My dad told us that the owner hired someone to burn down the wildcat for insurance purposes. He was going into financial ruin from the park and he had no buyers. It was a local rumor in our area till this day. The accidental welding torch incident was not such an accident. The park was still open for the smaller rides though and I remember having so much fun there.

Please install the full length 1 hour video of West View Park.

I have been looking for this exact game for a while. Any advice you can give on narrowing down a location?

I remember when I was too short to ride the Racing Whippet.Thanks for taking us on a ride down memory Lane...

I remember towards the end when they ran the Jack Rabbut backwards. The Back Wabbit.

Times, many, many times spent at Idora park were the highlights of my childhood! I wish I had a dollar for every time I rode the Wildcat sandwiched between my two older brothers, our heads rattling together on the jerky turns. I’ve loved roller coasters my entire adult life because of Idora and the Wildcat. I haven’t forgotten the other rides and especially not those best in the world French fries with malt vinegar!How lucky were we Youngstown area children to grow up with such an amazing amusement park like this and right on the outskirts of the absolutely beautiful Mill Creek Park. Wonderful memories!!! ❤❤❤

I grew up a couple miles from Idora. This brings back memories of the best years of my life. 😢

well be the real data

"The winds blew sadly through the timbers of the great coasters." That quote hits home.

Closed due to a fire that did some damage to the park in 1984. Could you imagine where the park would be now if the fire never happened?

I grew up near amusement park in Haslett Michigan it was called lake Lansing amusement park and by 1971 it was over they sold the carousel to cedar point for a million dollars and they stopped running the roller coaster in 1971 also because it was in bad shape by 1973 the park was closed this amusement had every ride you could imagine it ran for 40 years and then it stopped.... End of a area.... Google lake Lansing amusement Park and you can see what we had for 40 years

THOSE WERE THE GOOD OLD DAYS 😢

I was born a year after Idora Park closed, and I'm not even from Ohio, but I love watching stuff like this. I grew up south of Nashville, TN, and we had Opryland as our theme park. Everybody hates that they turned it into a damned mall.

Youngstown Ohio is a crap hole now, its the hood where theres shooting almost every single day

I often jog past the remaining ruins on my morning jog. It brings back memories of going there with the parents on the early 80s everytime. I’m glad Youngstown is making somewhat of a revival. The future is bright for this area in my opinion.

It is soooooo very sad

Lately I've been typing in things my dad used to say into the search bar to know where it came from🤣 I have yet to be disappointed. I miss you, pop.

I was there to see Bobbie Sherman concert

I loved that scene, and it's still hysterical to this day! lol

I road those coasters with my mom and we loved it. She died 20 years ago and I cherish those memories. Sadly, it's not even noticeable anymore. It's just gone.

I miss this place so much. So many memories there. Youngstown used to be so beautiful

What's the name of this documentary?

When we were kids we would ride our bikes down to Idora park for the day. We spent most of our summers down at the park. I remember being in 6th grade at Kirkmere Elementary at recess and seeing all the black smoke in the sky and hearing all the firetrucks as they rushed to the park because the Wild Cat was on fire. So many great childhood memories from Idora Park.

my uneducated recollection was that the place closed when it became clear it was going to have to be integrated. I was a kid but I recall the reason. To this day, to me, it is a symbol of how fundamentally stupid racism is. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face....

This park was really fun for us kids

I really miss that I grew up with that almost in my back yard

I have fond memories of this when I was a young child.

Shit got me tearing up. How sad.

I cried like a baby when this happened to the "Wildcat" while watching it burn on the news!!! What a horrible year 1984. I was 13.😔

I was afraid as a kid of the robotic fat lady.

The Wildcat.

My dad used to take my brother n sisters n me to Idora Park back in the early 60s.....we were from Alliance......we also went to Meijers Lake........shop picnics etc.

Someone re-created this park in planet coaster. I downloaded it a while ago thinking it was just a random park someone made in tge game and im just now learning this was a real park.

Can I please talk to someone who still active in here?

I just watched your movie on Idora park and was so saddened by the photos. My parents took us there and we enjoyed a lot of the rides and concessions, my aunt lived across the street from idora,so we were there pretty often,and we loved it. I can remember the sounds of the roller coaster as we would walk into the park. Also in later years we had the Trio Bell Conto band played there and miss Greece was our high light of the dance,Miss Corinna zopai (this is not right spelling). It was a beautiful event. Many,many fun times there. Thanks for the beautiful film and memories. I do want to purchase the books. Thanks again.

Huh

Im to young to have ever been to idora park while in operation. But I love history of the mahoning valley/ Youngstown and after I read “The ride of summer” And then watched this, I cried at the end. Our area has a lot of positives and negatives but this is up there with the worst.

😂😂😂😂

I remember this when I was about 8-9

I loved Idora Park but good riddance to Youngstown, a lost city.

How did this get past ANY CENSORS back then?! This is hilarious. "But FIRST I need a little POT!" Everyone knew what they were doing here. The Smothers Brothers couldn't get away with much, much, much less.

I remember going to Idora Park as a Young girl and my Teenage years!! Best Fresh cur French Fries Ever!! This is a Place that I will Always have Awesome Memories!!😁

I was in Youngstown Ohio in August it has Changed at lot never forgot my roots Jeff Boswell

I remember idora park Jeffrey Boswell 64 lives in Houston in born in Youngstown Ohio

where was this place?

Many hours of fun in my younger years.

Don't tell me about Idora Park. The Park could have stayed open after the Wildcat burned but they sold out

I don't know if Idora park would add a Looping Star model to the park. Wouldn't survive past the recession though.

This video damn near brings tears to my brown eyes...this amusement park was legendary..I remember going here alot after church on Sundays..Youngstown has to be the unluckiest place in the world..First we had to endure Black Monday...the day back in 1977 that saw most of the steel mills start to close here...then this happened a few years later....a fire that destroyed our beloved Idora Park..I still have my own beliefs as to what really happened and why it happened but I'm going to keep it to myself...