Abandoned Amusement/Fun Parks

I think that my interest in this sort of thing started when I went to Asbury Park for the first time.

http://i44.tinypic.com/nn9obl.jpg

Also from the Asbury Park, NJ boardwalk:

http://i42.tinypic.com/2nasdaq.jpg

One in Japan called Utopia

http://i42.tinypic.com/2vulxlv.jpg

More Utopia:

http://i42.tinypic.com/w2mu52.jpg

Again in Japan Gulliver in the front and Mt. Fuji in the back

http://i43.tinypic.com/w1u1io.jpg

Wow - this one is awesome. Russian themed park in Japan that was only open for 6 moths.

http://i40.tinypic.com/25p3492.jpg

http://i42.tinypic.com/10wmulu.jpg

that gulliver/mount fuji thing is crazy.

6 moths.

The people who financed the park started out thinking it was a good idea, but soon they saw the light.

Waterpark in Barcelona

http://i40.tinypic.com/53wmly.jpghttp://i44.tinypic.com/vgjzw2.jpg

Yeah, isn't the Gulliver one amazing?!

S. Korea again

http://i40.tinypic.com/wb8l92.jpghttp://i42.tinypic.com/ejvajd.jpg

In China:

http://i41.tinypic.com/2wr166s.jpg

I may actually have nightmares about this thing in Japan

http://i39.tinypic.com/qzgj8h.jpg

great thread

Ok, this may or may not be abandoned but I couldn't resist posting this slide from a children's playground in Poland

http://i44.tinypic.com/2ur5z7t.jpg

I mean, really?!

Jack Rabbit roller coaster Station - Idora Park, Ohio

http://i43.tinypic.com/30cc8iu.jpg

It always amazes me how these things just close down and just get... left there to rot and grow over. Surely the land is valuable or something, at least in some cases?

I just started a thread about Dadipark without realising you started this thread yesterday. I heard about Dadipark through work. Koinkydink. I'll post some pictures here now.

http://silentuk.com/dadipark/images/img_0981.jpg

http://www.lost-places.nl/01/015%20dadipark/images/05.jpg

http://www.lost-places.nl/01/015%20dadipark/images/09.jpg

http://www.lost-places.nl/01/015%20dadipark/images/23.jpg

http://i44.tinypic.com/nn9obl.jpg

Where have I seen this face before (reproduced somewhere, or in a movie or something. And why, at the same time, does Asbury park seem extremely familiar, yet I can't remember what it is? I suspect it may be skateboarding related).

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/8191353-lg.jpg

Edward, wax?

http://www.hullabaloo.be/fotolog/dadipark09.jpg

Scott just said, "Maria, didn't you know somebody else just started a thread today about abandoned amusement parks" but I haven't gone on ILE today except to post pictures of Dadipark. WEIRD.

― Maria :D, Monday, May 4, 2009 10:07 PM (53 minutes ago) Bookmark

Weird is right!

I may actually have nightmares about this thing in Japan

that picture is awesome

also the gullivers/fuji pic.

Surely the land is valuable or something, at least in some cases?

A lot of the time the land isn't valuable at all, because it would take a lot of work to make it flat enough to build proper buildings on (as opposed to wooden barns). Also I suspect that some of these short lived parks are more tax write-offs than actual proper business propositions intended to make money.

This thread just keeps on giving! Gulliver and that weird white smiley face over the road are fantastic.

ENBB, do you know which waterpark in Barcelona that is? I might've actually been there (when the water was still flowing, I must add)

wot no pictures of New Forest Lapland?

No. You'll just have to imagine a picture of a disgruntled parent drop kicking an elf...

I love that the Fantasy Farm poster still calls Memorial Day Decoration Day!

Edward, that face is Tillie.

i been to whalom park

http://www.roadtripmemories.com/images/roadmaveness/lucian/pinehill/holyland09.JPG

holyland usa, waterbury connecticut - cheapo biblical site recreations misterminded by eccentric local lawyer - has a lol hueg cross u can see from the highway

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/holy/images/CTWATsphinx.jpg

i believe that a repurposed bust of washington

I wonder what Libertyland (Memphis, closed 2005) looks like now.

since it's relatively recent, not nearly as sad as a lot of the others on this thread:

http://pictopia.com/perl/get_image?provider_id=362&size=550x550_mb&ptp_photo_id=715859

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3145/2465834428_f89dfe8999.jpg?v=0

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2275/2465824284_1c6ee58227.jpg?v=0

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/140/324579518_aaebe03c23.jpg?v=0

^^ Still pretty great.

i been to whalom park

― ice cr?m, Tuesday, May 5, 2009 9:56 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmar

When I saw that was in MA I got all excited until I read the part about the ruins being demolished. :-(

http://i44.tinypic.com/nn9obl.jpg

Where have I seen this face before (reproduced somewhere, or in a movie or something. And why, at the same time, does Asbury park seem extremely familiar, yet I can't remember what it is? I suspect it may be skateboarding related).

― Edward Saroyan, Monday, May 4, 2009 10:32 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

"Steeplechase, like the rest of Coney, was a different world at night. Here we see the circle swings on the left, the Pavilion of Fun in the middle and the parachute drop behind it. The Pavilion of Fun was built in 1907 after the park burned to the ground. George Tilyou put many of the rides (the Human Roulette Wheel, the Hoop-La, etc.) indoors, making Steeplechase impervious to the weather. The very top of the pavilion reads, "George C. Tilyou's Steeplechase Park." The middle of the pavilion reads "Pavilion of Fun. Geo. C. Tilyou's Steeplechase Park." The large face on the building was the park's mascot and could be found all ov
er the park."

http://www.tangento.net/images/Coney-Steeplechase.jpg

I imagine most of these parks failed because of horrible character design.

Asbury Park = old boardwalk town on New Jersey shore.

Also:

http://www.springsteenlyrics.com/lyrics/f/foryou_alb-greetings.jpg

Let me clarify, where have I seen that face reproduced somewhere.

In fact, after some google research: even Pro skater Brian Wenning [NJ-native] took a picture of the beach friendly face for a feature in The Skate Mag.

taken from: http://ctothejl.com/shoes/nike-sb-dunk-mid-asbury-casino-metal/

That certainly corroborates my hypothesis, but I don't remember reading that interview, though!

First park I ever went to was Magic Landing in my hometown of El Paso, TX. Western-themed. They had an animatronic band just like the Chuck E Cheeze ones back in the 80s. A kid got his arm cut off by a roller coaster and it went downhill from there.

These are the very animatronic robots that used to make me cry as a toddler. You can see the oil coming out of their joints, which really doesn't comfort me at all:

http://tinypic.com/5bzbtd

Yes animatronic robots are awesome but also v creepy.

From Splendid China Theme Park in Kissimmee, Florida which closed in 2003:

http://i42.tinypic.com/2roiykh.jpg

awesome thread

The proportions are so strange.

Reminds me of those Chinese imitation euro towns no one would actually live in.

Appropriately, this thread is filled with dead links and abandoned websites.