Keansburg Amusement Park

 

Here are some pictures of Keansburg Amusement Park after Superstorm Sandy tore through New Jersey on November 1, 2012, transforming the cheerful park into a decaying, nightmarish urban explorer's dream. Tragically, Hurricane Sandy left millions without power or water, and claimed over 100 lives. May they rest in peace!

Photos by Andrew Burton

 

DadiPark

 This amusement park began as a large playground in the center of a town called Dadizele, where it grew to become the first private amusement park in Belgium in October 1949 by the efforts of the diocese of West-Vlaanderen. The park had welcomed over one million visitors during its peak year of operation. It changed hands in the 1980s, and was run by local retailers. In 2002, a boy lost his arm while riding "The Nautic Jet," a once popular attraction at Dadipark.

The maintenance costs became too high to run the park, and it was originally closed for only one season in 2003, but never reopened. Plans for commercial development fell through in 2004, but in 2008 a British developer announced he would invest 80 million euros into creating a free theme park, with the costs covered by the sales from retail shops linked to the attractions. This is supposed to happen in 2009. Remnants of the Dadipark website can be seen via web archive. 

Images and info source

Through the Fog: The Enchanted Forest

Through the Fog

"I've never been to an abandoned amusement park... I must say it was fun climbing around on these fairy tale re-creations; I felt like I was 8 years old again!

The air was thick and sweat rolled off your skin even if you weren't hot. The mist looked really nice in person but made photographing outside very difficult; the foreground seemed too dark and the sky was always blown out, but I did the best I could.

A large shopping center was right next to the property... the smell of food from a bar and grill tempted us to hurry, and so did the fading light. There used to be a carousel that I wanted to see, but it has since been moved to another location for restoration. It was an interesting place, but only one visit necessary."

Words and Images via Opacity