Pacific Ocean Park is a twenty-eight-acre theme park (110,000 mÃ,²) built on Pier Avenue Pier in the Ocean Park section of Santa Monica, California, intended to compete with Disneyland. Once closed and falling into damage, the park and the dock anchored in the Dogtown area of ​​Santa Monica.
Video Pacific Ocean Park
History
"POP" (pronounced "pee-oh-pee"), because it's soon nicknamed, is a joint venture between CBS and Santa Anita Park. Opened on Saturday, July 28, 1958 with a presence of 20,000. The next day, the 37.262 fascinating park surpassed the presence of Disneyland that day. Admission is ninety cents for adults including access to certain parks and exhibits. The term "POP" is also used as a smart acronym for "One Paid Price", although other rides and attractions use a pay-as-you-go system.
Like Disneyland, Pacific Ocean Park finds corporate sponsors to share the cost of some exhibits. Six of the original attractions of the pier are incorporated into the new park: The Sea Serpent roller coaster, Looff antique carousel, Toonerville Fun House, Glass House, twin sub bells and more.
Maps Pacific Ocean Park
Attractions
Among the complementary standard attractions and carnival-style rides are as follows:
- The Westinghouse Enchanted Forest/USSÃ, Nautilus Submarine Exhibit features a 150-foot (46 m) atomic reactor model over time.
- House of Tomorrow themed like a similar "look of the future" displayed at Disneyland and World's Fair. Electro, the talking and smoking robot of the 1939 World Fair, is a prominent display.
- Sea Circus is included in the base price. The show of dolphins and sea lions was played for a 2000 audience at a time. After the show, visitors can feed the seals in the Pool Seal.
- Diving Bell where passengers are submerged into a large tank through a hydraulic piston. The underwater view of the tank is visible through the peephole. The trip was made by Martine and this is their Double Marine Diving Bell. Other trips like that also exist in single mode on Long Beach Nupike and also Coney Island Astroland. The travel sensation occurs when the bell is allowed to "surface." When the hydraulic pressure holds the bell downwards the bell will shoot back to the surface in a dramatic way.
- Ocean Skyway built by Von Roll is a bubble-shaped gondola that falls 75 feet (23 m) above sea level. Passengers were treated a journey of one and a half miles (800 m) to the sea and back.
- Union 76 Ocean Highway is similar to Autopia Disneyland attractions. Visitors can drive a miniature, gasoline-powered car on the simulated highway.
- Flights to Mars is an audio-visual presentation that simulates a trip to Mars.
- Flying Carpet is a Tales of the Arabian Nights themed vehicle. The "flying carpet" suspended in the overhead lane brings visitors to an Arab-themed diorama.
- Mirror Maze is a standard funhouse attraction.
- Davy Jones' Locker is another funhouse with a nautical theme.
- Flying Dutchman is a dark journey similar to Pirates of the Caribbean theme from Disneyland but without animatronic figures.
- Deepest Deep simulates a submarine cruise. Unlike the Disneyland Submarine attraction, "Deepest Deep" takes place on the water.
- Surround the World in 80 Turns is an unusual combination of travel and driving sensations. Vehicle ride that resembles a tub of sharp piles to the right and to the left to show the travel scene from all over the world. This attraction closed in the middle of the second season of the park due to complaints of nausea and neck and back pain.
- Safari Dark Ride is an interactive children's journey where riders on miniature Jeeps use electronic rifles to "hunt" animals in African forests.
- Mystery Tour of Banana Island Considered by many to ride the best Pacific Ocean Park horses, passengers are treated to a tropical banana plantation ride trek complete with simulated volcanoes and simulated earthquakes.
- Sea Wolf Roller Coaster is a wooden roller coaster, 1926 Hi-Boy from the original dock.
- Mahi Mahi is a large tower with rotating arms that end in a jet-style car, each having eight passengers. A Stantzel Strat-O-Liner, these six rides were produced; no today.
- Whirl Pool is the centrifuge that pinned the rider to the wall as the floor slowly dropped below them. This ride is basically a themed Chance Rotor ride.
- Sir. Dolphin is another original dock attraction.
- Flying Fish is a miniature roller coaster made by Carlos and Ramigosi. It was the first Wild Mouse steel roller coaster in the US.
- Carousel is a 1926-vintage Looff carousel from the original dock.
- Fisherman's Cove and International Promenade is a shopping, dining and souvenir area featuring good international restaurants.
- King Neptunes Courtyard is a colorful street under the ocean to see the nest of King Neptunes.
- Mrs.Squid also known as "The Ahuna Thrill Ride" is an Eyerly Double Octopus Trip with squid decorations in the center. The journey has 16 tubs, each carrying 2 passengers.
- Sir. Octopus is a standard Eyerly Octopus trip with 8 tubs.
On January 5, 1959, Pacific Ocean Park attracted 1,190,000 visitors. Although plans were made to add four new attractions, only two were completed at a cost of $ 2,000,000. They:
- Space Wheels , a pair of unique double Ferris wheels. Produced by Velare Brothers from Signal Hill, CA. This attraction still exists today and is owned by the Drew Exposition of Georgia.
- Fun Forests , children's areas with labyrinths and slides and helicopters, boats, monorails, and covered wagon trains.
Decline
In 1965, Santa Monica embarked on an Ocean Park urban renewal project. Buildings in the surrounding area were destroyed and the road to the park closed. As a result, visitors find it difficult to reach the park and its presence dropped to 621,000 in 1965 and 398,700 in 1966.
At the end of the tourist season of 1967, park creditor and Santa Monica City filed a lawsuit to take over the property due to taxes and rents returned by the park's new owner since 1965. Pacific Ocean Park closed on October 6, 1967. Park assets auctioned off June 28 to June 30, 1968. The sale of thirty-six rides and sixteen games was used to pay off creditors. The ruins of the dock become a favorite surf area and hangout for Z-Boys of Dogtown fame. The dilapidated buildings and pier structures in the park remained until several suspicious fires had occurred and were eventually destroyed in the winter of 1974-75.
In addition to some poles and underwater signs that warn them, there's nothing left of Pacific Ocean Park today. A few miles north, the original Santa Monica Pier has a newer amusement park, also called Pacific Park. Today, the rides and attractions of the Santa Monica Pier include the Carousel featured in the 1973 Academy Award winning film The Sting.
References
- Pacific Ocean Park's antique photos, maps and history
- Jeffrey Stanton, 1987, Venice of America: Coney Island in the Pacific , Donahue Publishing: Los Angeles, CA, 1987, 176 p. 1960, Chapter 8: Pacific Ocean Park (1958 - 1967)
External links
- Subterranean Web Site of P.O.P.
33,998 Â ° N 118,488 Â ° W / 33,998; -118.482
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments