cinelog.org

Twenty-five years ago, Orange County quietly bid farewell to the grandest of it’s eleven drive-ins. Opened in July of 1967, the Fountain Valley Drive-In had the shortest run of any county ozoner (aside from the Star Vu’s pseudo drive-in setup), but, what the venue lacked in longevity, it more than made up for in notoriety.

 

Opened as Orange County’s tenth drive-in and Pacific Theatres’ seventy-fifth site, the 2,000 car Fountain Valley featured a host of firsts, largest, and genre milestones. Perhaps, the most prominent of features was the venue’s enormous, curved, 90′ by 140′ screen, but that was far from the only notable amenity. First outdoor cinema to break the $1 million construction cost barrier, first to have a supervised children’s playground, first to utilize illuminated fountains in the landscaping, largest cinema snack bar; the drive-in was justly billed as a modern wonder of entertainment. Yet, as with it’s peers, the Fountain Valley ultimately fell victim to changing movie going tastes and skyrocketing property values. The dancing illuminated fountains and giant screen fell dark on the night of October 7, 1984 and were soon replaced by a hospital.