Completely Gone – Pleasure Island Amusement Park: Muskegon, Michigan
Another Michigan amusement park that is long gone is Pleasure Island in Muskegon. That park has been torn down and leveled over, with a subdivision lined with house after house, home after home, all up and down, north and south, leaving very little (if any) reminders of Pleasure Island.
Pleasure Island Water Theme Park was a 25-acre park located in Muskegon at 99 E. Pontaluna Road. Opening in the 1980s, the park consisted of thirteen water slides, mini golf, bumper boats, paddle boats, the Weenie Hut, a swim area for kids, and a beach for adults. The coolest thing in the whole park was The Black Hole water slide. It had a steep drop and curved around until it went underground through a hill, and you ended up splashing down in a pool.
People flocked to the park every summer day and every weekend, lured by the colorful brochures that featured customers running around in their swimwear having one heckuva good time.
Pleasure Island had a good run but it wasn't long enough. Michigan's Adventure was also in Muskegon, and once they added their WildWater Adventure water park, Pleasure Island's days were numbered. The park was forced to close in the 1990s and it was auctioned off in 1997. The subdivision that now inhabits the once-beloved park is named Windflower Bay. In the gallery below are a few photos and depictions of the brochures of Pleasure Island Water Theme Park.
Pleasure Island Amusement Park, Muskegon: 1980s-1990s
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