Abandoned Six Flags New Orleans - Creepy

[Pumpkin_Man]

I don't know which theme park you are refering to. Here in Illinois, out door theme parks are seasonal, and I don't think Great America is opened until mid April. I can't swear to that, but that seems about right. Nobody is going to take their kids and spend a pile of loot on a day at a theme park when the snow is a foot deep, or it's raining to beat the band.

Great America also has some great Halloween fun, or at least they use to, but I havent' been there in a while. Like I said, my experience there the last time I visited was far less then ideal. I was with my grand nieces and nephew, and it was so disapointing I was actualy embarassed. I was really hoping to turn my oldest grand niece onto the Great American Eable roller coaster, and it was closed, along with almost every other exciting ride in the place. The employees there seemed to have copping out down to a science as all I could get from any of them was excuses and "I'm sorry, but I cant' help you." The food was the worst I ever had, and it would have actualy been cheaper for me to take the kids and myself to the House of Houghes, and treated them to Prim Rib, then those bone fragment laden hamburgers we tried to choke down. We all really looked forward to that trip to Great America, too. It was sort of a family tradition. I took all of my nieces and nephews (Their aunts, uncles and parents) to Great America and introduced them to the Great American Eagle. Here I thought I was passing on a happy family tradition, and all I handed them was a cop out laden disappointment. It just wasn't worth the power to blow it up.

I did say that I wanted to take them to the 6 flags park in St. Louis, but I am going to check it out on my own first. That will cost me a lot in terms of money, but it might save me some embarassment.

Mike

[Spookymufu]

if you have ever watched the Discovery TV show "Son of Guns" you would have seen this park on that show, they gun shop gang was building a blank firing UZI to be used by a movie crew that filming a movie at that park......

[iHaunt]

REcently read that the city has exercised imminent domain over the property and it is scheduled to be demolished for scrap.

[Pumpkin_Man]

The way I remember it is the city purchased the property from 6 Flags, supposedly to sell to another amusement park company, but I have my doubts about that. I seriously doubt all those 6 Flags employees will ever see their jobs again. Not that working at a theme park is some kind of a fabulous career, but it's sad to see how big business will use a disaster like the 05 hurican that hit New Orleans, as an excuse to pad their proffits.

Of course, the way they let Great America go to seed, it's no suprise.

Mike

[iHaunt]

And, I read somewhere that they're going to build some condos around there is what the city talking about.... well, not so sure if they are going to rebuild another amusement park because the city has no money at all! Believe it or not, I guess that they will build some beautiful condonimun homes for people in New Orleans. I dunno.

[Pumpkin_Man]

The city isn't going to build anything. The city will sell the land to a developer who will build either the afore mentioned condos or another amusement park. Cities generaly don't build amusement or theme parks. They build public parks or public housing, but not theme parks or condos.

Mike

[iHaunt]

Let them build what they want to do with that place!

[Pumpkin_Man]

Just so long as they don't let it become a hang out for gang bangers and the like. I felt bad for all the employees of 6 flags who lost their jobs, and will likely not see employment for some time to come because of it. I realize a theme park is not what you would cal an "upwardly mobile" career, but I'm sure it beats unemployment.

At any rate, the 6 flags theme park in my area is still in business, but it's a ghost of it's former self any more.

Mike

[SpookyBlackKat]

My heart broke when I saw that they plan on demolishing this place. Yeah, it's a wreck and I know they are working to clean the place up, but I look at these pictures and videos and I am DYING to go there for a gothic/last-human-alive photo shoot. Let me go visit and run around the place (in daytime hours) before demolishing. I have some family in New Orleans so I'm trying to figure out any updates from them. Will keep you good folks posted!

[Murfreesboro]

Nashville used to have a terrific theme park called Opryland. It was similar to Six Flags, in that it had a number of wonderful shows in addition to the rides. However, that complex was sold to some Belgian corporation, and they got greedy to have something that would make money during the winter, too. So they dismantled Opryland after it had been in the community for 25 years and built a shopping mall. The mall got flooded when Nashville had a 1000-yr-flood last May, and it still hasn't reopened. They are saying now that it will reopen in one year.

For some reason, amusement parks seem to have fallen on hard times. Our family went up to Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom in Louisville a few years ago and had an enjoyable day. However, I believe Six Flags was going to close that park. I think I've heard that someone else bought it and it is still open now under another name. I know from our Nashville experience how hard it is on a community to get used to something like that and then not have it anymore.

Dolly Parton's theme park, Dollywood, still operates over near Pigeon Forge, TN (Smoky Mountains), but I have never been there.

[Pumpkin_Man]

Like restaurants, theme parks are very expensive operations, and huge corporations allways have an edge over the smaller operators. As for hard times, that's been the case for all recreational business, be it theme parks or vacation resorts. The ecconomy, despite what you hear on tv, is the worst it ever was in many, many years. Many believe, and I tend to agree, that we aren't in a recession, we are actualy in a depression, and the unemployment rate is not being reported by the media truthfully. It's actualy over 20%, which is higher then it was in the early 30s, when it hovered right at 20%. I really am very lucky that I have a job today.

Yes, when something has been an icon in the communityf or as many years as that, it is sad to see it taken away by corporate greed. That's why I'm so honked off about Great America. A trip to Great America use to be a wonderful family outing, and was something that I and my nieces and nephews use to look forward to. Now a days, it's, as I said before, a ghost of it's former self. In fact, a buddy of mine who was there more recently then I was, said that it resembled a scene from one of these post-apocholypse movies.

For the record, I allways wanted to visit Opryland, and was heart broken when I heard it was done away with.

Mike

[Murfreesboro]

The closing of Opryland happened so fast that many people in this community didn't even believe it. They announced the closure, then shipped all the rides off to Indianapolis, within about 10 days one December. Nobody knew it was going to happen before the announcement was made. It has really hurt tourism in Nashville, too. I don't think the tourists have ever come back in the same numbers as they did before Opryland was closed.

I happen to agree with you about the economy, Mike. I don't know if things are as bad as the early '30s--I kind of doubt it, having grown up hearing my mother's horror stories of that time. But I do think things may be the worst they've been since then, and I also believe that the media are under-reporting how bad it is, deliberately spinning the story to make things seem better than they are.

[Halloweennut08]

That was a very good movie clip whoever picked a good song and had very good movie making abilities. It looked like one of those cut scenes at the end of like the zombie movies at the end to show the damage.

[Pumpkin_Man]

Murfee, we had a lot less supportive services back in the 30s, which is why so many people were so hard hit. Social Security didn'e even exist until late 1932, so when the big crash of 29 hit, a lot of people lost their entire life savings along with their jobs. Today, there's unemployment insurance, social seciruty, welfare, and a whole host of other social programs that soften the proverbial blow, but unfortunately the jobs are disappearing right and left. Additionaly, when a company does finaly hire, the jobs that open are usualy minimum wage jobs with very little upward mobility.

So I think if it's not as bad as it was during the Great Depression of the 30s, it's certainly headed in that direction. I certainly have plenty of reason to believe that it's going to get worse before it gets any better.

Mike

[Murfreesboro]

So I think if it's not as bad as it was during the Great Depression of the 30s, it's certainly headed in that direction. I certainly have plenty of reason to believe that it's going to get worse before it gets any better.

Mike

I wish I could disagree with you, but I don't. I am worried about how much money we've been printing (paper, nothing to back it up) and I'm worried about whether or not other countries are going to continue to see us as the most stable economy in the world. If the dollar ceases to be the world's reserve currency, I think that could have very scary ramifications for us.

I'm not trained in economics, so I don't fully understand this stuff. But my gut tells me it's not good, and it's not getting better.