Comments on: Five Amusement Parks that are No Longer Amusing

By: dennis

dennis — Wed, 13 May 2009 21:06:13 +0000

Just drove by dogpatch yesterday. The only time I was ever there must have been in either '92 or '93 before they closed for good. My aunt who lives in mountain home ,ar. went with me and my daughter who was 5 or 6 at the time. The only thing I remember vividly was riding on a paddle boat and they made yiu wear a life jacket (the kind you slip over your neck) and they all had a sour smell. The trout pond was open and it seemed a few other things also. We parked off of hwy 7 not up where Marble falls was located. sad

By: Cassady

Cassady — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 04:42:00 +0000

>>NikosDad
I have fond memories of Mountain Park in Holyoke. I grew up in there area, and just thinking of the different attractions there brings back my childhood

By: Lisa

Lisa — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 20:11:12 +0000

For the person asking about Santa Land in Putney, VT - It is still there, and I believe it is still in operation.

I am originally from western PA, and there is an awesome older park called Conneaut Lake Park started at the end of the 1890's up until a few years ago, a lot of classic older rides that you cannot find anywhere else, and a kiddie land from the 1950's. They are having money troubles, so it has not been in operation the last 2 years. Just down the road from that was a place called Fairy Land Forest, that closed in the late 1980's or early 1990's, and it was similar to the parks in this article, i.e. petting zoo, mother goose themes. It is now an RV park, and I believe itsome of the old fixtures are still there.

By: Kristin

Kristin — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 01:30:57 +0000

I live in Shreveport where Hamel's is located. I used to drive by it every morning on the way to high school. It's so desolate and depressing now, overgrown with weeds around and on the log ride. The only time I went was in 2nd grade; they held an event every year to promote reading to second graders and helped them sign up for library cards.

By: Denise Edmister

Denise Edmister — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:00:11 +0000

Ghost Town in the Glen outside of Scranton, PA is one that was a lot of fun when I was a kid. They had gun fighting shows during the day. My grandfather also helped build the wooden roller coaster. I think it disappeared in the late 60's or early 70's.

By: pat

pat — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 18:19:29 +0000

Anyone remember Palisades AmusementPark, NJ, just across the Hudson River from New York City?

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:03:16 +0000

We went to Dogpatch and Silver Dollar City shortly after they opened. They were really pretty boring. I don't remember much difference between the two, but I think Silver Dollar City may have been better. One of the parks had a mule trail ride I went on--I still remember that 40 years later!

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:23:18 +0000

I know this is a somewhat older post, but I had to chuckle when I saw this regarding Dogpatch USA. I live close to Springfield MO and when I was younger, I recall my parents wanted us to go to Dogpatch. We got in the car and drove the approx 2 hours and found that it had been closed for years. Must have been around 97 or something. It was just like National Lampoon's Vacation (Wally World) except we didn't break into the park and get arrested or chased by John Candy.

By: NikosDad

NikosDad — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:01:36 +0000

Anyone remember Mountain Park, Holyoke MA? I'm from that area. This article brings back fond memories of my friends and I spending many a weekend there! They had the best walk thru haunted dark ride ever! I think it closed in the 80's or 90's.

By: Noelegy

Noelegy — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 01:58:17 +0000

I went to Dogpatch, circa 1977. I got a Daisy Mae coin bank.

By: LV

LV — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:14:39 +0000

My parents owned land not to far from Dogpatch, We went down every summer for about 7 years in the 70's. I still drink from a coffee cup from there i got when i was 3

By: nick

nick — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:59:40 +0000

@ andrew. h, six flags of new oleans was a place called jazzland before six flags bought them out. here is a link to an old post about the opening of jazzland if you want to read it. http://www.travellady.com/articles/article-jazzland.html

By: sw

sw — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:53:57 +0000

There used to be Santas Land in Putney, VT that I am pretty sure has closed. Does anyone know if you can still eat in the igloo? I had a very trippy experience there in college in the early 90s.

By: Archbob

Archbob — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 06:46:51 +0000

These looks pretty cool

By: Michelle Mac

Michelle Mac — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 05:03:06 +0000

Used to go to Hamel's Park all the time as a kid! Loved it! A local church has since bought it and uses the grounds for their events, renting it out and such. The log ride is still up, tho not working. The roller coaster is gone, along with everything else. I really miss this place, my son was 2 the one and only time he went, then it closed right after.

By: Ace

Ace — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 03:47:07 +0000

I remember going to Dogpatch as a kid. It was pretty shabby even then. I hate seeing the places of my childhood memories go away though.

By: Katy

Katy — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 03:46:53 +0000

I went to Dogpatch once or twice as a kid, probably around 1990. I had no idea that it was themed after a comic strip, I always thought it was just sort of hillbilly themed. My dad bought some weird pocket orange juicer there, we still have it.
Last I heard it was really picked over, and there's really nothing cool left to risk getting a trespassing fine.

By: TheAfterPipe

TheAfterPipe — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 02:45:09 +0000

I'm thinking paintball.

By: ted

ted — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 02:05:15 +0000

hehe.

I think Michael Jackson's Wonderland Ranch used to be a petting zoo, too.

By: MYB

MYB — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 01:48:33 +0000

Oh! The Enchanted Forest (in MD)! I live about 20 minutes away from there. The park entrance is still there, even if a lot of the attractions have relocated to this petting farm? in another part of the county. Its got a giant dragon and a king on top of a castle wall, and its kinda fun that its still around.

By: Notorious M.O.L.

Notorious M.O.L. — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 01:26:08 +0000

I have pictures of myself when I was a kid at the Enchanted Forest in MD, I went in the 80s.

When you drive down the main road that runs in front of the park, the huge gates of the entrance can still be seen from the road, with a big dragon peeking over the wall and the face of the king shown on the map smiling at you from the sign...it's pretty creepy actually, but also cool.

By: marc

marc — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 01:18:13 +0000

I went to the Enchanted Forest (RI) as a kid. I'd say it was creepier back in the 80s when it was open. While on the topic of Rhode Island .. there's always Rocky Point Park in Warwick Neck, RI. Here's an awesome history site that includes shots of it in 2004 (beyond closed) : http://www.joenisil.com/rockypoint/index.htm

By: ARH

ARH — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:22:27 +0000

I visited the Enchanted Forest in Maryland two or three times as a child in the late 1950's, traveling from Richmond, VA, with my parents. The park seemed so magical at the time, and I still have vivid memories of visits there. I returned there in the mid-80's with my three-year-old daughter. Needless to say, for me, the park seemed much smaller and much less exciting, as age and the era of theme parks had jaded my memory. For my daughter, however, the Enchanted Forest was as magical as it had been for me. I am glad that the attractions and the characters of Enchanted Forest are coming alive again at Clark's Elioak Farm.

By: peacefulvalley

peacefulvalley — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:16:52 +0000

I used to live near Houston, TX. Since I moved away, they closed Six Flags Astroworld. Apparently they have bulldozed the entire thing. (The bridge to get across I-10 from the parking lot may or may not still be there.)

By: Chloë R. N.

Chloë R. N. — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 23:59:35 +0000

How about the Land of Oz that is up in the mountains of North Carolina? It was opened until 1980, and now the land is for sale:
http://www.emeraldmtn.com/

By: JMM

JMM — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 22:58:58 +0000

Rainbow Springs near Ocala, FL used to be a major attraction until I-75 shifted tourist travel away from it. It is now a state park but the old boats and animal cages can still be seen:

http://www.lostparks.com/rainbow.html

(The site says the boats are gone, but if you know where to find them, they are still there )

By: Compwalla

Compwalla — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 22:38:49 +0000

Hamel's was originally a petting zoo. I spent many fun summer weekends at Hamel's Park. My mom's family is native to Shreveport, LA and we went to Hamel's almost every time we visited my grandparents.

It was so sad when it closed. So many people lobbied hard for it to stay open but with Six Flags just two hours away in Dallas, it was a hopeless quest.

By: avraamov

avraamov — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 22:35:05 +0000

no 'wonderland ranch'? surely the least amusing amusement park of them all...

By: MrPumpernickel

MrPumpernickel — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:49:31 +0000

Those hold nothing against the amusement park in Prypiat, you know, right outside Chernobyl.

http://cricket.biol.sc.edu/chernobyl/prypiat/001.html

Could it be any more depressing?

By: seekshelter

seekshelter — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:36:10 +0000

that so reminds me of that simpsons episode where they go to the nursery rhyme themed amusement park..and also that maude flanders memorial hallucination park