Pleasure Island park (Wakefield, MA)
After getting fired from Disney less than six months from opening Disneyland, CV Wood created his own company, filched a few Disney artists, and set out to build a series of Disneyland copies around the country. It didn’t go so well as only one of the four have survived (and he was fired from that one before it was even completed). The longest-running of the other three was a small park outside Boston called Pleasure Island, featuring New England, nautical, and pirate-themed areas and attractions.
It’s great fun to go back and see the marketing for these old parks; the news ads I found during my park research. The map (1962), brochure, and postcards were provided by Bob McLaughlin, THE expert on the CV Wood parks, and the dude who runs Friends of Pleasure Island. Go check out their website and buy his Images of America book for lots of great photos.
