A gifted artist and cartoonist, Val Valentine worked for the Fleisher Studio in Miami in the 1930s, illustrating the cartoons “Popeye” and “Betty Boop” and the animated feature “Gulliver’s Travels.” He also was the original creator of “Casper the Ghost.”

Valentine moved to Panama City Beach in the mid 1960s after working on several other notable attractions in Florida and other states, including Silver Springs in Ocala.

In 1965, Valentine purchased a struggling roadside animal display (Ross Allen's Alligator Show) and proceeded to construct a massive concrete volcano at its center, complete with billowing smoke and faux molten lava. The attraction was renamed “Jungle Land” and became one of the premier sights in Panama City Beach.

Jungle land featured several tiki masks, including a large moai with giant boar's tusks through its nose that graced the roofline at the front entrance.

Many photos show the "natives" of Jungle Land -- pretty young blonde girls in leopard print bikinis with spears in their hands.

Not long after Jungle Land opened, the park was purchased by the owner of Miracle Strip Amusement Park, for which Valentine also shared his talents, designing such attractions as Dante’s Inferno, the Abominable Snowman, the walk-through haunted house known as the “Old House” and Shipwreck Island Water Park.

Val passed away in 2015.

Jungle Land was eventually purchased by Alvin’s Island department store and became one of their dozens of locations, however, after it became apparent that bringing up the site to code would be cost prohibitive, it was announced in 2020 that it would be demolished and a new construction built.

Details

Type

Amusement Park

Address

Panama City Beach, Florida, United States

Closed?

Yes (Permanently)