The Abandoned History of Loudoun Castle Theme Park - Scotland | Expedition Extinct 

As an American the fact that there are all these castle ruins just chillin around the country is so wild to me. I'm trying to think of what the American equivalent of building a theme park around an abandoned ruin would be - maybe we can revitalize Detroit by building a theme park in the ruins of an old car factory or something.

7:26 "How does Loudoun Castle make you feel?" *spends 1/3 of the commercial on old people slowly dancing*

RIP the only theme park in Scotland with good rides

This was my favourite place as a kid. I use to go crazy, sadly all we have left is MnD’s and anyone from Scotland on here knows how “amazing” that is 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Took a drive past Galston yesterday and it looks like the chairswing has finally been dismantled. Loudoun Castle wasn't much, but it was the best local theme park we had in Scotland. Loved that place!

I'm from Scotland man loved this video so much 🤔 Sad to see it go all we have now is M&D's

This is my childhood wrapped up in one video!

It's so weird how many historic sites became mediocre theme parks in GB.

Oh hell yeah! I have been waiting for this for almost 10 months. Thank you so much for talking my request!

Too bad that swing ride couldn’t be saved. It seemed outlandish, but impressive and cool looking.

This was my local theme park. So many happy memories. Thank you so much for making this video

Very sad the drone footage part with the music seeing that Apollo chair lift structure just dying there. I actually remember seeing it as a tiny kid at the Dutch park ("Ponypark Slagharen") alongside its brother. I remember having a map to the Dutch park and the two globes very prominently featured on there. In the 80s these types of rides looked amazing to a child. The fact the Loudoun park operated so many hand me down coasters and other rides probably didn't help ever boost attendance figures as much as a new coaster would have done, but at the same time I can't help but think many UK parks don't seem to take aesthetics seriously. That Schwarzkopf Slitherin' coaster has become Brontojet in Italy and now looks in MUCH better shape. It shows you what can be done with even old(er) coasters. New lick of paint, new parts, new trains with modern restraints, new controls and staff would be operating in a safer environment and there never should have been anyone dying from pushing a coaster train. Look at the coaster where the death happened ("Rat" at Loudoun) and what it looks like now "Käpt'n Jack's Wilde Maus" in Germany. Again in MUCH better shape now than it ever looked at Loudoun. It makes me worried about the condition of some smaller coasters around the UK that look like crap and are still operating constantly. What is their safety REALLY like? UK councils don't seem to help these parks however, and seem to be far too interested in keeping old towns around the country looking exactly the same whilst eventually almost all high streets have disintegrated regardless and several old theme park sites are left to rot. I think councils could do far more to help theme parks around the UK try to stay relevant and good looking. Sad.

Great video as always!! Always sad to see old rides just sitting abandoned though.

This was my first theme park and first rollercoaster, twist and shout. It was sad to see it sbno for so long but glad it is now back in action in Croatia. Great video, bringing back many memories.

I remember going there as a kid, I went every year with my school till Primary 6 when it closed. Had some good times there

I was about to get really hype, because it's Scotland, and I'm Scottish, but then I remembered this is Expedition Extinct

I live 2 mins from this place, it was a major part of my childhood and i miss it so much, the mousetrap ride was my favourite

Love your videos. You’ve improved so much with your narration 👍🏼

This is the best thing to wake up to! Thank you 😊

I never even realised this place closed down and I live in Scotland! I guess that explains why I stopped seeing ads for it. Do you think you will ever cover M&D's theme park? I'm amazed it hasn't shut entirely by now.

Omg this makes me so nostalgic!!! I used to go there all the time and I was there on the day it closed

Omg this is like 5 minutes away from me!! My friends go to London academy 😂 I didn’t even know this was a thing!

I remember going here when I was little. My aunt used to work at the ice cream stall.

I live literally five miles away from Kilmarnock, and I genuinely had no clue there was a theme park right next to me! Thanks for making this video!

Well done as always, Sam! Such a weird aesthetic they chose to build around a castle! I would love to see a whole castle-y medieval themed park around castle ruins!!! Maybe I need to be the one to open it. A lodge also woulda been awesome, shame that didn’t come to fruition. 🤔 I can totally envision a way for this to be awesome! Sad to see it sitting there in ruins, those drone shots are awesome.

The grass is so green! This is probably the prettiest abandoned theme park I've ever seen.

The only reason why people outside of Scotland knew about Loudoun Castle is because of an "accident" that happened on The Rat, where a ride op didn't know what he was doing and got killed from getting the train unstuck. Which is an absolute shame since the castle itself is filled with so much history and it would be a hit with ghost hunters!

A lot of memories at this place as it's a bit local to myself. Was okay at a very young age but eventually it was easy to be unimpressed by it. All about M&D's when I got a bit little older going into my teens. Good to see a video about it though; other than the odd amateur drone footage I could never of had imagined a video like this. Thanks for the content. :)

Amazing video, should do more on alton towers or the pleasure beach! 👍👍

I am very new to this channel (just subbed) I love these vids! I must of binged watched like 6 episodes in a row!

The last company who wanted to restore the old castle! From my understanding is they was refused as there plans was to use modern construction on it. But with UK law's on listed buildings they must be restored using almost 100% old building materials including morta windows stone and so on. If it is restored it has to be like it was the day it was originally built.

I spent some time filming a TV show there, must be a good ten or so years ago. It's a shame it's fallen into that state. I also grew up fairly close to Dreamland in Margate, and had no idea the two were so intrinsically linked.

I would love to see you cover the Flintstones theme park that used to be in Arizona! Nobody seems to remember it was a thing. And what a perfect subject for an Expedition Extinct

You should do one on The Psychedelic World of Sid and Marty Croft. It was an indoor theme park in Atlanta that lasted 6 months.

Aww...I remember riding Apollo 14, in it’s original capsule form, when it was at Margate. It wasn’t exactly an exciting ride, but was different and certainly memorable. So, it’s sad to see it abandoned like that. Four Man Bob, also, which I remember from Alton Towers. Was the inverting ship originally Margate’s ‘Mary Rose’? That was another iconic ride, back in the day.

I love your videos on theme parks outside of the US! Please keep them up

Great video. In the Netherlands there was 'Het land van Ooit', it was a themepark but it mainly worked around theatre and people interactions. To bad it's extinct as well after they tried to open a park in Belgium that was very quickly closed down.

Another awesome video!

I’m from the netherlands and it’s so funny to see that alot of the attractions from this park have been an inspiration to alot of rides in Slagharen in the Netherlands. The rollercoaster with the looping used to be the exact same as the one in Slagharen, just as the Apollo 14 and the inverted ship!

I grew up going to this theme park- it’s crazy seeing it how it is now.

This place was my childhood! I had so many good times here, sad that so much of it still sits derelict 😢

Another good one Sam!

A lot of the rides have since been sold, I was there only a month ago and was a stark contrast to some of the abandoned videos on YT, there’s very little there now and the big green planet has been taken away

My high school was right next to it, we’d go over to the Park after school every Friday and have a laugh, this theme park was my first and I have so many fond memories of it even tho I was too small to go on anything but the wild mouse, it’s still fun to explore abandoned but sad to see it closed down.

Either way great video and history of our little theme park

After the plans were rejected for the house plans, there's now a chance for a new Loudoun Castle! I want this sooo much!

Thank you!

Be cool to see a video about Scotland current only theme park M&D's. I test rode one of the new coasters before opening day. At least 20 years ago 🤣

For some reason I really like this video maybe it’s because it’s unlike any of the other closed type parks I’ve seen you do before having that beautiful Oldcastle there! I hope eventually somebody finds a use for it because the grounds were gorgeous but it’s so sad seeing all those all rides rusting away!😔 too bad the lion didn’t make a go of it for some reason I especially like the swing ride probably because it was unique it would’ve been great to see an operation one it was actually called Apollo 14! You keep making the videos will keep watching them! Thanks

Went here when I was young, I visited this but I didn't get to ride the big rides sadly. Now we are only stuck with M&DS and Codonas

I read about this place when reading about Spreepark, but never bothered to look it up further as I thought it was still active. Apollo, I remember that ride as a kid! I remember being amazed with how it was so big and cool looking. Had to look it up, its in Slagharen apparently, only just over 50 miles away from here. 😮

I live not far from Loudoun Castle and use to visit the park every year it's a shame its no longer open!

It's funny, this is just fifteen miles from where I live and we went a couple of times in the early years. It really wasn't very good back then and we felt no need to go back even though the kids were at a better age to enjoy it. A couple of years ago we drove past the entrance which was of course boarded up with no signage or anything to suggest it was once a theme park. We had no idea what had happened to it in the intervening twenty years or so. Thanks for letting us know!

Your videos are awesome so far, keep it up! And it’d be cool if you could do an episode about the Batman in six flags over Georgia

Monster Mansion at Six Flags over Georgia is screaming for an episode. So much history and a great non Disney dark ride....

Great video

Used to love going here as a kid really miss it also still got a Loudoun castle beanie baby I got in gift shop

i used to go here all the time as a kid, i was only around 4 so i didn’t get to go on any of the big rides. it was still so fun and i miss it dearly.

Nice to know were the other Apollo has gone to. I have visit Slagharen a few times and know there were 2 Apollo's a long time ago. Ponypark Slagharen is one of the oldest amusementparks in the Netherlands. In the past famous of there horses and pony's. Now days there aren't any horses left at the park. They also had a looping star achtbaan. This ride has just closed a few years ago.

I visited Loudon Castle a few times in my youth. My favourite rides were Wacky Worm, the carousel and a twister ride at McDougal's Farm. I was sad after hearing that it had closed. One time I went, I bought a toy Rory, which I still have.💜🦁

I used to love the carousel they had there, instead of poles the horses had little rocking platforms so it felt really unique.

I didn’t know that was the history behind the castle :) I went here quite a lot as a teen and it was good back then lol

What about fantaseas dartford uk. It was an excellent short lived water park that deserves a video as there is so little information in one place about it. Excellent video I remember most of the rides back at dreamland margate

Very nice park and rollacoasters

While I'm not sure how much interest there would be, I'd love a video that goes into more detail about the Codonas, and the history behind Codonas in Aberdeen.

I remember going here on school trips in 1998 & then during summer holidays for a few years after. It was always pretty empty - or felt it anyway - I had vivid memories of running off the coaster, into the queue and straight onto the car that we just got out of or being on the pirate ship and worrying that clanging noises of the unused seatbelts on the empty seats meant it was falling apart!

I actually grew up in this area and went to the school next door to Loudoun castle park. The school got permission from the owners to get access into the park so we could cycle in there during PE lessons cause it had a good route and we cycled in the forest parts to get us used to the terrain. The sight is still standing for the most part, some of the rides have been sold for parts but Apollo 14 and some other rides are still there. The castle is really cool and over grown looking too but never got close enough cause the teacher was always watching us

It's alton towers but Scottish me laddys

Amazing. Can you make The Closed History of Le Visionarium/The Timekeeper?

Interesting vid, I know a lot about that park ..

Some of my earliest theme park memories were here.

I didn't even realise it had shut down. I remember seeing adverts for it on tv, but never went. I'd just forgotten it ever existed.

I really wonder why deaths at theme parks get so much bigger reactions then death from other things like falling when install solar panels on roofs, car crashes, kids drownings in pools, etc.

Can you do a video on Oakwood theme park in wales in the future?Love the videos as always 😊

I live only 5 miles away From the park iv also been on a cycle up there and there’s still a few good things there including the tea barn and the globe thing

For the central belt of Scotland we had louden castle and mnds theme park the latter being shit basically out of the 2 I would always go to louden castle just a better park all round tbh They didn't really recover well and unlike mnds didn't have local amusements or bowling etc as a back up Personally the plans going foward should have been accepted but was rejected to local council politics with neighbouring Ayrshire resort Butlins now rebranded as haven caravan park Personally had it went the way the original Butlins used to be i.e lodge caravan site with a theme park etc inside this would have easily have been successful again its just who you know in the council and blocking or accepting planning deals

I remember going there a few times when I was younger since it's like 15 minutes away from where I live in a car.

I went there as a kid. Hard to believe it’s like this now.

galston it is pronounced gall stone

I remember going to louden castle when I was young.

Wow I love the story love you from manipur India 🙏🙏

I loved going there. My favourite ride was drop zone. (2000)

One summer holiday my family took me here 11 times in the space of 6 weeks! My home from home

I seem to recall a bird of prey show down by the castle, and a barrel ride (that also previously operated at Dreamland Margate).

Could U talk about the dissolved Pokémon theme park in Japan?

Probably nobody knew this park but I'd love to see Play Center on an expedition extinct, or even the history of Hopi Hari, they are both parks in São Paulo, Brazil, and were pretty popular here.

Louden castle will hopefully reopen again soon in the future at some points never say never Louden castle was an brilliant theme park in Scotland with excellent thrill rides and epic coasters my favourite rollercoaster there was the twist n shout

How cool would if the chair swing would join the other one onces again.

🤣🤣🤣 I used to work there as as a teenager, it was a great place to work growing up 👍

Could you do a video of the now defunct Bells Amusement Park, its a place not many people have heard of but it was my home park growing up.

Do Opryland that was in Nashville, thanks!!!

Such a sad end to this theme park. I was there before but i didn’t think much of it

Black Pearl was always Wallace Sword to me, many school trips spent here

Oh the memories of Loudon castle

Have you heard of Riber Castle in Matlock? That might be interesting to look at

Can you do history on Alton Towers Haunted House/Duel?

I would have loved to see it still operating because I thought it was fun when I saw it

I wouldn't mind seeing a video on Dismaland in the future. It wasn't that great but it would make for an interesting subject to talk about.

Loudoun Castle is my entire childhood

Loved this video although my only critique of it is you pronounced Galston wrong. It's Gal as in ball, not gal as in pal haha apart from that brilliant video and brought back a lot of memories