Roller Coaster at Joyland in Wichita KS about 1990

Later named Nightmare

[@robertpolnicky7702]

What amazes me when I watch these videos is how they take you back and how much you can remember trivial stuff over such a long period of time. Like I can remember my heart skipped a beat when I went around that first curve. I never dreamed I'd remember that 54 years later at the time.

[@Loopyguy]

That's pretty much whole idea of my web site loopyguy.com and this web page. To appreciate the history of roller coasters and amusement rides. I'm aiming to be a historian, not an influencer - that's not my style or scene.

[@theclassicvacuumcleanersfa2377]

I had my first kiss on that roller coaster back in 1995, I miss joyalnd so much😢😢😢😢

[@JoeSmith-vs5sy]

I remember the roller coaster from the Early 50's when I went to visit Grandma every summer. I remember also the live steam engine train and the Dodge Em Cars. The organ playing clown and mechanical band instrument player.

[@castlebravocrypto1615]

It was not the biggest or best, but you were definitely going for a ride on this one. Towards the late 90's, we were never sure if we'd make it back in one piece

[@chrismoody1342]

Definitely ridden the coaster hundred of times maybe even a thousand times. You hear the squeals and screams from one end of park to the other. Just kinda makes it feel like an amusement park.

[@VeryunOfficialTravelGuides]

Thanks for sharing these memories.

[@Loopyguy]

You bet

[@robertpolnicky7702]

There used to be sign at the top of that first hill that said last warning had a cartoon man with his head over the sign. 1068

[@edwardmcdevitt790]

They took a car off the train! There used to be 4 cars (3 seats each)!!!

[@duchessdeniseluvsredfoo]

I rode The log jam to get wet and the roller coaster to get dry!!! Man I feel old.

[@publiq3n3my14]

My moms house was a short walk from joyland

[@Loopyguy]

Oh there's a cool memory... I guess that mean you went to the roller rink too..

[@xymoriintus]

This makes me soo sad.

[@Loopyguy]

Instead be happy someone recorded it.

[@CoasterMan13Official]

The park chains are great, but they will never beat these traditional parks. I wonder why Six Flags never bought this park. It would've been a nice addition.

[@jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjja]

Bad location in the city, also Wichita doesn’t have the population/market to support a decent theme park. Hopefully that changes sometime.

[@Loopyguy]

I think instead a small family company needed to pick it up and run it like a picnic park or family fun park (Stricker's Grove, Fun Spot, Holiday World style) flags wants high profile high throughput. Wichita is too small.

[@CoasterMan13Official]

@@Loopyguy Herschend or Cedar Fair might be awesome for this park. They could put Wichita on the map because of that park alone. Add a thrilling new coaster to this park and voila!

[@storm1967linn]

i was so uphappy when closed this down🤣😂😭😢😥😫😹 it was alot of fun 😻💟💔 i finelly got on this ride🤑 found out u get in the 2nd or 3rd seat😀was so bad

[@Scrat-hp2wl]

0:16

[@matthewbaker30]

I went here all the time as a kid..im now 32..doesnt seem that long ago....

[@Loopyguy]

Awesome you got to ride it. I think I have a true POV of this ride from a friends collection (now passed away). Another friend of his filmed it.. I don't know who; morally, I can't share it.

[@CoasterMan13Official]

You should got to Rossville, GA to Lake Winnie. They have a roller coaster almost identical to this one called the cannonball. I know this is not an exact replica, but I think it might be close enough. Or Six Flags Over Georgia, where you can ride the Great American Scream Machine, which has a closer layout to the actual thing.

[@robertpolnicky7702]

1968.

[@Loopyguy]

That was a very good year

[@robertpolnicky7702]

@@Loopyguy I thought it had its plusses. The standard of living was high. Boeing was doing a lot where dad worked. The car styles like the riviera vette camaro. Mainly the outlook on the future seemed so much better than now.

[@Eager44]

This is kind of creepy in a way.

[@Loopyguy]

Ah but in a good way - well for an old coaster fanatic.

[@bethgott9768]

BAD MOMS DO JOYLAND

[@rockinrobin7105]

Cool

[@Loopyguy]

I'm happy I got to ride this. If it weren't for the breakfast server at a Denny's up the road I never would have known about it.

[@MrSpecificity]

This was the only ride they had? What a shame

[@keithmurrow5448]

The park had quite a few rides, nothing like the "big city parks" have these days, but enough to have a lot of old-school fun for an evening or afternoon. I'm not attempting to list all rides, but in addition to the rollercoaster, I remember the Ferris wheel, "Scrambler", squirrel cages, Tilt-a-Whirl, "Dodge 'em" bumper cars, Whacky Shack spookhouse (before that the "Safari" spookhouse), train, a "parachute" ride, a giant slide, etc. Later there was a log flume ride and a tower that swung people from a cable. There was also a "kiddie ride" area, a replica "Old West" town, a creepy mechanized clown mannequin playing an organ, and a huge pig-effigy trash collector machine that would suck trash out of your hand. It had its Golden Years but I think rising operating costs and changing interests of society killed it off. Wichita grew in size over the decades but attendance at Joyland didn't grow in proportion. It should have closed years earlier than it actually did, the place looked terrible in the last decade of operation.

[@alanm2842]

@@keithmurrow5448 gang shooting in the parking lot did not help attendance. most of the schools in town use to have a Joyland night , my son started school in 1991 the principle would not schedule a Joyland night, he said it is not a safe place to be.