Amusement Parks from the Sky

op AirVuz contributor and drone pilot New Entertainment Pictures brings us this excellent aerial video of Cedar Point, a famous amusement park in the Midwestern USA.  Situated on a peninsula of Lake Erie roughly halfway between Toledo and Cleveland, Cedar Point is the flagship of the Cedar Fair Entertainment Company.  The park is home to over 70 rides, including an astounding 17 roller-coasters.  Opened in 1870 and with its first roller-coaster installed in 1892, Cedar Point is considered the country's second-oldest amusement park.  

Top contributor New Entertainment Pictures created this marvelous drone video of Europa Park, one of the largest theme parks in Europe.  It's located near Rust, a town in the southwestern corner of Baden-Württemberg on the French border.  Inspired by American amusement parks, the park opened in 1975 and has been expanded numerous times.  Known for its 13 rollercoasters, it draws around 6 million visitors annually, putting it second only to Disney Paris amongst Europe's amusement parks.      

New York City's Brooklyn borough, which sits across the East River from Lower Manhattan, is the city's largest by population.  It is perhaps best known for  the Coney Island Amusement Park, which lies in the southern part of the borough, near the Verrazano Bridge which crosses the Narrows to Staten Island.  Contributor Remorales treats us to an aerial view of this park, which was the shooting location for the climactic final scene of the 1979 feature film The Warriors, a movie about gang warfare in New York City.

The imprecisely predefined "West LA" consists of a series of beach communities, most of which are independent cities.  The largest and most well known of these is Santa Monica, which lies more or less due west from downtown LA.  A city of nearly 90,000 residents as of 2018, its main pier is a popular attraction for tourists and locals.  In this drone video by Lucaspinhel, you'll get a bird's eye look at the famous pier, where actor Tom Hanks ended up when he  "ran clear to the ocean" in the movie Forrest Gump (1994)

Top AirVuz contributor and first person view (FPV) pilot WhoFPV is back at it with this latest cinewhoop upload.  In this video, he takes to an amusement park as the sun sets, allowing us to marvel at the incredible lights around the park. This is Santa’s Enchanted Forest, located in Olympia Heights, Florida. The park says that it is the world’s largest holiday theme park and free carnival with over 100 rides, games, shows and attractions. The unique location and flying skills landed him back on the FPV Pilots to Watch list in February, 2019. 

Check out this light show fly through by accomplished FPV pilot Red — fpv. Our Drone Video Award nominee took his quad out through China’s Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, a theme park in Hengqin, Zhuhai. It opened in 2014 and won the Outstanding Achievement Award by the Theme Entertainment Association, a massive honor for theme parks worldwide. The night show includes fireworks, lit fountains shooting into the sky, jet board riders, and more. Thoroughly entertaining, this was picked for the AirVuz FPV Pilots to Watch list in August, 2019.

Check out this beautiful drone video of the largest amusement park in Israel, compliments of contributor and pilot guydrory.  Superland is located in the city of Rishon LeZion, Israel's fourth largest city, which is considered to be part of Greater Tel Aviv.  The park, which opened in 1991, has two rollercoasters among about a dozen and a half total rides.  It's especially well known for its Skycoaster bungee-jumping attraction, as well as its large (and recently renovated) Ferris Wheel.  

The roughly 220 km (around 145 mi.) stretch of the Atlantic Ocean in the USA's Mid-Atlantic state of New Jersey has long gone by its own name: the Jersey Shore.  Near the southern end of the Shore is a group of five neighboring towns collectively called the Wildwoods.  In this drone video by Latitude 360°, you'll get an aerial view of one of the top attractions in the Wildwoods: Morey's Piers & Beachfront Waterparks.  With three amusement parks and two waterparks, it features over 100 rides.

Among the permanent casualties in New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina is the former Six Flags Amusement Park.  Situated in New Orleans East, the park opened on a 140 acre site in 2002.  It has been closed since the historic storm and subsequent flooding devastated the city in August, 2005.   In the mean time, it's been used to film a number of feature movies and TV shows, most famously the 2015 sci-fi blockbuster Jurassic World.  You can see this eery reminder of pre-Katrina New Orleans in this drone video by Bumble Bee Productions.  

Valleyfair is a large amusement park located in the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN.  Opened in 1976, the park is situated in Shakopee, a southern suburb of Minneapolis.  The park is particularly known for its rollercoasters, which number eight (8) as of early 2019.  The park is owned by Cedar Fair, the operator of Cedar Point in Ohio, the second oldest amusement park in the USA.  In 2016, AirVuz collaborated with Valleyfair management to aerially film an "All Wheels Extreme" show.  

Kennywood is one of the USA's oldest amusement parks.  It first opened at the end of 1899 at the end of a railway line just south of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  It is one of only two amusement parks in the United States designated as National Landmarks.  It's earned dozens of cultural references, including appearances on multiple TV shows and movies.  Contributor and pilot Angelo Re was able to put together this fantastic first person view (FPV) video of Kennywood, earning himself a spot on the FPV Pilots to Watch list in December, 2020.  

Legendary first person view (FPV) pilot nurkfpv brings us this fantastic FPV chase video of a famous rollercoaster in the Midwestern USA.  It's called the Thunderbird, and since opening in 2015 it's one of the most popular attractions at the Holiday World & Splashin' Safari in Santa Claus, Indiana.  Part of the park's Thanksgiving section, it's one of a small handful of so-called Wing Rollercoasters, a design of rollercoaster designer Bolliger & Mabillard.  This video was picked for the FPV Pilots to Watch list in February, 2022.    

The Land of Legends amusement park is a major tourist attraction in the city of Antalya in southern Turkey.  Like all amusement parks, a great way to see it is via a first person view (FPV) mini-drone.  In this video by AirVuz contributor and pilot tamtantrik, you'll be able to do just that.   Given access to the park, he was able to use his FPV racing drone to film the park's many attractions, including its rollercoasters and extensive aquaparks.  This video was picked for the FPV Pilots to Watch list in November, 2020.  

Contributor W. Obereder created this epic bird's eye view of the Wiener Riesenrad, a giant ferris wheel in the Austrian capital Vienna.  Located in the Prater amusement park, the wheel stands almost 65 meters (212 ft.) tall.  It was built in 1897 and for decades was the world's tallest ferris wheel.  One of the most recognized sights in the Austrian capital, the ferris wheel has made numerous movie appearances, most famously in the 1987 James Bond film The Living Daylights, the series' 17th installment.  

Get an aerial view of Hong Kong's Ocean Park amusement park, compliments of AirVuz contributor and pilot Philip Chow.  The marine- and animal-themed park is located in the Wong Chuk Hang area of Hong Kong's Southern District, which lies on the island of Hong Kong.  The second-busiest Hong Kong amusement park after Hong Kong Disneyland, Ocean Park underwent a multi-billion dollar makeover in the early 2000's to remain competitive following the opening of the Disney park here.  It's now one of the busiest theme parks in Asia.  

AirVuz contributor and pilot noah.creative brings us this excellent drone video of a giant new roller coaster under construction at one of Australia's premiere amusement parks.  The Leviathan rollercoaster will be the newest ride at Sea World Australia, which is located in the city of Gold Coast, on the southern end of the long coastline of Queensland.  Constructed of wood, the ride features backwards-facing seats and reaches speeds of almost 55 mph (almost 85 kph).  It is scheduled to open in the summer of 2021.  

To see how far the art of cinematic first person view (FPV) drone content has evolved, check out this amazing piece by top AirVuz contributor rememorales.  Working with travel company Beautiful Destinations, he used FPV drones to give us a tour of the German amusement park Phantasialand.  Opened in 1967, the park is located in the town of Brühl in the western state of North Rhine Westphalia.  This video was picked for the FPV Pilots to Watch and was also selected as the Winner of the Drone Video of the Week contest in November, 2021.  

In this video, AirVuz contributor and first person view (FPV) pilot stereofpv takes us on a nighttime FPV tour of a New York City park.    Luna Park is located in the Coney Island entertainment complex at the southern end of Brooklyn.  Opened in 2010, the park takes its name from the "original" Luna Park, which operated near the current park's location from 1903-1944.   The current Luna Park sits on land and includes some rides which had been part of the Astroland park that opened in 1962 and closed in 2008.