The Failed "Disneyland of the East" - Freedomland U.S.A.
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- Опубликовано: 21 авг 2024
- Freedomland U.S.A. was an American historical theme park where guests could experience Old Chicago as it burned to the ground, dodged cannon fire during a wagon ride through a Civil War battlefield and even experience an Earthquake meant to simulate one that killed over 3,000 people.
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Freedomland U.S.A.: The Definitive History by Michael R. Virgintino
• Video (Travel Time: Freedomland USA)
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• Cedar Point's Pirate Ride (Cedar Point Pirate Ride)
I went to Freedomland in that first summer of operation in 1960. I was 10 years old and our family had just moved to long Island a few months before. We came from Tennessee and were pretty much hick southerners, truly strangers in a strange land. I remember walking all around the park but not getting to enjoy any of the rides because they cost money my parents couldn't afford. It was great theater for a family from the rural South, and "traveling" around the U.S. was a tremendous thrill for people who never expected to actually get to see the real rest of the country the way we did that day at Freedomland. Sixty years later, I still remember the thrill.
I loved Freedomland. My aunt and uncle took me there several summers when I visited New York. The Earthquake gave me nightmares. You road in a car along a residential street in San Francisco. Suddenly some people ( not real) in apartment windows warned you frantically to turn around and go back. The buildings shook and the street split in half. Terrifying when you are an impressionable child, but fascinating nevertheless.
The Tornado looked at the lighter side of disaster. Again you were in a car. As things were flying, you road straight into a barn. The tornado lifted up a cow right over the moon. In another scene, a man had been taking a bath, but the tub flipped over and became a shower.
I also remember the Chicago fire. All in all, Freedomland was fun and educational. I'm sorry to hear in was built to fail. Kids need opportunities to learn history while having fun.
*rode
To understand the impact of Freedomland you have to have been a New York kid at the time. NYC was comprised of mostly lower and middle income families. We had heard about Disneyland and dreamed about going there but it was not within the economic reach of most of us. In Freedomland we felt like we were in Disney Land or the closest we thought we would ever get to it. Our parents took us there several times and we loved it. We were unhappy when it closed. I would add that it was a big expense for our parents. The prices shown in the video might seem cheap by today's standards but at the time it cost a family of 5 a lot of money to go there. Many families did not have cars. It was a long ride there for most and it was a 2 fare zone meaning that you had to pay for the subway and a bus (or a taxi) to get there so carfare for a family of 5 at 15 cents each was $3.00 which was a lot when people weren't even making that much per hour. Add the admission, the price of the attractions, maybe a souvenir, at least an ice cream and food to bring there (not bought there) and you had a week's pay spent. I remember my parents discussing how much they had spent for the day and the look of concern on their faces. If I remember correctly Freedomland went to a pay-one-price system where most if not all of the rides were included in the admission. That helped because at least once you got in the gate iyou didn't have to spend any more money.
I wouldn't be to concerned about the "dark" side of some of the attractions. Yes, we kids had heard about the Chicago fire and the San Francisco earthquake but to us we were helping to put out the fire and we were experiencing what went on in a earthquake. There was no "zombie" mentality like there is today.
Some things I remember about Freedomland were a talking Amoco gas pump, blow mold dinosaurs you could watch being made and could buy (or was that the World's Fair). And the stage coach ride, I remember one of the coaches toppled down from the trail and a lot of people being hurt. Remember many of the riders were actually sitting on top of the stagecoach. Naturally there was a big lawsuit and we often thought that that might have been responsible for the closing of the park.
*too
@TheOldNeighborhood Yeah, the molded green plastic brontosaurus’s were from the Sinclair Petroleum exhibit at the 64-65 World’s Fair.
Interesting comment though!
I was amazed to see this video. I didn’t think too many people had even heard of Freedomlamd. I went either four or five times and loved it. Living in NYC and the fact my parents didn’t have the money to go California so we could go to Disneyland, this was the obvious choice.
To this day I still have some of the items my parents bought me there.
Every time I drive by Co Op City I try to imagine what Freedomland looked like.
Thanks for this video.
Shit I live in Co op and still can’t even believe it was here no evidence left to show it existed
There’s a little plaque that was placed in memory of Freedomland near the Bartow mall, but that’s about it.
Another interesting tidbit about rides from Freedomland is that both Tornado and the Dragon track ride were bought by The Great Escape in Upstate New York. The Dragon Ride operated as "Danny the Dragon" until 1996 and Tornado operated until 2002. Danny the Dragon continues to make occasional appearances as props for Great Escape's Fright Fest event.
Great Escape could be another idea for a video as they claim themselves as the first theme park, opening one year before Disney in 1954.
Wow really? Thats my childhood park. Remind me what Tornado is, I've probably been on it.
I heard that the first theme park in the United States was a "North Pole" park in Upstate New York, which was built around a Christmas/Santa Claus motif.
Oh my gosh!!!! You're talking about Freedomland!!! 😱😱😱 I grew up there!! Freedom land is now Co-op City, the largest housing development in North America. It's in The Bronx. I've heard that it use to be freedom land and I heard of the stories... but to actually see the images is amazing!! Thank you so much for making this video. You have no idea how much this means to me! 😍😍😍 My grandmother did tell me it closed because of Disney. 🤣🤣
Oh my gosh!!!!! It was so weird when he showed my old neighborhood and the Red Lobster! 😂😂😂
Woooowwww!!! So they built it to have it fail... Woooowww... lol idk how I feel about that. Co-op City is home though! ❤❤❤
Much of this video dovetails with the story in my book "Freedomland U.S.A.: The Definitive History." I also have a FB page: facebook.com/Freedomland-USA-The-Worlds-Largest-Entertainment-Center-246939775358072/
Did they know about the amusement park that existed on the Bronx River? there are still black and white photos of it
@@mikevirgintino5936 Thanks!!! I'll be checking it out! 😍😍
This parks seems like a mixture of disneyland and knotts berry farm
I spent the summer of 1965 running an Allen Herschell Mad Mouse coaster at Fair Park in Nashville, TN. The ride was new to the park that year, fresh from the recently failed Freedom Land.
I'm not gonna lie, seeing a recreation of the Great Chicago Fire sounds like fun.
I went to Freedomland in the 60s I'm glad I did, I have 8mm film from my father as he filmed us having fun, I lived in astoria so I was really close, Loved that place,,,
At least they were able to replace it with a stunningly attractively housing project. Living on City Island I never tired of driving by the architectural masterpiece that is Co-op city...a city that only grows more beautiful with age.
I definitely remember going to Freedomland as a kid... we lived in Pelham so it was right next door to us practically. I especially recall the name spelled out with the flags as you went to the entrance. I also remember getting off the carousel after it had stopped and my leg fell in between the rotating part of the ride and the platform. I was stuck and my parents had to lift me out. My leg turned quite black and blue a few days later. I think the song started out with "Mommy and Daddy take my hand, take me out to Freedomland". This particular video was really good but it was sad to learn that the park was really only built for failure so that Co-op city could be built. That went through my mind today as I rode past Co-op city reminiscing about what was once there and why it wasn't any longer.
I'm not surprised that Freedomland USA was just a part of a real estate scam.
It's another example of capitalist greed in this country, which promotes the false and cynical belief that the so-called "American way of life" is all about making money by any means necessary, even if it's at the expense whatever noble ideals you may have had, or of the interests of others, or even of your own soul. "Anything for a buck" seems to be our real motto, instead of "In God We Trust" or "e pluribus unum."
Unfortunately, too many people encourage, or at least tolerate, such a greedy and selfish mentality on the grounds that "it's the American way." Sure, just like graft and corruption is the American way too.
Most of us don't realize that corporate control of much of our nation hurts us all in the process. It's one of the reasons for things like urban sprawl, crooked politicians, overcrowding in society in general, and of course, pollution, Global Warming, and Climate Change.
A perfect example of what I'm saying is the mass transit scandal of the late 1940s in the area of Los Angeles, California. Back then, the main mode of mass transit were the streetcars. Very few people drove cars or took buses. Certain parties didn't like that, particularly the automobile manufacturers like General Motors Corporation, the oil companies like Standard Oil, the tire companies like Firestone, and other companies that depended on more people buying cars.
So, some representatives of these corporations got together and came up with a rather convoluted plan. They would buy up all the streetcar companies so they could DISMANTLE THEM! Then they would replace the streetcars with "modern" buses, which they would deliberately make so uncomfortable (and even SMELLY), that everyone would ditch the buses in favor of buying new cars, and the more cars that were bought, the more money the car manufacturers would make. And the more cars that people would buy, the more gasoline, oil, and tires they would have to buy for their new cars, which would mean more money for the oil and tire companies.
Eventually, several officers of GMC, Standard Oil, and Firestone Tires were arrested for violating the Sherman Antitrust Law, and were convicted in a federal court in Los Angeles. However, they all got off with a slap on the wrist. Each company was fined $5,000.00, and each officer was fined only ONE DOLLAR! Nobody went to prison for their role in this deliberate conspiracy against the people of Los Angeles, and similar schemes were conducted in other cities and states, until finally not a single streetcar could be found in the United States, except, of course, in San Francisco.
These plots against mass transit are among the reasons that more people opt for cars instead of public transportation, and the more cars that are on the road, the more pollution there is, because of the exhaust fumes, and the worse the Global Warming and Climate Change becomes.
Incidentally, the mass transit scandal in California became a part of the plot of the movie "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," because the evil Judge Doom reveals that he bought the Red Car Trolley Company for the purpose of dismantling it, just so he could build a freeway right through the fictitious Toon Town, where Roger Rabbit and his fellow "toons" (cartoon characters) live.
In short, the real estate scam behind the building of Freedomland is just like the anti-streetcar campaign in L.A. Both were conspiracies to benefit corporate greed and corruption, while posing as a altruistic plan supposedly conducted in the public interests. With the streetcar conspiracy, it was allegedly carried out to convince the people that streetcars were old-fashioned, and that it was more "modern" to take a bus, or to buy a new car. With Freedomland, it was promoted as a way of combining amusement park-style fun with an education about American history.
Sadly, we're still suffering from American corporatism, which is no better than Fascism! (Benito Mussolini once actually said that Fascism could also be called "CORPORATISM"!) This is mainly the fault of the crooked politicians (especially the Republicans) in Washington, DC, with their constant bowing down to Wall Street, while ignoring the folks on Main Street, USA (and I don't mean the one in Disneyland), plus their tax breaks for the corporations and the wealthy few, including the ones granted to them by Donald Trump, when he was President.
Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if most or all of those big business honchos responsible for the streetcar plot and the Freedomland scam were REPUBLICANS!
The fire department thing sounds cool. Imagine being a little kid and all the firefighters come out and ask you to help put out the fire
Pleasure Island in Massachusetts was also to be “Disney Land” of East. My mother worked there as a teen and I have heard stories about it from several relatives. The Moby Dick Whale is still out in the water somewhere that now the area is mostly business office complexes, condos, and an outdoor shopping mall.
Your are correct, Paul. Both were given that reference with Pleasure Island opening in 59 and Freedomland in 60. BTW the picture in the video of the kids standing at an angle is the crooked house actually is from Pleasure Island's Slanty Shanty and not Freedomland's Casa Loca.
I remember FREEDOMLAND 1960 or 1961, we lived in Flushing, just across the river.
It was just as exciting as the New York worlds fair. They were not very far apart. I particularly liked the steam train and the flying saucer.
I had never known of this former park before! C.V Woods was my uncle's childhood friend from Texas. My uncle was the 5th person hired by Disneyland Inc. in 1954, before constuction began on Disneyland. He was park operation manager from 1956-61, and reported directly to Walt. In the 2016 book "Three Years in Wonderland", by Todd James Pierce he gives alot more in depth info about C.V. Woods involvement at Disneyland, and before. My uncle left Disneyland in Jan. 1961 (documented by copy of letter from Walt to my uncle-dated Jan. 17, 1961), to revamp Cedar Point Park, in Sandusky, Ohio. That is documented on the cover of the Sunday morning edition of the "Cleveland Plain Dealer" Newspaper Jan. 22, 1961. You did a great job in you presentation here, thank you so much!
Ahhh, what a treat to see this! I grew up in Brooklyn...and St. Brendan's elementary school took us there... Remember the commercial jingle: "Mommy and Daddy take my hand/Take me out to Freedomland..."
Freedomland was ONE of the attempts to do a Disneyland of the east. There was also Pleasure Island in Massachusetts with a seagoing theme.
This video had some of the BEST color footage and really gave you a "feel" for the park. Lots of attention to detail! It IS ashamed that the park was "used" in this way to wind up building housing. I guess we'll never know If Freedomland USA could stand the "test of time" and remain relevant today. Hangings, pirates, and Civil War battlefields would likely "not" fly today. Excellent window to the past in this video!
i went to Freedom remember the gun fight, the fire and a boat ride with automatronic aligators The park had allot of promos on the radio so kid were telling parents I wanna go to Freedomland. I enjoyed the experience
Well, I literally had no idea this existed... and I considered myself "informed". The world's fair rides went back to Disneyland too and right over in Queens. Same year. Unbelievable.
We drove down from Northern Westchester quite often to enjoy Freedomland. My uncle had participated in its construction. I was just talking about this to someone. They grew up in
Co-op City and had never heard of Freedomland. Great times there. Lots of fun. Thanks for the memories!
Just wanted to say that your videos really help cheer me up when I'm down. Thank you for making these.
Hey Paul thanks so much for the support, we hope brighter days are ahead for you! - Luke
There was a Casa Loco in Miracle Strip Amusement Park, in Panama City, FL. I wonder if it was the same ride that was in Freedomland. Awesome video. I always wondered whatever became of this place. Now, we know.
We had thought it was moved to Florida, but could never confirm. Will look into the park you mentioned.
I never went to Freedomland, but I lived in the evelopment that was built on its grounds - Co-op city. My family moved to the last section of the development (section 5) in the summer of 1971. That part of the development is detached from the rest of Co-op, and way back then, there was a undeveloped parcel of land on one side of co-op city boulevard (there is now a big shopping center there). I remember going through that parcel when I was 6-7 years old (in the era,y 1970s), and finding unused freedomland ticket books. I used to have a few, but they’ve been lost with time.
I'm from Co-op City too! Section 2! Grew up there in the 90's.
After Co-Op City was built (section 5) came later, the first tenants were Jewish families who had escaped the Grand Concourse as it was going through a transition to becoming what it is today. Section 5 was later built specifically for Black families from mixing in. Yup! VERY TRUE! This was known back the 1970’s.
@@faustuskrauss6457 Wow, I didn't know that. I lived in Section 5 from childhood until the time I got married. I thought I heard rumors about that but you're the first person that actually commented on that.
The Bronx? Interesting location for a theme park. The Bronx has changed a lot since then. At least the Bronx still has the Bronx Zoo and the now famous Joker stairs. I like how it’s shaped like the Lower 48 states. And while this NYC park didn’t do so well, the parks on Coney Island thrive in the Summer. As a history buff I know I would’ve loved this park if it was open today
Still everywhere
Y'know, a proper amusement park in that area would make sense logistically; it'd be easier for the upper parts of the NYC metro to access, and could synergize nicely with the Bronx Zoo and NY Botanical Gardens.
Plus, it'd offer a nice alternative on 'off days' when the Coney Island coastline is all rainy and cold. :(
When Freedomland U.S.A. existed, I lived about a 1/2 hour away. I have vague memories of either going there or hearing my neighbor's tales of their visit when I was 4 - 7 years old. Freedomland U.S.A. was also visible from my cousin's bedroom, as was the construction of Co-op City, which my cousin moved to around 1970.
I went there once as a kid. A few years later, my high school band played at the opening of Co-op City.
was it where CO op city is
@@mikegruber172 Yup.
Wow!!! So cool! 😍😍 I love hearing these stories about my hometown. Before Truman High School was ever built.
My parents took me there as a kid, after much nagging from me due to the saturation TV advertising on the after school shows (Officer Joe Bolton showing Three Stooges, Captain Jack McCarthy showing Popeye cartoons and Sandy Becker). I remember putting out the Chicago Fire at night (where the adults were raising the pumper handles waaay too high for me) and going on the Autopia clone with my Dad. Not much else stands out except ending up at the Flying Saucer which was lined with bleacher style seats and had a large dance floor. What a disappointment to young me. I remember them playing a recording of Nat King Cole there before we headed home...
I remember those shows with Officer Bolton, the 3 Stooges, Captain Jack, and Sandy Becker. I remember another program that showed the Stooges films called "The 3 Stooges Firehouse," which was hosted by a man (I don't remember his name) dressed in the dark blue uniform of an off-duty fireman.
My parents used to talk about how we visited Freedomland, U.S.A. when I was around four years old or so (that would have been in 1964), but I don't remember much of it, except maybe for the horse-drawn streetcar.
@@michaelpalmieri7335 Fireman Todd Russell
The Flying Saucer actually was the Braniff Space Rover. The large dance floor and stage was the Moon Bowl, which featured the popular performers of the day.
@@mikevirgintino5936
Okay, thanks for the info.
I have many wonderful memories of Freedomland, We lived in Queens, My dad took me and my brothers there, often. Loved all the attractions, They were great. It did not "fail" it was sold out by developers.
I grew up in Co Op City, and my grandmother (who still lives there) told me about this park when I was younger. So cool to learn more about it!
The Disneyland of the east is now the great escape in Queensbury New York
JOLTIK PLAYS no not really it’s far from it . It really only started out as roadside attraction
Really nice doc, thanks. I remember being there, in part thanks to my dads 8mm camera. I always wondered what the deal was. Thx
Yes I went there as a 5 year old living in the Bronx.
When Freedomland was dismantled Co-op City was built abd my family lived there -my mom for 50 years !!
Thumbs up
Disney America was cancelled because of local protests over part of the park would have been on a historical battlefield. Disney did build a hotel near by where the park would have been.
Very bizarre story for a park, though fascinating. Do you think a lot of these attractions inspired later Universal ones?
The Chicago Fire inspiring Backdraft?
The San Francisco Earthquake inspiring, well... Earthquake?
The Tornado Adventure inspiring Twister?
I'm sure these attractions were quite different from one another and the Universal attractions are based around IP, but it seems too strange to be a coincidence.
That was something that sprung to mind when making the video actually, especially with Earthquake. Whilst I'm not sure how much they had to do with each other, Universal surely would have seen this an example that an attraction based on a disaster can work! - Luke
Tornado first went to Kennywood for a year or two and then to Storytown USA (now The Great Escape). Removed a number of years ago.
I used to love freedom land
My parents use to take us. It was closer than Coney Island. Thanks for the memories 🙃
Very Interesting! I'd never really heard much about this park before!
Chaotic Catastrophes Disney made sure of that.
Your channel has always been one of my favorites on RUclips, and this video is an awesome example of why! I consider myself a little bit of a theme park buff, and I can’t believe I’ve never ever ever ever heard about this story of Walt and Cornelius, the Freedomland USA Park, or any of this! Your content is so well researched and well produced. Great job and thank you for, once again, giving us all something unique and fresh to watch and use as a learning tool! Have you ever done (apologies if you have and I missed it) a video just on what would have been the Disney Studio Park in Burbank in the late 80’s/early 90’s? I lived 2 blocks north of the downtown Burbank piece of land that was going to be this mixed use Disney response to Universal Studios, and it eventually grew into a mess and Disney also wanted more room so they ended up building Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando. The crazy thing is, I spent my late teens and almost all of my 20’s living a literal walk away from what ended up being created in the space that was allotted for the Disney revamp/total overhaul of Downtown Burbank and I always loved hearing my older neighbors’ stories of when they thought Disney was making this awesome studio park meets Pleasure Island right in their backyard! You can also still see some parking garages, buildings, etc that the city ended up building or heavily borrowing from (city planning-wise) that were inspired by the Disney master plan. There is on pretty in depth article about this often forgotten slice of Disney history and it’s still online, but that is all I’ve ever seen written that puts a lot of it together. I would LOVE to see your take on this project. There is SO much to unpack with the Disney Studio park project in Burbank (the late 80’s/early 90’s one, not the original Disneyland Park, also originally meant to be across from the Disney studio in Burbank in the Griffith Park/Forest Lawn area... locals still call it the “Burbank side” of Griffith park). Apologies if you’ve done a video on this, but I’ve seen almost all of your vids Over the years and I don’t recall seeing this as a whole video. I am sure fellow Disney fans would love to hear all the insanity that went into this rushed and panicked response to Universal (in more ways than one - the success of Universal Hollywood becoming more of a full theme park, and then Universal announcing they were making a park in Orlando etc). I had an older neighbor who has lived in Burbank her whole life, and she says it was such a weird time because locals always wondered what would have happened to the city if Disney had been able to build his original Disneyland Park across from the studio. Then, they allllmost got a Disney Park a SECOND time with the studio park/hybrid project... and THAT also never happened! My neighbor always said she thought it was a distinction to be (what she called) “the only city in the world that almost had two Disney theme parks 4 decades apart” 😂 She also still says she hopes they propose a third theme park in Burbank one day because the “3rd time’s a charm!” Lol 😂
Your neighbor sounds like a very witty character.
The June 19, 1964 reopening at 4:11 is not borne out in Wikipedia. You should have said June 19, 1960. That incorrect fact confused the rest of the video for me until I confirmed that date on Wikipedia.
A nice mix of Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm...a 'hanging' every day (xmultiple) - wow.
So Freedom Land ultimately became a high rise apartment complex where you didn't really have much freedom.
Parts of the Double Von Roll Skyride still operate at Six Flags Great Adventure. The top portion of the towers.
I have old 8 mm film of my dad working building this park. First I’ve seen info on it.
I would like to feature the film if you have it digitized on my Freedomland Facebook page: facebook.com/Freedomland-USA-The-Worlds-Largest-Entertainment-Center-246939775358072/
Loved it when I was a kid! It was so much fun.
I remember seeing chubby checker and most memorable Tony Bennett .
I remember going with my parents towards the end of the parks popularity it was not the same.
Always have good memories with Mom, Dad and brother
and friends we would bring😊
I do kinda wish it succeeded. It was so interesting, and so unique
And here I thought that the Failed Disneyland of the East was Hong Kong Disneyland.
Zontar more like Nara Dreamland
I don't think Hong Kong Disneyland is a fail as it's still operating and gets a lot of tourists. It's just underperforming under Disney's expectations cause we all know they are the most attended theme park what country it might be.
@@gissneric it only had 3 years of profitability so far, where it made 19 million US, and reinvested it all, and a billion more, into expansion. It's a 3 billion lifetime loss so far.
@@gissneric Yeah - Disney expects the one in Shanghai to get more visitors now. But I think Hong Kong does better than Paris
@@ZontarDow imagine though - Hong Kong Disney draws more than the Paris one. Frankly I'm surprised anyone relates to Disney characters outside the US
Pretty sure the appeal of the Great Chicago Fire was the chance for little kids to be ‘real’ firefighters for a little while...something that some of us never outgrew! 😉👨🏻🚒
What. Why have I never heard of this?
Funny how CV Wood is cut out of Disney lands history
Yeah he has been completely removed from the companies internal history, it's a shame we will probably never know exactly what happened between CV and the Disneys behind closed doors! - Luke
Due to his falling out with Walt. The Disney company today is a bit more accepting of Wood's contributions.
The steam locomotives are back in Maine. The Canadian riverboat is up in Greenwich CT as a showboat, also some rides were at the Great Escape, in Lake George.
The Canadian sternwheeler was farther up in Connecticut and destroyed about a decade ago. The American was located first in Greenwich and then was moved across the Byram River to the Port Chester side in Westchester County NY. It was destroyed during late 2018 as they tried to lift it to a large transport vessel to take it to Korea. It buckled under its own weight and was scuttled.
Wow never knew they had mixed up the two! The American had been called the Canadian awhile.
I’ve been living in Florida since 2015 so last time I saw her she was afloat and called the Canadian!
It was some kind of error that they mixed up the names of the boats post-Freedomland. My research led to the discovery that The Canadian went to East Haddam CT and that The American went to Greenwich and then was moved across the Byram River to Port Chester before it was destroyed in December 2018. For many decades, through the error, people thought The Canadian was the boat in Greenwich. I go into detail in my book, "Freedomland U.S.A.: The Definitive History" and on my FB page: facebook.com/Freedomland-USA-The-Worlds-Largest-Entertainment-Center-246939775358072/
My mother lived in the Bronx as a child and vividly remembers her family heading to the park, but strangely remembers nothing about the park itself. (She remembers her school trip to the World's Fair extremely well, too.) We joke that Walt hypnotized everyone to forget Freedomland on his TV show. Today, some of Mom's oldest friends live in Co-Op City.
I lived in Co-op City for 3 years.......loved it
Tell us about it, why you loved it?
It’s like that spongebob meme “you used me..FOR LAND DEVELOPMENT”
Wow. I grew up going to Cedar Point. It was interesting to hear the connection.
Another reason to hate the real estate industry
If this park continued, in about 2040 they would open "PLANE ATTACK! The 9/11 experience!"
This entire thing sounds like a episode of South Park.
Went there once when I was a kid. Blame it on robert moses.
Great story on the history of the park...✌🏻
Combo of Coney Island's Dreamland, and Disneyland CA
Really interesting video I never knew about this place would have been interesting to visit
Do you think the dragon-train wound up at StoryTown in Lake George, NY? It looks identical except for the color. Maybe it was just an off-the-shelf ride that both parks bought.
Freedomland had two Dannys -- green and red. The green one ended up in Storytown USA.
I went there as a 10 year old, somewhat jaded because we had been to Disneyland, the real one, the year before. Totally boring. Went a second time, even more boring. There was no third visit. I remember Disneyland, I don't remember freedomland, other than "Mommy and daddy take my hand/ And take me out to Freedomland./Only a ...../At Freedomland it's grand." It turned into high rise housing a few years later.
This is a wonderful summary of the park. Just one error - the opening date was June 19, 1960 not 1964. Thank you for including information from my Freedomland U.S.A. Twitter and Facebook memory pages and from my book, "Freedomland U.S.A.: The Definitive History." The book is available on Amazon and other online retailers, and a sequel is in the works and planned for 2022. I invite everyone to follow Freedomland on Facebook, Twitter and even Instagram.
I wished that this documentary didn't titled itself a failure..Mike.."Freedomland"was a wonderful place..but..it was mismanaged and it was used as a prelude to building Co Op City..the worst apartment complex' in NYC.
@@kevins.butler3402 I agree with you. But, nothing is perfect. The story is accurate except for the date of its debut. After all the years of inaccurate or incomplete information, this is a triumph.
Hey Michael, your book, facebook and twitter pages were a great help when creating this video so thank you greatly! I scripted it to say 1960 but for some reason when I recorded it I said 1964 and then never noticed until the video was already uploaded and too late to change sadly. I'm looking forward to the sequel to your book in a couple of years! - Luke
A new york themed land in New York that's original! Lol
Almost as original as a California themed Theme Park in California! - Luke
I still remember Freedomland.
It opened in June of *1960* NOT 1964 as the voiceover actor says around 4:13.
What a glaring mistake.
Regarding the disaster attractions, around the year 2000, I worked at a local amusement center that had an inflatable children's slide themed to the Titanic. Kids would slide down the ship into a blue bumper, representing the water. It wasn't just "a sinking ship," it actually said "H.M.S. Titanic, Liverpool" on the back.
R.M.S. (Royal Mail Ship) Titanic.
I've seen those set up at carnivals around Southern California.
My uncle did remember visiting the park as a child with his aunt. They rode the Autopia clone. My great aunt didn't quite get the concept. She requested a driver for the car, as she didn't have a driver's license. When the attendant explained that her nephew would drive, she said, "He can't drive! He's just a child!"
Your great-aunt actually couldn't tell the difference between driving a real car and driving a children's car as part of a theme park attraction? I think she was a little soft in the head, if you asked me. No offense intended.
There was another older "theme park" in The Bronx too... It was where "starlight park" is now.
If, my memory is still working, I think they were robbed twice. At the time, that was a cash business.
Love your videos!!
A lot of this dead park themes and ideas are incorporated in Disney world Orlando
And epcot
I can’t imagine they’d be successful it’s not too warm in NY or any spot in the northeast of America. Disney land or World is just magical and there is nothing that can touch it now
That's part of the reason why Freedomland fail: 1/4 of the year it is closed due to weather...
that has nothing to do with it... plus don't you know from Thanksgiving to New Years Eve NYC is one of the most popular travel destinations in the world. people go to outdoor events. Thanksgiving Parade. Rockerfeller Tree. Ice Skating - Times Square New Years Eve. The cold doesn't stop them. Besides closing in the winter hasn't cause the failure of Coney Island - nor Six Flags Great Adventure (a lot of their visitors from the NY side of the harbor). He pointed out - this didn't die because it didn't have guests
Nice footage of the Pirate Ride... And thanks for giving proper credit 🙄. Otherwise, nice video.
Hey RFlyer, I'm really sorry we missed out on crediting your footage. As you can see from the video we try to credit all of our video sources in the bottom left corner of the video but somehow we missed out yours in the final edit. I've placed a credit to your video in the list of extra sources in the video description and I'll try my best to make sure this doesn't happen again in the future. - Luke
ReviewTyme No problem. I know my Pirate Ride video isn’t the best, but I’m pretty sure it’s the only one on RUclips and I’m sort of excited that I was able to capture a part of Cedar Point (and Freedomland!) history. I appreciate you placing a quick credit on there. Thanks for an excellent video as I am fascinated by this park. And keep up the good work.
Better five years of theme park than none at all! Too bad more residential complexes didn't us theme parks as proof of concept over some study. Thanks for the videos!!!
A genius idea. Ahead of it’s time. Sad it didn’t over come their obstacles.
Please do a HistoryTyme about Disney's America!
⚡️🌿🇺🇸 This Place was truly Heaven in its Time 😇💐🌿✨✌🏼 #Amazing
Informative video 👍
A very interesting concept. In France there's a park called Puy du Fou, that explains all the history of France
I've never heard of that park, it definitely looks interesting! We might need to check it out on our Europe Trip next year (if the World ever reopens!) - Luke
You won't be disappointed either. ;) It's a neat place. All shows, living history, and no rides.
Do they reenact the beheading of Marie Antoinette?
Love your videos!✨
Thanks so much Kaight! - Luke
I wanna see Disney do a theme park that celebrates America called “Disney’s American Dream” or “Disney’s American Adventure”!
There was gonna be one, it was gonna be called “Disney’s America” and it was gonna be it Virginia near Washington, D.C. It got cancelled due to public backlash over it being built right near a Civil War battle ground and it being considered “fake”. After, they tried to convert Knotts Berry Farm Into Disney’s America but this was cancelled too.
There was an attempt to build such park right outside washington dc but failed due to several reasons.
C Munoz I know, but a “Disney’s American Adventure” theme park should be located in Texas!
wow, never heard about that!
Interesting!!! 🤔🤔🤔
Too bad it never really took hold ...It couldve been quite a place to visit each year. Typical New York, Real Estate value reigns supreme and of course Apartments galore take its place.
This is improperly being represented as a Disney Property, which it is not. It is a cheap copy
“Where thousands died”...don’t go to London tower than, or the colosseum
Agreed, as well as Auschwitz, Dachau....Then again, the Tower, Coliseum, Nazi Death Camps were never marketed as "Fun or Adventure for the family"
Or Disney. Frontierland is based on a wild West where hundreds of thousands of native peoples were disposed and killed, A Small Land which has every 1950's racial cliché you can find and Pirates of the Caribbean where pirates run around burning a town, pillaging and ..... The wenches
Those are actual historical sites... this is a recreation in a theme park for the sake of fun. Not the same at all 🤦♂️
Seems like they need to rebuild the park and add a 9/11 simulation lol
This park -- I visited it in 1963-4 -- was a fifth-rate, slap-dash, utterly-unworthy-of-ANY-association-even-with-the-name-of Disney DUMP. It possessed all the charm of the Coney Island of the 1970s.
Ah, you must have visited the "death knell" period where the park struggled...
I loved Freedomland, but the location was awful.
Freedomland was located a bus ride from the 6 Subway, IINM. Most patrons came by car from Westchester and Queens. We came by car from Long Island.
This Was Disney’s America before.
My neighborhood which is now co op city 💁🏽
How safe is your neighborhood now?
@@yajustgotaloveit I don’t live there no more but it’s filed with senior citizens there, it’s 100 percent boring
People need somewhere to live.
Having a New York Land in NYC was dumb as California Adventure. Should've had a Midwest area!
Cedar Point represent!
LIttle Old New York in Freedomland was highly popular with the crowd.
I! AM! EARLLLYYYYYY!!!!!!
WOW. I never heard of Freedomland until I stumbled on this video. It sure looked like a really good ripoff of Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm.
Not a ripoff. It was based on American history and not the fantasy of Disneyland.
666 LIKES?
NYC and Freedom, two words that do not seem to jive, especially nowadays.