Castle Park, formerly Castle Amusement Park, is a 25-acre

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...

and family

amusement center A family entertainment center (FEC) in the entertainment industry, also known as an indoor amusement park, family amusement center, family fun center, soft play, or simply fun center, is a small amusement park marketed towards families with small ...

located in

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. As of the 2020 census, the city has a population of 314,998. It is the most populous city in th ...

. The park utilizes a medieval "castle" theme and includes attractions such as a miniature golf course, arcade, and 21 amusement rides including one

roller coaster A roller coaster is a type of list of amusement rides, amusement ride employing a form of elevated Railway track, railroad track that carries passengers on a roller coaster train, train through tight turns, steep slopes, and other elements, usua ...

, Merlin's Revenge, a junior rollercoaster. The main "castle" themed building, houses the arcade. The park was designed, built and operated by

Bud Hurlbut In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or embryonic shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of a stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormant condition, or it may form a shoot immediately. Buds may be speci ...

, who designed several rides at

Knott's Berry Farm Knott's Berry Farm is a amusement park in Buena Park, California, United States, owned and operated by Six Flags. In March 2015, it was ranked as the List of amusement park rankings#North America, twelfth-most-visited theme park in North Ameri ...

. Castle Park is currently owned and operated by

Herschend Family Entertainment Herschend is a privately owned themed-entertainment company that operates several theme parks and tourist attractions within the United States, and as of 2021, one of its aquariums in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded by Hugo, Mary, ...

History

The park opened in 1976 as a

Family entertainment center A family entertainment center (FEC) in the entertainment industry, also known as an indoor amusement park, family amusement center, family fun center, soft play, or simply fun center, is a small amusement park marketed towards families with small ...

, featuring a castle themed building housing a large two level video game arcade, and an outdoor

miniature golf Miniature golf (also known as minigolf, putt-putt, crazy golf, and by #Nomenclature, several other names) is an offshoot of the sport of golf focusing solely on the putting aspect of its parent game. The aim of the game is to score the lowest ...

course. In 1985, the park expanded by adding an adjacent amusement ride area, featuring a collection of classic rides such as a Dentzel carousel built in 1905, a miniature railroad, and a log flume ride, thus becoming a legitimate amusement park. In 1999, the park opened

Ghost Blasters Ghost Blasters is an interactive dark ride franchise, designed and created by Sally Corporation. The franchise includes many locations at various amusement parks throughout the United States and Canada. Riders on "Ghost Blasters" are equipped w ...

, an interactive dark ride designed by

Sally Corporation Sally Corporation (also known as Sally Dark Rides) is a dark ride and animatronic manufacturing company based in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. The company serves amusement parks, attractions, museums, and retail clients worldwide. It ...

. The ride features laser guns which riders use to shoot at targets to accumulate points. The attraction is the park's first and only dark ride, and occupies the entire second floor of the former arcade area inside the main castle building, reducing the arcade to only the first floor. In 2008, the park opened "Dragon Flyer", a spinning flat ride, and "Screamin' Demon", a spinning wild mouse rollercoaster. On May 25, 2019, a woman was critically injured and her husband and child suffered less-severe injuries when the log ride malfunctioned and threw them into the water. The guests recovered mostly from their injuries. In early 2025, the park was sold to

Attractions

Rides: *Antique Car Ride *Bumper Cars *Castle Park Railroad - A

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

railroad. *Crazy Plane - A rotating "bus" ride. *Dragon Flyer - A "flying" ride. *Dragons Tower - A vertical drop ride. *Fireball - A looping ride. *Flying Animals - A "Dumbo" style flat ride. *Flying Saucer - A spinning gravity ride (a

Gravitron The Gravitron is an amusement ride, most commonly found as a portable ride at fairs and carnivals. The Gravitron first appeared at Morey's Piers in 1983, designed and manufactured by Wisdom Industries. It is a modification of an earlier rid ...

). *Ghost Blasters - An interactive

Dark ride A dark ride—or ghost train when horror themed—is an indoor amusement ride on which passengers aboard guided vehicles travel through specially lit scenes that typically contain Animatronics, animation, sound, music and Special effect#Live spe ...

located in the arcade. *Kings Crown - A swing ride. *Sawmill Plunge - A log flume ride. *Merlin's Revenge - A junior rollercoaster. *Merry-Go-Round - A Dentzel Carousel built in 1907. *Riverside Express - A gauge ridable miniature train ride. *Rockin' Tug *Scrambler *Sea Dragon - A swinging ship. *Sea planes - A children's flat ride. *Spaceships - A children's flat ride. *Spider - A spinning twirling ride. *Tilt-a-Whirl *Whip - A centrifugal ride. *Wiggle Racers Other Attractions: *Buccaneer Cove - A water play area. *Arcade - A video game arcade also housing the "Ghost Blasters" attraction. *Miniature Golf - An 18-hole miniature golf course area. *Anthony The Magic - A magic show *The Big Top - A private parties facility. Former Attractions: *Little Dipper - A children's rollercoaster. *Motorcycles *Falling Star - A rotating pendulum ride *Thunderbolt *Trabant *Ferris Wheel *Tornado Coaster - Zamperla Powered Kiddie Coaster *Cyclone Racer - Musik Express *Samba - A children's helicopter ride *Screamin' Demon *Go Karts - Was originally part of the "Big Top" area. Its former site is now occupied by "Screamin' Demon".

References

External links

* * {{Amusement Parks & Theme Parks of California Amusement parks in California Parques Reunidos Tourist attractions in Riverside, California Buildings and structures in Riverside, California 1976 establishments in California Amusement parks opened in 1976