Page 34 - 2017 Travel Guide to California

THEME PARKS
BY MATT VILLANO
Not Just for Kids
There’s nothing but fun at California’s theme parks
AMUSEMENT PARKS
Europeans started the concept of
amusement parks centuries ago with
fairs and pleasure gardens created for
people’s recreation. The world’s oldest
amusement park is Bakken, just
north of Copenhagen, Denmark,
which opened in 1583. The oldest
theme park in the United States is
Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari
(called Santa Claus Land from its
opening in 1946 until 1984) in Santa
Claus, Indiana. California’s theme
parks date from 1950.
Diversions are as plentiful as sunshine
in California. One of the most popular
outlets: original theme parks. These attrac-
tions are meccas to amusement, each
focusing rides and exhibits around dif-
ferent concepts such as fairies, film, plastic
blocks, sea life and an inimitable mouse.
Most of the parks are situated in the
southern part of the state (where the
weather is generally warmer), but the
granddaddy of them all is up north. Each of
the parks is worth a closer look.
Jaws). In 2016 the park opened its most
anticipated attraction ever: The Wizarding
World of Harry Potter, complete with a
replica of Hogwarts castle and a recreation
of the shops of Hogsmeade. The official
studio tour commemorated its 50th anniver-
sary in 2015 with the opening of a new grand
finale dubbed Fast & Furious: Supercharged.
The rest of the park is divided into two
areas connected by escalator: the Upper
and Lower lots. Transformers: The Ride 3-D
is a fan-favorite on the Lower Lot. On the
Upper Lot, Despicable Me Minion Mayhem,
a 3-D simulator ride, and Super Silly Fun
Land, an outdoor family-friendly play-
ground, both opened in April 2014.
Universal Studios Hollywood
This film-themed park got its formal start in
the 1960s when walk-throughs of Universal
Studios soundstages and sets were
expanded to include peeks at actual produc-
tion. Over the years, the studio added a tram
to shuttle visitors through the back lot; this
tram remains the best way to experience
stunt demonstrations and staged events
(such as an encounter with the shark from
Children’s Fairyland
Believe it or not, the first theme park in the
U.S. to cater to families with young kids was
Children’s Fairyland, a blink-and-you’ll-
miss-it theme park on the shores of Lake
Merritt in Oakland. The place opened in
32 2017 T R AV E L G U I D E TO C A L I F O R N I A
DAVID SPRAGUE/UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD. OPPOSITE: CDRIN/SHUTTERSTOCK; CARLOS/CREATIVE COMMONS/FLICKR; THE WORLD IN HDR/SHUTTERSTOCK