Did you ever wonder why the famous Pripyat amusement park is almost always about the ferris wheel? Well, the answer is simple: There is not a lot more to see.
The amusement park actually barely deserves that title, since it wasn’t a Disneyland or Universal Studios type of theme park, but more like a travelling, temporary kind of old-style amusement park. It was set up in celebration of May Day 1986, but the tragedy happening on April 26th was cause for a change of plans: The park was opened for one day to distract people from what was happening only a few kilometers away at the nuclear power plant. When the city of Pripyat was abandoned on April 27th so was the amusement park. (This is a fact widely unknown – most sources state that the park was never opened, but there are pictures in existence showing people standing in line in front of the rides.)
Now the (actually not so big, but nevertheless beautiful) ferris wheels rusts away next to a small and simple merry-go-round, a boat swing and a bumper car – hard to imagine that this small collection of rides was once considered an attraction for 50,000 people…
Another fact people usually don’t know about the amusement park: It’s one of the most contaminated areas in Pripyat. Parts of it are perfectly clean, but others are still highly radioactive. While the concrete parts are mostly safe nowadays, the surrounding moss can be as high as 25 µSv/h (microsievert per hour) – the radioactive particles were simply washed into the soil. Walking across such a spot like that won’t harm you instantly, but you don’t wanna build a house there as it is about 400 times the normal terrestrial radiation…
The amusement park is one of the standard locations included in pretty much every Pripyat tour – especially since it gained massive popularity after it was rebuilt in video games like “S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl” and “Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare”.
Before you start looking at the pictures below I hope you will enjoy an Abandoned Kansai first: I uploaded a short video of about 75 seconds to Youtube. Unedited, 720p. I hope it’s a worthy addition to this article…
(If you would like to know more about my trip to the Zone Of Alienation please *click here* to get to the “Chernobyl & Pripyat” special. For a map of the area please *click here*. If you don’t want to miss the latest article you can *like Abandoned Kansai on Facebook* and *follow this blog on Twitter* – and of course there is the *video channel on Youtube*…)
Zone Of Alienation – Pripyat: Amusement Park
2011/01/16 by Florian / Abandoned Kansai
Absolutely awesome! Great use of video, it really gives the sense of how isolated and devoid of people it really is there. That ferris wheel will be burned into my head forever due to Modern Warfare. They really did a great job in that game of capturing that area.
Hi Brandon,
thanks a lot for your kind words – I already put up a video about Gunkanjima, more will follow soon – you can find all articles containing video by clicking on “Video” in the right column under “Categories”. Like with my pictures there will be no post production, but I guess that is part of the peculiar charm of this blog… (Wait till you see the hospital video – it’s blurry at times, but it will bring back memories of Silent Hill and Resident Evil!)
Awesome report Florian. I discovered this part of Chernobyl LOOONG time ago, before STALKER and COD were ever released, and in a time when I also learnt about our favourite place, Gunkanjima.
I found info on Chernobyl in a site called of KIDDOFSPEED (http://www.kiddofspeed.com/) where you could read about the adventures of an intrepid Kawasaki rider going inside Chernobyl. Check it if you have time.
Pictures of you, as always: TOP-NOTCH.
Take care,
Enric
Thanks a lot, man!
I’ve heard about Kid of Speed, but there are rumors that parts of the page are staged – one of the tour guides claims that she booked a tour and posed in motorcycle clothes… But whatever she did, she definitely was one of the first “tourists” to go there and it’s interesting to see things that are gone now or inaccessible.
You should come with me next time!
Great stuff Florian. Always an interesting read too.
Kid of Speed: I heard the same thing, fake/staged photos.
keep up the good work. I like the no post production aspect, and the site isn’t cluttered with a load of crap either.
Hey Vic,
thanks a lot for the positive feedback – it’s always motivating to know that people actually enjoy what I’m doing here and not just accidentally clicked on a link that added one to the internal counter running in the background!
It’s also good to hear that people appreciate the simplistic aspects of this blog. I just saw a site with amazing HDR pictures of the zone. Really stunning – but not what I’ve seen, not what I’ve experienced…
Nice shots man. The ferris wheel really is pretty photogenic and you had good lighting too by the looks of it. No harsh overblown skies :).
Thanks, Michael! The light was pretty good for outdoor shots, but rather tricky for most of the indoor stuff, especially since I didn’t have a tripod. But the amusement park set I’m quite pleased with…
I have always been fascinated by the events that took place here. These are some of the most amazing pics I have seen. For some reason that none of my friends can understand, I would love to visit this place.
Absolutely amazing!!!
Thanks, Sean – much appreciated!
If it eases your mind: A lot of my friends couldn’t understand either that I wanted to do the trip. That’s why I went by myself. And it was totally worth it. One of the most impressive trips I’ve ever made – and I would like to go back one day…
Thanx Florian, At least I don’t feel like I am crazy 🙂
I don’t think I can convince any friends to take the trip with me, although i know my wife and 10yr old son would go. My 10yr old would probably be the only person that would go without having to persuade/bribe.
This was part of our history and I believe it is the best way for him to learn.
Thanx Again for responding and I know that journey will be treasured forever.
No need to feel crazy! Chernobyl and Pripyat are two of the most famous places in humandkind’s history – I think it’s normal to have the urge to visit a place like that. People would never call anybody crazy for planning a trip to the Colosseum in Rome or to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania… Standing in front of reactor #4 was a very humbling experience. Watching a documentary and standing in front of the sarcophagus are two completely different things!
Those amusement parks were my childhood… They stayed in our city for one week, offered maybe four atractions, and we had a lot of fun, it was always great. Believe me, it is not so poor as it looks and it has its special charm for us, children from East:) Up to this day, I can see those types of parks visit our city sometimes.
This was fascinating. Thanks for stopping by and the like of my post “Streak Ends – Light Cover”. It got me back here again to read some more of your posts.
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Hi Florian, I had the opportunity to go to Chernobyl last month. (August 2013). as you stated it was one of the most impressive trips I have done, but humbling as well.
Thanks again
Sean
Hi Sean,
Thanks a lot for the update! It’s great to hear that you enjoyed your time in the ZOA. Did you do the one day tour or did you stay for a night or two?
Now that you’ve been to Chernobyl I recommend *a trip to the DPRK* – it’s completely different from your August experience, but… less touristy.
Hi Florian,
I did the one day tour, but will like to go back again and maybe do the personal tour.. 🙂 No desire to go to DPRK, I have a few places on my bucket list to go and mayb after would consider DPRK.
Hey Sean,
To be honest, I thought Chernobyl was slightly more impressive than the DPRK – because it’s easier to relate to. North Korea is just one big mind-fuck, while Chernobyl is a kick right to the nuts.
No. The amusement park was never open to the public. The photo of people standing in line at the amusement park was actually shot before the power plant tragedy took place. It was a test ride so people are allowed to have fun with the ferris wheel before the grand opening on the 1st of May 1986. In other words, the photo of people riding and waiting in line around the ferris wheel was taken before the plant explosion. It was not meant as a distraction to the unfortunate tragedy that happened nearby.