Pleasure Island amusement park, Wakefield, Massachusetts, 1959/1960 8mm film 

This was fun. Thank you! We went to there several times when I was a kid. Wish my memory was better. 😁

Interesting Video. I didn't know PleasureIsland even existed until I discovered a DVD in my towns transfer station (in New Hampshire). It was left on a shelf and looked interesting, so I took it home, watched it, and was hooked on the historical images! I was only 5 yrs old when the park closed and have no memory of visiting there, but after watching the videos, I wish I had gone there! I was a Big Fan of Popeye and The Three Stooges and I understand both were featured at the park from time to time. Thanks for Posting!

i was born in 1958, my family and i went here several times in the early-mid -sixties. MOBY scared the heck out of me the first time i saw it.

Thank you 🥰

I know what happened to Moby Dick, I used to work there when I was a teenager for one of the last days at the park was open, me and three other maintenance guys were rising the whale out of the water when all of a sudden it stopped. After it stopped we kept pressing the control button we weren’t sure what was happening the whale started shaking violently and ended up blowing a hydraulic seal. Whale came up and out of the water through a winch but had to hydraulic pistons that would raise and lower the tail in the front end one of these ended up exploding. The whale frame broke up into several pieces, during that process fell off the track and is now in the bottom of the water. I know a few friends who do scuba dive in the whale is there, but it’s fiberglass skin is worn off and is now just a broken frame under the water.

Nice camera work! Memories!!!

Excellent video! Brings back lots of memories.

I went to Pleasure Island a bunch of times.

I love old amusement park footage like this but that whale is terrifying to me lol

thanks.

That's the Pleasure Island I remember. Kind of cruddy actually. I wasn't that keen on pirates or old West hokum, I wanted rides and there weren't any really, just tame train and boat rides your grandma would like.

Was this place named after the place in Pinocchio? I wonder if people that were kids when this place was in business were afraid to go there for fear they would turn into a donkey.