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This
Page is an Archive of all news items featured on the Joyland Books News
Page between 1 July and 31 December 2012.
For the latest news, click here.
New Disneyland DVD
celebrates 1980s
30 December 2012
The latest in
the Themeparkology series of Disneyland DVDs
has been released,
Disneyland 1980-1989. This
documentary covers the history of Disneyland
as it continued to grow and change
throughout this colourful decade.
Discover
the Bovarian-style reconstruction that
Fantasyland underwent in 1983 and learn why
Bear Country was changed to Critter Country
in 1988. There were also several new
attractions such as Pinocchio's Daring
Journey, Splash Mountain, Star Tours and
Captain EO.
This 55
minute documentary really captures the
essence of Walt Disney's magical theme park
through the eighties and will explore some
of the inventive parades through Main
Street, U.S.A.
More...
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Disneyland DVDs reduced!
30 December 2012
The story
of the Caterpillar ride continues...
18 November 2012
Following on
from the fantastic first book
Greens for Caterpillars, the second
book on these memorable rides written by
Tommy Green covers the period from 1950
until 1976 when the last Caterpillar ride
was sold.
As well as
details of the rides and the fairs the rides
attended,
Greens for Caterpillars Part Two
features copious details of the vehicles
used for transport, and the changing traffic
legislation which took place throughout the
period. There is also a section on the other
rides travelled by Greens, and the other
enterprises they operated in Lancashire and
Glasgow.
Click here for details...
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60 years of Danter's fun fairs
15 November 2012
Available now
(and in good time for Christmas!) is a brand
new book on the history of the Danter
family's fairground transport across 60
years.
Danter’s Travels 1952 – 2012 by
Steve Perry is a pictorial history of the
transport of the Gloucestershire Showmen.
The author
is close friends with the Danter family,
having met founder Billy Danter when he was
a boy. The family has run funfairs in
Gloucestershire since the 1940s.
The
photographs in the book trace the journey of
the family from 1952 to 2012, with pictures
donated from residents in Tewkesbury, the
family and personal photographs taken by the
author himself. The photographs were
collected over a three year period.
More...
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Camelot Theme Park
closed for good
3 November 2012
The Lancashire
Evening Post is reporting that Camelot Theme
Park has closed for the last time, blaming
bad weather and the Olympics for a
"particularly challenging" 2012 season. The
park narrowly missed closure in 2009, when
owners Prime Resorts went into receivership,
but Knights Leisure (headed by former Prime
Resorts Chief Executive Roy Page) took a
lease on the site from owners Story Land and
were able to keep the park open.
More...
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The legendary
Scenic Railway at Barry Island
27 October 2012
Amusement park
nostalgia website
themagiceye
has pulled a fantastic article from the
archive for November.
Following Dave Page's summer visit to Barry
Island Pleasure Park in the September 2001
issue of TheGalloper.com to see one of the
park's newest rides, Nick Laister took a
trip back in time to look at the park's
biggest ever attraction: the much missed
Scenic Railway.
The Beast of Barry: The legendary Scenic
Railway at Barry Island can be
viewed
here...
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New documentary on one of Disneyland's famous attractions
1 October 2012
When Walt
Disney decided to build his magical theme
park in 1959 he wanted to build an
adventurous land, a land with a thatched
jungle filled with animals. The idea was
inspired by the success of Disney's 1948
television series, The True-Life Adventures,
which was a series of short documentary
films of live animals roaming about within
their natural habitat.
With the help
of landscape architect, Bill Evans, and
mechanical wonders, Bob Mattey and Bob Gurr,
the jungle came to life on the park's
opening day.
The new DVD
The
Jungle Cruise, ventures through the
ideas and landscapes of Walt's man-made
jungle.
More...
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A
fun-filled trip back in time through arcade history
22 September 2012
The
Encyclopedia of Arcade Video Games
by Bill Kurtz is a fun-filled trip back in
time to the colourful arcades of the 1970s
and '80s. More than 600 photos present the
dot-munching PAC MAN, bomb-dropping SPACE
INVADERS, and other favourites.
This
comprehensive reference presents photos of
every popular video game manufactured, along
with some long-forgotten machines and even
some you've probably never heard of. You'll
also find information about the
manufacturers who produced these classic
games, a section about video game
collectibles, and information on how to
locate your favourite games and start your
own collection.
More...
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Metroland
coaster to be rebuilt at The BIG Sheep
25 August 2012
The Zierer-built
'New Roller Coaster', which operated for 20
years at the Metroland indoor amusement park
at the Metro Centre, Gateshead, until the
park closed in 2008, will be rebuilt at
Devon's popular visitor attraction The BIG
Sheep following the granting of planning
permission by North Devon District Council. The roller coaster, as yet unnamed,
will be Devon's tallest, and will be the
latest ride to be added to this rapidly
expanding adventure park. The BIG Sheep's
owner, Rick Turner, said it was expensive to
remove from Metroland: "We had to remove the
whole side of the centre to remove the
columns and track." No opening date has been
announced.
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The roller
coaster operating at Metroland. |
127 years of madness, sadness and scintillating thrills!
18 August 2012
Read about the
history of roller coasters down under in a
brand new book,
The Story of Australian Roller Coasters by
Edwin Dickinson. This is a
fascinating story that spans the late 19th,
20th and early 21st centuries.
We
understand that Joyland Books is the only
retailer that is currently importing this
book into the UK, and buy importing a number
of copies at once we are able to keep the
price as low as possible.
More...
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Books wanted!
18 August 2012
Dreamland
compulsory purchase approved
17 August 2012
Following a
public inquiry, Thanet District Council has today received approval from
the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government for the
compulsory purchase of the Dreamland site.
Chair of The Dreamland Trust, Nick
Laister, said: “The Dreamland Trust is ready to make a
start on site and we hope to have Stage One of the project fully open by
Easter 2014.”
More...
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Above: The
Dreamland Trust plan to repair the Scenic
Railway. |
Amusement arcade treasures
15 August 2012
Arcade Treasures by Bill Kurtz is
now available at Joyland Books. This book is
filled with 447 colour photos of the
greatest games ever to hit the arcade scene
- the earliest arcades' strength testers and
fortune tellers, perennial favourites like
baseball games and SKEE-BALL, wild pinball
games from the middle of the century, and
modern electronic video game like PAC MAN
and Q*BERT.
Also
included are a section on novelty products,
a detailed discussion of the development of
different game trends, a history of
significant manufacturers and designers, and
a thorough price guide.
Click here for more details.
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Rare
Alton Towers guidebook added to Secondhand Shop
11 August 2012
We have added
an extremely rare and very detailed 112-page 1986 guidebook
called
Alton Towers
Official Guide & Souvenir, which provides a
detailed look at the Alton Towers of the
mid-1980s, with ride specifications, a tour
of the different areas within the park and
behind the scenes information.
Chapters include: Kiddies Kingdom; Alton Towers Today; Alton Towers in the Past; Nature Trails; Shopping; Eating; Live Entertainment; Exhibitions,
etc; Natural History; The 'Little' Rides and More; The Big Rides; Behind the Scenes; Cinemas;
Mini Holidays.
Big rides featured are: Grand
Canyon Rapids; Log Flume and Dinosaurs; Four Man Bob; Ferris
Wheel; Octopus; Spider; Pirate Ship; Wave Swinger; 1001 Nights;
Enterprise; Black Hole; Corkscrew; Turbo Star.
At the back of the book is a
fold-out map of the park in 1986.
Click here for details.
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American
Adventure site to be redeveloped
8 August 2012
Councillors at Derbyshire County
Council approved a masterplan for the redevelopment of the site
of the former American Adventure Theme Park last week.
The Council's preferred developer,
Waystone, has been working on the plans for nearly four years.
Waystone plan a major mixed use development incorporating a
hotel, retirement village, a variety of housing, light industry,
leisure and offices. The company denied rumours, fuelled by an
article on the
BBC News website at the end of July, that 500 homes are
planned for the 114-acre site.
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Waystone says
that no details of the plan will be revealed
until a three to four-month consultation
with Amber Valley Borough Council was
completed. The company will then consult the
public on the plans before submitting a
planning application to Amber Valley Borough
Council later this year. |
Fair vows to
continue after cable theft
5 August 2012
Operators of ‘The Worldwide
Travelling Theme Park Experience’, which is operating at The
Strand in Gillingham, Kent, have vowed to continue to open
today, following the overnight theft of all the electrical
cables that are used to connect the rides to their power source.
The theft was discovered when the
operators at the Kent coast entertainment complex arrived to
commence their daily pre-opening safety checks.
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All the power leads to these
attractions, as well as domestic cables were cut in the night,
between the park’s closing for the night at 9PM and 8AM this
morning (Sunday 5th August). The park has been popular with
families drawn from across Medway since the start of the school
holidays, as it is each summer, and the operators have vowed
that this setback will not prevent them from continuing to
entertain the public.
Therefore, a reward of £2,000
(two thousand pounds) has been offered for information leading
to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrators of the theft. |
Coney Island: 40 Years
(1970-2010)
5 August 2012
Since 1970, when world-renowned
photographer Harvey Stein first turned his discerning eye toward
Coney Island, his love affair with this New York beachfront
amusement park began to grow. In
Coney Island: 40
Years by Harvey Stein, over 200 compelling black and
white photos tell the tale of his 40-year romance with this
iconic locale. Entering Coney Island through his lens is like
stepping into another culture, capturing the lives and times of
those who work and play there. There is a sense of adventure, a
thrilling escape from daily worries, and much pleasure, whether
riding the jarring Cyclone roller coaster, walking the
boardwalk, viewing the Mermaid Parade, or sunbathing on the
beach. Coney Island, America's first amusement park, is
celebrated worldwide.
More...
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15% discount
to Cyclopark with Joyland Books
8 July 2012
Joyland Books has teamed up with
Kent's newest attraction - Cyclopark - to give you a
15%
discount on entry for up to 5 people. This £8 million,
43-hectare facility near Gravesend opened in May this year and
includes road and BMX tracks plus mountain bike trails. Hailed
as Europe's largest cycle park, Cyclopark features a six-metre
wide, 2.9 kilometre road cycling circuit, a 340-metre BMX track,
6 kilometres of mountain bike trails, a cycle playground and
skate park all in landscaped grounds. It is a great family day
out.
To claim your 15% discount,
print
off this voucher and take it with you to Cyclopark.
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Joyland Forum update
8 July 2012
The
Joyland
Books Forum has been given a new look. Everything should
operate the same as before, but please note that the Forum is
currently being tested and it is possible certain features will
not work at all times during this period. Our current tests show
that everything but the search function is working as normal,
but please
contact us if you
find something is not working as it should.
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If you have
not joined our forum yet, you can do so
here. To view the Forum,
click here. |
New British book
on amusement park rides
4 July 2012
Amusement Park
Rides by Martin Easdown is a brand new book outlining
the history of roller coasters and other amusement park rides.
From the first mass-produced rollercoaster, the Switchback
Railway, through to the giant wooden coasters of the inter-war
period, the author uses historic postcards and photographs to
chart their development and that of other amusement rides
including revolving towers, aerial rides, Ferris wheels and
water chutes, all of which were produced from the late Victorian
era in myriad forms. Essential to the very existence of such
amusement venues as Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Southend's Kursaal
and Margate's Dreamland, these much-loved rides are not so far
removed from their modern-day equivalents as they might at first
appear. Out on 10 July and available for pre-order now.
More...
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