Not sure but it opened when the word "gay" ment "happy"! It's not derogatory in any way!! It opened in 1946...that was a common way of saying Happy!
In 1946, the owner Justin Plyler and his wife Eloise were opening an amusement park with a “kiddie land” for kids rides and a small gift shop. He wanted a nautical, whimsical name for the Kiddieland amusement park and chose Gay Dolphin because the dolphin that frequented the waters in Myrtle Beach always looked like they were smiling. Over the years, they closed the amusement park and concentrated on the gift shop, building it to 35,000 square feet.
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