Fantasy Glades
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Fantasy Glades was a small theme park which operated until April 28, 2002 in the town of Port Macquarie New South Wales, Australia [1]. The park operated for 35 years in its rainforest setting, catering to a child-friendly clientele.
[edit] History
Fantasy Glades was opened in 1967 by George and Rosemary Whittaker, both of whom were sufferers of dwarfism. In 1987 the park was sold to Brian Hutchinson, who operated the park untl its closure in 2002 [2]. Some of the rides and attractions have since been purchased by Tony Williams who has plans to reopen the park in a new location on the Hastings River [3]. Currently this idea appears to be on hiatus.
A sign at the front of Fantasy Glades before its closure read:
| “ | Created in 1968 by George and Rosemark Whitaker. Fantasy Glades is believed to be the world's only theme park to have been built by "Little People" (Persons who were once called dwarfs). Following the death of its creator George Whitaker, Rosemary remarried Mr Stephen Hobbs and the family of short statured persons continued to operate the park until 1987. Rosemary and Stephen now live in Victoria with their 5 children and 6 grandchildren. Although of small stature George and Rosemary started a fantasy world that has delighted persons of all ages & has become Port Macquarie's most visited and highly awarded tourist attraction. | ” |
Fantasy Glades was located at 44 Parklands Cl, Port Macquarie.
[edit] Attractions
- Cinderella Castle - a large pink castle with life-size mannequins behidn glass depicting the story of Cinderella
- Witches Cottage - a recent addition, this wooden house was full of fun 'booby traps'
- Snow White Diamond Mine - a walk-through mine with motifs of the singing seven dwarves
- Snow White Cottage - a miniature house themed with Snow White and the Seven Dwarves designs
- Crooked House - a recent addition, this was similar to the witches house and featured distorting mirrors
- Wishing Well - a simple wishing well
- Monorail - a recent addition, this was a people-powered push-pull monorail which wound through the rainforest
- Dinosaurs - a series of Dinosaur sculptures near the Cinderella Castle
- Dragon - a large pink dragon whose eyes flashed and sprayed water and smoke from its nose at passers-by, due to infrared sensors.
- Coin-powered cars - these tiny cars were designed for children to ride around a bitumen area, and could be operated by inserting a 20 cent coin
- Old Woman's Shoe - this large red shoe (approx 3 metres tall) was designed to represent the nursery rhyme There was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe and could be climbed in
- Train - this electric road train circumnavigated the theme park on a loop
- Miniature Chapel - a tiny church, sized for children and dwarves
- Hansel and Gretel - A glass-windowed shopfront depicting the story
- Humpty Dumpty - A large figure a humpty dumpty who, when a button is pressed, falls off his wall
- Kiddies Corner - a recent addition, this was a selection of generic 'shopping mall' coin operated rides
