The Abandoned History of Ghost Town In The Sky | Expedition Extinct
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
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Join us at Expedition Theme Park for the abandoned history of Ghost Town in the Sky or later Ghost Town Village in Maggie Valley, North Carolina. The park opened in the 1960s and has a troubled history of opening and losing throughout the last decade. This mile high theme park on top of a mountain offers a unique experience to guests but now remains as a real life abandoned Ghost Town. Our next stop on Expedition Extinct
Special thank you to The Carpetbagger for use of his footage / carpetbaggerorg
Ghost Town Sources
Sierra M - • 1979 - Ghost Town in t...
The Carpet Bagger - • Abandoned Amusement Pa...
• Abandoned Theme Park -...
Gordon Johnson - • The way up to Ghost to...
Swampfoxer - • 1993 Red Devil roller ...
Psyclonesteve - • Ghost Town in the Sky ...
Lynn Hughes - • Ghost Town In The Sky ...
jlatergator - • Ghost Town in the Sky'...
Very cool video. Sad how much it seemed like she wanted to make it work and just couldn't.
Yeah, there’s so many more great videos of her talking about her passion for the park. Thanks Benson!
Sucks the local area changed the laws and made water an issue. Not an issue before but oh no it is now.
And Stuff Like That jumped out at me too, you could tell she really had her heart set on reviving the park. It’s shattered dreams at that age that can really break someone - I feel bad for her. :(
Such a shame what a sweet old lady. :(
yes i loved the park i took my kids there when they were young the can can girls were awesome ,very sad it cant be re opened .would love to take the grand children there .if someone could get it all redone with new stuff ,and water to it .i dont think there's any place like in the world .so yes sad it closed looks like permanent,
I feel so sad for that woman. She believed in and seemed to have an emotional attachment to this park. Very sad end.
Yeah such a shame
I'm glad it failed. We don't need another jesus statue in the south. My childhood was spent at ghost town and it did just fine without a holy land. That would've made it a tacky gawk-shop, as it is, it was a nice theme park.
P Worley not a church goer i guess
Does that matter when we're talking a huge gigantic cross that would have detracted from the beauty of the park?
P Worley no not a necessary thing for tbe park but if they did/were to do that ?
It's funny hearing a British person describe a park in North Carolina.
What do you mean? Im from Winston-Salem! :D
A lot of Scottish/British settlers settled NC.
@@ExpeditionThemePark Winston Salem has a nice skyline
I was thinking the same thing !
He sounds southern English with f sounds instead of th and a plenty of dropped ts mixed with posh tones.. could be trying to fake the posh haha
As someone who lives in Maggie Valley, it’s always so eerie to drive by the parking lot everyday and just see the roller coaster barely peeking out over the mountain. It’s crazy to see a park that I went to as a kid now rotting and lifeless.
I know right! The recent northern light that happened this year in Maggie everyone flocked to ghost town and took pictures!
Your must be poor
@@IamNigglerdouchebag
Serves you right !
Serves you right !
Funny story... the ghost town entrance is where I began my monthly curse and my mom bought my first sanitary napkin in the gift shop. I was mortified the entire day.
That is too funny
(Tips cowboy hat)
I didn’t realize you were talking about periods and immediately thought you got cursed by some old witch disguised as a employee to get very unsanitary every month and you’d need to wipe down your entire body to get rid of the grossness, and that’s when I realized I’m a dumbass
Thank you for sharing that with us Stephanie!
@@c0m4g1bb oh shut up
The concept of the rollercoaster on the mountain was a great idea, especially since you didn't have to wait to go up an incline. Great video as always, really enjoy hearing about parks that many people might not know existed.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it. Yeah some real gems out there
Theme Park History 2
Would be interesting in seeing one of y’all do a video on DollyWood in Sevierville, TN.
But you have to wait to get back to the beginning ?
Dude a theme park in the mountain concept is cool as is that roller coaster sounds like a cherry on top of a really good sundae, I said sounds like as I never been
I'm 58 years old and can fondly remember visiting Ghost Town as a child with my family. Back in those days every families car displayed bumper stickers of all the tourist places visited and almost every car had a Ghost Town sticker on the rear bumper.
How was it man? Anything that would have been very cool to see? I never been, 2002 was my birth year
@@macaylacayton2915 it was very cool. It was like Tweetsie but no train.. It was fun though, when I was a child in the 80s.
@@airflowfpv7791 i was born in 2002 so i never got to go so thanks for sharing
Yes I remember the stickers you put on your car and most cars had a few! 😊
I loved this park as a kid.
One of my fondest memories with my wife (R.I.P.) was our trip to Ghost Town in the sky. It was a wonderful weekend for sure. Shame it is no longer letting others make memories. -Larry
❤️❤️❤️
How was it? I never been as I was born in April 2002 and my family usually goes to Busch Gardens Williamsburg for those short trips as we actually live closer to the NC beaches so therefore a few hours away from BGW and my parents get those passes
IR, I’m sorry to read that, I’m glad to read you have good memories, I expect this was lovely to remind you of her, but tinged with sadness at the same time xxx
My grandparents took me and my sister to ghost town in the sky twice. I loved the place. My favorite part by far was riding the train when they put on a shoot out and then robbed the train. Such a thrill for 10 or 11 year old me to be in what felt like a real Wild West movie
We used to get up there by chairlift.. 😮😊😮😊
Oh hey I live here! Theres actually talk of reopening it yet again in April 2019 as ghost town. It was one of my favorite places ever to go as kid, my dream was actually to be a can-can dancer when I grew up because of there.
I’m interested to see if it reopens and hopefully I will be able to attend if it does!
Hey what's the news on the park
Any info? Did it reopen?
It's on sale again as of July 5 2019
@@karaleung147 Sad.
I feel like they sealed their fate when they named it ghost town.
Oh no, the original owner made millions with the park. The only difference was he knew how to run it.
If I remember correctly, the mountain was originally called Goat Mountain. 😁
It was open for 40 years
@@Scotts350 it ran it's course!
That woman who owned the park had so much determination to bring back Ghost Town in the sky, I'm really sad to see my childhood park in a condition like this :(. I lived in North Carolina from 1988-2003, I moved from Minnesota in 1987 when I was 3, and my parents decided to take a road trip for about six months, exploring the country. I moved into North Carolina around late 1988, two years later (mark we spent a lot more time than six months traveling) and lived in Charlotte for the duration of the time. I lived in Charlotte and visited Maggie Valley during my breaks, where I found that legendary theme park in the sky. I'd always love to take my friends from the city to Maggie Valley to experience the Ghost town in the sky. They loved the park and would always beg me to take them again. As time passed I moved on to high school in 1999, things really changed for me. One, I went on trips less often, and two, my friends didn't ask me to take them anymore. I guess they took their seperate paths. In 2001 I met the love of my life in high school and decided to take her to Ghost town in the sky as one of our trips. Everything was just as how it looked back when I was a child. Unfourtunatly there wern't as many guests as there were when I was a little child. Our first ride was the famous roller coaster that started with a drop at the beginning. the park attendant let us ride Red Devil (or known as the famous looping roller coaster) as much as we could without stopping through the loading zone since there was no line. Best roller coaster experience of my life. I do remember trying to buy another pass for the next year but I forgot to so I never did...
In 2003 I decided to come back to the theme park after my graduation just one more time before I headed to College in California. When I arrived in Maggie Valley things were much more different than they were back in the day. I parked at the parking lot that held the guests for Ghost town, and when I got out of my car I saw that the cable car chairs had been removed, the grass was overgrowing the area. I decided to head to the main road, which was Rich cove road, but the road was blocked so I decided to go to the local folks to ask them what had happened to the famous theme park, Ghost Town In the Sky. The only person that could tell me about this was this young fellow, I long to forget his name, found him in a gas station nearby, told me that the park closed down for good just a year ago, the road has been blocked off, and no word has ever been said ever since...
Here I am, in 2022, watching these documentaries about my amazing experience with Ghost town in the sky. I really hope they fix the theme park and put it back into operation, I'm very sad to see my childhood dream in a state like this.
Thanks for reading my story. -Waffles
I live in a town called Asheville about 45 minutes away. Ghost Town in the sky is right near the entrance to a local ski resort called Catalooche and it’s always been sad seeing ghost town and it’s chairlift sit derelict year after year.
I live near by and thought this place would make a great mountain bike park
The idea of a park on top of a hill though... thats awesome, would love to ride the coaster there.
Yeah!
Miel van Velzen I rode the scrambler there, pretty freaky when it swings you out over the mountain and you can see straight down.
You must mean the swings. The only scrambler inside ghost town was called the black widow and it was indoors with black lights and flashing strobes. and loud ass rock music.
@@Manchessollte421 I have very vivid memories of this ride from my childhood. Thank you for helping me recall the name
I would of loved to visit here I love the Western theme and all the western shows 😎❤
I grew up in East Tennessee in the 90s and the nonstop commercials for Ghost Town are legendary. But we never went as we had Dollywood - which was probably the nail in the coffin for Ghost Town as Dollywood expanded like crazy as this place withered away.
That comercial was seriously every single comercial break wasnt it
I remember when DW was Silver Dollar City. Great childhood memories.
I lived in Maggie valley my family owned the mountain joy cottages across the road from it ..... the people who run that town wanted ghost town the fail ..... they caused my family to lose over 1 million dollars in money cause of the ghost town issue .... Dolly Parton offered to buy it and make it perfect ... and they told her she would have to widen all the roads and build more roads to the park due to the traffic it would cause the people who run that town are old assholes who would rather the town suck then to grow finally moved out about two years ago due to the dying town but wow it’s messed up that people were all affected by this choice not just ghost town ... and luckily my family has other businesses but some people’s entire life’s are in there
Interesting thank you for sharing this! So interesting to see a different side
Ian Donovan maybe if business owners in Maggie valley didn't always have $ on their mind . Maggie valley thrived for years without ghost town then there was talk of it opening back up and over night prices doubled on everything in Maggie valley the entire town set itself up for failure. I remember when Maggie valley was a 2 lane road ghost town was wide open every business thrived you could afford to stay in a hotel you could afford souvenirs . Now in Maggie valley it takes a months pay to stay in a hotel that should be condemned you want a t-shirt take out a loan food sorry you're not a rich floridiot head to the soup kitchen in Waynesville or Canton . Face it ghost town won't save Maggie valley the only thing that will save it will be for idiots with nothing but $ on their minds drop their elite attitude and actually do something besides price their selves out of business while blaming anyone and everyone else
I remember going there in the late 70’s and and early 80’s. It was a lot of fun the first few times... I could not ride in the swings because they kept breaking... The old west shoot outs were fun... Hot dancing young women... As a preteen and teenager what was not to love, Guns and hot women! I grew up about forty minutes from Tweetsie Railroad in between Blowing Rock & Boone North Carolina. Have a few fond memories from Tweetsie as well... Tripped an Indian thought it was funny to hit me with his tomahawk. I was 8 or 9, I remember getting fussed at by the Great Western Star they had there.. He was so mad at me because I held up the train schedule. Then later he came and apologized to me...
I didn’t even watch all of this... makes me sick!
The assholes that stopped this from opening... they saw this place as a cash cow and another payday should be tar’d and feathered, ran out of the mountain on a rail. Let me guess the town council saw a quick payday and when Whom ever owned it or was going to buy it refused to pay them they tried to screw buyer? This sucks... like I said I had some very enjoyable experiences there the three or four times I got to go... The kids and parents that vacation they lose but the locals that really needed the work are the ones they really lost in this. There were a lot of college kids that worked there over their summers... There is a lot more to this then we are being told... someone was butt hurt.. maybe out bid? And shut it down! Sigh! To damn bad
My family visited that place every year on vacation. We always lodged in Gatlinburg and none of our family vacations were ever complete till we made our annual visit to "Ghost Town In The Sky". It's really cool to hear from Maggie Valley locals like yourself after all this time.
Ian Donovan .
I went to Ghost Town in the Sky as a young child, like maybe 7 or 10. Hard to remember exactly. I rode the chairlift. We saw the cowboy shoot out and I got frightened. This part of North Carolina had a few famous theme parks. The Land of Oz is not far. I went there too, as a child. that place really has some tall tails told about it. Tweetsie Railroad, probably the most successful. Ghost Town in the Sky was unique. It brings memories of my Dad and he was always awesome. The guns were loud and scared me, but Dad got down and we sat on the ground and he reassured me. I was very young but I remember seeing how he was not scared, so I wanted to be strong too. So I faked it, and pretended I was Dad. I just did what he did. I guess it was sort of a life lesson. I was a child. Now I am 50. Dad passed away in Oct. Ghost Town in the Sky is a really happy, great memory for me. Thanks for the video.
Thank you so much for sharing! I’m so glad my video brought back some nice memories.
Freedomland had the Chicago Fire, which was awesome.
Thank you for sharing your memories! I have 3 little ones that I take to parks and only hope our memories are as awesome as the ones you had with your Dad.
I still don't know how this place went under and Tweetsie stayed open. Went there a bunch of times for my older sister's clogging competitions and even at 11 years old thought it was lame.
sorry for your loss. you'll see your dad again some day .
I went there with my dad back in the summer of 1988 when we were in the area for a family reunion. It made for a fun day. I remember the staff were clearly trained to ask everyone where they were from, and when we said New York state, they'd all make fun of us for being Yankee city slickers, but it was all in good fun. It was all completely functional at that point, and I remember the shoot outs. The old west theme was kitchy even then, but it worked somehow. I remember eating baked beans for lunch and then trying very, very hard not to barf them up after a few rides. The video is spot on - because it was on that ridge, the rides flung you over the edge, which made it scarier/more fun. I feel like there used to be more regional theme parks like that in the US, and at some point in the past 20 years, the industry went through this 'go big or go home' phase where it's fewer bigger parks.
Yeah i agree so much and alot of gems were lost. I hope i can't help try and preserve some part of the memory of them at least!
Disneyworld blew all those regional parks away....😢😢
my father inlaw saw burt reynolds performing as a cowboy at ghost town, way back before he became famous
That's true! In the movie "Deliverance", the actor who played one of the two mountain men also worked with Burt; it was Burt's recommendation that got the actor the part in the movie.
Burt had already appeared in Gunsmoke before he came to Ghost Town.
Glad Burt got to enjoy the park! RIP Burt!! Awesome fellow!!
Actually, Burt had already appeared on Gunsmoke before he was a guest star at Ghost Town.
I went a couple times when I was little. I was really scared of the chairlift the first time. I remember the gun show and scouring the ground for shells from the guns after it was done, to take home as souvenirs. The Red Devil was a neat roller coaster, but I think I actually got the biggest thrill from the park on the swings- they would swing you out over the side of the mountain, and it was actually kind of scary! There was always this fear of "if the chain breaks, I'll go flying off of the mountain and die!" Of course that made it more exciting than anything. I also really loved their 'Scrambler' ride- the effects they used inside were better than the ones I'd seen at other parks. And once, the park was pretty dead, and we got on the Round Up and... just stayed on for like 10 minutes. We actually started screaming for the operator to let us off because we though they'd just forgotten about us.
I was really surprised to see this video, because I didn't expect to see a park I was actually nostalgic for. :D Very happy about it.
A park I'd love to see anyone do something on is the Myrtle Beach Pavilion- it's one a lot of people don't remember, but it's my entire childhood.
I love hearing your stories of the park!!! I actually plan a few videos on the Myrtle beach parks. I am currently working on a video for hard rock park! Thank you so much for your comment
I saw the Pavillion only my first time there as a teen. I loved it and didn't wanna leave!
As a kid I almost fell out of the coaster as it went through the loop. My dad had to grab me and shove me back into my seat.
Really appreciate the fact that you link footage credit, i really love the history alot but also wanna check out exploring videos sometimes.
For sure my videos would not be possible and really the people who recorded the history should be the ones thanked
4 years later, but, The Proper People did a really nice UbanExploration vid on this park in 2020
I was there when I was a kid. They had gun fights. I’m 70 now.
me too. I'm 64
I went in the early 90's...
I'm 65 and also went there often as a child.
I went many times..remember the gun fights...the sleeping giant...I’m 65
69 here and our family went in the mid 60s...had a blast!!!😊😊
I visited Ghost Town many times as a kid. My parents met at ghost town while in high school and have been married since. Even my grandpa worked at ghost town for a season after he had retired. It’s a shame to see the park still abandoned every time I visit.
Man if I was rich... mhm, a mountain with rollercoasters, that's a winner!
you'd have to be very very rich lol, the town doesn't want a popular theme park on a 2 lane windy mountain side road
@@fiifiidatrap342 Actually, it's a 4 lane and in spots it has a middle turning lane....
@@douglawton3990 Last time I went was 3 years ago they must have done a lot of construction. regardless 4 lanes isn't enough
Who is here because of MrBeasts new video shot at this place?
No one, looks like
I was blessed to have got to go there forty years ago as a kid great memories wish it would open again it was so cool back in the day.
I went here all the time when I was a kid. The roller coaster was so shoddy it stopped suddenly and my head slammed into the front of the cart. Good times.
🤣🤣🤣🤣
I went there as a kid to it was awesome LOL
I like your outlook . W T G
I visited Ghost Town back in 94. There are a lot of reasons why this park didn't work, despite it's amazing location. The "Wild West" theme didn't age well. (As stated in the video) By the time I was there, the park was tacky, and it reminded me of an overpriced county fair with rusty rides. I can't say that I know how it could have been saved, but reimagining it as "Appalachian Village" was a much better idea. When it comes to theme parks, I think the bar is set pretty high these days, and people want more for their money.
"I hope that I can make them happy."
Alaska Presley seems so genuine and nice. I hope shes doing well and thriving after this.
She seems to be attached to the park anencephaly it’s sad to see that it failed
She's dead.
@@dextermorgan1 no she isn't
@@donnaowens1522 she is now
Ghost Town was always a part of my childhood. I loved the chair lift, and the cable cars. The street shoot out always scared me. One Summer the special guest was Jerry Mathers....The Beaver. I have somewhere in a box pictures that my mom took of us getting autographed picture. I need to find those and post them. The candy, the gift shop and shhhhh, dont tell my mom, but i would "sneak" into the saloon and watch the Can Can girls. I thought i was being sly. Was up that way October '18 and rode thru the parking lot. So much about the area has changed. Stayed at Jonathan Creek Inn and ate breakfast every morning at Joey's Pancakes. I'm almost 60 yo and still making memories to add to my childhood.
How sad.
This looks like a unique place to have a theme park.
I would remove the chair lift and put the furnicular back as a means of transportation though.
"Appalachia world...moonshine and mayhem!" Would be my tag line and I'd go heavy on the food selling with all American food and try to get a demonstration moonshine still going as a means of advertising and raising revenue for ride repairs.
Alaska tore up the furnicular railroad, it's gone. I walked up the mountain a few years back. All twisted metal.
It’s a shame. Place looks awesome. Really does seem cursed. Way too much overhead by the looks of it and not enough local population to support it. I would have loved to experience that with my kids.
As years go on the chances of success will keep fading due to the shut in lifestyle so many lead. Too many people doing nothing but sitting around looking at their electronics watching videos of bygone theme parks and typing comments on how it’s a shame when nobody really cares what you have to say and probably won’t even read it because it’s too long winded. 😖
Crazy, looks like there is a new group working on it and it will re-open in 2019 😮
I'll believe when I see it. I went there quite a few times as a kid in the 80's. In the last 20 years it's been nothing but closings and re-openings that go no where and the park just rots. I don't think anything can save those rides now, most have not been operational in 20 years. I'm just waiting until I finally here it's been torn down. Sad to see childhood memories go.
are they changing it up at all? seems like adding some modern style activities, features and attractions, could do them allot of good.
The investor has now disappeared and owes a lot of money to locals who have invested both money and time to get it open. Lawsuits have begun, so it's looking doubtful again. I'm rather dubious about today's kids being thrilled over fake gunfights and 60s nostalgia. The last opening was a true ripoff for visitors. Rides broken and overall atmosphere poor.
@@jr-xs9tf thats a bummer. similar things are just being cleaned up in NH. You're not being dubious at all i was thinking the same thing. Its topography makes it perfect for gravity sports and other motion based thrills. some alpine slides, zip lines and mountain biking could have done wonders. the whole western thing has been played out for far too long. its one thing in a historical sense like wall drug or places along the old rout 66. but unless its dolly wood i just dont see it working here either. hopefully it works out for ya'll. things turned around for Tenney Mountain in NH. its now owned by a capable snow sport enthusiast and its opened for the first time since 04.
@@van_demonium Ghosttown could be a great, scenic spot for a roller rink, paintball arena and other activity based themes. It's on multiple levels and easily sectioned. Too many code problems, though.
So sad to see... I have a photograph of me and my dad riding the chairlift up to Ghost Town in the Sky. I must have been about 8 or 9... They even had a stagecoach ride... Those were the days when you would get a bumper sticker attached to your car while visiting the park!!!! If I remember my dad was not happy about that...Great video/fond memories...
A shame what happened to it, a theme park on a mountain is quite the unique idea. Impractical but cool.
Palisades Amusement Park was built on a cliff overlooking the Hudson River. Unfortunately neighbors complained about all the noise and it was closed down to build an apartment complex, which today have become slums.
Brings back many memories to me. We loved Ghost Town In the Sky. Once when my kids were 2, 5 & 8 we had gone up to the top & after a few hours the sky turned really dark just suddenly & we decided to head down to the bottom & a lot of other people did the same thing. Finally we got our turn, my boys ages 5 & 8 wanted to ride the chair lift down & my husband & I didn't want our little girl on the chair left because she was only 2. They begged & begged but I didn't let her ride with them. Thank God! A tremendous thunder storm hit right after we started down. Lightening everywhere, hard hard rain & the wind was whipping the chair lift chairs all around. My husband & I was in the trolley & lost sight of them. Suddenly the electricity went off!!! Somehow they got the trolley car on down but that left my two small boys out in that vicious storm just hanging there because the lift lost total power. They were way high up off the ground & my 5 year old kept telling his 8 year old brother they could jump down, huge rocks underneath them, they were both scared to death & wanted down to be with their parents. The younger one set into crying as loud as he could, the older was trying to be the best big brother & protect him. Thankfully when they finally got the lift started again, the storm mostly over, they got to the bottom with us & their little sister, they were soaking wet, blue, teeth chattering but a sweet young newly Wed couple who was right behind them kept screaming at them to hold on tight & DO NOT jump. They felt terrible for them but couldn't really help except to keep trying to communicate with them, they had to scream to be heard. We met them when they finally got down & also met that amazing, very young newly Wed couple who had done their best to comfort two little terrified boys. We hugged them & thanked them for trying to help but mostly for telling the five year old to listen to his brother, hold on the only bar holding them in & hang on to each other. I went to the bathroom & pulled off the hand towels, yes real towels in a machine, you pulled them down, dried your hands & the next person did the same. I needed something to dry my little two year old off with & wrap her up until we could get to our car. I ripped it all off, sorry, not! The temperature had dropped drastically too so we were all wet & freezing. Those three "kids" are now 49, 45 & 42 but we still talk about that story & we have a picture of the two boys on the chair left as the innocently headed down that mountain before all hell broke loose. God was good, he was with us. I didn't hear of any injuries that day but there very well could have been. My husband & are headed up to the mountains, Highlands NC for a week to stay in my middle son's vacation home, the then 5 year old who wanted to jump. We are going to drive to see fall foliage everywhere & I want to go back to Maggie Valley just to see it. I wish Ghost Town were still open. I'd love to take my husband, who I've been with almost twenty years, to see Maggie Valley. He hears the story often when the kids are ever together & he'd love to see it. Thank you for this video. I wonder if anybody who reads my story might have been there that day. I'd love to meet the young newly Wed who helped keep my son for jumping off to climb the rocks to the bottom. Sadly I've forgotten their names but to us they were God's Angel's that day.
Always a fun place, loved going here with my family. . . Ghost Town in the Sky & Santa Land were always on our list when we went to the mountains!
Tiffany Faith my family always visited Santa Land!! I’ve never had anyone else know what I meant when I talked about it lol.
This place was awesome when we went in the 80s. I completely forgot about Santa land. That place was great too.
I haven't been to santa land in ages!
Yeah, every summer in the 70s we always took a family vacation in the Smokies and every year while we were there we always went to Maggie Valley for a day and would go, to Ghost Town. Santa Land, has been shutdown for quite sometime. Santa Land, was in Cherokee. I think my first trip to Santa Land when, I was 2 or 3 and, I was born in 67. I can about tell you where the park located. Today it’s mostly a big huge parking lot for souvenir shops that are close by. But, there’s a amusement park in Indiana which is Santa Claus, IN and, The name of the Amusement Park is Called Holiday World, there’s a cast of charters and there are candy shops and some themed Christmas Shops in the Amusement Park. It’s not to terribly expensive. It also has a petting zoo where you can feed the animals, mostly baby goats.
i remember me and my dad doing the blacksmith presentation in 2014 before it closed, dad is actually in the video lol sad to see the park shut down
When I went there they put bumper stickers on everybody's car that said ghost Town
At one point, nearly every tourist attraction would do that.
They put them on my dad car back in the 60s
it was on the news again just last week (May 2018) someone has bought it and they are gonna make it more modern and open sometime in 2019
It’s gonna be a lot of work
Its gonna fail. I wouldve chose Hard rock park or another park
@@ThoosieJP hard rock park doesnt exist any more everything has been torn down and sold off. The new owners are former disney executives and imagineers. If they have backing from disney they may be able to pull off the miracle this park needs
I hope so i went when I was younger and id like for my kids to be able to go. Hope it all works out and they are able to reopen.
These investors worked for Disney, and they have the money (not that the last investor didn't have the money, but I believe she didn't have the vision).
This place was a MUST stop every summer for my family in the late 70's through the late 80's. Amazing memories!
Very similar concept to Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park! It’s interesting to see what they did wrong, and being employed at the Caverns, strive to do better.
Best wishes to the elderly lady who poured so much into trying to bring it back to life.
I live so close to this park. It was so sad to see it gone. I remember Silver Dollar City. Thank you for the video very cool.
Before it was silver dollar city it was gold rush junction. Now dollywood
So i finished the entire video. I remember another UA-camr (maybe Adam the Woo) doing a video and people commented not wanting another religious theme park. In like 2014.
I visited this park many times during the late 80's and early 90's. It sure is sad to see what has become of this place. My daughter had some great times there. It really was a neat place. I wish I could afford to tackle it, if for no other reason just for the memories. Hope it makes it back.
I remember visiting as a child in the mid 1960s with my parents and two brothers. Saw the shootout, the can-can dancers, and FRED KIRBY! He had a cowboy show on Sundays in Charlotte back in the day. What a day we had in Ghost Town. This video brought back great memories of my childhood. What a terrible shame I can’t take my grandkids there.
Your grandkids would most likely think this place sucked !
I remember Fred Kirby!
@@bayernfanladyl1879 We're dating ourselves! 🤣
@@pipsheppard6747 I’m proud of my age! I’ve seen some pretty cool things
I went here as a child, my father a profound history buff insisted. I’m very sad to see what has happened to such a fond part of my childhood memory. This was in the early 90s and the park was flourishing. I’ll never forget riding the swinging boat with my mother who is terribly afraid of heights. Back and forth over or right to the side of the edge of the mountain, each time it swung she grasped my brother & my arms literally pinching us as she screamed, we laughed. I have old photos on each and every prop in the park.
Can you guys do one for opryland usa in Nashville . Always intrigued me what happened to that theme park.
I will put it on the list! :)
Hoax killer , they literally plowed down that theme park and there's a mall and a parking lot sitting there now
I miss Opryland, if it never closed, we would have season passes there instead of Dollywood. I love Dollywood though.
Jose Justiniano I was going to diesel college in Gallatin when opened, flooded out in 90s....we operated Rachael the steam engine in Hampton,tn 3yrs. it went to grapevine,Tx. cannon ball was bought set up elsewhere, can't remember.....dolly claims to shut it down ....Dollywood.
The only realistic way this part could be reopened would be to have the entire thing torn down and rebuilt from scratch, including the chair lift (or possibly a gondola like they have at Stone Mountain Park in Georgia) and the incline railroad. The rollercoaster on the side of the mountain can be a huge drawing point, maybe even add a couple of other rides that hang over the mountain for thrill seekers, like that one ride they have in Las Vegas that hangs over the side of the building.
Rebuilding the town itself would be whole new buildings and plumbing from the ground up, maybe add a functioning wooden water tower also like from the 1800s (or a modern one with an exterior that looks like an old one). Also instead of an Old West theme which is kinda weird for the East Coast, why not build an old Appalachia themed site with actual Eastern Cherokee Indian tribal stuff. Not only would that prove more realistic it would be educational for kids. Maybe even have a Civil War Weekend since those are popular in the South with many folks and that part of the State of North Carolina has interesting history regarding the War Between the States.
For rides other than the ones mentioned, add some old classic fair rides like the Tilt-A-Whirl, Scrambler, Ferris Wheel, ect. Trust me when I say the old ones are the best and having them at 4,000 feet above sea level would be thrilling enough.
All of this would cost a fortune and would probably take a few years to repay and start producing a real profit, but with time and effort made I believe something like this could be a big boon for whoever tried it.
I would really love if they included more Cherokee input in development. I'm hopeful it'll actually reopen soon but they're still finalizing sales and renovating
As a ghost town, I hope they mostly keep it as it is before reopening
anybody have $20+ million to gamble...
If I won the Powerball jackpot I'd invest in this place for a Fall season attraction. Something real scary.
Would be a cool haunted attraction
When I was a kid I used to do competitive roller skating. My instructor, his wife, and partner moved to Maggie Valley in the late 80's to start an Ice Skating show at Ghost Town. They invited us to come visit and tour the park. I remember riding the Sea Dragon, probably my favorite ride... Anyway, they joked how the "Mountain Men" would come to the show and hoot 'n' holler at the scantically-clad women skaters. The park holds those memories for me, but I sadly don't think it'll ever be viable again.
Oh, and as for the roller coaster... The skaters had a good chuckle about it because it couldn't complete the loop during testing. I would never ride it due to this story even if given the chance!
As a kid who grew up in Western NC, I've visited the park many times with family. It's definitely a sad story. It feels like at some point multiple systems degraded to the point that it just wasn't possible to save it without massive amounts of money, likely more than it was worth. Gained yourself a subscriber! Check out Jacob (aka the Carpetbagger)'s channel as well, as his excellent footage was featured in this video.
Thank you so much!
I visited there several times as a kid in the late 60's ... great times
Such a shame. I'd love to visit such a unique place. I live in Salamanca NY. We have an old abandoned wild west ghost town theme park too. I can still see it from my back yard right now. It wasn't as large as the one referred to here but it was no less beautiful. After many years of service, it also sat abandoned till someone turned it into a high scale restaurant with cool looking empty wild west style buildings all around it. The views are spectacular. When that restaurant went out of business after decades, it was bought and turned into a high end Harley Davidson themed bar/restaurant but mismanagement saw that- that was only open a yr or 2. Now it's empty again. It's very sad. If I had the couple million to buy the property I'd have just made a unique private home and maybe put up a few cabins to rent out on the mountain.
This park always stayed in my mind after seeing adam the woo do a vid on it years ago - for sure one of the more unusual parks and one I'd have loved to visit, but I'm on the other side of the world. To be fair it was doomed without it's major rides running, and it would cost a fortune to resurrect now, which would be financial suicide given the general decline in this type of attraction's appeal. Sadly it's all VR from here on in lol
Yeah I don’t think the park will return this time!
Well maybe over there, but here in the UK, and from what I've seen in youtube vids, in the USA too, this kind of attraction is fading out. Kids just aren't interested in the real world anymore - they'd rather sit in a dark room hitting X over and over again.
As a kid in the mid 60s, our family would visit Ghost Town for family vacations. I remember one time we went and Jerry Mathers (Leave it to Beaver) was in the street fight. My sister and I have a picture of us with him signing his picture...I remember not fully understanding how I could watch the show on TV and he be my size and then be a grown teenager there....simple minds. One of the other highlights of the mountain top town was the Saloon and the Can Can girl....swishing there dresses and whoopin and hollerin....AHHH....Memory Lane...aint it GREAT!
I love your channel, I especially love the expedition extinct series. I have an odd obsession with amusement parks specifically abandoned ones. I've never heard of a lot of the parks you feature and I love it! It's hard for me to find videos on parks I 've never heard of.
Thank you so much I really appreciate that. Is there any parks you would like to see covered?
If you want a theme park to work in the Asheville area, you need to call it "Beer Town in the Sky"-
Or "Liberal Town in The Sky."
I went there back in the 80's as a kid. I loved going there and Tweetsy Railroad.
John Ellison I almost thought this was tweetsy railroad!! What happened to tweetsy since I left NC back in 03
1:05 skip all the back and fourth snippets of annoying news coverage
Yes! Being autistic, I found that opening hard to watch.
westworld!
Eastworld!
I worked here for their short reopening in 2007. It was one of my first jobs, working in the Silver Dollar Saloon. I remember we had so much equipment that was broken and unfortunately was never fixed.
Should it re open, they could make use of the chair lift and train a bit more by adding mountain biking, alpine coaster/s and even zip lines.
Yeah. This place could work as an adventure park. Mtb, zip line, waterpark.
Wow I remember being there when I was 12 years old 1972, I decided to get on the swing, it swung out over Maggie Valley looking down into the valley below the cows and buffalo looked like ants I also remember loosing my shoe it came off my foot when I was on the swing, my shoe is now somewhere at the bottom of the Mountain I had so much that year.
Should turn it into a mountain bike park
does anybody know if its still abandon haven't been there since I was 12 had fond memories of this place would love to get up there and explore
I totally went there as a kid (late 80's), and even still have a Ghost Town patch from the visit :)
I partially went there.
This is carpetbaggers footage. Haha.
Mrbeast actually did a $70,000 hide and seek challenge here.
I don’t live very far from Maggie Valley. I always drove by the place millions of times when driving to Asheville. I only once visited this park.
all im lookin at is that poor vintage fire engine sitting out
That would be a fun restoration project. An old rig like that does not deserve to rot in the sun.
I went there in the late 70's with my mom (I was around 13-14). We rode the chairs up and then down later. I thought it was a pretty cool place. I've wanted to go back but life always has other plans. I went by there about a year ago and was saddened about the chair lift being gone and the train cars rusted so bad. One of my favorite pictures of my mom and dad was taken on the top of the entrance coming out of the A-frame building.
In 1975 I was on an eastern USA vacation for 2 weeks when I visited the park. This video is really a walk on memory lane! I stil have some super 8 film i have filmed there!
I miss this place. I went when I was 2 and 6, and I loved it. It was where our family went for vacation. It’s been almost 10 years since I last went, and is very sad. I saw it last week driving to Charlotte, and was very sad. Luckily, someone bought it and plans to reopen it, but I’m not counting on it. They’ve already redone the bottom!
Apparently, this park was bought and they have plans to reopen in the spring of 2019. They plan to have multiple new attractions for the 2019 season.
Just more b.s. from scammers
My grandparents brought me here (and to Santa's Land in Cherokee) every summer when I was little, and I always loved it. I remember my favorite ride nearby the Red Devil coaster; it was an indoor scrambler where they'd turn off the lights when the ride started, and then turn on strobes for the duration. I think it was called The Black Widow. Another fun fact: the fiddler you see at 0:13 became hard of hearing as he got older, and every year he would turn his amps up louder. It eventually reached the point that it was deafeningly loud; many people couldn't endure more than a few minutes in that music hall. Awesome fiddle player, though!
I always wanted to go to this place! I sorta did.....when my mom was pregnant with me, back in the 70's!!
That counts!
I went there as a child and there were lots of people there. I can't remember much, just how steep that incline was while going up to the town and going back down again. I was surprised at how loud the guns were, too, never having heard so many blanks fired in so frequent a manner. It seems like we also road a bus between the incline and the ghost town and the turns seemed really sharp but I was so small when there, I can't remember any more than that.
I worked there. The rides were unsafe and about to fly apart and have been since the 80s so if you rode anything, especially the red devil, be glad your alive. Crackheads did all the maintenance and even ran the rides. Truly a blessing to the public and our community that the trash pile closed
I remember seeing the commercial on tv as a kid and always wanted to go.
I live near Ghost Town and actually know the original owner, sadly I don't think this place will ever be reopened. It's been debated several times between my friends and I and we've even been on the Ghost Town grounds. But it's just going to be left to rot...
Not likely to be a success now that there is a Harrah`s casino next door in Cherokee.
We need someone wealthy, preferably a theme park Corporation, to get ahold of this park. They'd boost this park back to what its supposed to be
@Riddick alton towers should extend from the uk and make it into a small A.T american sector of the company
I see, The Proper People sent me here, that theme park’s passed away, they have a millions of guests for now, it’s got so many.
It was a very cool park. I really liked it.
It was a great place and I loved it as a kid. Shame it didn't last. Much like Tombstone Junction in Corbin Kentucky which was next to the Niagra of the South, Cumberland Falls.
Went there when I was a kid back in the late 80s early 90s. I have such good memories there. Still have the picture of my mother and I in the chair lift. They has a camera set up to take the photos. The shootouts were the most memorable parts for me.
I've been to Ghost Town in the Sky
several times
as a teenager
& young Adult,
in the 70's & mid 80's. Was so much fun,
i miss it.
I'm 63 years
old now.
My family visited in the early 70s. That region was quite the theme park Mecca, with Ghost Town, Tweetsie Railroad and the Land of Oz all within reasonable driving distance of each other. The combination of walking attractions, live shows and amusement park rides made for full-on entertainment. I was barely into my teens at the time, and would probably have enjoyed it even more if I had been old enough to appreciate the cultural aspects of the place. A wonderful memory, and I do wish I could take some modern youngsters there.
My first visit was age 10, in 1961. I did not realize it was the first year open, until this video.
I remember as a 5 year old the cowboy shootouts and being scared as hell on that chairlift. The commercials were so fun cause it was like our own little disneyland. Great video hit me right in the nostalgia bone.
I remember going here on a summer camp field trip back in 2006/2007. Literally forgot all about it until watching this. Really brought back some memories. Thank you and good job!
Thank you!
This was a neat park. Though I live up in New Jersey, I had the chance to visit in 1999 when I was in high school, which ironically was a few decades to the day from when my mother had visited the park while on an RV trip with her mother, father, and sisters. I actually still have one of the shell casings from the shoot out in the street. It was a fun experience.
The Marshal in the film of the gunfight is Bill Leatherwood who worked there for 39 years and performed more gunfights than anyone. He was a good man to work for rest his soul.
Hey! I can't believe you posted this about Bill Leatherwood!! My sister and I, as college students from GA, earning $$ for school, got jobs at GT in 1967-68, I believe.
We worked at the saloon (not the can can one...was ot the Silver $$?) rented by Haskew Warren who also ran the restaurant at the Maggie Valley Golf Course.
Bill and I were friends. You are right, he was a nice person but I lost contact when we stopped working there. Do you know when he passed away?
Also, I remember his telling me, as a prank on the downed bankrobbers, sometimes he would hold the barrel of the gun with the fumes of the spent bullet down by the nose of the "dead man" making it terribly difficult for the dead man to act dead when he was trying not to choke on the fumes😂!!
And, I suspect, there were probably tons more pranks they played on each other, don't cha think😂!?
@@marlitstansell700 l promise we did, lol. Occasionally when l was playing dead in gunfights he would poke me in the belly with the shotgun barrel and tell the crowd, "This one's grain-fed." LOL
@@marlitstansell700 Bill "Goose" passed away March 10th, 2016. I will always miss him, he was the best boss l ever had.
@johnharris8191 Thank you for the info!
When were you a gunfighter? My sister and I were @GT during the summers of 1967-1968.
I used to go there when I was a kid, I'm 63 now. I entered a drawing and was picked so they put my name on a tombstone in Boot Hill. Sad to see it in such a state now. It was nice to see it featured on the TV show Moonshiners last season. Maby that will bring back some interest in it.
We used to go to this park in the 70s. I hadn't thought of it in years. I have some great memories of those rickety rides.
I went to 'Six Gun Territory' a couple of times when I was a kid. When your video started I said hey this is like 'SGT' and was surprised when you enlightened me to the fact they were related. Thanks for the little flashback to yesteryear! Stage coach rides, steam train, Shoot- outs in the streets. Then some regulars like a mouse trap style coaster, a flume ride, etc. Yep then I remember back in the 70s or early 80s I believe I read that they sold the place to build more houses, Florida, like we need more houses. Now we need a gate. All are welcome just please leave all your blue problems you are running away from in the land you are running from.
Keep up the flow of interesting history I enjoy them all and you do a fine job!
"Name your remote, alpine theme park "Ghost town" and see what happens" -Karma
It has new owners, 200 million dollars has been put in to save it as a historical park, which will reopen it and keep it alive for the foreseeable future. They are also adding a niche retail store, a hotel and a Biltmore Village style housing area. The goal of the new owners is to preserve the original experience.
This was the best 'Expedition Extinct' yet! The footage is very evocative.
Thank you so much! That is great to hear.
I visited the park as a child around 1964. I barely remember it but my Mom still has old photos of the place. I still visit Maggie Valley occasionally, the big draw now is the casino just over the mountain in Cherokee.
Someone should open it up exactly like it is and give tours of the old town. Also with the big paranormal craze maybe do paranormal tours overnight. That has made a lot of people money. Loved this place as a child and have fond memories of it still.
Beverly West it gonna reopen in 2019
It's fake nothing old about a fake ghost town.
I remember going in the 80's. Think around 85. It was one of a few places we visited in the NC mountains that year. I grew up in NC. Had to move to IL. Remember on a road trip back home I stopped my son out front to look up that mountain. It wasn't open and just looked so sad. I just thought of our family trips there over the years. Hopefully one day something is done to bring the park back.
That lady seems so lovely
She tried!
ehhhhhhh.......she's not an angel
I was excited to come across this video. I went there as a small child. I was maybe 5 or 6. I only wish I could have gone back when I was old enough to really appreciate it as at the time, I was too small for most of the rides, but even then, I was amazed by it having grown up watching old westerns with my dad. Now, it reminds me of West World and that's probably the closest we could come today to having something like the movie/show. Haha. I'd love to go back. I wish I could find all the pictures we had taken there. I fondly remember the fake horses and cows and carriages dotted around the park that you could sit on for photo ops. One of the pictures we had was of my brother goofily sticking his finger in a fake cow's nostril and another had my brother and I inside a fake, outdoor jail cell. The bars were so wide that in the picture, I was hanging out between them to show I couldn't be contained lol.