Traces of Thrill-Ville USA in Turner Oregon Still Remain

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

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

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.

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

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