13 abandoned amusement parks that will give you the creeps

What’s scarier than a wooden roller coaster, freakier than a funhouse, and more chilling than a clown? The decrepit remains of a park that once rung with children’s screams – screams of happiness, that is. Take a visual stroll through these abandoned amusement parks around the world, some of which you can also take an actual stroll through…if you dare.

This once-sparkling place of merriment in the US state of Louisiana now stands as an eerie reminder of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, which flooded the city and closed the park in 2005. It would never reopen, and it’s now so creepy that it’s off-limits to tourists. The roller coaster, ‘Big Easy’ Ferris Wheel, and other rides are now deserted – if you don’t count the snakes and alligators wandering through them. But this sad memorial may soon be gone, as plans for its demolition were recently announced.

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Entering this desolate place in Berlin on your own is verboten (forbidden in German) and for good reason. The communist-era park opened in 1969 in East Germany, but it was closed in 2001 and left to the elements. It now features toppled dinosaur statues, rusting roller coasters, and a track leading into a surreal monster mouth. After gaining popularity as an off-the-beaten-path destination for urban explorers, the place is now open for visitors through official tours only.

Beware of this cursed amusement park: like something out of a horror movie, Lake Shawnee in West Virginia, USA, was reportedly built on an Indian burial ground. In the 18th century, a bloody confrontation erupted between Native Americans and a colonial family who attempted to settle here. Over a century later, the amusement park opened on the site in the 1920s – until closing in 1966 after the accidental deaths of two young patrons, including one on the spooky circular swing that still stands. Some say the place is haunted and even claim to have seen ghosts of the park’s victims. It’s a popular spot for paranormal investigators, and every Halloween, the spot hosts a ‘Dark Carnival’ with tours, ghost stories, a corn maze, and campouts.

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Picture an 1898 Victorian amusement park: music from an organ grinder, women’s skirts swishing around the dance hall, children’s laughter echoing from the various newfangled rides. That’s what this theme park on Bois Blanc Island (nicknamed Boblo), Ontario, was to Canadians and US visitors alike. Its doors were shut nearly a hundred years later in 1993, and the area is now closed to the public. But you can boat or kayak by the remains, listening for the ghostly sounds of long-past visitors.

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The tragic story of this Ukraine amusement park centres on the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, a few kilometres away from Pripyat. Many of the power plant’s workers and their families lived in the town, where the park was set to open for the May Day celebration on May 1, 1986. But the explosion at the plant occurred just a few days prior on April 26, so it never happened – although according to some reports, officials opened the park early to keep residents busy before evacuation orders were given. Once the announcement was made to leave, everyone fled almost immediately, leaving the park (and everything else) to the elements. Since then, the abandoned Ferris wheel has become a symbol of the ill-fated town. Today, you can take a tour of the grim place.

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Where else can you see ruins of a sugar mill, a botanical garden – and a dinosaur theme park? Built on the grounds of a pre-Civil War mill, Florida’s Bongoland opened in the late 1940s and featured concrete dinosaurs, animals including the park’s namesake monkey Bongo, a replica of a Native American village, and a kiddie train. After this attraction closed in 1952, it was abandoned for decades; today, gardens surround the old prehistoric creatures, which remain as spooky relics of the park’s past. But beware of falling dinos: this summer, the crumbling T-rex toppled after heavy rain.

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The origins of this never-opened Indonesian amusement park are mysterious – it’s not even known exactly why tourists never got to ride its rides or stroll its paths. Today, Taman Festival is being consumed by the jungle and it is also covered with vibrant graffiti. Explorers should watch out for what was planned to be a crocodile pit – or more accurately, for the ravenous reptiles who may now be wandering free.

The still-colourful Yongma Land amusement park in Seoul, which was open from 1980 to 2011, serves as a nostalgic reminder of childhood – so much so that it’s become a hot spot for both amateur and professional photographers. The kitschy place was even the setting for several K-Pop videos (Korean pop, for the uninitiated). And if you want to see it, you won’t be breaking and entering: For a fee, you’ll be allowed to look around. After dark, the lights are even turned back on, creating an atmosphere of chills and thrills even without going on any of the derelict rides.

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This ‘city of toys’ was conceived in the 1960s as an adult amusement park, a Las Vegas-style resort in the middle of Italy just an hour from Milan. Structures were to be built in different styles, including a Muslim minaret, Chinese pagodas, and a faux-medieval castle. There were also plans for a zoo and a racetrack. But tragedy struck in 1976 when a landslide destroyed the road to the city. The plans for the sprawling complex were abandoned, the half-finished buildings left to decay.

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