Between about 1880 and World War II, Coney Island was the largest amusement area in the United States, attracting several million visitors per year.

[16] Although C. L. Turnbull and P. I. Thompson were nominally the buyers, but they acted as proxies for Reynolds, allowing him to acquire the Surf Avenue site at a discount of more than $50,000.

[19] Once Reynolds acquired the site, he made a deal with the New York City Board of Estimate to demap West Eighth Street, which separated McKane's parcels from each other.

[8][15] In August 1903, Reynolds and several other men established the Wonderland Company, which had a capitalization of $1.2 million[16] and existed specifically to develop an amusement park on the site.

[20][21] The amusement pier was planned to contain a dance hall and bathing pavilion, while the main portion of the site would be arranged around a large tower that would overtop Luna Park's.

[46] Prior to the 1907 season, concessionaire William Ellis introduced an attraction called the Orient, anchored by a theater that presented several shows.

[51] At this point, the park hosted several shows that were based on themes of morality,[52][53] such as "The End of the World" and the "Feast of Beshazzar and the Destruction of Babylon".

[62] Other additions included a wisteria garden on the site of the former hippodrome track, a circus ring near the tower, a scenic railway roller coaster,[62][63] a Deep Sea Divers attraction, and a village of Filipinos.

Kings County sheriff Patrick H. Quinn announced in February 1910 that the park would be auctioned off on behalf of Eugene Wood and Joseph Huber,[76][77] the corporation's two largest bondholders, who wanted to reorganize the company.

[92] Some existing attractions were retained, such as Bostock's Wild Animals, which included a dwarf elephant named Little Hip and a one-armed lion tamer known as Captain Jack Bonavita.

[108] As a result of the conflagration's intensity, as well as the low water pressure, firefighters could not even enter the park; they attempted to extinguish the fire from its borders.

[114] According to contemporary accounts, New York City Police Department (NYPD) sergeant Frederick Klinck made several trips into the burning structure to rescue incubator babies.

The Giant Coaster acted as a firebreak that prevented the fire from spreading,[102][107] as did several brick buildings east of the park's central tower.

[107][120] A preliminary investigation found that the fire had started when the tar spread across the floor, creating a short circuit that caused the light bulbs to explode.

[139][140] The Morey and Lott families claimed in late 1911 that nearly all of Coney Island fell under a quitclaim deed granted by Nicholas Johnson, who had agreed to sell the land even though he had no right to the property.

[139] Barnet Morey's heirs sued Dreamland in February 1912,[141] and the city formed a condemnation commission the same month to determine how much compensation the former owners should receive.

[144][145] A New York Supreme Court justice dismissed the Morey and Lott families' lawsuit in May 1913,[146][147] and the Dreamland Company received $1,000 in damages.

[148] The condemnation commission announced in late 1914 that it would pay $2.189 million to property owners,[143][149] which included the Dreamland Company, the Prospect Park and Coney Island Railroad (PP&CI), and the Balmer family.

[158][159] By July 1911, independent concessionaires had rebuilt their booths on the northern portion of the site, facing Surf Avenue; the remainder of the park remained ruined.

[190] By 1935, the city planned to rebuild Dreamland as an 11-acre (4.5 ha) recreation center with courts for handball, ping-pong, and shuffleboard, as well as a large open field for archery and other games.

In addition, the recreation center was to contain more than 600 trees, as well as a connection to the Riegelmann Boardwalk, which was built along the Atlantic Ocean shoreline after Dreamland had been destroyed.

[15] However, the frames of the buildings were made of lath (thin strips of wood) covered with staff (a moldable mixture of plaster of Paris and hemp fiber).

[201] Kirby, Petit & Green designed the buildings around the lagoon in numerous architectural styles that complemented each other, in contrast to Luna Park.

[18] Next to this structure was another edifice that contained the Chilkoot Pass attraction,[18][30] which was essentially a massive bagatelle board where guests used their own bodies to play the game.

[18][30][205] South of that was a fishing pond operated by comedian Andrew Mack, located inside a building that resembled a boat and a lighthouse.

[18][205] East of the lagoon, next to the fishing pond, was an imitation of Venice made of papier-mâché;[199] it featured canals with gondolas, as well as a replica of Doge's Palace.

[18][205] Attached to Coasting through Switzerland was a structure housing the Fighting the Flames show, where two thousand people pretended to put out a fire every half-hour.

[8] The oceanfront featured a Japanese building, a two-story structure capped by a central tower, which led to an airship attraction and some tea rooms.

[18][202][208] In a bid for publicity, Reynolds awarded a concession for the park's peanut-and-popcorn stands to Broadway actress Marie Dressler,[209] with young boys dressed as imps in red flannel acting as salesmen.

[29][212] Brian Carpenter wrote a play treatment which he used as a springboard for lyrics and compositions behind his second studio album for Beat Circus entitled Dreamland.