Defunct Amusement Parks...

[UrsulasMyHero]

Dogpatch in Arkansas. Home of Daisy Mae and Lil' Abner.

I went there in the Mid to late 70's possibly early 80's. I loved the cavern ride. It was one of the stalagtiet/stalagmite formations that I remember vividly. The ride up to Dogpatch was harrowing for a little girl from Florida used to flat roads.

Other Florida parks that have closed:
Circus World, Later known as Boardwalk and Baseball (in Haines City, near WDW)
Six Gun Territory in Ocala, (wild west style theme park)
Six Flags Atlantis (A water park)
King Henry's Feast ( on I-Drive near WDW A themed Dining experience)
Xanadu Home of the future...

 

[UrsulasMyHero]

I thought Cypress Gardens reopened...

It did 2 years ago, as an "Adventure park"

 

[Virgo10]

Cypress Gardens is alive and well and living in Winter Haven, FL... right down the street from me. Here are a couple of pictures I took last year.

The rest are here:
Cypress Gardens 2005

And here:
Cypress Gardens at Christmas

As for parks that are no longer there, originally being from Massachusetts I'd put Paragon Park first. I spent most of my youth there.
Paragon Park

Kings Castleland in Whitman, a great place for the little ones.
Kings Castleland

And from way back, Pleasure Island. Only got there once but for an east coast girl, it was the closest thing to Disneyland. Well maybe not but we thought so at the time.
Pleasure Island

I also am pretty sure I made it to Norumbega Park in Newton, MA at least once before it closed in 1963.

 

[Slacking]

The rides area of Cypress Gardens can easily be avoided by people who don't like that sort of thing.

Despite being an amusement park junkie, I have only been to one park that is no longer with us, and that is Miracle Strip in Panama City, FL. Their coaster will be moved to Cypress Gardens next year, but they had great themed flat rides and a great dark ride.

Edit!!!! I forgot another park which is now gone, and thats Dinosaur Park Pier in Wildwood, NJ. Their Gold Nugget Mine Train was great.

Also, I wouldn't be surprised if a couple of the parks I have visited will be defunct within the next decade.

Also, Camp Snoopy in the Mall of America isn't defunct, but it is dropping the Camp Snoopy name.

 

[njzieglers]

Palisades Park and Uncle Milty's (Bayonne)

 

[tmt martins]

Enchanted Forest In Maryland Now most of the attractions are on a farm being rehabbed But I love it there it was a storybook type park.

 

[Figment22]

Palisades Park and Uncle Milty's (Bayonne)

OMG! I certainly expected others to mention Palisades Amusement Park but I never thought anyone else would remember Uncle Miltie's!! That's really a blast from the past for me!

 

[4greatboys]

An auction of park stuff was just held this weekend - the land is more valuable as a condo and comercial development than as an amusement park...

I saw that on TV. How sad was that? My first job was working at Astroworld and it was so much fun. Of course this was way back in the early 80's when they still had the "bash" which was like a big semi formal party for the employees and we had trips to other Six Flag parks.

 

[eclectics]

Freedomland in the Bronx, New York. And Jolly Rogers on Long Island.

 

[WDWAurora]

Ghost Town-Maggie Valley, NC

Discovery Island-WDW (Never went, grandparents did though)

 

[RUDisney]

Rocky Glen Park, turned into Ghost Town in the Glen and then closed. (Moosic, PA)
Nay Aug Park (Scranton, PA)
Peony Park (Omaha, NE)

 

[buzzlady]

Asbury Park, NJ

 

[philaround]

Here in CT we had a sprawling area on Long Island Sound called Savin Rock and a Wild West town north of New Haven [can't remember the name].

Does anyone remember the wax museum in Orlando across the street from Sea World? It was called "The Star's Hall of Fame".

I was going to list Palasaides and Freedomland USA but other people beat me to them. I remember seeing Paul Anka live at Freedomland, he took my cousin out of the crowd and sang a song to her up on the stage.

 

[buckylarue]

Pacific Ocean Park in Santa Monica (where the last episode of The Fugitive TV show was filmed).

When it closed, a park in Tempe AZ called Legend City bought some of the rides...then THEY went belly-up! Maybe that skyway was cursed...

 

[momof2inPA]

Fantasy Farm, in Cincinnati. It was a sad little place when I was little

I ran across a website with pictures of some closed down old parks in Ohio, Chippewa Lake and Idora Park. It was fun to look at the pictures.

 

[Astryd]

Miracle Strip, Panama City Beach, FL

Totally agree with this.

My first coaster ride was at this park. I really miss it.

 

[mouseclick1]

Detroit area:

Edgewater Park
Bob Lo Island

pinnie

I'm not familiar with Edgewater Park, but I certainly remember Bob Lo island. I had so much fun there as a kid!

 

[SamRoc]

Palisades Park in New Jersey (Little Miss America!) and Rockaway Playland in New York.

 

[Stacerita]

What amusement parks have you been to that no longer exist?

I remember the following from So Cal:

Marineland of the Pacific
Japanese Village & Deer Park
Enchanted Village Movie Animal park (replaced Deer Park, lasted about a year)
Busch Gardens (closed for brewery expansion)
Santa's Village

Magic Mountain (now a Six Flags)
Knott's Berry Farm (now owned by Cedar Point)
Sea World (now owned by Busch)

OMG, almost no one I know remembers some of these parks. We used to field trip to Marineland all the time. My fave field trips of all times! I heard now that they use it sometimes for movie filming or for urban training for the military. And I remember driving down the street and thining how stinky the area was because of the Deer Park. AHHH memories.

You can add one more to the list for So Cal.....Adventure City. It just closed about a month or so ago.

 

[EltonJohn]

I recall going to Sesame World or something like that. It was created by the same people behind Sesame Street, and it was a water park. I went one time with a Girl Scout troop, and had a lot of fun. It closed shortly after I went.