What happens to an entertainment center when it has no one to entertain? That's right, it's closed. This is exactly what happened with the Nara Dreamland amusement park. For many years now, entertainment machines have not been started here, and the sparkling laughter of children has not been heard.
But the start was quite promising. In 1961, in the Japanese prefecture of Nara, the Nara Dreamland park was beautifully and solemnly opened to visitors.
For more than 40 years, the attractions entertained children and adults, but in the first years of the 21st century, the number of visitors to the park greatly decreased. Some pleasure cars sat idle for days on end, hoping in vain that someone would want to ride them.
Let's have a fun ride
The park's designers were inspired by the original Disneyland landscape. Some even called the rides Japan's answer to the famous amusement park. Nara Dreamland had the same main street, many of the basic principles were reproduced, a steel roller coaster was to become the hallmark of the Japanese park, which, by the way, copied the Matterhorn bobsleigh track. However, judging by the photo, one cannot say that everything turned out very well.
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“Dream Island”, Russia
Source: Brateevsky / commons.wikimedia.org
The construction of a children's amusement park in Moscow has not yet been completed, but it will definitely not be able to avoid comparisons with Disneyland. “Island of Dreams” will be designed in the form of an indoor castle, the walls and towers of which are already rising above the Nagatinskaya floodplain.
Unfortunately, the Soyuzmultfilm studio and the DreamWorks company refused to cooperate with the project, so the announced theme areas of the park look quite strange: they will be dedicated, for example, to the Smurfs, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Mowgli, Hello Kitty and dinosaurs. In addition, a significant part of the park’s area will go to shops, and, as RBC wrote, “in general, the project is a shopping center with an expanded entertainment area.”
Bird's-eye
Interestingly, there have been complaints from people that they have heard unusual noises in certain areas of the park, especially in the area of the boat dock. It's likely that a place that looks like a horror movie set should simply be filled with ghosts and evil spirits. But this theory still goes against common sense. Experts say the sounds were made by water pumps or even frogs.
Reasons for closure
Every child in Japan during the opening of the park dreamed of visiting it. At first, no one could have imagined that this place would be unprofitable. Why was the fate of the complex so sad? There are several reasons.
When the Japanese decided to build the park, they entered into an agreement with Walt Disney that regulated which characters could be used. This list did not include any particularly favorite films among the local audience; the emphasis was placed on the supporting characters. Instead, they decided to introduce Japanese heroes, but the public did not appreciate the approach. The main characters and mascots were the children Ran-chan and Dori-chan, dressed as police officers. In addition, the founders did not have enough money for full-fledged construction, and the American partners refused to support their eastern colleagues. Over time, new characters were added. Thus, Cinderella's castle was decorated with an English guard at the entrance, but the audience only became even more disappointed in the park. The feeling of being in a Disney fairy tale completely disappeared. The complex began to look like a collection of unrelated parts and objects.
Another problem with the entertainment steam was the lack of thought-out organization. This can be seen from the surviving reviews: a trip to the park did not become a holiday for the family, but turned into a nightmare day in a dirty, ugly decorated place. Many complained about cheap, low-quality plastic, and the low level of performance of interior items. Some joke: in the modern state, when the attractions can only scare, the complex looks more interesting, more attractive and pleasant than before.
The third reason that determined the fate of the unprofitable park was the opening of two high-quality entertainment complexes. The new parks operate under the Disney and Universal labels. They are located much more conveniently than Dreamland, are better decorated, are maintained in perfect condition, and have a consistent leitmotif. When they opened, new market players did not even consider the Nara complex as a potential competitor.
Being in the park is like being in a horror movie
Somehow sad
Since the park was going to be an exact replica of Disneyland, everything had to be identical. In particular, the car rides, monorails, and its own main street were popular with visitors. By the way, the fee for using the entertainment was collected at the entrance, so long queues formed only once.
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National Park of Culture and Recreation, Ulaanbaatar
Source: Lady Anu / commons.wikimedia.org
The amusement park in the capital of Mongolia was opened in 1965. Four years later, a small fort appeared on its territory, stylistically referring to local architectural traditions. In the early 1980s, an artificial lake was dug in the park, and the fort ended up on its shore.
40 years after its opening, a large-scale reconstruction began in the park, during which old buildings and structures were demolished. The fort remained in the same place, but was radically rebuilt and now vaguely resembles the fairy-tale castle of Cinderella, or rather, its unsuccessful copy.
The land of dreams remained in memories
On August 31, 2006, the park saw its last visitor. At that time, Tokyo Disneyland could not keep up with the times and the rapidly developing business, so its attendance dropped sharply to 400 thousand people a year. Since then it has become abandoned. Brave explorers from time to time entered the park to see its fading beauty. Guards patrolled the area, but it was so large that it was almost impossible to meet them face to face.
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Abandoned amusement park Nara Dreamland
- Location:
Nara Prefecture, Japan - Owner:
Daiei - Telephone:
+81 742 23 1111 - Opening hours:
permanently closed
Just 50 years ago, life at the Nara Dreamland amusement park in Japan was in full swing. However, over time, the number of visitors became less and less, and in 2006 the management made the difficult decision to close this entertainment complex. Let's find out why this happened and what the future fate of this place is.
Why was the amusement park in Japan abandoned?
Nara Dreamland was originally conceived as a clone of the American Disney theme park in California. However, during the implementation of the idea, Walt Disney refused to further participate in the project, and therefore Disney characters only partially began to represent the amusement park. To fill the gap, other characters were invented and taken from the national epic, but not nearly as popular as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.
The architects calculated the technical part down to the smallest detail, but no one thought about the right atmosphere of the amusement park. The chaotic interweaving of unknown characters with famous ones and failure to follow the chronology of events became one of the main reasons why the Nara Dreamland amusement park in Japan eventually ceased to be liked by guests and turned into an abandoned corner of the country.
Visitors felt that the scenery looked cheap compared to the American prototype. But the greatest blow to the amusement park came when two more similar entertainment centers appeared in Japan - Disneyland and DisneySea.
The amusement park required a lot of money to maintain appropriate conditions for receiving guests, but income fell from year to year, and the owner closed the unprofitable facility. It was not sold under the hammer - it was surrounded by barbed wire and simply forgotten about it. But, despite the fact that the park has officially ceased operation, thrill-seekers strive to get here every year. For what? Let's find out!
What attracts people to abandoned parks in Japan?
Nara Dreamland is somewhat similar to Chernobyl - it seems that just yesterday children’s laughter and loud music were playing here, but today desolation and oppressive silence reign here. After the park was closed, guards were posted there to protect the place from vandalism. For many years this was indeed the case, but recently, apparently due to lack of funding, the guards have relaxed and are no longer so zealous in fulfilling their duties. Therefore, in the morning or at night, plucking up courage, visitors come here, jumping over the high fence.
Some engage in petty theft, but the majority of uninvited guests are simply looking for a thrill. The scenery of the empty park really looks creepy, especially at night. Mostly young people prefer to tickle their nerves in this way. This ghost park is on the list of favorites among extreme sports enthusiasts in Japan.
Demolition is just around the corner
Since in Japan, essentially every piece of land is incredibly valuable, it is strange that an abandoned park has not been turned into something more worthwhile. In fact, they will soon transform it. The fact is that the land was purchased by the construction company SK Housing in November 2015. It is not difficult to guess what will happen in this place in the near future. Housing for retirees will be built here. It would be fun to live in a place that was previously reserved for children's fun activities.
What does Nara Dreamland park look like now?
It’s gloomy, dull and sad: the colors here have faded, all the attractions are deteriorating, and the cute figures of cartoon characters have become a little creepy. A small local restaurant is also inexorably destroyed, although there are still food machines and tables for customers inside, and above the counter there are signs for the various dishes that were once sold here.
In its heyday, the abandoned Nara Dreamland looked a lot like California's Disneyland. The same buildings were even installed here: the Sleeping Beauty Castle, the carriage depot and others. Still, the park had some success with children, and now only desperate tourists, whose lives lack spice, are interested in it.
Dismaland, United Kingdom
Source: Byrion Smith from UK / commons.wikimedia.org
Unlike the objects listed above, Dismaland was originally built as a parody. Anonymous street artist Banksy created this depressing park in the English city of Weston-super-Mare on the territory of an abandoned swimming pool. Among the attractions of Dismaland were Cinderella's ruined palace, an accident-ridden carriage, and a figure of the Little Mermaid disfigured by imitation static. The park operated for only 36 days and closed for good on September 27. During this time, more than 150 thousand people visited it, thanks to whom it earned about 20 million pounds sterling.
