The park was slated for a May 1 opening, to coincide with the 1986 May Day celebration. Sadly, it was never enjoyed by the residents of Pripyat. The Soviet government thought they needed an amusement park, and created on smack in the middle of the city. It was built on a lush green field near the Chernobyl nuclear plant, and housed workers and their families.
Located in the Ukraine, Pripyat was a model Soviet city built in the 1970s. If those images don’t convince you, here’s a video walk-through Lanier did at night: It’s certainly an ideal setting for a horror movie. If that’s the case it sounds like the park will be occupied for quite awhile by the Hollywood rich guys.
Abandoned theme parks movie#
I’ve been told by people that live near the park that it is currently (April 2015) being used by a movie studio and that they are building a big set on the parking lot space. I love Urban Exploring and have done it all over the world, but there isn’t a place that draws me quite like Six Flags New Orleans.Įven with all of the decay, there is some hope for the future of Six Flags New Orleans according to Lanier: There’s something about the way it has a Walking Dead look, mixed with remnants of happiness that just gets to me. And he’ll keep doing it, because he can’t keep himself away: He’s documented all of his trips on his website, including run-ins with broken rides, alligators, and police officers. However, none of that stopped photographer and urban explorer Jason Lanier from sneaking onto the property multiple times. The New Orleans Police Department patrols the site daily to keep onlookers out. Between the rusting structures, the jagged, broken attractions, rotting asbestos, and the influx of dangerous wildlife, it’s a major health risk. The flood waters have receded, but what’s left of the park is rotted beyond repair. The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports that “after assessing the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina and the related exorbitant expenses of repairing the damage, sought to terminate their 75-year lease with the city, beginning in July 2006 and finally succeeding in September 2009.” The park has been abandoned since August 2005, and official plans to redevelop it have stalled due to the exorbitant repair costs. It was left to rot beneath 4 to 7 feet of flood water for over a month. Those plans came to a screeching halt when Hurricane Katrina decimated the city. It is a reflection of the country’s property market.”
Gray describes the whole thing as “another sad example of property development in China involving wasted money, wasted resources and the uprooting of farmers and their families. The incomplete and abandoned structures were demolished in May 2013, leaving no trace of the park. Yet despite all the interest in its dilapidated ruins, attempts to restart construction on Wonderland ended in 2008. There were so many visitors to Wonderland that parking attendants would sometimes appear in the parking lot to service visitors. Still, many people were mystified by the partially completed park – despite signs labeling the site as potentially toxic. Gray confirms: “I came across a rather farcical sight of some farmers digging a well next to a castle a moment I will always savor as a photographer in a place like China where castles are not in huge supply.” In front of me were large empty rooms and discarded furniture, all covered in a thick layer of dust, along with an eerie silence that gave the place a haunted feeling – an emotion not normally associated with a children’s playground.Īll construction on the park stopped in 1998, and local farmers reclaimed the land to grow crops. I walked through one of the few entrances not boarded up, and instantly started coughing. But there was absolutely no one to be seen. Pulling off the expressway and into the car park, I expected to be stopped by the usual confrontational security guards. Photographer David Gray describes the site for the Reuters Photographers Blog : Farmers in the surrounding area did not want this to be built and they were able to stop the project.” Construction halted quickly, leaving the park only partially complete. According to The Disney Blog, “Wonderland ended up in its ghost park state due to a lack of investors and some regulatory problems with the local government. Unfortunately for its developers, Wonderland hit a major snag.
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