The attractions

Freedomland, like Disneyland, made an effort to focus on the history of the United States. Unlike Disneyland, though, Freedomland included very little outside of U.S. history for guests to sink their teeth into. Whereas Walt Disney mixed the historical Main Street with areas like Fantasyland, Freedomland was extremely grounded, more of a place to tour than a park full of rides. Even most individuals of the 1960s were too adventure-seeking for something that served largely as an interactive history exhibit. Many of the adventurous experiences that Freedomland DID offer were direct or indirect rip-offs of what C.V. Wood designed for Disneyland. With all of that said, however, there was still a lot to do at Freedomland, U.S.A. that certain kinds of people DID enjoy. 

Freedomland started with seven different themed areas. Most, but not all, of them represented a U.S. location during a specific time in its history. Here are those areas, along with some of the attractions offered within them.

The Great Plains (1803-1900)

This area was based on an American setting that included parts of states like Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming. Basically, it’s a large expanse of flat land known for cattle ranching and dry farming. A lot of people are fascinated by that area’s history during the 1800s. Attractions at the Great Plains of Freedomland included:

• A shooting gallery named Cavalry Rifles
• A log-by-log copy of an Army stockade called Fort Cavalry
• Fort Cavalry Stage Line, a stage coach that goes past a buffalo herd and through the Rocky Mountains, culminating in a fictional robbery featuring actors playing outlaws
• A merry-go-round called Mule-Go-Round that was, naturally, pulled by mules
• A furnished apartment for the Borden Company mascot, Elsie the Cow, called Borden’s Barn Boudoir
• A working farm exhibit, also sponsored by the Borden Food Company, called Borden’s Farm. It had horses, cows, sheep, pigs, poultry, corn and hay.
• A ride to the nearby Old Southwest area named the Pony Express

Little Old New York (1850-1900)

Little Old New York celebrated the incredible diversity of New York City during the mid-to-late 1800s. Food and beverages were a significant part of that. Some of the attractions in Little Old New York were:

• An ice cream parlor similar to what you would find in the 1890s
• The old-fashioned Schaefer's Brewery. Again, this Freedomland, U.S.A. attraction involved a sponsor. This time it was Schaefer Beer.
• Shuntz's Delicatessen offered Corned Beef Sandwiches and Patrami, plus a Cheesecake desert. Doesn’t sound like the healthiest meal, but it seems like a great way to experience New York life!
• The Harbor Tug Boats attraction that went through the Great Lakes
• A ride in a 1909 Cadillac car through a recreation of New England called the Horseless Carriage, a popular name for automobiles at the time
• A recreation of the original Macy’s store.
• The Political Pep Rally was a live street show. It involved elements such as a German band, a gangland robbery of the Little New York Bank and more. It seems like one of the most elaborate attractions anywhere in Freedomland. 

Chicago (1871)

The Chicago area was one of the highlights, mainly due to the Chicago Fire attraction. Here’s a description of that and other things to do there.

• The Chicago Fire event was a live street show based on the famed 1871 Great Chicago Fire with fake Chicago buildings burning and actors playing fireman put it out. It happened every twenty minutes.
• The Great Lakes Cruise, boat rides through the great lakes on sternwheel boats
• A canoe ride led by a Native American guide called Chippewa War Canoes
• A teepee village with Northwestern Native Americans that offered handcrafted items for sale
• The Santa Fe Railroad Station

The Old Southwest (1890)

The Old Southwest of the late-nineteenth century is centered on Texas and Mexican culture, full of gunfights and Mexican markets and more. Attractions there included:

• Another live street show, this time with actors portraying shooters in a classic Western gun fight
• A ride on real burros
• A souvenir shops known as the Mexican Market
• A dark ride called Mine Caverns that takes place underground and goes through caves and lava pits and where you face monsters and gigantic bats
• The Opera House and Saloon, a “bar” that served soda with a stage show that included a band, dancers, singers and Western comedians
• A herd of Texas Longhorns with a cowboy watching over them

San Francisco (1906)

The early 1900s were a really interesting time for San Francisco, California. There was a lot of Chinese culture, an emerging entertainment industry and, of course, the infamous 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. This area is also home to one of the biggest rip-offs of an attraction born at Disneyland. Here is what San Francisco at Freedomland had to offer.

• Northwest Fur Trapper, a boat ride very reminiscent of Disney’s Jungle Cruise
• A recreation of the San Francisco entertainment district Barbary Coast
• A recreation of Chinatown with shops and places to eat
• The Hollywood Arena, added in 1962, was an amphitheater with animal stunts that had TV personalities show up regularly
• A snack stand featuring an actor playing an “old salt sea man” who told tales of adventure called Fisherman’s Wharf
• Seal Pool, which had actual Pacific harbor seals to look at
• The San Francisco Earthquake, a dark ride that recreates the disastrous Earthquake

New Orleans - Mardi Gras

This is one of just two of the initial areas that wasn’t placed in a very specific time frame. Rather than celebrating a certain period in New Orleans history, it celebrating the whole history of Mardi Gras, carnival-like festivities best known in the United States for taking place in Louisiana. It seems like easily one of the most entertaining parts of Freedomland. This is another area that pretty blatantly ripped off Disneyland, which, as mentioned above, creator of Freedomland C. V. Wood played a big hand in. Here are the attractions.

• Buccaneers, a pirate-themed ride that bore a LOT of resemblance to Pirates of the Caribbean
• Spin-A-Top, not at all unlike Disney’s Tea Cups ride in Fantasyland
• A dark ride that tried to capture the experience of driving through the middle of a wild Louisiana twister
• The Pirate Gun Shooting Gallery
• A merry-go-round named King Rex Carrousel
• A ride called Danny the Dragon, in which people of all ages could ride a 74-foot fire breather
• Kandy Kane Lane, a play area for kids that had a helicopter ride, a hot fair, a sandpile and swan boats
• Civil War, a ride where you’re on a horse-drawn wagon going through a remake of aspects of the mid-1800s war including battlegrounds, camps, wreckage and an acted-out battle

Satellite City (The Future)

This might have been most lively land at Freedomland, even though it wasn’t particularly lively itself until they made some additions to appeal to teenagers. It obviously bore some relation to Tomorrowland as a future city.

• Space Rover, simulating a journey into space in a theater that looked like the inside of a rocket
• Special exhibits about then-modern day science and industries
• Satellite City Turnpike, a ride in futuristic cars
• Blast-Off Bunker, which recreated the Cape Canaveral control room where visitors could watch a fictional rocket launch
• Moon Bowl, added in 1961, was a stage and dance floor that spanned 15,000 square feet. It had a lot of celebrities and popular performers of that time period.

In 1962 Freedomland, U.S.A. Also added the State Fair Midway in 1962 which included, among other things, a roller coaster to appeal to the adventure-seeking crowd. Other planned areas included a recreation of the Florida peninsula under Satellite City and a recreation of a Hollywood movie lot below San Francisco, but those never materialized.