Palace Playland is a seasonal
amusement park
An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...
located in
Old Orchard Beach, Maine
Old Orchard Beach is a resort town and census-designated place (CDP) in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 8,960 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the larges ...
. It has operated on the same site since 1902.
History
In the 1900s, Palace Playland's startup decade, the then-small amusement park centered on a
roller skating
Roller skating is the act of traveling on surfaces with roller skates. It is a recreational activity, a sport, and a form of transportation. Roller rinks and skate parks are built for roller skating, though it also takes place on streets, sid ...
rink and adjacent
merry-go-round
A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (List of sovereign states, international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in South Australia, SA) is a type of amusement ...
. Simple summer
refreshments were served, such as
lemonade
Lemonade is a sweetened lemon-flavored beverage.
There are varieties of lemonade found throughout the world. In North America and South Asia, cloudy still lemonade is the most common variety. There it is traditionally a homemade drink using le ...
and
salt water taffy
Taffy is a type of candy invented in the United States, made by stretching or/and pulling a sticky mass of a soft candy base, made of boiled sugar, butter, vegetable oil, flavorings, and colorings, until it becomes aerated (tiny air bubbles pr ...
.
In the 1950s, Palace Playland was operated by future banker and
philanthropist
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...
Bernard Osher
Bernard Osher (born 1927) is an American businessman, best known for his work as a philanthropist.
Life and career
Osher was born to a Jewish family and raised in Biddeford, Maine. In 1948, he graduated with a B.A. from Bowdoin College. He s ...
, a Maine native.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Palace Playland was noted for operating a 1910
Philadelphia Toboggan Company
Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters (PTC) is one of the oldest existing roller coaster manufacturing companies in the world. Based in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, it was established in 1904 by Henry Auchey and Chester Albright under the name Philadelphia T ...
carousel
A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (List of sovereign states, international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in South Australia, SA) is a type of amusement ...
, PTC #19; however, in 1996, the valuable antique was withdrawn from service and moved to
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
.
In the 1990s, Palace Playland claimed to be "New England's largest
pinball
Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails call ...
and
video
Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...
arcade." A guidebook writer recommended the park to "aficionados of the garish."
Today
In the 2010s, Palace Playland describes itself as "New England's Only Beachfront Amusement Park." In 2010–11, the park tore down and replaced its
Ferris wheel
A Ferris wheel (also called a Giant Wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondolas, capsules ...
. The Playland has positioned itself as a provider of amusement-park-experience services to French-speaking residents of
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, including offering a webpage in
French.
In 2018, Palace Playland opened another new roller coaster known as the "Sea Viper" replacing the "Galaxi". In April 2020, Palace Playland implemented a cashless card system for its arcade.
Palace Playland is located directly on the waterfront, across
Maine State Route 9
State Route 9 (SR 9) is a numbered state highway in Maine, running from the New Hampshire border at Berwick in the west to the Canada–US border with New Brunswick at Calais in the east. SR 9 runs a total of .
Route description
Sta ...
from the Old Orchard Beach ''
Downeaster'' passenger railroad station.
Rides
See also
*
Euclid Beach Park
Euclid Beach Park was an amusement park located on the southern shore of Lake Erie in the Collinwood neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio, which operated from 1895 to 1969.
Originally incorporated by investors from Cleveland and patterned after New ...
- discussion of history of PTC #19
*
Funtown Splashtown USA
Funtown Splashtown USA (commonly referred to as just "Funtown") is a family-owned amusement park located in Saco, Maine, in the United States.
History
In 1960, Ken (October 8, 1932 - January 8, 2013) and Violet Cormier opened Marvel Drive-In, a ...
- nearby OOB amusement park
References
External links
*
*
{{coord, 43.5147, -70.3747 , format=dms , type:landmark_region:US-ME_dim:100 , display=title
1902 establishments in Maine
Amusement parks in Maine
Buildings and structures in Old Orchard Beach, Maine