There’s also plenty of abandoned theme parks you can’t visit, too. This list is by no means comprehensive, with abandoned and defunct theme parks found in a variety of pockets around the world (including the remnants of iconic Australian theme park Wonderland Sydney, somewhere up in Eastern Creek). Probably-definitely-maybe, it might have had something to do with the fact that they never actually got permission from the Tolkien estate to build the park, but what do I know? The park might be mostly gone now, but you can still visit the last, lonely statue - the wizard Gandalf surveying his lonely domain. It was closed in 2009, although nobody seems to know why. Featuring a delightful windmill, replica hobbit holes, voice-activated storytelling and supposedly lumpy statues of the novel’s main cast, Hobbiton USA was a semi-popular roadside attraction when it opened in the 1970s. In the 1970s, when Tolkien fever was running wild, Hobbiton USA was erected as a love letter to the much beloved franchise. is a wasteland where hopes and dreams go to die. It’s is a lush, green landscape in the heart of Matamata that’s visited by fans of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings all year around. In New Zealand lies the gorgeous Hobbiton set used in the recent film adaptation of J.R.R. In 2016, the Berlin government took ownership of the land and started removing the rest of the site, but many of its iconic features still remain and tours are offered by local travel agencies. In the years since, the park slowly began to lose its charm and in 2014, it lost pretty much everything else - with a fire gutting the majority of the remaining rides. Spreepark was shut down in 2002 as visitors to the park slowed and Witte’s reputation as a criminal spread. While it received new rides and a good sprucing up, it also became home to a notorious cocaine smuggling ring.
When new owner Norbert Witte took over its operations in 1991, things took a turn for the worst. One of the older amusement parks on this list, Spreepark was opened in 1969 by the East German government and initially thrived. (Photo by Thielker/ullstein bild via Getty Images) (GERMANY OUT) DEU Deutschland Germany Berlin Stilleben im verlassen Spreepark im Plänterwald, dem zu DDR Zeiten größten Vergnügungspark Ostdeutschlands. While the Land of Oz is on private property, the owners often open it to the public, as recently as June of this year. It shut in 1980, and nature soon swept in to claim it.
The park fell into serious disrepair in the late 70s, with the animatronics, buildings and installations needing replacements and TLC that would never come. That’s not to mention the 1975 fire that destroyed the park’s Emerald City replica and took most of its irreplaceable Wizard of Oz memorabilia collection with it - or the fact that thieves kept breaking in and stealing its iconic props. Land of Oz opened in 1970 as a monument to the popular Oz franchise, but the entrepreneur behind the project never got to see its initial success - he died mere months after the opening. But instead of leading you to Oz, the 44,000 brick path will probably get you lost in the American bush. In Beech Mountain, North Carolina, the yellow brick road awaits. Just a small note, but not one that’s stopped curious tourists from visiting in the years since.Īdventurous travellers can see all that the amusement park has to offer via TripAdvisor and there’s even a trip that comes bundled with a Chernobyl adventure if you really want to live out your S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
Oh, and there’s also the small matter of the grounds being riddled with nuclear radiation. It would be beautiful, if it wasn’t so downright horrifying. The ferris wheel, long since ground to a halt, has gathered rust for 40 years and the bumper cars have largely been reclaimed by nature. The park was closed permanently and (obviously) never re-opened. The Pripyat amusement park was a high profile casualty of this fallout, only opening for a single day - Apbefore the entire town of Pripyat was evacuated to safety after the local nuclear reactor blew. Everybody knows about the Chernobyl disaster and the consequences of playing with radiation. Image: Pripyat Amusement Park, Edward Neyburg (Getty Images)
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