Pictures of Crystal Beach Amusement Park

About Crystal Beach

Crystal Beach amusement park was located near Ridgeway, Ontario on the Canadian shore of Lake Erie, just a few miles west of Buffalo, New York and south of Niagara Falls. The park opened in 1888 and was a popular summer vacation spot for just over a century, until it closed due to financial difficulties in September, 1989. For generations, visitors rode ferries from Buffalo to the park’s pier, and thousands of guests rented beach cottages to enjoy lengthy summer vacations in the exciting and picturesque atmosphere.

Crystal Beach offered a range of different attractions and entertainment options for guests, and over the years many attractions were renovated, removed, updated, and lovingly restored. Popular features included:

• Bowling alleys and dance halls in the early twentieth century
• Classic amusement rides such as the Tumble Bug, Flying Bobs, Magic Carpet, and Laff in the Dark as well as familiar carousel, sky ride, Ferris wheel, train, flume, and Scrambler rides
• Penny arcade games, skeeball, and other prize redemption games
• Boating, sailing, fishing, and swimming on the lake
• Fireworks displays on Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, and Labor Day
• Delicious concessions including typical amusement park fare such as fries, hot dogs, pizza, and more
• Multiple roller coasters, including the feared and revered Crystal Beach Cyclone

Relive the memories!

Crystal Beach Cyclone

The Crystal Beach Cyclone was the park’s most intense ride, and according to the history of the roller coaster, one of the most intense rides ever built. At just 90 feet tall with a top speed of 60 miles per hour, the Crystal Beach Cyclone may not seem statistically impressive by modern standards, but the wicked roller coaster design ensured a wild ride. Once the coaster crested the lift hill, there was virtually no straight track and it subjected riders to nearly four times the force of gravity. The first drop appeared to dive into Lake Erie, and the tight, intense curves were banked as much as 80 degrees. In fact, the Cyclone was so intense that it is the only coaster in history to have employed a full time nurse on the unload platform to minister to patrons who had fainted or sustained other injuries while riding.

The Cyclone gave more than five million rides, but in the 1940s it was decided to rebuild the coaster to make it less intense in order to make it safer and less expensive to maintain. The rebuilt ride was christened the Crystal Beach Comet and continued to delight riders until the park closed. The coaster was then sold and eventually relocated to The Great Escape theme park, where it continues to thrill new generations of riders today.

Modern Crystal Beach

After the amusement park closed in 1989, much of the Crystal Beach community fell into neglect and disrepair, which is the fate of many abandoned amusement parks and their neighborhoods. Because of its desirable location on the lakeshore, however, the Crystal Beach community was eventually restored and today is a thriving vacation community of cottages and cabins. The site of the old amusement park is now a yacht and tennis club, and other local attractions include water sports, antique stores, and craft boutiques.

Finding Pictures of Crystal Beach Amusement Park

Old photographs can give past Crystal Beach guests a taste of their childhood and let them relive the fond memories of summers spent in the park’s carnival-like atmosphere. Several websites offer a glimpse of the park during its glory years, both during the frantic amusement boom of the 1920s and the more recent modern boom of the 1980s. Some retailers also offer videos, DVDs, and regional books and other memorabilia related to this fondly remembered park. Sites offering a photographic history of Crystal Beach amusement park and its memorable rides include:

Preserve the past.

• CrystalBeachPark.net
• Crystal Beach Keepsakes
• Tunnel of Laffs
• Karl R. Josker Photo Galleries
• Coaster Globe
• YouTube
• Rooster Tales
• Forgotten Buffalo

Restoring Old Photographs

Park guests who have their own pictures of Crystal Beach amusement park should consider preserving them carefully in order to share that nostalgia with other park fans and future generations of theme park enthusiasts. Many restoration companies can take old, damaged photographs and create sharper, more colorful reproductions without harming the original photograph. Scanning pictures into digital formats is an easy way to ensure their preservation and to share them with others as well. The original photographs should then be stored in acid-free sleeves away from the light so they do not fade or blur faster than necessary.

Pictures of Crystal Beach amusement park can bring back a host of memories for the defunct park’s thousands of happy guests. From the colorful lights of the midway to the thrilling curves of the Cyclone, a picture can capture a snippet of the past that will never be forgotten as long as it lives on in the memories of those who spent their youth along the Lake Erie shores.