Centreville Amusement Park is unique in that you can walk the grounds for free all you want. It’s the rides that will cost you. This is a great amusement park but there definitely is an upper age limit. If you have kids that haven’t moved on to high school yet, this might just be the place for you to spend a hot summer day.
We recently visited Centreville with a six and two year old. Shortly after, we spent the day at the comparable Story Book Park in Owen Sound, Ontario. Both are quite similar but do provide a bit of a different experience. Story Book Park will be featured soon at It’s About Travelling, allowing you to compare the two and decide which is right for you (if not both). We did walking tour videos of both and they are available at the end of each article.
Centreville Amusement Park
The park is located on Centre Island in the Toronto Islands. This spot is reached only by water and the most common form of transportation, to and fro, is via the Toronto Island Ferry. The boats depart from the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal during the summer months. The terminal is located on Queens Quay, between Bay Street and Yonge Street.
The first boat leaves at 8:00am and the last departs for the mainland at 11:15pm. The price is just over $8 for adults for a round trip. Tickets are best bought online to avoid the long lineups at the ticket counter. Word is, Beasley Amusements, operators of the park, have purchased their own ferry boat which will start operating in the near(?) future.
For 2018, the fees for an ‘All Day Ride Pass’ come in at $35.35 for those over 4′ feet in height and $26.50 for those under that measurement. A family all day ride pass is available and definitely worth it for a family of 4. The price is $114.00 for up to four people. One of those four must be an adult. There are additional fees for the fifth, sixth and so on.
The Centreville Amusement Park takes up a portion of Centre Island and is open for anyone to walk through and around. A bridge connects to Olympic Island, which is set up with ample picnic tables and shelter. Close by on the island is a large playground with splash pad and the Centre Island beach and pier.
Centreville History
The Centreville Amusement Park has been operated by the Beasley Family (Beasley Amusements) since 1967. The now included Far Enough Farm opened in 1959 and had been operated as a separate entity until 2013.
The ferris wheel comes with a bit of history. It came to Centreville in 1989 from the Crystal Beach Amusement Park in Fort Erie, Ontario. That historic park closed that year, just over 100 years after it came into existence.
Crystal Beach started as a religious retreat in 1888 and turned into an amusement park in 1890. In the 1940’s and 1950’s, it was the place to be. Steam ships with the capacity for 3,000 passengers brought visitors daily from nearby Buffalo, New York. Competition in the 1980’s from Darien Lake near Buffalo, Canada’s Wonderland in Vaughn and Marineland in Niagara Falls proved too much and the park closed.
The carousel adjacent to the ferris wheel was manufacture by the Dentzel Carousel Company in 1907. The ride was acquired from Bushkill Park in Easton, Pennsylvania and was to be sold in 2017 after devastating flooding caused damage at Centreville, not allowing the park to open for much of the season. That deal fell through and the carousel remains in place, for now.
As for Bushkill Park, that’s a bit of amusement park history in its own right. The park opened in 1902 and operated continuously until 2004. After closing from 2006 to 2017, the park has reopened this year.
The Dentzel Carousel Company was founded by Gustav Dentzel and was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The company began operations in 1867 and ceased operations in 1928. Some 150 carousels manufactured by the company are still believed to be operating around the world.
The Sky Ride (pictured above) is a ski-lift type ride that takes you for a leisurely journey across the park and actually onto a different island before turning around and returning. The current version opened in 2017. A previous version was in operation from 1968 to 2015 but was shut down after a passenger was injured.
Toronto Islands
The Toronto Islands are the only islands in the western portion of Lake Ontario. Centre Island is home to Centreville and the main ferry terminal. Hanlan’s Island is home to the Hanlan Boat Club, the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (YTZ) and the main beach area.
The islands are unique in that service vehicles make up the only motorized traffic. The islands can only be reached by boat, although the idea of a bridge to the airport has been debated for years. Although naturally occurring, the islands have been expanded over the years with fill from mainland excavating projects.
Comparison To Story Book Park (Owen Sound, Ontario)
As mentioned, we visited both of these parks within a week of each other. Both are quite similar as far as rides and who they appeal to. Cost-wise, Story Book Park is definitely the better choice. The admission to Centreville alone is about $10 higher per person. Add to that the usual transportation costs that come with doing anything in downtown Toronto (plus the ferry fee). Sure, it takes gas to get to Owen Sound, Ontario but there is also lots of other great natural things to see in the area (Inglis Falls, Harrison Park, Indian Falls) that won’t break the bank. Plus, the ease of driving into the city for food and drink is a bonus.
Centreville Amusement Park Walking Tour Video
We took this video during our July 12, 2018 visit. If you like what you see, please give it a ‘thumb’s up’ in YouTube. If you love what you see, please consider subscribing to our YouTube Channel!
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