Hey, Thought some of you guys might dig this project I've been working on. http://enchantedkiddieland.wordpress.com/ It's my new blog about weird kiddie parks from the 50s & 60s that I've visited. Check it out if you are into that kind of this, and if you aren't- Hi anyway! Long time no talk!
http://www.santasvillage.net/santas.village.history.html Closed in 1998 due to lack in ticket sales. Save your local parks!
Thanks Guys for the great feedback. I hope you'll follow since I have a ton of photos and info that I still want to post!
Oh, I also set up a facebook page for the site if you want to follow along without checking back on the wordpress site regularly. https://www.facebook.com/EnchantedKiddieland
OH, and maybe this belongs on the instagram thread I started a million years ago, but the blog now has an instagram too! http://instagram.com/enchantedkiddieland Lots of updates on the regular site as well for those of you that weren't able to make it to comic-con and are tired of refreshing toy sites. http://enchantedkiddieland.wordpress.com/
Here is a Facebook page dedicated to the fun time park I used to go to when I was a kid. Mother Goose Land!!! https://www.facebook.com/mothergooseland The only thing that's really still there is the whale. I think they have pics on there from when they had to brick up the whale's mouth because some homeless folks were camping in his maw.
Great blog, Missy! We took our son to StoryLand in NH last month and it was great. He had a blast; and we are sure to go back... although I think that Santa's Village will be our next stop http://www.santasvillage.com/
Both are great! I hit up both of them on the same trip. Here's a few posts about Santa's Village! http://enchantedkiddieland.wordpress.com/?s=jefferson
There was a Santa's Village in Scotts Valley (not far from Santa Cruz) as well. Several of the buildings are still kinda-sorta there in poor condition. If I understand correctly the land was recently sold, although I seriously doubt the new owner will try to revive the park. Among my childhood memories of the park were weird exhibits of chickens that would do tricks if you put a coin into a slot, a refrigerated "North Pole" that kids would lick and get their tongues stuck on, and a Santa/sleigh ride that was sort of odd to see in the middle of summer. There were also bakeries and candy stores that made their goods on site. Even as a child I thought the idea of Christmas all year round was bizarre, but what the heck ... every kid loves a theme park. My favorite by far was the much-missed Frontier Village in San Jose, CA. It was large and really beautiful, a fake Old West town set among fragrant trees with lagoons, islands, candy stores, magic shows, a shooting arcade, spin art shop, fishing pond, burro rides, the works. There were numerous traditional rides including a beautiful carousel, ferris wheel, and amazing scale steam locomotive, but my favorite was the Haunted Mine Ride, a dark ride with black lights, stalagmites, a spinning quicksand pit with a screaming witchy woman eternally circling in it, lots of sharp twists and turns, scary music and a big ghost miner TNT blast at the end. Terrified me when I was about four but after that I couldn't get enough of it. The park fell victim to yuppies moving into the area as it developed who complained about noise ... the owner finally gave up and shut it down, a big loss that people still mourn ... there's even a gathering at the site each year. Anyone remember Japanese Village and Deer Park in Buena Vista? Odd combo of Japanese cultural exhibits, petting zoo, porpoise shows and deer that you could feed. Now the area is nothing more than a bunch of boring business buildings, although one tree from the park survives in the parking lot. Cool blog Missy ... hope you keep it going.
Just checked out the blog, pretty cool. There use to be this place in Cincinnati called Fantasy Farm. I remember going there as a kid.
This is a shameless self promotional post boost since its summer again and the site and social media are in full swing as I get out there and snap photos. On Instagram https://www.instagram.com/enchantedkiddieland/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EnchantedKiddieland/ and Twitter: https://twitter.com/enchantedkiddie?lang=en ALL ABOARD!
Just followed you on Facebook. Your blog is awesome. I was about to ask where the background map image on the blog is from, because it looked VERY familiar to me, but I hit "view background image" and saw it was from The Enchanted Forest. Which is insane, because, I've only been there once, probably 35 yrs ago, and I have no tangible memories of the experience. But for some reason that king from the map must have been locked away in my brain lo these many years. I must have saved that map after the visit and looked at regularly or something to have remembered it like that. Crazy. Thanks for triggering that memory for me!
Thanks Odibex! Yeah-If you are still in the area there is a farm in Ellicott City that rescued a TON of the Enchanted Forest figures and has them lovingly restored and displayed. Admission is $6 and its just perfect there! http://www.clarklandfarm.com/enchanted_forest.html
@missy Wow, that is so cool! I had no idea about that place. And they've got the whole castle, too! And they've got that whale who I was photographed with whilst sitting in his mouth. I should totally do a before/after thing.
Speaking of before/after-Check out the magic of Mark Cline (Aka Professor Cline) who repaired the whale: The man is a hero, and a miracle worker!
