On May 9, a sun-splashed opening day at Memphis Kiddie Park, dozens of kids dashed from ride to ride, grinning and laughing.
Located in Brooklyn, a suburb just south of Cleveland, it’s one of the few remaining amusement parks in the country designed for kids. Each of the eleven rides caters to kids under 50 inches tall.
"Everything we do is geared towards our younger guests," said Scott Wintner, the co-owner of Memphis Kiddie Park. "It's not only safe, it is small, it’s contained. So it's pretty easy to keep an eye on your kid no matter where they run throughout the park."
Kiddielands like it exploded in popularity in the 1950s. Northeast Ohio was home to three, including one in Warrensville Heights and the Cleveland zoo.
Stuart Wintner, Scott’s grandfather, hopped on the trend, when he opened the gates of Memphis Kiddie Park in 1952.
"[The park] actually opened the same day that my father was born. So my father always called the park his twin brother," Wintner said.
But by the mid-1960s, the localized amusement parks started closing for a variety of reasons: high maintenance costs with small profit margins, competition from larger regional theme parks and changing family entertainment options.
Still, Memphis Kiddie Park endured.
"It's become a sort of a throwback piece of nostalgia back to that era that now generations of families have been able to enjoy," Wintner said.
Except for a few ride additions and subtractions, Memphis Kiddie Park looks almost exactly like it did in 1952, capturing a disappearing piece of Americana.
"After my father retired from his full-time job to come run the park day-to-day, he put a tremendous emphasis of both time and money into trying to restore the park in areas where we had upgraded it or changed it over the years to return it back to what it looked like as he remembered as a kid in the 50s," Wintner said.
That’s down to the park’s flagship coaster, The Little Dipper, which is also the oldest operating steel coaster on the continent, according to the nonprofit group, American Coaster Enthusiasts.
It’s a fan favorite. Three-year-old Ainsley rode it back-to-back. Her favorite part, she said: "Going up and down."
It’s one of three attractions that adults can ride, too.
Adults like Mike Kreutzer.
He came to the park as a kid, then later brought his grandkids. Now, he operates those same rides.
"I started in June of 2019 to just make a few extra dollars for a repair," Kreutzer said. "I was here about three hours, and I said, 'They're gonna have to carry me out of here.' I love the children, the atmosphere is fantastic, and it's great bunch of people to work for and work with."
He finds the park "magical," and he loves that it’s a tradition passed on between generations.
Like Marissa Schaberl, whose daughter’s third birthday happened to fall on opening day. She grew up going to the park, and has been taking her daughters for past several summers.
"It's so nice to have a place that's not too far away, it's nice and close to home, that doesn't break the bank, that you can come for one hour or three hours, meet with friends, meet with family, everyone enjoys it, and when you're out of tickets, you go," she said.
That’s what makes Memphis Kiddie Park different from other regional amusement parks. Whereas Cedar Point’s gate fee topped a hundred dollars for the first time this year, the Kiddie Park charges no admission or parking fees.
Instead, each ride requires one ticket, priced at $3.25. You can also buy strips and books of tickets for even cheaper.
"It gives parents some flexibility too because if you bring your maybe 18 month or two year old here, you think maybe they're ready, they come, you put them on one ride, you've already bought a book of tickets, the kid's not quite ready, you can take them home, try again next year," Wintner said.
And those tickets never expire. Even if a customer brought a ticket from opening day in 1952, Wintner said they'd honor it.
That old fashioned approach is the key to Memphis Kiddie Park’s success, he said.
"I don't think you could build this today and have it be as successful. I think part of the secret to our long term success just has been our longevity. And the fact that we're in such a strong part of the community and the community has embraced us for generations."
And hopefully, he said, for generations to come.
