13 Comments:

• Heck yes, I remember Enchanted Village (and Japanese Deer Park). Just barely, but I remember.
  
  Thanks for posting this!

  By  Dave, at August 30, 2006 11:36 PM  

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• I totally remember Enchanted Village! My family and I went there in the early 70's a number of times and had a blast. I even remember the Martial Arts ninja show, and the "man-thing" gimmick they did.
  It allways game me a very "hippy-groovy" vibe. But, as a little kid, I didn't care about that, just having fun. ^__^

  By  Honeychan, at September 04, 2006 3:01 AM  

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• My aunt worked there in the mid-late 70s. There was a theme song that I remember only the beginning words to: "Enchanted Village is a wonderous village and you should come to see it." I don't remember it as well as the Japanese Deer Park, though (could buy Ry-Krisp from a vending machine to feed the deer).

  By  Dani, at September 06, 2006 2:25 AM  

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• I am the City Clerk for the City of Buena Park, and I am undertaking a project to create a vintage memorabilia display for city hall of the city's amusement attractions. If you have anything you would like to donate or loan to the City on long-term basis, please contact me at sreynoso@buenapark.com.

  By  Buena Park City Clerk, at October 30, 2006 3:33 PM  

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• I worked at Enchanted Village taking tickets at the front gate in the summer of 1976. I remember Carol Burnett coming to see the place, and commenting that she was bored! I also remember that repetitive theme song -- "Enchanted Village is a wonderous village, and you really ought to see it..." on and on and on... They even sold a 45 record of it as a souvenir. I hated it then, having to listen to it constantly, but now I wish I bought one of those records.
  
  Commenter OCLisa22 in the Japanese Village & Deer Park thread recalled the lyrics:
  
  Enchanted Village is a quiet village
  And you should come to see it
  Enchanted Village is a wondrous village
  And the animals lead you to it
  
  So close your eyes
  Think of paradise
  A place in which there's room in
  A happy place just to giggle and laugh
  Where the animals love the humans
  
  I remember the trouble they had with peacocks jumping the fence and playing on the 5 freeway, and another time when a male lion broke free from his handler and was running through EV, with a bunch of animal trainers with pith hats running behind him, trying to corral him back in. He raced around the park a couple of times. It was funny to watch, and thankfully no one was hurt. I also remember the sweet waft of the Vanilla Wafers being produced at the Nabisco plant (which was demolished just last month, sadly). Used to time my breaks by them, since the baking seemed to occur at the same time every day!

  By  Doug Mason, at November 05, 2006 12:16 PM  

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• As a child, I actually sang on that Enchanted Village theme song! When I visited the park, I was surprised to hear it playing over and over. My mom bought a bunch of the 45 records (still have 'em!).

  By  William S., at March 23, 2007 12:03 AM  

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• William S...
  
  Wanna talk? I would love to buy two of those 45's from you if possible!
  
  Doug Mason
  canin2@aol.com

  By  canin2, at April 16, 2007 5:15 PM  

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• Oh my goodness! It had a bipedal hominid? I wonder whatever became of him.

  By  Mina, at May 13, 2007 10:59 AM  

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• I had an annual pass to Japanese Village. When it finally closed, someone briefly re-opened the park as "Enchanted Village". They kept much of what had been there before, but changed the look with a jungle theme overlay (and emphasis on animals). Unfortunately, the new version of the park was indeed rather boring, and didn't last long.

  By  Anonymous, at May 26, 2007 11:36 PM  

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• My Birthday is on June 18th too I just need to know what year.

  By  Anonymous, at June 08, 2007 2:53 PM  

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• RE: Oh my goodness! It had a bipedal hominid? I wonder whatever became of him.
  
  There was a TV special done on Oliver. After genetic testing, he was found to be a normal chimpanzee. He lived a hard tough life but is still alive and now better cared for.
  For more info, search wikipedia - oliver chimpanzee

  By  SycoMyco, at January 27, 2008 12:29 PM  

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• I worked at the enchanted village, security at night, I worked graveyard all night by myself, and during my security rounds I would visit all the animals, including Oliver. It was a great place.

  By  Anonymous, at February 28, 2008 10:06 PM  

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• I must contradict Carol Burnett - I found the park quite worthwhile for my family, though we only visited on two occasions. The tug-o-war between elephant and kids, and the tarantula races were great fun. The shows were well produced, including a musical (very good vocalists) with a "Noah's Ark" kind of theme (with a few scantily-clad ladies to keep the dads interested.) My personal opinion is that they could not pay for such labor-intensive presentations at prevailing prices for admission. Disneyland, you will note had more mechanization and larger crowds. EV just could not push the volume of people through the park that would make it solvent. It is unfortunate is that the things that made it attractive to us (more personal interaction and human interface) likely caused it to be unprofitable.

  By  B. Toy - Oakton, VA, at August 25, 2008 12:15 PM  

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