Flamingo Park was opened in 1959 by Pentland Hick as The Yorkshire Zoological Gardens. In 1963 it was the first to display cetaceans in the UK followed closely by Marineland Morecambe. The original dolphin pool was a small figure of eight facility in the reptile house. As well as bottlenosed dolphins attempts where made to bottle rear a pilot whale in 1966. In 1965 Hick decided to float the zoo on the UK Stock Exchange and became Associated Pleasure Parks.

In 1967 a larger facility was constructed that over a number of years then housed bottlenose dolphins and the killer whale 'Cuddles'. The park also now owned and operated a zoo and marineland at Cleethorpes which opened in 1966 and for a period of time owned Dudley Zoo which displayed dolphins and also housed 'Cuddles' who was moved there from Flamingo Park in May 1971. The park was now owned by Scotia Pleasure Parks a diversion of Scotia Leisure whose board of directors included Don Robinson who was the also the owner of the Scarborough Marineland and Zoo.

From 1975 until early 1977 the dolphinarium, which had been rebranded Ocean World, was operated and the dolphins supplied by Jervale Ltd a company owned by filtration engineer John Nolan and his wife. Jervale also operated a dolphin holding facilities in South Emsall for a short period of time in 1974 and supplied animals for Ocean Park in Seaburn, Sunderland. In 1975 two of their dolphins were involved in dolphin show in Taiwan for three months returning to the Flamingo Park in July that year and three week Christmas show in Sheffield Road Baths in Rotherham. They also supplied a sea lion show in the summer of 1975 at the now disused dolphinarium at Porthcawl. In May 1976 the Nolan's transported a dolphin to Yorkshire Television Studios in Leeds which was displayed a portable tank for the popular science programme "Don't Ask Me". The animal safely returned to Flamingo Park the next day. A blog by one of their staff at this time can be found HERE.

After this time it is believe that the operators of Margate Dolphinarium where involved in suppling one or more dolphins for one summer season in 1977.

In 1978 the park was bought by a former director of Scotia Leisure Robert Gibb whose family continue to run the park today. After this and until 1984 the facility remained empty.

The last three dolphins arrived at the now renamed Flamingoland in 1984 and were owned and cared for by Dolphin Services UK. The animals remained on site until the 1993 when the dolphinarium finally closed due to new husbandry legislation for UK cetaceans; the pool failed to remain legal due to it not being deep enough. The three female dolphins where then successfully relocated to European collections and have since successfully bred and reared a number of calves.