[PHOTOS] Looking Back On Fairyland “Buddy’s” Amusement Park

It was the hottest spot for kids to play from the day it opened in 1952 until the day it closed in 2002. Located at the corner of Flatbush Avenue and Utica Avenue, Fairyland Amusement Park, fondly referred to as “Buddy’s,” which was the restaurant in front of the park, was the embodiment of childhood whimsy.

Buddy’s featured rides like the Helicopter, Rollercoaster, Supersonic Rocket, Jet Action Whip, “Midget Racers,” and “motor boats in real water,” according to the June 22, 1952, issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

In total, Buddy’s had 10 rides and an arcade that had 40 games where all the kids would hang out back in the day.

“We lived on E 42nd between [Avenue] I and [Avenue] J. Only in the ’50s, then we moved to “the country” in Nassau County. But my grandparents lived in that house till we sold it in 2000,” wrote Leslie Ann Wolf on the Facebook page, BUDDY’S AMUSEMENT PARK. “They took us to Buddy’s many many Sundays in the 1950s and 1960s. My last time there I got to take my son, with my grandparents, in 1985. It was amazing!”

Other people remember being up close to people’s kitchen windows when they rode the rollercoaster ride. Before tall buildings started to appear in southern Brooklyn, riders of the helicopter, carousel, or the rollercoaster could see neighborhood houses and wide open spaces.

Imagine that.

The arcade was a staple of children’s social life that kids today, unfortunately, won’t experience. Before kids had video games in their pockets at all times, or even in their living room, they had to go to the arcade to play the latest game. Serge Thumbs, of the Buddy’s Facebook page, remembers the line being out the door when the game, Double Dragon, came out in 1986.

“I remember dropping my lunch money in Super Sprint,” wrote Anthony Douglas on the Facebook page, Fairyland Kiddie Park & Arcade.

There is still a small remnant of the amusement park left today. On the wall behind the Petco and Burger King that now occupy the space Buddy’s used to be is a vintage-looking sign (photo above) that says “Welcome To Fairyland Kiddie Park.”