DEFUNCT ROADSIDE THEME PARKS OF THE ADIRONDACKS | Lake George, NY Attractions | Long Gone Episode 7

[@stephensok9927]

I’m tearing up. The saucer and trip was not a dream. I knew I was there but through the years (I’m 50 currently) it seemed unreal that such a cool place existed. I just thanked my mom for bringing us 🥹

[@k.s.7104]

I fondly recall Gas Light Village in Lake George at night time in August. The smell of the food, the bright lights of the amusement rides, and crisp night-time air as summer was inching on the calender making way for fall and back to school. Kids today, no interests other then tech.

[@JJZBULLITT109]

Thank you so much for producing this. I have to share this with my family. The historical footage, brochures etc. really brought everything back to life for me. I remember going to Magic Forest, Storytown USA, Frontiertown, Gaslight Village and North Pole as a kid. Seeing Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in person was really special, though I was more interested in driving the antique cars myself if I remember. The cannon salvos from Ft. William Henry used to scare me and I fondly remember riding the Minne Ha-Ha. It's really too bad that most of these places are gone. Sure they weren't as polished as so many big name theme parks but they were special in their own right, a real part of what makes America unique. At least there's still the drive in theater in Lake George. Again, I can't thank you enough for giving me this trip down memory lane.

[@RoadsideExplorers]

This is why i've enjoyed putting this series together. Keeping the memories of these places alive is important because they remind us of the good things from our past and we should not only do what we can to preserve the culture, but use its influence to make the current world nicer. I hope that even those who weren't fortunate enough to experience some of these places will still feel nostalgic for the world of the past so we can keep it's spirit alive and continue to take all the best things and be influenced in the way we continue to shape our future world.

[@mezzoly]

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was in the Cavalcade of Cars, right? I barely remember it.

[@JJZBULLITT109]

@@mezzoly Yep, there were a few other famous cars, though I can't recall what they were. I think I still have the old brochures in the basement somewhere and I know we have many pictures. I was a little boy myself when we went, I can't remember the last time we went to Lake George. Those were great memories. Check this out: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jYnCXmV-breZa8U

[@susanheath1813]

Magical place to grow up, childhood memories

[@amusementnow4416]

Love these videos! It's like one of the hidden gems of KZbin. I'm bummed that I missed Magic Forest when it had all of the statues.

[@RoadsideExplorers]

I'm glad you're enjoying them! I have a lot of fun making them. I also missed Magic Forest and I even had a trip planned to visit two summers ago that got cancelled without even knowing it would be the last season of operation. I did visit Storybook Land in NJ two weekends ago and some of the fiberglass stuff from Magic Forest was moved there. Keep an eye out for the vlog coming soon!

[@amusementnow4416]

@@RoadsideExplorers That's a shame you missed it too. I'm guessing that you saw the videos the Carpetbagger did on the place last year, one with a guy who bought a lot of the statues for his backyard. I'm hoping that the park doesn't close forever since it's a new business, and they likely won't even be able to open at all this year. Here's the catalog from American Giants; it seems as if a lot of the stuff is still for sale. usagiants.com/magic-forest-sale/

[@RoadsideExplorers]

Yes! Stephen Keeler who owns Rock Fantasy Pinball is the one with the stuff from there. I am aware of the stuff thats still up for sale and i do plan on potentially buying something if i ever get up that way if anything is left by then. I like how nobody wants the super creepy ones! I especially want the 18 ft caveman that was at time town that american giants just posted about on their instagram i'd just have nowhere to put it!

[@bb5242]

Great video. My old stomping grounds as a kid, middle schooler, and teenager. We would go every summer at least once. You really felt like you were getting away from Schenectady "up north." Lots of memories, including the fort, arcades along the main drag, the Frankenstein wax museum, Gaslight Village, and even Frontier Town when I was a wee lad. NY State just isn't what it was, and it's too bad because it was so much fun growing up there.

[@nak_attak]

How do get so much information? Old newspapers? Ancient websites? Interviews? Old pictures? It's all so interesting!

[@toosterslive6893]

These are very well made videos . Thank you for posting them👍

[@JuniorWarburton]

Fun fact: the demolished Wells Fargo carriage from Land of Make Believe can be seen on the Storytown Train in Great Escape

[@VerifiedVIPMember]

The skating show at Gaslight was fun during the 80's. Sitting up front, you were sprayed with ice..lol. Still remember the plastic mugs!

[@tpmancino]

Awesome Video!! Brought back such great memories!!

[@wobrien007]

Great stuff - Tim Murphy and Chuckie Nalon in the Gaslight Village Mellerdrama circa 1984, and Ron Urban's Ice Show from 1982. Dolores and Charles Younker were the skating pair and Kim Reale, Suzie Belliveau, Brownie Hill were in the chorus. Kim was - of course - our star solo act.....

[@mezzoly]

Tim Murphy as the hero and Glen Carlsen as the villain.

[@spinachgreens7179]

I remember going to Magic Forest in ~2007 and being quite horrified of all the decaying statues of humans and animals. They had not be taken great care of and were quite frightening to say looming in the distance in the woods.

[@SomeplaceOrAnother]

This looks like it once was a very cool place to visit 👍

[@susanheath1813]

I grew up there, It was magical

[@jennsterd67]

this was super fun to watch! I am glad saved!

[@maxkazlo3559]

I remember going to Magic Forest when I was a 5 and being scared of the fairy tail fingers and I remember liking the dog people on the train

[@Pinkroyal844]

I would go there every other to every three years. I miss it,

[@PaulSpecter]

Great memories, Thanks for posting.

[@itstydaguy]

Very cool. You should test out narrating the video instead of just using subtitles. It will take your videos to the next level and give them a documentary feel! You could invest in a high-quality microphone without spending too much as well. It's worth it!

[@4thdoctor284]

Yeah,and it's hard to read the text not only because it's not bold enough to see clearly but it's not onscreen long enough to read most of it.

[@larryrobinson6914]

Every summer for years.

[@racheldianeames3729]

PLEASE do more videos on the history of defunct amusements parks in the U.S.

[@DHAdArchivez]

I didn’t know the Great Escape was storytown USA

[@hobbygamer6220]

can ANYONE tell me ALL or at least SOME, hopefully sufficient information to find, that...childs initiation into the army theyd hold here b4 frontier town closed, and then they obviously kept that act together and indeed took it on the road, as shown on "Americas funniest home videos", where they would tell, indeed little 6 yo boys "and you're not going to see your parents again for a long time", whole bunch of little, I dare state VARIOUS ages, children gathered together to "join" the army, with this guy in the frontier version of American general costume, DOING the initiation. anyone remember this/maybe experienced it somewhat recently ? I'm looking for where they took this program after frontier town closed down, where they're doing this now ? any information would be appreciated

[@JUYOBWISIT]

26:00 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[@jimilove7773]

Grew up here! MAGA! Thanks!

[@renegadesbass967]

I remember Frontier Town, Storytown, USA and Gaslight Village since I had to been to all of them as a child or teenager. I had been to Frankenstein's Wax Museum as well. But the first 3 will always be fond memories of my childhood lost in time. Thank you for bringing back such great memories!

[@pretzelrides3748]

Great job! But as one of the original Dark Ride Historians from Laff In The Dark, to this day, I am convinced that there was a fourth and touring version of The Flight To Mars, that ended up in Mexico and now sits in storage. Gaslight was wonderful! Thank you for the memories.

[@frankiefire60]

Storytown is still there it's bigger n more rides it's called The Great Escape I go every year

[@k.s.7104]

Anyone else remember a trip to Storytown USA before it became the Great Escape? Almost every vehicle left the park with a Storytown USA bumper sticker stuck on their bumper lol. Soon after at some point the sicker wasn't stuck on but instead wired on lol. Charles R Wood, what a great guy for the region. Wealthy yes but 💯 % community guy for the people.

[@jimmywoo3885]

I think they made a law in some places. No stickers on cars without their owner's approval. The wires came in. Easier to remove without leaving a mark, but not always. Usually. And a lot of people would not go because of them. Imagine buying a brand-new Caddy and finding it marked, like an animal leaves its' scent in the wild? By urinating all over. The parks cost enough, and they should pay you for advertising.😯

[@rickrandall3174]

I took my children to Magic Forest for about 3 years in a row, 15 years ago. Even then, the statues along the roadway for the "forest ride" had paint peeling off them and were falling apart due to neglect. Magic Forest admission tickets cost about half of the price of the Great Escape down the street from them.

[@lisasmith9311]

My dad Bill Swan made a lot of the fiberglass statues that were in the park when he worked for international fiberglass I was blessed enough to get one of the statues after the park closed and someday would like to collect them

[@parkpiggy]

Wow! Which one?

[@beccacalli9881]

HOW COOL are these videos/clips!? I love them! How interesting growing up I wondered what in the hell was going on with The Great Escape over the years because of all the drastic changes and now it all makes sense once Six Flags took over. I thought I was imagining random rides/shows from when I was a kid LOL Thank you for the memories!

[@joshuacoldwater]

41:36 - This is false, the storytown sections remain there today in 2024. Alice in wonderland, the storytown train, the storytown swan boats, the story town cars, and the desperado plunge are all still operating daily and there is NO plan on closing any of them. The town was rearranged a bit and moved closer to ghost-town which is also still open and operating. The whale is still there. The castle with the princess is still there. The shoe house (the old lady who lived in the shoe) is still there, and they have story reading for kids 3 times a day. While yes, this park was purchased by Six Flags it is being well maintained and preserved as a local family park.

[@apollomoon1]

Does anyone remember the name of the small amusement park in the 1950’s on route 9 a few miles north of Saratoga. It later was the site of a large flea market.

[@apollomoon1]

“Frontier Town where the west began. Frontier Town where a man is a man”. I can still here the radio and tv commercials playing that jingle. The parking lot for Magic Forest was at one time a huge ravine. Art Gillette filled it with gravel drawn from Hammond’s gravel banks after he purchased that property just down Bloody Pond Road. It’s still in business. Was great for little kids because the rides were tiny. I still have some free passes from Gaslight Village. Great fun at night.

[@reddragon8488]

in fact I came up with an idea for a movie which would be set in the great escape and gaslight village more specifically in the summer of 84 Something like adventureland 2009 and the story would deal with 2 people who have summer jobs in the great escape and gaslight village respectively they would meet and have a friendship that would grow to become A relationship I feel that if this movie were made it would be a critical success but at the box office it would do badly But who knows it could and be a box office hit Pd: one of the scenes that I imagine would be that after our protagonists confessed their feelings and after kissing with the sunset in the background They would sneakily go either to the tornado attraction in great escape or the flight to Mars in gaslight village to have sex and to see that the attraction was working they They would try to leave without anyone seeing

[@davidboyd911]

I remember it all. just memories now.

[@jimilove7773]

You left out animal land w/ the smoking monkey/ alligator wrestling! Right across from Story town! MAGA!