Top 15 Scary Abandoned Amusement Parks

ever since the first enclosed amusement park was opened in coney island in 1895 they have become some of the most popular entertainment venues in the world there are now almost a thousand parks around the world but for each one that becomes a commercial success there are countless others that have fallen to disrepair and ruin whether due to poor planning an uninspired concept or safety failures these venues are often simply shut down and begin to deteriorate leaving just a faint memory of what the creators originally intended let's take a look at 15 scary abandoned amusement parks number 15 nara dreamland japan if the huge castle at the entrance the artificial mountain and the main street full of stores and games of nara dreamland seem familiar that's because in 1961 it was intentionally opened as japan's answer to the disney theme park in california built near the city of nara it was an immediate success and at its peak attracted almost 2 million visitors per year things began to take a downturn however when the tokyo disneyland opened in 1983 and subsequently tokyo disneysea and the universal studios japan within 30 miles of narrow dreamland and visitor numbers plummeted to such an extent that in 2006 after being open for 45 years it was forced to close even by that time there had been so little investment in the maintenance of the site that rides were beginning to rust and the castle itself had been declared a safety hazard and for the next 10 years before it was fully demolished it became more like a nightmare land with nature beginning to reclaim the site it was covered in foliage growing through the paving stones and the tracks of the rides the buildings began to crumble and rust took hold everywhere you could look because of its history and the way it had been left nara dreamland became a popular site for urban explorers but because of the increasing risk someone might seriously injure themselves as they walk through the decrepit structures there was no choice but to remove what was left entirely number 14 dinosaur world arkansas most of us grew up hoping that one day jurassic park would become a reality but did you know there was already an amusement park that had long extinct monsters on display known as dinosaur world it was opened in 1967 in beaver arkansas and when it opened the 65-acre site was by far the largest dinosaur park on earth it featured more than 100 different life-size statues of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures and also had a dedicated area to mythical beasts too which during the 1970s had the world's largest king kong statue that was more than 40 feet tall the problem the dinosaur park faced however was that the only attractions it had were the statues and several smaller rides and simply couldn't compete with larger amusement parks by the turn of the millennium visitor numbers had begun to plummet with the park seen as a prehistoric entertainment venue by modern standards and it was forced to close for good in 2005. the statues were left in place though and in many ways it's now more interesting than it ever was when it was open most of them still stand in place surrounded by unkempt vegetation and it feels like you've entered a lost world number 13 disney's river country florida there's no doubt that disney has built the most famous and successful amusement park empire in the world but despite the company's experience in this industry even they don't get it right every time disney world in florida is by far the biggest collection of parks on earth you probably know that it includes two water parks but did you know that there was originally a third called disney's river country it was actually the company's first water park and opened in june of 1976 it was built along the shore of bay lake and had a wild west theme and featured two large swimming pools five water slides and two large areas dedicated to children's activities it was the success of river country that led to the development of typhoon lagoon and blizzard beach but with far more planning and investment going into those two river country was soon seen as the least exciting of them all with falling visitor numbers and several deaths that happened on site it closed at the end of the 2001 season and was never reopened the structures of the park still remain to this day however albeit in a rundown state the only thing disney did was to drain one of the larger pools and erect fencing around the site to prevent anyone from gaining access but in recent years it's become a popular destination for urban explorers it's creepy seeing a place that was designed for so many thousands of people being completely empty with stagnant pools of water and crumbling slides all around and while it may not have been demolished yet there are rumors that the company eventually plans on completely redeveloping the site perhaps as an extension to another park or as a brand new hotel complex number 12 boomers dania beach there are still seven boomers amusement parks in operation throughout california and florida but this is just a fraction of the number of the company operated in its heyday with at least 11 having been closed in recent years perhaps the most famous was the dania beach park which was in fort lauderdale and was home to what was once the largest wooden roller coaster in the state known as the hurricane it was 100 feet tall 3200 feet long and was by far the most impressive structure on the site but surprisingly wasn't actually owned by boomers and was run by a third party after opening the ride in 2000 they soon found out there was a reason why florida doesn't have many wooden coasters and that's because the humid climate significantly increases the maintenance requirements and it became commercially unviable the coaster itself was closed in 2011 the rest of the park with its mini golf course and arcades followed suit in 2015 and for several years the site was left to crumble urban explorers managed to capture incredible images of what the place looked like as it began to be overtaken by fast-growing trees and shrubs and was only finally demolished a few years later to be replaced by a shopping mall number 11. dunblobin crinkly bottom england it's not uncommon for an amusement park to be based upon an entertainment brand but crinkly bottom in england was probably the most unusual example of this ever taking inspiration from a popular saturday night entertainment show at the time crinkly bottom's mascot was mr blobby a giant spotty pink creature that became renowned in the country for his madcap antics three parks were actually opened in the 1990s with the biggest being located in somerset dunblavin a recreation of mr blobby's house became one of the focal aspects of the park but due to lack of interest the funding was pulled less than a year after opening and the park removed all references to the character as for his home it was sealed off and forgotten about until the 2000s when a group of urban explorers rediscovered it it didn't matter that it had fallen into such a state of disrepair and as such a nostalgic link to the 90s what remained of dunban became a site for illegal raves and parties and the polystyrene toilet was even removed and placed on display in an art gallery for fear of injuries and lack of control over what was happening there the landowner was eventually forced to demolish the entire site and sadly dunblavin was removed for good number 10 yongma land south korea built in the 1980s young man land was a small family focused amusement park near seoul in south korea it was full of pop culture icons from the time and underwent very little development by the time it finally closed its doors in 2011 which meant it remained a memory of times gone by attendance had drastically fallen thanks to the opening of modern theme parks nearby and stories of hauntings but rather than demolishing the site or preventing anyone from accessing it it's now gained a new lease of life by welcoming visitors who want to see the park in its ongoing state of decay with an octopus ride covered in rust to stacks of broken dodgem cars a broken down clown roller coaster and a collapsing viking ship the new owner charges around five bucks for entry and for thirty dollars we'll even turn on the lights of the haunted merry-go-round in the evening those familiar with k-pop music videos may recognize the faded colors and broken machinery from some recent hits as it's also often hired out for creepy location shoots for various productions it's the only former amusement park in the world that's still open to guests and has now become a spooky attraction in its own right number nine haute vietnam with an incredible three-story tall dragon aquarium at the center of the park haute hin was said to be the next big thing when it opened in vietnam in 2004.

the water park was built around a lake with a focal feature in the middle and as you walked up the central staircase you'd find yourself surrounded by tanks that contained a wide variety of animals including rays sharks and even crocodiles the problem though was that with costs escalating the investors in the 3 million park insisted that it opened before it was fully complete and this led to an underwhelming response by visitors within a few years it was no longer sustainable and it was closed and with no funds left to demolish any of the structures they were left in place even the animals in the aquarium were simply released into the lake which led to a large crocodile population establishing itself in the following years hoten which was once easy to get to was removed from all the guidebooks and access was restricted meaning only those who knew exactly where it was were able to return there was something about the dragon building which had begun to crumble that seemed majestic amongst its surroundings it became such a popular destination that there were even reports of a refreshment truck offering drinks to visitors inside the perimeter of the abandoned venue as for the crocodiles they remained an ever-present threat to the people who took the risk of visiting and authorities were eventually forced to relocate them to a nearby wildlife park although this hardly means the polluted water is now safe to swim in we are constantly adding more people to the top fives production team to bring you all the best content be sure to subscribe with notifications on and hit the like button number eight daddy park belgium daddy park in muslin belgium was first opened in the 1950s as a small playground to entertain the children of pilgrims who were visiting the local church but became so popular that in the 1970s underwent a program of redevelopment to install a series of new attractions such as a huge monkey bridge course and several water rides this brought new visitors from far and wide at its peak saw more than a million guests passing through the turnstiles each year as tastes began to change however the park's popularity declined and the final straw came as a result of years of under investment the rides became more and more dangerous and in 2000 a young boy lost his arm as a result of an accident on the nordic jet ride the park never recovered and within two years it was permanently closed the larger rides were taken down over the next few years but most of the other structures were left in place now overgrown you can hardly tell that it used to be such a busy park the only clues of what used to be there are the occasional metal railings and derelict buildings it's become famous within the urban explorer community for the relative ease of access and the unusual objects that remain many of which have religious influences but because the authorities became concerned by an increasing number of people who were trespassing on the site they've continued to demolish more of the buildings plans are now underway to convert it into a hiking trail number seven ghost town in the sky north carolina first opened in may of 1961 the ghost town in the sky was a wild west theme amusement park in maggie valley north carolina built at an elevation of around 4 600 feet at the top of buck mountain it was often called north carolina's mile high theme park built at a cost of a million dollars the owners enlisted the help of locals to faithfully recreate 40 replica buildings for the western town and over the years went on to build several rides which included as of 1986 full-size roller coaster called the red devil right from the start the park experienced issues however despite attracting at its peak more than six hundred thousand visitors each year there was no actual public road to access it instead every guest had to arrive at a car park at the base of the mountain and use either a funicular railway or a 3300 foot long chair lift to reach it in 2002 the chairlift failed and left people stuck for more than two hours and this ultimately led to the park's closure very little has been spent for maintenance on any of the machinery and the owners realized how dangerous it had all become despite an attempt to reopen in 2007 after extensive renovations the ghost town in the sky closed its doors for good in 2009 and has been left to fall into an even worse state of disrepair ever since there are still hopes that the investment will be found to try to reopen it again which means that for the time being it's been left to rust away and has become a thing of legend in urban explorer circles because of the difficulty of accessing the site it's now just like an abandoned and haunted wild west village and the moment you set foot there it feels like you've been transported back in time [Music] number six tripiate amusement park when amusement parks open for the first time it's often cause for huge excitement and celebration to the local community who are able to take advantage of the new facilities for the first time in the case of the newly built pripyat amusement park however this anticipation soon evaporated because just days before the official opening something terrible happened it was april of 1986 and with the final touches of paint still drying the park was ready for the grand opening at the beginning of may early in the morning on the 26th of april one of the worst nuclear accidents to ever take place happened at the nearby chernobyl power plant this meant that not only was the opening cancelled the entire city of pripyat was evacuated and had never been repopulated since because of radiation levels at the center of the amusement park was an 85-foot tall ferris wheel that's become an iconic image of the effects of the disaster on the local community and it still stands in its place to this day the other rides are still there too apart from during tests they were never open to the general public the open space was used by helicopters in the aftermath of the accident which meant that higher levels of radiation were deposited there than elsewhere and tests have shown that the concrete areas are still highly dangerous still if you're feeling brave enough it's possible to take tours through the ghost city of pripyat and the amusement park is one of the most impactful stops along the route number five spree park berlin berlin's spree park was one of the most visited attractions in the city with more than one and a half million visitors each year but poor financial management meant that it would eventually be forced to close and has since become an abandoned wilderness it was first opened in 1969 to much excitement especially because of the towering ferris wheel following the reunification of germany in 1989 huge investment was used to put it on par with western style parks roller coasters water rides several themed village areas it was during the 90s that it reached its heyday the lack of transport to the park though meant that they were never able to attract enough people to recoup the huge investment and with spiraling debt spree park was closed in 2002 some of the rides were shipped to peru to try to open a new park while the buildings that remained were left to fall apart while there are plans to try to renovate the site and reopen it for now it remains a memory of what once was and it's occasionally open for performances festivals and screenings of movies that benefit from the creepy surroundings number four six flags new orleans originally opening as jazz land in the year 2000 six flags took control of the amusement park on the outskirts of new orleans in 2003. they had high hopes for what they could do with the venue but unfortunately it was flooded during hurricane katrina which was responsible for so much pain and suffering in the city as for the theme park it took a month before the flood waters receded and by that time the site had been ruined faced with a bill of tens of millions of dollars to fix things since more than eighty percent of the buildings and virtually all of the rides had been destroyed six flags instead removed all salvageable assets and reinstalled them in other parks now covered in graffiti in every direction infested with rodents and overgrown it's now become a popular destination for urban explorers and it's been used as a location in a number of movies including jurassic world and dawn of the planet of the apes [Music] number three joyland kansas opened in 1949 and only closing 55 years later in 2004 joyland was once the premier amusement park in kansas it had 25 rides including an amazing wooden roller coaster called nightmare along with a number of other classic designs from the 40s and 50s problems began in 2004 with the aging infrastructure which began when a young girl fell from the more than half a century-old ferris wheel the ensuing investigations found that many of the other structures were unsafe too and it would have caused so much to fix these problems that the decision was made to close the park for good since that day the park has remained in place and apart from a couple of fires that have destroyed buildings and the inevitable vegetation that's begun to grow over everything it's still recognizable as joyland although in a frighteningly run-down state this might not be the end of the story though because the site was sold in 2018 for just under two hundred thousand dollars and it's quite possible that the new owners will complete the plans for renovations to find a way to open it once more number two camelot uk whether or not you believe in the legend of king arthur there's one thing for sure camelot most certainly did exist albeit is a small theme park in england that was opened between 1983 and 2012.