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Columbia Gardens, Butte, MT
Roller Coaster
Council Crest, Portland, OR
Scenic Railway
Fun Forest, Seattle, WA
Galaxy and Wild Mouse
Happyland, Vancouver, BC
Giant Dipper
Jantzen Beach, Portland, OR
Big Dipper
Luna Park, Seattle, WA
Figure 8
Nat Park, Spokane, WA
Scenic Railway & Jack Rabbit
Oaks Park, Portland, OR
Monster Mouse and Zip coaster
Playland, Coeur d' Alene, ID
Playland Pier amusement rides
Playland, Seattle, WA
Giant Dipper
Playland, Vancouver, BC
Super Big Gulp
White City, Bellingham, WA
Roller Coaster
White City, Seattle, WA
Roller Coaster
Dipper, Jantzen Beach, Portland, OR
 Jantzen Beach logo |
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 First Drop |
 Dipper layout |
The Jantzen Beach Dipper was praised by many as being the "best coaster of the West Coast". Jantzen Beach Amusement Park was also heralded as "Portland's Million dollar Playground" when it first opened in 1928.
The Dipper was built by the late, Carl Phare, who was a well known roller coaster designer in the Pacific Northwest. Phare also designed two other Northwest coasters, the Dipper at Seattle's Playland, and the currently operating, Coaster, at Playland in Vancouver, BC.
Jantzen Beach was located on Hayden Island north of Portland. The Jantzen Knitting Mills invested in the Hayden Island Amusement Company to build the Jantzen Beach Amusement Park, as part of a large advertising campaign to promote Jantzen swimming suits. The park opened on May 26, 1928 and was the largest amusement park in the country spanning 123 acres of land. On opening day, the park was appropriately termed as "The Coney Island of The West".
Jantzen Beach had many attractions to offer besides the Dipper coaster. The park also had a Kiddie Dipper steel coaster, four swimming pools, a Natatorium, Golden Canopy Ballroom, picnic grounds, Fun House, Venetian Canal ride, Ferris Wheel, Elbow Room Restaurant, Jantzen Beach Railway, Two robot circus criers, "Laffing Sal" and "Joe Barker", and a 1921 C.W. Parker Carousel.
In the late 1950's, the park started losing its patrons. A handful of factors contributed to the park's financial loss: the 1948 flood that caused many local patrons to move away, competition with the new Expo Center, a fire, and the highway expansion on the Interstate Bridge. In 1958, the addition of the west highway took out a large portion of the park which ultimately led to even more financial woes. And, it was on Labor Day in 1970 that the park finally closed its doors.
What remains left of the park is the 1921 C.W. Parker Carousel that has been beautifully restored and operates inside the Jantzen Beach SuperCenter shopping mall. Also inside the mall is a Jantzen Beach Amusement Park exhibit which contains artifacts from the park.