History & local legend
Conneaut Lake Park's Blue Streak opened in 1938, sending riders through a dark tunnel before the first hill. A story repeated by coaster enthusiasts concerns a sailor who supposedly stood up in his car and was thrown from the ride on a curve. His figure was said to remain with the coaster afterward.
Carrie Andra Pavlik, who worked at the lakeside hotel for five years, included the Blue Streak rider among the park's ghost traditions. She also collected a separate story about dancers continuing to use Dreamland's upstairs ballroom.
Dreamland burned in 2008, and the Blue Streak was removed in 2022.
Sources
- Carrie Andra Pavlik, The Ghosts of Hotel Conneaut and Conneaut Lake Park, book summary distinguishing the Blue Streak victim, dancing ghosts of Dreamland and separate hotel ballroom
- The Vindicator, 2012, identifies Pavlik as a five-year employee and collector
- 2014 Theme Park Review discussion preserving the version in which a sailor stands on a curve
- American Coaster Enthusiasts, landmark citation describing the wooden coaster, tunnel and 1938 construction
- StoryCorps, Park Kid, part two, recollections of the dance floor upstairs at Dreamland
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 2008 ballroom fire
- Roller Coaster Database, Blue Streak at Conneaut Lake Park, ride position and removal
