There’s something really sad and (definitely) creepy about abandoned places, especially when the venue is huge. So many questions unanswered, so many stories left untold and a future that will never happen.
We’ve all heard of the famous abandoned water-park Mimaland that was permanently closed in 1994 after a 20 year run. It even had its own horror movie. Adding to the list of closed and abandoned theme parks is MAPS Perak (Movie Animation Park Studio of Perak).
“Will it end up like Mimaland?” is the question on everyone’s mind since its closure. Let’s recap what happened: MAPS is (or was) a theme park in Ipoh, Perak that opened in 2017 and was the first fully animation-based theme park in Asia which contains attractions based on animations such as DreamWorks Animation and The Smurfs. The attraction was built at the cost of RM520 million.
After 3 years of operation, MAPS Perak officially closed down in 2020. It was meant to be temporary but to this day, things have remained quiet. It was said that the main reason why the park is no longer operational was due to not having enough visitors and mismanagement. The Covid-19 pandemic and ongoing lockdowns over the past 2 years probably sealed its fate as well.
So what’s the latest status of MAPS right now? A video posted on Twitter by user @IpohAjer shows the current state of MAPS after being abandoned for 2 years.
Keadaan terkini MAPS Perak. Taman tema ini juga pernah beroperasi selama 3 tahun sebelum ditutup pada 2020 kerana mengalami kerugian yang sudah tidak dapat dibendung.
Credit video : naemJD pic.twitter.com/r604MsJ9sM
— PERAK Ajer (@IpohAjer) May 15, 2022
The video was originally posted on YouTube by naemJD who posted a series of abandoned places around Malaysia on his channel. The full YouTube video has gained 32.k views while the shorter version on @IpohAjer’s Twitter reached over 500k views. In the full length video, we can see how eerie the place has become.
The whole theme park has been unattended for 2 years and definitely gives off an apocalyptic or dystopian feeling by the looks of it. Netizens previously mentioned that the abandoned theme park will be turned into a popular paranormal spot.
Netizens reacted to the video with some reminiscing the times they’ve been there while others think there should be another horror movie based on and filmed at MAPS just like Mimaland. It’s strange and sad how this theme park that had so much potential ended up as a ghost town.
