Smurfs in Theme Parks
Around 1984, the Smurfs began appearing in North American theme parks owned by Kings Entertainment Corporation. Each park featured a Smurfy attraction and Smurf walk-around figures. (This collection of parks was formerly owned by H-B's one-time parent Taft Broadcasting, were sold to Paramount Pictures in the early 1990s, later falling under ownership of Viacom and, for a short time, CBS Corporation, and now owned by the Cedar Fair Entertainment Company.)
Kings Island At Kings Island near Cincinnati, Ohio, The Smurfs' Enchanted Voyage opened in 1984. It was similar to Disney's "It's A Small World." People would ride in a boat around the world of the Smurfs celebrating the seasons of Winter, Fall, Summer, and Spring. It was removed during the 1991 season.
Kings Dominion The earlier Land of the Dooz Mine Train attraction became Smurf Mountain. It was eventually closed to make room for the popular Volcano: The Blast Coaster in 1998.
California's Great America Opening in 1987, Smurf Woods featured a pint-sized steel coaster, The Blue Streak (now called Rugrats Runaway Reptar), as well as a Smurf village with mushroom houses. Smurf Woods was closed in the early 1990s and replaced with Nickelodeon Central. One Smurf house survived and can be seen in the Picnic Grove area.
Carowinds In 1984, Carowinds added Smurf Island, which was a children’s play area located on the 1.3-acre (5,300 m2) island surrounded by the Carolina Sternwheeler. Access to Smurf Island was gained in one of two ways – across the Carolina Sternwheeler and a ramp built on the island side of the boat, or on diesel-powered “Smurf Boats” launched from the area beside Harmony Hall. Children could enjoy two ball crawls and a climbing area complete with ropes, cargo nets, wood platforms, a rope tunnel and a 60-foot (18 m) tubular slide. Smurf characters roamed the island and led guests to the hidden Smurf village with four Smurf houses that children could enter. Smurf Island was eventually closed, and later demolished to make space for the BORG Assimilator, a Star Trek themed flying roller coaster. The Borg has been running since the beginning of the 2004 season.
Canada's Wonderland At Canada's Wonderland near Toronto, Smurf Forest opened in 1984. It featured "Smurf Village", a walk-through attraction which portrayed life in the titular setting, as well as Gargamel's house. The Gargamel section frightened children so much that the park had to eventually open the emergency exit for families who wished to bypass it. Smurf Village was originally "Yogi's Forest" when the park opened in 1981. It also had an out-door theater in which live children's shows were held, and "Lazy's Snail Trail," a ride in which you sat in buggies being pulled by snails with a Smurf on the back of each buggy. Typical midway and carnival games were also featured attractions, but modified to fit the Smurf theme. Smurf Forest closed in the early 1990s.
Read more about this topic: The Smurfs (merchandising)
Famous quotes containing the words theme parks, theme and/or parks:
“The one regret I have about my own abortions is that they cost money that might otherwise have been spent on something more pleasurable, like taking the kids to movies and theme parks.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)
“Children became an obsessive theme in Victorian culture at the same time that they were being exploited as never before. As the horrors of life multiplied for some children, the image of childhood was increasingly exalted. Children became the last symbols of purity in a world which was seen as increasingly ugly.”
—C. John Sommerville (20th century)
“Perhaps our own woods and fields,—in the best wooded towns, where we need not quarrel about the huckleberries,—with the primitive swamps scattered here and there in their midst, but not prevailing over them, are the perfection of parks and groves, gardens, arbors, paths, vistas, and landscapes. They are the natural consequence of what art and refinement we as a people have.... Or, I would rather say, such were our groves twenty years ago.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)