Check out the gallery of the abandoned (and now demolished) Thrill-Ville USA theme park in Turner, Oregon and find out why it permanently closed.

Did you get to go to Thrill-Ville USA before they permanently closed the Oregon theme park in 2007? Fun seekers and families spent nearly 3 decades of fun at this amusement park in Turner, Oregon. Let’s take a look at the history behind this theme park and answer the question, why did Thrill-Ville USA close?

Abandoned Theme Parks in Oregon
Abandoned Amusement Park Carousel, Kato Blackmore on Unsplash
loading...

ROLLER COASTERS, SLIDES, AND KIDDIE RIDES, OH MY

Thrill-Ville USA had humble Oregon beginnings in the quiet, sleepy town of Turner, population of less than 2,500 people.

City of Turner, Oregon
Google Street View
loading...

The RV park and storage unit on the original Thrill-Ville USA property opened up a go-kart race track there in the 1970s. Once they added a water slide in the mid-80s, Thrill-Ville’s status as an little amusement park was cemented. Soon, word spread about the fun “thrills” at Thrill-Ville, so the owners decided to expand their theme park to include roller coasters. Later, they added slide rides, a mini-golf course, and a bumper boat pool (see the gallery below). The Thrill-Ville mascot was a "spray foam man" named "The Thrillman."

A QUICK WORD ABOUT THAT THRILL-VILLE USA WATER SLIDE…

Thrill-Ville USA boasted the tallest water slide in the entire state of Oregon. It was high that if you stacked 11 grown giraffes on top of each other, you can get an idea of how huge this water slide actually was! Thrill-Ville USA also had two roller coasters, a mini locomotive train with tracks around the inner perimeter of the amusement park, and a section of kiddie rides.

94.5 KATS logo
Get our free mobile app

WHY DID THRILL-VILLE USA CLOSE?

Blame the bad economy of the early 2000s, coupled with the increased costs for amusement park liability insurance for the demise of this once popular theme park that was a retreat for Oregonians and other travelers. It was quite a bummer to see it close, just ask some of the fans who are still sad about Thrill-Ville USA permanently closing. Some nostalgic fans talk about how sad they are in the Abandoned Theme Parks page on Facebook.

In May 2008, the park announced that due to higher insurance costs and a slowing economy that the park would not open for its usual season of Memorial Day to Labor Day in 2008. The park finally announced that Thrill-Ville USA would never re-open.” - Abandoned Theme Parks via Facebook

Thrill-Ville USA 2009 by M.O. Stevens / CC BY-SA 3.0 (Edited with Canva)

Abandoned Oregon Theme Park: Thrill-Ville USA in Turner, Oregon

There's plenty of history to reminisce over at the old Thrill-Ville USA!

Gallery Credit: Reesha Cosby

MORE TO READ:

94.5 KATS logo
Get our free mobile app

Report a typo or correction

Got a news tip? Email us here.

LOOK: Do you know these iconic quotes from '70s TV shows

Stacker looked through the vast array of groundbreaking 1970s television and identified 25 of its most iconic (and most memorable) quotes. 

Gallery Credit: Sofia Voss

WOAH: 99 Signs You Were a Teenager in the '90s

Grab your Hypercolor T-Shirt and Bonnie Bell Lip Smackers because we're traveling in time to the most radical decade of them all. Only real '90s teens will remember these iconic pop culture moments--see how many you recall!

Gallery Credit: Meg Dowdy

LOOK: Best Beers From Every State

To find the best beer in each state and Washington D.C., Stacker analyzed January 2020 data from BeerAdvocate, a website that gathers user scores for beer in real-time. BeerAdvocate makes its determinations by compiling consumer ratings for all 50 states and Washington D.C. and applying a weighted rank to each. The weighted rank pulls the beer toward the list's average based on the number of ratings it has and aims to allow lesser-known beers to increase in rank. Only beers with at least 10 rankings to be considered; we took it a step further to only include beers with at least 100 user rankings in our gallery. Keep reading to find out what the best beer is in each of the 50 states and Washington D.C.

Gallery Credit: Angela Underwood

50 Most Popular Chain Restaurants in America

YouGov investigated the most popular dining brands in the country, and Stacker compiled the list to give readers context on the findings. Read on to look through America's vast and divergent variety of restaurants—maybe you'll even find a favorite or two.

Gallery Credit: Paul Feinstein

Take a Pic of Yourself in Yakima at One of these 74 Mural Selfie Walls

Did you know that the city of Yakima, Washington, has over seventy-four (74) murals that would make for a fantastic place to get your sightseeing selfie? You've no doubt taken quite a few selfies in front of popular landmarks and selfie wallls.

Keep your eyes out for one of our unique photo-op murals to add to your collection in your social media pics, and stop and take a memorable selfie of yourself in the heart of Yakima!

Gallery Credit: Reesha Cosby

More From 94.5 KATS