Funtown Splashtown USA


Funtown Splashtown USA is a family-owned amusement park located in Saco, Maine, in the United States.

History

In 1960, Ken and Violet Cormier opened Marvel Drive-In, a drive-in restaurant. Ken’s brother-in-law, Andre Dellaire opened a mini-golf course that previous year next to Marvel Drive-In. In 1963, Andre opened a go-kart track behind his mini golf course, and in 1964 Ken added batting cages and an archery range in 1967 behind Marvel Drive In. Over the course of the next few years, Cormier and Dellaire added several kiddie and carnival-style rides including SkySlides and Swinging Gyms. A gift shop was also opened.
In 1967, Cormier and Dellaire formed a partnership and Funtown U.S.A. was born. Over the next few years, Funtown added a Zipper, outdoor bumper cars, and a Bayern Kurve named “Luv Machine”.
In 1996, Cormier bought out the remaining Dellaire interest at the park and renamed it to Funtown Splashtown U.S.A. with the addition of the waterpark.

Featured attractions

The park features Northern New England’s only wooden roller coaster, Excalibur, as well as New England's longest and tallest log flume, Thunder Falls. It also has a Drop Tower called Dragon's Descent.
One of the park's most popular rides is the Astrosphere, which is an indoor Scrambler which features a state-of-the-art laser and light show while playing ELO's Fire on High.
The Splashtown segment features Pirate's Paradise, a large interactive waterpark playground which dumps hundreds of gallons of water onto its guests every few minutes. For the 2007 season, an expansion was built that doubled the size of the waterpark and added two new thrill slides, Tornado and Mammoth. An additional expansion in 2012 added another 6 thrill slides to Splashtown.

Current attractions

Funtown USA Rides

Splashtown USA Water Slides and Pools

Former Attractions

PhotoRide NameRide TypeYear OpenedYear ClosedNotes
Balloon FlightFlying balloons roundabout19841986The Balloon Flight took its riders flying up-and-down for 3 years. Removed after the 1986 season to make room for the Casino Wheel.
Captain Isaiah Cutler's Haunted HouseIndoor walk-through haunted fun house with mechanical props and tricks19671995This famous haunted fun house was a long-time fixture at the old MainePlay Amusements area for its first 30 years. It featured various mechanical props and mechanical tricks in a mainly darkened house building. This house was closed—and removed—after the 1995 season due to high operational costs.
Ferris Wheel#8 Ferris Wheel 19752000This 8-seater classic Ferris wheel was removed after the 2002 season in favor of the Frog Hopper.
Galaxi Roller CoasterFamily compact steel figure-8 roller coaster 19782008The Galaxi was Maine's first-ever roller coaster in an amusement park. It had 7 autocar style coaster cars that went through an undulating figure-8 steel compact track. This mainstay ride lasted for 31 years, and was removed after the 2008 season to make room for the Wild Mouse.
Giant SlideFiberglass grooved amusement slide ride19721986Riders walked up the long stairway to the top station of the Giant Slide, then—slid down in burlap bags. Another mainstay during FunTown's earlier years.
HydrobumpersFlying saucer bumper ring cars19671974This was the original outdoors hydro bumper ring cars ride with the headlight post at its center, and pennant streamers emanating from it. It was at FunTown U.S.A. for 8 seasons, after which the Hydrobumpers—along with the Zipper—were removed. The area is now occupied by the building which houses the Sock-It-To-'Em traditional bumper cars.
HydrofighterWater gun fight tower ride19882000Riders climbed aboard bibbed seats, and rose high, then—squirted each other with on-board water guns. It got removed after the 2000 season to make room for Dragon's Descent.
Kartland Go-KartsIndividually driven gas-powered go-karts 19672000Kartland was MainePlay's original go-kart track that served FunTown U.S.A. for 36 years. During the earlier years, this attraction was a pay-per-ride owned by MainePlay; in 1993—after the merger with FunTown U.S.A. proper—the ticket booth closed down, and operated on a 2-trips-per-rider policy. The Kartland Track was enjoyed by its fans for so long, until it retired at the close of the 2002 season. The area then became a picnic area for 9 years. It's now the home for the new Apollo's Water Slides Area, which opened in 2012.
Noah ZarkArk themed junior play area19822000Noah Zark was a kiddy play area that looked like an ark boat.
ParatrooperRise-and-fall seated roundabout19821987Another classic spinning ride that was enjoyed by fans for 6 seasons; got removed at the close of the 1987 season.
The Luv MachineBayern Kurve19751981The Luv Machine was a groovy psychedelic themed Bayern Kurve bobsled tracked platform ride that speeded its riders up-and-down along its grooved inner track; got removed after the 1981 season to make room for the Antique Cars.
UFORise-and-fall spinning platform ride19721981The UFO Ride was a one-of-a-kind spinning platform ride; part Round-Up, and part Enterprise! UFO was removed from FunTown U.S.A. after the 1981 season to make room for eventual expansions.
Water Bugs Bumper BoatsFamily sized bumper ring boats19841992This was a bumper boats attraction housed in a pavilion behind the Sock-It-To-'Em bumper cars. After 1995, the boats were removed, the water was drained, and the pool was filled in with white gravel. It's now part of a picnic area.
ZipperZipper19671974The classic Zipper ride was at FunTown U.S.A. for only the first 8 seasons, and was—afterwards—removed. It stood where the Cash Cube game does now.