Land of Make Believe (amusement park)
Family amusement park and water park in Hope Township, New Jersey
The Land of Make Believe is a family amusement park and water park catering mostly to families and children under 13 years of age. It is designed specifically for parents to participate with their children. Opened in 1954 by Hermann Maier, it is in Hope Township, in Warren County, New Jersey, on County Route 611, 2 mi (3.2 km) from exit 12 off of Interstate 80. It centers itself around "Safe and wholesome recreation", with entertaining rides and attractions that are most appropriate for children under the age of thirteen, but also has many attractions for people of all ages.
The park is still family-owned as of 2022.
Ride styles
Some of its most prominent attractions are the civil war train (which loops around most of the park), the Pirate's Wading Pool, largest in America with life size Pirate Ship and the Pirates Escape & Pirates revenge dual racing slides. The Land of Make Believe has many of the standard amusement park rides like a junior sized roller coaster, a Tilt-A-Whirl, Drop & Twist, Tornado, Scream Machine 360, and Pirate's Fury as well as more specialized attractions like an Off Road Safari Adventure and a petting zoo. Some more of the water attractions include the Pirates Plunge, Blackbeard's Pirate Fort, The Sidewinder, Blackbeard's Action River Ride, and eight waterslides.
The public source identifies “Land of Make Believe (amusement park)” as family amusement park and water park in Hope Township, New Jersey. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Land, Make and Believe.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Land of Make Believe (amusement park)”, the useful work is to connect “family amusement park and water park in Hope Township, New Jersey” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q14705697. Authority coordinates are 40.902, -74.959. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1954 and 2022.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Land of Make Believe (amusement park)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Land of Make Believe (amusement park) primary sources, Land of Make Believe (amusement park) archive and Land research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Land of Make Believe (amusement park)”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Land of Make Believe (amusement park)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.