Fairyland Twin Drive-In
7650 Prospect Avenue,
Kansas City,
MO
64132
7650 Prospect Avenue,
Kansas City,
MO
64132
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Opened on 23/8/1961 with “Parrish” and “The last sunset”.
The April 8, 1963 issue of Boxoffice ran a two-page article, with photos, of the Fairyland’s 50x50-foot playground, unusual in that it was designed only for small children. The article said the drive-in opened without a playground but added it, next to the concession stand, in Spring 1962.
Added a 2nd screen in 1969 15THh K.C. Drive In To Open 15TH Area Drive In To Close 26 Years Open Closed in 1987
August 23rd, 1961 grand opening ad in photo section.
There is a site called Historic Aerials NETR Online. You can type in Kansas city, then enable the road overlays and find the locations of all of our drive ins, past and present. It has overhead pics from various years, as well as Topo maps. By the photo from 1969 it looks like Fairyland was already a twin by then.
Upload some aerials showing the amusement park and drive-in. Also, the expressway going through the middle of it.
During its last years, The Fairyland programmed pretty much the same thing each week—martial arts on one screen and soft-core adult on the other. Once past the box office and down the long driveway, the theater had two tiny marquees over the driveways as they split, one reading “Fu” and the other “X”. Well, I found that amusing anyway.
Approx. address (at least the entrance) for this drive-in was 7650 Prospect Ave. What was unusual (besides the amusement park) was the entrance was on Prospect while the screens were at Indiana Ave. several blocks away (one at E. 75th where Paige Elementary school is now located, the other at E. 77th with some condos there now). There’s a freeway in between now.
Thanks Joe.
The biographical listing of architect John C. Monroe in the 1962 AIA Directory lists the Fairyland Drive-In, Kansas City, Mo., as one of his 1961 projects.
The drive-in was associated with an adjacent amusement park, Fairyland Park, which dated back to the 1920s. Here is a 1987 photo of the drive-in’s sign and attraction board, by Flickr user Darrell James.
Thanks to whomever posted the great shot of the entrance! I saw many a schlocky horror film here in the late 70’s. I miss both the amusement park and drive-in.
Here is a 1985 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/lvvotl