Fun zone memories

[Grampa Don]

In Long Beach, California there was a fun zone we called the Pike. It was a little seedy, but a lot of fun for a teenager. It was just a short ride from the Long Beach Naval base, and it also attracted a lot to bored sailors. There was a long strip of little stalls with games, food, candy, and a penny arcade that had some naughty movies. For a quarter, you could almost see something risque.

There was the cyclone roller coaster that I never had guts enough to ride on, and a double decker Ferris wheel that I did. Lots of other rides and a merry go round with brass rings that would give you a free ride. A creepy fun house dark ride with lots of black lights and things that popped out at you. And, an atmosphere that was just edgy enough to be fun.

Here is a link to a neat video about the Pike. Did you have anything like it where you grew up?

 

[squatting dog]

Coney Island in the 50's. Nothing like it. Ride the cyclone, then the tornado, hit the steeplchase (closest I'd ever been to a horse)
Finally, if you had the nerve... the parachute jump.

 

[Ken N Tx]

Chicago

 

[mrstime]

I remember the Pike well. I went on the roller coaster 2 times back to back, never did that again! I think I might have also gone on the double ferris wheel, also l never did that again! However the Pike was very popular with teens .

When did they take it down?

 

[Grampa Don]

When did they take it down?

According to this page, 1979. The last time I was there was 1960. The area is now completely re-done and unrecognizable. The carousel is still there, but now enclosed in a special building. The new parks, like Disneyland, have all been sanitized. They're also a lot more expensive. I think we've lost something.

 

[Marie5656]

In Long Beach, California there was a fun zone we called the Pike. It was a little seedy, but a lot of fun for a teenager. It was just a short ride from the Long Beach Naval base, and it also attracted a lot to bored sailors. There was a long strip of little stalls with games, food, candy, and a penny arcade that had some naughty movies. For a quarter, you could almost see something risque.

There was the cyclone roller coaster that I never had guts enough to ride on, and a double decker Ferris wheel that I did. Lots of other rides and a merry go round with brass rings that would give you a free ride. A creepy fun house dark ride with lots of black lights and things that popped out at you. And, an atmosphere that was just edgy enough to be fun.

Here is a link to a neat video about the Pike. Did you have anything like it where you grew up?

We had two places...one at Darien Lake *now Six Flags and a place call Fantasy Island.

@Grampa Don were you stationed at Long Beach? My brother was for a bit in the mid 60s as he wanted to be on a sub. My parents and I drove out to visit during a family week there. Go Navy

 

[Grampa Don]

We had two places...one at Darien Lake *now Six Flags and a place call Fantasy Island.

@Grampa Don were you stationed at Long Beach? My brother was for a bit in the mid 60s as he wanted to be on a sub. My parents and I drove out to visit during a family week there. Go Navy

I was in a submarine reserve unit there, a weekend a month for three years. And, when I went active I was there for a while waiting to be assigned to a boat. Maybe I met your brother. I served from '61 to '66. He probably would remember the USS Roncador that was tied up there.

 

[mrstime]

According to this page, 1979. The last time I was there was 1960. The area is now completely re-done and unrecognizable. The carousel is still there, but now enclosed in a special building. The new parks, like Disneyland, have all been sanitized. They're also a lot more expensive. I think we've lost something.

Last time I was there would have been 1956 or 57.

 

[Marie5656]

I was in a submarine reserve unit there, a weekend a month for three years. And, when I went active I was there for a while waiting to be assigned to a boat. Maybe I met your brother. I served from '61 to '66. He probably would remember the USS Roncador that was tied up there.

Sadly, my brother is no longer with us. I know his sub was a Nuclear sub. I think the make Trigger is in my memory bank. He was definately there in 66. That is the year we went.

 

[Lizzie00]

It’s possible that they’re all a little seedy regardless of location. I sure did love going to Ocean View in Norfolk as a kid tho.

“Ocean View Amusement Park was an amusement park at the end of Granby Street at Ocean View Avenue in Norfolk, Virginia, opened on April 13, 1957 and operated by Jack L. Greenspoon and Dudley Cooper. The amusement park and its wooden coaster, the Rocket, were featured in the 1977 movie Rollercoaster but closed on September 4, 1978. The Rocket was destroyed as part of the making of television's The Death of Ocean View Park in 1979.”

 

[OneEyedDiva]

Churches used to run annual bus rides to Coney Island (N.Y.) and Rye Beach. Both had the typical amusements and rides...ferris wheel, the Whip, the merry-go-round, roller coaster, the swing (it flew around and started rising as it did so) and of course, the games of chance. But when churches weren't running busrides, we could go to Palisades Park (northern N.J) which was not that far from home. As a teenager I took a bus there with my friends at least once. Otherwise went by car with my parents. Palisades had the same rides as above and even had a huge swimming pool. I sure hated when they tore it down. This from Wikipedia re: Palisades (pictured).
"The park operated from 1898 until 1971, remaining one of the most visited amusement parks in the country until its closure in 1971, after which a high-rise luxury apartment complex was built on its site."
@squatting dog @Pecos

 

[Grampa Don]

Sadly, my brother is no longer with us. I know his sub was a Nuclear sub. I think the make Trigger is in my memory bank. He was definately there in 66. That is the year we went.

I'm sorry to hear that you lost your brother. I guess our paths never crossed. I was discharged in San Diego in August of '66.

 

[Fyrefox]

Places like Asbury Park, New Jersey were my fun zone when I was a kid. An episode or two of The Sopranos even filmed at the Jersey Shore. I can remember long walks on the boardwalk, the rides, the claw machines in the arcades…*sighs*

 

[Sassycakes]

Oh the memories this brings back of my childhood Every year my Dad's workplace closed the first 2 weeks of July .A lot of my Aunts Uncles and cousins would all take a vacation then Oh the fun we had.

 

[jujube]

It’s possible that they’re all a little seedy regardless of location. I sure did love going to Ocean View in Norfolk as a kid tho.

“Ocean View Amusement Park was an amusement park at the end of Granby Street at Ocean View Avenue in Norfolk, Virginia, opened on April 13, 1957 and operated by Jack L. Greenspoon and Dudley Cooper. The amusement park and its wooden coaster, the Rocket, were featured in the 1977 movie Rollercoaster but closed on September 4, 1978. The Rocket was destroyed as part of the making of television's The Death of Ocean View Park in 1979.”

My parents would rent a house about a half mile down the beach from Ocean View for a week in the summer in the 50's. If we kids were good, we'd get a trip to the park. The fun house was my favorite. I never rode the roller coaster; it had a bad reputation even back then.

At night it was so beautiful to look down the beach and see the lights on the pier.