What is with this thread appearing 4 times? The exact same message is duplicated, this is very weird.

I second the choise of Riverview Park in Chicago. It was the greatest. We would take the Western Ave. street car from The South Side. An hour and a half ride just to get there.

I was JUST talking about Santa's Village in Scotts Valley not too long ago. There is a sign for Santa's Village Road or something like that off Hwy 17. An aquaintance was giving someone directions which included that road. She is a transplant to the area and had no idea why it was called that.

I remember Frontier Village and the Nut Tree as well.

Anybody from Mass. remember Lincoln Park? I believe it was in Dartmouth. My dad's union used to have a field day there each year but he always worked on that day so we would go later in the summer. Saw my first transvestite there. My younger brother got stitches after tripping and falling there. It was one heck of place.

Another vote for Pacific Ocean Park in Santa Monica, and Marineworld in Palos Verdes. Marineworld was the forerunner of Sea World Parks and it was great for kids! I remember "Bubbles" the whale.

Also, Lion Country Safari had a hippo that kept escaping to some nearby, natural ponds. Hippos are rather difficult to re-capture.....

Whalom Park in Lunenbug, MA. I used to go there as a kid and it is the first amusement park I remember going to. Years later I moved to Townsend, MA and lived 10 minutes away and went pratically every other day in the summer with my son. He was 2 and 3 the summers I went there and it was like a flashback for me. Naturally, everything, all the rides, food stands, etc. seemed so small but as a kid I remember being afraid of the roller coaster. It was at the edge of the park across the street from the lake. Fireworks on the lake every 4th of July to this day even though the park closed 3-4 years ago by now. Best fireworks I have seen in this area too.

Canobie Lake Park in Salem, NH is still open but it seems to be on it's last legs now.

Great thread. Thanks for dredging up some happy memories!

I think Canobie Lake Park is still doing okay. We were there last summer and had a ball. It seemed cleaner than it did from the last trip 2 years prior. Prices were reasonable. It certainly is worth a drive from the Boston area.

Ahhh, Meesthare, Sunnyside!!! I remember it well. I drive the Gardner Expressway frequently and think of Sunnyside quite often as I'm passing....especially in the summer. Fond memories of hot summer days.

Add me to the Pontchartrain Beach (New Orleans) list! I remember the thrill of being able to "Pay One Price" for all the rides and eating dinner at the Bali Hai restaurant! My father knew the owners - and we often got in free - an even bigger thrill!

J Correa: when we were going to San Jose to watch my son play college football awhile ago, I noticed that sign. It says, "Santa's Village Road" exit. I just assumed it was for Santa's Village, until I found it that it closed long ago. Lots of great home movies of me there when I was around two!

It was Christmas all year long at that park! ***kim*** :)

I remember Jungle Habitat in Northern NJ. I think the animals all died one winter from mismanagement or something like that. I never went to Palisades Amusement Park (my parents wouldn't take us) but I can sing that drated song. "...swings all day and after dark."

I remember Steeplechase at Coney Island. Going there as a kid was such a treat. What an unbelievably dangerous ride the steeplechase horses were! The parachute jump, The Cyclone. Great memories.

Crystal Beach Amusement Park. It was on Lake Erie in Crystal Beach, Ontario just a few miles from the Peace Bridge that connects Buffalo to Canada. It was a wonderful, old fashioned place with wooden rollercoasters, the laff in the dark, fun house, etc. It was right along the lake, which gave it a certain atmosphere...the lake smell, the seagulls. I have wonderful memories.......................

I remember Santa's Village! It was kind of strange in a way. All Christmas, all the time! And those poor reindeer, I wonder where they ended up? I've heard that one of the buildings was moved to the Sorensen's Resort in Hope Valley in the Sierra's. It's now a cabin that you can rent out.
Across hiway 17 there used to be a "tree circus" w/ trees that were grown in different shaps.

Viamar, it was very strange!!! We would usually visit in the summer, so it was pretty cool to see Santa & his reindeer then. I wonder how long the place has been closed? Kind of like something out of a Chevy Chase movie! LOL ***kim***

I too loved Marineland in Pacific Palisades, CA when I was little. I liked that it had a more serene feel than Sea World in San Diego. I was always enchanted by the bluff it sat on and the enormous ocean view. And the penguins, the beginning of a long love affair.

I always "insist" we go to the Santa's Village off the road of the same name on Hwy 17 near Santa Cruz, but my boyfriend always insists there's nothing there. And I still stand by the fact that a closed Christmas-themed amusement park has got to be better than that other great SJ area attraction, the bore-me-to-tears Winchester House. Ha!

love
roxy

Savin Rock amusement park in West Haven, Ct. has been gone since the early 50's. Replaced by "redevelopment" i.e. shopping center, condos and other non-fun and undesirable "improvements".

Marine Land was an annual trip in our family when I was growing up. I've never even been to Sea World yet. I'd like to go back and visit Marine Land sometime now and see the changes that have been made over the years. ***kim***

I'm thinking that Santa's Village has been closed for 20 years or so. I'm not sure, but I think it closed some time in the early 80s.

Does any one remember River Side amusement park in Indianapolis? I think it closed 1969.