In the 1980s while sending out invitations to my taste of the arts talent celebration events at The Gazebo in Peninsula Park near Balboa Pier to local and global recipients of my distribution I began using the terminology "Balboa Village" to avoid the frequent confusion from Balboa Island and other Balboas all over San Diego, Los Angeles and The Valley which I then revised to "The Balboa Village FUN Zone" because my events have always been created with the intention of enticing oceanfront guests to explore the FUN throughout the entire 3 block radius of both destinations for the full seaside amusement park experience between the beach and harborside FUN Zone boardwalk with breath taking panoramic views from The Ferris Wheel or while dining at one of the amazing bayfront restaurants + new and rare vintage arcade games + water sports + FUN tours + whale watching + anti mall affordable unique boutique fashion and gift stores + MUCH MORE and hopefully in the near future restoration of the carouselle and LIVE MUSIC.
In the meantime please Contact Tina4Music@yahoo.Com if you would like to help sponsor our next "Balboa Taste of The Arts Talent Celebration"
www.yelp.com/biz/explorocean-newport-beach
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g32780-d2359997-Reviews-Balboa_Fun_Zone-Newport_Beach_California.html
www.visitnewportbeach.com/activities-and-attractions/balboa-fun-zone
May 2016
In the meantime please Contact Tina4Music@yahoo.Com if you would like to help sponsor our next "Balboa Taste of The Arts Talent Celebration"
VIEW Balboa FUN Zone news, articles, multimedia images, music videos, film productions, and photos of previous attractions and community efforts to STOP & RESTORE gradual removal of historic nostalgic FUN
Most recent is at the top
Oldest history is at the bottom
Most recent is at the top
Oldest history is at the bottom
MERCHANT VIDEOS
www.yelp.com/biz/explorocean-newport-beach
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g32780-d2359997-Reviews-Balboa_Fun_Zone-Newport_Beach_California.html
www.facebook.com/groups/BalboaVillageFUNzone
www.oceanquestoc.org/fun-zonewww.visitnewportbeach.com/activities-and-attractions/balboa-fun-zone
"Saving The Historic Balboa FUN Zone" Photo Gallery Project
May 2017
Diane Dixon Proposes Banning All Bicycles from the Boardwalk
http://savenewport.com/2017/05/30/bicycle-ban
PLEASE SHARE ANY NOSTALGIC PHOTOS OF YOU RIDING BIKES ON OUR NEWPORT BEACH BOARDWALK
We don't want to lose biking fun on top of our beloved carouselle and fun zone rides
Diane Dixon Proposes Banning All Bicycles from the Boardwalk
http://savenewport.com/2017/05/30/bicycle-ban
PLEASE SHARE ANY NOSTALGIC PHOTOS OF YOU RIDING BIKES ON OUR NEWPORT BEACH BOARDWALK
We don't want to lose biking fun on top of our beloved carouselle and fun zone rides
ITS CALLED A BIKE PATH FOR A REASON !!!
Think of all of the family owned bike rental shops that would go out of business and how many would stay away from the peninsula if they had to pay $20 a day for parking vs riding bikes
Jenifer MacGowan Erickson Think how many people who opt for bikes to go to the local bars, vs driving?
$234,398 LED lighted Arch proclaiming Balboa Village the 'Home of the Fun Zone' on Balboa Blvd at Adams Street gets Newport City Council OK www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/tn-dpt-me-0512-balboa-village-sign-20160511-story.html
www.oceanquestoc.org/fun-zone
www.Exporocean.Org is now Discovery Cube OceanQuest
www.oceanquestoc.org Previously www.NHNM.Org Newport Harbor Nautical Museum
April 21, 2016
Newport Harbor’s iconic but struggling Balboa Fun Zone could get a boost in a long-running effort at revitalization through a merger to be announced today by Discovery Cube Orange County and the ExplorOcean nautical museum and education center http://www.ocregister.com/articles/discovery-712656-cube-explorocean.html
January 25, 2016
From Mike Glenn
Throwback to The Fun Zone (when it was fun) & How We Got to Where We are Today
Loyal family owned vendors EVICTED
http://savenewport.com/2016/01/25/throwback-to-the-fun-zone
January 4, 2016
ExplorOcean Replaces Tom Pollack with new chief Linda Mayer
http://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/tn-dpt-me-0101-ceo-explorocean-20160104-story.html
December 2015
Just before Christmas 2015 Balboa Bikes was forced to close completely after a fire which at the time of this post is under investigation.www.ocregister.com/articles/fire-694966-beach-reported.html
HELP DEBBIE REOPEN atwww.gofundme.com/ezear8fw
August 17, 2015
Having lived in Newport Beach for more than 50 years, Ralph Rodheim feels certain about one thing: Balboa Village is not having an identity crisis. The commercial district that stretches between Palm and A streets along the Balboa Peninsula has gone through a variety of modifications
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-balboa-revitalization-20150817-story.html
April 1, 2015
Yelp review from Mike Glenn www.SaveNewport.Com
www.yelp.com/biz/explorocean-newport-beach
This so-called museum is a farce at best. What kind of museum destroys the very essence of Balboa, then claims to have preserved it? ExplorOcean has destroyed the FunZone. It is their property and they can do what they want, but it is laughable that they claim to be a non-profit of preservation when the only thing of significance that they have done is to destroy history.
In addition to the blight that they have caused in Balboa, they also play in local politics, getting politicians to gift them land and other special deals for prices lower than $1/day for a $10m plot of land-- less than they would pay in taxes if the land had simply been given to them. The owners are awful. Their politics stink, the place is vacant and not entertaining.
I go by all the time and never see anyone in there. Not. One. Soul. I have gone several times in hopes that I could be turned around. The place is vacant.
"Hey, can you tell me how to get to ExplorOcean?" Said no one, ever.
Yelp review from Mike Glenn www.SaveNewport.Com
www.yelp.com/biz/explorocean-newport-beach
This so-called museum is a farce at best. What kind of museum destroys the very essence of Balboa, then claims to have preserved it? ExplorOcean has destroyed the FunZone. It is their property and they can do what they want, but it is laughable that they claim to be a non-profit of preservation when the only thing of significance that they have done is to destroy history.
In addition to the blight that they have caused in Balboa, they also play in local politics, getting politicians to gift them land and other special deals for prices lower than $1/day for a $10m plot of land-- less than they would pay in taxes if the land had simply been given to them. The owners are awful. Their politics stink, the place is vacant and not entertaining.
I go by all the time and never see anyone in there. Not. One. Soul. I have gone several times in hopes that I could be turned around. The place is vacant.
"Hey, can you tell me how to get to ExplorOcean?" Said no one, ever.
March 19, 2015
From Mike Glenn
http://savenewport.com/2015/03/19/throwback-the-fun-zone-when-it-was-still-fun/
From Mike Glenn
http://savenewport.com/2015/03/19/throwback-the-fun-zone-when-it-was-still-fun/
Do you remember the Fun Zone when it still attracted local kids and tourists? Here is a collection of some of the older shots that I have found.
Now’days, ExplorOcean has purchased the building. The rides were pushed out in exchange for a museum that I’ve literally never seen kids in. Rumors abounded: The shops had their rents denied for renewal. Boat companies on the shoreline were forced to sell their own companies to ExplorOcean for pennies on the dollar. Meanwhile, as ExplorOcean destroys the FunZone, they also continue to bleed money.
December 23, 2014
Balboa Fun Zone yielding to educational space
http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-fun-zone-20141223-story.html
Balboa Fun Zone yielding to educational space
http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-fun-zone-20141223-story.html
For generations, the scruffy but lovable Balboa Fun Zone was a whirl of lights and bumper cars and waterfront amusement rides. But then ExplorOcean bought a chunk of the property facing Newport Harbor and exchanged the kitschy Scary Dark Ride and bumper cars for a learning center focused on science education. But as the new owners continue to remold the area into a place for learning, longtime merchants and wistful residents wonder whether the fun has gone out of the Fun Zone. the nonprofit ExplorOcean — formerly known as the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum — has been a key player in the transformation of the Balboa Fun Zone from a 1950s-style seaside amusement park to an educational space that emphasizes science, technology, engineering and math.
June 18, 2014 Balboa Peninsula Aerial Flight
October 29, 2013
360 degree view of Balboa Peninsula and Newport Harbor
www.facebook.com/SaveTheBonfireRings
SAVE the Big Corona Fire Pits
www.facebook.com/groups/159619917026
SAVE the CDM and Newport Fire Pits
www.facebook.com/groups/247447988683358
July 13, 2013
July 10, 2013
July 1, 2013
ORANGE COAST MAGAZINE
Rituals: The Slo-mo hurricane. Sandy wiped out the fun zones of the Jersey Shore overnight. Here, (Balboa) it’s a less dramatic erosion. www.orangecoast.com/rituals/2013/07/01/rituals-the-slomo-hurricane#sthash.RYFk73MT.dpuf
VIEW FACT CHECK & NUMBEROUS MISQUOTE CLARIFICATIONS by Tina Hoffman
http://menagerieentertainment.com/clarified_media_misquotes/balboa_fun_zone_the_slo_mo_hurricane/
http://menagerieentertainment.com/clarified_media_misquotes/balboa_fun_zone_the_slo_mo_hurricane/
June 28, 2013
*!* NICE COMMERCIAL *!*
June 21, 2013 California Travel Tips
reporter endearingly calls it "The Old Fashioned FUN Zone"
reporter endearingly calls it "The Old Fashioned FUN Zone"
Balboa Fun Zone - Newport Beach
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfEKgCicqiE
June 12, 2013
May 30, 2013
May 24, 2013
May 16, 2013
ExplorOcean, the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum, has announced the appointment of Tom Pollack as chief executive officer replacing former CEO Rita Stenlund who resigned
http://www.thelog.com/local/explorocean-announces-new-leadership-team/
March 27, 2013
TO SAVE BEACH FIRE PITS
Our home and business in neighbor city of Newport Beach is also facing the same endangerment of fire pits with the excuse of scientifically proven health risks however less in comparison to residential fire places & bbqs, cigarette smoke, exhaust from autos, boats, airplanes, lawn mowers etc....As even observed by coastal commissioner Esther Sanchez at the hearing last month you can review at www.menageriezine.blogspot.com/p/help-save-balboa-village-fun-zone.html
Hey Tina Hoffman. What about something like this for the fire pits?
Thanks Courtney !!! I LOVE THIS !!! And it's gorgeous !!! Especially in comparison to the only other alternative suggestion I have received so far...aka COW DUNG lol !!! We will just have to find out cost and practical way to keep the glass contained ...maybe a metal mesh screen cover or something ? Well let's get the word out for our genius friends to figure it out before the FINAL DEADLINE in May. In the meantime I will add to our Chronicles of Balboa lol aka "Help SAVE Balboa Village & The FUN Zone History of FUN" Photo Video NEWS Journal since 2002 at www.Menageriezine.blogspot.com &;-) ♪♫ >♥< ♪♫
Maybe by the next extended deadline in May we can try to discover a scientifically proven economical way to ecologically convert the fire pit structures and update content burning regulations to reduce legitimate health risk concerns even tho scientifically proven less in comparison to injuries resulting from water, sand, sun, boats, automobiles, airplanes, cigarette smoke, residential BBQ smoke, junk food consumption and other activities related to LIVING at the BEACH as also observed and stated by Coastal Commissioner Esther Sanchez "No real comprehensive analysis of harm compared to other activities. BBQs from residents contribute more than fire rings. What it looks like to me how it's been presented is this is a way to control the public by getting them off your beach". "
In my opinion her intelligently presented insightful and transparent opinion deserves many new LIKES at www.facebook.com/esther4oceanside. VIEW the meeting highlights at www.coronadelmartoday.com/34504/home/fire-rings-decision-delayed-until-air-districts-may-meeting AND www.ocregister.com/news/fire-498489-rings-city.html SEE HOW TO HELP at www.SaveThePits.com/how-to-help &;-) ♪♫ >♥< ♪♫
PS *!* Please be sure to LIKE Esther's page at www.facebook.com/Esther4Oceanside and send her a BIG THANK YOU message there or email esanchezccc@aol.com &;-) ♪♫ >♥< ♪♫