After the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, a block of land between Lavender Bay and Careening Cove was granted by colonial authorities to a private soldier named Robert Ryan.

[5]: 49 Phillips and his associates won the tender for the North Sydney site and began a 20-year lease on 11 September 1935, forming Luna Park (NSW) Limited.

The rides from Glenelg were dismantled and transported to Sydney over a three-month period - an elaborate process undertaken by Stuart Brothers under the direction of David Atkins, Ted Hopkins and Arthur Barton.

[5]: 58, 68  The park's signature entrance face, designed by Rupert Browne, was placed between two Art Deco-style towers with spires imitating New York's Chrysler Building.

[5]: 78  The influx of servicemen also drew sex workers to the area[5]: 79  and large-scale brawls were a common occurrence, usually between Australian home defence troops and American sailors on shore leave.

Numerous changes and additions were made over the next few years, as the two men travelled the world to bring back new concepts from amusement parks in the Netherlands, the United States, Germany and Britain.

A version of The Rotor - a spinning drum that uses centrifugal force to pin guests to the sides, developed by Professor Ernst Hoffmeister in Germany - was constructed and installed, and became the stage of many stunts.

[5]: 98  Several initiatives were attempted to maintain public interest throughout this era, including the installation of the Wild Mouse roller coaster and the hiring of silhouette artist S. John Ross.

Hopkins retired in 1969 and sold the remaining six years of the park's lease to World Trade Centre Pty Ltd.[5]: 97–99 [10] Winter closures were abandoned under this new management, meaning there was no opportunity to carry out regular maintenance works on the rides.

[5]: 99 Soon after this, the new owners applied to construct a $50 million international trade centre on the Luna Park site, consisting of seven high-rise buildings, 929,000 square metres (10,000,000 sq ft) of exhibition space, and a heliport.

Sharp was quoted as saying: It took us a while to realise that Luna Park was an artwork in itself, a city state of illusion, a brilliant feat of engineering with imagination, created and maintained by men.

[5]: 110  Searches of the charred rubble revealed the bodies of seven people: John Godson and his two children, Damien and Craig, and four Waverley College students, Jonathan Billings, Richard Carroll, Michael Johnson, and Seamus Rahilly.

[5]: 110  Investigations led by Sharp in future decades, backed up with the testimony of multiple eyewitnesses and several NSW police officers, would determine the blaze was in fact deliberately lit by associates of Abe Saffron in an attempt to gain control of the park site.

[5]: 114  Much of the original park was then either demolished or sold off, including the Big Dipper, Tumble Bug, Turkey Trot, Barrels of Fun and the River Caves.

[5]: 116 [13] Over the next six years, the Face was removed from over the entry gates on two occasions, the owners of Harbourside were involved in two disputes with the Department of Public Works and one director was the subject of an inquiry by the Corporate Affairs Commission.

[5]: 121 In 1991, the first two stages of the three-stage redevelopment and restoration plan for Luna Park was given the green light, with $25 million granted by the Open Space and Heritage Fund towards the project.

[5]: 122  The third stage, involving the demolition of sections of the old North Shore railway line (which had been in use as a holding area for trains outside peak hour since 1932), construction of parkland, an amphitheatre, art gallery, and museum, was not approved.

[5]: 125  The main points of opposition were the noise levels of the park after opening, and the installation of a 40-metre (130 ft) tall steel roller coaster to be named the Big Dipper after the original.

[5]: 130  Legal claims against the operation of the park and roller coaster were filed by some local residents and supported by business figures whose tenders for the redevelopment had not been accepted.

[5]: 143  Their proposal intended for most of the rides to stay, but called for the Big Dipper to be replaced with a multipurpose concert venue, and asked to redevelop the Crystal Palace as a function centre.

[5]: 147 During the long decision-making and approval process, Luna Park was permitted to operate for several charity-organised events, including for Variety Club and the Spastic Centre.

[20] The case was dismissed by the Supreme Court of New South Wales on 6 February 2009, with the supervising Justice ruling that the development applications submitted by the park had not been "misleading or deceptive", as claimed.

[21] On 1 January 2007, a staff member working on the Golden Way Amusements-owned Speed (hired for the Christmas holidays) was struck in the head by the armature while the ride was in motion.

[23] The section of land, advertised for approximately $7 million, had initially been leased from the NSW Government for $1, on the condition that any profit made from property built on the site was invested in the amusement park.

The Midway is the focus of many activities and amusements, and provides access to the Crystal Palace, Big Top, and Coney Island, along with the majority of Luna Park's permanent rides.

The essential form of the Crystal Palace is a large rectangular thirteen-bay steel-framed structure, two storeys in height with a hip roof behind extended walls.

[38] Constructed during the 2003 redevelopment on the site of the Ghost Train,[5]: 152  the Big Top (originally to be named the Luna Circus) is a fully licensed, multi-purpose venue capable of seating 2,000 people (this capacity can increase to 3,000 for standing-only concerts).

The modular design of the stage and seating allows the entire venue to be easily reconfigured for different event types, and the concrete building is heavily soundproofed to cut down on noise pollution.

[2][36][41]The design was based on funhouses in Europe and the United States, and contains rotating barrels, moving platforms, large slides, and arcade games.

Today's Coney Island is also host to the restored artworks of Arthur Barton, who started as one of 35 artists, along with photographs and memorabilia spanning Luna Park's 85-year history.