It's sad to see any amusement park close, and this one's story is a little bit more complicated than most. In May of this year, Niagara Amusement Park and Splash World announced it would not open for the 2026 season. The park is located in Grand Island, New York, adjacent to Niagara Falls, and opened as Fantasy Island in 1961. Purchased by Apex Park Group in 2016, the park was shuttered after 2019 due to financial issues. This could've been the end of the park, but Gene Staples, owner of Indiana Beach, bought the park in 2021 and reopened it for that season. I was able to visit twice during the five seasons the park was open under the new ownership, in 2023 and 2025. The property was recently listed for sale, so I figured it was a good time to relive my memories of this cute park with an uncertain future. Along the way, I hope you'll understand why its revival was not successful.
Fantasy Island was certainly influenced by Disneyland when it opened in 1961, and clear inspiration was also drawn from storybook-themed parks that were popular at the time. The park always included a Western-themed section, and a train circling the property was a fixture until the end.
Our first visit in 2023 was part of a group tour of the National Amusement Park Historical Association, and we toured some of the rides shipped to the park for rebuilding. Before opening, we explored pieces of a Schwarzkopf Shuttle Loop that were dumped in the parking lot. This was especially cool to see since the ride formerly operated at Kennywood as Laser Loop from 1980-1990, before being shipped to a park in Mexico City where it ran until 2019.
Here's the massive flywheel that supplies the launch power. Given the amount of random pieces strewn everywhere and the fact that this model of ride is notoriously maintenance-intensive, there was not a lot of reason to expect it would run again.
Inside the park, there were certainly some bright spots. The Kiddieland had many rides that were in great condition, which was impressive given that Apex removed practically every ride from the park when it closed in 2019. Everywhere you went in the park, it was obvious that management took pride in it. However, in the end, there just wasn't enough investment to successfully turn the park around.
Seeing pieces of the park's origins as a storybook park was especially neat, like this big whale statue.
When you approached the whale, you could press a button that would play some narration about Pinocchio. There was also a plexiglass window into the whale's mouth (with nothing inside to see).
Of the three parks owned by Gene Staples, Niagara Amusement Park was probably the prettiest.
The yellow brick road led to the Western Town, where daily gunfights were held.
Another clear sign of the care going into the park was the live entertainment schedule, which included a saloon show, multiple gunfights, and several train holdups a day. Here's a look around the Western Town, with a classic Tennessee Ernie Ford song playing in the background.
The park's star attraction, Silver Comet, sat along its western edge. Opened in 1999 and designed by Custom Coasters International, it was a quality ride that remained smooth thanks to regular maintenance by the park. Its station was inspired by the Comet at Crystal Beach Park across the border in Ontario, which entertained the area until closing in 1989.
On our first visit in 2023, we saw this large three-story dark ride under construction. It was none other than the legendary 1971 Flying Witch from Rye Playland in New York. The ride closed at Playland in 2021 and was sold to the park. At the time, it was still under construction.
At Playland, the Flying Witch was one of the most chaotic, unhinged dark rides I ever experienced. It was originally a non-stop assault on the senses, but for the time being, the props sat quietly in a corner.
The ride was always meant to be portable, housed in a large prefabricated metal building. To our surprise, the park granted our group complete access to the ride's track, allowing us to walk its complete length handrail-free.
The ride certainly felt longer when you were riding it, with the walls separating the scenes. The Flying Witch finally opened in 2025 for the park's final season.
Here I am standing on the ride's third level. Thankfully no one ran up behind me and pushed me off the edge.
Here's the view from that opening. At the time, the park's major rides consisted of the Silver Comet coaster, the Flying Scooter ride at center, and a Scrambler. Aside from the train and a carousel, that was pretty much all there was in 2023.
However, there were many, many more rides sitting in storage. What was peculiar was that none of these rides were from the park's former life. Instead they were purchased randomly from many parks, seemingly without much thought as to whether it would be practical to rebuild or refurbish them. Here's Hersheypark's old Condor ride, which had its motor and tower sitting in the middle of the midway. The park's general manager told us that after it was delivered, they learned that it would need to be shipped back to Germany for a rebuild of its motor. Obviously, that never happened.
The pavilion also housed everything from old trash cans to a Trabant ride and an old shooting gallery sitting in pieces. There were more kiddie rides, too. I didn't show pictures of the four other major rides sitting in the parking lot, along with old water slide pieces, old food trailers, you get the idea...
When the park opened, this circular lake was used for a riverboat ride, essentially making it the Rivers of America of the park. In later years, canoes circled the island, but it was never used in the park's final seasons of operation.
The Iron Horse train was the first attraction on your right after entering the park. A classic Allan Herschell ride, its depot was original to the park and featured some quaint gingerbread detailing.
The train ran to the back of the park, with one station along the way to pick up guests from the adjoining campground.
Our group filled the entire train (with some help from some other park guests), and the ride operator was actually shocked. She said she had never seen the train more than half-full.
Here's another example of the lack of planning that went into the park's additions. This kiddie coaster was relocated from a Wisconsin family entertainment center with plans to reassemble it in Kiddieland. But there was one issue: it actually dropped below grade at its original home, making it impossible to assemble on a flat plot of land. I guess they just didn't realize the fact until they attempted to construct it, but the ride was gone in 2025. Apparently, a very small maintenance staff of only five people was tasked with rebuilding an entire amusement park by themselves.
Fast forward to our second visit in 2025, and there were certainly some positive changes, but other things hadn't changed. It was a journey getting to the park from Pittsburgh, as my car broke down and needed to be towed to a repair shop in the middle of nowhere. And since there weren't enough seats, one of my friends had to ride in the car while it was sitting on the tow truck flatbed, which is highly illegal but the driver just told him to crouch down. ANYWAY, we did eventually make it to the park that day. One of the things that hadn't changed was the Shuttle Loop, which was still sitting in pieces in the parking lot.
A Huss Frisbee ride took the place of the Flying Scooter, which was relocated elsewhere in the park. This ride was relocated from Six Flags Great America, but it was never put into operation before the park closed.
Another ride that seemingly came close to opening was this Mack Rides-built Caterpillar, but it too never ran. A close look at this picture will reveal some of the issues.
In Kiddieland, the train ride was down for the count.
However, several new rides did open for 2024 and 2025, including this portable S.D.C. coaster, known as the Serpent. The Ferris wheel and antique cars also anchored the reopened back end of the park.
Both the Western Town and Silver Comet remained highlights of the park.
Handmade elements like this cemetery show the care staff put into the park, but it ultimately turned out to be too little, too late.
However, the reason I returned to the park was to ride the Flying Witch, which finally opened for the park's last year. Although it wasn't quite as elaborate as it was at Rye Playland, I was still impressed that they managed to get it operational. Most of the scenes were working, though towards the end of the ride there was a lot of light leaking in through gaps in the building. Here's a video of the ride in its final form.
I really hope that someone gives this ride another life, but I don't really see it happening given that it's 55 years old. That is, unless someone purchases the entire park and reopens it.
The facade was one of the best out there, with this awesome effect of gnashing teeth.
Niagara Amusement Park may be no more, but perhaps there is still hope for the property. It is being sold as-is with all rides intact, so we can only hope someone sees value in the business. After all, it sits in a prime tourist area. In any case, it was a truly charming and quirky park that I am happy I was able to visit before its end.
