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Playland Amusement Park
Previously known as Happyland (1929–1957)
Playland Vancouver logo.svg
Location Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Coordinates 49°16′58″N 123°02′12″W / 49.2827°N 123.0366°W / 49.2827; -123.0366
Status Operating
Opened 1929; 95 years ago (1929)
Owner Pacific National Exhibition
Slogan Come and join the fun!
Operating season May-September
Attendance 378,000
Area 6.1 hectares (15 acres)
Attractions
Total 39
Roller coasters 3
Water rides 1

Playland is an amusement park in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The amusement park is located at Hastings Park and is operated by the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE), who also hosts an annual summer fair and exhibition adjacent to Playland. Playland opened at its current location in 1958, although an amusement park has been held by the PNE since 1929.

Playland operates seasonally, opening from May to September every year. The park also reopens in October for its annual "Fright Nights" Halloween themed events. As of 2018, the park operated 39 attractions, including three roller coasters. Additional rides are brought in from West Coast Amusements during the PNE's annual summer fair from mid-August to Labour Day; nearly doubling the number of rides at the park.

History

The Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) has hosted a number of amusement rides since it opened in 1910; with an early roller coaster installed in 1915. However, a permanent amusement complex was not built until the 1920s. Built at Hastings Park, several rides were opened by 1926, including a Shoot the Chute ride and a new roller coaster, the Giant Dipper, to replace the one built in 1915.

Although the first rides were opened by 1926, Playland's predecessor, Happyland, did not fully open for its first regular season until 1929. Happyland was operated by several companies while it was open, including the British Columbia Amusement Company; and the Pacific Amusement Company. The park continued to operate until 1957, when amusement park operations were moved to its present location. The original site was demolished after the amusement park's relocation; with the site later being used for Pacific Coliseum.

Construction for the modern amusement park occurred from December 1957 to 1958, with the park opening in time for that year's PNE exhibition. Reopened as Playland, the park featured several new attractions including the Wooden Roller Coaster, the country's largest at the time of its opening.

Although it was located adjacent to the PNE's fairgrounds, the amusement park did not formally become a division of the Pacific National Exhibition until January 1993.

In 2001, the park begain operating Halloween-themed events or "Fright Nights" during the month of October. During this time, haunted houses are set up inside the amusement park and employed monsters are roaming the park scaring patrons. Most of the parks regular amusement rides are in operation. The haunted houses have been owned and managed by ScreamWorks Inc., a Calgary-based company. Fright Nights event and its including the haunted houses were managed by the PNE and Playland beginning in 2009.

In 2009, the Wooden Roller Coaster was designated with "classic" and "landmark" status by the American Coaster Enthusiasts.

Attractions

TheCoasterPlayland
Stalls used to house the carnival games at Playland. The Wooden Roller Coaster is visible behind the stalls.

As of 2018, Playland is home to 39 attractions. Interactive attractions at Playland including a climbing wall, face painting, the Glass House funhouse, and mini golf. Playland also has a haunted house attraction and shooting gallery, although these attractions are not included in the park's admission fee and require an additional fee for entry.

The amusement park also has an arcade and a number of carnival games; including a balloon popping darts game, ring toss, Skee-Ball, and Whac-A-Mole.

In addition to interactive attractions, the park also holds a number of amusement rides, including three roller coasters.

Roller coasters
Name Ride manufacturer Year opened Type or model Ride class Ref(s)
Bug Whirled SBF Visa Group 2017 Spinning figure 8 roller coaster Family
Kettle Creek Mine Coaster E&F Miler Industries 2004 Mine train roller coaster Family
Wooden Roller Coaster Carl Phare, Walker LeRoy 1958 Wooden roller coaster Extreme
EnterprisePlayland
An Enterprise ride at Playland
FlumePlayland
The Flume is a log flume ride at Playland
HellsgatePlayland
Hell's Gate is a Top Spin ride at Playland
Other amusement rides
Name Ride manufacturer Year opened Type or model Ride class Ref(s)
Atmosfear Funtime 2011 66-metre-high (218 ft) swing ride Extreme
Balloon Explorers 2013 Family
The Beast KMG Company 2015 Pendulum ride Extreme
Breakdance HUSS Park Attractions 2005 Breakdance Extreme
Cap'n KC Kids
Choppers Kids
Cool Cruzers Kids
Crazy Beach Party HUSS Park Attractions 2004 Frisbee Extreme
Dizzy Drop 2017 Rotating drop tower Family
Drop Zone Skycoaster Company 1998 Skycoaster Extreme
Enterprise HUSS Park Attractions 1984 Enterprise Extreme
Flume Reverchon Industries 1985 Log flume Family
The Flutterbye Zamperla 2017 Magic Bikes Family
Gladiator HUSS Park Attractions 2005 Troika Extreme
Hell's Gate HUSS Park Attractions 2000 Top Spin Extreme
Hellevator S&S – Sansei Technologies 2000 60-metre-tall (200 ft) drop tower Extreme
Honeybee Express Train ride Family
Merry-Go-Round Carousel Family
Music Express Mack Rides Music Express Extreme
Scrambler Scrambler Family
Sea to Sky Swinger 2019 Swing ride Family
Super Slide Amusement park slide Family
The Pirate Ship HUSS Park Attractions 1984 Pirate ship Extreme
The Revelation Gravity Works 2000 Pendulum ride Extreme
Rock-N-Cars Majestic Manufacturing 2018 Bumper cars Family
Teacups 2013 Teacups Family
Westcoast Wheel Mulligan Engineering 2007 Ferris Wheel Family

Past attractions

Past attractions at Playland included the "Nintendo Power Zone", an area where guests could play the latest games for Nintendo and PlayStation video game consoles; and a maze built out of covered chain link fencing.

PNE1987JetstarII
The Jet Scream II (later renamed Super Big Gulp) at Playland in 1987. The ride was later removed from the park in 1994
Removed rides
Name Ride manufacturer Year opened Year closed Type or model Ref(s)
Calypso Schwarzkopf
Corkscrew Vekoma 1994 2018 Corkscrew with Bayerncurve roller coaster
Dragon Coaster Zamperla 2003 Powered roller coaster
Ferris Wheel Eli Bridge Co. 1924 2006 Ferris Wheel
Giant Octopus Eyerly 2004
Raiders 2014 Jungle gym
Rainbow HUSS Park Attractions 1984 2003 Rainbow
Scooters Floyd & Baxter 1966 2017 Bumper cars
Super Big Gulp/Jet Scream II Anton Schwarzkopf 1972 1994 Jet Star 2 roller coaster
Tilt-A-Whirl Sellner Manufacturing 2004 Tilt-A-Whirl
Wave Swinger Zierer 2018 Swing ride
Wild Mouse Princeton Machine 1979 2008 Wild Mouse roller coaster
Zillerator DPV Rides 1996 1997 Galaxi roller coaster

Temporary rides

In addition to the permanent rides installed at the amusement park, West Coast Amusements (WCA) also brings in temporary rides to Hastings Park for the PNE's annual fair from mid-late August to early September. WCA operates a travelling carnival circuit whose inventory includes over 100 amusement rides such as Ferris Wheels, Hurricane, Music Express, and Scrambler. However, the lineup of rides that the WCA brings to the PNE varies from year-to-year.

Film setting

The amusement park was for the filming of several films. The 1999 Canadian teen-drama film Rollercoaster, was shot at the park. The opening scenes of the horror film Final Destination 3 were also shot at the park, utilizing the Corkscrew roller coaster, seen in the film as "Devil's Flight". Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days was filmed at Playland for the boardwalk scene, where the Corkscrew roller coaster and Revelation ('Cranium Shaker' in the movie) rotating arm ride were shown along with many smaller rides. The Nickelodeon original movie Splitting Adam was also filmed at Playland's water park. The 1996 film, Fear was shot there in the summer of 1995.

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