The List >> 10 fascinating theme parks that have closed forever
Although hundreds of theme parks are active around the globe, hundreds more have been relegated to the scrapheap of amusement history. They were abandoned by owners and operators for a variety of reasons — falling attendance, natural disasters, financial difficulties or merely because they were no longer relevant to modern parkgoers.
But they retain their fascination, ghostly places that attract urban explorers, social media divas and people seeking to relive memories of once visiting with families or friends.
There's also something compellingly post-apocalyptic about places that have been overtaken by decay, a chilling yet intriguing glimpse at what the entire Earth might be like if humans ever disappeared.
Take Malaysia in Miniature Land — Mimaland — outside Kuala Lumpur, shuttered in 1994after a devastating mudslide. Today, the park's life-size dinosaurs and mega-fauna, bumper cars and other attractions have been eerily engulfed by the jungle. Ukraine's Pripyat Amusement Park, 3 miles from Chernobyl, never had a chance to open. Even more so than the infamous power plant, the park's ghostly Ferris wheel and bumper cars epitomize history's worst nuclear disaster. Others have been repurposed. England's medieval-themed Magic Kingdom of Camelot, for example, became a drive-thru zombie attraction before its current reincarnation as Scare City, a walk-thru horror experience through the creepy ruins of Camelot.
Here are 10of the world's most bewitching abandoned theme parks. 1 Berliner Spreepark, Germany
2 Mimaland, Malaysia
3 Camelot Theme Park, England
4 Six Flags New Orleans, Louisiana
5 Nara Dreamland, Japan
6 Jardin de Tivoli, France
7 Pripyat Amusement Park, Ukraine
8 Yongma Land, South Korea
9 Cypress Gardens, Florida
10 Ho Thuy Tien, Vietnam
All that remains of Ukraine's Pripyat Amusement Park, 3miles from Chernobyl, is a ghostly Ferris wheel and other abandoned rides.