Originally Posted By trekkeruss When I was growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area back in the 60's, my parents took to us kids to a place in San Jose called Frontier Village. I don't have many memories of the park, but I know we went more than a few times, and I think I probably enjoyed it as much as Disneyland... but hey, I was a kid. The one thing I remember doing was this "spin art;" a card was place on a spining turntable, and you drizzed paint on it. <a href="http://www.frontiervillage.net/pages/history.html" target="_blank">http://www.frontiervillage.net /pages/history.html</a> I also remember that one year we visited the Japanese Gardens and Deer Park. I wish I could find some photos of that place, to jar my brain about what the heck was there. If you have memories of other theme parks, old and/or out-of-bunsiness, please post them here... I'd love to read about 'em.
Originally Posted By AZDLDad Growing up (1960's) in Oklahoma City we had Frontier City (now affiliated with Six Flags) <a href="http://www.sixflags.com/parks/frontiercity/" target="_blank">http://www.sixflags.com/parks/ frontiercity/</a> and several other amusement parks - Springlake-<a href="http://www.metrotech.org/campuses/sl-history/park-photos.html" target="_blank">http://www.metrotech.org/campu ses/sl-history/park-photos.html</a> Wedgewood- <a href="http://www.picturemeonline.com/wedgewood/park.html" target="_blank">http://www.picturemeonline.com /wedgewood/park.html</a> (borrowed from <a href="http://www.ok-history.mus.ok.us/enc/amuseparks.htm" target="_blank">http://www.ok-history.mus.ok.u s/enc/amuseparks.htm</a>) Oklahoma City boasted three amusement parks in the mid-twentieth century: Wedgewood, Springlake, and Frontier City. In 1924, after his spring-fed pond in northeast Oklahoma City had been open to swimming and picnicking for six years, Roy Staton built a swimming pool there. Later expanding his park, he bought many of the rides from the defunct Belle Isle Park, built a ballroom, and in 1929 added the Big Dipper roller coaster, a fixture in the park for almost fifty years. The height of Springlake's popularity extended from the 1950s into the 1960s, and the park attracted top entertainers of the era including Johnny Cash, the Righteous Brothers, Roy Acuff, and Conway Twitty. A large riot that erupted in 1971 in the park, between whites and blacks, frightened away potential customers and hastened Springlake's demise. A change of ownership, poor maintenance, and fire led to the park's 1981 sale to the Oklahoma City Vo-Tech Board, which closed Springlake for good. Wedgewood Village Amusement Park operated in northwest Oklahoma City in the late1950s and 1960s. Wedgewood, opened in 1958, had a fine carousel, swimming, boating, a roller coaster, and all the standard amenities before closing in 1969. Frontier City, owned at the beginning of the twenty-first century by the Oklahoma City-based Six Flags Inc., one of the largest amusement companies in the nation, began operation in 1958 on the heavily traveled Route 66 and I-35 in northeast Oklahoma City. Using a western theme and moving an entire western town from the Oklahoma State Fair, the new park attracted 1.2 million visitors in the first year. Although Frontier City had lean years, the theme park continued to entertain the region into the twenty-first century by providing nationally recognized entertainment and an ever-growing selection of thrill rides. I believe to this day that visits to these places left an indelible mark that blossomed into my love of the Disney Parks in my older years.
Originally Posted By schnebs It's not really a theme park, but one of the places I really enjoyed as a kid that I miss is Movie World/Cars of the Stars in Buena Park. They had the biggest collection of movie props that I'd ever seen - everything from 3 Herbies from the Disney films to the Seaview from the movie version of "Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea". It always took me hours to go through the place with my dad - I didn't want to miss a single prop from any movie I'd seen. Who knows what the collection was worth in the 70's when I went there, but all that stuff would probably be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars now with the escalation of prices for movie memorabilia. The collection is probably scattered to the four winds by now - a pity, since it'd be really cool to see all that stuff again in one place.
Originally Posted By TomSawyer We lived a few blocks away from Woodland Park in Seattle when I was growing up. There used to be a small amusement park near the Zoo that had a few off-the-shelf rides, a small Ferris wheel, and a train ride that went through the park a little ways. It was nothing spectacular and it only covered a couple of acres, but it was close and cheap. We used to be able to look down from the sidewalk outside my house and see the top of the Ferris wheel in the trees. And in the summer, when the little train was running, we could hear it's whistle throughout the day when we were playing outside. (This city was a much quieter place in those days - I remember being able to hear the regular train horns in the middle of the night, and the nearest tracks were 4 or 5 miles away. And I remember hearing foghorns on foggy nights.) The train was just a little amusement park train, but the route took it over two trestles, through the park itself, and through a small shed tunnel. There was a small carousel, a circular boat ride, a small car ride on a wooden track - all gentle rides. And of course there was a place to get snacks and cotton candy. The train made our play acting even more fun. We could be commandos setting charges underneath the trestle, or we could be outlaws waiting to ambush the mail train. We could race the train in certain spots. Or we could get yelled at by the engineer for putting pennies on the track, which we did a few times. The place was probably a dump. I remember seeing the mildew stains in the small boat ride, and the heavy dark tracks where the car tires rode over the wooden planks. I doubt the place had seen a coat of paint in all the years I knew of it. But it had just enough very faint echoes of Disneyland that I liked just watching the rides when I didn't have the money to ride them. The zoo next door was free in those days, so we spent a lot of time wandering around there as well. The amusement rides were taken out when the zoo started expanding (and charging).
Originally Posted By brotherdave Sea World Ohio, near Cleveland. I really miss that park, even though it's only been gone a few years now. Lots of fun and it was great seing marine life like orcas, sea lions, dolphins, etc that you don't normally get to see in your local zoo. Very pretty park, too! It's too bad that Six Flags had to buy it, merge it with Geauga Lake across the way, then sell it and take all the animals. Now, what's left of the park is nothing but a waterpark now (although it's a nice one.)
Originally Posted By t1lersm0m ^^I was only there once, when Tyler was about 2 (so probably 6 years ago) and would have loved to go back!
Originally Posted By wahooskipper Sea World, Ohio was a hidden gem. When opened I considered it one of the top 5 prettiest parks in the country. It was an odd location for a Sea World but children throughout the Midwest who might not otherwise be exposed to marine life certainly got a thrill while it was there. Idora Park in Youngstown is another lost traditional park that I fondly remember.
Originally Posted By bloona We enjoyed Boardwalk and Baseball theme park In/Near Orlando, we went in 1988. It was a great place. Good rides and lots of baseball (surprise surprise) things, like have you picture placed on a card, have a go at pitching, watch a game etc. Pity it was closed when we went 2 years later.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper I have an uncle who was a few days away from buying Boardwalk and Baseball but a couple of the banks balked. That land is now being developed pretty heavily after sitting vacant for many years.
Originally Posted By bloona oh Im glad you posted that wahooskipper! I remember when I mentioned if anyone else remembered the park when I first joined LP, I knew someone had posted that about their uncle, but I couldnt remember any names from back then. I loved it there! Didnt you tell me there was something about Anhauser Busch? We were told they had bought it to close it.Sorry I cant remember exactly now.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper A/B and some others may have looked at buying B&B but I don't think anything official ever happened there. My uncle had a group of investors lined up and was pretty serious about it, being a devote baseball fan and avid collector. There were some inherent problems with that property, not the least of which was limited expansion and poor location. The upside was that it had a Spring Training stadium (the Royals I believe) but it was a pretty old facility if I recall. With Disney expanding and Universal coming online B&B was the odd man out.
Originally Posted By amazedncal2 I remember Frontier Village I went once as a teenager, it's funny because I only remember Fred Flintstone and that it was raining. I think they had a petting zoo. I also remember Santa's Village that was on the way to Santa Cruz. We took our oldest daughter there, probably in 1977 or 78. They had the BEST chocolate chip cookies at Mrs. Claus' hut. Nice themed rides for little kids. By the time we had our other kids it was closed and then torn down.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan Trekkeruss, I remember Frontier Village well. They used to have a comedic gunfight outside the saloon every day. They had a nice train ride and the spooky Lost Dutchman Mine Ride. And I remember the spin art you could do there, too! They played music over the PA system (the outside walls looked like a cavalry fort) and whenever I hear the Bonanza theme, I think of Frontier Village more than the TV show. And amazedncal -- Santa's Village was very cool. One of those classic roadside attractions that there seem to be fewer and fewer of as the years go by.
Originally Posted By avromark Good ole boblo (I57 probably knows this one) <a href="http://www.walkervilletimes.com/long-live-boblo.html" target="_blank">http://www.walkervilletimes.co m/long-live-boblo.html</a> <a href="http://cec.chebucto.org/ClosPark/Boblo.html" target="_blank">http://cec.chebucto.org/ClosPa rk/Boblo.html</a>
Originally Posted By bob12 I went to Boardwalk and Baseball when I was younger but I also remember going to the same park when it was Circus World before it became B&B.
Originally Posted By brotherdave Actually, Anheuser Busch bought Boardwalk and Baseball from Harcortt-Brace-Jovanivich along with Cypress Gardens and all four (at least then) Sea World parks. It was a package sale as HBJ did not want to sell the parks seperately. The parks were sold in the fall of 1989, and B&B was closed the following January by A-B corporate. Many of the rides were moved to other A-B parks, including the log flume to Sea World Texas. Everything else was sold off. As was apparent, A-B had no intentions of operating another ride park so close to Busch Gardens Tampa. As for Cypress Gardens, they operated the park for a few years, and then sold the park. CG did fairly well under that management, but could not compete when all the new competition opened in recent years (IOA & DAK). The park closed, but was bought by Kent Buescher, owner of Wild Adventures in Valdosta, GA. He added a bunch of new rides and was able to turn the operation around, this time marketing more to the local market than to tourists.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Hmmm, I miss the Old Marineland in Redwood City, and although I got excited when it moved to Vallejo (especially because I had family there), I couldn't believe how much they ruined it when Six Flags bought it! Also, I just about remember Frontier Village and Santa's Village. Remember when they used to heavily advertise them in the Magic Kingdom Club magazine along with Big Trees, Marriott's Great America and the Winchester Mystery House.
Originally Posted By bloona brotherdave, thanks a lot for that. I remember now hearing of them being bought as a package! really interesting thanks.
Originally Posted By wonderingalice Busch Gardens in So. Cal. was cool... An awesome (as I remember) log flume ride and beer (though I was too young for the beer). The tram tour of the factory was neat, too. And the Santa's Village I remember with so much fondness was the one near Lake Arrowhead and Crestline. Luckily, my parents have some OLD (before I was born) 8mm home movie footage of it, so I can still see the neat buildings and Santa and the real reindeer! On a side... A few years ago my parents had a company put all of their home movies (I was SO cute and at some times SUCH a dork! *LOL*) from the '50s through the '70s on VHS with music. Last year, a friend of mine put the tape on DVDs for me. Cool!
