Theme Park Discussion / The Lost Parks of Northern California - YouTube series

Hey everybody,

My friend and I are producing a video-series for YouTube entitled "The Lost Parks of Northern California." We are both really into amusement parks and especially the parks no longer with us. In Northern California alone, there are nearly 20 lost amusement parks, and we plan to have our series cover them all.

The first episode is on a park that was in a city called San Mateo for only two years. It was called "Pacific City." You'll have to watch the episode to find out why it closed so soon. />/>/>

Aside from being one of the "show's" producers, I do lots of the research and do all of the editing for the series. Our long term goal is to hopefully have network either pick up the show or concept for television. Regardless, I would love to know what you all think about our first episode (watch the whole episode if possible) and any suggestions for improvement are greatly appreciated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Olw0pGF25g

For more on the series and the actual list of parks, visit: http://acenorcal.org/lost-parks/

Thank you! Our next episode will be out at the end of April.

-Nicholas (with the long last name in the credits)

Wow, very professional job and a lot of interesting stuff here. I can imagine watching this on TV and certainly enjoying it, though I wonder if the general public would also. I'm looking forward to seeing the next episode.

Interesting but I think you should hold back on the walk to the camera shots a lot. They're rather useless when you're just showing a beach in the background instead of something interesting that you can't get in just one shot.

I know Kris, he was my roommate on the TPR Oktoberfest trip. It's great to see that you're putting this together; I remember he had a lot of enthusiasm for creating a new kind of theme park show. I love that you're getting into the history of these parks. So far it reminds me of Rick Steve's and California's Gold. I'm looking forward to the next episode!

My only nagging criticism is I would've liked more shots of the carousel.

Let me know if you ever do one in San Diego, I've done a bit of research on Wonderland (Blue Streak Racer) and the Panama-California Expo (L.A. Thompson's Racing Coaster), both of which existed prior to Belmont Park.

Pretty high productino value. I watched it 'til the carousel part, then I lost interest. Funny thing I rode the Dipper for the first time this weekend. That thing beat me up real good!

Wow, very professional job and a lot of interesting stuff here. I can imagine watching this on TV and certainly enjoying it, though I wonder if the general public would also. I'm looking forward to seeing the next episode.

TV, or at least local TV to start, is our ultimate goal. If not these specific episodes, at least getting the concept to air would be awesome.

Interesting but I think you should hold back on the walk to the camera shots a lot. They're rather useless when you're just showing a beach in the background instead of something interesting that you can't get in just one shot.

Thanks for the comment and tip. We'll definitely keep that in mind for future installments.

I know Kris, he was my roommate on the TPR Oktoberfest trip. It's great to see that you're putting this together; I remember he had a lot of enthusiasm for creating a new kind of theme park show. I love that you're getting into the history of these parks. So far it reminds me of Rick Steve's and California's Gold. I'm looking forward to the next episode!

My only nagging criticism is I would've liked more shots of the carousel.

Let me know if you ever do one in San Diego, I've done a bit of research on Wonderland (Blue Streak Racer) and the Panama-California Expo (L.A. Thompson's Racing Coaster), both of which existed prior to Belmont Park.

Small world, eh? :-) California Gold / Huell Howser is one of our biggest influence - quite a tragedy we have lost him. You aren't the only one who has said that about more carousel footage. ;-) In terms of SoCal, we have over 20 parks to do in NorCal, but expanding to other areas is something I would love to do. I recently became the Video Promotions Coordinator for the American Coaster Enthusiasts and one of the ideas I have in this role is to, as you said, expand the "Lost Parks" series. We'll talk.

Pretty high productino value. I watched it 'til the carousel part, then I lost interest. Funny thing I rode the Dipper for the first time this weekend. That thing beat me up real good!

Thanks! You should've stuck around for the whole video. :-)

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Well, finally! After nearly four months, our second episode is out. This episode revolves around the incredibly little-known and short-lived "Luna Park" of San Jose. It was built by Audley Ingersoll, who was famous for building many of the other Luna Parks around the country - it was essentially his chain. The park is so unknown that we were only able to find two actual pictures of the park, both from 1911. But, enough details and spoilers - watch it below to learn more about Luna Park of San Jose! [You may even hear my voice reading a newspaper. ;-) ]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJblXTztJfw