60 Fun Facts About Theme Parks Trivia for Kids

Disneyland, the very first Disney theme park, is in which US state?

It opened in Anaheim in 1955 and is the only Disney park Walt Disney personally supervised building.

Walt Disney World, near Orlando, is in which state?

It opened in 1971 and covers about 27,000 acres, with four theme parks and two water parks.

How many theme parks does Walt Disney World have?

They are Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom, plus two water parks and four golf courses.

Which princess's castle is the icon at the center of Disney World's main park?

It was inspired by the castle in the 1950 animated film and is more than 100 feet taller than Disneyland's castle.

Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle was modeled on Neuschwanstein Castle in which country?

The Bavarian castle was built in the late 1800s; Disney's version is only 77 feet tall but looks bigger thanks to clever tricks.

Space Mountain is a roller coaster that runs where?

It grew out of Disneyland's Matterhorn Bobsleds, the first Disney 'mountain' ride, which opened in 1959.

The giant silver ball at Epcot is called what?

It is a geodesic sphere, and the ride inside it tells the story of human communication from cave paintings to the internet.

Which cartoon character was almost named 'Mortimer' before Walt Disney's wife suggested a better name?

Lillian Disney picked the name; the character first appeared publicly in Steamboat Willie in 1928.

The spinning teacups ride, Mad Tea Party, is based on which Disney movie?

It recreates the Unbirthday Party scene and plays a carousel version of the 'Unbirthday Song'.

Which baby character can you ride on, flying in circles high above Fantasyland?

The original opened at Disneyland in 1955, and Timothy the mouse spins on top of the Florida version holding his magic feather.

Which Fantasyland ride was open on Disneyland's very first day in 1955?

Riders sail in pirate ships over London; the whole ride was rebuilt in 1983 and still operates.

Which boat ride with singing dolls from around the globe debuted at a New York fair in 1964?

Its song by the Sherman Brothers is said to be the most publicly performed song of all time.

How many 'happy haunts' does the Ghost Host say live in the Haunted Mansion?

He adds that there is 'room for 1,000', hinting that you might be next; the ride's song is 'Grim Grinning Ghosts'.

Which movie pirate was added to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in 2006?

The original ride opened in 1967 and was the last one Walt Disney personally planned; the movies came decades later.

Splash Mountain was replaced in 2024 by a ride themed to which Disney princess?

Tiana's Bayou Adventure opened at Magic Kingdom in June 2024 and at Disneyland that November.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is what kind of roller coaster?

It replaced an older Frontierland ride called Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland and opened at Disneyland in 1979.

On the Jungle Cruise, who tells the jokes as your boat floats past the animals?

The ride was there on Disneyland's opening day in 1955 and was inspired partly by the movie The African Queen.

Main Street, U.S.A. at Disney parks was inspired by Walt Disney's boyhood hometown in which state?

Marceline, Missouri, was the model, and the buildings are made to look like a small town around 1910.

The huge Tree of Life at Disney's Animal Kingdom is shaped like which kind of tree?

It is 145 feet tall and has 337 animals carved into its trunk and roots.

Which creature guards the mountain on Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom?

At 199.5 feet it is the tallest attraction at Walt Disney World, six inches taller than the Tower of Terror.

Which Disney show was the first ever to use Audio-Animatronics, with singing birds and flowers?

It opened in 1963, and its sponsor Dole is why you can buy pineapple Dole Whip right outside.

Dole Whip, the famous Disney park treat, is best known in which flavor?

It is a dairy-free soft serve that Dole created in 1983, and copycats are just called pineapple whip.

Which theme park sits right next to the original Lego factory in Billund, Denmark?

It opened in 1968 and was the first Legoland; there are now Legolands in many countries.

Universal Studios in Orlando is mostly themed to what?

It opened in 1990 and was later joined by Islands of Adventure, Volcano Bay and Epic Universe.

The first Wizarding World of Harry Potter area at Universal Orlando recreated Hogwarts and which village?

It opened in 2010 at Islands of Adventure; Diagon Alley followed in 2014 at the park next door, linked by the Hogwarts Express.

Cedar Point, nicknamed 'America's Roller Coast', is on the shore of which of the Great Lakes?

It opened in 1870 in Sandusky, Ohio, and has 18 roller coasters.

The first Six Flags park, opened in 1961, was called Six Flags Over which state?

The name refers to the six flags that have flown over Texas in its history.

Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure was the tallest roller coaster in the world; how tall was it?

Its 418-foot drop was also the longest in the world, and it stayed the tallest until it closed.

Formula Rossa, world's fastest coaster 2010-2025, is at a park themed to which car brand?

It is at Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi and reaches 149 miles per hour, so riders wear goggles; Falcons Flight in Saudi Arabia took the speed record in late 2025.

The first Ferris wheel was built for a world's fair in 1893 in which city?

George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. designed it, though small wooden wheels existed hundreds of years earlier.

The earliest ancestors of roller coasters were the 'Russian Mountains', which were hills made of what?

People slid down them near what is now Saint Petersburg in the 1600s, long before tracks and wheels.

LaMarcus Thompson's Switchback Railway coaster opened in 1884 at which beach?

It is the same Brooklyn spot where the wooden Cyclone opened in 1927 and became a New York City landmark in 1988.

The Cyclone, which opened in Brooklyn in 1927, is what kind of roller coaster?

It was designed by Vernon Keenan and is now a New York City landmark at Luna Park.

Which was the first Disney park built outside the United States?

It opened in 1983 in Urayasu, next to Tokyo, and Paris followed in 1992.

Efteling, one of the oldest theme parks in the world, is in which country?

It grew from a playground and a Fairytale Forest that opened in 1952 into the country's biggest theme park.

Europa-Park, one of Europe's biggest theme parks, is in which country?

The Mack family, who make roller coasters, opened it in the town of Rust to show off their rides.

Tivoli Gardens, an amusement park that opened way back in 1843, is in which capital city?

Its founder got permission from the king by saying that when people are amusing themselves, they do not think about politics.

Which country singer co-owns the Dollywood theme park in Tennessee?

It sits in Pigeon Forge near the Great Smoky Mountains, and she still performs there.

Hersheypark in Pennsylvania was founded by a man famous for making what?

Milton Hershey opened it in 1906 as a place for his factory workers to relax.

Knott's Berry Farm grew into a theme park because people lined up for what?

The Knott family started serving the dinners in 1934 and built shops and rides to entertain the waiting crowds.

Steel Dragon 2000, once the longest roller coaster in the world, is in which country?

It is at Nagashima Spa Land and its 8,133-foot track held the length record until 2025.

Which creature lives inside Disneyland's Matterhorn Bobsleds mountain?

The Imagineers nicknamed him Harold; the ride was also the world's first tubular steel roller coaster.

Which theme park in Indiana was originally called Santa Claus Land?

It opened in 1946 in the town of Santa Claus, Indiana, and now has a water park too.

The oldest amusement park in the world, Bakken in Denmark, opened in which century?

It opened in 1583, when Shakespeare was still a teenager, and is still running north of Copenhagen.

Lake Compounce, the oldest amusement park in the United States, is in which state?

It opened in 1846 after a failed explosives experiment drew a crowd to the lake.

Cotton candy was invented in 1897 by a candy maker and a man with what surprising job?

It was first sold to big crowds at the 1904 World's Fair under the name Fairy Floss.

Funnel cake is made by deep-frying what?

It is a Pennsylvania Dutch treat: the batter is poured through a funnel into hot oil in a swirly pattern until golden brown.

Bumper cars are also known by what other name?

The cars draw electricity from the floor or ceiling, and the first fiberglass ones were built in 1959.

On a log flume ride, what pushes the logs along the channel?

Passengers sit in hollow logs or boats and usually get splashed at the bottom of the big drop.

Which Disney park has been the most visited theme park in the world for many years in a row?

It welcomed 17.83 million visitors in 2024, its eighteenth straight year at number one.

Millennium Force at Cedar Point was the first 'giga coaster', meaning taller than how many feet?

It broke five world records when it opened in 2000, though Steel Dragon 2000 passed it later that year.

Disney's Animal Kingdom, then the world's largest theme park, opened on which special day in 1998?

It opened April 22, 1998, and covers 580 acres, much of it home to real animals.

At early Disneyland, which letter was printed on the tickets for the biggest, most exciting rides?

Smaller rides took A, B or C tickets; Disney stopped using ticket books in 1982, but 'E-ticket ride' is still a saying.

What did Walter Knott build in 1940 to entertain the long lines waiting for his restaurant?

He moved in real buildings from old western towns such as Calico, California, and the family did not charge admission until 1968.

The carousel, or merry-go-round, originally grew out of training for which kind of soldiers?

By the 1800s carousels were spinning in parks all over the world.

Which ride is the most common one found at state and county fairs in the United States?

The very first one was built for the 1893 world's fair in Chicago.

What does the name of Bakken, the world's oldest amusement park, mean in English?

It sits north of Copenhagen in Klampenborg, Denmark, and has been open since 1583.

Sea Lion Park, which opened in 1895, was the first enclosed amusement park where?

It was also one of the first parks to charge admission at the gate as well as for each ride.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach, the first amusement park in England, opened in which year?

In 1904 it added Sir Hiram Maxim's Captive Flying Machine, carriages that whirl around a central pylon.

Why did Six Flags founder Angus Wynne decide to charge one price at the gate for his park?

He had seen Disneyland's pay-per-ride format on its 1955 opening and chose the opposite approach.