Amusement Park News

Making quite a comeback after flooding in the Iowa Great Lakes region last year, Arnolds Park Amusement Park, located in the town of the same name has set a whopping new visitor record for 2025.

Over the course of the summer, the amusement park brought in around 307,000 visitors, with some guests returning a number of times, resulting in some 700,000 visits total. Jon Pausley, CEO of the park, says those numbers indicate the largest number of visitors the park has seen in one summer. He terms the park second only to the Iowa State Fair in tourist popularity this year.



The park's director of marketing, Chris Swanson, agrees with Pausley, noting that the previous year's flooding which kept people inside, drew them out this year. “They just needed to get out this summer…plus, we added quite a few new things at the park.”

Among the attractions and events new for the park were the addition of Boji Drop, the park's new drop spin tower ride; electric go karts; bumper cars; and top national concert performances from bands including The Wallflowers, Foreigner, and Collective Soul as well as tribute bands for Tom Petty and Queen, and acts such as Maddie & Tae and The Frontmen, a trio of country stars performing together.  On 4th of July weekend, the park introduced their first military band performance by the USAF Band of Mid-America, Roots in Blue. There were 16 concerts in all this summer.

The new drop tower comes from Italy's Moser Rides. The new Spring Ride 12 Rotation drop includes two unique standing seats out of 12 seats in all. The ride doesn't just drop-- it bounces and spins. The ride features a bright yellow and green color scheme. Riders must be a minimum of 44″ for the seated positions on the ride and 47″ to enjoy the standing experience. Elsewhere in the park, the go karts ratcheted up the fun with a new competitive racing timing system; powered electrically, the shiny new karts offered clean, quiet racing.



In addition to the new rides, the front entry of the park also received “a facelift… from the signs at the front to a nod to our nostalgic history,” Pausley said, describing the change as making the park look fresh and “different than it ever has before.”

The entrance area also features new informative signage about the park's iconic wooden rollercoaster, The Legend, which Pausley notes as having had four different names throughout its history along with shifting pricing throughout the decades. All this ride history is now displayed through signage. The park also brought back old signs from another park icon, the gravity defying Tipsy House, which itself received a major restoration. The park's kiddie coaster and its log flume ride were also refurbished; new parking spaces were added as well, just in time for the summer crowds.

Also new: added midway games, and fresh merchandise in the gift shop from hoodies to tees. And another new addition to Arnolds Park was the Souvenir Photo experience, with several park-themed backgrounds. New arcade games were also on hand this year, such as Bigfoot. Free family movies screened by the lake were another strong draw for park guests.

All these upgrades and additions added to the appeal of the park, drawing visitors who brought in approximately $30 million in economic activity to the region, per Swanson. He notes that this financial contribution extended beyond the park itself, to hotels and dining facilities in the region.



The positive financial impact was especially impressive given the size of the region: a county of approximately 18,000 who welcomed 70 to 90,000 on summer weekends this year. Most visitors came from areas such as Sioux City, Sioux Falls, Omaha, Des Moines, Kansas City, and Minneapolis, although some came from as far away as Chicago. “Our attendance this summer was incredible, especially the weekends,” Swanson says.

The 20-acre park began as a camp and recreation site back in 1874, with its first ride constructed in 1889 by owner Wesley Arnold, who built a wooden, 60-foot toboggan-like waterslide on the south shore of West Lake Okoboji. Today, the park features close to 30 rides, each of which are paid for separately by guests, with park admission itself free of charge. Day and season passes are also available. The park also offers a carnival game midway and food and beverage options.



Currently, the park is planning for the 2026 season, from cart cleaning and inspection on The Legend coaster to routine ride maintenance throughout the park, which Swanson says is past of ongoing care every winter. Rides are dismantled, put into the maintenance shop, and given “a lot of TLC” during the winter season.

Of course, even with rides dismantled for maintenance and summer's crowds becoming a memory at the park, visitors can still stop by the park museums, which are open all year, depicting nautical information in the region, as well as the park's history and elements of past attractions preserved. The Queen II steamer boat runs on the lake through the end of October.