Did I just throw your memory into the Wayback Machine with Mr. Peabody? Trust me, its been in my mind for some time now. For some unknown reason, I have been thinking about the park almost non-stop. The park closed down what was thought to be under mysterious circumstances after reports of people dying while on the rides. Lot's of people speculated the fate of the park, but after researching it, I finally found out what happened to El Paso's doomed amusement park.
IM sure you all (who remember it) don't even remember the commercials theme song. I barely remember it, but I dare not say it for fears of being wrong. I know in the stack of VHS tapes (remember those?) we have stock-piled in our attic we have a commercial for Magic Landing, I remember seeing it. It's a look into the past when the only other amusement park, Western Playland, was king, and Magic Landing the upstart newbie on the block.
ML had too many things going against itself when it opened in 1984. It was located too far away from anything else in town, some 2 miles outside El Paso's city limits. This alienated people who lived on the west side of El Paso, since the drive (I do it every weekday) is some 24 miles one way. To drive that distance for family fun was just too much to ask some people to do. Also, you wouldn't think of it, but the actual theme of the park was also a contributing factor to its demise.
In an interview conducted by the El Paso Inc. In June of 2000, Western Playland's owner (and my former boss) Pat Thompson spoke briefly about Magic Landing:
Why does Western Playland succeed where Magic Landing failed?
Magic Landing was trying to be a theme park. El Paso wasn't really ready for one. It doesn't have the population or the family income levels to support a theme park. When people go on vacation, they?re willing to spend extra money on theme parks. But, see, you wouldn't do it here (or) even in California. Disneyland can't get the locals to come out. They have to give big discounts to draw them out. Western Playland isn't here for the tourists. It can't be. There's not enough tourist traffic in El Paso.
Pat Thompson's comments only scratch the surface on why the park closed. Rumor and speculation ran rampant about the number of accidents, deaths and maiming that went on inside the park. In reality, only two people were either horribly injured or killed while riding rides on the park. Not to be morbid, but I had a fun time trying to find the real accidents in the park to the rumors that flew. Considering I was roughly 6 or 7 years old when the park closed, trying to find the truth from people who barely remember the park even existed was tough.
Here's the true story. Magic Landing was struggling to survive in a market where theme parks were starting to die. Their attractions were large and real. The state of Texas' largest Ferris wheel, log flume ride, a real 36" gauge steam locomotive
(for sale if you're interested!) bumper cars, a performing stage, arcades, a rollercoaster, haunted house and little games of chance booths scattered all over the park. It had good things going for it, with the exception of good fortune.
The first unfortunate series of events that plagued the park was coinciding with its location. El Paso gets torrential rainfall in the summer time and when that happened around the park, it often times washed out the railroad track around the park. Nine times out of ten the train was out of commission due to that. I remember it was definitely an inconvenience for me since I love trains. I was still too young for the midway games and bumpercars, so those were out of the question too.
The second truly unfortunate event, and the one that single handedly spelled the parks doom was the deadly accident with the parks rollercoaster. I seem to remember this incident. I actually had to call my parents and ask about this one, but they do confirm we were at the park the day that the death on the rollercoaster occurred. In my memories, I see the front of the rollercoaster darkened from the lights lighting the ride turned off, and a white sheet covering the person who was killed by the ride.
The problem with my memory and with the events that happened that day are mixed. I know the person's body was on the ride. Problem is, people's conflicting reports have the man either falling from the rollercoaster car while its rolling on the tracks and he hit the supports to the ride on his fall down, or it was a mentally disabled man who tried to leap onto the ride as it was moving. The third rumor was the man had it arm severed by a passing car as he was waiting for the ride, but I don't remember that. I remember seeing the front of the rollercoaster. I remember the body being covered. I do remember that night it happened.
This incident with the rollercoaster caused the park to loose its insurance on any of their thrilling rides, and the rollercoaster was closed for good after that incident. The park seemed to roll on after that accident, fewer people wanted to go to a park with a deadly reputation and attendance was noticeably down. Promotions for 4th of July celebrations were announced and events were held with fireworks (legal in the county) and fanfare, but the park was starting to die.
With the only other major attraction to the park open, the Ferris wheel, business seemed to have pleateau'd and stayed constant. The train was completely unreliable thanks to the frequent track wash-outs and no plans to replace the deadly rollercoaster. I know my parents no longer went back to the park after we were there for the accident, so when the second accident took place on the Ferris wheel, that sealed the parks fate. The accident stemmed from a panicking woman on the Ferris wheel that fell to the car below her, seriously injuring herself.
Soon after that, the park closed its doors following several lawsuits filed against the park by park guests who were on the rollercoaster at the time of the accident. The woman who fell from the Ferris wheel also sued the park for negligence on the ride operator's part for not recognizing her frantic state and letting her off the ride. Eventually, all parties settled out of court, but thanks to the number of lawsuits and the parks lengthy stint closed, the capital wasn't there to re-open the doors another season and Magic Landing stood standing out in the county for almost 12 years untouched.
Eventually, the owners of the park started to demolish most of the buildings that were starting to deteriorate and collapse, and buildings too high to be of any future use to the park. The Ferris wheel was dismantled and sold to another park. The steam train was placed into storage (see link earlier in story) and long forgotten about. The rollercoaster by all accounts was torn down and destroyed. The other rides in the park, like the Rainbow stood for years after they parted out many of the rides, but were eventually taken down and placed into storage.
Currently, the park is still mostly visible from the interstate. The sign welcoming guests is still standing out in the parkinglot entrance. The main entrance is still intact, but the entire lot is currently leased by CFI Trucking here in El Paso, Texas and currently holds most of the trucking line's trailers. For the most part, most of the buildings inside the park look like they are still standing. In the future I am hoping to gain entrance into the park with my brother (who works for CFI Trucking) and take some pictures of what is left of the park.
This has been one interesting jaunt down memory lane.
