Brighton Lake

Brighton Lake is an amusement park located in. It is the first, as well as the flagship park of the Vista Parks chain. The park first opened in 1974, and has been operating consistently ever since.

History
In 1971, real estate agent Thomas Brighton went on a trip with his brother Ken Brighton, an entrepreneur who had recently graduated from college, to Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington, Texas. The brothers were impressed by the park’s architecture and attractions, and were inspired to bring a similar experience to their home town of Peoria, Illinois. After a few months of site-searching, the two settled on a derelict camping site located near a lake that had been abandoned when it’s owner died of a heart attack.

Construction of the park started in late 1971 and concluded in early 1974. The park would open to the public later that year on July 3, 1974, with the only two roller coasters being Midwest Maniac and The Lynx and the only areas being The Gateway, The Boardwalk, Seymour's Farm (which was named after the father of the Brighton brothers, Seymour Brighton), and Dusty Dunes. Only one year later, Kiddyland would open as the fifth area, and Boardwalk Wheel would open as well.

In 1984, Brighton Bay, Brighton Lake's waterpark, opened. That same year, the park celebrated it's 10th anniversary.

In 1989, a new area, The Namco Zone, opened.

In 1991, Brighton Lake was added as part of the course of the Tour of America, an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race held in the Midwest, with the Peoria area as an important part of the course, and part of the UCI World Tour.

In 1995, the park announced their "2 coasters in 1 year" addition, featuring two new coasters being added to the park - Galaga, a B&M invert named after the 1981 arcade game of the same name, and Anubis' Revenge, a TOGO sitdown looping coaster.

In 1997, Demon, a CCI wooden coaster was added, using the two trains of Midwest Maniac that were unused after that ride removed most of it's block zones in 1991 in order to save money.

In 1999, Kid Koaster (currently known as The Loud House: Road Trip!) was added.

In 2001, Anubis' Revenge closed due to the high maintenance the coaster required, breaking down at least once a day. The plot of land that the coaster was on would remain vacant until 2013.

In 2002, The Silo Drop and Seymour's Ghost Barn both closed to make way for the 2003 addition, which turned out to be a Bolliger & Mabillard hypercoaster named "Frostbite". Originally, the hyper was going to be installed on Anubis' Revenge's plot of land, but to save money on leveling land, they decided to replace both The Silo Drop and Seymour's Ghost Barn instead.

In 2003, The Lynx closed after several years of operation.

In 2004, the eastern half of Kiddyland was turned into a brand new area, Foxbox Land (later 4Kids City in 2005), with rides themed to several different Foxbox/4Kids shows, such as, , and. Also in that year, the park began using the slogan "Let's play in Peoria!", a play on the common phrase "Will it play in Peoria?", which would be used up until 2012.

In 2005, TMNT Shell Spin opened.

In 2006, Brighton Bay received a multi-million dollar refurbishment, complete with a rename to Woohoo Wharf. Also that year, Viva Piñata: Bumper Bonanza opened.

In 2007, The Big Apple closed down and was moved out of the park. Also, the area The Namco Zone was renamed to The Console.

In 2010, following the park's acquisition by, 4Kids City closed and was replaced with Nickelodeon Slime Town, with most of the rides being rethemed to Nicktoons, excluding the TMNT-related rides and anything related to Winx Club, which remained the same due to Viacom acquiring the TMNT license in 2009 and purchasing part of Winx Club's producers Rainbow SRL in 2011.

In 2013, Saber opened, finally taking up the long empty space of land that Anubis' Revenge was previously on.

In 2015, a new area, South Park, opened, themed to the show of the same name.

In 2018, Demon closed halfway through the season to receive an extensive refurbishment, which included a retracking and new Millennium Flyer trains, both from GCI. The coaster reopened in April of 2019.

In Summer of 2019, it was announced that Brighton Lake Monster would permanently close at the end of the season after 41 years, causing massive outcry and outrage from the public, who considered the ride to be a park classic. Despite the parkgoers' protests, the park continued on with their plans and held a massive farewell ceremony for the coaster on it's last day of operation. The ride would later be replaced in 2021 with Star Trek: Borg Attack, a launched multi-looping coaster made by, ironically, the successor to the original ride's manufacturer, using the same track mold as the original one, but the design was made via computers rather than by hand.

In 2022, Cuphead's Crazy Chase! opened, replacing PAC-Man's Park, which had been standing but not operating since it's closure in 2019.

Areas

 * The Gateway (entrance) (est. 1974)
 * The Boardwalk (est. 1974)
 * Dusty Dunes (est. 1974)
 * The Console (formerly known as The Namco Zone from 1989 - 2006) (est. 1989)
 * Seymour's Farm (est. 1974)
 * South Park (est. 2015)
 * Nickelodeon Slime Town (formerly known as Foxbox Land for 2004 only and 4Kids City from 2005 - 2009) (est. 2004)
 * Kiddyland (est. 1975)
 * Woohoo Wharf (formerly known as Brighton Bay from 1984 - 2005)

Restaurants and food stands

 * 7-Eleven [The Gateway]
 * Andy's Diner (A restaurant named after Andrew Brighton, the eldest son of Thomas Brighton) [Seymour's Farm]
 * Captain D's [The Boardwalk]
 * Dippin' Dots [multiple stands scattered throughout the park]
 * Great American Cookies [The Gateway]
 * Little Caesars Express [Dusty Dunes]
 * Panda Express [The Gateway]
 * Scoops!! (Stylized with two exclamation points; an ice cream stand) [The Boardwalk]
 * Slurpee [multiple stations scattered throughout the park]
 * Starbucks [The Gateway]

Incidents

 * On July 21, 1991, 58-year-old Jerry Deon from was found unresponsive after riding Super Splashdown, and was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. An autopsy revealed that the man had a brain aneurysm which ruptured during the ride, causing him to have a stroke and ultimately leading to his death.
 * On June 24, 2000, at approx. 11:15am, Anubis' Revenge unexpectedly broke down while a full train containing 28 riders was 3/4 of the way up the lift hill, approximately 75 feet off the ground. The train got stuck on the lift hill as a result, and the Peoria Fire Department had to evacuate the riders from the ride personally. The entire procedure took up to 4 hours to complete, with the final rider being evacuated at 3:15pm. 15 of the riders were later treated at local hospitals for dehydration and sunburn. The coaster remained close for the rest of the day while repairs were made.
 * On August 18, 2008, 9-year-old Dianna Locke from Galesburg, Illinois, drowned in the Great White Pool. A lifeguard noticed her body and attempted to resuscitate her, but to no avail. The girl's family would then go on to sue the park, claiming that the pool was "understaffed" and that there should have been more lifeguards on active duty at the time she drowned. Ultimately, the lawsuit would end up being settled out of court. Since then, the park has required at least 3 lifeguards to be on duty at the pool at all times in order to prevent similar incidents from occurring.
 * On June 7, 2014, at 8:17 PM, the park was evacuated after the park's management received a call from someone claiming to be "the second coming of Bin Laden", who threatened to plant pipe bombs throughout the park. The caller was later identified as 16-year-old Kaylan Chasen from, who was subsequently arrested and sentenced to four years in juvenile detention - however, he would only serve one of those years, due to him being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia during his time there.