Florida’s forgotten theme park from 1938 welcomes tourists despite popular competition

Florida’s unique theme park has overcome the towering shadow of its youthful friends in Orlando and stays a haven, if even by chance, for tourists searching for marine edification.

Take a drive alongside A1A in northeast Florida, about 18 miles south of St. Augustine, and you’ll occur upon Marineland Dolphin Adventure, a seemingly forgotten vacationer attraction.

It’s touted as “the world’s first oceanarium,” and is positioned in a small city that shares the identical first identify.

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Marineland the park and Marineland the city are sometimes considered one and the identical, however had been it not for the imaginative and prescient of the marine park’s founders, neither would exist.

What is now generally known as Marineland Dolphin Adventure first opened as Marine Studios on June 23, 1938. It was initially supposed to be an underwater movie studio, Terran McGinnis, Marineland’s historian, informed Fox News Digital in an on-camera interview.

“Back in 1938, you know, underwater cameras hadn’t been invented yet,” McGinnis stated. “Scuba diving hadn’t been invented yet. So, it was almost impossible to get underwater footage for movies.”

But the founders of Marineland – Douglas Burden, Ilya Tolstoy and Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney – had the aim of revolutionizing filmmaking by constructing underwater tanks on floor degree. Their tag line was, “Bring the sea ashore,” McGinnis stated.

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They selected part of Florida that was “relatively free of hurricanes,” McGinnis stated, and near Jacksonville, which had as soon as been a hotbed for filmmaking.

The barrier island upon which Marineland sits was slender sufficient to construct on the oceanside and dock boats throughout A1A on the Intracoastal Waterway.

Although modest tourism was to be anticipated, it got here as a shock to all concerned when about 30,000 folks confirmed up for the grand opening, McGinnis stated.

Marineland of Florida, now generally known as Marineland Dolphin Adventure, has been open for enterprise since 1938. (Marineland Dolphin Adventure)

“I think it was on that very opening day when they started really listening to people’s comments that they kind of flipped their business plan from being a film studio that occasionally welcomes tourists to being a tourist attraction that occasionally makes movies,” McGinnis stated.

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There had been nonetheless loads of films and tv reveals filmed there — notably “Revenge of the Creature,” which was the 1955 sequel to “Creature from the Black Lagoon” — however by then Marine Studios had totally morphed into Marineland.

Billed because the very first oceanarium, which implies “mixed species together,” Marineland was “one of the original roadside attractions,” McGinnis stated.

Marineland, which opened as Marine Studios in 1938, is the world’s first oceanarium. It is now a Florida Heritage website with its personal historic landmark signal. (Marineland Dolphin Adventure)

While Florida’s shoreline has seen a surge of growth since Marineland’s arrival, that is not the case at Marineland and its rapid neighborhood.

Today’s Marineland affords dolphin encounters for friends to swim and play with the aquatic mammals. There are summer time camps and day camps for youngsters who’ve the chance to find out about marine life. 

It additionally has, as McGinnis described it, that “sweet old Florida charm to it that a lot of other areas have lost.”

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“And in our little town of Marineland, all the other few businesses that are there are all in some way connected to marine science and marine research and conservation,” McGinnis added. “So, there’s this neat kind of ocean theme to everything there.”

The city was born two years after Marineland opened.

This is an outdated aerial view of what was then Marine Studios within the city of Marineland, Florida. (Marineland Dolphin Adventure)

“The growth of the park as a popular place for visitors to experience marine life up close led to the incorporation of the town of Marineland in 1940,” the city’s web site says.

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Its authorities construction consists of 1 mayor and one commissioner. There are 5 city employees members.

Marineland the city has a inhabitants of 15, as of the newest U.S. Census Bureau knowledge.

Fox News Digital reached out to the city for remark.

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“I don’t even know if this is true anymore, but for a long time, we always said we’re the only town where there are more dolphin residents than human residents,” McGinnis stated.

Marineland was as soon as the No. 1 vacationer attraction in Florida, McGinnis stated.

Marineland of Florida has been educating and entertaining guests for 86 years. Here, dolphins are seen performing stunts throughout a present. (Marineland Dolphin Adventure)

These days, nonetheless, tourism is usually concentrated in and round Orlando, the place theme parks like Walt Disney World and SeaWorld have diverted a lot of Marineland’s enterprise.

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“There have certainly been ups and downs” relating to attracting new guests, McGinnis stated.

Still, 86 years after opening, Marineland stays in enterprise, which McGinnis stated is “because we have constantly adapted.”

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“And the truth is, we will never be one of those big facilities, one of those really showy facilities,” McGinnis continued. “So, we’re not where you should come if that’s what you want.”

But, McGinnis stated, for individuals who need to go to a “sweet, small, affordable, beautiful facility,” Marineland is precisely that.