Fantasyland. For many Americans, and indeed people who have visited the United States, the word likely evokes visions of Dumbo the Flying Elephant and it’s a small world (and that pesky song) along with the rest of Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom. For several generations of Kiwis (New Zealanders), however, Fantasyland meant something else. Fantasyland was the name of a small amusement park in the town of Hastings on the North Island, and it was like a little local Kiwi version of Disneyland.
First opened in 1967, there was nothing new about creating a “copy” of Disneyland – various parks in Asia, Europe, and elsewhere often imitated Disney. Some were unlicensed, near carbon copies (such as Nara Dreamland), while other parks would borrow certain elements from Disney. Europa Park in Germany, for example, initially draw inspiration from Disney with their Pirates ride and Ghost Castle (which bears a resemblance to the Haunted Mansion). Even Euro-Sat, one of the park’s themed roller coasters, is in a geodesic dome almost resembling Spaceship Earth at EPCOT at Disney World in Florida. More recently, Europa Park expanded with more original attractions and developed an identify of its own.
The castle was a bit more dark and dank compared to Disneyland, and had a reputation for smelling of wee, but it let you act out your wildest Money Python fantasies, which you can’t do at Disneyland.
Although inspired by Disneyland, Fantasyland, however, could not be easily mistaken for the former by any means. For one thing, it was on a much smaller scale, and a much lower budget. With New Zealand being a small country, a massive budget was not that necessary, plus there was not much competition either (the only other major amusement park in New Zealand, Rainbow’s End, did not open until 1982), and it was a whole lot cheaper than getting an overnight red-eye flight from Auckland to LA – unless you happened to win that all-expenses-paid grand prize on Wheel of Fortune. Like Disneyland, it had a castle and a pirate ship, as well as play structures themed to storybook elements. There was even a small steamboat ride that went back and forth along a narrow channel that was just a few metres wide. Other small amusement park staples, such as go-karts, bumper boats, and mini golf were also in the mix. In later years there was even a Galaxi roller coaster, believed to be the Cannonball Run from the defunct Footrot Flats amusement park in Auckland.
My family went on holiday to the area several times. Aside from visiting nearby Napier and the Marineland sea life park – my brother liked the dolphin show, but I was more interested in the model train display for obvious reasons. We would also visit Fantasyland and its nearby waterpark (if you could even call it that – it had a just single water slide and a couple of pools) several times. With plenty of open spaces, it was also the place to bring a picnic lunch and climb on the play structures, such as the pumpkin and the giant boot – I recall my family picnicking, while watching the train run by time and time again, wishing we could go and ride it again. The go-karts were also fun, until one of the bigger kids rammed me and I was knocked off the course and got stuck. The bumper boats I did not go on (as I did not yet know how to swim and was worried that I would fall in). There was also the rocket slide (which, being built of concrete, likely resulted in numerous scrapes and bruises) and Noddytown, a miniature make-believe village.
The pirate ship, however was always the favourite. It was not much of a ride – essentially it was just a giant play structure, and for kids with more imagination than means, that was all we needed. It could be boarded by a rickety gangway and had lots of places to climb and explore, allowing us to sail the seven seas and plunder buried treasure. It was built by volunteers and opened with the park in 1967, however it was unfortunately a victim of arson in 2015.
Over the years, increased competition from Rainbow’s End, as well as more affordable air travel, meant that by the 1990s, Fantasyland was showing its age, and plans were unveiled to transform the development into a modern waterpark, complete with a lazy river, multiple slides, and children’s play area. Now known as Splash Planet, many of the original rides and attractions were gone, but some still remained, including the bumper boats and go-karts. Even the train ride, bearing the nostalgic name of Fantasyland Express, still chugs along today, entertaining the next generations of Kiwis.
I never got to experience Splash Planet, as my family moved to Florida in the mid 1990s, and on to bigger things – I have since had the opportunity to visit Walt Disney World, the original Disneyland, and even Disneyland Paris. Going to those parks was literally a whole new world, and while our little injury-inducing rocket slide had nothing on Space Mountain, at the very least it did not come with a two hour wait time. Plus, we Kiwis still dearly miss our pirate ship.