Pirate's World
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| Pirate's World | |
|---|---|
| Location | Dania, Florida, United States |
| Website | http://www.lostparks.com/piratesw.html |
| Owner | Recreation Corporation of America |
| Opened | 1966 |
| Operating season | Closed 1975 |
| Area | 87 acres |
| Rides | 15+ total
|
Pirate's World was a 87 acre buccaneer-themed amusement park in Dania, Florida.
Pirate's World was developed by Recreation Corporation of America and opened in 1966. It was located on the north side of Sheridan Street, east of US 1.
The park featured "The Crows Nest" observation tower, which had originally been the Belgian Aerial Tower at the 1964/1965 New York World's Fair. This structure was bought second hand after the fair and transported to the site, where it was re-erected.[1] It consisted of a central post from which was suspended four metal cages by cables, designed to carry several standing passengers. To balance the structure, two cages would be in the air whilst two were being loaded on the ground, and the cages would be raised and lowered simultaneously.
Also at Pirate's World was the "Grand National Steeplechase", which was originally from Coney Island,[2] along with a Wild Mouse roller coaster, a log flume (also bought second-hand from the New York World Fair), various carnival flat rides including a paratrooper, a sky ride, some carny games, a ski-ball arcade and spiral slides.[3]
In the late-1960s and early-1970s, Pirate's World was the venue for several rock music concerts, playing host to such artists as Led Zeppelin (1969), The Faces (1970), The Grateful Dead (1970), Jethro Tull (1971), Grand Funk Railroad (1971), Iron Butterfly (1972), David Bowie (1972) and The Beach Boys (1973). The Johnny Winter album Live Johnny Winter And (1971) was a live album partly recorded at Pirate's World in fall 1970. It was not uncommon for crowd control problems to break out at some of these concerts.[4]
Over the years, several film or television programs were also filmed on the site, including Jack and the Beanstalk (1970), Thumbelina (1970), Musical Mutiny (1970) and Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny (1972)[5]
Pirates World was successful in its early years, but in 1971 Disney World opened in Florida, which took much business away from the theme park. By 1973 it was in bankruptcy. In 1975 it was closed and subsequently fell into a state of disrepair. Norman Kaufman, a venturing carnival rides owner back in Coney Island, bought some of the steeplechase's fiber glass horses and eventually gave one of theme to the "Coney Island, USA" museum more than twenty years after. The fate of the others is unknown.
In 1978 a biblical theme park was to have been developed on the site, but that shortly fell through. The land was sold, zoned residential, and condominiums were built over the last traces of the park.[6]
Pirate's World is the source of the Dania wild monkey population.[citation needed]
