Memphis Kiddie Park:
Joy Rides for Generations
By Marie Elium
On a bright summer morning, Memphis Kiddie Park is a whirl of little kids and the people who love them.
Babies in strollers, unsteady toddlers, shy preschoolers and run-ahead kids: For 74 years, the Brooklyn landmark has welcomed them all to this pocket-sized playland.
Many who take their grandkids to Memphis Kiddie Park climbed on these same rides themselves when they were young. They’ve aged while the iconic park remains locked in time, a joy-filled throwback celebrating the twin treasures of childhood and summertime.
No one knows this better than Scott Wintner, the grandson of the park’s founder, Stuart Wintner, who designed and opened Memphis Kiddie Park in 1952.
Wintner lives in California, flying to his hometown throughout the season to oversee the park’s day-to-day operations. He assumed this responsibility when his dad, Russell, died in 2023. He co-owns the park with his brother, Todd. His mom, Elli, is an officer of the company and very involved in running the park.
Time Travel
Once scattered throughout the country, parks for young children hit their peak popularity in the ‘50s and lasted into the ‘60s. Greater Cleveland had two others: Kiddieland in Warrensville Heights and Kiddieland at the Zoo. Memphis Kiddie Park is the oldest little kids’ park still operating in the nation.
The park has 11 rides, all but one original to the Memphis Avenue attraction. Each has a maximum height restriction of 50 inches — except for the Big Creek & Memphis Railway, the Merry-Go-Round, and the Little Dipper roller coaster — the oldest continuously operating steel roller coaster in its original location in North America.
Memphis Kiddie Park has no parking or gate fees. Individual ride tickets are $3.25, with discounted ticket sets that include savings for the concession stand and miniature golf. Tickets never expire, an attractive bonus at a park that caters to the fickle temperaments and tolerances of young children.
The park currently has just over 80 employees this year (mostly seasonal), a combination of retirees and younger people.
The team knows its audience. No one rushes little ones on or off rides. Gentle encouragement from a kindly employee is often the antidote to an anxious guest who’s not sure about climbing onto the Turtle Chase or taking a seat on a mechanical pony cart.
“We Took Our Kids There”
The park’s business strategy is an anomaly in a world of fast pivots and bottom-line spreadsheets.
“We’ve purposely avoided change,” Wintner says. “Our goal is to keep this place as familiar and classic to what it was on opening day as possible. We still use the same paper tickets from the same machine that was installed in our office since 1952.”
With so many distractions competing for the attention of busy families and kids, how can a place like Memphis Kiddie Park not just survive, but thrive? And for how long?
“For my grandfather, it was a timely business venture. With my dad, it was his passion for the park, and in part, too, he loved what it meant for the community. For me, the third generation, it’s partly loving it for the tradition, but it’s more about the legacy of the park and the relationship to the community. That’s what drives me… and that’s what keeps me going. I tell people, the day they stop coming, that’s the day we close up shop. We’re here for them,” Wintner says.
“There’s still a desire for getting out of the house on a summer day. The grandparents and parents, who remembered coming here as kids and now are bringing the grandkids here, there’s something about a kiddie park that continues to draw people, regardless of how the rest of the world has changed. As long as that continues to be the case, we intend to be here.”
Marie Elium is Thrive’s editor. Her favorite ride is the Tilt-A-Whirl.
