Playland In Photos: Ocean City Amusement Park Memories

Forty years after its gates closed for good, the Playland Amusement Park comes back to life in Playland In Photos: Ocean City Amusement Park Memories. Overflowing with rare Playland images, the book takes readers on a time-travel journey back to the glorious Ocean City summer nights when a monorail-ringed amusement park sat on a western pointing finger of sand at 65th Street.

Playland was a cherished landmark for millions of Eastern Shore visitors from 1965-1980. That's because it had something for everybody. The largest free parking lot in all of Ocean City; a Kiddie Land with an extensive collection of rides; the only wooden coaster in Ocean City; the warehouse-sized Ghost Ship dark ride; Ocean City's largest go-kart track; and shimmering bayside sunsets that no Crayola 64 box could equal. Especially when viewed from the elevated cars of the Sky Ride.

Author Earl Shores first visited Playland as a child in 1965, and was mesmerized by the park. So, it was a dream come true when he landed a ride-running position at Playland for the summer of 1980 (an experience he recounts in his 2019 book Playland: Greetings From Ocean City, Maryland).

From this "hands-on" time in the park Shores imparts a deeply personal perspective to Playland in Photos. He also enlisted the Ocean City Life-Saving Station Museum, the National Amusement Park Historical Association, and the American Amusement Park Museum to contribute their expertise to the book. The result is the most authoritative account of Playland ever assembled, including a special section that explores what happened after the park closed in 1980.

Don't miss the chance to relive cherished and simpler times in Playland In Photos!