Wallie, now you know HOW IN BAD SHAPE THIS COUNTY'S COFFERS ARE. I assure you if this was in my hometown (Bayamon, PR) THIS WOULD'VE BEEN DEMOLISHED BEFORE THE 2016 ELECTIONS. Once a building is declared "public nuisance" by our municipality (a 200K+ town) the buildings would've been DEMOLISHED and the bill passed to the owners, who then the land would've be EXPROPRIATED TO RESELL if they didn't pay the city for the demolition costs. Quite a few buildings have been torn in our city because of this. Declared "nuisance" in 2014 and still (in March, 2020) stands....
Go karts were huge down there in the OBX for the longest time. It's a shame it died out. I went to that park a few times in the 90's. I can't believe it's still standing. i thought they had torn it down after not hearing about it for so long. There were so many different things to do there. Most the fun stuff was on the Soundside. There was a building with an arcade there that sold tickets to both sides rides as well. I'm pretty sure it was a walkway to help folks get across for the rides instead of braving traffic at those two stands.
Even if you weren't able to get in, filming the outside was just as worth it! Wow this looks amazing. Definitely would had loved to go here if it was open. Its a shame that storms had cuased so much damage to the place, which is very unfortunate. And now the goal is to demolish the property which sucks even more. Glad to at least see that you were able to go here and capture this place on film before it's gone.
I seen the old park while driving down to Hatteras about a couple of years ago, with my family. I wish that I could have seen it in its heyday. Even though its gone, I'm sure a lot of kids had memories of it.
So, a bit of background: I did my first bungee jump on the tower there on Labor Day Weekend in 2001 (I dragged my father down there, and I had a great day). I tried to go back a few years later, when I was in college. Honestly, I called them frequently trying to figure out when the tower would be open (they were advertising it but I don't think they had an instructor for it) since at the time it was the closest bungee site to me by several hundred miles (basically, a three-hour drive versus 10-14 hours and a probably-needed pair of hotel nights). No dice. The one day I did go, it was a bit of a mess...there weren't enough folks for a good go-kart race and the waterslides didn't really have enough water for a good slide. It was already in a clear decline...and that was in the 2005-07 timeframe.
I can't believe those ruins are still there! We loved this park right from the first year it opened. Could have sworn it was 1979, not 1980. I do know it was just the waterslides then. The go-carts & maybe bumper boats filled in not long after. I never knew it grew to have such a huge footprint.
Holy crap, I remember going to this place when my family would vacation on the OBX in the 90's. I remember most of the employees seemed to have Downs Syndrome--or some other mental disability--and didn't really know what they were doing. Scumbag managers probably paid them below minimum wage and worked them like slaves.
It's really sad that Waterfall Park closed. In spite of the fact that the park is in such bad shape it would be great to see someone re-open Waterfall Park. Though, maybe another park will be built there.
looks like a fun place at one time, never really know when any place will just close down and that's all there is...does look to far gone to restore , thanks for the video
I used to work here back in 2009 on a j1 visa and it was such a busy area during the summer. I loved my time there and it breaks my heart to see it closed.
I don't think I've got any abandoned waterparks near me... If any, it's few. The one 'waterpark' we have is still going (although I'm sure closed temporarily) That has like four pool areas. One like 3 ft deep, one around 5 ft, and one around 10 or 20 ft (or so), and also an outdoor one.
TBH This is something I'll often do if there is fencing blocking me from enterring, walk around. Sucks sometimes, but definitely better than nothing! 👍
You guys missed the crazy overgrown mini golf course between the water slides and the bumper boats (what you thought was a swimming pool)! Also, a lot of the dilapidation was done intentionally by the owners in an attempt to keep people from climbing the bungee tower, water slides, observation decks etc. It’s amazing that this abandoned park is still standing after all these years, but money talks! And the owners (their kids, anyway...) have no intention of cleaning things up and have put out an insanely huge asking price for the land.
They had 2 waterparks in the Calgary area and both have closed down years ago one was demolished and the other is still standing but in bad disrepair as it closed down in 1990 .
This is sad- but do the math. Now kids sit inside on phones doing soicial media and playing video games, or going outside consists of going to some kind of stupid political activist protest. Never dreamed things could have gone so sideways. Thanks Wally.. love all your content brother 🎉😊
Oh I can imagine. I know the Dare County Sheriffs and state police go up and down 12 all the time. One drove past when I was filming but didnt bother me as I was on the shoulder of the road. I knew better than to go in. It's so dangerous in there, to begin with.
@@WallieB26 hey I have some answers for you. My grandfather has had a house in rodanthe since 1975. He was the first house on his street and I use to walk to the water park. But the story is the park was owned by a Greek guy and he passed away and his son got the inheritance and still stays at the house on the property on the sound side sometimes. But once the father passed away he shut everything down and hasn't done anything with it since. But the big set of stairs was a bungee jumping platform and there is also a big water slide over there. And then on the sound side there's a big ditch where they would have little boats like a go-kart track. Let me know if you want any more information
this place is messy it reminds me of The Six flags in New Orleans that Got destroyed in Louisiana thats still abandoned as of 2020 this year will be the 15th year anniversary of hurricane Katrina though,
Not sure if this is the case for here but others in similar places usually stay abandoned due to back taxes. If the owners passed away and there are no known living relatives the potential buyers would be responsible for paying the taxes.
To my understanding there are back taxes due. I'm not 100% sure, though. But what I do know is one owner passed away several years ago and the family lives in Virginia and just doesnt do anything with this place despite getting several notices from Dare County to have it cleaned up to code or razed as it's a safety hazard. And by safety hazard, it's a breeding ground for mosquitoes, rats, snakes, and if people do happen to go on the property, there is a significant chance they'll get injured. I wouldnt have gone in even if this wasnt posted no matter how badly I wanted to get a good shot.
This is sad- but do the math. Now kids sit inside on phones doing soicial media and playing video games, or going outside consists of going to some kind of stupid political activist protest. Never dreamed things could have gone so sideways. Thanks Wally.. love all your content brother 🎉😊
