North America's Worst Theme Park Just Got Worse...
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ก.ย. 2024
- After my very lacklustre visit in 2022, I concluded that Marineland, Niagara Falls might just be the worst theme park in North America. Now, years have passed and despite rumours of the struggling theme park finally closing down in 2024, they defied all expectations and indeed re-opened... however they did so in a very bizarre state. In my opinion, they somehow they managed to make their theme park experience even worse! Join me today as we take a look at what has changed and find out what the future holds.
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Bright Sun Films 2024
Presented in 4K
Note that all statements, unless stated otherwise in the video are my opinion. Do your own research and educate yourself on this park if you wish to get a full picture of the story. Do not attack this park based off of this video. Pls don't sue me.
This is the closest to a Roller Coaster Tycoon scenario park that we'll ever see in real life
Fr
A failed one that is.
Description:
Marineland was once a popular theme park has fallen into decay. Can you repair the parks negative reputation and turn it into the most popular park in Canada?
The Challenge:
Have at least 700 guest in the park by the end of August Year 3, with a rating of 700
@@Dhips. you ain’t getting that rating above 500. All the guests would get lost.
At this point I am surprised they don't have giant tweezers to pick up people and move them around.
I think it's an inadvertent testament to your skill as a filmmaker that you were able to get 16 minutes of worthwhile material out of that park, Jake. Man that place is just sad.
you got that from a ai
What's ai?@@clinchfieldtheghostfriendly
16 minutes of content that's probably longer than the park offers (if you don't count walking)
Sad and heartbreaking
@@clinchfieldtheghostfriendly what are you talking about? They’re right. BSF managed to craft a more well thought out and executed video in 16 minutes than the entirety of Marineland and its history.
This is the theme park a Russian novelist would write into their story as a metaphor for the pointlessness of existence.
'The winter snow that swept over Moscow reminded Ivan Borski of the depressed dolphins he had seen on a brief government-approved guided tour to the West, at the fabled Marineland'.
Ivan briefly shuddered at the fresh memories of the beluga whales and desolate parking lot, took a swig of his vodka, and decided life in Soviet captivity was far more preferable and optimistic.'
Marineland is a Potemkin Village. I know, I've lived in the Falls all my life.
Marine land is a cesspool. Should have been shuttered decades ago.
@@WriterLilyth Dostoyevsky's reincarnated soul just posted on YT
r/OddlySpecific
I consulted with them in the 1970s. Halder, the owner, wanted a way to keep the dolphins alive for more than six months at a time.
I advised that the filtration system was inadequate and the animals urine was a huge problem. He refused to spend the money saying it was cheaper to just replace the dead.
It was a hellhole then, I am sure it has never gotten any better.
Yikes.
That's fucking awful. Those poor creatures.
🤣👏 I love a story with a happy ending!
"Halder" is not the owner. Who is "Halder"???? The founder/owner up until his death in 2018 was John Holer, born Ivan Holerjem. So obviously you are lying, as how can you get the name so wrong if you "consulted with them"??? I call BS.
@@user-pp4ve6qo1b call BS all you like. I was there after he called our company St. Marines looking for advice on how we were keeping a wide range of salt water animals alive in a large system.
Louis Tham who was Czech and the owner of St. Marines did not speak English well so sent me.
I was at thevtime designing centrifical flow under gravel systems which were encouraging far better aerobic bacterial cultures to break down waste.
Sorry if I mispelt that monsters name.
It makes sense though, that it was spelt Holer. Goes with ass better
To be honest I'm surprised this follow up didn't end with "oh yeah, and they banned me from the park too". This place is so shady and terrible.
Ooooooh no one should be banning an amazing channel like yours lol
@@ivorythebean oh I agree, but I wouldn't put it past them to try.
@@AmusementLabs This place needs someone to actually care. I wish I had the finances, I would make that place just absolutely amazing!
They can’t ban him, he’s the only person to come more than once in 30 years.
They gotta need that money anyway lol
There's a longstanding thing in Ontario where if a government official says the land is not getting re-zoned for something, it is absolutely getting re-zoned for that thing.
Belugaview Condos coming soon.
Honestly that’s a better use for the land. Specifically as affordable housing, not rich people condos. If the area near Marineland is like any other city in recent years, there’s a huge lack of affordable housing. But yeah you would need to properly rezone to do that. Whatever happens, it’ll be interesting to see what becomes of the land and the park.
@craisins95 Personally I'd prefer provincial parkland or a conservation area. Affordable housing would be much needed, but if believe developers will choose that over luxury condos I got a former aquatic themed park to sell ya
What is affordable housing today. Their is no such thing with a liberal government. Theirs tons of land in this country that is not being used or owned by the government. Nobody is buying that land for affordable housing. It will be tall condos for Fall's view to jack up the value of the condo. Unless companies like Six Flags buy the land for amusement. Niagara is a is a dump outside of the Clifton Hill area.
I really hope it doesn’t become a residential wasteland (especially affordable housing). Let the cities focus on developing residential areas so small towns can stay small towns.
At this point, if it meant that MarineLand disappeared, who would miss it?
"This would be the 13th beluga whale to die in the park-"
Me: oh that's awful
"- since 2019"
IM SORRY?? that's absolutely insane
Edit: why the hell is there an argument ab veganism in my replies rn???
IKR, and surprisingly I just watched his old video lol
At this point it's just a front for a beluga-themed serial miller.
How many chickens cows etc died for you in that time? 🤦♂🤣
@@emdogg3411 Yet you havent explained why! try and justify yourself! And dont forget to state why your is correct and everyones else is wrong!
He wont as he cant thats why he didnt do it on the first place!
@@danquaylesitsspeltpotatoe8307 Take your meds
Marineland was one of my absolute favourite places in the entire world when I was a kid. A few years ago, after hearing lots of rumblings about how the park might be closed soon, I made a visit for the first time in several decades as I thought it might be my last chance to do so. The experience was one of the most depressing of my entire life. It was like someone reached into my head, ripped out the happiest memories I've ever had, and then set them on fire in front of me and forced me to watch.
man that sounds awful...i am sorry you had to go through that
I think I managed to get to it just before it took a turn for the worst. Like you I wanted to visit it after visiting it in the 90's on a class field trip from school. Believe me I had a couple very good reasons for visiting the park and I am glad I did it when I could. It was virtually unchanged from that first visit except for the addition of a couple rides. If anything was a time capsule it was this. I also stuck to going on the rides and avoided the animal enclosures because I knew what I would be feeling if I visited those. I did visit the Aquarium and it was in very bad shape.
Same
you got Tulip from infinity trained
I never got to go to Marineland because I spent my whole life in Western Canada before I made the big move to Japan. But the commercials were magical, and the jingle lived rent free in my head for decades. I'm so sorry that this happened to you.
the fact that the orca lived alone in that tank… for 12 years… it absolutely horrific
Exactly! They are social creatures
It's a situation with a bit more nuance that tends to be overlooked. In 2015, the province of Ontario passed legislation banning the purchase, sale, or breeding of orcas. Orcas already in ownership were unfortunately exempt from this law, so MarineLand was given the green light to keep Kiska in captivity, but was barred from obtaining any more orcas that could have given her companionship in her final years. I can imagine that if it hadn't been for those regulations, MarineLand would have acquired more tankmates for her at some point.
It's a mixed bag -- it's tragic that she had to live and die alone, but knowing MarineLand's history of animal negligence and abuse, it's for the best that they (and similar businesses) were prohibited from acquiring any more orcas.
Sorry but there is no nuance to this. There was nothing stopping them from sending Kiska to a sanctuary all this time. Owners were too greedy, selfish and too proud to ever let go of their marine animals to a better place. The solution was not to give her a companion but to remove her from that place period.
You do both have a point. At the least they should've given her better owners. however these do kind of counter each other so it's really, make sure they don't do this again.
There were many people campaigning and fundraising to have her moved to a sanctuary during her later years there. The park owners refused and let her die alone in a tiny tank with no sun shade from a stack of health conditions caused by how she was kept.
Charging people 15 dollars to just walk around and look at depressed Dolphins is fucking disgraceful.
For real that's like a whole Chipotle bowl with guac
Excuse me, but you forgot about the splash pad sir!
exactly, like, for the same cost i could go to my local renfaire and have a MUCH better time
@@LorewithouttheE it's such a colossal waste of space. imagine someone way more dedicated and way more energized...they could make a great park. and if they really insisted on keeping animals, someone with way more dedication and passion could at least create an environment where animal life would be treated with care and dignity instead of whatever the fuck this is
And then have a sign that says no refunds!!
This park IS an educational experience... on how not to run a theme park.😐
The only memorable part of Marineland is that infuriating jingle.
Or zoo, or business,
I thought Jenny Nicholson's expose of the shitshow at Evermore was bad...this place makes Evermore look like the Harry Potter World at Universal lol
@@raineob4996 Thanks. Now I have that earworm stuck in my head. In fairness, it IS a very catchy jingle.
considering that #2 is a park run by the old Six Flags . Ceder Fair now merged with them and using there brand now owns Canada's top and 2nd worst amusement park.
Extremely long comment time, as I've got plenty of stories and tidbits. I'll list them off as I remember them.
I worked there when I was 22/23 years old back in like...2009/2010 I think? Two summers as a ride operator. They didn't rehire me for the third year because I apparently had "too many customer complaints". Every customer complained and every ride operator had tons of complaints due to not letting undersized kids on rides.
- My father was a welder on the team that constructed Dragon Mountain in 1983, and he also worked on the structural rebar of the entrance structure for Dragon Mountain. I've got a picture of him posing in front of some track section in the house somewhere.
- When my father was working there in '83 welding Dragon Mountain, they only had male dolphins. One day during lunch, one of his coworkers ran up and beckoned the others to come with him to check the dolphins out. They were all swimming around, fully....at attention.....trying to mate with each other. They got female dolphins after that.
- I worked at the following rides during my time there: Flying Dragon, Magic Experience, Dragon Mountain, Topple Tower, Boat Carousel, Sky Hawk, Kandu's Twister, Wave Swinger, Sky Screamer. Basically all the rides at the back of the park near the teacups, and the larger attractions.
- I encountered John Holer only once. They had me come in before the park opened to scrub down the bridge railings at the fish feeding pond and the concrete of the bear pit. I was transporting my tools to the bear pit and walked back to the fish feeding area to get my backpack. He pulled up in his truck, thinking I was slacking off. When I noticed him, I pointed over at my tools near the bear pit and gave him a thumbs up and he drove off.
- My manager was an older guy named Carm who had a majestic white mustache reminiscent of King Waldorf. He was nice to me but the guy who had the lawsuit with Marineland told me he was a company man and frequently lied about stuff.
- The head of ride maintenance at the time whose name eludes me, was a redhead as far as I can remember. Nice guy but I heard from lawsuit guy (Phil I think is his name?) that he passed away.
- That head of ride maintenance was showing us the retrofitted guitar amp plug keys they used to enable the ride control panels and told us why they had to install them. Apparently Holer's son was sneaking "ladies of the night" into the park and operating Sky Screamer at night. Ride maintenance guy caught Holer's son one night when he was driving down near the park and happened to see Sky Screamer operating in the middle of the night.
- Bears in the bear pit, when they passed away, were carted out of the pit by a front end loader. All the other bears seemed to know what it meant when the loader drove in, and they'd all scatter. They were malnourished and some had major wounds due to fights.
- Holer's wife used to manage the arcade at the front of the park. She was not well liked by any of the employees.
- I heard a story where John Holer pulled up to the park late one night and pulled a shotgun on a supposed trespasser...who turned out to be a manager who was attending to some sort of alarm going off or something. Or maybe it was the ride maintenance guy?
- I personally witnessed and had to stop several vehicles driving inside the park. Tourists would get lost trying to find the entrance and would make their way around to the side entrance for employees near a neighboring factory where a friend of mine's father worked. They'd just drive right into the park and end up near the base of Sky Screamer. That's where the road on the left side of the deer park structure goes. Side exit for employees.
- I had heard rumors of some sort of southern or tropical adventure area that was being planned to be developed way out behind where Topple Tower used to be. You could see construction vehicles out there.
- Dragon Mountain's scenery has always been in a very unfinished state. At one point in the ride, you go down a sheer drop. There was meant to be a replica of Niagara Falls in that area that was never built. The idea was to make it seem like you were going over the Falls on the coaster. Also when coming out of the volcano crater, you could usually see a bunch of construction vehicles just sitting out there, abandoned.
- Operating the boat carousel during rain was fun as the ride was unable to run in the rain due to the rubber tires and metal rail they rode on.
- My 2nd year as a ride operator also came with me becoming a "breaker". I'd go to the following rides to give the ride operator at each ride their daily breaks/lunch: Flying Dragon, Boat Carousel, Sky Hawk, Kandu's Twister, Wave Swinger, Magic Experience, Topple Tower. I enjoyed being a breaker as I would get an hour and a half lunch break which was sweet.
- Whenever I was operating Boat Carousel and it was raining, and the ride was shut down during the rain, I would sit there and smoke cigs. I would listen for the sound of any incoming "Gator" vehicles driven by managers, and would palm my smoke until they drove away.
- I can't begin to count how many Indian tourists I would catch letting their children use the bathroom behind a bush or behind the bear pit. I was operating Topple Tower one time and looked over beside the ride at the bear pit and saw an Indian lady dropping her little girls shorts down so the girl could do a #2. I had a lineup full of people some of whom were looking over too. So I shouted over to get her attention. She looked over, heard me shout "you can't do that over there!", yanked her daughters shorts up and took off.
- Nothing against Indians, but have they not heard of deodorant? I often pondered the idea of sitting at the entrance handing out sticks of deodorant to them.
- I walked into the men's room near Sky Hawk one day and saw an Indian mother washing her child's #2-covered rear end in the sink. Had to call cleaners over to clean it up.
- During my 2nd year, when I was a breaker, I would bring a spare shirt with me that I would throw on during my hour and a half lunch break, and I would go on the rides. Just had to make sure the managers didn't see me.
- Working Flying Dragon was amazing as people would lose tons of stuff on that ride. I'd find tons of coins in the grass and the little buckets behind the left/right-most seats. I'd also find packs of smokes which I'd keep. I'd also often find used diapers back there which was annoying.
- I'd also frequently take smoke breaks behind the little entrance building for the Wave Swinger when it was devoid of people, or behind the structure at Flying Dragon. Pretty much behind any ride I could get behind.
- I see another commenter who worked there say that they weren't given water on hot days. During my time there they were usually pretty good about delivering us a freshly filled cooler of water although sometimes we'd go without.
- The same commenter also mentioned an employee being yelled at for standing in the wrong spot and being assaulted over it. I'm going to guess the ride was Dragon Mountain. I had a similar experience when I was working at Dragon Mountain. We were told to stand in certain spots when attending to the coaster train when the ride ended. I was yelled at for being in the wrong spot, but wasn't assaulted. I think it was for safety reasons as you could get clipped or your foot crushed by the train if you stood too close.
- I started out working on Sky Screamer, did something wrong and got kicked off that and moved to Dragon Mountain. Then I got kicked off Dragon Mountain and moved to Topple Tower. That was my 1st year.
- That ride vehicle sitting in the restaurant (at 8:07) is 100% the car for Flying Dragon.
- The store is where, if memory serves me right, we employees got our outfits.
- They did treat older employees well. Managers would drive their gators to the employee clock-in shack at the side exit I mentioned above, and pick the older (age-wise) employees up and drive them to their spot for the day. Then they'd come and pick them up and drive them back to the shack at the end of the day. Us young bucks had to walk.
- With all that walking I was doing as a breaker, and the 4 litres of water I was drinking a day, I ended up losing...I don't even remember. Probably like 50-70 pounds in 4 months.
- When I operated Flying Dragon, I had a lot of Indian parents, mostly the fathers, trying to demand I let their kids on the ride. Problem was their kids were often too small to go on the ride. So the parents would end up going on the ride....and then they'd come back up to me after the ride was over and apologize for being rude and explain they didn't realize Flying Dragon was that harsh of a ride, and they realized they didn't want their little child to go on it. The height restrictions on the rides were there for a reason, they just didn't understand what the reason was.
- I had heard rumor that John Holer did not pay any hydro bills and got his electricity for free due to the revenue he was bringing in for the city. Same with Harry Oakes who owns the whole right side of Clifton Hill with his company HOCO. They apparently both don't pay hydro bills.
- Any time an animal was sick or passing away, John Holer would usually take them out back and....you get the idea. There's likely several pits full of animal bones strewn throughout the wooded areas of the park.
- One guy once took his wallet onto Sky Screamer. When the ride went up, his wallet flew out of his pocket and all of his cash and cards flew all over the sides of the mountain. They had us ride operators scour the mountain for a couple hours to find his stuff. We found all of his cash and most of his cards except for an American Express card. Don't bring things on rides that you don't want to lose. People would frequently lose phones on Dragon Mountain and maintenance would have to scour the bushes to find them.
This comment was somehow really fun, and informative, to read
They let my brother on topple tower (or maybe it was Sky Hawk) when he was 4 and they shouldn’t have. I was holding him with all my might. I was 14. If I had let go he would have certainly been very hurt or worse. Scary comment. Thanks for your experience
was definitely not prepared for the random racism break in the middle there but this was very interesting to read, thank you!
@@iDangerousx33 Its not racist. Hes speaking from experience. I worked there too and the Indians were straight from India, different culture and they in fact shit in the bushes and had bad hygiene habits. They had little to no respect for employees as well. One of my best buddies is Indian, he talks shit about the tourists all the time cause they give him a bad look
@@iDangerousx33not racism but truth and fact lol! I have Indians in the family and they also complain about the same things concerning other Indians! His comments were spot on unfortunately.
Niagara native. I worked there for 2 years in my teens and, well, they didn't treat the human employees that much better than the animals. It was my first job ever and I was this wide-eyed kid excited to get out in the workforce at the time, and boy was that mentality shattered quick.
It was hell going to work every day. I was a rides operator and, on top of the guests being rude and trying to fight you all the time, the management was just as bad if not worse. We had one supervisor who was an alcoholic and she allowed one particular employee to get away with smoking weed on the job because she was sleeping with him. Our supervisors would never give us breaks, they'd never provide us with water on extremely hot days out in the sun, and they'd never support us when a customer complained. I'd have to stand there and listen to my supervisor write me up and chew me out over something the customer said that wasn't true. There was one time on Dragon Mountain where my supervisor yelled at my co-worker for going to the bathroom.
We as ride operators were also at the mercy of the rides maintenance team. The head maintenance guy would yell at staff in front of customers and make female staff cry out of sheer intimidation. I remember him chewing me out and accusing me of stealing a cellphone from a guest when I didn't do that at all, and didn't even apologize to me when the phone was found on the ride. I remember seeing one rides maintenance guy physically assault an employee because he wasn't standing in the right spot, and then he got that poor guy fired when he talked back at him for it. That same guy came up to me and yelled at me for not working... when it was raining and we were unable to operate the rides...
I'm barely scratching the surface here. I don't even want to get into the picnic table behind Dragon Mountain's entrance where employees would do drugs and/or bang. It was fun going up there to clean and picking up roaches and used condoms all the time.
I know there are people who would be like "just quit if you don't like it" but that's just not realistic. We all need to work in order to survive, and spending 8 hours of your day at work is hard enough. Nobody should be spending those 8 hours of their day being mistreated and mentally abused.
Let the place die.
*EDIT*: Nice to see responses from others that worked there. For legal reasons, I'm not going to name names nor will I give away the exact years I worked there. Thank you.
man that sounds so awful and so dehumanizing. i am very sorry that you had to go through that
Marineland was the first major theme park I went to as a kid. I never thought it would be such a horror show behind the scenes.
What season did you work brother? I was rides maintenance for a year and my crew was super awesome chill people. Learned lots from them and they were extremely patient. They mentioned your rides operator managers sucked and played favorites. I saw it happen, so I can vouch for that. I reemed out your managers because they didn't provide water coolers to you guys. I swear those old farts needed out ASAP.
BrightSun is also a Niagara native
Honestly reading this makes me think the government needs to take ownership of this park and either destroy it of rebuild
MarineLand almost killed my father. In 2004 we went for a school field trip at MarineLand. He went with my sister on the kiddie roller coster and cut his elbow on an sharp exposed piece of metal. He was fine the following day and went to work; the morning after that he woke up feeling incredibly ill, the cut had become infected, and his elbow was swelling. My mother didn't think it was serious, but he insisted she take him to the doctor. The doctor took one look and said "do you want to drive him to the hospital or have an ambulance take him". For the next 2 week my dad was in the intensive care, you could see the infection working its way up his arm, they gave him a whole bunch of antibiotics which he ended up having a bad reaction to. They told us he had something called streptococcus toxic shock. His arm became so swollen they had to hang it on the IV rack for several days otherwise the meds wouldn't flow into his system. He almost went septic multiple times, and very well could have lost his arm. It was a race to kill the bacteria before they made their way to his heart. Thankfully was able to pull through. Two days later we saw on the local news that a killer whale at MarineLand died earlier that week while my dad was in the hospital. Cause of death was *streptococcal toxic shock*.
I’m sorry that happened but I wouldn’t really say that’s the parks fault exactly
im really sorry that happened to your pops but thats almost hilarious in a cosmic sorta way
@@_will795a piece of exposed metal on a ride is definitely the park’s fault.. even if he went to a doctor after he got cut he still probably gotten a cast
@@_will795 it is. They probably don't clean the tanks, hence the bacteria.
@@_will795 If that sharp piece of metal was on a kiddie roller coaster, it would ABSOLUTELY be the park's fault.
this is a theme park with the same vibe as a dying mall, complete with a husk of a movie theater and a lingering petco reeking of piss
They gotta be using this park as a front to some kind of money laundering op (or hell, maybe even a drug ring) at this point because there is absolutely no way that this park has made a cent within the last decade
No the new owners want the animals moved. It was sold to Waldorf Astoria Hotels
They probably would've made more money by moving the animals and then doing nothing by letting the land value appreciate.
This property can, and probably is, being used as a huge tax write-off for the new owner(s). Seen this happen to other properties way too often!
Yeah, it's being vultured. And god knows what kind of shady deals are being set up to repurpose the land. So sad to see, especially the poor animals who are still trapped in it.
(My own wild-ass guess? They'll turn it into a marine-themed casino.)
I mean Spree park in Berlin did that. They thankfully did not have animals though
"13 Belugas died in five years."
Just wow, what a sad and disgusting record to have for a single park
I love that they cope about how that statistic is because they “have the most Belugas in a theme park” as if that doesn’t just expose them for overcrowding.
And it's entirely possible to keep healthy, happy belugas in captivity! The Shedd Aquarium in Chicago takes fantastic care of their animals, it's not like these are impossible animals to have thrive in aquaria! Ugh, it makes me so mad.
The National Aquarium in Baltimore is building an actual dolphin sanctuary (in the ocean) to rehome their show dolphins, and others from facilities like this. It's the first one in North America.
“It’s barely an experience.”
Dude it’s barely anything. I never figured it was worse.
@@venomousnate7263 At this point it's just one person's sad fish tank.
It was never a park for rides it was for the animals the rides they added were extra. Thing is they treated the animals very bad.
No, it's an experience alright! Its just a very BAD Experience. Even the animals in WEM are better treated, and that' s saying something!!
@@steadholderharrington9035 most zoos only keep an animal for so long then it’s either transferred to another zoo or put back into the wild not kept in a gage all its life.
@@ryans413 You ever been to West Edmonton Mall in it heyday when it had actual zoo animal exhibits in glass terrariums in the middle of the hallways inside the mall? They didn't move the animals out because that had been the original intent from the get-go either, just so you know.
When I was 11, my parents asked me if I wanted to go to MarineLand or Disney World, and my dumbass chose MarineLand. It’s my villain origin story.
You at 11 years old like: We live in a society 😂😂
as someone who has been to disney twice as a child, you didn't miss much. i can only remember long lines, disappointing rides and my parents grimacing at the cost of everything.
Doofenshmirtz ass backstory lmao
I used to get really pissed that my parents never took us to this place as kids. We lived about an hour away and never understood why we went to wonderland and never marine land. Now as an adult I’m happy they never took us!!
Vortex is a better Dragon Mountain than Dragon Mountain anyway 😂
SAME!
There's a place I know in Ontario, where the sea animals die and diseases grow. There's sadness in the air and vacant buildings everywhere. Everyone haaaaaaates Marineland 🎶
OK you win the internet today!
@megShep you're hilarious ☆
any relation to Chris Shep
iykyk ▪︎
Lol, I was trying to remember the theme song and then read this. Too funny.
You win TH-cam today
lol!!!! I was singing that
Those 'do not enter' signs in all caps sure add that extra layer of warmth and friendliness.
Management: "Everything is fine! The park is doing better than ever."
Worked at the park 20+ years ago, miserable experience. While the focus was on the whales and dolphins, the other animals in the park were equally abused. There was an offsite grazing field for "surplus deer". If a deer died in the park it was hauled off and tossed into open burn pits, then replaced with a live deer from the grazing field.
Part of the reason it should not be developed for housing is part of the attached land was used as a private dump. Decades of toxic chemicals, vehicle parts, trash, you name it are buried on the property. City council was well aware but have done nothing.
Good point.
Should they just leave the dead deer there?
@@megaddams2374 no, it should be removed, but I am pretty sure an open burn pit is not a legal disposal method for livestock or trash in Ontario.
@@hongkongzorro when you have money pretty much anything is legal
I worked at Marineland 35 years ago. The village scene at the main amphitheater was the exact same. The now deceased Johnny Holler used to brag that the meandering pathways and long walks between attractions was a good way to keep guests occupied that didn't cost the park any money. There are so many terrible things that happened in just the one season I worked there. An orca gave birth during the live show and no one had even known she was pregnant. A bear got ripped apart by the other bears while guests watched in horror. A child was seriously injured by deer in the deer pen. You see, the bears and the deer were only fed by park guests, with food that same guest had to buy, creating competition amongst the animal population for guest attention. I know these things happened because I was there. But in the days before social media and the MSM going to bat for the park, most people didn't believe these events were any more than urban legends. I would also like to add that on top of the horrendous animal care, even back in its hay day, Marineland treated its employees like garbage. It was a toxic culture that prioritized growth of the Holler family wealth over the health, safety and well-being of the animals, the staff and the guests.
In all the testimonials I've read from ex-employees, I've never come across any with a single positive thing to say about the experience. I also know personally a couple people who had summer jobs there and they echo the same sentiment. So sad. It kills me to see a place responsible for so many happy memories completely go to hell, but from the sounds of it, its ultimate fate wasn't nearly as bad as what the owners deserved.
They had guests ... feeding ... the bears???
I love bears. Black bears are arguably my favorite bears. I dream of getting to interact with them up close. But I'm not a fool or a sadist, so I would never actually interact with a bear via a tourist attraction that sold random people the opportunity to hand-feed them. A feeding frenzy among pigeons is sort of cute; a feeding frenzy among bears is not. Any institution that would sell me bear snacks shouldn't be keeping bears.
John Holer was his name, btw.
The owner just sounds like the paradigm example of human trash.
So that helps explain the long walking distances between attractions.
This feels less like a death spiral and more of a death rattle. Holy hell.
I was a ride operator there last year and the year before we got 0 notice about the rides not being open this year no emails or calls nothing Essentially we all lost our jobs no notice no nothing I'm still struggling to find work and pay my bills. Bad management is barely scratching the surface trust me as a former employee I can tell you some horror stories
Check the top comments on this video 😉 I worked there in 2009 and 2010 and left a very long comment about my experiences there. They let me get all the way through the interview process in 2011 before telling me they weren't gonna rehire me because I had "too many customer complaints". All of us former employees had a bad experience there at the end. Sorry you last few had to endure finding out about your lack of a job that way. They don't care about the employees.
I work with someone who worked there, their stories are fucking terrible, both about management and about the park in general, what a garbage place, can’t believe our government allows that shit to stay op- actually I can.
Between the old world façades and that lush overgrowth, this is the perfect place for SHREKLAND.
Visitors could travel to Duloc, Far Far Away, The Swamp - visiting Fiona's princess friends & their castles along the way - and they already have a dragon-themed ride!
Come on, Universal - make it happen.
Petition to turn Marineland into Shrekland
Brilliant idea and I would totally visit Shrekland.
I recently flew internationally for the first time and I never want to do so again...but I definitely would if it meant I could go to Shrekland!
I was going to comment that the queue/ticketing area looked like the entrance to Duloc from Shrek. I'm so glad I'm not the only one who sees it!
For concessions, they just sell whole, raw onions. Would unironically go
Honestly, this is probably one of the few parks I don’t see a point in saving. All the rides (including Dragon Mountain) can be relocated to other parks, the animals can be relocated to zoos or other facilities that will take good care of them. The reputation of this park is beyond the point of a turn around.
I highly doubt dragon mountain can be relocated unfortunately..
Dragon Mountain is built into the terrain and designed specifically for that plot of land. I highly doubt anyone would be crazy enough to try and relocate it.
I think a complete redoing is needed. The plot of land is great, but the layout is terrible. Imagine building a resort, 1 or 2 highly themed parks and a waterpark. I think it could be great, especially with its location near one of the prime tourism destinations in north america. It also helps that most people only visit the falls for a couple of hours. It could be absolutely the perfect plot of land for a good themepark resort
I think Dragon Mountain is the least relocatable coaster in the history of coasters. The station is underground in a fake mountain. There's 2 massive tunnels built into the hillside. No chance for relocation.
@@illbyno1 I also dont know who would even want it. Like it takes up a pretty big plot of land, and is very outdated.
My crackpot theory is maybe all the rides were shut down bc all the ride’s failed inspection and they couldn’t afford or be bothered to front the repair costs. This dump’s days are numbered.
Former employee here: I can definitely see this potentially being the case. Topple Tower was closed down and replaced due to frequently needing maintenance even as far back as a year into its life in 2009. The boat carousel would frequently need to be shut down whenever it rained because the boats ran on rubber tires along a steel beam. When wet, they had no traction whatsoever and the ride couldn't operate. When it was really hot, Magic Experience would start making loud squealing noises due likely to the grease or hydraulic fluid in the ride heating up and not being as effective. The rides all frequently needed maintenance. More frequently than they should have, frankly. Must have been easier just to shut them all down.
I'm especially gobsmacked by the closed and destroyed campground. It didn't need the themepark to be a great campground in the Niagra Falls area. People are spending serious money creating resorts in tourist towns and more people have RVs than at any time in history. Seeing a campground permanently closed is ridiculous.
Yep. But Niagara Falls (the city, not the stupendous Falls themselves) is a bit of a dump, sadly...
@@stevetournay6103 There was a really cool abandoned mall in the downtown area, I believe.
Marineland has just given up on the park. You know its a red flag if people are asking for refunds for tickets. $15 for a ticket is awful. And seeing the shape of the park and how the animals are treated is depressing.
@@nickthaskater ??? If its That in transition then don't open the park. Its open, so they too are open to criticism
Born in 87, Ontario. Always hated that jingle and commercial. NO ONE I knew ever went to Marineland. My parents said they went once, and it was a colossal waste of money. This would be back when there was actually stuff there to do
I got so bitter when I worked there that I changed it to "everyone hates Marineland" whenever it came on.
It was okay, but only okay, in the 70s. Crystal Beach, still open then and not far away, was far better, and then of course Wonderland opened in the 80s and blew the others into the weeds...
@@chaoszonenateThat jingle was so annoyingly enduring that eventually EVERYBODY changed it to that...
Hey, same birth year here! My father, who helped weld the Dragon Mountain track together and helped weld the rebar structure of the dragons head, always told me when I was 16 looking for a job to not work for Marineland because Holer was a bad person. I ended up working there anyway lol. It was indeed a waste of money. Too spread apart, too much walking for barely any good rides.
I remember when "Paper Towns", a popular YA novel, had a sequence at a Seaworld-Park. After "Blackfish" they decided to completely scrap the COMPLETELY FICTIONAL SEQUENCE from the movie-adaption just because they didn't want to be connected to Seaworld.
I honestly hate Blackfish for that reason, the family of the dead trainer hates that film too.
A similar situation kind of happened with Finding Dory, except it wasn't actually Seaworld. That's what happens when companies are afraid to lose money due to unexpected, unfortunate reputations (or appealing to Twitter mobs who treat acknowledging something's existence as the same thing as supporting it). Even though Blackfish did get the mainstream public to actually think and talk about the morality and ethics of using animals in captivity for entertainment and Seaworld as a company, you could say the same thing about Super Size Me but with the obesity epidemic and McDonalds (as in, Blackfish, apparently isn't 100% honest. I don't want to watch it because it's too depressing of a subject matter for me, but people have talked about how certain incidents that were talked about in the documentary had their context removed to make Seaworld look even more despicable, messed with certain facts about Orcas as a species, and just generally how the documentary cared more about tugging at people's heartstrings than educating people about this kind of stuff).
@@troin3925 Yo, you know the Super Size Me guy was drinking heavily throughout the entire 'documentary', right? Just spreading that because he managed to get away with this for a long long time. I don't miss the 'super size' on the menu though.
@@nicholaslogan6840 Yeah, I almost forgot about that.
@@troin3925 yeah Blackfish is every bit as phony as Leaving Neverland.
Marineland is the DashCon of theme parks, especially in 2023 and this year.
All that's missing is a ballpit to make up for all the closed rides.
"We apologize, but all the attractions are closed until further notice. To compensate you, we're giving you one extra hour in the ballpit."
Happy 10th anniversary!
A ball pit that somebody then peed in.
LiveLeak for beluga whales.
I’ll give dashcon this they at least screwed over humans and not threatened/endangered wild animals.
This makes my inner child so, so, so happy... To see that place dilapidated and falling apart... I love it. I grew up in Niagara and I've boycotted it since I was 12 years old. People thought I was nuts for being so against it. Now most people seem to hate it. Thank you, Phil Demers.
I've never seen such a liminal "theme park" that's still open.
Would it be better to just remain closed, not have any operational jobs, and just wait for the dolphins and belugas to die off?
I laugh at the naive thinking that these animals would be better off in the wild or at another zoo.
They’re not allowed to have any further animals in captivity and therefore this season is essentially focusing on the animals left there. Animals that have spent their entire lives around humans.
I’ll bet you just couldn’t wait to use that word. Liminal.
Not quite the right use of the word "liminal". Nice try to impress us though. But not impressed, ultimately.
@@blipco5 I bet you couldn't wait to be a miserable prick.
@@user-pp4ve6qo1bthey’re talking about the liminal space aesthetic, how’d they use the term incorrectly?
I feel like this park would be a crazy scenario in Planet Coaster.
Like, your company bought an existing park with a terrible reputation, terrible rides, but an incredible amount of real estate, can you turn it around with -$100m in debt for the land
I feel like that was a thing in one of the zoo tycoon games.
My grandma used to always say "everybody hates marineland" whenever the ads would pop up on the television
What with all the dead whales and people getting impaled
Everyone hates Marineland
7:39 bored guests watching bored dolphins, two intelligent animals bonded in pure, abject misery.
Heartbreaking.
So depressing. And seeing it turn more and more into a husk with not many visitors or staff, and whatever remaining animals are left.
12:45 “pretty bad marketing if you ask me” then *jump cuts to their abandoned marketing building* had me ROLLING 😂
I wish they would just shut this park and all marine parks down. It is unbelievably cruel to keep these animals in tiny enclosures when in the wild they travel thousands of miles
As someone who lived close to Marineland and who's TV only had one channel: you cannot IMAGINE the amount of times I was subjected to ads for this place. Every other commercial was a Marineland commercial. Sometimes there would be two of them in a row.
There are very few ads burned into my head but I'll probably take the Marineland jingle to my grave.
EVERYOOOOONE LOOOOOOOVES MARINELAND
I guess that's where they put their money instead of actually fixing the park
The "everyone loves Marineland" will forever be burned into my brain, like a PTSD event.
As someone from niagara, USA, i also have that slogan ingrained in my head. Was played here all the time too
Looks like MarineLand saw a MarcelVos "I beat Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 with *zero* rides" video & was like "Challenge accepted"
Hahaha
They obviously didn't watch the video since there's 3 "attractions" and zero furries instead of one bathroom stall and a billion furries.
All of their rides have permanently closed and are set to be relocated and/or scrapped. They want to make it very clear to their guests that these animals live for our sick amusement. Nothing more, nothing less.
Lifelong resident of Niagara Falls here. Marineland is a disgrace and has been for decades. You said what I have been saying for decades: free the animals and concentrate on good amusement rides. This disgrace of a theme park cannot close soon enough for me.
I went there once and, you know like usually you hear about bad things happening but when you go there you don't directly see anything? When I went there they had the deer in this big open pen, there were like a couple of trees, day was hot as fuck, all the deers were crowded under these two little trees for shade, just standing there, I was significantly annoyed
I'm a resident to but just make the park a ride only
Was this the amusement park that bought out a bunch of residential land, kicked everybody out and a lady who didn’t have anywhere else to go, took her own life?
If you're referring to the trailer park behind Marineland, then yes. I don't know about the lady you're referring to, but my mother's best friend and her husband lost their home because of that decision - as you said, people with nowhere else to go (and disabled seniors to boot).
Yes, the camp ground. I remember this story :(
Yah (:
From what I know of the Holers, that story probably would have amused them.
To me, it seems like a great opportunity for a company like Merlin... LEGOland, London Eye, Peppa Pig Land, Sea Life, Madame Tussauds, Alton Towers, Chessington, etc.
Yes please a legoland!
LEGOland Niagara when
Nobody wants to spend their money at theme parks anymore they're better off travelling and seeing new sights
@@stellviahohenheim That couldn't be any further than the truth.
@@ml4757 since covid I think people might be put off by anything that reminds them of being trapped in dismal and boring surroundings. I mean you can decorate a cage but it's still a cage.
"Holer had been seriously ill for five months"
And that marks one rare occasion where I hope it was slow and non-painless departure.
Its a horrible place, went once 7 years ago and was shocked at the state of the huge empty park. Surprised they stayed open for that long
I remember seeing commercials for Marineland when I was visiting my grandma in NY as a kid. "Happiness is Marineland" was their slogan in the 90's... it's not so happy anymore... 🤣
But but but... "Everyone loves Marineland" is what the jingle told me!
I remember their commercials in the early 70s... pretty much the same for 50 years. To be honest the park was a better experience in the 70s.
There’s a place I know in Ontario…
@@stuntmonkey00 i remember hearing that jingle while watching YTV
turns out the jingle is better than the actual park itself :(
@@stuntmonkey00Same! And "Friendship called MarineLand."
''The park's only roller coaster''
Ladybird coaster; ''Am I a joke to you?"
It's such beautiful land for a theme park. A well managed amusement park with wilderness, camping, boating, and hiking could be really unique. A shame what they're doing to it.
Yup! I was thinking that Glamping - with nicely-furnished tents, cabins and treehouses, etc.- would be such a cool accommodation option with all the forested areas it's got.
This is a example of how NOT to run a amusement park
We should call it a theme park, because I don't think anyone has been amused by it for years. They go to Clifton Hill for that.
@@kevwwong imagine losing the moral high ground to Clifton Hill. when that happens, it's time to rethink your entire life lmao
@@skippythealien9627 lol right? Clifton Hill thankfully knows what it is, and doesn't try to be more than that.
@@kevwwongEven a theme park is disrespectful it's just a public park except with a couple of sea animal exhibits, a splash area for kids, and you have to pay to get in
@@uzi_the_drone LOL fair enough!
The omission of the whales from the logo leaving just a deep red stain behind is so on the nose
Last time I was there, I spent 10 seconds looking at the Beluga's and I was overwhelmed with a feeling of sadness. I turned around and swore I would never go back.
As a swimmer I feel such compassion for the imprisoned sea creatures. Kinda like being subjected to the typical hotel pool where I can only swim in circles. Boring and life crushing…they are intelligent mammals and I feel their pain.
Geezus im only halfway through the video and that park just seems so depressing. At this point if there’s nothing left even in the gift shop then why even keep this place open? Just close it already for the sake of not just the animals, but also every (sadly) underpaid employee and maintenance worker there
Breaks my heart that there’s any living things still there. Thanks for sharing brother! 🙏 hopefully those last few will be seized and released asap ferg.
Here's what i think is happening: The new owner wants mostly everything torn down to start anew, but can't do that while theres a ton of dolphins and belugas there. They are unwillingly to do the work finding reputable new homes/paying for safe relocation for so many marine animals, and they are unwilling to pay for registration and upkeep of decrepit rides they don't even want in their future plans. So they are literally running this place on 1% battery waiting for enough of the animals to die before they do anything. Its the only reason i can see for this absolute insanity.
Belugas can live for a pretty long time. Even with Marineland's shitty care, it could be a long time before most of them die off. And that's assuming no baby belugas appear.
I'm assuming that the new owner had plans for a year or two of being closed for whatever plans they had, but were stuck with a must still open thing
I'm thinking the new owner wants housing replacing the park. That would explain choosing to close what people might like and leaving open what everybody hates. Basically the park is now suicidal...
@@stevetournay6103 I don't think that'll work, it's known that the sales mean that it's still zoned and limited to entertainment there, so not homes.
@@AzraelThanatos All he has to do is Bribe Doug Ford and that'll get changed.
This honestly feels like a real-life version of Penguin's lair - the abandoned _Arctic World_ at Gotham Zoo - from _Batman Returns._
I just feel so bad for all the animals there. I wish there was something we can do to rescue them NOW and transport them to a sanctuary or real rehabilitation centre of some sort.
My heart is shattered honestly, especially since dolphins are my favorite animal. I agree that something needs to be done for all the animals. I wonder if there really is a way cause I’m on board if so, and I live nowhere near Niagara. This is beyond negligence, this is just cruelty.
I won't give anybody a dime who keeps marine animals trapped in small areas. I can't believe they still do this. Those poor animals that died.
it's horrifying and depressing. and here i was thinking that one of the few remaining Condor rides in North America being at this park was embarrassing. man that's absolutely nothing compared to the animal deaths
seeing those bears was heartbreaking. I am glad they got relocated. I feel so bad for the marine animals though
These animals are born in captivity. They’re tame. You should check out what happened to the killer whale used in the movie “Free Willie”. It’s a good example of what happens when goody do gooders get their way
@@Mike-tu7uw Uh, being born in captivity doesn't mean they don't deserve proper care??
@@Mike-tu7uw fwiw, Keiko (the killer whale in Free Willy) was caught in the wild, although at a young age
and Keiko being freed was a result of Warner Bros trying to cash in on the publicity of Free Willy and the enormous PR success that movie generated for them. To blame it solely on "goody do gooders" is a pretty silly way to explain a very complex situation and just reeks of being an edgy contrarian because your life is boring
@@SomeplaceScary i honestly couldn't believe the comment when i first saw it. but you know, some people just like to be all edgy and counterculture b/c their own lives are so pathetic
"Well you see, we thought that since cruelty is a big part of our brand, the guests could also experience the same ennui, entrapment, and despair as the animals! Win win!" :P The theme song may live forever in my head, but the sooner this park closes or revamps (and the captive animals rescued), the better. Especially a revamp, as the thought of Dragon Mountain being reworked and reborn as an intriguing launched coaster that uses the terrain to its fullest potential is very enticing...
Hey, yeah, they can rebrand it as an art piece! It's an anti-theme park where you go to be as miserable as possible!
Heh. "The cruelty is the point"...shoot, the park's on the wrong side of the border...🙄
Marineland is so bad... It truly pains me that Disney has never taken ownership of the land and built a Disneyland Canada. But let's be real, that will never happen.
I wish Rob Ford treated MarineLand the way he treats Ontario Place and the Science Center :(
@@MusikkFreak27 Doug Ford. Rob is dead.
If you've watched Poseidon Entertainment, you'd know Disneyland Canada would be almost as bad.
That would be smart, but I think it would cause huge pollution, toursits help down here and all, but around the falls etc wouldve been so much better as a nature conservation and nature destination spot mannnn
My GOD, these people are like Invader Zim! They didn't fix the dolphin issue, they made it worse! At least when the crappy "trainers" were showing off the dolphins doing tricks, the animals were being stimulated. Now, they'll just die of boredom and extreme depression. Which is common in highly intelligent marine life who sit in a tank completely neglected.
@@spaceshiplewis (I'm pretty sure we have the same ideologies here)
I'm in the same camp as you. I'm not sure how much enrichment they provide these animals (I've seen nothing) but the fact they haven't moved the '3-4' dolphins to a US facility is beyond me. They moved the belugas, so why can't they move them?
I don’t understand the comparison between this park and Invader Zim.
Sitting Dolphins. Now there is an attraction I'd pay to see.
@@PeterGriffin11
Zim: I put the fires out.
Tallest: You made them worse!
@@PeterGriffin11 Zim is well-known for fucking everything up and making bad situations worse.
Of all the animals kept in captivity, Dolphins, Orcas and Belugas are the ones I find to be the most depressing.
These are animals that migrate more than 10,000 km (7,000 miles) on a yearly basis... and they're kept in tanks smaller than some pools at all-inclusive resorts.
'Do Not Enter' is a challenge, not an order.
Yeah I can tell urban explorers are ITCHING to get in to get some good footage now.
Yeah, I was even waiting for him to cross over and start exploring until we were told about the employees guarding those areas.
im sure the employees are easily distracted or simply don't care
Sooo, the land was bought by a shell-company of either Disney or Universal, right?
That shot near the end of the incredible falls near this wasted land is jawdropping.
Perhaps, but once they reveal themselves, they'll have massive bad PR for the lack of public plans for the dolphins future.
could be a cedar fairs developer too perhaps? I hope someone picks it up and does something with the land. if nothing else i think any of the big three theme park giants would have the sense to find new homes for the captive animals and stop the shows. I doubt the belugas can return to the wilds but Disney has a lot of experience with running a zoo they might be able to house them comfortably until the whales pass naturally.
I was thinking Six Flags, but they don't have any parks outside of America?
The rumor I’ve heard is Hershend
@@jalapeno1119 six flags merged with Cedar Fairs i think they are a subsidiary now. Cedar Fairs has a few parks in Canada so maybe using the brand to do the first six flags canada in niagra would be an interesting move?
i live 13 minutes from Marineland. John was a horrrrrendous human being. he would frequently walk through the park early in the morning before opening and shoot anything he saw that wasn’t apart of the park, including a neighbours dogs. though they could never prove it they of course knew what happened. i have several friends who worked there and i just hear horror stories. it’s a known thing around here where you do NOT go there. under no circumstances do you give this place your money. we all waited for it to be shut down, but the horrors from that place are never ending
Imagine if the government had the foresight to purchase the land for the Ontario Science Center!
Heh. Wrong city. Very wrong city...
And it's "Centre". 🙄
@@stevetournay6103 You are correct, it is in Toronto, but is also the "Ontario", not "Toronto Science Centre.
Darn auto correct on my first post, thanks for pointing that out. ☮️
I would love to see an Abandoned episode for the Ontario Science Centre, especially after it got shut down last month
It's probably best from him to wait a year or two given how recent this situation has been.
I loved the SCience Centre... closing it was wrong on every level.
@@extrabfbmmthe funny thing we got a major rainstorm that flooded Lot of things but that roof that was “on the verge of collapse in a snow storm or significant rainfall” 😂 no issues…
@markinnes4264 when was the last time you've been to it? Cause I went there in 2019 and it was pretty crap.
I heard about that the same day as that flood happened. The video thumbnail seemed so out of place.
I'm from Niagara Falls ON. The previous owner were the Holers but we call them the Assholers.
I didn't think anyone other than us former employees called them that 😂
Just heard of them and that name sounds very appropriate lol.
A deer charged at me a hit my side back in 2016 here. It only bruised my side.
MarineLand: Where not even the wildlife can be bothered to put in any effort.
Moody wildlife, can ya blame em
🦌 😂😂😂😂😂
Was it rutting season?😂
probably wanted out
When you head to their website you’re immediately greeted with a banner reading “NO REFUNDS”
Great…
I'd be thinking "NO NEED...I'M GOING SOMEWHERE ELSE." 🙄
My most vivid childhood memory of this place is holding onto a cheap inflatable plastic dolphin toy from the gift shop while wandering around in the blazing hot sun on a giant patch of asphalt
Hey Jake, thanks for giving us an update! Honestly - there are only 2 things to feel sad about as far as this so-called "park" are concerned : 1) there are still poor animals languishing there, and 2) that this shady and miserable enterprise wasn't shut down years ago....
it's astounding that, say, Opryland was completely razed and replaced with a mall, and this is still standing.
Loved Opryland growing up. I miss that place.
@@tlq19 I used to see ads for it all the time when I was a kid in Florida. Someone on here posted a video of it's history and it being shut down, and apparently it was shut down for no reason. Sad!
2 different countries, 2 different cities.
@@finnmcginn9931 true but same planet! ;)
I went to Marineland once in 1994. I was extremely disappointed and felt the commercials lied to me. The rides were fun but the animals were very very depressing to see. I was 7
The old ads in Canada were so catchy and cool looking. Always wanted to go as a kid but frankly I think it's for the best I never did.
🎶Everyone loooovvvvessss.... Marineland!🎶
@@ChrisMeadows92 "Not me"! I always would say when the jingle ad would play.
I grew up in Chippawa which is the Village right next to Marineland. Even when I went as a small child, the vibes of this place were weird. I still hold fond memories of the times I spent there, and seeing the dragon boat sat dormant and forgotten made my heart sink. I hope something good can be done with this land.
The shot at 9:05 goes hard, makes you forget how depressing this park is.
Oh damn didn't expect to see you here
When I was a young kid, this was my favourite place on earth... When you're a guest at a place like this, especially as a kid, you kind of just assume that the animals were all perfectly cared for, otherwise they wouldnt be allowed to have them.
I think the city should also be taking more responsibility for what happened... It's crazy that the park was allowed to operate the way it was for so long...
I’ve worked at aquariums that received belugas from Marineland. Most of them died of strange neurologic diseases / infections
The only thing I love as much as a Bright Sun Films video is a Bright Sun Films Follow-up video
All facts
Wow, it's really saying something that La Ronde is rated only 3.5% less disappointing than an empty field with a few captive cetaceans in concrete tubs.
ikr? I still have really fond memories of La Ronde from when I was a kid, I better not go back there as an adult to have them trampled all over.
I went to La Ronde about 10 years ago and remember enjoying it. Has something happened since then?
Was only at La Ronde once, in, I think, 1979, and found it rather depressing...it had clearly once been much more vibrant.
This is yet another textbook example of prideful yet grossly incompetent owners too stubborn to quit.
Oh, it's actually THAT near to the falls! I had no idea how close I've been to this dump...
It feels like they are doing it on purpose at this point
On porpoise
@@JJungleJapeson😊
It's an art piece: an anti-theme park where the guest is made miserable.
My theory is that there's a delay in the transfer of ownership, so they're just doing the minimum possible to keep the lights on before a proper rebuild can take place.
@@StarlightPrism 🎨 PAIN T
I used to live near Pittsburgh, PA, when I was growing up. From time to time, our family used to take weekend trips to Niagra Falls. A few times we discussed going to MarineLand since it was an attraction nearby, but every time we decided not to go. I am VERY glad, now, that we never ended up going there.
2026 follow-up video: “Abandoned: Marineland: The Death of North America’s Worst Theme Park”
But here is the thing: there is no reason why it should go bankrupt. The land is worth millions by itself and it's located in prime touristic real estate. It will eventually and inevitably get redeveloped into a proper theme park... eventually.
2026 is an ambitious date.
@@ScooterinAB Yeah I know lol. Honestly, I’m surprised it’s still operating even after all of the stuff that’s happened
The park looks like its from an apocalyptic future
Or a horror film where someone accidentally gets locked in the park and they have to survive until dawn!
Marineland is less of a theme park, and it was always a dangerous theme park. It wasn’t at all like Disneyland, Canada’s Wonderland, or the CNE. It had wild animals that had been illegally poached and smuggled from other countries. In the commercials, I was disturbed when I saw the kids going up to touch the whales. That is very dangerous. And most of the time, the captured animals can’t reunite with their families if the keepers are ordered by law to release them back into the wild.
i'm really curious if any former workers of this place can chime in on how they feel watching how gutted, deserted, and mismanaged this place is now
That would be an interesting part 3 to this saga, trying to find various former employees to interview
Phil Demers has spoken out about the animal mistreatment quite a bit. I think he was on Joe Rogan a couple years ago.
I’ve seen several former employees chime in in this comment section now. Sounds like Marineland has always been hell to work for according to them.
Several have in this comment section...
I've chimed in. I left an immensely long comment going over my experiences working there for 2 summers in 2009 and 2010. Check the top comments.
everyone: remove the animals and focus on the rides!
marineland: let’s do the complete opposite and close all the rides and show our 2 animal exhibits.
They clearly want it abandoned, rezoned and made into (lucrative) housing. What you're seeing is a suicidal theme park...
I don't know how they afford the insurance and property taxes. Let alone operating those pump stations, electric/gas bill, sanitation, and feeding the animals.
by cutting as many dangerously cheap corners as possible. most animals aren't fed by staff but by guests, for example. thus their incredible aggressivity.
The reason Marineland is like this is the new ownership needs time to go through a bunch of legal things, get permits to run the rides etc and they weren't ready for the 2024 season. The problem is if you actually shut down the park completely, you lose other certifications and things that they would need to also get again. So they were forced to keep the park open, but they aren't legally allowed to run the rides yet. Don't worry, the new owners also have no interest in running an animal/aquatic park. The park will be changed to an amusement park, but these things take time of course, especially finding new homes for the animals, especially if you want to do it as ethically and humanely as possible.
The ocean is a good home. Very roomy.
Do we actually know if that's the case? Jake describes the owner as unknown, so how can we know their intentions?
@@jimthar17 They would not know how to hunt or fend for themselves. These whales and dolphins can never be released into the wild as they simply wouldn't survive. This is one of the main dilemmas,
@@jimthar17 That may not be possible for animals raised in captivity...
Rehoming the belugas will especially be a challenge. Not many places in North America house beluga whales, and Marineland has a lot of belugas. It will be difficult to find homes for all of them. There is a beluga sanctuary in Iceland but they only have two belugas, I doubt they're equipped to take on a lot of new animals in a short time. I hope the new owners are willing to pony up the time and resources that will be necessary to rehome and care for the animals, but I won't hold my breath.
Your first time was 2022? Man, back in the day, it was packed and was a great time for families, just like those old commercials. Seeing it in this state is bittersweet for those who went in the 90's.
I'm from the region and a 90s kid and I found it depressing then, too. I felt sad for all the animals.
"The city has already said they don't want housing here" what why the fuck not? Why is everyone on this continent so allergic to allowing people to build shelter?
Because it’s so close to the actual Falls, and the majority of land in this area is used for businesses / tourism related entities
It’s not like the area in general is lacking space to build houses. There’s tons of vacant land / open fields / woodlands etc. Niagara Falls only has like 100,000 residents, it’s not some massive urban area with no green space to build
Right??? 1000 acres and a housing shortage but NOPE. Hey! Maybe put some affordable housing on that land...we already got Canada's wonderland! WE NEED HOUSES!!
Well that's a bald lie anyway. Niagara Falls would like nothing more than an enlarged tax base. The town's a bit of a dump, really...a new, fairly decent, neighborhood would help. That plan would also explain why the park ownership has kept only what everybody hates about it!
@@agirlhasnoname6637Heh. Affordable housing isn't where the big money is...
@@agirlhasnoname6637 ....there’s plenty of other areas / unused land where houses could be built. Space isn’t the issue, so there’s no need to build on this site, per se. It’s not really a residential area, it’s very close to the tourist areas
I disagree that these kinds of attractions are no longer appropriate, they were never appropriate.
While I've never been to MarineLand, I reside in Buffalo, which is very close to Niagara Falls, ON. I remember seeing ads for MarineLand all the time on the local Buffalo TV stations throughout the 2000s. It's really sad hearing about all of what has happened there.
On the topic of horrible theme parks with a history of animal abuse, please consider Blue Bayou / Dixie Landing. Up until a few years ago, there was a caged chimpanzee on the property which would smoke cigarettes thrown by guests.