Magic Landing (El Paso, Texas)

USA / Texas / Socorro / El Paso, Texas
 amusement park, abandoned / shut down, interesting place
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An abandoned amusement park that closed down during spring of 1988. Even though the rides aren't there, the buildings still stand. There are still stuffed animals, paper plates, napkins, cash registers, etc. with the Magic Landing logo on them. There was rumored to be many incidents but one is a fact: An employee got his arm cut off from an operational rollercoaster trying to retrieve a hat for a patron and died in the ambulance.
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Landing
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   31°40'14"N   106°15'27"W

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  • From the El Paso Times 6/6/08: A ghost story apparently is luring trespassers to the abandoned Magic Landing Amusement Park in East El Paso County, but sheriff's officials warn that anyone caught on the property will be arrested. Five men and a woman were arrested on criminal trespass charges at 12:30 a.m. Thursday after deputies spotted flashing lights and heard noises coming from the park, infamously nicknamed "Tragic Landing." "The theory is that a kid had his hand chopped off. The kid died and his spirit or his ghost is haunting Magic Landing. It's on the Internet," sheriff's spokesman Deputy Jesse Tovar said. He said he thought the ghost story was what brought Thursday's trespassers to the park. The ghostly tale, like any other good legend, is based partly on fact. Magic Landing, which was billed as El Paso's answer to Disneyland, opened July 4, 1984, along Interstate 10 between Americas Avenue and Horizon Boulevard. A 15-story-tall Ferris wheel loomed over the park at the end of its main boulevard, Texas Street, which was lined with shops selling ice cream, giant teddy bears and novelties. There were roller coasters, a log flume and other rides. In 1985, tragedy struck when an 18-year-old park employee, Frank Guzman Jr., was killed when his arm was severed by a roller-coaster car. The park closed in 1989.
  • i feel bad 4 the worker it mus t have hurt realy bad
  • wow me and my cuzins um "got access" to go in magic landing last summer and that place is creepy as creepy gets! i wish i could of gone wen it ws still open :/ but that ws a loooong time ago
  • thtz really freakyy
  • that place is scare really me n ma friends when there and u can steal hare the nices
  • Wow, you people can't spell.
  • Two summers ago 3 friends n I took a trip down there at midnight n found a hole in the fence, so we went in. It was pitch black n very cold once u in the park. There's buildings everywhere then finally end up in the spot where the 18 year old employee was killed at. We turned the corner to walk towards the scene in we saw a dark image hide behind the wall. My friends got scared n screamed when they stopped we heard somebody say shhhhh. We walked the park seemed like a never ending place. U can see a person walking around the dining area ahhh
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This article was last modified 13 years ago