Why we should all hate Bud Light- How it stole one of our local Theme Parks!

[TP2000]

Oh i know what you mean i spent quite a bit of time there as well. Belgium is a gorgeous place and people are great once you get to know them and they you. You are correct though a bit uptight although its much more visible in places like Brussels and less as you venture out to smaller places. When it comes to the bigger of the towns I do prefer Ghent and Bruges over Brussels.
Of course only a skip and a hop away is Amsterdam where one can really have some fun.

I am not sure if i remember Agatha Christie's Poirot

Agreed on the wonderful Belgians!

I do wonder what the impact has been on Anheuser-Busch now that the Busch family in St. Louis has been replaced by corporate suits in Brussels. I found it quite distasteful that the Busch family sold out like they did, and then have the appalling gall to keep trying to wrap Budweiser in the flag and Americana after the sale to Europeans.

And I wonder what the Belgians think of the legacy theme parks in Williamsburg and Tampa; they must scratch their heads over why they have to keep operating those parks.

Agatha Christie's Poirot was most famous for a series of TV shows that were on PBS in the early 1990's. It was set in the 1930's in London, with Poirot as the fussy Belgian detective solving crimes in glamorous pre-war London. A typical PBS period spectacle that was really well done! It's still available on BritBox.

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

I liked Busch Gardens, but I always preferred the Japanese Village and Deer Garden park.

 

[TP2000]

I liked Busch Gardens, but I always preferred the Japanese Village and Deer Garden park.

That was a great place too! Although I have only faint memories of it, and I remember Lion Country Safari better.

SoCal had lots of interesting entertainment in the 1960's and 70's!

Marineland of the Pacific was another good one, out there on the cliff in Palos Verdes. Stunning!

 

[NobodyElse]

Yes, Tillamook Cheese Factory was another fun one.

I was just talking to a friend about those bumper placards! We deduced that those don't work any longer because cars don't have actual metal bumpers that you could wrap the wires around. I imagine that cheesy yet hilarious practice is long gone because of modern car technology.

You guys stopped too early heading up the coast . Another popular bumper placard was Butchart Gardens . You'd see a lot of those up north of Seattle.

Remember, those signs were always attached to the front bumper, so that people would see them when approaching the trap attraction.

 

[Ismael Flores]

Agreed on the wonderful Belgians!

I do wonder what the impact has been on Anheuser-Busch now that the Busch family in St. Louis has been replaced by corporate suits in Brussels. I found it quite distasteful that the Busch family sold out like they did, and then have the appalling gall to keep trying to wrap Budweiser in the flag and Americana after the sale to Europeans.

And I wonder what the Belgians think of the legacy theme parks in Williamsburg and Tampa; they must scratch their heads over why they have to keep operating those parks.

Agatha Christie's Poirot was most famous for a series of TV shows that were on PBS in the early 1990's. It was set in the 1930's in London, with Poirot as the fussy Belgian detective solving crimes in glamorous pre-war London. A typical PBS period spectacle that was really well done! It's still available on BritBox.

I am not much of a beer drinker here in the states, i am more of a tequila, rum or whiskey guy. Once you have any beer in Europe especially Ireland or the UK beer here in the states taste like crap. LOL

As for Anheuser-Busch I would think that they still consider themselves and American company because they still have their headquarters in St. Louis.
They are one of many subsidiary of Anheuser Busch Inbev which also has their North American headquarters in St. Louis.

Not very familiar with how or why the Busch family decided to sell out though.

Speaking of Anheuser Busch Inbev, they own pretty much everything around the world? They own over several hundred brands around the world and each brand is marketed as if its owned locally to the specific country.

If you are ever down at the bottom of the world i suggest the Patagonia 24.7 not bad or the Caas in South Korea also not bad for an Anheuser product

 

[Phroobar]

That was a great place too! Although I have only faint memories of it, and I remember Lion Country Safari better.

SoCal had lots of interesting entertainment in the 1960's and 70's!

Marineland of the Pacific was another good one, out there on the cliff in Palos Verdes. Stunning!

I have vague memories of Marineland. I remember they had lots of Hanna Barbera characters like Scooby Doo roaming the park. I'm not sure what they had to do with fish. I remember the big new thing was a snorkeling exhibit where you could snorkel with fish and sharks. My dad wouldn't let us do it saying "who wants to swim with a bunch of stinky fish?".

 

[Phroobar]

FYI, Marineland of Florida is where they filmed many scenes for Revenge of the Creature (1955). The was the sequel to the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

 

[Darkbeer1]

FYI, when InBev bought Anheiser Busch, the parks were sold off to capital investors, and is a totally different company.

 

[Ismael Flores]

I have vague memories of Marineland. I remember they had lots of Hanna Barbera characters like Scooby Doo roaming the park. I'm not sure what they had to do with fish. I remember the big new thing was a snorkeling exhibit where you could snorkel with fish and sharks. My dad wouldn't let us do it saying "who wants to swim with a bunch of stinky fish?".

We used to go to Marineland whenever we had the chance. It was a small place but always enjoyed looking at the marine life. Always felt bad for the Orcas and the Pilot whales which were kept in such a small pool.
The pilot whales were kept with some dolphins if i remember correctly and the pool was quite small. Most of those animals were relocated to Sea World San Diego, Orkey died two years after he was moved Corkey was still alive last i heard and would be 47 years old now.

 

[Stevek]

That was a great place too! Although I have only faint memories of it, and I remember Lion Country Safari better.

SoCal had lots of interesting entertainment in the 1960's and 70's!

Marineland of the Pacific was another good one, out there on the cliff in Palos Verdes. Stunning!

I grew up in Torrance and Marineland was a routine field trip for our schools. What a great setting too, sad that it shut down. Now home to the Terranea Resort.

 

[Ismael Flores]

I grew up in Torrance and Marineland was a routine field trip for our schools. What a great setting too, sad that it shut down. Now home to the Terranea Resort.

The way it was shut down was sad too-No warning to residents and city officials. It was an underhand scheme from the publishing compnay that owned Sea World at the time.

They were denied permits to capture Orcas from the sea so they decided to buy Orcas in captivity for breeding. They approached Marineland owners and gave an offer for Corky and Orky which where known for their successful breeding. When the owners said no they counter offered to sell Marineland with the understanding that they would update the park and run it like one of the Sea World parks.
days later after the deal was done in the middle of the night they relocated Orky and Corky to San Diego and then shuttered the park claiming that the cost of renovating would be to costly. They even had a real estate company set up to purchase land all secretly behind the city council and marineland approval.

Orky died couple years later and Corky survive to give birth to several calf but non survived, the oldest calf died at 46 days. Must have been traumatic for the Whale and pod

 

[Stevek]

The way it was shut down was sad too-No warning to residents and city officials. It was an underhand scheme from the publishing compnay that owned Sea World at the time.

They were denied permits to capture Orcas from the sea so they decided to buy Orcas in captivity for breeding. They approached Marineland owners and gave an offer for Corky and Orky which where known for their successful breeding. When the owners said no they counter offered to sell Marineland with the understanding that they would update the park and run it like one of the Sea World parks.
days later after the deal was done in the middle of the night they relocated Orky and Corky to San Diego and then shuttered the park claiming that the cost of renovating would be to costly. They even had a real estate company set up to purchase land all secretly behind the city council and marineland approval.

Orky died couple years later and Corky survive to give birth to several calf but non survived, the oldest calf died at 46 days. Must have been traumatic for the Whale and pod

I remember Orky and Corky. Yeah, incredibly disappointing they way it all went down.

 

[Phroobar]

It's very sad what Marineland looks like now.

 

[TP2000]

I have vague memories of Marineland. I remember they had lots of Hanna Barbera characters like Scooby Doo roaming the park. I'm not sure what they had to do with fish. I remember the big new thing was a snorkeling exhibit where you could snorkel with fish and sharks. My dad wouldn't let us do it saying "who wants to swim with a bunch of stinky fish?".

I forgot about that swim-thru snorkel exhibit! That was revolutionary at the time and a very big deal.

But I think your dad was using the "stinky fish" excuse, like many dads did, because he didn't want to pay the upcharge to get in the snorkel exhibit. It wasn't included in the admission price, as I remember. Dads are sneaky!

 

[TP2000]

It's very sad what Marineland looks like now.

That is sad. Just another sprawling generic campus of vaguely "Spanish!" stucco architecture with "Tuscan-inluenced!" design goo-gaws slapped on it.

If I were Governor of California, one thing I would do is decree a 20 year moratorium on any Spanish or Italian themed architecture in new construction. It would force developers to come up with something unique and force architects to flex their minds again and create new design languages and aesthetics.

After the 20 year moratorium, stucco-and-tile architecture could return to the option selection for developers, but it would be rationed by county. I've got it all figured out!

 

[Phroobar]

I forgot about that swim-thru snorkel exhibit! That was revolutionary at the time and a very big deal.

But I think your dad was using the "stinky fish" excuse, like many dads did, because he didn't want to pay the upcharge to get in the snorkel exhibit. It wasn't included in the admission price, as I remember. Dads are sneaky!

He was cheap like that.

 

[TP2000]

He was cheap like that.

Most of the good dads are.

 

[Sailor310]

My family moved to Palos Verdes in '72. I worked at Marineland after school and weekends '76 and '77. It was fun-lots of high school kids, playing with the dolphins on breaks.
Before they built Baja Reef they had a thing called Adventure Swim. They gave you in a wetsuit and a mask and let you swim in the giant fish tank. They tried it on us first. I thought to myself, 'they hand feed these sharks. I'm going to swim at one and intimidate him.' I took a deep breath and dove down towards an 8 footer. He didn't turn away, but kept swimming towards me. I decided, hand fed or not, I wasn't going to push it and turned around and went for the surface as fast as I could.
Orky and Corky had a baby when I was there. I think it was 8' and 300lbs. It was the CUTEST thing! They had a big underwater window in accounting, so when you turned in your bank at the end of the day, you could watch it. Everyone loved it, but then it didn't feed well and wasted away after several weeks. When it died there was this black cloud over the whole park.

Before Terranea was built, the foundations of Marineland sat there for years behind a chain link fence. They cleaned it up and filmed several movies there. The fort from Pirates of the Caribbean was built there, My Life as A House (great film), Fun with Dick and Jane, one of the Charlie's Angel movies. For Hot Shots(1991), they built an aircraft carrier deck and filmed towards the ocean. They built part of an ocean liner for Hidalgo. They filmed lots of tv shows when it was Marineland.

I walked along that trail that drops down to the ocean tonight and do most days. They reopened the Terranea Resort today.

 

[Darkbeer1]

Another set of Commercial including Disneyland, the San Diego Zoo, plus Magic Mountain, Only 2 gallons north of Hollywood.

 

[Darkbeer1]