Memories of Joyland

A nostalgic but sad afternoon for me.

Last week a fire destroyed the Opera House in Joyland’s Frontier Town. Firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze, most likely set by vandals, but not before it gutted the already delapidated building. There were no injuries, but it was one more nail in the coffin for Joyland.

joylandslideshow_stanley

Although I didn’t grow up in the Wichita area, my children did and we spent many hours and dollars at Joyland.

It was a sad thing to wander the grounds after the fire trucks and TV reporters had left, remembering the rides that are now a relatively minor, yet still significant part of our collective memories.

Is it the loss of Joyland that is sorrowful, or is it simply a reminder that I might have lost those faint memories had I not had one more opportunity to revisit an amusement park that is now disappearing?

How many more memories would be gone if not for the photographs? Here are the most recent pictures.

  • beebeandrea

    This is so sad to me, as a teenager, Joyland was my first job. I had so much fun that summer! I wish it could come back to life so that I could take my children there!

  • mcs7584

    I’m 30 now I remember going there to celebrate the end of each school year in elementary school. It was the biggest field trip of the year. My parents would take my brother and I each year to the KFDI concerts (thank goodness I outgrew country music!) and we’d often choose the Joyland 4th of July fireworks over those in downtown. I remember being scared to death of the roller coaster, refusing to ride it, until after I was forced to ride the Orient Express at Worlds of Fun. After that, it was a no big deal. But looking back now it was a big deal. Joyland was a fun, safe place to go to be with family and have a good time. I mostly enjoyed the scrambler and tilt-a-whirl. It’s a shame the park has fallen into disrepair though it’s no surprise. Americans want bigger and better. The more we have, the more we want. Joyland was unique to Wichita and something that we could all be proud of. Now, it’s become a joke.

  • lspoor

    This reminds me of some of the urban exploration websites’ shots of similar parks around Canada and the U.S.

    I really like how the off-key and dissonant music creates an atmosphere of abandon and neglect to accompany the pictures during the slide show.

  • Nancy65672

    It is sad to seee Joyland in this shape. I can remember going there in grade school then after I got my drivers lic, We used to drive up from Winfield and spend the day there. The people who owned it took such good care of it then and now it is just a mess.

  • val

    I believe that more than anything else, the thing that killed Joyland was crime. Gangs.

    Whatever you want to call it – at some point, with the violence taking place in that area, it was no longer a safe place to hold school fun nights.

    I loved Joyland and grew up in Wichita. I have many wonderful memories of it.

    I’m very sorry to see this happen.