Discount Disneyland is a perfect reflection of Oakland.

Though this aging heart beats irregularly surrounded by the broken car glass of its parking lot, Children’s Fairyland is a testament to Oakland’s tenacity to exist despite all odds.

This is a place where all of the multi-cultural denizens of Oakland can exist in harmony while their children frolic in the ignorant bliss of children’s play. There is no other place where you will see so clearly the beauty of what unites all of the different people of Oakland, our children.

Located inside of this barbed wire compound is a deteriorating dream kept alive. Started in 1950 as a direct response to the success of Disneyland, this wonderland has never seen better days. While this might appear to be a dis at first glance, it is actually a testament to the staying power of this gem of Oakland. This park is better than it’s ever been, and the patina of age only adds to its charm.

As long as you don’t eat the food and the “Ferris wheel” doesn’t collapse, you and your children will most likely survive this adventure unharmed.

While the deteriorating creatures and cobwebbed rides caught my eye at first glance, I felt the love and beauty of the place by the time I left. What appeared to be a completely dilapidated relic has been partially restored by a skilled painter, adding a real flair to the scarcely veiled Disney knockoff vibe. To the park’s credit, Alice in Wonderland, Pinocchio, Peter Pan and Aladdin no more belong to Disney than they do their original creators, so all’s fair in Love and the reappropriating of beloved Creative Commons IP. Despite the occasional Mickey Mouse hidden in the frescoes, a great amount of care has gone into being true to the original art of John Tenniel on all of the Alice themed sections and they even added an emerald city from Wizard of Oz to throw off the scent for any circling corporate lawyers. While the Tom Sawyer fence is a cheeky throwback, I might be the only adult in Oakland under 60 years old who got the joke. The new paintings are clearly created by an actual artist, down to the custom no smoking signs sprinkled around the park. Without this loving restoration I would struggle to give this place more than 2 stars, it’s only a shame the artist remains unknown, at least to me.

To say the park is tone deaf is irrelevant, the Children love it. The boys can be bandits as they hide in the old west town and pretend to hijack the barely operating train as it struggles along its dutiful double loop for each group of occupants. There is a real charm to the dark cracked cement tunnels that instilled a sense of wonder even in my cynical and rusty heart. This is because the park has the perfect amount of Mystery for a child. There is nothing straightforward about this Labyrinth stuck out of time. The brilliance of the place is that Imagination is the real fuel of Fairyland, and as long as the specter of Oakland is kept outside by the barb wire and the paint is refreshed every 20 years, that can never be taken away.