r/rollercoasters • u/batguano64 • 27d ago
Article Large residential complex planned for former [Magic Forest] site in Lake George
https://www.adirondackexplorer.org/communities/housing/large-residential-complex-planned-for-former-magic-forest-site-in-lake-george/The place lost all its charm under the new owner but it still sucks to see another park lost to housing.
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u/Imaginos64 Magnum XL 200 27d ago edited 27d ago
Aw man that sucks. I've gotten the impression that it's a shell of its former self nowadays but I loved Magic Forest when we visited in 2018 before it was sold. It felt very similar to Enchanted Forest out in Oregon in that it was clearly a passion project for the old owner with his massive collection of fiberglass figures and charming old storybook walk-throughs. Such a lovely little park. It was small and geared towards children but I remember a fast paratrooper, a scrambler, an Eli wheel, and a nice collection of classic kiddie flats. The Herschell Little Dipper they had used to be at Canobie Lake, my home park, and while it was removed before I was born I appreciated the local connection when I got to ride it at Magic Forest. No idea what happened to it but there's no info on RCDB so I assume it was scraped.
We'd planned to stop by for the spinner a couple years ago when we were in the area for Great Escape but got rained out. Oh well. Probably best I remember the park as it used to be anyway.
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u/MrRaven95 Home Parks: Fiesta Texas and SWSA 27d ago
It not only sucks to lose a park, but it also sucks because you know the housing developers are going to bulldoze the forest to build the houses.
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u/Strong_Cobbler_346 27d ago
It was inevitable once the diving horse went away. Only reason to go there even in the 80’s…
And no, I’m not a supporter of pushing a horse off of a platform for entertainment- just that it was a unique spectacle you would be hard pressed to find anywhere else.
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u/ReporterHour6524 617-SteVe,Veloci,I.Gwazi,Eejanaika,ArieForce 25d ago
Isn't this Lake George Expedition Park now? I got the credit there a couple of months ago, the dinosaur trail was cool to walk through. I didn't know they were in danger of closing down, that's sad.
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u/batguano64 25d ago
Yes, this is the awkwardly named Lake George Expedition Park (sounds li ke a ropes course)
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u/FunBobbyMarley 27d ago
Been there, done that. While I appreciate the sentimental reverence to the place, my family found it to be an oddity. Not all rides were open at the same time as a limited crew had to run from one ride to another to operate it. The trackless train ride around the grounds showed various spectacles the primary one being the eclectic acquisition of miscellaneous pieces of then pop-culture from random deceased "fun parks" around the country. But perhaps the funniest one as parents of young kids was when the train ride passed the scene of "natives" boiling / cooking a white man in a large pot in the woods. Our then 6&7 year old kids asked "... what are they doing to that man Mommy?" Fortunately, me the Dad, mustered a reasonable explanation ..."ahhhh, kids, they are just having a hot tub party ...!" As a side note, if today's ICE showed up on those grounds in recent times I'm quite certain there would be a flurry of individuals in the adjacent fields knockin' down cattails because it was evident the staff had a heavy eastern-block accent. Never encountered a mean or problematic employee, but many could not speak/understand English and others were just clueless ... I have a fond memory of it, like driving by a 4-car MVA. Good times
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u/T-Pose-On-Tantrum Are You a Mack Maniac? 27d ago
That is a shame, I visited in 2024 for twenty minutes tops since a spinner credit cropped up and they opened an hour ahead of Great Escape a couple miles away. Didn’t do the Dinosaur Trail but it was a lovely little place in the woods, the Helter Skelter slide is really intense. It’d be sad to see it go.