I was trying to improve my Mangrove Jack fishing technics last night by resorting to watching YouTube videos because this year's season of Jack fishing has shattered my confidence with endless donuts. After the first video, a suggestion popped up, that I should watch a video on an abandon six flags amusement parks. My ADHD quickly kicked in which made me completely forget why I was watching YouTube in the first place, which led me to a late night watching abandoned park videos.
It got me thinking, how many other people have ventured into old theme parks?
When I was young whipper snapper after Brisbane’s Expo88 theme park closed down, the site laid dormant for many years. The park’s rides were removed but many structures remained. The offices/storage areas which were under the theme park remained too.
I don’t know why I was in South Brisbane with my mates because back in the day, South Brisbane wasn’t a safe place to be in but we were walking past the entrance and realised the roller door that coved the entrance was missing and you could freely trespass inside. Trespass might be a strong word because as we entered, police rode past on their bikes and said nothing to us. (to us, that was a green light)
I think we spent a good few hours exploring the old park, it felt like we were back at the park when it was open but only we didn’t go on any rides. (because there was none😵🤦♀️) When I look back on the juvenile trespassing experience it was a great & strange experience at the same time. After exploring the main park area we decided to explore the offices that ran underneath the park. (For people who don’t know much about the park, Expo 88 Fun Park was an elevated theme park and under the theme park had storage and offices. See Parkz attached photo to see how the park was elevated above the street). We entered the start of the underneath area which we thought might have been an old office and we came across loads of items that the park left behind when it closed down. It was like Christmas for a theme park enthusiast, from hats to Expo 88 Fun Park logos printed on cups. After exploring the first room we moved into the next room filled with anticipation on what we might find next when my friend yelled. “Get out!” I have never run so fast in my life and I didn’t know what I was running from but from what I heard in his voice, I knew he wasn’t joking. We ran all the way out of the park and onto the sidewalk. Once he got his breath back, he informed us people were sleeping on the floor. I didn’t end up with one souvenir from that trip to Expo88 Fun Park but running through the theme park, back onto the sidewalk, I had never been more scared in a theme park. I guess the old girl, still had one thrill left in her.
Expo 88 Theme Park overlooking street.
Video that started my YoutTube marathon.