Left: Image from a 1946 H.J. Heinz Company picnic program shows the west side of the Rumpus building in the background. This is perhaps one of the last existing photos of the ride.

Courtesy of the Idlewild and SoakZone Archives.
Right: A winter view of the Rumpus used for storage in the off-season.

Courtesy of Dr. John Smetanka and Sandy Luther Smetanka.
At the time of the 1947 Rumpus fire, the Macdonald family had managed Idlewild for more than 15 years under the structure of the Idlewild Management Company, which purchased the park from the Ligonier Valley Rail Road two years later. In 1950, the Macdonalds bought out the Mellon family’s stock in the enterprise, before the end of the Ligonier Valley Rail Road, which came in 1952 when the company disbanded after a gradual period of declining freight business and the increasing popularity and availability of the automobile. Idlewild continued to prosper as a recreation destination along U.S. Route 30 thanks to its beauty and solid group picnic business. The elder Macdonalds passed away (C.C. in 1957 and Grace in 1964), leaving Idlewild, the neighboring Story Book Forest walk-through children’s park and the nearby Timberlink Golf Course primarily in the hands of their sons.xxvii

The Macdonald brothers sold all three attractions to the Kennywood Park Corporation in 1983. The urban park in West Mifflin shared similar origins with Idlewild and continued to develop the historic amusement park with new themed areas (including Hootin’ Holler, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood of Make-Believe and SoakZone), while keeping its aesthetic charm as a scenic picnic spot at the heart of the business. Since 2008, Idlewild has been part of the Parques Reunidos family, an international company that operates more than 60 attractions worldwide. The park has won multiple Amusement Golden Ticket Awards for Best Children’s Park, been named Best Park for Families by the National Amusement Park Historical Association and received a Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission roadside marker.

Today, the Idlewild Emporium souvenir shop and part of the Wild Mouse roller coaster occupy the area where the Rumpus used to thrill Idlewild’s guests more than 70 years ago. No trace of the dark ride remains at the historic park, only in the memories of people old enough to remember the “tunnels of the mysterious Rumpus.” xxviii
As seen here during a quiet off-season day, the Idlewild Emporium gift shop and part of the Wild Mouse roller coaster occupy the area of the lost Rumpus ride.

Courtesy of Mike Funyak
and Idlewild and SoakZone
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jennifer Sopko is a Pittsburgh-based writer and historian and the author of Idlewild: History and Memories of Pennsylvania’s Oldest Amusement Park. Since 2003, she has written about the Ligonier Valley, Westmoreland County and Western Pennsylvania for several regional publications. She is currently seeking stories and images for her next book covering lost amusement parks of Western Pennsylvania. Follow her at www.jennifersopko.com

Idlewild: History and Memories of Pennsylvania’s Oldest Amusement Park is available from The History Press, Barnes and Noble and Amazon. Contact Jennifer directly if you would like to purchase a signed copy.