Celebration City

Celebration City
Previously known as Branson USA
Coordinates	36°38′52″N 93°17′45″W / 36.64765°N 93.2959°W
Status	Defunct
Opened	May 1999; (24 years ago) (Branson USA); May 1, 2003; (20 years ago) (Celebration City)
Closed	2001; (23 years ago) (SBNO until 2003); October 25, 2008; (15 years ago)
Owner	Herschend Family Entertainment
Operating season	May until October
Attractions
Total	30+
Roller coasters	3
Water rides	2

Celebration City was a

theme park located in Branson, Missouri, United States. It was themed after America in the 20th century, with areas based on Route 66, Small-town America in the 1900s, and a beachside boardwalk in the 1920s. As a "sister park" to Herschend Family Entertainment's Silver Dollar City theme park located nearby, It was meant to continue the day where Silver Dollar City's 19th century theming left off. It opened in the afternoon into the evening, with the operating day capped off by a laser and fireworks

display.

The park featured many rides, shows, and attractions. Its operating season ran from May until mid-September.

History

An amusement park named Branson USA was opened on the site in 1999. It struggled in its early years and closed in 2001.

log flume ride

in 2008.

On October 24, 2008, Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation announced that the park would not reopen for 2009, due to unmet financial expectations. It closed on October 25, 2008. Herschend continues to operate the nearby Silver Dollar City and White Water Branson parks; in announcing the closure, the company stated "...the company is already exploring various new development concepts for the site including an aquarium, other family attractions, retheming the current park and also, destination retail and dining."^{[citation needed]}

Rides

Since the park closed, some rides have been moved to other locations, and some remain in place. They included:

Accelerator, an
double shot tower relocated from Barefoot Landing, installed by Ride Entertainment Group^[1] (which has been moved to Silver Dollar City as Firefall)^[2]

Bumble Bee, a kiddie ride frog hopper
Chaos, a Chance Rides ride(removed)
Electric Star Wheel, a Ferris wheel
Fireball, a swinging claw ride
Flying Aces, a kiddie ride
Flying Carpet, a Cliffhanger ride
Flying Circus, a Larson Flying Scooters ride (which has been moved to Wild Adventures)^[3]
Freefall, a milder version of Accelerator
Frisco Line, a kiddie train ride
Fun Spot
Kissimmee as Hurricane.)
Orbiter, Flying Carpet ride
Ozark Wildcat, a GCI wooden roller coaster built in 2003. It was demolished on December 15, 2015.
Paris Wheel
Roaring Falls, a
Shoot-the-Chutes ride, it opened in 2008 and was relocated from Geauga Lake

Route 66 Speedway, a large go-kart track

Scrambler (which has been moved to Wild Adventures)^[3]
Shoot-D-Chute, a log flume
Stinger, a Wisdom Rides Tornado
Slick's Slightly Used Cars, bumper cars
Swing & Twirl
Thunderbolt, a steel roller coaster (relocated to Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park as Cliffhanger
)

Vintage Carousel, a carousel

References

^ "Projects". Ride Entertainment Group. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
^ http://amusementtoday.com/backissues/May-2015-LoRes.pdf ^{[bare URL PDF]}
^ ^a ^b "Wild Adventures making big plans for 2010". Valdosta Daily Times. Retrieved 2009-10-08.

External links

[1] "Projects". Ride Entertainment Group. Retrieved 22 November 2013.

[2] ttp://amusementtoday.com/backissues/May-2015-LoRes.pdf ^{[bare URL PDF]}

[Wild-3] "Wild Adventures making big plans for 2010". Valdosta Daily Times. Retrieved 2009-10-08.

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[2]

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