The amusement park industry existed prior to the debut of Disneyland in 1955, but Walt Disney’s creation was very different to the typical fun park of the day. It replaced steel thrill rides with carefully-crafted dark rides, surly operators with friendly Cast Members and ugly concrete surroundings with beautifully-themed landscapes. It was so different that it became known not as an “amusement park”, but as a “theme park”.
Despite an infamous opening day beset by overcrowding and technical problems, Disneyland proved to be an overnight success. During its first week, 161,657 visitors passed through its gates. Just seven weeks after opening, the park registered its one millionth guest, and by the end of the first year total attendance had reached 3.6 million.
Others were looking on enviously as Disneyland thrived. Inevitably, a slew of rival parks were soon announced, each looking to cash in on the new market for family-friendly theme parks. Tens of millions of pounds were invested in creating these wonderlands, but they were lacking a critical ingredient: the influence of Walt Disney himself.
Modest, “regional” theme parks such as Six Flags Over Texas found a market, and Universal succeeded in creating a new type of attraction with its studio tour. But those that attempted to become Disneyland-style “destination parks” failed one-by-one – often quite spectacularly. Let’s take a look at 5 of the best examples.
5. Magic Mountain (Denver, Colorado)
During the construction of Disneyland, dozens of talented art directors and engineers were hired to work on the project. After the park opened, many of them were let go. Naturally, those looking to build rival theme parks were quick to hire them to take advantage of their expertise.
One of the enterpreneurs looking to enter the theme park business was Walter Francis Cobb, who had already created several roadside attractions in the Denver area. In 1957, he teamed up with John Calvin Sutton to form Magic Mountain, Inc. and announced plans to build the first full-scale theme park to be constructed by a company other than Disney.
Immediately, Cobb began hiring ex-Disneyland employees. The most prominent was C.V. Wood, the man who led the construction of Disneyland but later fell out with Walt Disney and formed his own consulting firm, Marco Engineering. Wood’s firm included a host of veteran Hollywood art directors, including some who had helped design Disneyland.
Magic Mountain was to occupy a sprawling 600-acre site at the foot of the mountains at Apex Gulch. The park was to celebrate the past, present and future of Colorado, and its design was strikingly similar to that of Disneyland. A narrow-gauge railway would circle the park, which would feature lands including Centennial City (similar to Frontierland), Storybook Lane (similar to Fantasyland) and Magic of Industry (similar to Tomorrowland).
From 1957-59, a host of attractions were built, including the railroad and a Main Street, USA-style area. Almost immediately, though, financial problems surfaced, and the plans were scaled back – with Magic of Industry and Storybook Lane being dropped altogether. An artifical ski slope was installed and proved to be successful, but the theme park was shuttered in 1960. Many of its rides were sold off to Six Flags Over Texas, a regional theme park with more modest ambitions.
Image: Xnatedawgx, Wikipedia
Eventually, in 1970, Magic Mountain was resurrected as Heritage Square, a themed shopping village that is free to enter. It is still operating today, although some areas are left as abandoned reminders of its past.
4. Pacific Ocean Park (Santa Monica, California)
CBS had declined to be involved in Disneyland, with rival network ABC taking the plunge and becoming a major investor instead. After Disneyland opened, it seemingly realised its mistake. It partnered with Santa Anita Park to build Pacific Ocean Park, a nautical-themed park built on the existing Ocean Park Pier on Pier Avenue in Santa Monica. Dozens of Hollywood designers were brought in to transform the pier into a 28-acre themed park.
Unlike Magic Mountain, Pacific Ocean Park initially looked to be a huge success. It opened on July 28, 1958, pulling in 20,000 guests on its opening day. It was so popular that its attendance actually topped that of Disneyland for the first six days.
Image: Jeffery Scism
Pacific Ocean Park featured a sea-green and white color scheme, with a spectacular entrance boasting fountains, a frieze and an enormous sculpture of a sea horse. The POP acronym was cleverly used to market the park, with the “Pay One Price” slogan being used to refer to its 90 cent admission fee. In reality, this covered access to some exhibits, but many rides cost extra.
The park featured some unique attractions, such as the Nautilus Submarine Exhibit (a 150-foot model of the atomic reactor section of a nuclear submarine), the Sea Circus (a 2,000-seater stadium for dolphin and sea lion shows) and the Diving Bells (which saw passengers in diving bells being pushed underwater by hydraulic pistons, viewing marine life through a porthole).
The early promise of Pacific Ocean Park led to it being mentioned in the Beach Boys’ song “Amusement Parks U.S.A.”, which featured the line “And Disneyland and POP is worth a trip to L.A.”. But it wasn’t to last. The second season was disappointing, prompting the owners to sell the park to John Morehard for $10 million. Its struggles continued, however, and maintenance began to suffer. After several further changes of owner, it was finally shuttered in October 1967.
Image: Mr Rollers
Image: Jerry Raia
The park’s rides were auctioned off, but the pier and many buildings remained in place. Arson took its toll, and it was finally demolished in the winter of 1973-74.
3. Freedomland U.S.A. (Bronx, New York)
After Disneyland opened, Walt Disney was approached by several groups about the possibility of opening an east coast version of the park. One of the proposed sites was near New York, but Disney rejected it on the basis that it would not be able to operate year-round.
Fresh from being fired by Disney, C.V. Wood had already played a big role in designing the doomed Magic Mountain. But he wouldn’t stop there – he also took up the challenge of creating a theme park in New York. He partnered with Milton T. Raynor, a television sports producer and attorney to build Freedomland U.S.A., perhaps the best known early Disneyland rival of all.
Freedomland would sit on the site of a former municipal landfill, with the park itself covering 85 acres. Hundreds of artists and architects were brought in, while Broadway composer Jule Styne wrote an original soundtrack for the park. A total of $65 million was invested, with the park featuring eight miles of navigable waterways and lakes, 10,000 trees, 18 dining outlets and parking for 72,000 cars.
Just like Pacific Ocean Park, Freedomland U.S.A. initially looked certain to be a massive success. On its opening day, June 19, 1960, 65,000 visitors attended. The following day, traffic jams leading to the park forced it to stop selling tickets.
The park was shaped like a giant map of the US, with areas dedicated to Old New York, Old Chicago, The Great Plains, San Francisco, The Old Southwest, New Orleans and Satellite City (inspired by Florida’s “Space Coast”). It boasted no fewer than four unique dark rides, each built by Arrow Development – a key partner of Disney.
The San Francisco Earthquake ride was a typical example. In the queue, guests listened to a commentary about the great earthquake of 1906, and the loading area featured a mural depicting the ruined skyline of the city after the disaster struck. Riders boarded antique automobiles, and then found themselves “driving” on the city’s streets the night before the earthquake. Then, suddenly, the buildings began to shake, with one even sliding towards the car.
Freedomland’s opening season was beset by problems. Less than a week after opening, a stagecoach overturned in the Great Plains section, causing ten injuries including a broken spine. Two months later, armed men made off with more than $28,000 from the park’s front office. By the end of 1961, the park was $8 million in debt. Competition from the 1964 New York World’s Fair was the final straw, with the park being declared bankrupt and subsequently being demolished.
2. Pirates World
While Walt Disney was considering building a second theme park on the east coast, he held discussions with the Recreation Corporation of America. RCA, though, balked at the cost – and Disney ultimately went it alone with Walt Disney World.
RCA continued to look for a way into the theme park market, however, and developed its own park in Florida. The 100-acre Pirates World opened in 1967 in Dania – meaning that it actually opened some four years before the Magic Kingdom.
Pirates World’s attractions included The Crows Nest, an observation tower that had originally been the Belgian Aerial Tower at the 1964/65 New York World’s Fair. Another highlight was the Pirate Ship, which cruised along a “river”, coming under fire from enemy pirates. Elsewhere, a wild mouse-style roller coaster, a log flume (also acquired from the World’s Fair) and various midway-style rides rounded out the line-up.
Due to the RCA connection, several major bands (including Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath) were attracted to perform concerts at Pirates World. It performed well initially, but the folly of RCA’s decision not to collaborate with Disney soon became clear. The park struggled after the 1971 debut of the Magic Kingdom, and was forced into bankruptcy by 1973. It was eventually developed into housing.
1. Circus World
Located just north of Haines City, Circus World was originally intended to be the winter header quarters of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. In 1974, an enormous, 27,000 square foot building that was designed to look a circus tent opened. Inside, guests could find an IMAX movie theater, and other attractions soon joined this: a carousel, a wooden roller coaster, a ferris wheel.
Circus World was intended to be a serious rival to Walt Disney World. At the time, the Barnum & Bailey Circus was opened by toy manufacturer Mattel – a firm that (theoretically) had more than enough money to fund the $60 million theme park project, which was announced in September 1972. Disney was worried enough to mention the park in its own announcement of a major expansion, saying that it would offer more than “SeaWorld and Circus World combined”.
Some of the plans for Circus World were extraordinary. At one stage, its backers promised that it would include a spectacular signature hotel, standing at 19 stories tall and shaped like an ELEPHANT. However, it turned out that Mattel wasn’t willing to pony up $60 million after all, so many of the most exciting elements were dropped.
There were still some impressive attractions on offer, though, including the Roaring Tiger roller coaster – reputedly a favorite of Michael Jackson.
Despite competition from Walt Disney World, the park’s line-up continued to expand during the early 1980s. It began to struggle, though, and was sold to Harcourt Brace Jovanovich in 1986. It was shuttered and reemerged as Boardwalk and Baseball, one of 10 lost Florida theme parks that you can read about in our recent article.
