I'm sort of obsessed with them.
Let's start off this this one in the village of Pripyat, Ukraine. It never even opened because of the disaster at Chernobyl.
― ENBB, Monday, 4 May 2009 01:41 (4 years ago) Permalink
Glen Echo Park, Maryland
― ENBB, Monday, 4 May 2009 01:43 (4 years ago) Permalink
Somewhere in S. Korea
― ENBB, Monday, 4 May 2009 01:45 (4 years ago) Permalink
What remains of the Little Dipper roller coaster ride at Chippewa Lake Park in Chippewa Lake, Ohio:
― ENBB, Monday, 4 May 2009 01:51 (4 years ago) Permalink
this is awesome
― zone 6 polar bear (J0rdan S.), Monday, 4 May 2009 01:52 (4 years ago) Permalink
wow, how old is the little dipper? that's some pretty solid regrowth!
― juniper jazz (haitch), Monday, 4 May 2009 01:53 (4 years ago) Permalink
"Chippewa Lake Park was basically just abandoned with many of the rides still standing. The park was home to 3 roller coasters - A Wild Mouse, A steel kiddie coaster named the Little Dipper and a larger wooden coaster. The wood coaster was earlier named the Big Dipper but was referred to as just "Coaster" in the later years. The ride was built about 1924 or 1925 by Fred Pearce."
― ENBB, Monday, 4 May 2009 01:55 (4 years ago) Permalink
Park closed in 1978 so regrowth since then I guess.
― ENBB, Monday, 4 May 2009 01:56 (4 years ago) Permalink
i wish i had a car so i could go to chippewa lake park!
― erudite e-scholar (harbl), Monday, 4 May 2009 01:57 (4 years ago) Permalink
Okpo Land in South Korea
― ENBB, Monday, 4 May 2009 01:58 (4 years ago) Permalink
x-post Yeah! I have this dream of driving across the country and visiting all the abandoned amusement parks and taking pics. I'll do it one day!
― ENBB, Monday, 4 May 2009 01:59 (4 years ago) Permalink
i love these
― erudite e-scholar (harbl), Monday, 4 May 2009 01:59 (4 years ago) Permalink
Benson's Wild Animal Park - Hudson, NH closed in 1987
― ENBB, Monday, 4 May 2009 02:01 (4 years ago) Permalink
Lots of them here:
http://weburbanist.com/2009/03/13/abandoned-amusement-parks/
http://www.defunctparks.com/parks/parks.htm
Lots of them at Weird NJ too I think (at least they used to show up in the magazine a lot):
http://www.weirdnj.com/
And here are abandoned malls, while we're at it:
http://deadmalls.com/
― xhuxk, Monday, 4 May 2009 02:05 (4 years ago) Permalink
Fairy Tale Forest Oak Ridge, NJ closed in 2003.
― ENBB, Monday, 4 May 2009 02:05 (4 years ago) Permalink
x-post Yep - a lot of these are from those sites. Just thought a pic thread could be fun.
― ENBB, Monday, 4 May 2009 02:06 (4 years ago) Permalink
Spreepark, Berlin
― ENBB, Monday, 4 May 2009 02:09 (4 years ago) Permalink
This used to be a lake with mechanical swan boats in it when I was about 13 or 14 (so, the early-mid 80s)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/xole/345159587/
Sorry the guys's got a lock on the images so you'll have to look at his flickr.
― 65daysofsugban (Trayce), Monday, 4 May 2009 02:19 (4 years ago) Permalink
Awesome. I love this stuff.
― ENBB, Monday, 4 May 2009 02:22 (4 years ago) Permalink
Geauga Lake Aurora, Ohio. Bought out by Six Flags in the mid-nineties who proceeded to totally ruin it. Closed in 2007. Oh how I loved it when I was a kid.
― Mr. Snrub, Monday, 4 May 2009 02:24 (4 years ago) Permalink
Whalom Park, Lunenberg, Mass. closed in 2000 after 100+ years of operation, when its handlers went into deep deep debt. o how I loved it as a wee one, etc.
this is what it looked like in 2005 (most of the rides were demolished a year or two later):
― voyeuristischer busch (unregistered), Monday, 4 May 2009 04:24 (4 years ago) Permalink
Whalom's carousel, before & after:
― voyeuristischer busch (unregistered), Monday, 4 May 2009 04:36 (4 years ago) Permalink
http://www.undergroundozarks.com/gallery/dogpatch
― •--• --- --- •--• (Pleasant Plains), Monday, 4 May 2009 04:36 (4 years ago) Permalink
I was married across the lake from Chippewa Lake Park!
― kate78, Monday, 4 May 2009 07:08 (4 years ago) Permalink
i knew this thread was going to be good.
the cheap (mostly German) fairy forest parks i visited looked sort of abandoned, even when still open. there's some very melancholic about small-time amusement parks.
― Ludo, Monday, 4 May 2009 09:19 (4 years ago) Permalink
There's loads more here
― Krapp's lesser-known First Tape (Le Bateau Ivre), Monday, 4 May 2009 09:28 (4 years ago) Permalink
Also, a bumper car ride in Pripyat, near Chernobyl:
― Krapp's lesser-known First Tape (Le Bateau Ivre), Monday, 4 May 2009 09:30 (4 years ago) Permalink
The Defunct Parks website is a goldmine!
― Krapp's lesser-known First Tape (Le Bateau Ivre), Monday, 4 May 2009 09:40 (4 years ago) Permalink
i always love threads like this.
― MRSA Marchant (get bent), Monday, 4 May 2009 10:06 (4 years ago) Permalink
― m coleman, Monday, 4 May 2009 10:48 (4 years ago) Permalink
― m coleman, Monday, 4 May 2009 10:49 (4 years ago) Permalink
here's the former petting zoo
― m coleman, Monday, 4 May 2009 10:50 (4 years ago) Permalink
"tom sawyer's cabin" ride
― m coleman, Monday, 4 May 2009 10:53 (4 years ago) Permalink
this was the 1st amusement park I ever visited. RIP
i am having trouble finding the right superlative for that "all day family fun" poster. it is a joy.
― MRSA Marchant (get bent), Monday, 4 May 2009 13:08 (4 years ago) Permalink
DISNEY-TYPE PLAYGROUND
― snoball, Monday, 4 May 2009 13:22 (4 years ago) Permalink
i wanna go to the three bears' house
― MRSA Marchant (get bent), Monday, 4 May 2009 13:24 (4 years ago) Permalink
This thread is like the definition of the word "poignant."
Yeah, and it was great how they announced the closing right after the end of the season, so if you didn't happen to go that year, tough crap for you. Blargh. In high school I think I once rode the Big Dipper like 12 times in a row.
― naturally unfunny, though mechanically sound (Pancakes Hackman), Monday, 4 May 2009 13:37 (4 years ago) Permalink
Heritage USA which was apparantly built by Jim Bakker as a Christian themed park. It closed in 1989.
― ENBB, Monday, 4 May 2009 13:53 (4 years ago) Permalink
I went to the Alice Cooper Haunted House for halloween one year at Geauga Lake. I rode my first and only rollercoaster there.
― bela fregosi (brownie), Monday, 4 May 2009 13:53 (4 years ago) Permalink
Monorail from Santa's Village in Skyforest, CA.
― ENBB, Monday, 4 May 2009 13:59 (4 years ago) Permalink
Also from Santa's Village:
― ENBB, Monday, 4 May 2009 14:00 (4 years ago) Permalink
This thread is beautiful and very creepy and almost unbearably poignant all at once.
― Enormous Epic (Matt DC), Monday, 4 May 2009 14:09 (4 years ago) Permalink
U_U
― Batsman (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Monday, 4 May 2009 14:13 (4 years ago) Permalink
Six Flags New Orleans, in the Ninth Ward. The pictures of the flooded park after Katrina are astonishing, but these are more recent:
― dulce est desipere in loco (Euler), Monday, 4 May 2009 14:25 (4 years ago) Permalink
I went to the Santa's Village outside of Chicago all the time when I was growing up!
― homage is parody gone sour (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, 4 May 2009 14:26 (4 years ago) Permalink
Apparently Santa's Villages were the first franchised theme parks in the US.
― ENBB, Monday, 4 May 2009 14:27 (4 years ago) Permalink
I think that my interest in this sort of thing started when I went to Asbury Park for the first time.
― ENBB, Monday, 4 May 2009 14:28 (4 years ago) Permalink
Also from the Asbury Park, NJ boardwalk:
― ENBB, Monday, 4 May 2009 14:30 (4 years ago) Permalink
One in Japan called Utopia
― ENBB, Monday, 4 May 2009 21:48 (4 years ago) Permalink
Oh Jordan this is great! Looking through them now. <3 I had forgotten about this thread. Thanking you for the revive. :D
― t(o_o)t (ENBB), Tuesday, 23 March 2010 22:58 (3 years ago) Permalink
The worn and weathered Mardi Gras character hanging over the roof of the haunted car ride seems menacing now
Now? Pretty sure this thing was always pretty fucking creepy.
― t(o_o)t (ENBB), Tuesday, 23 March 2010 22:59 (3 years ago) Permalink
http://weburbanist.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/fade2black.jpg
love these
― t(o_o)t (ENBB), Tuesday, 23 March 2010 23:02 (3 years ago) Permalink
oops
Wish that they had kept the original name Jazzland.
― t(o_o)t (ENBB), Tuesday, 23 March 2010 23:03 (3 years ago) Permalink
My all-time favorite ILX thread! One of these amazing pix is my desktop pic.
― Kevin John Bozelka, Tuesday, 23 March 2010 23:27 (3 years ago) Permalink
:D
Which one?
― t(o_o)t (ENBB), Wednesday, 24 March 2010 01:02 (3 years ago) Permalink
terrific thread.
Jazzland / New Orleans Six Flags pics are really interesing
― dig yrself (lukevalentine), Wednesday, 24 March 2010 02:33 (3 years ago) Permalink
Jazzland >< Sexpark
― Mark G, Wednesday, 24 March 2010 11:36 (3 years ago) Permalink
http://io9.com/5584389/scenes-from-an-underground-russian-dinosaur-mine/gallery/1
― latebloomer, Monday, 12 July 2010 09:51 (2 years ago) Permalink
― latebloomer, Monday, 12 July 2010 09:52 (2 years ago) Permalink
pachycephalosaurus, meet Uncle Fester:
― latebloomer, Monday, 12 July 2010 09:53 (2 years ago) Permalink
― latebloomer, Monday, 12 July 2010 09:54 (2 years ago) Permalink
― latebloomer, Monday, 12 July 2010 09:55 (2 years ago) Permalink
:D awesome
― o sh!t a ˁ˚ᴥ˚ˀ (ENBB), Monday, 12 July 2010 09:58 (2 years ago) Permalink
These are all from Berlin's Spree Park which I know has been featured itt but I don't think these were:
― o sh!t a ˁ˚ᴥ˚ˀ (ENBB), Monday, 12 July 2010 12:00 (2 years ago) Permalink
Oh my god, those are insane.
― kkvgz, Monday, 12 July 2010 12:08 (2 years ago) Permalink
Here's a link to some pictures of Enchanted Forest, which was featured in the John Waters film Cry Baby. My friends and I used to tresspass here and drink 40s, back when we was kids.
http://www.enchantedforestmd.org/index.php?a=48
― kkvgz, Monday, 12 July 2010 12:12 (2 years ago) Permalink
Some more from there:
http://www.opacity.us/gallery70_through_the_fog.htm
― kkvgz, Monday, 12 July 2010 12:14 (2 years ago) Permalink
Oh I've read about that one before. I have this dream of taking a big road trip and visiting a bunch of these some day.
― o sh!t a ˁ˚ᴥ˚ˀ (ENBB), Monday, 12 July 2010 12:19 (2 years ago) Permalink
An obviously cool thing about these abandoned parks is that they're outside. So if you're the type of person who likes to poke around in derelict structures, you have an easy approach and getaway as opposed to breaking into an abandoned coat factory or something. Also probably less chance of coming into contact with toxic chemicals and building materials.
― kkvgz, Monday, 12 July 2010 12:29 (2 years ago) Permalink
Fun N Wheels, I-Drive, Orlando
― PappaWheelie V, Monday, 12 July 2010 12:56 (2 years ago) Permalink
Also, http://www.lostparks.com/
― PappaWheelie V, Monday, 12 July 2010 12:57 (2 years ago) Permalink
not limited to amusement parks, but there's some good stuff in this thread:
Famous Places that No Longer Exist (Picture Thread)
― andrew m., Monday, 12 July 2010 14:29 (2 years ago) Permalink
http://jalopnik.com/5638285/americas-abandoned-auto-dealerships/gallery/
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 15 September 2010 20:00 (2 years ago) Permalink
― rent, Tuesday, 9 November 2010 05:00 (2 years ago) Permalink
The project the beauty of abandoned has nice pics from abandoned waterparks and others
the link:
http://www.polviladoms.com/
― houdini, Monday, 15 November 2010 14:14 (2 years ago) Permalink
I came here to post that NOLA Six Flags video two posts up.
I think it is lovely/creepy.
― Independent contractor Who manages a Road Show exclusive to Sams Club. (Nijoli), Monday, 15 November 2010 14:17 (2 years ago) Permalink
Thought this may be of interest, though the sad music is kind of ott:
http://gizmodo.com/#!5799611/a-tour-of-an-abandoned-amusement-park-in-americas-heartland
― champagne hippies trying to recapture their youth (Whitey on the Moon), Saturday, 7 May 2011 17:42 (2 years ago) Permalink
Nice, thanks!
This remains one of my favourite ILX threads ever.
― Le Bateau Ivre, Saturday, 7 May 2011 17:48 (2 years ago) Permalink
Whitey that was p neat.
― \(^o\) (/o^)/ (ENBB), Saturday, 7 May 2011 19:11 (2 years ago) Permalink
This one is still just amazing to me
― \(^o\) (/o^)/ (ENBB), Saturday, 7 May 2011 19:14 (2 years ago) Permalink
also, this one
― \(^o\) (/o^)/ (ENBB), Saturday, 7 May 2011 19:15 (2 years ago) Permalink
becauseofthewang
― Elegant Bitch (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Saturday, 7 May 2011 19:16 (2 years ago) Permalink
yeah ok can we talk about this? wtf is that thing holing?
― \(^o\) (/o^)/ (ENBB), Saturday, 7 May 2011 19:19 (2 years ago) Permalink
his nut
― Elegant Bitch (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Saturday, 7 May 2011 19:31 (2 years ago) Permalink
haha oh shi...
― Le Bateau Ivre, Saturday, 7 May 2011 19:37 (2 years ago) Permalink
more Six Flags Nola, 75 hueg good pix
http://www.lovethesepics.com/2011/05/creepy-crusty-crumbling-illegal-tour-of-abandoned-six-flags-new-orleans-75-pics/
― shannon HOOS of blind melSTEEN (rip van wanko), Friday, 17 June 2011 20:44 (1 year ago) Permalink
― shannon HOOS of blind melSTEEN (rip van wanko), Friday, 17 June 2011 20:46 (1 year ago) Permalink
possibly some of these repeat but theyre all amazing:
http://gawker.com/5817544/the-overgrown-squalor-of-new-orleans-abandoned-amusement-park/gallery/1
― Serial Chiller (sunny successor), Sunday, 3 July 2011 21:29 (1 year ago) Permalink
Thanks Sunny! A good addition to this compendium.
What fascinates me most is how these places remain in their decayed state for so long. Decades sometimes. Aren't there any kids completely ravishing the place at night? Or looters stripping the whole park of valuable iron? This never ceases to amaze me.
― Frogbs Day Afternoon (Le Bateau Ivre), Sunday, 3 July 2011 21:54 (1 year ago) Permalink
Storybook Land - in Woodbridge, Virginia near Washington, D.C.
Opened in 1959, closed 1981, about a half hour drive from my childhood home
Great article about it from 1995, but wish it had all the haunting pictures of the ruined remains that were in the print edition. I found some current photos online though:
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall....
― Lee626, Monday, 4 July 2011 15:27 (1 year ago) Permalink
the map that was given to guests:
― Lee626, Monday, 4 July 2011 15:29 (1 year ago) Permalink
Not sure why I can't get that link to work; here's the URL:
http://www.theimaginaryworld.com/sblvamap.html
― Lee626, Monday, 4 July 2011 15:32 (1 year ago) Permalink
― Lee626, Monday, 4 July 2011 15:36 (1 year ago) Permalink
― go to party leather (ENBB), Monday, 28 January 2013 19:20 (3 months ago) Permalink
No-one mentioned Blobbyland yet?
More here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1220390/Pictured-The-abandoned-ruins-Mr-Blobby-theme-park-ravers-trash-site.html
― my father will guide me up the stairs to bed (anagram), Monday, 28 January 2013 19:50 (3 months ago) Permalink
Oh God. Considering that Mr. Blobby is pretty much the scariest thing to ever exist in the world an I simply cannot handle an abandoned Blobby theme park. At all.
― go to party leather (ENBB), Monday, 28 January 2013 20:06 (3 months ago) Permalink