! Wish more businesses and stuff use but sadly the area, east of the river is not that desirable. The Park also lives in the flood plain of the city. Enchanted Forest park, I'm not seeing the thrill of it. Feels like a morning day's visit to Multnomah Falls or something like that would be better suited. Nor the need to create a new PNW coaster park, our population is stretched thin so I don't think you'll be able to crack a profit between the split of Portland and Seattle vs the great outdoors we have here. So overall, some changes have been made to the park but I don't think it has lost its charm yet with some of those being refreshes and not removing fan favorites.

[@CanobieCoaster]

Sorry for the mispronunciation. I've explored quite a bit of the area beyond the parks, including Multnomah Falls, since I regularly go to Wilsonville for work.

[@TwinPeaksArchive1]

@@CanobieCoaster Will-lamb-it

[@605coasters]

I grew up in Southern Oregon, and only visited Oaks once, unfortunately. I was really young, and wasn't able to ride their big coaster at the time, the Pinfari "Looping Thunder". I'd love to go back and ride Adrenaline Peak sometime though.

[@CanobieCoaster]

Adrenaline Peak seems to be a major upgrade.

[@Sauci55on]

I love Eurofighters, they’re so compact and the lift and drop are great! I’m glad my home park (fairly small family park) got one with a custom layout in 2020, it really packs a punch!

[@CanobieCoaster]

Nice!

[@thedashcamkid6175]

Out of curiosity, how many coasters have you ridden? I know it’s a lot!

[@CanobieCoaster]

Closing in on 1300.

[@RubbiDuckiLuci]

(Though a lot of people tend to pronounce it incorrectly, like the latter, it's pronounced "will-AM-et" not "willa-met", for future reference.) :)

[@CanobieCoaster]

Thanks!

[@GreysonClifford]

it is geting a drop tower thats 1043 ft tall

[@CanobieCoaster]

140ft?

[@GreysonClifford]

@@CanobieCoaster yes

[@jtwoolley]

Review adrenaline peak please

[@CanobieCoaster]

Already have.

[@gregorymoore2877]

It looks like a beautiful park. If only they still had the Zip which was built by Harry Traver in the 1920's and was like a little brother of the Crystal Beach Cyclone.

[@CanobieCoaster]

I wish they had a wood coaster.

[@marchingbandtakemebythehan1887]

GREAT OLD AMUSEMENT PARKS MENTIONED ‼️‼️

[@CanobieCoaster]

Love it!

[@Yevgeniy.546]

Also staff don't load rides fast but opposite unfortunately

[@CanobieCoaster]

I have had no issues with the staff in my visits.

[@aAngel93]

Who's here after atmosfear got stuck upside down for 30 mins?

[@CanobieCoaster]

I was surprised that happened.

[@JulianDale94]

I saw that PBS documentary too! I remember making fun of this place for not having a wooden coaster

[@CanobieCoaster]

Ironic given the name.

[@rickyspanish4335]

River is pronounced “will-aah-mitt” not “wila-mitt” just fyi:-)

[@CanobieCoaster]

Thanks for pointing that out.

[@trevorjensen2706]

Six months after this review, AtmosFEAR was locked upside-down for around 25 minutes. Yikes!

[@CanobieCoaster]

I saw, surprised that would happen.

[@bryantperkins4406]

Yeah I did it and went the 360 and never did it again after that lol. While I was up in the air I had that thought what would happen if this just gets stuck being upside down

[@beddingfieldcoasters5778]

ThosE pEOplE GoT ulTImAte BRAgGInG riGhTs, THeY gOt thE mOst HAngtImE iN ThE wOrlD aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa (This might be the most times someone has ever typed “a” over and over again

[@CanobieCoaster]

I'm glad everyone was rescued safely.