Fantasy Farm Fun Park
Middletown, Ohio
After visiting Americana Amusement, we decided to go next door to “Fantasy
Farm”, a farm-themed park aimed to entertain small children. The park
contained basic rides such as small coasters and bumper cars, a petting zoo, and
even a very neat attraction called “Tom Sawyer’s Caverns”, a mild haunted house
for the kiddie, which was basically the lower level of a building
transformed to look like an underground cavern.
After visiting Americana Amusement, we decided to go next door to “Fantasy
Farm”, a farm-themed park aimed to entertain small children. The park
contained basic rides such as small coasters and bumper cars, a petting zoo, and
even a very neat attraction called “Tom Sawyer’s Caverns”, a mild haunted house
for the kiddie, which was basically the lower level of a building
transformed to look like an underground cavern.
Looking back on old photos and footage of the park, it is easy to see that many
of the attractions are now long gone; alot of the original building have been
torn down, with maybe only 5-7 still remaining. The remaining buildings
have all been broken into, with lots of shattered glass.
of the attractions are now long gone; alot of the original building have been
torn down, with maybe only 5-7 still remaining. The remaining buildings
have all been broken into, with lots of shattered glass.
The park is easy to access. You literally just walk in, no fences or
warning signs. The old Fantasy Farm Motel is still there, but has been
converted to a Parkside Inn. At one point, the park itself was
converted into a go-cart track, but that section of the park has now been filled
in with clean fill dirt. We could tell this because as we walked across
the large mound, we sunk into the ground with every step; this fill-in project
is also evident by the fact that the ball-park style lamp poles have been
buried, with only about half the pole still above ground (strange that they
wouldn’t remove the lights first).
Below is an old photo of the track.
warning signs. The old Fantasy Farm Motel is still there, but has been
converted to a Parkside Inn. At one point, the park itself was
converted into a go-cart track, but that section of the park has now been filled
in with clean fill dirt. We could tell this because as we walked across
the large mound, we sunk into the ground with every step; this fill-in project
is also evident by the fact that the ball-park style lamp poles have been
buried, with only about half the pole still above ground (strange that they
wouldn’t remove the lights first).
Below is an old photo of the track.
A website has been created to help preserve the memory of the park. If
you’d like to look at more photos of the park during its prime, then check out
this website: http://www.fantasyfarm.org/index.htm .
I’ve included a few old photos here as well. I found a comparison photo of the
motel. One definite major difference between ‘now’ and ‘then’ is just the utter lack of
trees! In old photos, the place looks like it was nestled in a forest;
now, Fantasy Farm is just a field full of random broken parts and buildings…
Always such a shame to see these places in such a state of disrepair. I
could only hope that maybe someday in the future, the park will be revived, and
right now, it looks like hope is all Fantasy Farm has left.
you’d like to look at more photos of the park during its prime, then check out
this website: http://www.fantasyfarm.org/index.htm .
I’ve included a few old photos here as well. I found a comparison photo of the
motel. One definite major difference between ‘now’ and ‘then’ is just the utter lack of
trees! In old photos, the place looks like it was nestled in a forest;
now, Fantasy Farm is just a field full of random broken parts and buildings…
Always such a shame to see these places in such a state of disrepair. I
could only hope that maybe someday in the future, the park will be revived, and
right now, it looks like hope is all Fantasy Farm has left.
Below is an inside look at the Tom Sawyer Tunnel attraction.