There were no lines. Lake George Best Western of Lake George 2452 State Route 9N, Lake George, NY, 12845 $77 per night Mar 1 - Mar 2 Stay at this business-friendly hotel in Lake George. Almost all of the quirky attractions of Magic Forest described below -- including the diving horse, the gigantic Uncle Sam, and the Muffler Men -- have been removed. Actually, that helps to explain a lot about this place. Website Design by Trampoline Advertising & Design Co. | Web Site Development & Hosting by Nolee-O Web Design, Web Site Development & Hosting by Nolee-O Web Design. Explore the unknown as you traverse the Dino Nest and uncover the world sleeping beneath our feet as you excavate colossal dinosaurs in the Fossil Dig Site. I was buying stuff and bringing it back up here and just putting it in my parking lot, wherever I could, Gillette recounted. Lake George Expedition Park It was clean, very clean. I have no place to store it, he said. 10am5pm | Sat & Sun Only Lake George Expedition Jack Gillette, the longtime owner of Magic Forest, initially purchased Uncle Sam (and other pieces) at auction from the Danbury Fair decades ago when the fair closed its doors in 1981. But some of the once-over 700 sculptures that once called the park home are just now resurfacing. Get a piece of your childhood now! Best Western of Lake George 2452 State Route 9N, Lake George, NY, 12845 $77 per night Mar 1 - Mar 2 Stay at this business-friendly hotel in Lake George. Luckily, anyone with the money and means to drive to Lake George can still own a piece of history. I am very grateful to the Magic Forest for essentially saving all this original fiberglass all these years, and also for calling us rather than an auction house who could care less about anything other than the money, says Baker. This park is a cute stop and great for small kids without the meltdowns that come with large parks when theyre beyond exhausted. I made, I dont know, about 20 or 30 trips, sometimes with a tractor-trailer. This number is based on the percentage of all Tripadvisor reviews for this product that have a bubble rating of 4 or higher. This place is great if you are into any of the following, all others beware: Unsafe broken rides, uneducated senior citizens running rides, creepy overall, sad use and abuse of a horse forced to walk up an inclosure and dive down into a pool multiple times a day, dirty sad animals in cages, safari train ride of ceramic animal heads with choking fumes from extremely slow moving ride, permanent carnival. It depends, Albany Sheriff: Pair arrested for illegal gun possession, Crossgates Mall opening at noon due to weather, Snow begins falling in Capital Region during latest, 03/03/2023: Significant winter storm tonight, Downtown Kansas City bar calls out Jackson Mahomes, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. I have no place to store it, he said. Attraction status, hours and prices change without notice; call ahead! The best animatronic dinosaurs Ive ever seen, better than the Bronx zoo and several other parks weve been too. Its a miracle that the Magic Forest, which opened in 1963, outlived its expiration date by several yearsmaybe even decadesbut nothing lasts forever. Start here.Use RoadsideAmerica.com's Attraction Maps to plan your next road trip. Our son loved it and so did we, will definitely be back! Contents 1 Magic Forest 2 Dino Roar Valley 3 References 4 External links Magic Forest [ edit] Simple fun and a great day. WebMagic Forest (Gone) Lake George, New York The theme park reopened in 2019 with a new owner and a new name: Lake George Expedition Park. This park is a cute stop and great for small kids without the meltdowns that come with large parks when theyre beyond exhausted. UPDATE 06/2019: The Magic Forest has been taken over by new owners and is now known as the Lake George Expedition Park. Posted by 3 years ago. Transferring the giant statue from Lake George to Danbury, roughly a three hour ride, was reportedly difficult. Magic Forest When they heard about the sale they purchased that teddy bear and it meant the world to them, Baker says. Stories, reports and tips on tourist attractions and odd sights in New York. More, National Cryptologic Museum, Annapolis Junction, Maryland (Feb 27-Mar 5, 2023). Hes come to the buyers, too. For what he does for them, that poor guy is not taken care of very well in return (matted mane, hooves not properly trimmed, SMALL paddock that he is just put back into after his dive, soken wet), and he doesn't seem to enjoy what he's made to do. But its hard not to become despondent and dig in your heels when it feels as if the world you love is rapidly disappearing. The people who worked there were either teenagers from Europe or seniors. After 2 hours our son asked if we could leave & never come back. In fact, kids seem oblivious to the creepiness of this place, and so do the adults, for that matter. RoadsideAmerica.comYour Online Guide to Offbeat Tourist Attractions. RoadsideAmerica.comYour Online Guide to Offbeat Tourist Attractions. Statues from Magic Forest in Lake George are up for sale. He says that all of the figures lived diverseand sometimes manypast lives before they came to the Magic Forest. The theme park reopened in 2019 with a new owner and a new name: Lake George Expedition Park. Visitors passing through the garish fairyland entrance building are inundated with choices, as paths curve away into clusters of statues, rides and brightly painted cottages. Web1912 State Route 9 Lake George, NY 12845 Visit Site Adirondacks Region Details Since 1963, Magic Forest has entertained young park goers and their families, creating memories for all. There are plenty of unnerving fairy tale statues along the wooded trails of Magic Forest -- an impressive collection of contorted bodies, asymmetrical faces, weird leers, and bulging eyes. WebLake George (0.7 miles from Magic Forest) Situated off Interstate 87 and set in the heart of the Adirondack Park Preserve, this Holiday Inn Resort Lake George offers indoor and outdoor pools and an on-site restaurant and lounge. The Magic Forest was a theme park that remained untouched by timeand when we visited, almost nothing about it made sense anymore. WebLake George, New York. Close. Rides were available for all ages and the Dino roar exhibits were entertaining as much as they were informative. When sorting through his collection, Gillette knew that those items, in particular, should be auctioned. We left & renamed it "bizzaro world". Reddit Mixed among the dioramas are giant statues of American icons, several of them reworked Muffler Men: Pecos Bill, Paul Bunyan, Smokey Bear, the Statue of Liberty, a big Indian, a couple of space-walking astronauts. The rides were antique pieces that were fascinating to me because it was like an amusement park museum. All rights reserved. Get in Touch Things to Know Before Visiting Magic Forest How popular is Magic Forest? The Magic Forest was originally opened in 1963 by Arthur Gillette. Old, sad, dingy, dirty. So many rides. WebStatues from Magic Forest in Lake George are up for sale. Also guarding the minivans and SUVs is a large Santa Claus, reportedly the most popular statue on the property. The Muffler Mena Paul Bunyan, a Mortimer Snerd, a clown, and Pecos Billwere among the first items to sell. For other uses, see, "Dinosaurs coming to Lake George this summer", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lake_George_Expedition_Park&oldid=1074053798, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 26 February 2022, at 04:51. This is by far the greatest place whether you are old or young. Magic Forest Park June 27 - Sept. 5 WebMagic Forest - Lake George Expedition Park FUN TO MAKE YOU SOAR Enter a world of nostalgia and wonder Magic Forest is the park of your childhood dreams! By that point, Gillettes father had broken off from the fair to found Carson City, an amusement park in the Catskills themed around the American wild west, and which also has relics in the auction lot. Sign up for our newsletter & stay up to date. Anyone who wants to be one of Gillettes next buyers has a month to do it. Posted by 3 years ago. Its a great park to bring the kids without the stress of a typical amusement park (parents, youll understand what I mean). Theyve added Dino valley and are working on updates around magic forest. Statues from Magic Forest in Lake George are up for sale. The 38-foot-tall Uncle Sam has been returned to its original location in Danbury, Connecticut. Theyve added Dino valley and are working on updates around magic forest. With magically delicious food and shows so good you wont believe your eyes, one trip to the Magic Forest will have you checking for vacancies in the Old Womans shoe. On-route maps, 1,000s of photos, special research targets! Tall tales, trip guides, and the weird and wonderful. When I visited the Magic Forest in 2015, the woman at the ticket counter tried to dissuade ustwo adults with nary a child in sightfrom entering. Hes believed to be the largest Uncle Sam statue in the world. Is this worth it for a 2 year old? I havent had a bad experience with anything Ive sold.. Most of these giants had already stood at a handful of locations before coming here so it is not surprising they are on the move again, Having worked with these giants for almost 10 years now, I know that nothing ever stays the same, he says. LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. (NEWS10) Up until just a couple years ago, a drive up Route 9 toward the village of Lake George would take visitors past, among other things, Paul Bunyan and Uncle Sam. He cataloged the items, helped set prices, and listed them on his website. Are you associated with this business? Magic Forest Its also shady as it is indeed in a forest. She likes things that are bigger or smaller than they should be: novelty architecture, miniature worlds, and anything made from fiberglass or neon. Receive emails and newsletters to keep in touch with I LOVE NY.