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| Location | Newport Beach, Orange County, California, United States |
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| Coordinates | 33°36′10″N117°53′56″W / 33.60278°N 117.89889°W |
| Opened | 1936 |
| Website | Official website |
The Balboa Fun Zone is a family destination located on the Balboa Peninsula in the city of Newport Beach, Orange County, California. The Balboa Fun Zone offers both an ocean and harbor experience for an estimated seven million annual visitors to Newport Beach.[ citation needed ]
The Fun Zone was built in 1936 by Al Anderson featuring a small beach and a 45’ Ferris Wheel as the main attractions. In 1986, Jordan Wank rebuilt the entire area and re-opened it. In 1988, Doo & Sons owned the Balboa Fun Zone, but they walked away after not receiving zoning permits to develop the property into a mixed use of retail and housing. The property languished for several years and the area went into decline.
In 1994, the Balboa Fun Zone was purchased by former employee Joe Tunstall. [1] The Fun Zone consisted of a newly restored Carousel purchased in 1985, a #5 Eli Ferris Wheel, bumper cars, Drummer Boy, and the Scary Dark Ride. There were also a few souvenir shops, restaurants, and tour boat companies offering boat rides and narrated cruises.
Tourists and residents can still enjoy harbor cruises and old-fashioned arcades on the boardwalk. The Ferris wheel is a frequently photographed night landmark on the Balboa Peninsula. The Balboa Fun Zone was purchased in December, 2005 by NHNM Property Holdings, LLC with plans to renovate the existing building, boardwalk, and waterfront.
In 2013, the Balboa Fun Zone underwent a major renaissance with the addition of three rides owned and operated by Fun Zone Entertainment, a wholly owned subsidiary of ExplorOcean. They include Ocean Motion, Fish Pipe, and Burt the Bull Shark.
In 2016, ExplorOcean merged with Discovery Cube Orange County forming OceanQuest adding new attractions and updating the property. [2]
The greater Balboa Fun Zone area also includes the Balboa Village which consists of more retail shops, restaurants, several saloons, a boutique hotel, the Balboa Pier, the beach, and the boardwalks along both the beach and the harbor fronts.
Ocean Motion is an 18’ tall bungee ride that allows people to jump and flip through the air in complete safety, the ride Happy Swing is an automatic swing which can hold up to six people, and Coconut Climb, multiple fake coconut trees with holds for Balboa Fun Zone guests to race on.
In September 2021, Chartwell Real Estate Development purchased the area from OceanQuest after the company ran into financial struggle during the COVID-19 pandemic. [3] Chartwell real estate under the Pyle family, the company seeks to further the revitalization of the Balboa Fun Zone. [4]
The Balboa Fun Zone also features a raised patio open to the public offering views of Newport Harbor. [5] The patio is handicap accessible from East Bay Avenue.
In 1959, Richard Prather set parts of his book Over Her Dear Body in the Fun Zone. "On my right.... was a small sandy beach, a few feet beyond it the color and movement of the Balboa Fun Zone." In 1998, Japanese musician hide filmed the music video for his song "Hurry Go Round" at the Fun Zone and at the Balboa Pier. In 2013, American hip hop recording artist Childish Gambino recorded the music video for his song 3005 entirely on the Ferris wheel here.
The Fun Zone has restaurants such as the iconic Cape Cod style Balboa Pavilion built in 1905, several souvenir stores, and a boardwalk. The nearby Balboa Theater on Balboa Boulevard is set to be renovated by the Balboa Theater Foundation in 2014.
The 130-foot (40 m) long Catalina Flyer passenger ferry ship also operates out of the Pavilion located in the Balboa Fun Zone. With room for 500 passengers and having a top speed of 32 knots, the Flyer arrives in the City of Avalon on Catalina Island in only 75 minutes from departure. This is the largest passenger ferry boat on the west coast. [6]
The Balboa Auto Ferry carries passengers and cars 900 feet (270 m) from nearby Balboa Island to the Balboa Fun Zone. It operates 20 hours a day during the summer months and transports an estimated 1.6 million passengers per year.[ citation needed ] The small ferry which transports three automobiles and up to about 100 people per three-minute trip.
Newport Beach is a coastal city of about 85,000 in southern Orange County, California, United States. Newport Beach is known for swimming and sandy beaches. Newport Harbor once supported maritime industries; however, today it is used mostly for recreation. Balboa Island draws visitors with a waterfront path and easy access from the ferry to the shops and restaurants.
Balboa Island is a harborside community in Newport Beach, California, accessible to the public via bridge, ferry and several public docks. The community is surrounded by a paved concrete boardwalk open to pedestrian traffic, designated as a public walking trail by the city.
The Balboa Peninsula is a neighborhood of the city of Newport Beach, Orange County, California. It is named after Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa, the first European to sight the Pacific from the Americas. Balboa is primarily residential with some commercial areas.
The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is an oceanfront amusement park in Santa Cruz, California. Founded in 1907, it is California's oldest surviving amusement park and one of the few seaside parks on the West Coast of the United States.
Casino Pier is an amusement park situated on a pier, in Seaside Heights, New Jersey. The pier opened in 1932 and formerly extended approximately 300 ft (91 m) into the Atlantic Ocean from the narrow strip of the Barnegat Peninsula, including approximately six blocks within Seaside Heights.
Fire Island Pines is a hamlet in the Town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, New York, United States. It is located on Fire Island, a barrier island separated from the southern side of Long Island by the Great South Bay.
Morey’s Piers & Beachfront Waterparks is a seaside amusement park located on The Wildwoods' boardwalk in Wildwood and North Wildwood, New Jersey. The park has been family owned and operated since 1969 and is currently run by 2nd generation Morey Brothers, Will and Jack. Morey’s Piers has more than 100 rides and attractions across its three amusement piers and two beachfront waterparks.
The Balboa Pavilion in Newport Beach, Orange County, California, is a California Historical Landmark and a National Historic Place. Established on July 1, 1906, the Balboa Pavilion played a prominent role in the development of Newport Beach by attracting real estate buyers to an area formerly designated as "swamp and overflow" land.
The Balboa Island Car Ferry is a ferry service in Newport Beach, California.
The Catalina Flyer is a 600-passenger catamaran ferry operated by Catalina Passenger Service.
Fisherman's Village is a waterfront mall, commercial boat anchorage and tourist attraction located in the world's largest man-made small boat harbor in Los Angeles County at Marina del Rey, California. The Ballona Wetlands State Ecological Reserve is just east of Fisherman's Village and immediately to the south is the federally-owned riverine estuary of Ballona Creek. The historical Fisherman's Village, built in 1967, is nestled on the eastern bank of main harbor entrance channel between Whiskey Reds restaurant to the south and the Windward boatyard to the north.
The Pike was an amusement zone in Long Beach, California. The Pike was founded in 1902 along the shoreline south of Ocean Boulevard with several independent arcades, food stands, gift shops, a variety of rides and a grand bath house. It was most noted for the Cyclone Racer (1930–1968), a large wooden dual-track roller coaster, built out on pilings over the water.
Playland was a 10-acre (40,000-square-meter) seaside amusement park located next to Ocean Beach, in the Richmond District at the western edge of San Francisco, California, along Great Highway, bounded by Balboa and Fulton streets. It began as a collection of amusement rides and concessions in the late 19th century, and was preceded by Chutes at the Beach, opened in 1921. Playland closed Labor Day weekend in 1972.
Crystal Beach Park was an amusement park in Crystal Beach, Ontario from 1888 to 1989. It was serviced by the Canadiana passenger ferry in Buffalo, making it a popular tourist destination for both Canadians and Americans.
Catalina Express is an American passenger ferry service that operates scheduled trips between Santa Catalina Island and mainland California. The company began service in 1981 with a single sixty-passenger vessel. As of 2016, the Catalina Express fleet includes eight high-speed vessels that can make the roughly 30-mile (48 km) crossing in about an hour.
Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park is a family-owned amusement park located at Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City. It features six adult rides and 16 kiddie rides, including a dozen family rides that parents and children can ride together. The park is named for its main attraction, the Wonder Wheel, a 150-foot (46 m) eccentric wheel built in 1920.
Newport Harbor Yacht Club is a yacht club located on the Balboa Peninsula, which is a neighborhood of the city of Newport Beach, Orange County, California.
Balboa Yacht Club (BYC) is a yacht club located in Corona del Mar, Newport Beach, Orange County, California. It is located near the entrance of the Newport Harbor.
The place of First water-to-water flight was designated a California Historic Landmark (No.775) on September 25, 1962. On May 10, 1912, 26 year old Glenn L. Martin flew a self-built seaplane from Balboa Bay at Newport Bay, California to Avalon Harbor on Catalina Island, then back across the channel. His amphibian biplane, the Avalon Zipper, broke the earlier English Channel record for over-water flight. Martin's total distance was 68 miles (109 km), with the Newport-Avalon leg taking 37 minutes. Avalon Zipper had a 15-horsepower Model V Ford gasoline engine donated by Henry Ford. He picked up a bag of mail on the island on the way, and was presented with $100 prize for his achievement. The trip made headline news around the world. Soon regular seaplane passenger and freight services started between Catalina and the ports of Balboa, Long Beach, Wilmington and San Diego, like: Catalina Air Lines. Jim Watson, an aviation historian made a television documentary Wings Across the Channel, the Golden Age of Seaplanes on Catalina., starting with Glenn L. Martin trip.