A: We have taken over the old Angelo's Market building at 10979 San Pablo Avenue in El Cerrito, CA 94530, just north of Berkeley and just 20 minutes out of San Francisco. The El Cerrito Del Norte BART station is 5 blocks away, and AC Transit is right across the street. Jefferson is the side street, and we offer free parking behind the museum. Please see our Playland-Not-at-the-Beach Map for driving instructions.

A: Playland-Not-at-the-Beach is entirely volunteer staffed. We are open on Saturdays from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, and we are trying to get enough new volunteers to be open most Sundays. We also hope some day to have enough volunteers to have some evening hours and even occasionally during the day on weekdays. For specific Weekend Hours and a List of Our Special Events see our Playland's Hours & Ticket Prices page. Because we are entirely volunteer-driven, we may not be able to accommodate you if you drop by unexpectedly. It is always best to call ahead to make sure we can accommodate you. To make a reservation for a visit, please call (510) 232-4264 ext.#25.

A. Playland-Not-at-the-Beach is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit Museum of Fun. Designed and built entirely by volunteers, the 20+ interactive exhibits celebrate the magic and history of America's bygone amusements -- circuses, carnivals, magic, sides shows, penny arcades, amusement devices, pinball arcades, haunted houses, and beautiful art everywhere. Our goal is to educate newer generations about the bygone days and allow those who remember Whitney's Playland and the Sutro Baths the opportunity to recapture the glorious sights and sounds of that marvelous era.

A: No, alas, all our exhibits and attractions are bolted to the ground. Maybe some day in the future when we have another location, we may be able to put up some amazing antique amusement park rides for modern audiences to enjoy. But that's way off in the future.

A: All our 30+ pinball machines are on free play, along with our arcade machines and the carnival games. We have just 3 machines that require guests to use their own quarters -- a bubble gum machine, Esmeralda the Fortune Teller, and the Joy Wheel Prize Vending Machine in the Sutro Showcase area of our museum.

A: We have deliberately not added a child's price because we would prefer to have a conversation with individual parents about the advisability of a child under 5 going through our museum. We have created the ad line that Playland is for everyone 5 to 105 years old. For our guests under 5, Playland might be a little intense, and we don't want to scare small children. Our rule of thumb is that if the child is afraid of clowns, then it might be better to take them to Children's Fairyland in Oakland (a fantastic place to visit, the way!) If a child is not afraid of clowns, then we leave it up to the parents to walk ahead to see if any of our "surprises" would be too scary for their children. Our haunted attractions (Dark Mystery and Laff in the Dark and soon The Haunted Manor) can easily be avoided. Let's face it -- Laughing Sal scared a lot of us when we were kids at Playland in San Francisco!

A: Absolutely! We welcome people with mobility issues, and our volunteers will gladly offer assistance for anyone enjoying our many attractions. We also have footstools for our younger guests who want a better view of the miniature circus or Santa's Village. Our restrooms are large and modern and can accommodate wheelchairs, and every exhibit was planned with turn around space.

A: To be accurate, there were over 250 original Laughing Sals. It was a product that was for sale out of a catalogue. Whitney's Playland at the Beach had multiple Laughing Sals. As one wore out, the Whitneys would replace it with a new one. In Northern California there are at least half a dozen Sals -- the one from the John Wickett collection is at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, the one at Musee Mecanique on Pier 45 is of mysterious origin, there is one in an antique store on the peninsula, and another is in a private collection in the San Jose area. Playland-Not-at-the-Beach is the only place on the planet that we know of that has TWO Laughing Sals. One came to us from Euclid Beach Park in Ohio, the other was designed especially for us by sculptor Chuck Jarman -- we call her Sinister Sal.

A: Yes, the El Cerrito Del Norte BART station is 5 blocks away and AC Transit is right across the street.

A: We have a brand new parking lot with plenty of spaces, and it is totally free. If we ever get crowded there is also free parking on the side street (Jefferson) less than 100 feet from our building.

A: The average family stays about 2 hours, but a lot depends on the age of the guests. If you enjoy playing pinball, you might want to schedule more time since we have 3 arcades full of machines. If you want to watch additional historic footage in Laughing Sal's Theater, that will take more time. And you can play as long as you like in the Carousel Carnival until you have won two prizes, and you can keep playing to get bigger and bigger prizes too by trading up!

A: No, we do not have a food and beverage license. But there is a sandwich shop right next door and Weinerschintzel is one block away. There are pizza and sit down restaurants 3 blocks away.

A: Yes, Yes, Yes! And we enjoy getting copies of the pictures afterwards. It is really fun for us to see our museum through the eyes of our guests.

A: Magical Nathaniel is 14 years old, and he performs here every chance he gets. But he has homework and swimming lessons and puts on magic shows for birthday parties. I would be glad to put you in touch with him for a private party. I hope we will be seeing a lot of him this summer once school is out. You can call ahead to find out which days he will be performing.

A: Actually we have two mummies. The mommy mummy is called Princess Pity Potty. The baby mummy is named Porta Potty. As you might have heard, the princess was in the process of diapering her baby when the palace guards attacked the two of them. To this day the baby mummy still makes sounds as if it needs to have its diapers changed!!

A: When we were designing our space, we wanted to create the feeling of surprises around every corner. We also put things at odd angles and use a lot of smoke and mirrors. The building is actually 9000 square feet.

A: That was supposed to be a secret, but now that the word is out, yes, this amazing woman will be visiting us for several weekends later this year. Her mother was frightened by a South American spider, and when she was born, she had 8 long, furry arms. Spidora speaks 4 languages and eats a huge plate of flies once a week. Just don't get too close when she's in a touchie-feelie mood! Spidora will be visiting in conjunction with some special events in the Side Show area of Playland.

A: When we started building Playland-Not-at-the-Beach 8 years ago, we altruistically thought our costs would be controllable since it was all volunteers doing it. Much to our amazement (and grief), city rules and regulations forced us to spend $128,000 to put in a firewall and another $150,000 to put in a brand new parking lot. Now we are in a position where we have to charge money just to pay our bills, even though we are almost all still volunteers. Our goal is still to include everyone in our merriment, so if you know of anyone (families, friends, neighbors) who would love to come spend a day with us but cannot afford it, please let us know and we will make sure they receive a free pass.

A: We hope forever, but the truth is that we are dependent on two factors: finding enough people willing to donate their time as volunteers to help run the museum and bringing in enough money to stay open. You can help by telling your friends and neighbors how much fun you had during your visit.

A: We do not have such a plan yet, but the Advisory Board is considering such a proposal.