The Codona family came from Italy to Scotland in the early 19th century. They were a circus family and toured the country as entertainers. One branch of the family left Glasgow in the early 1900’s and went to America ,then moved to Mexico and formed a trapeze act which eventually became the world famous “Flying Codonas”. With the advent of the Cinematograph the family in Scotland opened a “Travelling Picture Show” and eventually opened cinema halls in the East of Scotland. It was during this time that “Steam Driven” fairground rides started to appear and the family owned and toured with various popular rides including- The Galloping Horses , The Dragons ,The Mont Blanc , The Switch Back , The Cake Walk , The Jungle Ride , Auto Scooters and The Wall of Death. The Codona family also opened at the turn of the century the first permanent Amusement Park in Scotland. This was called the Fun City and was located at Portobello in Edinburgh. The family operated two Roller Coasters at this time. The Figure Eight was locate at Fun City and the other travelled Scotland visiting various towns and city’s. The Figure Eight coaster visited Aberdeen for the first time in 1926 at Codona’s Spring Holiday Fair. It was located at Kittybrewster mart along with many other rides and attractions owned by the Codona family.
The Aberdeen Codona family continued to operate their travelling fairground business and in 1969 won the tender to operate the Amusement Park at Aberdeen beach. The previous operators John Crole and Sons had operated the Park from the end of World War 2. The Managing director of the business at this time was Alfred B.Codona. He was assisted by his two sons Alan Codona and Barry Codona. Since its conception Codona’s Amusement Park has continually redeveloped and has become an institution to all Aberdonians young and old. The company has continually invested into new leisure amenities including ten pin bowling, adventure golf , kids play areas and of course exciting rides for the Amusement Park. The company is presently run by the third generation of Codona family Andrea, John and Alfred. I hope this gives you a little information on the Codona family.