Remembering Marineland

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Remembering Marineland ...one of the greatest Southern California attractions!!

I have spent a great deal of time lately remembering Marineland of the Pacific, truly one of the greatest Southern California attractions.

As a kid, my friends and I spent our Saturdays hiking through the hills above, watching the endless stream of cars waiting to get in to this massive oceanic park and wishing we could go there too.

It was 90 acres of pure fun and enjoyment. Everyone got a kick out of Bubbles, the Killer Whale shows and watching the dolphins perform.

I think the whales and dolphins had just as much fun as they did!!

Of course, those of you who enjoy Sea World now, can imagine what it was like when Marineland was at its peak.

Look close at the photo here and how it looked at its height of operation.

During those days, shows like "Flipper" were on television to add to the interest in outdoor aquariums by the sea!!

Bubbles, the whale, was there to excite the crowd with all his stunts, and those in the front never failed to get a good drenching!!

The park opened its doors in 1954 (the year I was born!!), and closed its doors 33 years later in 1987.

Sadly, the owners of Sea World at that time, purchased the park with promises of keeping it open.

Instead, six weeks after finalizing the sale, its doors were closed and all the animals transferred to San Diego.

As you can imagine, this upset the local residents who wanted Marineland to stay open. There were 'Save Marineland' campaigns, all to no avail.

Ironically, the 20th Anniversary of the parks closing was held at Sea World in San Diego in 2007, as shown in the photo below.

It was really a sight to see, taking up an entire point on the peninsula, but like Disneyland, those of us who have it so close, take it for granted.

That is the way it was with this popular attraction. We thought it would always be there, now we have only snapshots in time to help us in remembering Marineland.

Would you like to relive some old childhood memories?

Now you can join me in remembering Marineland ... with the Marineland Remembered exhibit located inside the Pt Vicente Interpretive Center.

You will find a lot of memorabilia and also an extensive natural history museum. The pictures on this page were taken of exhibits on our recent visit there.

SBI!

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