Grandpa builds Disneyland-inspired backyard theme park for grandkids
<p>A grandpa has created a magical Disney-inspired theme park in his backyard for his lucky grandkids to enjoy.</p>
<p>Steve Dobbs, 68, of Fullerton, California, has built his very own backyard theme park, aptly named Dobbsland. The amusement park has everything a kid could desire: a 30 metre-long working roller coaster, a “Sleeping Princess” castle and a “Winifred-the-Poof” ride, just to name a few.</p>
<p>“He’s always wanted to build a ride at Disneyland,” Dobbs’ daughter, Cori Linder, told <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/grandpa-builds-disneyland-inspired-backyard-theme-park-grandkids/story?id=40276633" target="_blank">ABC News.</a></strong></span> “He’s such a visionary and I love that and he was like, ‘Why not build it in my backyard for my grandkids?’”</p>
<p>For Dobbs, a retired Boeing aerospace engineer who now teaches engineering at university, it was an easily accomplished task.</p>
<p>“He hadn’t ever planned on doing a theme park,” said Linder. “He had my kids over and thought, ‘How can I keep them entertained and make it fun and get their imagination going?’ He put them in this whole fantasy type of thing as pirates. It was very homegrown. I don’t think he ever thought he’d build a theme park, he just got carried away and more grandkids came and it’s just magical.”</p>
<p>Dobbsland kept growing and eventually Dobbs enlisted the help of his students at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona. Together they created the “Madderhorn Roller Coaster” out of PVC plastic pipe, which can run at an impressive 20kmph.</p>
<p>“It was done in May. He had a launch party,” Linder said. “He had a guy certify it as a legit roller coaster.”</p>
<p>Dobbsland also boasts working teacups that spin, an airplane learning station, a car land and a “Finding Nemo”-esque submarine.</p>
<p>So what do they grandkids think of their personal amusemenet park?</p>
<p> “They love it,” said Linder. “They just see him as the most creative person in the world. He wanted all his grandkids to have that magical experience. My kids aren’t even surprised. They’ve grown up with this very creative grandfather.”</p>
<p>She added: “To me what’s really inspirational about this whole story is that, here’s a guy who’s accomplished a lot in his life and he’s still finding the joy in giving that experience to others. He didn’t do this for himself. To create that experience for people to remember and celebrate, you see the joy on his face watching people enjoy it, and that to me is timeless and absolutely precious.”</p>
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