Walt Disney is often credited with inventing the theme park, when he opened Disneyland in California back in July 1955 and followed it with Walt Disney World in Florida in 1971. However, the world’s oldest amusement park dates back over 400 years; Danish park Dyrehavsbakken opened north of Copenhagen in 1583 and is still operating today. There is conjecture about when the world’s first themed amusement park, or theme park, first opened – but the UK’s oldest theme park, Blackgang Chine on the Isle of Wight, has been going strong since 1843. Wikipedia even claims it to be the world’s oldest.

Whatever the history, theme parks appeal to everyone, young and old, and many of us now take holidays based around them.

New rides and attractions are continually being added to entice visitors back and parks try and outdo each other with the scariest, highest or fastest rides. Many also have hotels alongside so that visitors can enjoy longer stays instead of cramming everything into a day trip.

Here’s where you can go for those thrills:

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Walt Disney World alone attracts nearly 50 million visitors a year to its four Florida parks, with Orlando known as the theme park capital of the world for its profusion of parks and attractions – attracting more than one million UK visitors a year. A holiday here needs serious planning to maximise both your time and budget, as it is expensive for families who want a week or two of theme-park hopping.

Disney’s original Magic Kingdom park remains a big favourite, with its iconic Cinderella Castle and character parades along Main Street. Major expansion in 2012 will almost double the size of Fantasyland, adding a new coaster.

The sprawling Walt Disney World Resort also comprises sister theme parks Epcot, with is futuristic pavilions, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, which has a new Pixar Pals parade, and Animal Kingdom, where the new Wild Africa Trek soft adventure experiences includes a vehicle safari and a guided “bushwalk”. There are also two water parks, nightlife at Disney Downtown including a Cirque du Soleil show and four golf courses.

Universal Orlando opened its new Wizarding World of Harry Potter last year in the Islands of Adventure park. It features a giant Hogwarts Castle, through which visitors take a tour, as well as three rides including Flight of the Hippogrif. Among rides at Islands are the Incredible Hulk and Spiderman, while the Universal Studios park has recent openings The Simpsons Ride and the Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit coaster as well as old favourites Jaws and ET Adventure. Nearby Wet ‘n Wild is a sister water park.

The SeaWorld family of parks includes SeaWorld Orlando, where Shamu the orca (killer whale) stars in a show and where the new Manta coaster adds aquatic thrills. Alongside it are Discovery Cove, where visitors can swim with dolphins and will be able to explore new underwater attraction The Grand Reef from June, plus the new Aquatica theme park, offering wave pools, water rides and flume tubes through a dolphin pool. Busch Gardens Tampa, another member of the SeaWorld family, opens the Cheetah Hunt high-speed, twisting coaster ride this spring to add to its collection of thrill rides and animal attractions.

Also in Florida is the Kennedy Space Centre, dedicated to America’s space programme and including the Shuttle Launch Experience, IMAX movies and the chance to meet an astronaut. LEGOLAND Florida is due to open in October on the old Cypress Gardens site in Central Florida.

California also offers a world of fun in its many theme and amusement parks.

Mickey Mouse and friends have been welcoming visitors to Disneyland in Anaheim for 55 years. Disneyland Resort augmented the original Disneyland Park, which has eight themed lands and the famous Sleeping Beauty Castle, with Disney’s California Adventure park, in 2001. The Little Mermaid – Ariel’s Undersea Adventure is a new attraction opening there this summer.

Former fruit farm Knott’s Berry Farm opened its first attraction – Ghost Town – in 1940, to entertain queuing diners at its adjacent chicken restaurant. It became the first of six themed areas, making it what it claims is America’s oldest theme park. Camp Snoopy is the home of the Peanuts characters.

Universal Studios Hollywood offers a mix of studio backlot tours with shows and rides based on movie and TV blockbusters. It opened King Kong 360 3D last year to replace the original destroyed in a fire in 2008.

Animal magnetism is a major draw at SeaWorld San Diego, which has shows including one starring its own Shamu plus rides such as Journey to Atlantis and Wild Arctic.

LEGOLAND California Resort is geared for under 12s and features 50 family rides, attractions and shows. But for hard-core adrenalin-seekers, Six Flags Magic Mountain features 100 rides and attractions including 16 roller coasters, the fastest of which – Superman: The Escape – was the world’s first ride to reach 100mph.

There are other great amusement parks across the USA, although away from the warmth of Florida and California they are generally seasonal. Canada does have a year-round theme park. Alberta’s West Edmonton Mall is not only North America’s largest shopping mall, it also contains the world’s secondlargest amusement park as well as the world’s largest water park and an indoor salt-water lake with a replica of Christopher Columbus’s Santa Maria ship.

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