In Photos: 10 Amazingly Creepy Abandoned Amusement Parks

Monday, January 6, 2014 - 08:39

5. Disney's River Country (Lake Buena Vista, Florida)

Back in the mid-1970s, Walt Disney World was not the sprawling, multi-day resort destination that it is today. The only theme park on offer was the Magic Kingdom, and EPCOT Center wouldn't open until the start of the next decade. To keep its hotel guests amused and on-site for longer, Disney decided to build its first ever water park, Disney's River Country.

When Michael Eisner took over as Disney CEO in 1984, he took a more competitive approach than his predecessors. He decided to build a full water park, Typhoon Lagoon, to take on nearby Wet 'n' Wild. River Country's capacity was limited, and its days were numbered. It shut on November 2, 2001, but remains in place today - it was abandoned rather than demolished.

Disney's River Country (5)

A sign warning guests not to jump into Bay Lake still remains.
Source: Darren Wittko, Flickr

4. Chippewa Lake Park (Ohio)

Chippewa Lake Park operated for a century, closing in 1978. Demolition was started in 2009, however some rides remain standing even today.

Chippewa Lake Park (1)

Image: Tom Whitten, Flickr

Chippewa Lake Park (1)

Image: Rebecca Olarte, Flickr

3. Wonderland (Beijing, China)

China boasts several parks that liberally "borrow" ideas from Disney. Wonderland was due to be one of the largest, but construction ground to a halt in 1998. It briefly restarted in 2008, but the remaining structures were finally demolished in May 2013.

Wonderland

Image: Tormod Sandtorv, Flickr

2. Gulliver's Kingdom (Japan)

The Japanese government invested vast sums of stimulus money to enable this lilliputlian land to be built in the shadow of Mount Fuji, around two-and-a-half hours from Tokyo. Opened in 1997 and featuring a 147-foot statue of Lemuel Gulliver, it closed after just four years.

Gulliver's Kingdom (1)

Image: Old Creeper, Flickr

Gulliver's Kingdom (2)

Image: Old Creeper, Flickr

Gulliver's Kingdom (3)

Image: Old Creeper, Flickr

1. Pripyat Amusement Park (Chernoybl, Ukraine)

Arguably the most famous abandoned amusement park in the world is Pripyat, which was due to open on May 1, 1986. Unfortunately, a few days before this, the Chernoybl nuclear power plant went into meltdown. It opened for just a few hours the day after the incident, before the area was evacuated.

Pripyat (1)

Image: kvitlauk, Flickr

Pripyat (2)

Image: Ricky, Flickr

Pripyat (3)

Image: Pedro Moura Pinheiro, Flickr

Pripyat (4)

Image: Pedro Moura Pinheiro, Flickr

Nick SimView Profile

Founder of Theme Park Tourist and a lifelong fan of everything Disney and Universal. He loved everything about Theme Parks and his goal in starting the site was to create a resource that could help fans make the most of their park trips, and to make visiting theme parks a little more affordable by capturing as many money-saving tricks as possible.

Comments

I was very surprised that Idora Park in Youngstown Ohio did not make this top ten list!

Reply

I agree. I thought it should have been on this list. At the very least, Geauga Lake (Six Flags) in Aurora Ohio should have made the list.

Reply

#10 - Lincoln Park

This park is no longer here. The park was cleared out and all structure were demolished in May/June/July 2012 to make room for new homes, apartments, and commercial space. The left-over fir wood from the rollercoaster was being made into Adirondack chairs that were to be sold for charity.

Reply

I rode the roller-coaster at Lincoln Park I believe when I was 7, and a few other rides, and I mostly remember crying on something, but not sure what.