№ 46 · TRIVIA
Neverland — His Own Disneyland
Purchased March 1988, $19.5 million — 2,700 acres
MICHAEL JACKSON
The King of Pop
★ RARE
← MICHAEL JACKSON
CARD N° 46 · TRIVIA · ★ RARE
Neverland — His Own Disneyland
Purchased March 1988, $19.5 million — 2,700 acres
№ 46 TRIVIA
Neverland — His Own Disneyland
Neverland Valley Ranch — Michael's 2,700-acre estate in Santa Barbara County — contained a full amusement park, a private zoo of 30+ exotic animals including giraffes and elephants, a working steam train running on 1.2 miles of track, two artificial lakes, a movie theatre seating 50, and a permanent staff of 75. He opened it to underprivileged children for free, every weekend.
▶ THE MOMENT
Inside Neverland — Documentary footage (1993)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESJtm9eS9-w
MICHAEL JACKSON · B·SIDE · VOL.I
HOVER TO FLIP
THE FACT
Neverland Valley Ranch — Michael's 2,700-acre estate in Santa Barbara County — contained a full amusement park, a private zoo of 30+ exotic animals including giraffes and elephants, a working steam train running on 1.2 miles of track, two artificial lakes, a movie theatre seating 50, and a permanent staff of 75. He opened it to underprivileged children for free, every weekend.
WHAT MOST DON'T KNOW
He bought the property — originally called Sycamore Valley Ranch — from real estate developer William Bone for $19.5 million in 1988. Renaming it Neverland after Peter Pan, Michael spent another estimated $35 million transforming it. The amusement park rides — a Ferris wheel, a carousel, a Zipper, bumper cars, the Wave Swinger, and a full miniature railroad named the Katherine, after his mother — were all purchased used from closing American county fairs. The zoo housed elephants (one named Gypsy), giraffes (Jabbar), tigers (Thriller and Sabu), an orangutan, a python, alligators, and dozens of birds. The 'Children's Train Station' building was a 19th-century reconstruction with a working clocktower. The estate hosted a Make-A-Wish weekend roughly every six weeks throughout the 1990s; estimates suggest 30,000 children visited Neverland during its operating years. Michael moved out in 2005, after his acquittal in the People v. Jackson trial, and the property went into receivership. It was sold in 2020 for $22 million — barely covering the original purchase price.
▶
THE MOMENT
Inside Neverland — Documentary footage (1993) — The Ferris wheel, the steam train, the zoo — all in his backyard.