There’s something peculiarly fascinating about abandoned amusement parks. Perhaps it’s because they were designed as places of fun, but now stand empty. Maybe it’s because rusting rides look incredible. Or maybe it allows us to imagine what the entire world would look like if humans were to go extinct.
Either way, some incredible images have been captured of abandoned parks over the years. Here are some of the most haunting.
10. Lincoln Park (Massachusetts)
These stunning images capture the remains of The Comet, a twister-layout wooden roller coaster that was the main attraction at the defunct Lincoln Park until 1987.
9. Six Flags New Orleans
Abandoned by Six Flags following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Six Flags New Orleans stands as a testament to the destructive power of nature.
8. Spreepark (Berlin)
This former communist-era amusement park in East Berlin was declared insolvent in 2001. It’s still possible to get into the park as part of a guided tour.
7. Williams Grove Amusement Park (Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania)
Within two years of the Williams family hosting its first picnic in a small grove close to Mechanicsburg in 1950, a fairground had taken root on the site. It was destroyed by Hurricane Agnes in 1972 but reopened and operated until the end of the 2005 season.
6. Nara Dreamland (Nara, Japan)
This blatant rip-off of Disneyland featured its own versions of Main Street, U.S.A., Sleeping Beauty Castle, the Matterhorn and the Skyway. It closed for good in August 2006.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
