13 abandoned amusement parks that will give you the creeps

Another ‘woulda coulda shoulda’ amusement park, Fantasy World’s owners had, well, fantasies of it becoming a Philippine Disneyland. But the place never opened, reportedly due to financial difficulties. Now overgrown with weeds, the rides rusting and paint peeling off the castle, Fantasy World is finding new life as a ‘photo park’. For a fee, you can enter the property, look around, and take pictures of the eerie theme park that never was.

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Ho Thuy Tien’s giant dragon looms over a sci-fi-looking aquarium, welcoming visitors to this now-algae-covered water park. It’s one of the most bizarre sights at any abandoned amusement park. The park was opened briefly in 2004, despite being only partially completed. But if you stop by today, you might not be alone: rumours of roaming crocodiles have plagued the park, although reports say the creatures have been removed. Still, we don’t recommend getting in the murky water – or trying the rickety waterslides.

This 1970s-era, Wizard of Oz-inspired attraction isn’t a functioning theme park anymore, and most of the year, it stands empty in Beech Mountain, North Carolina. But the privately-owned property opens to the public twice a year, with one event in September and one in June. Although not strictly abandoned, it’s still creepy to think of the yellow brick road winding its way through the woods with no one to follow it except the wind.

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Japan has more than its fair share of abandoned amusement parks. But the most famous, the Disneyland-inspired Dreamland, became more of a nightmare than a dream. Forty-five years after opening in 1961, Dreamland closed and was left to rot, not to be seen again except by the urban explorers who dared to enter illegally. It languished until 2013 when the land was bought and the park was demolished in 2017 – but not before being immortalised by photographer Romain Veillon.

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Source: RD.com