When you hear of haunted places, abandoned amusement parks usually aren’t the first that come to mind. Unless you’re really into Zombieland, then maybe the connection is already there.
For most people, amusement parks are for fun, abandoned haunted houses are for getting scared and that’s all there is to it. But today, those people have another thing coming as we list the Top 10 abandoned amusement parks!
10. Disney’s River Country, Bay Lake, Florida
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Another big-time player, Disney is the last company you thought would have an abandoned theme park. They have money to just run it at a loss for years. Haven’t you seen how many lawsuits they settle on a routine basis?
Disney’s River Country was the first water park at Disney but after the 2001 terrorist attack, the US took a tourist hit and the water park has been left to sit, apparently cheaper than tearing it down.
It doesn’t have the blue or pastel tint of a lot of water parks.
9. Dunaujvarosi Vidám Park, Hungary
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This Hungarian amusement park opened in 1953 and was free, as a communist-run theme park would be, for all.
When you’re government-funded, you don’t worry about ticket sales, so the park ran for 40 years. Of course, when the Soviet Union and its horrible regime fell, it took the funding with it.
What it did not take, though, was the ghastly sight of this amusement park or the feeling it has given those who visit it since its gates closed in 1993.
8. Gulliver’s Kingdom, Japan
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Inspired by the genius Jonathan Swift’s book, Gulliver’s Travels, this is an amusement park whose success has been witnessed.
The park had a 147-foot-long statue of Lemuel Gulliver, the character in the novel, tied to the ground horizontally. After four years of operation, the park shut down due to poor ticket sales.
Another reason, some suggest, is that it was eerily close to the Aokigahara Forest, where, a certain YouTuber got in some serious trouble for his lack of empathy and sensitivity when he encountered a body.
The amusement park was demolished in 2007 but not all structures are gone and the land the amusement park once sat on still gives the feeling that they’re not alone.
7. Land of Oz, North Carolina
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This Wizard of Oz-themed park was super popular back in the 1970s when technicolor on television was truly the best thing since sliced bread.
Not long after opening, though, interest in the park faded until it was entirely deserted. Maybe people were mad that it wasn’t in Kansas.
Maybe it just wasn’t that amusing. Whatever the reason, it died off quickly. In 1975, a fire destroyed parts, and the few who had stayed that long finally left.
Now it opens around Halloween for those who dare walk around and get spooked by all that never was.
6. Dadipark, Belgium
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This Belgian amusement park, located in Antwerp, was supposed to both be affordable and unforgettable and if that’s not the definition of everyone’s dream date, I don’t know what is.
Unfortunately, while it was unforgettable for one particular boy, it certainly wasn’t affordable, after he had a freak accident on the Nautic Jet Ride and lost an arm.
After that, the park’s reputation tanked and complaints of insufficient safety measures surged. The park finally closed in 2002, leaving behind ruined equipment and the feeling of failure.
There are plans to make it recreational again somehow, but with that kind of past, I don’t know if I’d invest in it.
5. Six Flags, New Orleans
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You don’t expect a big enterprise like Six Flags to go bust and be abandoned but that’s exactly what happened, but not because of poor ticket sales.
It was Hurricane Katrina that tanked Six Flags in New Orleans in 2005. After only 5 years of operating, the funding for hurricane repairs just wasn’t there.
It then was abandoned, which caused even more decay and made it even harder to recover from. In the end, a sad sign was placed at the door saying “closed for the storm”, which is just really metaphorical and deep if you think about it.
The scene is so intense that Jurassic World and Dawn of Planet of the Apes have used it for films.
4. Pripyat Amusement Park, Ukraine
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Imagine that you’re days away from opening your brand new theme park, and there’s a massive nuclear catastrophe in the same city.
Sounds like your investors are going to be calling asking for their money back, doesn’t it? That’s exactly what happened to Pripyat Amusement Park in Ukraine.
Except for the investors, I don’t know their business. What I do know is that the park was barely accessible to locals before they were reasonably asked to evacuate.
Decades later, the park remains untouched and the rides are disintegrating and covered in mold. Not only do you not want to visit because of the history, but I wouldn’t trust the radiation levels in Chornobyl to this day.
3. Nara Dreamland, Nara, Japan
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If you put just about anything in Japan, it becomes creepier for some reason. This also goes for abandoned amusement parks.
Nara Dreamland is no exception. It’s one of the most photographed abandoned theme parks in the world. Built in the 1960s, it fell behind in 2006 because of low visitor numbers.
Despite being inspired by California’s Disneyland, it somehow wasn’t appealing to crowds anymore with its fairytale rides and roller coasters.
For some reason, though, the abandonment seems staged. Even chairs at coffee shops weren’t put away or taken. Everything remains as it was on the last day, just rotting into oblivion.
2. Lincoln Park, Massachusetts
Lincoln Park, which was opened in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, is proof that you can be a perfectly reputable and profitable amusement park until you’re not.
The park was opened in 1894 by the Union Street Railway Company, which led people to think its rides would always be safe and kept up.
It was visited by President Kennedy and his kids at one point, but in 1986, almost 100 years after its opening, the Comet roller coaster’s faulty brakes caused the coaster to derail, leaving riders dangling and injuring four of them.
A year later, they decided they wouldn’t survive the incident and closed for good, selling most of their rides at an auction. The park remaining empty and abandoned until 2012 when a demolition crew tore the Comet down.
I’m sure it’s still scary now but imagine between 1987 and 2012 when the cause of all the commotion still sat at the park motionless, holding all that leftover fear. That must have been tension you could cut with a knife.
1. Holy Land, Connecticut
Everyone needs a little bit of fun in their life, even church-going folk. At least, that was the idea this theme park was pushing on religious groups in the 1960s and 1970s.
Built by volunteers in the ’50s, it hosted lots of guests with its scenes from the Bible, its religious statues, and even a replica of the Garden of Eden.
Hey, who wouldn’t go just to get a taste of that? It had to close in 1986 because people wouldn’t stop vandalizing it.
What’s worse is that, after being closed for decades, in 2010 a man murdered a 16-year-old girl at the base of the very cross that for so long had marked the spot of the amusement park.
If any of these abandoned amusement parks were still operating today, which one would you like to go to the most?
