Trimper's: Losing the lamp, but maintaining the magic

As one of the oldest operating amusement parks in the world, Trimper’s Rides walks a tightrope between progress and tradition in Ocean City. Having opened over 100 years ago in 1893, generations of families have been going to Trimper’s and making memories.

Balancing the park’s need to continue to grow while maintaining their classic rides is, “a constant battle,” operations manager Brooks Trimper said.

One such battle was recently fought: retiring the five-ticket fun house, Aladdin’s Lamp.

For over 30 years, the large genie wearing his orange striped hat has been watching over children laughing and squealing while falling through trap doors and running across shaking bridges.

“Unfortunately, the time we live in, you have to make a decision there,” Trimper said. 

Although the fun house was still enticing guests for magic carpet rides, ultimately, the expensive maintenance costs led Trimper’s board, made up of six shareholders — all family members — to remove the ride, Trimper said.

“Living in the ocean air, it’s bones are starting to wear,” Trimper said. “The exterior is becoming aged.”

The mystery ride had already once been altered to open more space on the Boardwalk. Nine years ago, the funhouse downsized to 60 percent of its former size to make room for other attractions.

“This is just a continuation of that attempt to better utilize the space we have,” Trimper said.

No new rides are lined up to fill the now empty space of Aladdin’s Lamp. Instead, the park’s current attractions will be shuffled around, Trimper said.

Some of those current attractions at the park have been operating since the late 1960s while others have been added in the past few years, blending the old and new.

“That’s what makes memories, that’s what makes families,” Maryland Sen. Jim Mathias said. “Gives your family memories to share your whole life.”

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Mathias is a veteran of the Boardwalk amusement park scene, having grown up with his father’s amusement arcade and visiting Trimper’s Rides for 45 years.

“Long before the flumes and all the stuff they have today, they had the little boat rides,” Mathias said. “When you were a child, they’d put you in a little boat and you’d go around and around and around."

Keeping with tradition, the little water boats are still available for kids to ride today, however, the Trimper family is always looking to add new exciting attractions such as the 60-foot thrill ride, Endeavor, installed last year, Trimper said.

“I see Trimper’s continue to grow, continue to invest but really those cornerstone standard rides are critically important,” Mathias said

Maintaining those cornerstone rides such as Aladdin’s Lamp and the Big Merry-Go-Round, one of the oldest working carousels in the United States, is how Trimper’s continues to be considered a summer time-honored tradition for families.

Often, one will see a grandmother bringing her granddaughter to ride the carousel because that is what she did as a kid, Trimper said.

“Children grow up, they bring their children back, so generationally, it makes generational memories and it brings joy and (Aladdin's Lamp) was one of the rides that did that,” Mathias said.

However, locals are not the only people visiting the boardwalk every year and Trimper’s Rides is not the only amusement park in the area.

“We’re still competing for those tourism dollars,” Trimper said. “Kids no longer just want to go in a circle over and over and over again.”

Herein lies the balancing act: holding on to the classics while making room for new thrills.

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“The thrill rides have become more and more dynamic but whether it’s Aladdin's or a tea cup ride or the little boats, to children through adults it’s all in context of where you are,” Mathias said.

Although Aladdin’s Lamp will no longer be in operation, Trimper’s other classic rides remain and Mathias is excited to start bringing his first grandson to ride the water boats and share memories, he said.

Aladdin’s Lamp will remain in storage until the Trimper’s family decide on their next steps for it will be.