Ask a lot of folks their perfect vacation and they very well might conjure restorative images of lulling waves and powdery sand, sinking into some rest and relaxation and returning to their day-to-day with a newfound tranquility. As for me and other theme park aficionados, that dream destination can look just a little bit different, swapping calm for high-octane coasters, trading peace and quiet for parades, fireworks, concessions barkers, and the din of clamoring youngsters sprinting to hug costumed performers.
Maybe it's because I grew up frequenting Coney Island's now-defunct Astroland or made routine trips to Orlando at a formative age, but the sounds of amusement parks feel like home. The gentle, expansive crackling of popcorn carts; the roar of coaster cars on steel tracks punctuated by the shrieks of thrill-seekers; the ambient music humming along, a backing track to memories made in real time.
But it's not just the sensory smorgasbord that brings hordes of folks like me through the clickety-clack turnstile year after year—though the wafting scent of churros and endlessly stimulating eye-candy kitsch certainly doesn't hurt. It seems that there's some kind of magic in amusement parks, an invitation to leave reality behind and immerse yourself in a world dreamt up by the kind of whimsy and wonder usually solely reserved for children, one where it's the pursuit of pure, unadulterated fun—and the people you share it with—that reigns supreme.
Whether you, too, are enamored with all things amusement or are a casual park-goer, these audiobooks and podcasts get to the heart of what makes theme parks so purely enchanting. So buckle up, pull on that yellow strap, and get ready for a wild ride.
Since the dawn of civilization, human beings have sought not just the necessities—food, water, shelter, companionship—but the joys of entertainment, of exhilaration and pure delight, an escape from the day-to-day tedium. It should come as no great surprise, then, that amusement parks have a documented history dating back to the 18th century with the advent of pleasure gardens featuring zoos, rides, live music, and the like. Stephen Silverman’s thorough exploration of the history of amusement parks is at once a vivid portrait of the curious characters who brought these parks to life, a glimpse into the surprising (and sometimes unsavory) backgrounds of popular attractions, a testament to the creatives, engineers, and artisans central to such ventures, and a celebration of landmarks from the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair to Steeplechase, Cedar Point, and Six Flags.
CoasterRadio.com bills itself as "The Original Theme Park Podcast," and with a history spanning nearly 20 years, it's certainly a mainstay of the amusement world. The show's hosts—who initially met while working at a public radio station—offer weekly takes on all things coasters, rides, parks, and more. Cohosts Mike Collins and E.B. have discussed just about everything in their lengthy ongoing run, from the ghoulish haunts that gave them nightmares to firework shows that won their hearts to the most exhilarating coasters they've ever conquered to the now-retired rides they don't quite miss. But perhaps the biggest impact of CoasterRadio has been on its listening community: from park meetups to ride-design contests, their fanbase is a dedicated one.
Disneyland is perhaps the quintessential theme park, a land of imagination where childlike wonder reigns and worries are checked at the gate. And while it’s a locale whose now-expansive magic (spanning 12 parks across the globe) we often take for granted, the early days of Disneyland were beset with doubt. Walt Disney, riding off the golden age of animation and the creation of a cultural icon in one Mickey Mouse, wanted to craft a place where that very magic came to life. His family and financial backers did not share his vision, but Disney forged ahead, wagering his success against his own life insurance policy. Needless to say, Walt’s dream was realized in a “The Happiest Place on Earth,” an amusement park unlike any other that would come to draw in massive crowds of first-timer families and die-hard devotees alike. Richard Snow’s history of Disneyland is a must for anyone who’s ever experienced the awe of strolling down Main Street, laying eyes on Cinderella’s castle, balancing a teetering, swirly cup of Dole Whip in hand.
Not all theme parks are built on faith, trust, and pixie dust. Up until its closure in 1996, Action Park in Vernon Township, New Jersey, was notorious for its design flaws and undertrained teenage staff, toeing the line between thrill and danger. Let’s just say the nickname “Class Action Park” was far from unwarranted. A lawless land dedicated to good times, the park’s reputation for inebriation, indifference, and questionable engineering was well-earned by numerous accidents, injuries, and tragically, six on-site fatalities. Despite its complicated history, the park is often recalled with a hazy nostalgia, a rite of passage that spoke to the wild-and-free temperament of young, East Coast Gen-Xers. In this listen, Andy Mulvihill, the son of Action Park’s founder, Gene, tackles the story of the park’s inception, shortcomings, and legacy.
What does it take for an attraction to earn “world class” designation? For Watcher Entertainment's Ryan Bergara and Byron Marin, the criteria are simple. In each episode of the ride-ranking podcast For Your Amusement, Bergara and Marin approach attractions from theme parks worldwide with questions of average accessibility, wait times, in-queue theming and entertainment, tech and innovation, longevity, signature moments, and ride length. Featuring visits from fellow content creators, lively debates, nostalgic anecdotes, and fascinating facts about the history and future of amusement parks, this podcast is a gem for theme park geeks and the newly initiated alike.
As a millennial who grew up obsessed with both theme parks and all things spooky, I was pretty much the prime target demographic for R.L. Stine’s One Day at HorrorLand. (As a matter of fact, I still vividly remember picking this quintessential Goosebumps story up from a plastic bin in my elementary school library and tearing through it in one weekend.) If you’re feeling nostalgic, take a trip down memory lane with this hair-raising listen that follows the Morris family as their journey to the Zoo Gardens Theme Park goes awry and they instead wind up at the suspiciously empty HorrorLand. Lizzy, Luke, and their parents encounter scare after scare—from the monstrous costumes worn by the staff to ominous rides on the Doom Slide and Coffin Cruise. But the longer they spend taking in the amusements at HorrorLand, the more it seems they might never return home. The perfect blend of humor, quirk, and creep factor, this listen is classic Goosebumps at its finest.
Theme park reporter Alicia Stella has covered all things attractions for nearly 10 years, amassing more than 100,000 YouTube subscribers and an extensive following across social media channels. Stella covers everything from rumored park expansions to glances back at retired attractions of days gone by. If you want to stay up to date on everything that's coming to your favorite park, be sure to follow the ParkStop Podcast, featuring the latest updates from Stella and cohost Ian Kauffman. Largely focused on Orlando's theme park scene, recent episodes cover everything from D23 Expo reveals to the latest on the highly anticipated Epic Universe.
A bestselling book is adapted into a blockbuster movie and, in turn, into a booming amusement attraction—what could go wrong? As it turns out, quite a lot. The much-adored Jaws ride at Universal Studios Florida—a park whose initial concept was inviting guests to “Ride the Movies”—was among Universal’s opening-day attractions, setting sail on June 7, 1990. The attraction was a technical feat, featuring pontoon boats, hundreds of feet of track, extensive electrical wiring, and, lest we forget to mention, subaquatic technical sharks. But while it triumphed in vision, it lacked in reliability: The ride closed shortly after it debuted, and wouldn’t open to guests again until late 1993, when an improved version launched to acclaim. Devoted fanbase and thrilling new ride system aside, the pain points amassed, from hydraulic fluid leaks that resulted in EPA intervention to the rising cost of petroleum and diesel. As the vision of Universal began to shift, the effort of upkeep outweighed the desire to innovate, and Jaws was ultimately beached. In this deep dive on the ride and its legacy, culture writer Dustin McNeill recounts interviews with the ride’s opening and closing teams, park execs, and the charismatic skippers who operated the ride, ultimately painting a loving portrait of a treasured attraction.
If you prefer your theme park podcasts be as entertaining as they are informative, then Podcast: The Ride might just be the one for you. In each episode, comedians and theme park fanatics Mike Carlson, Jason Sheridan, and Scott Gairdner gather to discuss their opinions on fresh announcements and park speculation as well as specific rides, restaurants, stunt shows, and beyond. Every few episodes, they feature special guests on the pod to share their own thoughts. Past contributors have included Taran Killam, Rachel Bloom, and Kevin Perjurer, the beloved documentarian behind Defunctland. Come for their deep dives on all things amusement, stay for all the laughs and nostalgia tucked in each installment along the way.
Sorry, I couldn’t resist. Not only is Jurassic Park the inspiration for one of my all-time favorite attractions (shout-out to my beloved elderly Ultrasaurus animatronic at Universal Orlando's River Adventure) and one of the greatest audiobooks I’ve ever heard, it’s also the perfectly crafted cautionary tale of how not to run a theme park. The story unfolds as showboating entrepreneur John Hammond prepares to open the titular attraction, bringing in field specialists to preview his assortment of living, breathing dinosaurs genetically re-created through DNA preserved in fossilized amber. But when the park's security systems go down, the resurrected beasts run wild, and the group must fight to survive if they want to make it off the island alive. Unlike Steven Spielberg’s 1993 master-class adaptation, Michael Crichton’s spec fic triumph is less an action-adventure romp and more an incisive takedown of unbridled capitalism, unchecked ambition, and the commodification of natural life. Needless to say, the stakes of this unnerving, violent modern classic make the everyday perils of lengthy wait times and broken-down coasters a bit easier to swallow.