I graduated from high school on June 9, 1985 and just 3 hours after my graduation I was on a plane flying from Connecticut to Florida because I started my very first full time job as a clown the next morning at Circus World. I had an incredible time performing at the park that summer. In September 1985 I left Circus World to attend the RBBB Circus' Clown College. From there I spent 4 years on tour with the RBBB Circus' Red unit. Flash forward to today...September 24, 2018...and I am still clowning full time on the local, national, and international levels!

@deadchannel5018

5 жыл бұрын

Ronald Johnson cool

@arcaanthearcane2713

5 жыл бұрын

A fantastic story! I hope you enjoyed your years, and continue to!

@justinball5651

5 жыл бұрын

Bro... I moved from Connecticut to Florida too...

@Jason_Maier

4 жыл бұрын

Wow, nearly 34 years as a clown! 1. Any idea of how many miles you've traveled? 2. Did the RBBB 'Red' Unit do the larger markets?

@TrafalgarD.Shambles

4 жыл бұрын

Ronald Johnson Question: Has there been a decrease in clowns, because of pop culture references?

My husband graduated from RBBB Circus Clown College in 1980. He was supposed to perform at Circus World but when another clown had to leave the Red Unit, he was sent there. I was already performing on the show and we fell in love and got married. We've been married almost 33 years now. I'm happy that things worked out as they did! I never did visit the park but have wonderful memories of our life together with the circus!

@ExpeditionThemePark

5 жыл бұрын

That is amazing!

@seannorman9169

4 жыл бұрын

That is a beautiful thing...very nice.... It's a tissue time kind of story....may your marriage be a healthier one...

@areguapiri

4 жыл бұрын

@@stephencook1625 ....You ran away and joined the circus!

@RonaldTotoJohnson

3 жыл бұрын

Who is he? I worked at Circus World right out of high school in 1985 then left to attend the RBBB Clown College that Fall. I clowned on the RBBB Red unit for 4 years...1986-1989.

@naps3386

3 жыл бұрын

@@RonaldTotoJohnson Do you know Shug (Sean Emery)? He has a channel on KZread.

When circus world closed, a number of the ride technicians went to help build universal studios. Some of those guys are still around, and it's fun to hear their stories about this place.

I was actually at Circus World on the last day it was open, as part of a field trip. I was 13, at the time. I was at a small private school in Tampa, and there was less than 20 of us kids, that went. The park was virtually empty of visitors. needless to say, we kids had our run of the place. We rode the rollercoasters over, and over, and over. We even engaged in a few shenanigans, as kids that age tend to. All in all it was a great day for us, and I will always cherish that feeling of virtually having an entire theme park to myself.

I remember going here when I was 6. It was our last day of vacation in Florida and we were heading home to TN. My friend and I had our faces painted like clowns. When we got home the next day, we scrubbed and scrubbed our faces and could not get the paint off. My mom was freaking out. My face was raw from so much scrubbing. This was 1976, so there was no internet to "Google" to figure out how to get the makeup off. A couple of days later I still had the makeup on my face. Somehow my mom finally called the park. The easiest way to remove the makeup with with baby oil. Magically with just a little bit of baby oil on my face and it was finally clean. Lesson learned.... lol

My parents took me to Circus World in the early 80's. I remember only one thing: seeing Michael Jackson. I didn't get to meet him, but he did wave at me!

@dolcemorte5016

5 жыл бұрын

Really!? Man just to have actually laid eyes on the man...that's awesome. I'm a huge MJ fan. So much so that I paused this video when they mentioned him and took a screenshot of him on that roller coaster lol I'm so jealous you got to see him. So jelly!

@MsRedNebulaPlays

5 жыл бұрын

@@dolcemorte5016 My parents were surprised when I mentioned "seeing Michael Jackson at a park that looked like a circus" later on in my 20s. I didn't even remember it had been in Florida, they had to fill in the rest of the details for me! I was pretty young at the time.

@dolcemorte5016

5 жыл бұрын

@@MsRedNebulaPlays lol that's crazy! I'm still envious as all hell you could even say youd seen him. Cool memories!

@NinaS___

3 жыл бұрын

My parents and my uncle (who lived lived in Florida at the time) took me to Circus world in 1982 as well. Unfortunately not seeing Michael Jackson, though. Went to Disney World, Sea World and a lot other attractions as well. :)

@RonaldTotoJohnson

3 жыл бұрын

Michael Jackson came to Circus World twice during the Summer of 1985 while I was a clown there. I did not get a photo with him but the clowns who went on the roller coaster with him did.

I was really little and never went to Circus World but we did go to Boardwalk and Baseball. I have a few really distinct family memories from the park (and Cypress Gardens) before it closed and we moved further north. I'm so glad you chose to do a history because you never hear about it, even down in Central Florida, and I was starting to think it was a fever dream.

You just have to love the fact that Boardwalk and Baseball’s main advertising push was just “we don’t have anything except outdated rides that have been made obsolete by newer and better products you can find at all the other theme parks in the area”

So Boardwalk & Baseball's advertising tactic was literally "not as exciting or state of the art as the competition"? Stellar idea. A circus-theme park sounds really fun and unique though. I feel like that concept could succeed if it wasn't in Orlando.

I grew up right by there, and loved Boardwalk and Baseball. The area was known as Baseball City for a long time after the park closed. That area has changed so much, I can't stand to go back. Even the town I lived in, Loughman, is pretty much gone. Whenever I do stop by there, people say I have a strange accent, and ask me where I am from. I am like "I am from right here." Nobody is left there anymore... Used to be all cow pastures, orange groves and swamp land. Now, all of that is gone; replaced with little dollhouse homes and people from other states. Just shows how the entire history of an area can be erased.

@meganstockman7737

5 жыл бұрын

I love how passionately you talk about your life experience with this park and your home town and yes its a real shame because im not a big rides person so this park would have been perfect for me I would have loved to go its just so unfortunate I was born in the wrong era...... Thank you for sharing it xxxxx

My mom worked for HBJ in Orlando during their buying spree, and always speaks fondly of Boardwalk and Baseball. She said it was a great place to relax and enjoy a day. She’s not much a ride person, so I think that’s why she enjoyed it so much. She also loved Sea World, and always tells a story of how their entire office skipped work one day to go to Sea World to see a baby whale being born, and they would often just walk around Sea World after work since they could get in for free ☺️

@rdt8

3 жыл бұрын

Love this story! My mother was the marketing director of Circus World when it opened, and later Cypress Gardens. And my father randomly years later was the director of security and safety/park services/a few other departments at SeaWorld from I think like 1991 to 2001 (🤔?). Anyway, one really cool memory I have but had forgotten about until reading your comment just now is when I also was able to see a whale being born in Shamu Stadium! At this point they had stopped allowing virtually anyone and everyone from being in the facility when a whale was giving birth (this was shortly after that incident where a transient man had walked to Orlando from Miami/snuck into the park at night/stripped his clothing off and had decided to partake in some sort of spiritual swimming experience (lol whut? 🤨) with a whale and jumped into the tank with Tilikum, the largest whale SeaWorld had (who had already killed a lady when he was owned by an aquatic park in Canada). Tilikum quickly killed the man and then refused to release his body for several days (the whale thought the man's body was a toy and swam around the tank in circles for several days with the now blue lifeless transient man wedged under its fin). Once the body was recovered, it was was placed in a small training office right there in the stadium for a couple of days while the police worked on their investigation - my dad had to handle this whole fun fiasco and said it was the worst thing he's ever smelled and that it took months and months for them to get that office to not stink anymore 😬 sorry for TMI, lol). Anyway, after that fun event had transpired, the security in the stadium was much more restricted and basically no one other than trainers and medical staff was allowed to be present when a whale birth was going to occur. My father often used SeaWorld as my daycare facility, lol, and I spent a lottttt of time roaming/exploring the park in the summers when school was out (he could watch me from security cameras/so many employees knew who I was and looked out for me/if I ever had any issues or needed to contact him I was instructed to just find the nearest "house phone," typically located in the bushes or in a random planter, often behind/near a goofy faux-speaker-rock blasting out cheesie elevator Muzak (lol) and to just dial his extension (2161, later 2428 - gosh your one comment has me remembering soooo many random little details/memories! 😲) and he'd be just a golf cart ride away to come get me, lol!) (Totally sorry for the nasty dead guy story/TMI/absolute rambling but your comment made me suddenly remember all sorts of little random details and memories I'd completely forgotten about!!). Anyway, on one of these days while SeaWorld was basically my babysitter, I remember my dad mentioning to me that there was going to be a whale birth that afternoon and that I should go see it at the stadium, before he cut me loose for the day. I made my way over to Shamu Stadium and found that it was of course closed to the public / was roped off and there were park employees standing at each entrance, making sure no guests were able to enter. For whatever reason even the local news media personnel who had arrived to cover the whale birth were denied entry into the stadium. Thinking back now, I also recall that with this birth there had been some minor complications and the birth was a day or two delayed, and I think this was the main reason no one other than the animal medical team and the trainers was being allowed into the stadium. I'll never forget though... I walked right up to one of the stadium entrances and the park employee guardian the entranceway was just like "oh hi Rich!" and they unhooked the rope barricade so I could walk past, into the stadium and I totally remember the reporters being all, "Hey!! 🤨 Why does this kid get to go inside!?!! 😠" as I walked in, lol! I remember by this point, while they were still a couple of medical personnel / trainers right at the front of the tank monitoring the whale, most of the staff had gone back to their offices because the whale had been so delayed at this point and no one really knew exactly when to expect the birth. And as soon as I walked up to the front of the tank and peered through the glass the pregnant whale swam by and out popped baby whale, in a cloud of rust-colored/bloody water lol. Just such a surreal thing to experience! I could probably go back and look at news articles from the time but I wish I could remember what the name of that particular whale I saw being born was. They usually just ended up calling them all "Shamu" during the shows, lol.

@bystanderbutch3509

Жыл бұрын

Oh yeah? What effect did that have on the U. S. mint making quarters? I bet you thought your comment was relevant. You don't know what your saying. Sometime a horse will bite people, do you wanna risk that?

I met my wife when we both worked at boardwalk and baseball. My wife was there till i closed.

@misshiss4040

3 жыл бұрын

What does that mean lol..... like u guys got it on in the park afterhours ??!?!?!!? Lmfao

@JJ-cg9nh

3 жыл бұрын

@@misshiss4040 I think he meant "until it closed" as in closed down lol

Just me or is Boardwalk and Baseball a terrible name for a theme park? I heard of Circus World before and thought it was pretty short lived. Didn't know about all the other stuff yet!

@moon-rvr

5 жыл бұрын

Could have called it Baseball Boardwalk instead.

@Seroxm13

3 жыл бұрын

@@moon-rvr Boardwalk and Basketball 👌

"Just down the road from Disney World." 🤔 After seeing this, I can't help but feel that perhaps the *proximity* to the former is at least another factor as to why both of these didn't last long. Shame, really. As something of a circus fan myself, I personally would've loved to have visited it when it was Circus World.

@MakBot

5 жыл бұрын

The opening of EPCOT Center and several on-property resorts really changed the game in Orlando.

Should look into the history of Medieval Times in Kissimmee Fl. Been around forever and a cool dinner show.

@ohbogey

5 жыл бұрын

That's a good suggestion! I share ur hope for this!

@runi5413

5 жыл бұрын

I went there once as a kid... It's not that different from other Medieval Times, is it?

@kingposeidon4535

5 жыл бұрын

Not only Medieval Times, but there's also some pirate dinner show in Orlando as well.

@coyoteartist

5 жыл бұрын

Arabian Nights was the place I wanted to go to because of the Arabians. They use to sponsor an Arabian show which we went to several times. But I never saw the dinner show.

@DARTHKNOWS76

5 жыл бұрын

I live in Buena Park ,ca we got a mid evil times but have you ever went to pirate adventure it’s next door to mid evil times it’s the same but pirate theme so awesome !

This video makes me so happy. Boardwalk and Baseball was my first theme park! Thank you!!! 💙

There is a Circus World today, the Circus World Museum in Baraboo Wisconsin. This city is the original home of the Ringling brothers. While not a theme park, they to have a one ring circus, animal acts and a historic museum of all of the old circus wagons and paraphernalia. If you are in the Wisconsin Dells area take a trip over to Baraboo and visit. It is a great day trip.

@ericzerkle5214

4 жыл бұрын

Peru, Indiana has a circus museum too.

My dad used to take me to Boardwalk & Baseball all the time, I remember freaking out when we found out it had closed. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

I have the fondest memories as a kid going to Baseball City. My dad worked there as an audio technician and scoreboard technician. I’ll never forget going every spring to games and my dad would put my name on the board. We even got a stray cat from there which lived with us for about 15 years. Great memories! Thanks for the mass blast of memory, great video!

I went to Boardwalk and baseball as a kid on a field trip. As a Florida native I have also been to all the other theme parks as well. Now that I have children I'm glad i am able to show them videos like this so they can see how our state progressed over the years. Thank you

I have vague memories of visiting Circus World in the early 80s and walking on a low tightrope. It was fun

My family went to Florida on a tour in 1979. Flew in from Canada and every day the tour company took us somewhere. We did Cape Canaveral, Disney World (of course), Cypress Gardens, Sea World and Circus World. Don't remember too much except that most of the Circus world rides were a bit much for me at 10 years old. Much preferred Disney World. Still do remember the southern women in big hoop dresses walking around Cypress Gardens.

Thanks for this video - really brought back some memories/loved seeing photos/videos of things I've heard about but never before seen in person! My mother was the Director of Marketing/Publicity on the opening team of Circus World (after initially starting her career as the youngest/first female publicist as part of the opening team with WDW in 71). I was not yet born when this park opened but growing up I did hear a lot about it from my mother. She also had/has all sorts of cool items she's saved from her time at the park (and from her time at Disney and several other attractions she worked for over the years). I was going through a closet a couple of years ago trying to find attachments for the vacuum cleaner and found a giant stack of brand new Circus World t-shirts and other park merchandise items lol. I know she has some pretty neat construction photos and negatives from the park that she took herself as well as various Betamax tapes with various raw footage/advertising projects and commercials. She has some of the old tickets and all sorts of other items as well, not just from this park, but from all of the various parks she worked at over the years. I'm hoping someday she will donate the items to a museum or something. She left Circus World after a couple of years to become the Director of Marketing/Publicity for nearby Cypress Gardens and helped oversee a large park expansion and redesign in the early 80s (she even accompanied the park's zoologists and biologists to the jungles of Costa Rica when they went to gather specimen and fauna for the newly constructed area of the park and wrote a series of articles documenting the experience which were published as a front page series in the Orlando Sentinel). After that she went to work for Six Flags for a little while and opened Six Flags' Stars Hall of Fame wax museum (which was right off of I-4, next to SeaWorld). She also helped open Six Flags' Atlantis water park in Hollywood, FL. Anyway, after I was born/years later, my father went to work as an executive for SeaWorld and was the director of various park departments for 10 years. By this time of course, Anheuser-Busch owned the property where Circus World (and later Boardwalk and Baseball) was located and I did get to go with him on several occasions over to the old Circus World property as he was helping to organize and manage various special events they were holding there. The last time I remember being there was when Anheuser-Busch had a contract with the Kansas City Royals MLB team for the Royals to use the property as their spring training facility. I believe this contract was around for a number of years. While the original boardwalk / attractions side of the of the property was definitely in a state of total disrepair/abandonment, the baseball stadium/fields/facilities had been well-maintained and kept up over the years. Anheuser-Busch had not originally built Boardwalk and Baseball but of course purchased it from (without looking at my notes) I believe Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (HBJ) when they purchased SeaWorld. I believe HBJ had purchased SeaWorld and B&B from the Mattel Corporation, and also separately had purchased Cyprus Gardens. Anyway, by the time my father worked with Anheuser-Busch they owned all of these properties and it is my understanding that they had never really intended to put much into the Boardwalk & Baseball site as it was too close to all of the other aforementioned nearby attractions they owned, as well as of course very near Busch Gardens, in Tampa. I remember spending time in the baseball stadium and watching The Royals play, and I remember sneaking away from my dad to go out from the front of the stadium onto the very creepy and overgrown/dilapidated-looking elevated "Boardwalk" walkway that connected the theme park area to the stadium and spent some time walking around the overgrown and shuttered attraction buildings and facilities that were still there at the time. I don't remember much except there were many super 1970s-style outdoor walkway lights (the kind with big, round spherical glass globes on them). And I remember seeing off in the distance the giant circus "tent" building (I remember my mother always saying that this was originally/at the time the world's largest IMAX theater), looking super creepy and abandoned and wanting to walk to there but not being able to get too far down the overgrown boardwalk walkway/being super weary of snakes and other lovely native Florida creatures, lol. If I ever am able to get more information or photos / materials from my parents I'd love to share them! And if you had any interest I'm sure both my mother and father wouldn't mind giving an interview about any of these properties or historic Orlando-area attractions if you ever had any questions or needed content for future videos! :) Thank you again for this awesome video (and for ALL of your other awesome videos as well)! 🙂

@rdt8

3 жыл бұрын

Oh, one other small anecdote I remembered: years after leaving Circus World, in early 1986, my mother was visiting Boardwalk & Baseball and went on the Florida Hurricane roller coaster (she had originally helped open it) and got off the ride feeling very physically strange / a little sick, which never happened for her and she knew something wasn't right. She went to the doctor a few days later and discovered she was newly pregnant (with me!), lol.

Remarkable how Mattel has stayed in business when they seem to routinely make terrible business choices. Beyond beyond the Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey Circus, they also had the disastrous, overvalued purchase of The Learning Company (a organization that Kevin O'Leary served as president). Throughout the time they've had Hot Wheels, Barbie and later the Fisher Price brand, Mattel would have plenty of inspiration for a successful theme park. On a separate note, I am glad Mattel's original vision for the Circus World theme park was abandoned. To me, that Elephant hotel looked creepy.

@rdt8

3 жыл бұрын

Yes to all of this, haha. I remember that there had been a facility in the 80s next to SeaWorld, in the building that had originally housed Six Flags' Stars Hall of Fame wax museum (my mother opened that attraction as the head of publicity/marketing, and ironically also had opened Circus World and was the original marketing/publicity director there as well, and in between both of those roles was the head of publicity and marketing at nearby Cypress Gardens) that there was a place called "Places of Learning," and that it was basically a teacher's resource/education materials sales center "attraction" for educators to come see new techniques and ideas in teaching and to buy the latest teaching materials. I had always thought that Places of Learning was the creation of HBJ (being that they were a textbook publishing company) and that it had been opened by HBJ, several years after HBJ had acquired Circus World/B & B and SeaWorld to HBJ from Mattel, but now that you mention The Learning Company it sounds like Places of Learning might have had something to do with The Learning Company/Mattel? 🤔 There was also another attraction/shopping center/mall in that area for a short while that I believe was built by HBJ called "Florida Festival" that was popular but closed after only a few years in operation. HBJ also built the Stouffer Resort (now Renaissance) next to Sea World/in that area when they acquired all of these properties from Mattel. And of course eventually these properties were acquired by Anheuser-Busch.

Went to Circus World in 1983-1984, along with my Disney World, Sea World trip. Got picked out the audience to participate in the Trapeze Act. So exciting, I will never forget that. So sad it closed, it was an experience most never get to have!

The hurricane was my first rollercoaster I ever rode. I was 8 years old. My pops and I rode in the front cart. I started crying and freaking out on our way to the top. Then the round about I slouched down by his feet. It was traumatic. He made me go on it again. But not in the front cart. I loved it. I loved Boardwalk n Baseball with my dad. RIP Pops.

@jdozier3459

2 жыл бұрын

Your Father MADE you ride it again, after seeing that you were traumatized!! That I don't understand. I could say more, but I won't since it was your Father. I rode it as a young man, and it scared me to death, and I was an experienced coaster rider. Riding that ride was the only reason that I went there...for that, it was worth it...but still very scary! The rest of the park did nothing for me.

Thank you for this....while I never experienced Circus World,I did spend a day....or rather,half a day....at its short-lived replacement. It was my first solo trip to Florida,sometime in the late 80's...were I to guess the year,it would either be '87 or '88;I also went to WDW,but Disney-MGM was not yet open. The travel package I'd purchased included a ticket to and round-trip transportation to Boardwalk & Baseball. My sole source of information about this park was a brochure from my hotel. It described a turn-of-the-century style park,something akin to the glory days of Coney Island. I couldn't wait to see it. In the years to come,when I related my day at B&B to family members,I often referred to it as "the big fat lie story". Seemingly,the entire walking space of the park was covered in boardwalk,which I must admit,is quite a feat. But after being in the park a good ten minutes,I really didn't care anymore and immediately wanted to know "so where are the rides?". I do remember seeing the roller coaster,and a few others of the spinning-and-bobbing variety....what I did NOT see was any of them MOVE! I'm not kidding...for the first few hours there,I wandered the park,looking for SOMETHING TO DO. The gift shops were open,but what few restaurants there were didn't open until noon. I actually found two things I could also then find at Six Flags Great America (Gurnee,IL....I live nearby)...the above-mentioned IMAX film about the Grand Canyon,and an animated shooting gallery which was practically identical (obviously made by the same company). I've never really been into baseball,so the mini-Cooperstown exhibit didn't hold my interest very long. Contrary to one of the brochures biggest lies,there was nothing "quaint" or "old-fashioned" about this place....the buildings all looked pre-fab,and the seating for the indoor and outdoor shows,which I'll get to,was the same identical corrugated metal benches! If there were gas lamps there,they completely escaped my notice. The one high point of the day was the Wild West show....trick riding,roping and such. Very entertaining,I must admit. After that,I saw some indoor magic show...."Professor Bubbles' "enchanted-something-or-other,I don't know. The thing felt like it was aimed at grade-schoolers. My sole memory of it was some joke they made about "Pee-Wee's Playhouse" (the "joke" being an unfavorable comparison of this show to that). It was about three in the afternoon when I got out of there;that was it. I'd DONE everything there was to do! I took the first available bus back to my hotel. Funny thing is,I regret not having any evidence of that day. If I took any pictures,they vanished along with every other photo I've taken prior to the mid-90's. I apparently didn't keep the brochure,which is unusual for me...I started a collection in the early 80's,which I still have.

@ExpeditionThemePark

5 жыл бұрын

Interesting yeah it seems the second Park was very flawed from what I hear

@tommyholiday9880

4 жыл бұрын

What type of collection did you start?

@snarkus63

4 жыл бұрын

@@tommyholiday9880 Like I said,brochures...mostly for tourist attractions like wax museums and such. Most of my collection is of attractions found in Florida,Clifton Hill in Canada near Niagara Falls,the Wisconsin Dells and many southern-based attractions like Rock City and Confederama,which we passed by on a car trip to Florida back in the 80's.

@tommyholiday9880

4 жыл бұрын

@@snarkus63 My collection is Coney Island where I am a sign painter! New York transit history and may other pieces of local history and historical signage!

During a visit from the UK to Florida back in the early 1980s we were driving on the I4, we spotted the theme park while making our way to Tampa. As our children were in their early teens and keen to visit any and all theme parks during our 3 week of touring Florida, we decided to call and spend a little time at Boardwalk & Baseball. Our kids loved it, had a great time on the rides. Some 30 years later my wife and I happened to be driving along I4. I reminded her of the time we visited the theme park with our kids, so we decided to go visit again this time on our own. We were saddened to learn the park was no longer there. We still have happy memories when we visited with our kids back in the 80s. Time moves on I suppose!

I went to Boardwalk & Baseball when I was 13 in July of 1988. I loved it. I went to the same site years later with my children and it was strange to think it used to be there.

I went to Boardwalk and Baseball in about the 6th grade on a field trip!

Great to see you cover this. My parents visited the park in its Boardwalk and Baseball time in 1989. I first visited Florida in 1990 and drove down to visit. Could not believe that apart from the Stadium it had all gone. No internet back then so had no idea of its demise. The massive roadside sign was still there. So my only memory was the VHS movies that my Dad shot of their visit. Adam the Woo has made an excellent vlog on Circus World well worth a watch. Cheers!

My great granparents were acrobats for Ringling Bros. until 1919 when my Granmother was born.

I was at Circus World shortly after Zoomerang opened as a teenager from New York State visiting my grandmother who lived nearby. I loved that coaster. I kept my Circus World ticket for a long time because I liked the gilded circus themed art and the PT Barnum quote on it: “The noblest art is that of making others happy.”

I never knew this park existed! Your videos are really cool, you cover stuff that other channels don't think of. Thanks for making this!

Have you thought about doing a piece on Marriot’s Great America? It’s had 4 corporate owners. 43 year history. Located next to Levi’s Stadium (SF 49ers) has a sister park in Gurnee, Illinois and there was supposed to be a third in DC that was never built.

So many memories. I was fortunate enough to visit both parks. Its weird to see what use to be when ever visit home.

Fantastic video brother I love when you do these small Florida parks !!!!!! Thank you for making great content!!!!!

I grew up just south of there in Haines city. My family visited here quite often since the tickets were only $13 compared to Disney’s was 60 at the time. It was my favorite park and the hurricane was my first rollercoaster at 8 years old

I am glad my Dad took me to experience Boardwalk and Baseball when I was a kid. I remember getting a small mini pink baseball bat as a souvenir. After watching this makes me want to find it =(

I went to Circus World in 1983, I was 5!! We were on our way to Disney. I remember it mainly from pictures of our trip and a park map that we still have!! Enjoyed this video so much!!!

My first job was at Boardwalk and Baseball before it opened. After all that very hard work in the heat, it is painful to see it is gone. I must have planted tens of thousands of bushes and hundreds of trees, some of which were full grown, and dug miles of trenches through the old Circus World tarmac for irrigation and plant beds. Most of the work had to be done by hand because old park blueprints had been "lost" so you never knew when your shovel would hit a water main or 440V electric cable. The asphalt wasn't too hard to get through but under it was 2-4 feet of stuff they called limerock which was pretty much like soft concrete that had to be removed with a pick ax. In Summer the temperature was 95F most of the day, full sun, and the humidity somewhere in the 90%'s IIRC, it was hot as hell for hard manual labor. I did like the people I worked with, even my boss, Dan the Man. First day he became frustrated with my digging speed even in sand and demonstrated how he expected a tree hole to be dug. He grabbed a shovel and mostly disappeared in a cloud of sand, spiraling down so quickly he must have gotten dizzy. I swear he dug a cone 5 feet across and 5 feet deep in about 2 minutes. It looked so insane to me, I thought he was joking or showing off, but no, he was right out there working with us at that speed most days. His long term boyfriend was also his boss, not sure if that had something to do with him working so hard or not. I'm not a homewrecker, but it wasn't easy to keep my eyes off his glistening hot Freddie Mercury bod working beside me. Oh and aloof cigarette smoking party boi with Caribbean beach water blue eyes. Sorry, got a bit distracted there. They really did spare no expense making the park look good so it did gradually become a visually appealing place to work. Sometimes there were perks like being ride testing guinea pig. One time I think I took 100 or so consecutive rides on the wooden roller coaster. The steel coaster I had nearly fallen out of as a kid was in good working order. When the park opened, I got my one and so far only chance to put my Norwegian language skills to practical use helping a family with directions. (Ok, mostly I just pointed and smiled a lot, but at least I knew what they had asked.) For work I didn't like, I have more good than bad memories of it. I think one of the main reasons it couldn't stay in business was the location. It wasn't far from Disney, but it came up kind of abruptly after turning off an Interstate Highway. There was a lot of visual clutter in the general area so it wasn't super obvious the park was there. The area looked like a place to find a gas station and buy fast food. It didn't help that the front of the park was the parking lot. Even though it was close, it was probably one of the worst locations for it. The rides were dated but I think it still could have turned a profit in a better location. It isn't like Disney had more thrilling rides at the time. I don't know if the price of admission was reasonable since I could go for free.

You do amazing research !!! Love this channel !! Can't get enough !!

Should do some Orlando roadside attractions like Xanadu home of the future and maybe Skull Kingdom I saw them as shells but never in production. The Brewery of Busch Gardens would be neat too with it Stairways to The Stars.

@119Agent

5 жыл бұрын

You really missed out not seeing Xanadu. Very interesting the way it attempted to build a "smart home" run by computes and now smart homes are all the rave.

@jimthar17

4 жыл бұрын

I remember Xanadu sitting abandoned for years on 192 and rotting before they finally tore it down. I went to Skull Kingdom once but barely remember it. I was in my early twenties and likely intoxicated.

@philipjamesparsons

4 жыл бұрын

Xanadu would make a great video. Visited as an 8 year old from the UK in 1986. The UK, was still quite backward at the time and Xanadu made a real impression and showed what the future might hold.

@MyAnnaBananas

4 жыл бұрын

Omg I remember Xanadu! Thought it was the coolest house as a kid!

@jimmymelendez1836

3 жыл бұрын

I went there in the Summer of '89.

Was driving to Legoland and my dad made a comment about Boardwalk and Baseball once was, now it’s a big retail area with a Best Buy and it feels like in the middle of nowhere. So I researched a bit about it on our trip. Loved the episode as always.

I still have my souvenir spoon from the opening of Boardwalk and Baseball. It one of my most prized possessions

Your videos are always so entertaining and informing. Great job, Keep it up!

We went there mid 1980's from the UK. Very fond memories. Brilliant share

Brings back so many childhood memories. Being from Minneola/Clermont, many family members worked at Circus World. We visited often. Then Boardwalk and Baseball opened and we went there. Our school fields trips we there and I remember the last baseball game we saw. Bo Jackson was playing.

I remember Boardwalk and Baseball and I thought it was two unrelated ideas shoved together. When we drove by it I thought it looked awesome and new! Alas, now I know different. Similar story with Splendid China. How long before perhaps SeaWorld goes the way of the warrior. Cypress Gardens the same way. Silver springs and glass bottom boats. Weekee watchee mermaids. A shame for Florida as it is hard to leave Disney property. We did Church street station but I think that is a shadow of what it used to be too.

@gc4644

5 жыл бұрын

Yes, church street station is a sad state of affairs now. I used to love going to Phineus Foggs nightclub on saturday nights back in the 80s! Was a fun great club!

@samoanwmn

Жыл бұрын

True, I remember going to dinner at Shakespeare's and dancing all night at Phineas Foggs nightclub.

In 1977 I was 18 and went on my first ever vacation to Orlando. Epcot didn't exist yet and I wanted to go everywhere and do everything. One of the brochures I saw at my Days Inn in Sand Lake lobby was for Circus World. Off I went! That day I was made up as a clown, walked a tightrope and swung on the trapeze. I also rode the Tiger. It was an amazing roller coaster. I could see that it was a budget operation as performers would get on wagons or jeeps to beat the public to the next tent as all the shows were done with the same dozen or so performers. What a wonderful day I had. I still can hear the workers calling me "Miss Clown."

I use to love to go to Circus World ! We would go often. Thank you for this

It's a bummer Six Flags never took over. The Sea World parks are trying to fill the pure thrills space now, but it's interesting to think about what they could have brought to the area.

I spent a summer going to every theme park in Florida , Boardwalk and Baseball was my favorite, not only batting cages but fielding and pitching cages, it was great fun as a baseball fan.

I live about 45 mins away from here, went to both Circus World and Boardwalk and Baseball several times. I still have a little miniature wooden baseball bat souvenir from my last Boardwalk & Baseball visit around 1987 or so.

Thanks for posting, this was a fun trip down memory lane. I have no memories of visiting Circus World, but there are pictures of my older sister and I in the park, so I did visit. Boardwalk & Baseball is a whole different story, I really loved that park as a young kid but I was also a baseball fanatic, so I was far from unbiased. A few memories - they not only had batting cages where you put a helmet on and took swings, but they also had pitching lanes with mounds where you pitched into a tarp with a catcher printed on it. Each pitching lane had an LED board showing you the speed of your pitch. They also had giant reproductions of baseball cards (Topps if memory serves) standing on various parts of the boardwalk - just like the cards you bought outside the park. I do indeed remember all the oil-burning lamps but have no memory of seeing them actually lit. Lastly, my dad and I attended a good number of Royals spring training games - we would usually arrive early, get a few attractions in, then walk over to the stadium for the game. Great stuff.

This video brings back so many memories 🤗 Thank you!

I remember Boardwalk and Baseball! My uncle got stuck on the ferris wheel once and will not get on another one to this day! Nice video as always, keep it up.

I am from Tampa and I had never heard of this place. Great video.

I just got a job at FELD entertainment this year- This video came on as I'm getting ready for work. I had NO IDEA of this place and I've lived in Florida my whole life

Loved the video! I went to B&B on a class field trip in 4th grade, around the time it opened. It was my first year in Florida after we moved from NY. I remember it vividly because it wasn't actually fully functional yet, there was still construction taking place, and one of the outer boardwalks went through a big area that was still nothing but dirt. I remember the class being really whiny because there wasn't a ton to do, and the teachers struggled too. At first, the teachers tried to find 'educational bits' about what baseball meant in American history, but just gave up after awhile. It was hot, the ice machines at the concession stands all seemed broken, and so after about an hour, they just let us do whatever we wanted to keep our crankiness under control, lol. There was one ferris wheel ride with big umbrellas over each of the units that we went on over & over. It was shady, and one of the only rides working. The teachers crammed us in them & sent us up many times, probably out of desperation to get some peace, haha. The rest of the day was spent bored at the baseball field. Some team was practicing, but the bleachers were utterly empty that day. A lot of the kids AND teachers just napped on the benches. One teacher was actually having a ball, he must have been a baseball fan. I remember him saying he wished he could have a few cold beers. It WAS a fun day, though, my first school field trip in Florida.

@ExpeditionThemePark

5 жыл бұрын

Interesting! Yeah B and B is such a odd place.

Went on a family vacation to Orlando in our brand new Coleman pop up camper...we camped at a really nice resort with a nice big swimming pool, and there I discovered, at 7, that I could swim!! We did Disney one day and Circus World another....Circus World was more fun, less crowded...and I rode my first looped roller coaster... thrilling!!

@ExpeditionThemePark

5 жыл бұрын

Amazing! :D

I went to Circus World with my family when I was 14 in 1976. There was only the loop shuttle coaster at that time. My father loved the place more than my brother and I. It had really great circus history museums and the hot dogs were real special.

Well I commented on another video about Circus World and after watching that and seeing so many people with fond memories, I told my mother who was pleased it had so much love. For years I had a Circus World hat still but I got rid of it because of the clown on it. We went to B&B a number of times. Probably not all that many really but it seemed like a huge amount to me. I loved the Log Flume and when the Royals got there, they had someone in a lion costume roaming the park. Old fashion as I am, both of the parks seemed like a dream to me. And the mural of Ted Williams that was on a hotel as you approached the area. Probably the last time I saw the area was in 1995, when we were driving to Lakeland to the see the Moody Blues. The stadium was there and the mural was there, but much of it seemed quiet and sad because I knew what had been.

This is an awesome video ....never knew the History of the Arkansas Twister ..this is one of my all time favorite wooden rollercoasters

Worked there in a dance show on one of the park's stages shortly before it closed when it was Boardwalk & Baseball. I used to ride the wooden coaster in-between shows. So fun!

Excellent editing and narration. The level of research is much highly than with similar videos

I rode the Hurricane as an 8 year old in 1986 visiting from the UK. It is still one of my favourite coasters. Zoomerang, was my first "white knuckle" ride that went upside down. I plucked up the courage, took the lift to the top and made the height restriction. It was worth it. Visited Boardwalk, in 1988, still great but crowd numbers were unsustainably low.

Every time you pull up these old Florida attractions you remind me of my childhood I went there once when it was circus but living in Tampa we would always just go to Orlando and would never think about boardwalk and baseball I think it was just to far outside of Orlando for tourists to rent a car and drive there when you have so much to do in Orlando.

I was very young -mid 70’s when I visited Circus World. I remember getting my face painted as a clown and riding my very first roller coaster. My dad rode with me even though he gets severely motion sick. He paid the price later but he made my day in the best way! We still laugh about it today!

I worked as an usher/greeter at Circus World in the summer of 1985. I had the scripts and songs of every show and IMAX movie seared into my brain, forever! The clowns were a horny bunch.

I went to Circus World in 1980 with my family. We visited places now closed in Florida, so this was a real blast for me. It was the Christmas period and as a youngster, I remember it being pretty dead tbh. I still got my souvenir bag of there. As a kid, I would hoard things like the places I'd go to, always same format, leaflets, maps, tickets, souvenirs all got bagged up and labelled and shoved away in the loft.

Thanks for the memories. I remember visiting Circus World and Boardwalk and Baseball as a kid. They were as underwhelming as Lego Land (Cypress Gardens with legos)

That's crazy, I used to live in that area, I used to go to the cinema and I even tracked vocals for my first album in that Target parking lot. I had no idea there was ever anything there other than strip malls and housing developments. This was a really cool video, thanks for sharing

Wow... this brings back some memories. I went to both, when it was Circus World and when it was Boardwalk and Baseball. I have a baseball card made with B&B on it. I all so went on a roller coaster for the first time there. I had lots of fun there.

I visited both these parks. In 1976 as a five year old and in 1988 as part of a band field trip to the new Boardwalk and Baseball. Good times but I can see how it couldn’t compete with Disney, Sea World and Busch Gardens. Glad I got to see them.

I always love finding out I've ridden a ride from one of these abandoned parks! I used to go to magic springs every now and then where the hurricane became the twister! Yeah... That ride was kind of rough

Thank you. I went to Circus World in the early 80's but never B&B (not a baseball fan). I had a picture button with myself in clown makeup for a long time and my cousin was telling me recently about having pictures of a family trip there as well. She remembered loving it. There's a lot of Ringling stuff in Sarasota as well as Tampa. I remember Clown College being in Sarasota (so it must have moved) but I don't know if it still exists now. If you go back and watch Dumbo again, Dumbo's circus winters in Florida and leaves from there to start its season like Ringling Bros. did. The failure of Circus World (though I didn't realize it lasted 15 years!) is sad partly because of the long connection between the state and the circus. I agree with someone else who said the location was in a weird spot for a park- I could always see it from I-4 but could never figure out where to get off to GO there and there wasn't much of anything else around for tourists. It needed to be closer to Tampa or to Orlando.

@RonaldTotoJohnson

3 жыл бұрын

The RBBB Circus' Clown College ran in Venice, FL from 1968-1992 (I attended in 1985) then moved to Baraboo, WI to the Circus World Museum grounds 1993-1995 and then moved to the Opera House in Sarasota, FL 1996-1997. It then closed as a 'brick and mortar" school but RBBB still used the terminology and such when hiring clowns for the show post 1997.

I went to Boardwalk And Baseball quite a lot when it was open. My dad and I went constantly. Great memories.

I remember going to Circus World for part of a sports team road trip in 84 it 85. I got picked at the circus training tent to learn how to walk the tightrope! It was so cool and so much fun! At the end you got to put on a performance for the next group that they choose the next group of volunteers from. You also got a picture of you doing your act and a certificate saying you did it.

I grew up in Orlando and spent lots of time at Circus World and went to Boardwalk and Baseball a few times after the change. I loved the small feel of the park versus the big feel of Disney World. I really miss Circus World.

My Grand Parents took me and my Sister to Circus World as a kid .. We had a blast and its as a lot of fun ! Im thankful I got to go ..

I've heard about it but this was very in depth... Thanks!

I remember my parents talking about Circus World. We usually take US 27 to get to Orlando and they would always comment on the shopping center where Circus World used to be on Exit 55.

I've never heard of this place! This was such an interesting video!

I visited CW twice back in the late 70s, its was lots of fun! I remember being amazed at seeing the Gargantua Gorilla exhibit. They had the actual cage, props and toys that Gargantua used.

Great video. Visited Circus World in 1979. Disney didn't take a week so we left Orlando, went to Circus World and finished week in Busch Gardens Tampa.

I went to Boardwalk and Baseball 2 times as a kid, I remember the wood walkways and wood coaster, and the baseball exhibits, shame it didn’t survive very long.

Man i LOVE all things circus. Wish i could have gone. I can only hope circus arts still live in the future, luckily I still have a big top that comes around my area.

I loved going to Circus World and Boardwalk and Baseball. The Florida Hurricane was the first large scale coaster I ever rode and still ranks as one of the best night rides I’ve ever been on. Right up there with the Big Bad Wolf at Busch Gardens Williamsburg and the Beast at King’s Island.

I went to both theme parks, as I grew and lived in Brandon and was very close to all of Central Florida's theme parks and attractions. I never was a huge fan of Circus World; although I was quite young when it was around (born in late '77; a product of the snow fall that January, in the Tampa area lol). Boardwalk and Baseball, however, has a special place in my heart. The Hurricane was the very first rollercoaster I ever road and is still to this day my favorite; although that, I am sure, is more from nostalgia than it is from the actual ride itself. That being said, I still remember it as a great coaster as a whole. That first drop was what sold me on coasters for life; right up until my head and neck injuries caused me to have to stop riding them. I did go on Space Mountain last year, big mistake, as my business partner and best friend had never been on an kind of coaster before; even though she was 60 years old. I was glad to get her on it; but even that little thing did a number on me. 😔 So, I look back on The Hurricane with fondness (not so much the Double O though, hated that thing; it literally almost killed my friend's sister and her friend on a ride. The harnesses didn't come down and lock) and miss being able to ride all of the new coasters out there; especially since I love speed (I use to race cars semi-professionally) and I am a straight up adrenaline junkie. Thanks for making this video; it brought back a lot of great memories. I haven't been able to get a straight answer on whether or not The Hurricane is in operation somewhere in the World. Some sites say it is torn down and scrapped and some say it is overseas somewhere (I forget), and some place it here in the US under a different name. I would love to know, as I would probably go to wherever it is and ride it; even if it did jack me up. Lol Any idea?

First time ever hearing about these places. cool video

Really interesting. We stayed at a friend's house twice (2013 and 2017) whilst on vacation from the UK just up the road from the I4 and Hwy27 intersection and shopped a couple of times at the Posner Centre. I was struck by the open space around it and roadways to nowhere and actually wondered what was there before. Now I know, thanks...!

Great video! Jackson really liked his theme parks.

My dad brought me to Boardwalk Baseball in the late 80's I believe.. it was ok, mostly a bummer though because it was about a 5-6 hour drive, only to not go to Disney lol. I remember it because on the way back home, my dad's tail light caught fire and had spread into the trunk. I found out by my dad ripping my sleeping ass out the back seat by my ankles yelling, "Get out! Fire! Fire!" We were towed the rest of the way, and I could smell for hours was burning plastic. Had a souvenir mini bat from BB.. I loved it.. miss ya dad.

Went to Circus World as a kid with my parents and nephew.We stayed at the hotel across the street from it and would just walk over to Circus World.Loved it and had a great time and memories. We lived in Venice,Florida which was the Winter Headquarters of Ringling Bros Circus and Clown College as well.

I remember loving the log flume ride here. When my parents brought me here, I was too little to ride a lot of stuff.

Great video! I had a chance as a kid to go to boardwalk and baseball. As a kid it was the perfect combination of sports and my love for baseball and amusement parks. I have grown up to still be a theme park enthusiast. I have to see if my mom still has pictures of us their. I was too young to go on a lot of the rides there but I remember the log flume. I’m sure the rides looking back were pretty lack luster which hurt the park.

I used to go to Circus World in the late 70s as a child. I loved the Hurricane/Roaring Tiger. The park was always so empty you could ride that thing all day! In 86 or 87 I made a trip to Orlando and went looking for Circus World only to see it had changed into Boardwalk and Baseball. It was quite a shock. Also, Steve Miller made a music video there 'Living in the USA'. I can't find it anywhere...Good memories though.

I kind of remember going to Circus World but I do remember going to B&B. I still have a newsletter. Nowadays I go there for Target and the awesome movie theater. It’s only 15 minutes away for me.

@carminecdinoproductions

5 жыл бұрын

Dennis Smith That should’ve been a Six Flags Theme Park!

I'm too young to have ever gone to either Circus World or Boardwalk and Baseball. However, my husband's grandfather used to be a PR for the circus and so he's shared past stories. It's pretty cool to see this video pop up :) I'll have to share it with him.