Last week I looked at Hawaii theme parks that opened at one time but did not last, such as Paradise Park, Castle Park, Primo Village, Ulu Mau Village and the Kahuku Sugar Mill.
Theme parks are often elevated amusement centers. They have some central concept or premise that takes them beyond Ferris wheels, carousels, arcades, cotton candy and corn dogs.
Some of our theme parks have focused on Hawaii’s culture, history and natural environment. Roller coasters would be out of place here.
One could, I suppose, define the category to include or exclude amusement parks, botanical gardens or even the important historical sites at Pearl Harbor.
We could argue whether Moanalua Gardens, Lyon Arboretum, Foster Gardens, Senator Fong’s Plantation and Gardens, the Queen Emma Summer Palace, the State Farm Fair or Temple Valley’s Byodo-In qualify, but for my purposes today, I’m leaving them out.
This article will look at island theme parks that opened and have managed to thrive and entertain customers.
Polynesian Cultural Center
The Polynesian Cultural Center’s roots go back to 1940, when a fire destroyed the Mormon chapel in Laie. Viola Kehau Kawahigashi thought a hukilau — a fishing festival with a luau and Polynesian entertainment — could help raise funds to rebuild it.
The Hukilau thrived, particularly after Jack Owens wrote a song about it that was a nationwide hit.
In 1959 a group of South Pacific students called the Polynesian Panorama began performing traditional songs and dances in Waikiki. Tourists could not get enough of them.
Church leaders thought they could create a home for the Polynesian Panorama in Laie. They merged it with the Hukilau program on a 42-acre site in 1963.
The Polynesian Village, as it was first called, took the form of eight little villages that represented different South Pacific islands. Disneyland staff in California provided training and some of their manuals.
Some thought it was too far away from the tourist centers of Oahu to succeed, and it struggled for its first few years, but now more than 700,000 visit the Polynesian Cultural Center annually.
I think that’s amazing, especially since it is about places thousands of miles from Hawaii.
Sea Life Park
In 1964 this oceanarium and marine research facility opened in Waimanalo. Its shows, exhibits and interactive programs are both fun and educational. Visitors can swim with dolphins and observe Hawaiian rays, sharks, sea lions, penguins and turtles.
Sea Life Park was the brainchild of Taylor A. Pryor, a 31-year-old marine biologist who was an avid flyer as well as explorer of the deep.
“Tap” Pryor hoped Sea Life Park would make Hawaii a world center for marine research and education.
He told Michael Lilly that Sea Life Park hoped to develop a monorail that took passengers past mountain cliffs, crossed the highway and swooped down into the ocean where they could observe man-made reefs filled with aquatic life, before returning to the park.
The monorail would give the vast majority of tourists who never snorkeled a glimpse of life under the sea.
In 1972 the marine research center was spun off as the Oceanic Institute, and my marketing class at Hawaii Pacific University adopted it in 1999 for a semester of projects. In 2014 it became a part of HPU.
In the 1970s Pryor bought the Hana Ranch and Hotel and started a railroad between Lahaina and Kaanapali. In the 1980s Pryor founded the Kahuku Sea Food Plantation. In 1991 he was chief projects officer for the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development in the Cook Islands where he married a Rarotonga princess.
Wet ‘n’ Wild Hawaii
This south seas tropical water park opened in 1999 in Kapolei as Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park. It has more than 25 rides on 29 acres.
“There’s nothing like this in Hawaii,” Peter Kaanapu told me at the time. Visitors love their long water slides, football field-size wave pool for bodysurfing, and water-toboggan “bullet” slides.
My friend Sarah Choi tells me the park’s Chief’s Luau is fabulous and not to be missed. Choi says it also has waterfalls, lagoons, picnic areas, cabanas, volleyball courts and restaurants. You can also float in an inner tube at its “dive-in movie.”
Dole Plantation
Visitors driving through Central Oahu pineapple fields in 1951 found a fruit stand had opened near Wahiawa. It was a refreshing stop as most cars lacked air conditioning at the time.
The fruit stand was popular and grew. In 1989 it was developed into Dole Plantation, and today more than a million visitors a year stop there.
It has a Pineapple Garden Maze, Pineapple Express Train, Plantation Garden Tour and a country store offering a wide variety of (what else?) pineapple-themed gifts and refreshments.
Kualoa Ranch
From a historical point of view, Kualoa Ranch’s roots go back to ancient times. According to one Hawaiian legend, this Windward Oahu spot was the first place to grow taro.
In more modern times you could date the ranch to 1850, when Dr. Gerrit P. Judd bought 622 acres of land from King Kamehameha III for $1,300.
Today it encompasses over 4,000 acres and is run by descendants of Judd, the Morgan family.
The ranch says its terrain is incredibly varied, “ranging from dense tropical rainforest to wide open pasture grounds bordered by vibrant green cliffs that lead to the ocean. With so much space, Kualoa is an ideal place for outdoor recreation.
“Horseback riding, ATVing, zip lining, and much more are all available in this tropical wonderland.”
Dozens of movies and TV shows such as “Magnum, P.I.,” “Jurassic Park,” “50 First Dates,” “Kong: Skull Island” and “Lost” have used its untouched valleys and jaw-dropping vistas as their setting.
A more biblical writer might be tempted to call this private nature reserve “Hawaii’s Garden of Eden,” and it would not be inaccurate.
Smith’s Tropical Paradise
Walter and Emily Smith began taking Kauai guests on a 2-mile boat tour of the Wailua River to the Fern Grotto in 1946. Along the way they shared stories of old Hawaii as well as songs and dance.
Wyman Au told me he worked a summer there in 1952 when he was 13.
“Every day, my friend Steven Aki and I went to the boathouse to help with launching and securing the boat, cleaning it and being junior guides for the tourists.
“We knew Walter and Emily Smith and their older daughters, Charlotte and Gracie, who ran the operation. Then later, the Smiths added a Hawaiian luau and evening show to their boat cruise. That was one of the best times of my life, swimming and playing around sans parental oversight, nearly 70 years ago!”
Kamokila Hawaiian Village
Also on the Wailua River, visitors can visit the Kamokila Hawaiian Village on Kauai. It has tours of the Fern Grotto, waterfalls, a swimming hole, outrigger canoes and paddleboards.
Waimea Valley
Waimea Valley, on the North Shore of Oahu, offers a history walk through a traditional Hawaiian living site; a Hawaiian game site, where visitors learn games of skill, strength or strategy; and a “Blooming Botanical Tour of rare plants from around the world.” It also has a gift shop and refreshments.
On Aug. 27 I’ll look at some theme park ideas that never got off the drawing boards, such as Kane Fernandez’s Caneland, Maurice Sullivan’s Pupukea Cultural Center, Doris Duke’s Thai Village and the Undersea City of Hawaii at Ala Moana where guests would enter by way of an underwater train in a glass tube.
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Have a question or suggestion? Contact Bob Sigall, author of the five “The Companies We Keep” books, at Sigall@Yahoo.com.
