Monday, January 25, 2010

A Park With a "Dragon Slide"

Norkio remembers a park that had a "dragon slide", and wonders what the name of the park was...

I have wonderful memories of a park that I never really knew the name of. We called it Dragon Park because it had the Dragon Slide! It was a long cement slide that wound its way down the side of a hill and the bottom was the dragon's mouth. Along side the slide were well tended bushes, and behind the bushes were the "secret" trails we would use to sneak up on our friends. We often took a picnic and played there all day. This was during the 70s although I have no idea where in OC this park is. I would love to know the name of it since it was such a magical place for kids!

17 comments:

  1. OMG i had forgotten about this place!!! I know it was around in the early 80's too...
    okay goggled it... is it Atlantis Play Center is in Garden Grove Park??

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  2. Oh yeah, Atlantis was awesome. My granny used to take me there when I was a kid. Everybody brought wax paper to slide down the cement slide. I was thinking about this place just the other day. I googled it too, and I see it's still there! Looks like the sea serpent slide got an upgrade to plastic???

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  3. It's called Atlantis Park and it's next door to Bolsa Grande H.S. I always thought the slide was huge as a kid but happened by a couple years ago and saw that it was actually quite short. I'll keep my memories of that park

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  4. I remember Atlantis Park quite well. We lived in Santa Ana, and a friend's parents used to take us there fairly often. The dragon slide, the secret trails, the well-tended shrubbery, and all the other things to do meant hours of fun for us. The bummer about the whole thing was seeing all the other kids there for birthday parties and picnics, and seeing all the food, cakes, ice cream, and presents that we weren't a part of. We got over it, though. There was also a large public park surrounding Atlantis Park at the time (60's and early 70's), with a large rocket ship slide that could be seen from Westminster Blvd. When I got old enough to drive, I would be in the area and see that rocket ship point to the sky, and remember the times there as kids. It appears the park is gone and it is now some kind of maintenance or storage area for the high school.

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  5. I regularly take my kids there and marvel at how small the entire park seems now. Much of the original equipment has been replaced with "safer" and newer playground items, but the Danny the Sea Serpent slide is still as good as ever along with a few other treasures. In places where items have been upgraded, the original dedication plaques are still in the ground with the dates and sponsers. And of course, King Neptune has been repainted and still presides over the bithday party seating area.

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  6. it had a mini bike park between it and the high school. well it was more of just a small oval track but hey you could still ride your under 80 cc bike in there.

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  7. I went to this park I really remember the green slide but was there a pink elephant that you could climb up his trunk or was this a differnt park?

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  8. Atlantis Park is still there, I went about a year ago and it only costs one dollar for admission. One cool thing about it is that adults are not allowed in without a child, making it safer than some other parks. When I was there I saw some neat older structures in addition to the dragon slide, including a whale slide, viking ship, and some older playground equipment. There are multiple playground areas, and lots of shady spots. I remembered going to a birthday party at this place as a kid, but it seemed kind of like a dream. I was thrilled to discover that it was real and still exists! The designer of the park was a Mexican artist, and there's a group that organized to try to preserve one of the other parks that he designed, located in San Gabriel. This is the website: www.friendsoflalaguna.org -- it has pics of his parks, including Atlantis Park.

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  9. I have pictures of the dragon slide! I loved the park!

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  10. WOW I have felt the same way, I went there in the early 80's with school and I just have not been able to remember where it was. It has bothered me for a while. thank you

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  11. Thanks So much everyone for your memories, I can now tell my friends on Facebook I found the park. I have many of the same memories, such a kids paradise of exploration. And now i'll take my own little explorers there this week! Cheers!

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  12. I had been trying to remember the name of that park for DECADES!! Thank you.

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  13. This is a wonderful park and I urge parents to go & keep it open! It's an inexpensive place to take your kids to play or to have a party, and a wonderful piece of Garden Grove history. It's truly unique! In addition to the features mentioned above, there's also a whale slide, many different little play areas, and places for picnics. It's a hidden gem.

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  14. I live right across the street from this park and have gone there since I was a toddler and continued to go there after school and play with my friends (Bolsa Grande High School class of 09). I've spent many nights there as well partying hardy with my friends or playing night tag. It's the best park in all of Orange County.

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  15. Used to go to Atlantis Park way back in the day. Recently, with kids of my own now, my wife and I took our eldest daughter there a few years ago. Took some wax paper for the dragon slide and she almost reached Mach 3 coming down. We were there for about an hour, when I realized nobody else was in the park. Come to find out from one of the gardeners that the park was closed at the time. Good times.

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  16. Atlantis Park in the 1970's admission price was 10 cents .and the slide seems so so big.Not long ago I went back and cost me a dollar i couldnt believe my eyes was that the same dragon how was it possible i could see the whole slide.and the steps that as a child went on and on as you inched up in line for your turn.I remember it was a big deal.you couldnt see over the side so it was a little scary.

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  17. I too used to go to this park in 1970. I had a blast running up the hill to slide down the dragon. I think we had a pancake breakfast and handed out POW-MIA bracelets and stickers.

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