I have many memories of visiting Ontario Place as a kid... the mazes and climbing areas, the water park... visiting the HMCS Haida while she was still docked there... the Lego pod. As a kid I was able to overlook the fact that, as an amusement park, it paled horribly in comparison to Canada's Wonderland; mostly because I was having fun. Revisiting the park now, 2 years after it was shuttered by the Ontario government, I can see that the park itself was lacking in attractions that would interest me these days. But it was never geared towards anything other than being a family destination.

Built leading up to 1971, the park originally started as the five pods standing in the lake; an idea that evolved over time due to finances and engineering problems to include the artificial barrier islands that housed most of Ontario Place, designed to shelter the legs of the pods from the wave action of the lake. From there the park grew to include the Forum, an open air concert venue, the Canada-centric West Island The Forum was eventually replaced by larger the Molson Amphitheater, although recently a new venue called Echo Beach was created to try and recapture the atmosphere of the Forum. At least both the Amphitheater and Echo Beach remain open right now.

Despite a large push in 2011 to attract visitors for the park's 40th anniversary, which was largely successful, the park still found itself shuttered in 2012, when the announcement was made that the public areas would be closed off for revitalization, targeted for 2017, Canada's 150th anniversary. And now we sit in 2014, with no noticeable development having occurred in the park, other than the removal of components of rides for storage. The park is still monitored due to the active properties surrounding it (the Amphitheater, Echo Beach, the marina, etc), but otherwise sees very little activity; for how long though before the redevelopment rolls in is unknown.