Germany's Most Tricked-Out Theme Park Was Once A Nuclear Reactor

It doesn't get much more sci-fi than this.

Germany's Wunderland Kalkar is far from your average family fun zone: the theme park is actually an abandoned nuclear power plant.

Originally a nuclear power station, the site "began partial operation" in the 1980s but "did not receive any nuclear materials," according to Slate. A businessman purchased the site in 1991 and transformed it into a "hotel, meeting and leisure complex." The amusement park opened in 2001.

Visitors now roam Wunderland's lots of attractions, six hotels, seven bars, restaurants and bowling lanes. They can even go for a swing in the nuclear plant's cooling tower while other guests rock-climb the outer walls. Say WHAT?!

Tourists swing inside the abandoned cooling chamber.



The outside is conveniently painted like a mountain to make climbing it seem more realistic.



The floor of the chamber is called Echoland for its awesome acoustics.



And you've also got your standard park rides, like a carousel and a Ferris wheel.





...but nothing quite compares to the main event.



You can book a stay in one of Wunderland's six hotel buildings, or feel free to invest in an all-out party package for your closest friends.

There's plenty to see in the surrounding village, if log rides on an old nuclear plant aren't jazzy enough.

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