1950's Pacific Ocean Park video

[crispy]

I was very shocked to find this very old video about Pacific Ocean Park on You Tube, it does include a short bit about thier coaster, offering great thrills

 

 

anyway, check it out

 

 

 

 

 

 

EDIT:, some good info from Wikipedia.com

 

Pacific Ocean Park was a twenty-eight acre (110,000 m²), nautical-themed amusement park built on a pier at Santa Monica, California which was intended to compete with Disneyland. Though technically located at a Santa Monica address, locals always considered the park to be part of the Venice Beach scene, and to this day most include it in the colorful history of Venice, California.

 

"POP," as it was soon nicknamed, was a joint venture between CBS and Santa Anita. It opened on Saturday, July 28, 1958 with an attendance figure of 20,000. The next day, the park drew 37,262 which handily outperformed Disneyland's attendance figure that same day. Admission was ninety cents for adults which included access to the park and certain exhibits. The term "POP" was also used as a clever acronym for "Pay One Price", though other rides and attractions were on a pay-as-you-go basis.

 

Like Disneyland, Pacific Ocean Park found corporate sponsors to share the expenses of some of the exhibits. Six of the pier's original attractions were incorporated into the new park: The Sea Serpent roller coaster, the antique Looff carousel, the Toonerville Fun House, the Glass House, twin diving bells and a Strat-o-liner rocket ride.

 

 

And how it ended

 

In 1965, Santa Monica began its Ocean Park urban renewal project. Buildings in the surrounding area were demolished and streets leading to the park were closed. As a result, visitors simply couldn't reach the park and attendance plummeted to 621,000 in 1965 and 398,700 in 1966.

 

At the end of the 1967 tourist season, the park's creditors and the City of Santa Monica filed suit to take control of the property because of back taxes and back rent owed by the park's new owner since 1965. Pacific Ocean Park closed on October 6, 1967. The park's assets were auctioned off June 28 through June 30, 1968. The proceeds from the sale of thirty-six rides and sixteen games were used to pay off creditors. The ruins of the pier became a favorite surfing area and hangout of the Z-Boys of Dogtown fame. The park's dilapidated buildings and pier structure remained until several suspicious fires occurred and it was finally demolished in the winter of 1974-75.

 

Other than a few underwater pilings and signs warning of them, nothing remains of Pacific Ocean Park today. However, a few miles north, the original Santa Monica Pier does feature a newer amusement park, similarly called Pacific Park. Today, the rides and attractions of the Santa Monica Pier include the old Carousel that is featured prominently in the 1973 Academy Award -winning film,The Sting.

[Nrthwnd]

Wow. Memories....

 

Way back in (ulp) 1963, I got my first trip to Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm AND a 'known' add-on to P.O.P. I was 10, but savvy enough to already know about Pacfic Ocean Park. Had the flyer and all the information...

 

But - for some reason - and this was around Easter of all times - the park was closed. I was devastated. Crying. It took a round of miniature golf to help me "get over" that disappointment. And it took me another 12 years to get back to California, but alas, P.O.P. was no more...

 

Thanks for the link - that was a hoot. And OMG - Emmett Kelly! Retro Famous Clown Flashback!

 

[B.Toast]

Very cool video, it makes me want to go there!

[Jon Sabo]

That was a classic video. Hey? that looked like Red Skelton walking with the peeps..lol

I love the way that skyride went over the ocean. We sure don't see that anymore. I was curious though...wasn't there a huge skyride/lift somewhere in Japan or China that went up the mountain?

[mummyjohn]

If any of you have the NoLimits simulation and opened up the ride file from the Sea Serpent coaster in update v. 1.33, it has a little story in the track info by the guy who made the recreation - he was there on the park's closing day!

 

And, with more odd stories from the past:

 

When my mom was at P.O.P. back in the day, she was bragging to her mom for a week or so about how she was finally gonna ride the Sea Serpent. When she got there, she basically got too scared of it to go on the ride, but then in her lunch there was a note from her mom about 'oh how proud I am that you're finally riding this' etc... so she had no choice but to ride it.

Goofy story, yes, but I got stuck in a similar scenario, except with Superman Ulitmate Ecscape at Magic Mountain....but it turned out to be so great that I went front seat the next time!

[Sean Menefee]

You can find more info about POP with the link below:

http://naid.sppsr.ucla.edu/venice/articles/pop.htm

 

Enjoy,

 

Sean-

[Corkscrewed]

That's pretty awesome! I love these old time videos that provide a glimpse into what used to be. Videos from the 1950s, with their happy, carefree sense of nostalgia, are particularly fun to watch.

[apollo210]

That make me want to go back in time. Looks fun really fun . To bad it closed . It probobly would have closed forever due to compatition from Disny and Knott's. Which is why sometimes I hate the big parks . I'm into marine life and it looks life heaven in that park!

[Musical Pete]

Lovely to see.

 

For a full ride on the coaster (if you like that sort of thing, can't imagine anybody here like that..) then download your quality file of choice from here (there's lots of nice stuff at the IA). The coaster part is about 13 minutes in. Worth it though..

[ECZenith]

Kumba9, I believe the skyride you are reffering to is Ocean Park's in Hong Kong, China. The Alveys should be pretty familiar with this one.

HUGE skyride.

[coasterguy4]

I am a freak about this park! My step dads dad owned this park. The sky ride is called Ocean Bubbles. It looks really exciting. God I wish I was born 50 early!