Fantastic Journey At Wonderland Park Cost HOW Much To Build?!

One of the things I always find fascinating is how much things cost to build. I'm not talking about houses or random buildings.

I'm talking about off-the-wall things, such as amusement parks.

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You know all that stuff can't be cheap to put together.

When you look at Wonderland here in Amarillo, you think to yourself, "it couldn't have cost THAT much to put together, right?"

Eh, you'd be surprised. I saw something on Facebook in an Amarillo group that said the Amarillo Globe-Times reported that the fan-favorite 'Fantastic Journey' ride cost $100,000 to build back in 1974.

Allow me to repeat that for you.

It cost $100,000 to build the Fantastic Journey. In 1974 money.

When you adjust for inflation, today, that $100,000 equates to $600,000. Inconceivable.

The Labor Of Love For The Fantastic Journey

With that kind of a price tag in 1974, I decided to dig into it a bit.

According to Wonderland's website, the attraction was actually HAND BUILT by founder Paul Roads and took him a year and a half to complete. Pretty impressive if you ask me.

Any Amarillo native worth their salt has been on The Fantastic Journey. And more likely than not, we've all got our own coming-of-age story that involves the ride.

Whew. Hope that's counted in the ROI.

What do you think? Was it worth the money? Or was it a waste? I've seen both comments on Facebook. Personally, I think it seems like a fun little ride to hop on with the kids and try and get a little scare out of them.

Besides, there's no other amusement park quite like Wonderland. It's part of the charm