1,034 Comments for Rocky Point Amusement Park

I tried to get in and look at the park what it is now, but the State Trooper said its all mush now and coyotes are in there and its dangerous...has anyone else heard that? This was las fall......

In 2000 the Ride above caught on fire due to tresspasser and by the time the firedepartment arrived several surrounding buildings were also on fire. The fire department had to fight the other fires to get close enough to put out this one. The City started to remove the building but stopped because someone wanted to buy it. This was in the paper a week after the fire (Telegram and Gazzete in MA)

http://www.satanic-kindred.org/baphomet.htm

Skyelar

No one ever made a fuss over this and that mural has been in there since the early 1970's when I first rode this ride.

The building in the background is indeed the Rocky Point Shore Dinner Hall. BEST CLAM CAKES in the world! On the lower level on the street side they had walk up window for to-go orders. They did also serve Hot Dogs, Burgers and Fries.

The voice narrating the end of the Rocky Point Jingle is an old friend of mine. He was the host of the AFTERHOURS SHOW on 990 WALE AM in Providence, R.I. I made a few guest spots on that program back in 1991. That Jingle played for years on that radio station and on local TV there.

Same here, I love the old world amusement parks. I am not sure why, I just love the old stuff. Growing up in New England was great because there were alot of original amusement parks in operation there. Most of them are gone now, reclaimed by the weeds. Or paved over with condominiums.

We use to go to Rocky Point Park, Crescent Park, Lincoln Park. All of these were old wrold parks.

Mr. Motts, you might try to visit Lincoln Park in Dartmouth, Mass. I think the ruins are still there. They had a huge old wooden roller coster there. Atleast it was still there a year ago.

Kennywood Park near Pittsburgh still has many old rides. It is also a very historic amusement park. It was opened in 1898 as a picnic grove. There are quite a few rides from the 1920's still in operation. However, Kennywood lost its ghost ride to a fire. There is a similar dark ride in operation in Blackpool, England. I never got the chance to visit Rocky Point, but I know I would have loved it. I love the older traditional amusement parks with old carousels and wooden roller coasters, not to mention the dark rides. I go to Kennywood every year and have been to Blackpool.

Yep, this was the video game arcade. The bumper car structure was an open structure which was burned down at the end of the 1990's.

The HOUSE OF HORRORS, this was a rare darkride. They don't make them like this one anymore. Infact the darkrides they make these days rather suck to put it bluntly. House Of Horrors was awsome, I loved this old ride. This was a "GHOST TRAIN" type darkride. That means you ride through two levels in a car on a track.

The exterior was a piece of art sculpture. Made of gunited concrete the house looked like a spooky old castle growing out of a cliff. Originally there was a giant Viking and Dragon on the exterior facade. When you stand back and look at this ride the castle tower on the left looks like a giant skull, this was creepy to me when I was a little kid. They used black lights and flourecent painted diaramas inside. This really was an awsome darkride. One of my favorite parts is the unexpected CRASH each time your car crashes through wooden double doors between scenes. The ride had great tricks (stunts) inside. Way back in the day there was a big foam rubber hand that would hit you in the face. Unfortunately our sue happy culture caused that great stunt to be removed from the ride. Other creepy diaramas included: A huge six foot spider overhead starring you down, A headless family in a living roon setting, A saw mill grinding a body, A cemetary with pop-up animitronics, A King Cobra snake, A hangman in the gallows, A bat's cave, Wall of fire (Cool flames painted on a wall where it looks like your car drives through it). This was an awsome old ride.

Rocky Point Park was a huge piece of Americana. This was one of the first amusement parks in the U.S. The park was built in 1847 and originally was a place for the rich folks. Not far from the park is Newport, where America's only true Giulded Age Mansions are. This was true high society in the day.

Rocky Point went through two horrible hurricanes, one in the 1930's and the other in the 1950's. The sad thing is those hurricanes destroyed alot of the original structures and rides that would otherwise still be there. They lost a mammoth wooden roller coaster and some really cool Victorian structures. So the park was rebuilt twice. The original Shore Dinner Hall was on stilts at the water front, it was beautiful. The hurricanew ate that building and the new Shore Dinner Hall was built of brick on land in the 50's.

New owners in the 80's and 90's mismanaged the park. They basically ran the park into the ground with thier poor management. The park closed in the red in 1995 and was auctioned in 1996. It still leaves a tear in my eye. This wonderful little park is part of history and all of my childhood. Under better management this park would still be alive.

Rhode Island also lost a few other great parks. Crescent Park was another great old park in Riverside, Rhode Island. Now boring and overpriced condominiums sit on that site. Atleast the condo developer restored and kept the Crescent Park Carousel on site.

Rhode Island is a beautiful place in the Summertime. This park was on the water, so it was really wonderful during the Summer.

The building was shaped like an Airplane Hanger. They used that type of structural system because it would allow them to have a large open area inside. The Palladium was a Ball Room back in it's early days during the Big Band era.

The next big building not seen in this photo was the Penny Arcade. This has the video arcade games inside. The next large scale structure, also nt seen. It the Shore Dinner Hall. BEST CLAM CAKES in the world! I miss Rocky Point Clam Cakes! This really was a great park in the day.

This structure housed one of the little Kiddie Rides. I think they were the little boats that went around and round. The park also has a very collectable ride we called the Catapiller, because it was shaped like a Catapiller. I can't remember the exact name, but a plaque said this ride was an original and one of only a few left. It was built at the turn of the last century.

The Carousel House is one of the original structures from 1847. Originally this building has big wooden doors that sealed off the carousel during the harsh Winters in Rhode Island. I am amazed that this, one of the original structures is still standing. All through the 1970's and 80's we visited this great park.

The Carousel was preserved as it was an original ride, hand carved and very collectable. They removed the carousel and stored it. Later it was restored and set up in a park in Westerly, Rhode Island. The Log Flume ride was sold to Enchanted Kingdom Theme Park, Laguna, Luzon, Philippines. The Corkscrew Coaster I think went to a park in Ohio. The only rides that didn't sell during the auction was the House of Horrors and the SkyLiner.

These photos have a dramatic impact on our family, all us kids grew up at Rocky Point. We spent every Summer visiting the park.