A World Tour of Abandoned Amusement Parks(atlasobscura.com)
atlasobscura.com
A World Tour of Abandoned Amusement Parks
https://www.atlasobscura.com/lists/abandoned-amusement-parks
22 comments
I grew up when Taman festival was being built and it actually was open for a year or so. My brothers and sister and I had free roam of the place. It was effectively our own giant amusement park because almost no one else was ever there. They had a giant reptile petting zoo (with the hungry crocs below of course) and we’d always go there. They were so ambitious at time of opening, talk about building a semi underwater hotel, zero gravity roller coaster, etc. they actually did start on that roller coaster but never finished. You can prly still finds parts of it gathering dust. Pretty sure it was all a giant money laundering operation. It was a really bizarre location to build a giant theme park. I mean we had just finished building a house in the middle of nowhere (pedang galak, an area known more for black magic competitions and poisonous snakes). It bordered on a river / jungle. Hard to emphasize how not ideal of a location it was for a giant theme park. Cool for us though
There is a long-form YouTube channel (DefunctLand) that has a lot of content about closed amusement parks and rides. It's a very good channel.
Just an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fec3jhPGTwY
Just an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fec3jhPGTwY
I'd also recommend Bright Sun Films
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqsPF8dx1GU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqsPF8dx1GU
I'm not sure if it's still active, but early on in the series, the intention was also to create a VR Park of all of the defunct rides that he was covering: https://defunctland.com/vr-park/
That webpage states it's still being worked on, but the page is not accessible unless you find it through a search engine.
That webpage states it's still being worked on, but the page is not accessible unless you find it through a search engine.
Expedition Theme Park is also a pretty good channel on the subject https://www.youtube.com/c/ExpeditionThemePark
(although Defunctland is in a class of it's own with some of his videos, Fast Pass is a masterpiece)
(although Defunctland is in a class of it's own with some of his videos, Fast Pass is a masterpiece)
>The adult Atlantis dolphins had been performing in captivity for almost a decade, and the captive-born juveniles had never hunted in the wild. They all needed to be shown how to hunt for fish. While some of the dolphins responded immediately, the captive-born dolphins “seemed to treat the exercise as a game and would often all chase the same fish, competing more with each other than actually showing any ability to forage” according to researcher Kelly Waples.
Somehow that's uncomfortably familiar.
Somehow that's uncomfortably familiar.
Where's Li'l Abner's "Dogpatch USA?"
https://abandonedar.com/dogpatch-usa/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogpatch_USA
Li'l Abner is where the Skonkworks originated, later "Skunk Works" when used by Lockheed Martin used the idea.
Li'l Abner and Pogo were both edgy anti-authoritarian cartoons worth remembering.
https://abandonedar.com/dogpatch-usa/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogpatch_USA
Li'l Abner is where the Skonkworks originated, later "Skunk Works" when used by Lockheed Martin used the idea.
Li'l Abner and Pogo were both edgy anti-authoritarian cartoons worth remembering.
Not big enough to make it onto Atlas Obscura but in El Cajon California (San Diego County) https://hiddensandiego.com/things-to-do/places/marshall-scot... still intact they tried to open the Go Kart track a few years ago but the church next door put in a tremendous number of noise complaints getting the effort shut down.
Ironic because churches around here ring their bells every hour from 8AM every day.
I was hoping I'd find Wichita's Joyland[0]—since it closed it's inspired many new urban explorers.
[0]: <https://www.abandonedspaces.com/parks/joyland-amusement-park...>
[0]: <https://www.abandonedspaces.com/parks/joyland-amusement-park...>
If they ever make it to Australia, they should check out Leyland Brothers’ World in northern NSW.
Although TIL the Uluru/Ayres Rock appears to have been lost to fire in 2018
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leyland_Brothers_World
Although TIL the Uluru/Ayres Rock appears to have been lost to fire in 2018
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leyland_Brothers_World
Not an amusement park per se, but Naturland in Çamyuva/Antalya/Turkey is also an interesting case:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UboqmAiAAQA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UboqmAiAAQA
Reminds me of Dismaland.
https://dismaland.co.uk/
The theme seems to be similar: a park was built once -> lot of people used it -> repairs/maintenance was not done or was not done enough -> park got dangerous due to neglect -> less people visit it -> park gets closed down
I wonder what could be done differently
I wonder what could be done differently
If something is literally a novelty, there's an inherent boom-and-bust dynamic to that. Travelling fairs are one alternative for places that don't have enough demand to sustain a permanent amusement park, but those have their own issues.
The guy who owns Spreepark in Berlin tends to be rather hostile to visitors, and has 24/7 security on site.
I'm not sure how often he pursues prosecutions against people caught trespassing.
Made visiting a lot more fun, avoiding them.
I'm not sure how often he pursues prosecutions against people caught trespassing.
Made visiting a lot more fun, avoiding them.
Apparently there are plans to revive it.
https://www.spreepark.berlin/en/
Atlas Obscura is an awesome resource - and a great way to discover lots of interesting things around you that you may not even be aware of!
Hm I can’t scroll any of the photos on my phone. :/ not a good user experience for mobile.
Ghost hunting in the Mystery Machine anyone?
No Decentraland? Too soon?