I LOVE amusement parks. Mostly because I love riding roller coasters, not even gonna lie, but it’s also because I love the way that they’re a mini-adventure for the young and old and that a lot of them have a sort of happy aura of excitement that surrounds them.

But what about the parks that… don’t have that happy aura? Or have been abandoned? Or some even say are haunted? When I was younger, I took those Disneyland/Disneyworld Creepypastas way too seriously (definitely check them out, though), but there are some truly abandoned and creepy amusement parks out there. Here’s my top three list of abandoned American theme parks.

1. Disney’s River Country Water Park, Florida

Credit: Seph Lawless

Okay, so this one is about Disneyworld, but, I mean, many people, including me, have even been to one of their theme parks, whether it’s Disneyland in Anaheim, California, Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida, or one of the numerous international theme parks. There are even some functional waterparks that Disney utilizes as well within their larger amusement parks. Once, this even included the River Country attraction in the Disneyworld park.

In the 1970s, River Country was built on Bay Lake which was adjacent to the Fort Wilderness attraction, and Disney did what it could to draw water cleanly and safely through filtration from the lake itself in order to run the waterpark. This, among other design strategies, ensured that the attraction looked and felt like a good ol’ American swimming hole, and many thousands of people enjoyed it over the time that it was in operation. But, in 2005, after a four-year-long hiatus of the park, Disney announced that the park was to be shut down and never reopened.

Although Disney itself seems to have never released an official reason as to why the park was closed, there has been heated speculation amongst fans in place of an official ruling. Some say it was due to safety precautions, whether it be due to a couple of drowning incidences or even a deadly amoeba lurking in the waters of Bay Lake. It could have also been due to competition and the location of the park itself being far away from most of the newer hotels. Regardless, the park has laid abandoned since 2005, and photos are still being taken of the eerily empty attraction.

(I got my information from here)

2. Jazzland/Six Flags New Orleans, Louisiana

Taken by Bob McMillin two weeks after Hurricane Katrina

In 2005, when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, not even the local amusement park was spared. Jazzland opened in 2000, and was changed to Six Flags, New Orleans in 2003, and suffered extensive damage when the storm hit in 2005. Six Flags terminated its 75-year lease with New Orleans, and apparently, according to this, Six Flags is still settling things with insurers due to the massive damage the hurricane caused. Some of the salvageable rides in the park, such as the Batman and Bayou Blaster rides, were also taken, refurbished, and even renamed in some cases, before being put into other amusement parks.

It’s illegal to trespass onto Six Flags New Orleans, but haunting pictures of how the park looks today are available, which also include evidence that vandals sometimes haunt the park as well. In recent years, although other projects have been considered for the area such as new theme parks and an outlet mall, the area has been used in movies including “Jurassic World” and “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.”

No one knows what fate has in store for Six Flags New Orleans or the land on which it resides, but we can all hope that, whatever it is, it will have fortune on its side. Although this park is less creepy and more sad, it still serves as a reminder that areas that have been affected by extreme natural disasters oftentimes are still healing in some spots, even a decade later. My heart still goes out to all that was lost during Hurricane Katrina.

3. Lake Shawnee Amusement Park, West Virginia

Credit: Flickr user Dustin

Of course, when I learned that this creepy amusement park existed, I was totally stoked. I mean, we even have the same name. The park closed in 1966 after two accidental park-goer deaths, but that’s not it. The history of the area in which Lake Shawnee is built upon has an extensive history, and many locals claim that ghosts haunt the abandoned park, and that it might even be cursed.

In the 1780s, a European family tried to settle upon the land, and ran into unsurprising conflict with the local Native American tribe. Supposedly, while the patriarch of the family was out hunting, some of the Natives came in and murdered two of his children and kidnapped a third. After burying his children, he set out and murdered some of the Natives in retaliation.

In the 1920s, Conley T. Snidow decided to purchase the land and turn it into an amusement park with a swimming pond, Ferris wheel, and swing set. However, in total, the rides in the park were responsible for six different accidental deaths in the 40 years in which it was in use. The current owner has opened up the abandoned site for tours during October, and it has become a hotspot for paranormal investigators to frequent as well. Specifically, there are reports of a little girl playing on the swings and wandering the park, with a dress covered in blood…

(Source)