Day 4:
Conneaut Lake Park
Resting 30 miles South of Edinboro sits something that is truly terrifying. An abandoned amusement park.
The park has been hitting some rough times for the past, ohhh, saaaaay, decade or two. But that shouldn’t stop your curiosity- actually this should give you all the MORE reason to go for a drive and check it out. Anyone can easily park their car inside of the amusement park and walk around freely as long as you’re not wrecking the attractions. Why not go down and get some history and show some love to a broken, abandoned, and somewhat horrifying amusement park?
Hey, baby.
The scariest of all of these abandoned attractions is the Devil’s Den.
By far the dark ride that will eventually have had the longest run at Conneaut is the DEVIL’S DEN/DR. MORIARITY’S WILD RIDE, Featuring The Famous Wall Of Gum! The DEVILS DEN was built in 1968 and other than a name change is still basically the same today as it was then.
Wall of gum.. Sounds cute, right?
I’ll give you some time to soak in the fact that these horrors have been sitting in a shack, abandoned, 30 miles south of your home.
Many people still believe firmly that Conneaut Lake Park has no future. Sad thing is, they’re pretty much right. As the site ”Truth About Conneaut Lake“ writes:
Perhaps the real questions should be “Can Conneaut Lake Park survive solely as an amusement park?” The short answer is “Probably not.”
Although operations in recent years have shown that the park’s rides, in their current state, have made money, it will be increasingly difficult for CLP to survive as just an amusement park. Unfortunately, insurance costs will continue to rise and similar amusement facilities will continue to compete fiercely with the latest thrills and technology.
Well, maybe it’s not technically “abandoned” anymore. But if you visit the park before November 1st, you definitely might notice that it’s still a bit “dead”. Eh? Ehhhh?
4 Comments
Dr. Moriarty’s Wild Ride looks horrifying! Reminds me of the Whacky Shack at Waldameer. Too bad those Laff In The Dark rides are on their way out. So sad
I did their Ghost Lake haunted house thing last year. It was pretty good. Some parts they didn’t even have to make it look scary, it just already was. There is a part of the park that must have caught fire because there are half melted street lamps and charred buildings. Really added to the atmosphere. They also led you through the hotel, which is supposed to really be haunted. I would recommend everyone go see it.
Yep, caught on fire last year I believe it was.
The haunted house is great! The best part is the old hotel. You wander up four or five stories and into the basement of the old hotel. Freaked me out. Also good was the Freddy Kreuger house. Pretty freaky as well. Well worth the ten bucks!