Closed For Storm
November 5, 2010 8:39 AM   Subscribe

Six Flags New Orleans closed on August 27, 2005 in preparation for Hurricane Katrina. The park never reopened.

This film was made by Teddy Smith in October 2010 with permission from the City of New Orleans. The park is scheduled to be demolished in January 2011.
posted by naju (37 comments total) 19 users marked this as a favorite
 
Is it terribly wrong of me to keep thinking Spider man is going to swing down and get into a huge fight with Electro or the Fly twins or something? Maybe I've been watching too much '60s Spidey.
posted by LN at 8:43 AM on November 5, 2010 [1 favorite]


Someplace in there is a Twinkie
posted by HuronBob at 8:45 AM on November 5, 2010 [20 favorites]


I'm beginning to get tired of how ubiquitous these damn dSLR cameras are becoming. They look so great but cripes, seems like every video has to have slow motion and dollying! The washed out look of this vid is nice though.
posted by ReeMonster at 8:49 AM on November 5, 2010


It makes me so sad to hear of abandoned parks and what-have-you being demolished. But then I don't ever want them to be repaired. I just want them to stay like a scene out of a modern Sleeping Beauty tale forever, though I suppose the fairy godmothers here are drug addicts, and the wicked one's just rust.
posted by katillathehun at 8:51 AM on November 5, 2010 [1 favorite]


There's nothing creepier than a closed theme park.
posted by inturnaround at 8:52 AM on November 5, 2010 [4 favorites]


1825 Days Later.
posted by The Whelk at 8:54 AM on November 5, 2010 [6 favorites]


It seems like a lot of the damage was the result of vandals, not Katrina. It's still creepy, of course.
posted by tommasz at 8:55 AM on November 5, 2010


My friends broke into that place. Said they found these really creepy mold eaten plush toy prizes.
posted by iamck at 8:55 AM on November 5, 2010


Excellent video. Good choice of music, too, though perhaps a section of the Dead Flag Blues would have been even more apt?
posted by Johnny Assay at 8:59 AM on November 5, 2010


Ironically, the graffiti makes Mr. Six look less creepy.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 8:59 AM on November 5, 2010


Man, if they're just going to tear it down anyway, they oughta just let a bunch of graffiti artists have their way with it first.
posted by empath at 8:59 AM on November 5, 2010


It'd be cool if some handy people could go in and salvage usable stuff before it's demolished and sold for scrap. They could at least convert some of the seats from the kids' rides into swings for a public park or something. But maybe that's what they mean when they say it'll be sold for scrap?
posted by vitabellosi at 9:04 AM on November 5, 2010


That's cool and all, but I'm not sure what this style of presentation has over, say, a slideshow of still photos with some Ken Burns applied.

Also it's clear that much of the damage is vandalism, and not weathering/erosion from age. There were slightly too many close-ups of rusted pipes, and walls. Surely there are more interesting things to see, here?
posted by Mwongozi at 9:06 AM on November 5, 2010


The video's a bit overwrought, I think, but I'm still glad it's been made. I had the opportunity to explore an abandoned amusement part once, and it was great. Wish I still had the photos.
posted by echo target at 9:06 AM on November 5, 2010


There were slightly too many close-ups of rusted pipes, and walls. Surely there are more interesting things to see, here?

I thought the same thing, but I think it's mainly that the park was already so garish and cheap and plasticky, and effective though the video was, there's only so much that weathering and abandonment can do to a place that had all the themed ambiance of a low-rent strip mall to begin with.

Can you imagine how unbelievably cool someplace with the real ambiance, like Disneyland, would look if abandoned for five years?
posted by anazgnos at 9:13 AM on November 5, 2010 [2 favorites]


I like my audio better.
posted by frecklefaerie at 9:14 AM on November 5, 2010 [3 favorites]


Man, if they're just going to tear it down anyway, they oughta just let a bunch of graffiti artists have their way with it first.

Something along this line was done with 11 Spring Street in NY,NY before it was renovated.
posted by wcfields at 9:15 AM on November 5, 2010


I like my audio better.

Was hoping for Yakety Sax.
posted by logicpunk at 9:46 AM on November 5, 2010


This is way too close to the Dark Carnival stage in Left 4 Dead 2 for comfort.
posted by 2bucksplus at 9:53 AM on November 5, 2010 [3 favorites]


Can you imagine how unbelievably cool someplace with the real ambiance, like Disneyland, would look if abandoned for five years?

It would pretty much look like this. From the first post in the linked thread:

"River Country was Walt Disney World’s first waterpark. It opened in 1976, and closed for the final time in 2001. Since 2001, the area has sat virtually undisturbed. The slides and pools remain in place."
posted by Lokheed at 9:55 AM on November 5, 2010 [4 favorites]


It doesn't seem especially overgrown. You'd think after five years there'd be bushes and weeds and trees everywhere.
posted by dng at 10:00 AM on November 5, 2010


In the 1984 film "Supergirl" (starring Mia Farrow and Peter O'Toole) the archvillainess is a third rate hack occultist named Selena (Faye Dunaway) who lives in an abandoned amusement park.

I'm just saying if there was ever a time/place to film a remake...
posted by hermitosis at 10:00 AM on November 5, 2010 [1 favorite]


Ugh River Country. I went there when I was 9 in '79. God that place was friggen awesome!!! Makes me so sad to see that.

And this makes me sad too SF is my favorite place to go and feel like a kid (have gone to SF Great America since they've opened in the 70s). I would totally rig that coaster and ride it.
posted by stormpooper at 10:22 AM on November 5, 2010


Said they found these really creepy mold eaten plush toy prizes.

Would be way creepier the other way around.
posted by Celsius1414 at 10:46 AM on November 5, 2010


I'm beginning to get tired of how ubiquitous these damn dSLR cameras are becoming. They look so great but cripes, seems like every video has to have slow motion and dollying!

I love the ubiquity, but understand the sentiment. the current batch of DSLRs have rolling shutter issues that make fast movement a problem. Consequently, there's a lot of static shots and slow dolly shots. Focusing is also a limitation, with most shots not changing either focus or zoom as it takes some careful effort to get those techniques to look right with a DSLR and standard lens. The real advantage is the shallow depth of field you can get with the setups and the quality for the price.

Next generation models will eventually eliminate many of the limitations and right now there are ever growing numbers of new products set to make DSLR video more flexible. As the technology and techniques grow, the slow dolly shot will fade from prominance.
posted by Muddler at 11:03 AM on November 5, 2010




That's cool and all, but I'm not sure what this style of presentation has over, say, a slideshow of still photos with some Ken Burns applied.

I think it works quite well for the subject matter, which was once a very public, busy place that's been empty for 5 years; the stillness and slowness reinforces how empty the place is... what little movement there is comes from the wind, which animates the shots nicely (especially the swings, ripped up awnings, and that shot of a fan). I'd much rather watch this than a handheld shakycam romp through the park, even if it looked into more nooks and crannies... sort of like that the show Cities of the Underworld which goes to all sorts of amazingly cool locations, but is hosted by a doofus; Why can't they just show neat footage of those abandoned subterranean with narration instead of following that guy around with a camera?

(Thanks for the post naju, I loved this.)
posted by usonian at 2:34 PM on November 5, 2010


Agree that there is a definite creepiness to abandoned amusement parks. Looking at the SFNO park was depressing, but then I checked out the WDW River Country link. Wow - I grew up in Central FL and a trip to WDW was at least 1-2 times a year. Spent a few days at Fort Wilderness Campground and River Country back in the late 70s. What a blast we had as kids there. The River Country pics made me damn near cry. The overgrown vegetation and decay is certainly disturbing.

Hard to believe that WDW would just leave it that way for all these years.
posted by sundrop at 2:35 PM on November 5, 2010


I grew up going to Astroworld (which was owned by Six Flags for years) and was demolished after the 2005 summer season. It was eerie seeing some of the same stock rides and buildings abandoned that way.

(Also, ok, I give in, I'll check out Godspeed You Black Emperor finally.)
posted by immlass at 2:47 PM on November 5, 2010


Dogpatch USA
posted by wierdo at 2:59 PM on November 5, 2010 [1 favorite]


Someone should make an abandoned-theme-park-themed theme park.
posted by ErWenn at 4:13 PM on November 5, 2010 [3 favorites]


If you liked this, you may also like a photo tour of Cherynobyl.
posted by Wild_Eep at 6:22 PM on November 5, 2010


"This video has been removed by the user."
posted by narcotizingdysfunction at 4:03 AM on November 6, 2010


Yeah, the video's gone, is there a mirror anywhere
posted by tehloki at 12:59 PM on November 6, 2010


Mirror
posted by naju at 1:12 PM on November 6, 2010


I thought it would look more like Disney's River Country, only more Cajun. They must have really cleared out all the surrounding nature. Bummer
posted by Neekee at 7:32 PM on November 7, 2010


I thought it would look more like Disney's River Country, only more Cajun.

5 minutes from downtown new orleans really doesn't look very cajun.
posted by justgary at 11:08 AM on November 9, 2010


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