Pacific Ocean Park was a twenty-eight acre (110,000 m²), nautical-themed amusement park built on a pier at Pier Avenue in the Ocean Park section of Santa Monica, California, which was intended to compete with Disneyland. "And Disneyland and POP is worth a trip to L.A." is a line from the Beach Boys' song "Amusement Parks U.S.A." from their 1965 album Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!). After it closed and fell into disrepair, the park and pier anchored the Dogtown area of Santa Monica.

The beginning

"POP" (pronounced "pee-oh-pee"), as it was soon nicknamed, was a joint venture between CBS and Santa Anita Park. It opened on Saturday, July 28, 1958 with an attendance of 20,000. The next day, the park drew 37,262 which outperformed Disneyland's attendance that day. Admission was ninety cents for adults which included access to the park and certain exhibits. The term "POP" was also used as a clever acronym for "Pay One Price", though other rides and attractions were on a pay-as-you-go basis.

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south and is bounded by Asia and Australia in the west and the Americas in the east.

At 165.25 million square kilometers (63.8 million square miles) in area, this largest division of the World Ocean—and, in turn, the hydrosphere—covers about 46% of the Earth's water surface and about one-third of its total surface area, making it larger than all of the Earth's land area combined.

The equator subdivides it into the North Pacific Ocean and South Pacific Ocean, with two exceptions: the Galápagos and Gilbert Islands, while straddling the equator, are deemed wholly within the South Pacific. The Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific is the deepest point in the world, reaching a depth of 10,911 metres (35,797 ft).

The eastern Pacific Ocean was first sighted by Europeans in the early 16th century when Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Panama in 1513 and discovered the great "southern sea" which he named Mar del Sur. The ocean's current name was coined by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan during the Spanish circumnavigation of the world in 1521, as he encountered favourable winds on reaching the ocean. He called it Mar Pacifico, which in both Portuguese and Spanish means "peaceful sea".

Ocean Park (foaled 2008) is a New Zealand Thoroughbred racehorse. His biggest win came on 27 October 2012 in the Group 1 Cox Plate at Moonee Valley racecourse. After a promising 3 year old year, Ocean Park rose to prominence in the spring of his four-year-old season, winning 4 Group 1s in a row before running 3rd in the McKinnon Stakes, attempting to make it 5 on the trot. His tactical speed, ability to relax mid race and powerful sustained finishing burst are considered his greatest assets. He continues to add to an impressive list of Group 1 performing progeny of his sire Thorn Park that includes 2011 New Zealand Derby winner Jimmy Choux. He is trained by Gary Hennessy in Matamata.

Before he won Group one races, his owners suggested Ocean Park should be sent to Hong Kong, but his trainer/part owner wanted to keep training him in New Zealand.

Spring 2011 - Autumn 2012

Ocean Park debuted at the Poverty Bay turf club for a fast-finishing win, albeit in a dead heat. He followed this up with another impressive win at Ellerslie. However, a true display of his ability came at his third start in the Great Northern Guineas at Ellerslie. After being held up for a run well into the straight, Ocean Park finally got clear and stormed home impressively to only miss by a head against strong competition.

Ocean Park may refer to:

Populated places

Ocean Park is a neighbourhood of South Surrey, a region of Surrey, British Columbia.

History

Pre-colonial

Ocean Park was part of the territory of the Semiahmoo people, one of a group of tribes called the Straits Salish, a division of the Coast Salish.

They used this place for spiritual renewal and named the area "Kwomais" which literally means place of vision, because of its high bluffs and unobstructed views to the ocean and islands. Kwomais Point is marked on many early navigation maps and has long been used as a lookout point. For protection against the raids of the Yukulta people, the Semiahmoo built a fort in Ocean Park possibly between 1820 and 1830. The fort fell into disrepair in colonial times. Today, the site is a subdivision called Indian Fort Drive near the west end of 20th Avenue.

Colonial and modern

In 1886, early pioneer Ben Stevenson acquired 350 acres (140 ha) of land and built a large home overlooking Semiahmoo Bay.

In the early 1900s, 136 acres (55 ha) were acquired in order to provide the members of the Methodist church a place where they could vacation. Promotional materials named the area “Ocean Park”, and in 1910 the church offered its first summer camp. In 1925 the Methodist Church joined with The United Church of Canada, and the camp was administered by British Columbia Conference of the church. Over the years bits of the property were sold for housing. In 2007 the last remaining 13 acres (5.3 ha) of the site were sold to the City of Surrey as parkland. Camp Kwomais was the second oldest camp accredited with BC Camping and the oldest camp using its original campsite.