Lost park in OC?

I have a question for any OC history experts out there....

I remember a park that I think was in Anaheim, when I was a child...it was a rather large park, and it had dragon or sea monster shaped slides that went down a hillside..these were BIG slides...I believe this park was on a major street like Euclid, Magnolia or Brookhurst...does anyone remember the name and location of this park?

I remember this park too!

If I recall, the serpent/dragon slide was built into the hillside and had a number of twists and turns. As a result, from the top of the slide you could not see the bottom. A very impressive slide for a public park.

Any more info would be greatly appreciated.

That's correct! They came down the hillside....the park may have been in garden grove also...

I am obsessed with finding places I used to go to in my youth....

And on a side note, anyone know the name of the field/school/park/recreation area used in bad news bears "breaking training"??

I grew up in OC too, OC had some cool parks. Moon park in Costa mesa is still there, I think.

They had cool googie and space age playground equipment all over OC. I lived in Irvine in my late teens, the city built all kinds of cool, elaborate play grounds. I was to old to enjoy them, but, it was a bummer when they started to tear them down for insurance reasons.


Mahalo,
Al

http://www.spaceagecity.com/googie/

[ Edited by: Alnshely on 2004-09-02 11:52 ]

You wouldn't be thinking of Wild Wild Wet, would you? That one wasn't a public park, but a pay per use attraction.... It was just down the road from Spaghetti Station on Ball Road... Sadly, I've yet to find any photos of this 1970's attraction, but I remember going to it!

http://www.spaghettistation.com/

No, this one was just a public park (I think) but a big one, with other recreation areas....perhaps a baseball diamond, concession stand....

The sea-serpent slides is what I remember..oh yeah, on top, where you start the slides was a large jet-fighter mock-up...

I think it was in anaheim. I remember a jet fighter in the play area and I think there was a Carl's jr down the street from the park?

al thanks for posting those pics of moon park! those brought back alot of memories for me.

i don't remember ever going to the park with the giant slides but it seems my brother used to talk about it. i'll call him and ask where it is.

as for the park with all the rockets and airplanes. wasn't it right behind or to the side of brookhurst high? i remember that park too it was a huge park! and only a few blocks from my childhood home. i can't remember the name of the street but it is a few blocks south of la palma.

It was outside the OC into Los Angeles called Griffith Park. We used to have birthday parties there - the shaded party areas would have a stage with a statue of King Neptune and we would get our picture taken while sitting in his lap.

They filmed the end of the movie "Short Cuts" there - where Chris Penn and his family are hanging out in the park, then he does something bad to a girl and the earthquake happens.

In my suburb in the OC we had a rocket ship in every park - where you could climb to the top and have a nice view. They took it down when they discovered too many teens going to the top at night to smoke weed. There is still a rocket ship park in Huntington Beach somewhere.

as for the park with all the rockets and airplanes. wasn't it right behind or to the side of brookhurst high? i remember that park too it was a huge park!

That was a cool park. It's Brookhurst Park, we called it Moon Scape Park or Sad Lands. I went to Brookhurst Jr. High and Savannah and frequented the park often, but I never drank or smoked out there - I swear!. Here's a pic of the Moon Scape:

For a cool website on Anaheim go to http://www.anaheimcolony.com

Mugs, vintage, bars, hand carved poles, apparel and more!
Everything Tiki at: http://www.bartiki.com

[ Edited by: Tiki Matt on 2004-09-02 15:40 ]

This has been driving me crazy. I think you are talking about a park in Garden Grove called Atlantis. Years ago it was free, and now to keep the riffraff out they charge $1. They have a serpent slide, a giant whale and all kinds of other magical creatures. If you were really lucky you may have had a birthday party there and been allowed to sit in Poseidon’s throne. The park is at the 22 freeway and Magnolia.

On 2004-09-02 15:42, twocentcookie wrote:
This has been driving me crazy. I think you are talking about a park in Garden Grove called Atlantis. Years ago it was free, and now to keep the riffraff out they charge $1. They have a serpent slide, a giant whale and all kinds of other magical creatures. If you were really lucky you may have had a birthday party there and been allowed to sit in Poseidon’s throne. The park is at the 22 freeway and Magnolia.

I believe that's the one I'm thinking of as well. My parents always told me later it was Griffith Park, but I see no signs on the website of a large slide or a nautical throne. Grrrrrrrrr.

What else did they lie to me about?? Is Kool-aid safe to drink? Is Adult Quiet Time not written in California's Laws? Is there no Evil Crow watching me from outside the window reporting my bad deeds?

I think it is Atlantis..I got directions, and will check it our tonight...when I know for sure, will post!!

yeah, brookhurst park is reeeeally really cool. also, just as a footnote, la mirada regional park also used to have a cool rocket jungle gym that was probably twice as tall as the ones in brookhurst park.

The drunken hat wrote:
"La mirada regional park also used to have a cool rocket jungle gym that was probably twice as tall as the ones in brookhurst park."
Dude.
I lived Two blocks away from that rocket when I was a kid. I used to go there all the time. I was thinking about that rocket earlier today, it had a big slide on it. Small world, Huh?
Mahalo,
Al

yes it is a small world!! we used to go there all the time to play disc golf! that is an awesome park as well. it is huge! also the rocket that was there is now gone. by the way what the hell are those weird trees that have spikes on the trunks at that park? i've never seen them anywhere else. we'd call them the cave-man trees. they kinda look prehistoric!

Hey I remember an amusment park on Knott and Oragethorpe that had a dragon slide and it had Japanese Gardens and A frame buildings it was called JAPANESE DEAR PARK!!
Could that be what you are thinking of. If not, does anybody remember this place?
Spermy

The park you are asking about WAS Atlantis, and it's famous attraction was the Dragonslide. I think it was in Garden Grove, but I will do a bit of research and find out more for sure.

Japanese Deer Park was great. A bunch of my Dad's business chronies started a Sister City program between Garden Grove and some city in Japan...exchanging an Orange Tree for a Cherry Tree...

One of the weird exchange gifts was a pair of white Japanese Ducks..they looked like regular ducks but didn't quack. They made squeaks.

Their eventual home was Japanese Deer Park, after wrecking havoc on our home for a year or two...I remember letting them go...it was sad and happy.

In the late '70s there was a great little pub called "Zeb's Boat House" is that place still there? It was like a weird old attic.

That Spaghetti Western place opened in 1980 or 1980, and was VERY liberal about trying to get College kids from OCC and GWC to make it their roost.
They sent many free passes for dinner and drinks which were supposed to be placed in the college newspapers...but instead were used by the Journalism Staff for weeks at a time.

There was also a great place I think called Newport Dunes where you could swim in some lagoon...It had fiberglass whales that I loved. I suppose it's gone now...along with the Go Cart track on Harbor by the Van's Shoe Store.

I'm tearing up...

I remember the Japanese Deer Park. When people came into town it was one of the many places we always took them. If memory serves they closed it in the early 80s.
My favorite in the Knott’s area was the free section of the park and that island they had with the crazy wood people/animal things.
Do you remember the alligator farm in Buena Park? My parents told me that the alligators were all diseased and we couldn’t go there. Perhaps this was a lie?

For more on Knott's Jungle Island - go here:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=8541&forum=6

For more on the Japanese Deer Park, go here:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=6496&forum=6

On 2004-09-02 18:10, the drunken hat wrote:
La mirada regional park also used to have a cool rocket jungle gym that was probably twice as tall as the ones in brookhurst park.

Ya, I grew up in La mirada for 17 years. Reminisced with Alnshely about it.
Knew the rocket ship well and became pretty good at Frisbee golf. We also did ice blocking down the hills.

What about Billy Barty's "Cars of the Stars"?!?!?! Little People Rock!

I grew up in Long Beach and remember so many cool attractions as a kid in the late 60's/early 70's. Here's what I recall from youth regarding "attractions in general" not mentioned asides from the big parks...

Wax Museum (still there?)
Miniature Golf on Spring Street (anybody remember that?)
Los Altos Drive-In
Circle Drive-In
Java Lanes
The Pike
Rainbow Pier

Holden

Ahh, the Pike!

I died there on a rollor coaster way back. Actually, my Dads brother. I have newspaper clippings that have my first and last name. It's really freaky coming across those while searching for x-mas stuff in the attic every year.

It WAS Atlantis, and it was the coolest park of all, I vaguely remember it. I played there with my brother....my eyes are beginning to sweat. Feeling really old.

Benno,
That roller coaster was called "The Cyclone Racer" and yes bro, I rembember you telling me that story. On the Discovery Channel, they talked about the "Haunted ride?" at the Pike and how they uncovered real dead bodies that they used as props! That place freaked me out as a kid... no wonder! Freaky Deaky!!!
Holden

On 2004-09-06 00:18, smogbreather wrote:
...the Pike and how they uncovered real dead bodies that they used as props! That place freaked me out as a kid... no wonder! Freaky Deaky!!!
Holden

Ahhh - Holden, you are referring to the horrifying story of Elmer McCurdy - the real life western bandit, who ended up as a Fun House wax dummy! Read more here:
http://www.millikanalumni.com/Pike/Mystery.html

Doctor Z and I both remember being scared by Elmer McCurdy in the "Laff in the Dark" ride at the Pike when we were kids. In its later years, the Pike was everything that give "Carneys" a bad name - dangerous, decrepit rides, scary employees - the story of Elmer McCurdy became quite an urban legend at my highschool when he was discovered to be a real corpse.

Sabu

On 2004-09-02 17:12, tiki mick wrote:
I think it is Atlantis..I got directions, and will check it our tonight...when I know for sure, will post!!

Hi tikimick,
It is Atlantis! My wife and I found it a couple years back but we couldn't check it out because you had to have a kid with you to get inside - I guess they've had some trouble with pedophiles. Don't know if they've changed that policy but thought I'd mention it before you make the trip there. You could always borrow a kid - we thought about taking my niece and nephew so we could have a look around! Good luck!

TikiTimbo

well, I went to Atlantis park, and sadly, this is not the park I was thinking of....

I kind of had an idea it was wrong because the street it is on has a cul-de-sac, and the park I am remembering was on a major street....

So, anyone else have any ideas?

I will describe it again: it's a big park, with a concession booth, on the east side of a major street. It had two large slides, (side-by-side, so kids could race) going down a hillside. These were straight slides, but they had "bumps"...on top, where you got on them, there was a big jet fighter mock-up that you could climb on/in, with a steering wheel....

This park was very big, and was either in Anaheim, fullerton or garden grove, possibly even stanton or buena park....(whew, THAT narrows it down!)

Anyone remember this?

Hey Mick

How about Hillcrest Park in Fullerton. When I was little, we always knew it as "the park with the big hill". Large park, big hills, on a busy street, maybe???

Just a try. I used to take my kids over to Atlantis Park when they were little. I think it's about time I took the grandkids over so "they" can check it out too.

Trustar

I looked at hillcrest...that;s not it either....I am so confused!!

Is there an anaheim/fullerton/buena park Dept. of Parks & Rec. that you could contact? That might help... I'm intregued now too! We used to go to our grandparents church in Fullerton & every so often we'd have a church picnic in one of those parks. I seem to recall one with a towering rocket ship you could climb up into..

This place might help.

http://www.anaheimmuseum.com/

A co-worker of mine seems to remember a park fitting my description near the 91 freeway, and says the park may not be there anymore....

a big park, with a concession booth, on the east side of a major street. It had two large slides, (side-by-side, so kids could race)

When I was a kid there there was a place on the corner of La Palma & Magnolia (south-east corner) that had a huge slide (you could race your friends down), trampolines, a miniature golf course and Chubby Burger (I used to love playing the KISS Pinball machine there). Could this be the place? It wasn't a park, but matches your description.

I've been there a couple of times as a kid. Here's the address: 9301 Westminster Avenue, Garden Grove, CA 92844-2752. I went there a few years back but couldn't get in. Seems you need a child with you to get in.

Hi, no..the one you just mentioned is Atlantis park, and it is much smaller. Its a Kids only park.

The park I was talking about was much different. It had a valley, with perhaps the parking lot at the bottom. At the western end, there was a concession window area. Standing in front, looking east, the jet mockup was on the left, with a large slide going down the hill.

I can barely remember any of this, though. I must have been 8 or so years old.

Hello,

Speaking of La Mirada, I also grew up there and loved "The Rocket". It just so happens that I have posted a photo of this at
http://www.ourlamirada.com/neighborhoods/gardenhill.html .

There has been quite a bit of discussion as to which park - Gardenhill, Windermere or Regional...but I settled on Gardenhill.

Any further information about it would be most welcome. Any photos of La Mirada during the 1955-1980 era are very special to those of us who grew up there.

Debbie V.

On 2006-04-27 20:40, Debbie V. wrote:
Hello,

Speaking of La Mirada, I also grew up there and loved "The Rocket". It just so happens that I have posted a photo of this at
http://www.ourlamirada.com/neighborhoods/gardenhill.html .

There has been quite a bit of discussion as to which park - Gardenhill, Windermere or Regional...but I settled on Gardenhill.

Any further information about it would be most welcome. Any photos of La Mirada during the 1955-1980 era are very special to those of us who grew up there.

Debbie V.

wasn't that rocket at la mirada regional park? the one with the disc golf course next to the cemetery. as a kid we would go out and play disc golf there. i have very fond memories of the place. i seem to remember there being a huge rocket in a playground between the 2 disc golf courses.

---

i ain't drunk.......i'm jus drankin. albert collins

[ Edited by: the drunken hat 2006-04-27 23:50 ]

On 2006-04-27 23:49, the drunken hat wrote:
wasn't that rocket at la mirada regional park? the one with the disc golf course next to the cemetery. as a kid we would go out and play disc golf there. i have very fond memories of the place. i seem to remember there being a huge rocket in a playground between the 2 disc golf courses.

I am starting to believe that either there was more than one rocket or that they moved it from one place to another (as it was eventually "oulaw" park equipment, along with the merry go rounds and anything really FUN like this:
http://www.ourlamirada.com/neighborhoods/igloo.jpg .)

I have several people who are sure the Rocket was at each of the three parks.

Debbie V.

There was definitely more than one rocket. I remember a couple of them at different parks in the San Fernando Valley and one in... I think it was in Thousand Oaks. I very much doubt that these were the same rocket that moved around from park to park, but I suppose it is possible.

could the Mystery park be way over on the east side of Anaheim
pst the 55 freeway, and south of the 91. almost at Tustin Blvd.
I remeber going to a friends wedding reception, and then a few years later to the Detist over there to have my wisdom teethc removed, and
both places are next to a huge park with long meandering sidewalks
and a perking lot at the bottom. I can't remember seeing long slides, but I'm not saying they weren't there.
There is a Jet in a park on St. College Norht of Ball road.
It's called Boysen park after the guy that invented the Boysenberry, that worked with Walter Knott, of Knott's berry farm.

Hope that helps.
Jeff(bigtikidude)

On 2004-09-07 12:46, Sabu The Coconut Boy wrote:
Doctor Z and I both remember being scared by Elmer McCurdy in the "Laff in the Dark" ride at the Pike when we were kids. In its later years, the Pike was everything that give "Carneys" a bad name - dangerous, decrepit rides, scary employees - the story of Elmer McCurdy became quite an urban legend at my highschool when he was discovered to be a real corpse.

I remember this ride well and I even remember Elmer McCurdy. I think he's why I started drinking rum when the story came out.
Thanks Elmer! You served us well. R.I.P.

On 2006-04-27 20:40, Debbie V. wrote:
Hello,

Speaking of La Mirada, I also grew up there and loved "The Rocket". It just so happens that I have posted a photo of this at
http://www.ourlamirada.com/neighborhoods/gardenhill.html .
There has been quite a bit of discussion as to which park - Gardenhill, Windermere or Regional...but I settled on Gardenhill.
Any further information about it would be most welcome. Any photos of La Mirada during the 1955-1980 era are very special to those of us who grew up there.
Debbie V.

Hi Debbie,
I grew up in La Mirada too, and have spent many fun years on that rocket.
I even attended Garbage Hill elementary.
Great photos by the way. I don't have any photos of my childhood. Just of me at Tiki bars.

On 2006-05-08 17:14, bigtikidude wrote:
could the Mystery park be way over on the east side of Anaheim
pst the 55 freeway, and south of the 91. almost at Tustin Blvd.
I remeber going to a friends wedding reception, and then a few years later to the Detist over there to have my wisdom teethc removed, and
both places are next to a huge park with long meandering sidewalks
and a perking lot at the bottom. I can't remember seeing long slides, but I'm not saying they weren't there.
There is a Jet in a park on St. College Norht of Ball road.
It's called Boysen park after the guy that invented the Boysenberry, that worked with Walter Knott, of Knott's berry farm.

Hope that helps.
Jeff(bigtikidude)

Hi Jeff, the first park you mentioned is Eisenhower park, on the hill in what used to be called "olive". This is actually the north part of orange, right next to the 55 freeway. it's a very cool park, with a lake, and most of it is on a hill, so there are cool paths coming down it which we used to practically kill ourselves on with skateboards.

The other park on state college I checked out already, and the jet is the exact same kind as the one I remember, but that's not the park.

sorry I tried.
I wish I knew what you were talking about.
I've lived in Anaheim since 81 and don't recall that place you mention, hope you can find it..
Jeff(bigtikidude)

I have finally posted some photos of the Rocket and other 1950's playground equipment at Gardenhill park at http://www.ourlamirada.com/neighborhoods/gardenhillpark.html