The Skyrocket was the heart of Ocean View for half a century. Built in 1927 by Edward Vettel, the massive wooden roller coaster ran two heavy iron-framed trains simultaneously, plunging riders down a first drop of 60 to 70 feet at a pace that kicked up sparks on the tight radial turns. The coaster evolved through several identities - first The Southern Belle, then Leap The Dips, then its final and most fearsome incarnation. A 1958 fire destroyed a large section of the park's west end and damaged the coaster's western structure, but Herbert Schmeck rebuilt it and the Skyrocket roared back. For generations of Tidewater youth, riding it without holding on became a badge of courage. The park enforced age restrictions, barred pregnant women, and prohibited hats and wigs. That last rule became permanent after a woman lost her wig mid-ride, and the operator kept it draped over the main release lever as a reminder.

The covered promenade that ran parallel to the coaster along the beach housed the park's most atmospheric attractions. In the Tunnel of Fun, a mechanical Red Devil in a glass niche beckoned riders to board small wooden boats propelled by a giant waterwheel through a dark, winding tunnel. Flash-lit scenes of fright triggered shrieks that echoed over the waterwheel's din to the crowd outside. A few yards east stood Laff in the Dark, where cylindrical cars lurched and spun through blackened rooms of brightly lit surprises. Standing guard at its entrance was Laffing Sal, an overweight mechanical figure who did nothing but double over in constant, manic laughter - delighting most visitors and terrifying a few children. The Penny Arcade across the walkway offered a coin-operated fortune teller, an electrocution machine, Skee Ball, and a crank-driven photo-flipping Cail-O-Scope featuring an 1880s dance routine by Little Egypt.

By the mid-1970s, the park was scheduled for demolition, its long decline marked by the addition of portable rides and one-dollar wristband passes. Hollywood saved it - briefly. In 1977, the Skyrocket appeared in Rollercoaster, a disaster film starring George Segal, Henry Fonda, and Timothy Bottoms. The shooting gallery featured prominently, with Bottoms's character demonstrating his marksmanship before setting off a bomb on the coaster. A year later, the park closed on September 4, 1978. But the coaster had one more performance: The Death of Ocean View Park, a television film starring Mike Connors, Diana Canova, and Martin Landau, used the actual destruction of the ride as its climax. The production crew discovered what generations of riders already knew - the Skyrocket was built to last. After explosives failed twice to topple it, the crew resorted to a bulldozer and cables, dragging the structure down amid gasoline fireballs while the gathered crowd jeered and wept.

Today the site of Ocean View Amusement Park holds a residential condominium, a housing development, and a public park and beach. The coordinates mark the approximate spot where riders once boarded and exited the Skyrocket. The three-winged high-rise condominium to the east stands where the Flying Aeroplane tower and the Roll-O-Plane - locally nicknamed the Salt and Pepper Shaker for the loose change it shook from riders' pockets - once operated. The green spaces to the north, adjacent to the boardwalk along the public beach, were home to the Tunnel of Fun, Laff in the Dark, and the Shooting Gallery. Nothing remains of the park except the memories of those who rode the Skyrocket without holding on, who heard Laffing Sal's cackling from across the midway, and who watched a wooden roller coaster defy dynamite on its way out the door.