A World Tour of Abandoned Amusement Parks

There aren’t many places in the world that invoke pure joy like a theme park or amusement park—the rides, the food, the decor, they’re all screwy. But they don’t last forever. Some don’t really even get a chance to start. In many places both fun and funds run dry, leaving behind a unique kind of abandoned space, where you can almost hear the laughter and the screams in an uninhabited ruin. 

Just off Highway 12 in Onsted, Michigan, a collection of fiberglass prehistoric creatures still roam the forest. First opened in 1963, the Prehistoric Forest lured highway travelers in with its massive dinos and waterslide. But once the highways were rerouted, extinction was inevitable and the Prehistoric Forest closed in 2002. In Lemery, Philippines, a treat-gone-sour still attracts the occasional visitor. Designed as the “Disneyland of the Philippines,” Fantasy World closed before its grand opening amid financial troubles. Today, a once-majestic castle overlooks an empty, overgrown erstwhile attraction. From a forlorn waterpark baked by desert heat to a Western-themed attraction left to rot in Japan, here are some of our most interesting abandoned amusement parks.