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The Orange County coast had its Joy Zone and its Fun Zone in the early decades of the 20th century. Knott's Berry Farm sprouted from a simple berry stand in Buena Park. The spot that would become Walt Disney's theme-park empire began as a citrus grove in Anaheim. Before long, Orange County was recognized as the nurturing ground for the growing amusement park industry. This book concerns the early history of such parks in the county east and south of Los Angeles, before high-tech digitization, when custom cars, enormous alligators, stunt planes, dolphin leaps, and movie stars' wax likenesses thrilled patrons. Some amusement parks have come and gone over a century of development, and some are still here, changing with the times to create new adventure and excitement for park goers.… (more)
User reviews
The key touchpoints of any book about amusement parks in Orange County have to be Knott’s Berry Farm and Disneyland. The descriptions and pictures from Knott’s are actually quite good and provide insights that are hard to come by. The descriptions about Disneyland are not as revealing (in fact, there is at least one error), but the pictures are ones you may not find elsewhere. (This is being said by someone who has quite a few books on Disneyland – and there were some pitctures I had not come across before.)
This book is not meant to be an in-depth look at the area (the series is not meant to be), but it still feels as if this might have been more. It left me wanting more.