North America's Worst Theme Park 

My Therapist: The deer park isn’t real. It can’t hurt you. The Deer Park: 🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌

I think they'd be better off just rebranding the entire park as Liminal Space Land

Wow, so much space, and yet this guy couldn’t utilize it for properly taking care of his marine animals?! And the fact he evicted people from their homes for land that he also never utilized is just heartbreaking.

Came back to this video to share this. On March 9th 2023, Marinelands Orca, Kiska, passed away. She was buried on the parks property, probably in the undeveloped area. Kiska died from bacterial infection and is assumed to be 47 years old. She was captured from Icelandic waters in 1979, which was the same time Keiko (also known as Free Willy) was captured. Kiska had 5 calves. The one who lived the longest was her 5th calf named Hudson, who only lived to 6. Marineland has not released a statement about Kiskas death. RIP Kiska.

The fact that Marineland thought that they would impact the tourism in Niagara Falls if they were to not exist when there’s literally THE NIAGARA FALLS is mind boggling

Even forgetting the animal abuse this park looks depressing as hell.

This place feels like something you'd see as a scenario in Roller Coaster Tycoon where the goal was fixing the park and repaying the loan

Another thing about the size of the tanks. Orcas use echolocation, so the small size of the tank would actually drive them insane as the soubdwaves return so rapidy. Its like a person being put in a room with an iPhone alarm going of constantly all day, every day.

The fact that somebody ended their own life because they were forced out of their only home to make way for expansion that never even happened really just is despicable. I hope Paula is resting peacefully. Absolutely sad.

This park feels like a park that someone playing roller coaster tycoon for the first time would make. There’s barely any restaurants, it’s ridiculously large, and all the rides are spread out to an absurd degree.

I haven't been to Marine Land since 2006, I was a child and even then I was bored out of my mind. Do you know how boring an amusement park needs to be for an ADHD child to be bored?

Very sadly, Kiska the Orca - known as the loneliest Orca in the world - died yesterday, 10th March 2023. She gave birth to 5 calves during her time at Marineland, all of whom died, the last in 2011. I hope the people who own it just close down this shameful waste of beauty and intelligence masquerading as entertainment. R.I.P. Kiska.

The second I heard “Radical animal rights activists” I just knew this place was going to be a trainwreck lmao

Can.. can we just think about how they just, bought a whole freaking trailer park, evicted a bunch of household against their will, only to never use the land or have any intentions of using the land???

This park feels like someone’s first park in Roller Coaster Tycoon. Like someone went into sandbox mode, built one prebuilt coaster, that droptower, a shocking amount of deer in a zoo enclosure, and depressingly small enclosures for an Orca.

What broke my heart the most was that the Orca is alone. It’s horrible enough that any of those animals are out of their natural habitat, but Orcas are extremely social creatures. That Orca is being tormented emotionally in so many ways😔

you know its bad when sea world sues another marine park for poor living conditions for animals

I’ve never seen a place more depressing than marineland. I also feel bad for the animals who were put into the park, a lot of them died there too. It still surprises me how this place survived the pandemic and still exists…

That park is so huge, a ~good~ developer could divide it into sections with a small amusement park, a decent-sized zoo, and a nature park, with food stands and shops placed throughout. With tourists already coming to Niagara Falls, I feel like that would be genuinely popular. This is just sad.

This is the "dead liminal mall" of theme parks. Incredibly dated 70s architecture and still somehow operating, but completely devoid of people and falling apart.

Kiska just died. She was a prisoner and was given a life sentence and left isolated for far too long. RIP Kiska, you’re finally free now.

I went there once with my family on a trip to Niagara Falls. Tickets were part of a package deal that we had for our trip, and I remember my parents absolutely fuming over this place. My Dad called it the worst park he's ever been to, and my mom was criticizing the lack of....everything. I was trying SO hard to make my parents think I was having fun because at 11 years old, I felt bad for them. This place is miserable, it makes its animals miserable, and it makes its guests miserable as well.

I love how they talk about killing jobs in Niagara Falls. Half of their attractions aren't even open - how many people are even employed???

Update on the park, Kiska has died at age 47 on the 9th of March, 2023. I only hope she's now swimming in an endless ocean in the great beyond

rest in peace to Kiska, to the woman who ended her life and to all of the other beings who have suffered because of this place. i remember seeing their commercial all the time on tv when i was a kid and luckily i never went. i can still hear the theme song in my head and now im 26. my heart goes out to Kiska, read in an article that she would drift aimlessly in the water and bang her head against the wall of her enclosure. breaks my heart.

This place LOOKS like they took an abandoned theme park and did the idea of re-opening it AS “an old abandoned theme park” theme park, what is this chaos

Man, what a depressing place. the phrase "liminal space fishtank hell" summed it up perfectly. From the vast empty roads to nowhere to the underwhelming looking attrations for that price, and especially the horrifically small and barren animal enclosures (especially when the park is sitting on a footprint larger than all 4 disney parks), this feels like the theme park equivalent of limbo.

"A quarter-scale replica of Niagara Falls (nearby to Niagara Falls)" has the same energy as Defunctland's "A California-themed park in the already California-themed California."

I'm no tree hugging, peta vegan... but these large marine mammals should absolutely not be held in captivity like this to be seen for a 50 dollar ticket, or any reason.

Evicted those folks from the mobile home park and didn’t do a damn thing with the land. Absolutely disgusting. Just an abandoned mobile home park now. And those ppl prob struggled a long time to find housing after being evicted.

My family went to this park when I was a kid. The most memorable part was when one of the deer was doing a really long pee and another deer was drinking it.

I worked at Marineland as a ride op about 15 years ago and what you said about the trees on Dragon Mountain are so true. We used to have to do branch checks every few days and ride the ride with arms out to the side of the car stretched as far as we could. If we felt a leaf brush our fingers or a branch, we had to report to maintenance who would eventually go out and trim the trees back in that area. Horrible place for what they do to the animals but it was a mostly fun summer job.

10:56 Okay. That has to be the saddest "aquarium" exhibit I've ever seen. Not only is it a literal goldfish tank... it's empty.

Drove past MarineLand yesterday, took 5 minutes to get past the empty parking lots.. If you’re in Niagara you’re better off going to a vineyard or just planning your day to visit one of the many conservation areas, where you can see deer (not behind a fence) and other animals for free

Legally, they might have achieved the bare minimum necessary, but ethically? Those conditions look downright depressing. A single Orca swimming in circles in a bland tank with nothing else to do, for what will likely be its entire life. And the segment about watching people take smartphone pictures and then walking away... is that worth keeping these creatures around? So damn sad.

I went here a couple times as a child, in my teens I had a friend who worked there for a total of two days and quit because of the abuse she witnessed towards the animals. I can’t believe in 2023 it is still operating, it’s crazy how different it looks. Honestly it just needs to shut down it’s so heartbreaking the things that took place within those thousand acres.

My younger sister almost died on one of their rides (currently abandoned). Either the height requirement should have been higher or they should reconsider how to restraint passengers. My sister slipped underneath the lap bar and if my mother hadn't been there to hold her down, my sister's body would have gone flying. Scary experience

The fact that Marineland somehow managed to survive the pandemic is insane. Who knows, maybe some company will buy it out. This park really has a lot of untapped potential with the insane amount of land it has.

Wait. Marineland is open? I went by there in early June and I thought the place was closed. It’s looks abandoned. The high grass and privacy screens on the fence really complete the look. This is a stunning revelation

I’m very late responding on this, but I actually worked for a land survey company based in Niagara Falls and Marineland was one of their clients. After the founder basically got too sick to be actively involved, his family started doing a massive buying spree, because the area is surrounded by a ton of tiny bits and pieces of land that random people owned. The theory in the company was that the owners were trying to get everything in the area they could so they could sell to Six Flags or Cedar Parks and just wash their hands of it, because they fully own the land and don’t have any good way to get rid of it and the enormous property taxes that come with it.

I remember me and my mom would make fun of the commercials with us both singing “everybody hates marineland!”

I laughed really hard at your wife's comment about the dolphin looking like it had been smoking and drinking diet coke for years.

I worked at Marineland and I can honestly say it was the worse job I have ever had. It was also the only job where I felt my life was in danger, not just once but twice. My first day they had me collecting trash from the side of Skyscreamer mountain, if you can even call it that. My best guess it that they pushed earth and rock to form a large hill and built a ride on top. Since its comprised of loose rock it was incredibly difficult to get a solid footing, and at times I nearly stumbled down. My supervisor never provided rope, so I made use of some wild vines to move around like Tarzan. Second incident was a bit stranger. For whatever reason the owner really loved this bushy shrub called Spirea. Now I was hired to do landscaping, so you imagine I know a few things about plants and their upkeep. Trust me, this will become relevant shortly. It was late May or June, I'm not 100% sure, but I remember it being cloudy and windy. Supervisor instructed me to water the freshly planted Spirea. Sure, easy job, what could possibly go wrong? Now I was wearing shorts and a short sleeved shirt that morning and even though the Skyscreamer is built upon a literal pile of rock, it can still get a bit chilly up there due to the wind. After about thirty minutes I finished and started putting away the hose when that fat dickhead rolled up in his SUV. All of the spirea showed signs of root rot from over watering days before. It just happens that yellowy and dropping leaves can also be seen as lack of watering. So the fat man mumbles about how his plants are dying and I should water them again. Okay, sure, you sign my paycheck. Pull out the hose, while getting drenched in the process. By this point I'm noticeably shivering due to the weather and being soaked. Fat man comes back a second time! The ground a muddy quagmire but yet I was ordered to keep watering. I'm freezing my ass off at this point, so I waited for him to leave and scaled down the same hill I nearly twisted a ankle a few weeks prior. Also the place had a disturbing amount of feral cats. And the walking, holy fuck, the walking. Some days I was giving a weed-eater and a can of gas and told, "here to there, good luck." I didn't witness any of the animal abuse but everything there did look depressing.

Keiko, the star of free willy, was sold to the Mexico City park Reino Adventura by Marineland when he was bullied too much by older female orcas to be a "good" performer (in the now dolphin stadium). He was small and timid with no relatives around to stand up for him, and Marineland decided he wasn't going to make them enough money. There was also an orca named Junior who was kept in a warehouse with no sunlight until his death. Marineland was hoping to sell the captured orca for money but didn't find a buyer in time. Absolutely deplorable. Katina, previously known as Kandu at Marineland, was sold to SeaWorld in 1979 and is still alive today. Mixed feelings on that, but she definitely would have died already if she had stayed at Marineland. It's shocking that SeaWorld sent Ikaika, one of their young males, on "breeding loan" to Marineland in 2006 given the park's neglect and history- but at the time, Kiska still had a female tankmate and one young surviving daughter. When all but Kiska passed away, there was no reason to leave him there on "breeding" loan with a single elderly female and neglectful care.

So I’ve heard that the employees are being laid off and the rides are no longer operating Safe to say MarineLand has officially closed down

i think an amusement park developer should just buy it from Marineland, revive some of the good rides, and make it a miniature Canada's Wonderland or something like that

That poor Orca. Just seeing the footage was incredibly depressing. You can tell by the falling fin, and the sagging tail that it is listless, sick, and depressed. They would do well to sell every bit of land, and use the money to care for that creature, OR to just give the Orca to some place that would be better for it. The fact that they tout plans for new attractions instead of any intent to care better for their animals really underestimates the Intelligence of park goers. Seeing a sad animal like that would immediately detract anyone from going.

I feel for the caretakers who I'm sure know the terrible conditions the animals are in and are doing their best on the animal's behalf.

I wouldn't even describe this as "worst," I'd use the word "saddest." You go to Epcot or the Magic Kingdom even on a particularly slow day, it's still pretty crowded. And you may do a lot of walking at those parks too, but that's because they need that space to fit all the attractions in. Rarely is there anywhere you're just walking through empty woods.

Hearing about the careless treatment of the animals and seeing how small their habitats are reminded me of Honey the Dolphin a few years back. A Japanese marine park was abandoned and some animals sold off but a dozen penguins a single dolphin were left abandoned. Previous workers would break into the place to feed them. We only have drone footage of honey floating alone in a pond of filthy green water. There were petitions and phone calls for over a year to try and get the owners to move her, other places even offering to take her. She died there. Alone. In filth. The parks are shameful.

You know this theme park is gonna be fire when they start complaining about those gosh darn liberal animal rights activists in their brochure.

Many years ago, my husband and I went to a place in upstate New York called Catskill Game Farm. I remember thinking how miserable a lot of the animals looked and how cramped and barren the enclosures were. They had a pygmy hippo in a concrete enclosure that had no dirt, no grass, no vegetation, nothing but a concrete enclosure with a rectangular pool just barely big enough for the hippo to float in, filled with the grossest water I've ever seen. It just floated thete, doing nothing, nothing to do or look at. I felt so bad for the animals, and felt like by going there we were encouraging the owners to keep the place open. It's been closed for a long time. All the zoos and animal parks now have to have huge natural enclosures for the animals.

I find it ironic that the park has this gargantuan amount of space that's not being used- But then Confines its aquatic animals to essentially a few buckets of water. :-/

"Why do you want to kill jobs in Niagara Falls?" just makes me laugh. Dude, you're in Niagara Falls. Look at the state of this place. You wouldn't be missed for one second.

Fellow Québécois here. Marineland was heavily advertised on TV (in French) back in the days especially in the late 80s. As a kid back then we asked our parents of traveling at least 9 hours by car to Niagara falls for this attraction. At the end we didn't and we forget as time passes by. Now that you showed us how it actually looks, I'm thankful that you saved us from disappointment.

That is an insane amount of unused land in complete isolation if the park closes. There could be some shady things going on down there.

"Any leaks you may see are not a concern..." I have never seen a park gaslight its guests like this park good lord.

I don’t even go to sea world anymore and it’s not nearly as depressing as this place The fact that they evicted all those people is evil AF.

I have a brilliant idea. They should sell this park to Merlin Entertainment and give this park a brand new name and identity to it. Merlin could turn this property into an entire resort. They could turn this into the Alton Towers or Thorpe Park of North America by adding new rides and roller coasters in all that undeveloped land. They could also add an attached water park and maybe, if they chose to keep the marine animals, convert the exhibits into a Sea Life Aquarium with newly renovated exhibits that would be more appropriately approved for the animals. Finally, they could build a hotel on the space of that former RV park. This is just wishful thinking most likely but just imagine if it could happen and how it could make some serious competition for Canada's Wonderland and maybe even La Ronde.

The aquarium that no longer has anything in it, is the 1 thing I remember about being on the property back when i was 4/5 the one time i went. I remember seeing a group of penguins standing in the far right corner of the room next to the waterfall…. But they didn’t look happy. They were scared.

Never realized an amusement park could be a liminal space. This is a very scary place, don’t ever go there.

If you look into Kiska’s captive life, and the incredible intelligence and family bonds of wild orcas, it’s just horrible. All of her calves have died. She’s the only orca held completely alone in the world. There’s recent video of her beaching herself on her slide out and bashing her head against the glass wall. Many of the belugas, walruses, and sea lions have died, and then are covered up. It’s a goddamn mess.

I watched this only to google Marineland and find out that Kiska died in March and just yesterday new charges were filed regarding the care of the black bears. Earlier this month, TWO belugas died and apparently the park is up for sale.

Wow, thanks for the video. I grew up in relatively nearby Grimsby, Ontario and was a regular in Marineland during the 80's as a boy. My memories of the park are good, but even back then during the hayday, I felt it was a bizarre park, especially when one compares it to the countless rides at Canada's Wonderland. It's sad to realize that many attractions in the region never quite made it to their intended greatness, such as Prudhomme's Landing (Vineland) and Ontario Place (Toronto). Watching your video I felt like I was one of the ghosts lining up at one of the boarded-up snack bars.

They need to go all out- eliminate the animals, displays AND rides. Fully embrace its new purpose as a Liminal Spaces amusement park.

This park is like an any% speedrun of a Roller Coaster Tycoon level, it's like they did everything to make the bare minimum to meet objectives and theming requirements meanwhile they splattered all the easy to place, profit generating attractions and neglected all long term potential to beat the goal window.

My memory is dreadful, but I remember visiting this park as a child. The jingle brought back memories! I rarely visited theme parks as a child, so this was a treat for my family and I. I visited in the early 2000s and I remember it being a really unenjoyable and expensive experience. Now that I am older and looking back at my experience, I do recall being saddened by the animals. Their enclosures are so small. I really think these animals (even the deer) should be taken in by an organization that actually cares about its animals and the park should be shut down. It's a failure of a theme park on so many fronts.

I live in Toronto and grew up on these ads. I also refuse to go and have never been. Thanks for taking one for the team so I can see the shame inside. 😊

This is so sad for the animals. The Orcas in that small tank breaks my heart. The entire park looks boring, decrepit and dangerous. I wouldn't ride those rides if they paid me. Thank you for reporting on this.

Fun Fact those two factories on around Marineland that the trainline transports goods for are chemical and cermanics plants dealing with some highly toxic and carcinogenic compounds. Fun Fact part of Marinelands back property was used as a Prisoner of War Camp in WW2 Also last time I was there as a teenager (about 15 years ago) the my harness on Dragon Mountain failed and they refused to stop the ride, leading me to hold on for dear life and when I reported it at the end of the ride the operator just shrugged and said that happens sometimes dont worry

Here's why Dragon Mountain looks jerky from the track; Back in 1980s, Dragon Mountain, and basically every Arrow looper in general, was designed by hand, namely the cloth hanger that can be bended, by Ron Toomer, this was before CAD (Computer Aided Design) became a norm these days, but Toomer rejected the idea of using CAD because it's too expensive and time consuming for Arrow, so you could see the sketchy design, sketchy profiling and jerky transitions from the track, although in the 90s, Arrow would use the CAD design during the time when Alan Schilke started working as a designer for later coasters from Arrow, you can see why Tennessee Tornado is so smooth, because the CAD design fixed this issue, allowing for smooth ride and better maintenance. Also, from 1981 to 1984, Arrow Dynamics was named Arrow-Huss, since Arrow merged with Huss in 1981.

We went to this park in 1984 or 85. The rollercoaster was fairly new. The brochure had an illustration of what the rollercoaster was supposed to look like -- with massive water features as soon as you come out of the tunnel, that would almost look like Niagara Falls. They never did build it. If they would have focused on creating a small section of their land, little by little, I think it could have been successful. But when you enter a park and everything is so far away, it looks empty, and looks depressing.

I remember being a young kid in the early nineties, seeing the ads and asking my mom if we could go there. She told me that we would never go there because they were cruel to their animals and we would never support that. This was well before Blackfish, so people who cared knew as far back as twenty years ago.

I've been to MarineLand dozens of times. And each time I went, it felt more depressing. It got emptier, felt boring, and seeing the animals was honestly sad. The animals looked so depressed and I felt bad for them. All those endless paths leading to nowhere, rides shutting down, lack of people. I even remember walking past this one abandoned ride that was so old it had plants growing all over it. I never want to go there again and, honestly, it should just be shut down for good. The animals deserve better.

There was a ride at MarineLand that was just a dragon boat. People sat in, and it rises and falls slightly in a circular motion, from what I recall. I was wondering why my 2 brothers were sitting in it and laughing(I went on another ride and found them on this). There was barely anyone on it, so the operator just let us stay on as long as we wanted. Well, it turns out, if you don't hold on to the handle bars in front of you, the jerking motion causes the person in the seat to fall forward slightly and land on the bars in front of them (I cannot remember if they were foam padded or metal)The force felt like being punched or kicked in the stomach by the safety bars. That's why my brothers thought it was hilarious, the ride can actually hurt you. We went on it 10 times and intentionally let this ride beat us up. A family, a father and his kids, went on the ride during us and I heard him say, "This is dangerous!" I should also add that I was hit on by one of the other operators later even though I was 14.

This is horrible and the animal exhibits are beyond pissing me off. I grew up in California in the Bay Area we had Marine World, they changed the name years ago and I don’t remember what it’s called now. As a kid you don’t understand how bad this is for the animals. I now live in Florida we would go to Busch Gardens a lot before but now it’s too expensive. They seem to take care of the animals, the animals (for the most part) have huge enclosures and wide open spaces. Some could use more space but at least they all seem to have an area fit for them. Busch Gardens sister park is in Orlando and it’s called Sea world, I’ve never been and refuse to go because no matter how much they try to make the areas more like the homes theses animals would have in the wild they will never have big enough tanks for the whales, seals, dolphins, etc. I never blame the animals when one hurts or kills a trainer or some idiot that thinks it’s a good idea to jump into the enclosure. It’s one thing if it’s a rehab or sanctuary for animals needing help or that can never be returned to the wild but to capture and/or breed these beautiful creatures in captivity for financial gain and entertainment is repulsive. Same goes for circuses. That only scratches the surface if their living conditions, the ways they are treated and abused to get them to perform is criminal.

Kiska has had 5 offspring at marineland and all died. She is said to be heard calling out for them even in late hours of the night. That nice path at the back of the park is a mass grave site for all their abused animals.

they should turn this into an abandonned dystopian theme park. They have a good base for that and empty fishtanks would just add to that vibe

I remember 20 years ago me and my dad entered the deer park, my dad got an ice cream cone full of deer feed to give them. The deer surrounded him and were nibbling him for the food, pretty much assaulted him for the cone. I was only maybe 6 or 7 at the time but I still think to this day it was the hardest I’ve ever laughed in my life. The park might not be the best, but I’m happy I got that memory with my dad out of it. It was so funny I wish I could explain it better

You think the current tank for the orca is small? That dolphin show? That tank (and the 2 smaller tanks flanking it) is were where they were kept when I was young.... So things are improved from the '90's. I remember waiting in lines, I remember the whale show (and dolphins) was at one time mostly full seating, I remember school trips and crowds (but not crowded) paths, I remember bears in the pit by Dragon Mountain and deer that would mob and basically attack you if you had food. I remember being exhausted as a kid after half a day in the park and just wanting to sit. All this before the Beluga Whales came in. Seeing that video of the rundown and practically abandoned park hit me harder than I expected but at the same time, I'm not surprised. Times have changed and what was already controversially small tanks back in the 90's is now beyond acceptable today and the appeal has been lost.

You know for a theme park called Marineland, there barely any themeing related to the ocean or anything aquatic. Like looks like more of a medieval themed zoo then an actual marine park. How do you messed that up!

When I went the black bears were all incredibly depressed and the $7 “bear food” we were given to toss at them was literally just corn pops. Also my friend got robbed in Arctic Cove. Honestly this park represents the general vibe of Niagara Falls pretty well. Depressing, desolate and rife with overpriced tourist traps. Also if you think MarineLand is Canada’s most liminal amusement park, you should look into the history of Story Land in Renfrew.

As someone living in the Northeastern U.S I have visited Niagara Falls and it was absolutely beautiful. Loved that there was massive ice chunks in the distance from the distance before falling down the water fall. I never got Marineland but I do know that Dragon Mountain is their largest ride in Canada. I definitely want to revisit Niagara falls in the future.

I remember going there when I was a little kid in the late 80s I loved it but I was also a little kid I don’t remember half of the attractions that they showed in there. I remember the deer Park which is that time you could actually go in and walk around with the deer and I remember the roller coaster but that’s about it. I don’t think we knew that there was anything else around to do.

That owner is a straight up bastard!!! I can’t believe that he evicted all those people in their trailer park and a 67 year old woman ended up committing suicide. I’m angry 😡 now.

"An exhibit with a shocking amount of deer." Ah, I see they're taking the roadside zoo approach. Essentially, guests love to see baby animals. Deer are more than willing to breed in captivity. This leads to zoos with more deer they can possibly de with. Most of the time they keep them until it becomes a health problem then they either have to shoot them or send them to a game farm where they'll be shot. Fun times.

I have visited this park for many years throughout my childhood. I would always see protesters outside the park but I never really questioned it since I was young and my brain was still mush. But one day my mom told me why the protestors were always outside the park and it made little me pretty sad. At one point my family started going to Canada's Wonderland instead, and I never even knew an amusement park could have so much restaurants, attractions, and just be so colourful in general! Watching this video made me realize that apparently it's not normal for an amusement park to be this empty and spacious? I never knew that, so it was pretty interesting to hear! And it also made me reflect on my experience at this park... and now I'm just concerned. Thank you for making this video, I enjoyed it a lot!

I'm Australian and I've just learnt about this theme park.... It's a massive shocker to see how a park ends up like this. I see exceptional parks like SeaWorld at Gold Coast, Australia and then look at this mess and just think, how?....

This needs to be a permanent Ren Faire ground. Give up on the poor marine animals and put the nice-ish castle and the "thatched" food stands to better use.

I worked there for 2 years back around 2010 as a ride operator. I've got plenty of stories. My father was a welder who helped construct the Dragon Mountain rollercoaster, and he's got a photo of himself welding some track somewhere in the house.

I used to go to Marineland yearly until I was about 7 years old (22 years ago jfc), and we stopped going altogether because of how exhausting it was to walk everywhere. It was a bit more bustling back then, but its un-walkability has always been an issue. They really did bite off more than they could chew 💀

My grandparents used to take me here as a kid, and lacking context I just thought every theme park involved multi-mile hikes to isolated rides in small forests. It used to be much busier, I remember, but it was always so big that even during what could be considered it's heyday there was a feeling of things being empty and parts of the park not being utilized because there just weren't enough guests to justify opening the stands or running the rides.

Wow. The overgrowth and weeds alone throughout the park make it seem unsafe. If they don't have money to keep up the landscaping, do they have money to take care of rides properly or the animals?

As a theme park fan in Ontario, Ontario Place closing a decade ago instead of Marineland proves we're in the darkest timeline. We could have had our own Canadian version of Epcot, but instead we've got a rotting corpse masquerading as Sea World

Update: Park is temporary closed and Kiska died in March 10, 2023. Bacterial Infection.

Seeing Marine Land made me think of a theme park not far from my area. It used to be called Marine World during my childhood in the 90s and it was all about seeing animals do great performances. Then when I was 13 in 2001 the name changed to Marine World Theme Park and they added a whole bunch of rides. Then I think only a year later Six Flags bought it and it became Six Flags Marine World and it remained that for a long time, but much more recently they changed the name to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom for some reason which completely disregarded its origin.

There's no "alleged" in terms of animal mistreatmeant/cruelty. Keeping a social animal like an Orca in what amounts to solitary confinement in a closet is itself mistreatment, and it's open to the public to see.

Update: Marineland has registered with the Ontario Government to rezone the site and sell the park. Nothing of value will be lost.

Imagine being a beluga unfortunate enough to be placed in Marineland of all places. It really is just sad, seeing the lack of people, lack of sizeable enclousers, and barely any theming really adds to this. Even if there is a chance that they have not mistreated the animals, it is still undeniable that the animals deserve a better place to live.

RIP Kiska, this video really makes you understand how lonely it was.