I once worked at a small amusement park on an island in the Detroit River called Boblo. It is closed now. It was rather park-like, and quite laid back.
The town in which I live, Thunder Bay, Ontario, has a public park which is almost an amusement park – beach, picnic areas, zoo, rollercoaster, pavillion, etc. It too is very laid back.
I don’t know if it was big enough to qualify as small, but Marshall Scotty’s near San Diego was the bee’s knees when I was younger. Pony rides, a ferris wheel that went up maybe 12 feet, a roller coaster track not much bigger than a swimming pool, it was all super cool for birthday parties.
Does anybody know the name of that western-themed park near Oklahoma City? I still have nightmares about when the stagecoach ride was stopped and the masked gunmen tried to take my bag of pennies!
Knoebel’s was the first place that came to my mind. Like you said, no admission, good food (pierogies, birch beer, pickles on a stick!), free parking…plus, it’s set out in the central PA countryside. We might make a trek that way around the fourth of July…I think I’m more excited than the kids!
No, those would be “bemusement parks.”*
*Ned Flanders in “The Simpsons”