About Me
Theme Park Adventure was created in 1994 by Rick West. While working at Disneyland Park in the '80s, Rick began writing articles for a very popular fan publication at the time, "Mouse Rap." Eventually, West wanted to write about more than just Disney; Theme Park Adventure was created. At that time very few theme park enthusiast publications existed. TPA's first publication was "The Brake Zone," a monthly newsletter that covered everything from new coasters going up around the United States to Halloween Haunt - a personal favorite event of Rick's. In tandem with the monthly newsletter, Theme Park Adventure also established an online presence as part of a BBS called "Black Rainbow." As soon as the technology was available, TPA began posting theme park images on its BBS.As the years went by, Theme Park Adventure's newsletter grew in size and credibility, becoming a very popular "voice" within the theme park community - from fans to executives. TPA's Internet presence grew as well. In time, Black Rainbow faded and ThemeParkAdventure.com took flight. The network of theme parks under TPA's belt grew and its readership grew by the thousands. Theme Park Adventure was the first online theme park fans site ever established.Years became a decade. TPA's readership had topped more than 25,000 visitors each month to its site. A long-established industry leader, Theme Park Adventure continued to focus on both national and international parks and attractions. Rick West's unique attention to the Southern California Halloween event at Knott's Berry Farm - "Halloween Haunt" - was the most in-depth and constant attention that any form of media had ever given it. Behind the scenes, Rick West was becoming deeply rooted in the Knott's Haunt culture, as one of the first "outsiders" to be taken in by the team that makes up the Haunt Family each year.Today, Theme Park Adventure has produced book-sized publications (its most popular a 170-page historical on Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean attraction) and has started working hand-in-hand with various theme park companies both publicly and behind the scenes on different projects extending into the future.The TPA Web site continues to grow with special year-round attention given to Knott's Halloween Haunt. ThemeParkAdventure.com has become the unofficial home of Halloween Haunt online and has been embraced by Knott's Berry Farm and its parent company, Cedar Fair, Ltd. as a partner of sorts each season in covering the Scary Farm in Southern California.Since Theme Park Adventure's founding, many theme park and coaster fan sites have come and gone online as well as in publication. There are even Halloween Haunt-specific fan sites that have popped up online. As the digital age progresses, TPA is right there with it, using the newest technology available to better itself and its readers.
