So first, I want to share with you knowledge of What’s Going On In Judge Parker? How Old Is That Charlotte Kid Supposed to Be? September – December 2025 as I finish another of those cycles. Then, more pictures of getting into Plopsaland De Panne while I get ready to reveal other things to you:
Here's people posing with bees. In hindsight the bees were probably either pre-Plopsa mascots or characters meant to connect to the pre-Plopsa days. Read on.
Kid getting a chance to hug and photograph with a pirate and an astronaut, just like you'd expect.
And here's one of the dancing figures that I caught the one moment you couldn't hope to see his face! I'm good at this.
The main midway goes for looking like an old west-European downtown. I think the cart on the right is for the park photographer.
And the water fountain in the middle of the 'town square' here gives parents a chance to watch their kids run off and do stuff. You can see The Ride To Happiness in the background.
Bunnies! No idea who this rabbit with an attitude is but ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bunnyhugger was of course instantly interested.
From behind you see that either his tail pokes out his pants or there's a tail-shaped pocket for them.
And here's another clown character that probably means something to kids around there.
Before it was Plopsaland de Panne, this place was Meli Park, and they had a couple pieces showing off those old days.
Old Meli Park sign and mascot and yeah, it's not hard to see either bee design as the ones kids were hugging earlier.
The park used to have more fairy-tale-style sculptures like this big ol' sleeping giant, who's been preserved. No idea if it's in his original location.
And here's the text explaining the park and its transition. Our sense is that the place had something like the Knott's Berry Farm history where what had been a farm (in this case, a honey farm) grew into an amusement park and then became part of a chain.
Trivia: England's maximum rate of interest was reduced from 10 percent to 8 percent in 1624. Source: History of Money, Glyn Davies.
Currently Reading: Volume 80: Popeycatapetl! or Th' Demon Idol O' Inkypoo, Ralph Stein, Bill Zaboly. Editor Stephanie Noelle.
