After it closed and fell into disrepair, the park and pier anchored the Dogtown area of Santa Monica.

Although plans were made to add four new attractions, only two were completed, at a cost of $2,000,000: Space Wheels and Fun Forest.

The park was used as a filming location for television shows such as Route 66 (TV series) ("Between Hello and Goodbye", 1962), The Millionaire ("The Jeff Mercer Story", 1959), The Fugitive, Get Smart (1968), The Twilight Zone, The Invaders (1968), The Mod Squad, and films such as Gun Crazy (1950), Vicki (1953) and The Chapman Report (1962).

[7] The Miss Teen USA beauty pageant was held at the park in 1962, with the winner, Linda Henning, 15, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota crowned by television comedian Soupy Sales.

[18] Other than a few underwater pilings and signs warning of them, nothing remains of Pacific Ocean Park today.