| Playland at the PNE | |
|---|---|
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| Location | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada,  |
| Website | http://www.pne.ca/playland |
| Owner | Pacific National Exhibition |
| Operating season | April – October |
| Rides | 28 total
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| Slogan | Come and join the fun! |
Playland is an amusement park in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is located in Hastings Park and is the oldest amusement park in Canada.
Every year the park will replace one or two rides with new ones and the attendance of the park is always near capacity during the annual fair. For the 2009 season, the Demons Of The Dark and House Of The Dead haunted houses were replaced with the Haunted Mansion and the arcade was replaced with Command Headquarters (CHQ).
At the end of August, Playland and its renting partner Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) collectively host an annual fair for the local residents of Metro Vancouver. Talent shows, Animal Races, Demolition Derbies, Monster Trucks and many foods/snacks are a few of the many interesting events found at the fair. During this time, rides are brought in from West Coast Amusements nearly doubling the number of rides.
The city of Vancouver has long debated about whether the PNE and Playland will stay at or move from its current location. However, it has been decided that they would stay where they are for some time to come.
Playland's regular season operates from April to the end of September every year. Then it re-opens for Fright Nights from mid-October to the Halloween weekend.
Contents |
Attractions in Playland
Roller coasters
| Ride | Year Opened | Description |
|---|---|---|
| The Coaster | 1958 | Playland's signature attraction, this wooden roller coaster from 1958 has a maximum drop height of 20 m (68 ft) and speeds of up to 75 km/h (48 mph). The coaster was designed by Carl Phare. It is an ACE Coaster Classic. The Coaster was featured in the movie Riding the Bullet and was the "Bullet", it also made a brief appearance in the teenage thriller Fear (1996)[1]. The Coaster is commonly referred to as the "Wooden Roller Coaster", and also as "the Big Dipper" (a former children's coaster in the park was named the Little Dipper", located adjacent to and just north of the Scooters). |
| Corkscrew | 1994 | A standard Vekoma-built roller coaster with a Bayerncurve and double corkscrews. Corkscrew has been in operation since 1994. This ride was relocated from Boblo Island, where it was known as Screamer. [2] This coaster was featured in the movie Final Destination 3, and in the television series Smallville. |
| Kettle Creek Mine | 2004 | A family coaster in the form of a figure 8 track. The ride takes two trips around. It replaced the Dragon Coaster in 2004. |
Main amusement rides
| Ride | Year Opened | Manufacturer | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Breakdance! | 2005 | HUSS | A model of the Breakdance ride by HUSS. |
| Crazy Beach Party | 2003 | HUSS | A model of the Frisbee designed by HUSS. |
| Drop Zone | 2000 | SkyCoaster | A model of the Skycoaster. Guests attached to rip cords get pulled up a 30 m (100 ft) tower then let to free fall. There is an additional charge to go on this attraction ($20.95 as of 2009). |
| Enterprise | 1984 | HUSS | A standard Enterprise ride. |
| Flume | 1985 | A log flume water ride with two drops, with the second drop being 12 m (40 ft) tall. | |
| Gladiator | 2005 | HUSS | Three arms with spinning air boats raise and lower while spinning. |
| Hellevator | 2000 | S&S Power | A 60 m (202 ft) tall pneumatically-powered vertical tower ride by S&S Power. A model of the "Combo Ride" [3] [4], it may operate in Turbo Drop mode, Space Shot mode, or irregularly, combining both. This ride is free with admission during the regular operating season, but there is an additional cost to go on it during PNE days and special events. |
| Hell's Gate | 1999 | HUSS | A Top Spin ride with water jets spraying riders at random times. The water jets were taken out from the ride for a period of time, but have been recently put back in and were in use during the summer. |
| Music Express | pre-1990 | A model of Music Express ride, cars on a raised and lowered circular track spin rapidly while music is played. | |
| Pirate | 1984 | HUSS | A swinging pirate ship ride. |
| Revelation | 2000 | Gravity Works | A 50 m (160 ft) tall Skyscraper rotating arm with cockpit seats on both ends. There is an additional charge ($20.95 as of 2009) to go on this attraction. |
| Scooters | pre-1990 | Bumper car ride. | |
| Scrambler | 1984 | Eli Bridge | A Scrambler ride, three arms hold three sets of cars each, spinning rapidly and giving the feeling of collision. |
| Wave Swinger | 1960 | A Wave Swinger ride with a top that tilts. | |
| Westcoast Wheel | 2007 | A newer Ferris wheel bought in 2007 to replace the 80 year old Ferris wheel that used to be at Playland. |
Past amusement rides
| Ride | Year Opened | Year Closed | Manufacturer | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wild Mouse | 1958 | 2008 | Princeton Machine | A wild mouse roller coaster with tight turns and drops. It was the only roller coaster the company ever created. The layout was a copy of German made Wild Mouse coasters. |
| Tilt-A-Whirl | 2004 | Sellner | ||
| Octopus | 2004 | Eyerly | ||
| Rainbow | 1984 | HUSS | A Rainbow ride by Huss. | |
| Super Big Gulp | 1972 | Schwarzkopf | A Schwarzkopf Jet Star 2 coaster. | |
| Zillerator | 1996 | 1997 | D.P.V. Rides | An short-lived Italian-made coaster. |
| Dragon Coaster | 2003 | Zamperla | A powered Zamperla kiddie coaster. |
Children's attractions
These rides are located at a section of the park called Kids Playce at Playland. All rides there have a height restriction (90 cm/36") and the maximum height is 150 cm (60") unless otherwise noted.
- Dune Buggies
- Flying Elephants - Circular elephant ride.
- KC's Raceway - Motorized car ride.
- Helicopters - Ten helicopters that move in a circular motion while the riders may control the helicopters to go up and down. No 150 cm (60") limit.
- Honeybee Express - A miniature train ride.
- KC's Raceway
- Merry-Go-Round - Classic carousel ride. No 150 cm (60") limit.
- Paddle Wheelers - Boats on a small shallow circular water channel.
- Raiders - Large themed jungle gym set themed to (unofficially) Raiders of the Lost Ark.
- Stunt Cycles - Motorcycles move in a circular motion.
- Super Slide - A three lane slide. No 150 cm (60") limit.
Other attractions
- Haunted Mansion - A haunted house. There is an additional charge for this attraction.
- Climbing Wall - A 10 m (35 ft) tall climbing wall with three climbing stations, two for beginners and one for experts. This attraction is free with admission during the regular operating season, but there is an additional cost to go on it during the annual Fair.
- Glass House - A maze constructed of transparent walls. This attraction is free with admission during the regular operating season.
- Pacific Adventure Golf - An 18 hole miniature golf course. There is an additional charge for this attraction.
- Basketball Court - A basketball for guests to use. This attraction is free.
- Command Headquarters (CHQ) - Video Game Arcade. (Verified As Of Dec 5th 2009)
Obsolete attractions
- Nintendo Power Zone - A place to go play the latest video games for Nintendo and Playstation.
Midway Games
- Arcade
- Big Bang
- BlockBuster
- Crossbow
- Derby Downs
- High Striker
- Jump Shot
- One Ball
- Play Quarters
- Play to Win
- Pop-A-Lot
- Pop Gun
- Ring Toss
- Rising Waters
- Roll-A-Ball
- Shoot Out the Star
- Skatter Ball
- Tuff Guys
- Whac-A-Mole
Annual events
Fright Nights
From the middle of October until the Halloween weekend, Playland is home to the Fright Nights Halloween event. During this time, haunted houses are brought in and setup in Playland and employed monsters are roaming the park scaring patrons. All of the parks amusement rides are in operation with the exception of the children's attractions.
Since the beginning of the event in 2003, the haunted houses have been owned and managed by ScreamWorks Inc., a Calgary based company. But starting in 2009, the PNE and Playland will be managing the whole Fright Nights event, including the haunted houses.
Gallery
 Hell's Gate |
 Corkscrew |
 Enterprise |
 Wave Swinger |
 Pirate |
 Hellevator |
 Revelation |
 Scrambler |
 Wild Mouse |
 Flume |
 Music Express |
 Crazy Beach Party |
 The Coaster |
 Kids Playce Playland |
 Scooters |
 Gravitron-1987 |
 JetstarII-1987 |
 Pirate-1987 |
 Huss Rainbow-1987 |
 Bumpercars-1988 |
 Log Ride Station-1988 |
 Log Ride Hills-1988 |
 Musik Express-1988 |
 Pirate-1988 |
 Huss Rainbow-1988 |
 Giant Yellow Slide-1988 |
 Wave Swinger 1988 |
 Enterprise-1989 |
.jpg) SuperBigGulp (JetstarII) |
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External links
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