Idlewild & SoakZone Named Best Amusement Park for Families

Awarded First Place Honors by the National Amusement Park Historical Association

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Apr 30, 2011, 07:00 ET

LIGONIER, Pa., April 30, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- In a national poll of its members, made up of experienced and well-traveled amusement park enthusiasts, the National Amusement Park Historical Association (N.A.P.H.A.) gave first place honors to Pennsylvania's Idlewild & SoakZone (http://www.idlewild.com) as the World's Best Park for Families!

"We now have another reason to celebrate during what was already shaping up to be one of our most exciting summer seasons ever," said Park spokesperson Jeff Croushore. "It is a great honor to receive this recognition from the members of N.A.P.H.A. This is fantastic news for our loyal guests, our local community, and members of our team."

Celebrating its silver anniversary, the N.A.P.H.A. survey is the oldest of its type. Idlewild & SoakZone has consistently placed in the top five rankings for family appeal over the past five years before claiming the top spot this year. Other family-favorite parks include Knoebels Amusement Resort in Elysburg, PA, which placed second, followed by Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, FL.

Idlewild & SoakZone will further strengthen its appeal to families when it opens May 26th for its 134th season. Set to debut in the SoakZone is the Wowabunga Family Wave Pool and an entire new array of shows will be featured throughout the park, including Cirque Extreme Under the Big Top, which will open to guests beginning June 8.

ABOUT N.A.P.H.A. The National Amusement Park Historical Association, founded in 1978, is an international, educational and enthusiast's organization dedicated to preserving and documenting the heritage of the amusement park industry, past, present and future. In its 25th year, the N.A.P.H.A. survey rates parks in 7 categories, such as "traditional parks," "theme parks," "most beautiful park," "best new attractions," and more. For more information about the survey, contact Marlowe McClasky Futrell at 412.831.6315 or at [email protected].

ABOUT IDLEWILD & SOAKZONE - Founded in 1878 as a simple picnic ground along the Ligonier Valley Rail Road, Idlewild & SoakZone (www.idlewild.com) is the oldest amusement park in Pennsylvania and third-oldest in America. In addition, it is rated the best kid's park in the world by Amusement Today magazine (http://www.amusementtoday.com) and the best park for families by the National Amusement Park Historical Association (http://www.napha.org/). Idlewild features seven fun theme areas such as SoakZone Waterpark, Story Book Forest and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood of Make-Believe. Seasonal operations run May 26 through Labor Day and "Hallowboo," a Halloween-themed event, takes place in October. Idlewild is part of the Palace Entertainment family which hosts over 13 million visitors annually at 40 locations across the country. With 8 theme parks, 11 water parks and 21 family entertainment centers, Palace is the largest operator of water parks and family entertainment centers in the nation. For more information, call 724.238.3666 or visit http://www.idlewild.com and http://www.palaceentertainment.com.