An unused nuclear power plant in Germany from the 1980s has been converted into an amusement park, and now attracts over 600,000 visitors a year.
According to the Sun, the park, called Wunderland Kalkar in Kalkar, Germany, near the Dutch border, opened in 2001, and now features over 40 attractions, including a tour of the nuclear facility’s infrastructure, a giant vertical swing in the middle of the cooling tower, a rock-climbing wall up the side of the cooling tower, a log ride and a small coaster.
The amusement park also has a 450-room hotel for guests to stay at during their visit, with several restaurants and bars.
The facility, originally called SNR-300, was completed in 1985 at a cost of $5 billion, but it attracted the ire and concerns of local government officials and residents. However, following the Chernobyl disaster, SNR-300 was never switched on.
A Dutch investor bought the 136 acres of land in 1996 and with the local community installed an amusement park swing ride inside the station’s cooling tower, and converted the land into an amusement park. It fully opened in 2001 and now features 40 other attractions.
The most popular ride at the park is the Vertical Swing ride, a 58m high swing ride built into the power station’s cooling tower.
There are plans for a wellness park, an indoor winter wonderland and an exhibition centre.
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