You know me, I love collecting adorable Hummel figurines, and I also love photos of amusement parks.
This first example is from June, 1971, from the extinct Lion Country Safari park that was in Irvine, California from 1970 to 1984. I lived in Huntington Beach in 1971 (roughly 20 minutes from Irvine), and remember TV and print ads, they almost always featured a car stopped in the park because a Lion had jumped on the hood (I felt disappointed when no lions jumped on our station wagon). Here's a very nice picture of a bloat of hippo paddle boats, I wonder if any of those survive in somebody's collection? "You know what, Charlotte? Paddle boats seem like fun, but they're actually a lot of work!".
I shared this photo many years ago, but here's my sister, little brother, and Mom on one of the hippo boats from sometime in 1971.
Next is a photo (dated "August, 1959") that was a mystery to me. There were clues like the mention of Paul Bunyan, but that didn't help much. Then I noticed that the lettering on the stagecoach said "Dells Fargo Stage". Aha! This is from Fort Dells, Wisconsin. This amusement park opened in June of 1959, and featured rides, characters, train rides, a paddlewheel steamboat, animals, live shows, and much more fun for all ages. Sadly, Fort Dells Theme Park officially closed back in 1985 and was completely demolished by 1997.
I'm still at Disneyland! Hopefully I will be riding the non-"Nightmare Before Christmas" Haunted Mansion multiple times, since I haven't done that since 2008. I can't wait!
Major-
ReplyDeleteA "bloat" of hippos. I feel a bit bloated myself just looking at them. (I wonder if their ears wiggle when the boats are paddled-?)
Thanks, Major.
"Paddle boats seem like fun, but they're actually a lot of work!" Yes, they are! These hippo versions in particular look like they would be a lot of work. Big. Bulky. Not very hydrodynamic (is that the water version of aerodynamic?). These pedallers look to be in varied states of relaxation and exhaustion.
ReplyDeleteThe hippo in your family photo looks pink. Maybe that's just due to the colors having faded?
In the last photo, I like those tall mobile stairs that allow guests to mount, and dismount the top of the stagecoaches. I think we saw one of those in a KBF pic not too long ago? I wonder if the little (10 year old?) cavalry dude worked in the park, or if he's just a guest, chattin' with the horses?
I never get tired of amusement park pics. Thanks, Major. As Little Leota says, "Hurry baaaack!"
I've always enjoyed a good leg workout with a hippo.
ReplyDeleteI've seen other pics of the hippo shaped paddleboats and get a kick out them. Fun theming. Thanks, Major.
I was thrilled to see these hippo boats as I had totally forgotten them...and also did ride them back in the probably mid 70's. I only has very faint memories of Lion Country Safari...the first one is feeling like being in an easy bake oven with the windows up so that the creatures wouldn't get in your car. There were five of us kids in there, in I think what was an Impala. Not the animal, the car. There was a small "amusement" area after you drove through the wild animals, but I have very little recollection of it except now for these hippo boats, which are awesome. I think hippo boats in Adventureland would go over well, being the "Dumbo" of Adventureland. The flying carpets in the Magic Kingdom don't really do it for me, and look kind of plastic...well, not even kind plastic: super duper plastic. With some imagination there could have been a dark ride riding an actual flying carpet made of cloth so it kind of fluttered around in the breeze. I would like that ride, and I would also like to ride a hippo boat around the Jungle Cruise river. After a small dive down the rabbit hole, I was reading about Frasier the lion of Lion Country Safari...who was buried on the property in 1972....but now, with a 3700 unit apartment complex on the property...who built what on top of Frasier?! More hippo boats please and please take a quick trip down to Irvine during your travels to figure out where Frasier is! Thanks Major.
ReplyDeleteI remember riding those hippo boats with my dad, and yes, they were not very hydrodynamic. Man, was that a workout.
ReplyDeleteWhile we didn’t visit Fort Dells on my 1977 trip to Wisconsin Dells (I believe my parents referred to it as a “tourist trap”), I do remember driving past. When I visited again in 2004, it was gone, although there were a few vestiges left like this commemorative sign next to a McDonald’s built on its former site.
The train had been saved and had just been put back into operation at Black Bart’s Stagecoach Buffet, named after a walk around character from Fort Dells and located on part of the old Fort Dells property. The track went past a tunnel cut into a rock formation that I believe had been a gold-panning attraction. It apparently closed around 2006. Online reviews by the end were terrible, although I don’t recall it being an awful meal on our visit.
The train has been preserved and still runs in the Dells at Timbivati Wildlife Park, itself a permutation of an earlier classic Dells attraction, Storybook Gardens, although it’s now located on a different piece of property.
Enjoy your Disneyland trip, Major, and give the Ghost Host a hug from me!
Whoa, hippo boats! Had no idea these existed. They look like fun and a lot of work. I remember ads for Lion Country Safari, but never visited. We rented a water cycle in Hawaii, it’s like a floating tricycle on the Hilton lagoon. My legs hurt so bad after an hour of that, could barely walk.
ReplyDeleteDells Fargo is pretty cute, another local park bites the dust. Too bad, it looks like fun. Whenever I see a stage coach like this, I’m reminded of Sam Clemens descriptions of his ride west in Roughing It. I’m glad we have air travel now.
JG
Major, thanks for continued posts even as you are visiting Disneyland, have fun!
ReplyDeleteJG
I live about 3 miles from where Lion Country Safari once stood. Mostly very few people are aware of what was there. I’m not aware of an apartment complex there … but very expensive homes yes.
ReplyDeleteBU : WED designed an elaborate Flying Carpet attraction for the Arab-Emirates nation for EPCOT’s WORLD SHOWCASE .. the fantasy attraction took guests flying thru the 3 Arabias (??) the Fantasy -Folk lore version - the actual historical - and the current / future modern industrial oil exploratory state . I think this pavilion has it been built would have become a problematic issue for Disney. The proposed EPCOT ride system was re-evaluated for early development of a ALADDIN attraction and the suspended “shell” for a unbuilt LITTLE MERMAID attraction.