March 28Mar 28 "Mom and Dad, take my hand, take me out to Freedomland!"Freedomland was an American history-themed amusement park in the Bronx in New York City. It was open for five seasons, from 1960 to 1964. Declining attendance and emphasis on history based attractions, with no thrill rides or rollercoasters never really warranted repeat business, and the park went bankrupt and closed down after the 1964 season.Many people have fond memories of the park, including my family, and I thought it might be a worthy park to recreate. I have had to make substitutions in many of the rides, so it's certainly not a brick by brick recreation, but I think it at least evokes the park in it's heyday!I first started this park recreation back in 2016 when PC1 came out. I've added and rebuilt sections as each DLC was released and more interesting bits of CS were released. I have also included some photos from the real park for comparison.Welcome to Freedomland![img][img][img][img]Little old New York;[img][img]A recreation of the very first Macys Location;[img][img][img]Care for a drive through the New England countryside?[img][img][img]More to come! Edited April 3Apr 3 by citytrader
March 29Mar 29 Wasn't Freedomland conceived by a former Disney exec? I'm somewhat familiar with this extinct park, by way of Gorillas Don't Blog. There are numerous Freedomland posts on that blog. As I remember, Freedomland was fairly light on rides. That, and being closed during the winter months pretty much sealed its fate.
March 30Mar 30 Wow a new project from Citytrader....love it, and I never heard of this park in real life. I love recreations like this.
April 3Apr 3 Author On 3/29/2026 at 3:40 AM, JB said:Wasn't Freedomland conceived by a former Disney exec? Yes, C.V. Wood, one of the designers of Disneyland. He also worked on Magic Mountain in Golden CO, and Pleasure Island in MA, which had a Moby Dick ride. Moby is still sitting at the bottom of one of the ponds. The area is now an office park.[img]On 3/30/2026 at 8:06 AM, Wowman said:Wow a new project from Citytrader....love it, and I never heard of this park in real life. I love recreations like this.Thanks! It has been a fun park to recreate.Braniff sponsored a UFO in the Satellite City section of the park;[img]The original;[img]img]I added a small monorail to the area. Just sort of made sense;[img]And a restaurant;[img]The colorful facades were part of the original;[img]Satellite Turnpike was a very popular attraction. Universal studios graciously let them use the cars from that new "Munsters" TV show with Fred Gwynn;[img][img]I also included a Jet Star coaster;[img]More to come!
April 4Apr 4 Definitely have the mid-century vibes down! The UFO turned out great! Did Moby do anything other than just spout water? Wonder if the water level rose or Moby fell over...
April 4Apr 4 Author He actually rose, spouted, and then sank back into the lake. He was anchored to the bottom in about 25 feet of water. They could also haul him out on a submerged railroad track to perform maintenance, paint him, etc.Dentist doing an oral cleaning? 😆[img]There were also killer whales and dolphins mounted on wheels that appeared to swim near him;A reverse angle shows his unseen side was drilled full of holes, so he would sink faster and emit lots of bubbles as he went down;[img]Apparently, quite a few people went looking for this long lost attraction! Over the years, a number of people tried to determine if he was still in the lake or not, and someone just a few years ago discovered him with an underwater drone.Moby Dick Found!Forward to 8:20.I had actually toyed with the idea of doing a Pleasure Island recreation, but like Freedomland, there were almost no real rides of any kind, and it have just been a pretty boring park, so I passed.Meanwhile, The Blast Off attraction at Satellite City;[img]Heading toward Old Chicago, You can take a tug or ride a sternwheeler around the Great Lakes;[img]If you decide to walk, you pass by the Schaefer Brewery;[img]Anyone who owned model trains back in the day should recognize this structure!Across from the brewery, one could buy tea, coffee, and soft drinks at the Lipton Inn;[img]Lipton left after the first season, and the building was converted to a old time photo studio;More to come! Edited April 4Apr 4 by citytrader
April 4Apr 4 Wow, was much more intricate than I had thought, both the whale and the other critters were pretty cool.
April 4Apr 4 I love seeing these old classic parks recreated in the game. "Oh Blanche? Ya know we've got rats in the cellar." -- Jane Hudson (What Ever Happened to Baby Jane)
May 4May 4 Author Old Chicago was another "land" within the park. The fire house and world famous Morton's Steak House;[img]The big highlight was the great Chicago fire where kids got to assist in putting out the flames!My version;[img]As I mentioned previously, the park lacked any real dynamic rides, so I added a few! To go along with the fire theme, how about a flat ride based on Mrs. O'Leary's cow?[img]More to come!
May 4May 4 Hate to point it out, but based on that sign Mrs O'Leary's "cow" was in fact, a bull... No wonder he kicked over the lantern when she tried to milk him! 😶LOL!Love the Chicago Fire building, the period fire equipment and the red uniforms really play up the theme.
May 4May 4 11 hours ago, Wabigbear said:Hate to point it out, but based on that sign Mrs O'Leary's "cow" was in fact, a bull...No wonder he kicked over the lantern when she tried to milk him! 😶Check out the Shirley MacLaine movie "What a Way to Go" and see what happens to Robert Mitchum when he tries to do just that. 😁 "Oh Blanche? Ya know we've got rats in the cellar." -- Jane Hudson (What Ever Happened to Baby Jane)
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