Akron Acres (theme park)

Akron Acres is a historic long-standing amusement park on the outskirts of that opened in 1924. It is owned by Carwardine Parks since 1990.

History
In 1924, the park opened along with Akron Cannonball, due to how old the coaster is, not much is known about it's opening. An antique carousel also opened that year, as well as an Ice Cream Parlor nearby it.

In 1930, Bobsled Run opened, and is currently the last Flying Turns in operation with it's original trains.

In 1935, Akron Cannonball caught on fire, the coaster was quickly rebuilt after that.

In 1940, Red Baron opened.

In 1946, the park gained a new entrance.

In 1957, the dance hall was torn down to make way for the Wild Mouse.

The park was purchased by Ecstatic Parks, Inc. in 1969.

The operator of the park Ecstatic Parks, Inc., went into bankruptcy in 1989, so Carwardine bought Akron Acres. Their first act after buying the park in August 1989 was to remove Wild Mouse during the off-season, to make room for new rides.

The park reopened on June 1, 1990, before then, some rides were open to employees of the park and other Carwardine parks, including an event in May 1990 where several Carwardine employees from across the country came to the park to see which of the new rides they wanted to add to their parks.

In 1992, Resistance opened, being the only Intamin stand-up coaster in the US to have a zero-g roll inversion, the other being located at Drayton Manor in England. Akron Flume also closed for the season as normal, but that was unknowingly the last time people got to ride it, as it was announced in January 1993, the ride wouldn't reopen for the 1993 season. It was left abandoned with some mere hopes of restoration would come through, but never came to be.

In 2000, Camp Garfield opened to rival Camp Snoopy at Cedar Point, as well as H20WORX and Mario's Vertical Adventure both opening.

In 2001, the park was forced to add something new to avoid risk of being written off as a tax write-off in order to rival Six Flags Worlds of Adventure and Cedar Point, so, the park added Lost Mill, the world's first log flume with a vertical drop, done via a guide rail. It replaced the old Akron Flume ride, which had been Standing But Not Operating since 1992 due to old age and maintenance issues.

In 2002, Wild Pikachu was added as Ohio's largest wild mouse coaster.

In 2003, Kids Kountry became PBS Kids Neighborhood.

In 2004, the carousel was refurbished heavily by Carousels and Carvings for it's 80th birthday, and was dubbed a historic landmark by the City of Akron.

In 2005, several Nickelodeon themed rides were added.

In 2018, Catapult opened, replacing Resistance, which had been removed the previous season.

The park's newest area, Devo Land, opened in 2019.

In 2022, Mario's Vertical Adventure was converted into a Spin Shot tower.

In 2023, the kiddie areas were expanded.

In 2024, the park will celebrate it's 100th anniversary with ten new rides, including a new waterslide complex in Akron Acres H20WORX.

Areas

 * Akron Acres Central
 * Camp Garfield
 * Devo Land
 * Kids Kountry (formerly known as "PBS Kids Neighborhood" from 2003-2007)
 * Midway
 * Nickelodeon Green Slime Acres
 * Redwall Abbey

Roller coasters

 * Sandstorm (1990; a Schwarzkopf Looping Star handed down from the Zábava Park in Czechoslovakia, originally "Mini Beam", but renamed "Sandstorm" in 2000 after a massive refurbishment adding on-ride speakers with Darude's Sandstorm playing and "Koaster Killers" [essentially laser tag on a coaster] added too) [Midway]
 * Simpsons Road Trip Coaster (2022; A Zierer Force Three) [Kids Kountry]
 * Steel Beamer (1990; An Arrow Looping Coaster, named that way due to the amount of steel beams, repainted in 2010, studies from 1995 have shown this coaster to be resistant to earthquakes) [Akron Acres Central]
 * Wild Pikachu (2002; A Mack Large Park Wild Mouse) [Midway]

Flat rides

 * Akron Acres Grand Skyride (1960; A Von Roll VR-101 skyride, got a newer CWA fleet of gondolas in 1993 to prevent idiots from jumping out of the cars and killing themselves.) [Midway/Akron Acres Central]
 * Bratz Superstar Limo (1997; An A.R.M. Ali Baba themed to a limousine, formerly "Superstar Limo" [1997-2005]) [Midway]
 * Booster (2022; A Huss-TechEruo Booster, relocated from Linnanmaki) [Midway]
 * Carousel (1924; PTC Antique Carousel, refurbished heavily by Carousels and Carvings in 2004 and became an official historic landmark that same year) [Akron Acres Central]
 * Carwardine River Rapids (1990; Intamin River Rapids) [Akron Acres Central]
 * Family Guy: Stewie’s Chamber of Punishment (2024; Wisdom Rides Gravitron) [Midway]
 * Filbert's Flyers (2005; A Zamperla Sombrero) [Midway]
 * Flying Dutchman's Ship Fighters (2005; Zamperla Water Fight) [Nickelodeon Green Slime Acres]
 * Garfield's Wheel (2000; A Zamperla Fiesta Balloon Ferris Wheel) [Camp Garfield]
 * Lost Mill (2001; A Hopkins log flume, world's first log flume with a vertical drop) [Akron Acres Central]
 * Mario's Vertical Adventure (2000; An S&S Spin Shot, formerly a Space Shot from 2000-2021) [Midway]
 * Red Baron (1940; Bisch-Rocco Flying Scooters ride) [Midway]
 * Sailor Moon: Pretty Guardian Flyers (2024; A Funtime Star Flyer) [Midway]
 * Twister (1990; Eli Scrambler ride) [Midway]
 * Whip (1926; W.F. Mangels Whip) [Midway]

Kiddie rides

 * All Grown Up!: Tommy's Grand Prix (2005; A Zamperla Speedway) [Nickelodeon Green Slime Acres]
 * Blue's Skidoo (2005; A Zamperla Aero Top Jet) [Nickelodeon Green Slime Acres]
 * Crazy Bus (1990; A Zamperla Crazy Bus ride) [Kids Kountry]
 * Marshall's Fire Patrol (2015; A Zamperla Fire Patrol) [Nickelodeon Green Slime Acres]
 * Odie's Wild Swings (2000; A Zamperla Loli Swing) [Camp Garfield]
 * Rottenbeard's Ship (2005; A Zamperla Rockin' Tug) [Nickelodeon Green Slime Acres]
 * Samba Balloons (1990; A Zamperla Samba Balloons ride) [Kids Kountry]
 * Spring (2000; A Zamperla Jumpin' Star ride) [Kids Kountry]
 * Turtle Tracks (1990; An Arrow Dynamics small carousel style kiddie ride with turtles) [Kids Kountry]
 * U.S. Acres: Orson's Farm Barrels (2000; A Zamperla Midi Tea Cups themed to wooden barrels) [Camp Garfield]
 * Zim's Jumping Ships (2005; A Zamperla Jump Around) [Nickelodeon Green Slime Acres]

Akron Acres H20WORX

 * Bowldozer (2000; A ProSlide ProBowl)
 * Team Sonic Slidin' (2024; A ProSlide Speed Slide complex)
 * Tornado (2005; A ProSlide Tornado "Rattler")

Soda Pop

 * Akron Acres Ice Cream Parlor (1924)
 * Auntie Anne’s/Cinnabon (2000; Auntie Anne’s opened 2011)
 * Dippin’ Dots/Doc Popcorn (1992; this is the only Dippin’ Dots stand to serve soft drinks in the park) [Akron Acres Central]
 * Kids Kountry Snack Shack (1990)
 * KFC/Pizza Hut/Taco Bell (1997)
 * Subway (2005)
 * Wendy’s (1991)

Non-Pop

 * Dippin’ Dots (1992; all other stands)
 * ICEE Mix It Up (1999)
 * Midway Concessions (1958)
 * Tim Hortons (1998; replaced Starbucks Coffee due to an exclusivity contract signed in 1998, contract phasing out since 2018 since a deal with Dunkin')

Roller Coasters

 * Resistance (1992-2017; An Intamin stand-up coaster, only Intamin stand-up coaster in the U.S. to feature a zero-g roll, scrapped and replaced with Catapult)
 * Wild Mouse (1958-1989; A classic Wild Mouse, torn down in 1989 to make way for Sandstorm, manufacturer unknown)

Flat rides

 * Akron Flume (1930-1992; A Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters flume ride with a dark ride element, similar to the Mill Chute at Hersheypark, closed in 1992 due to old age and maintenance issues and stood SBNO until 2000, when it was demolished and replaced with Lost Mill)
 * Kirby's Daring Dash (1994-1998; An Intamin Flight Trainer, demolished and later replaced with Mario's Vertical Adventure)

Bus rides to and from Geauga Lake
This park has held daily bus rides to and from Geauga Lake, due to the closeness of the two parks, since 2008.

Trivia

 * The tape on the rebranding's opening was the first to be cut by Amaya Carwardine, who would cut most tapes afterward.
 * All Grown Up!: Tommy's Grand Prix was originally intended for Paramount's Kings Dominion under the name Swiper's Sweeper, but Paramount sold the ride to Carwardine, intending to use the same name, until Klasky-Csupo wanted Carwardine to install more rides based on All Grown Up!