By Olivia Day For Daily Mail Australia
06:12 21 Jun 2023, updated 06:33 21 Jun 2023
- Fantasy Glades theme park hits the market
- Property has been restored to former glory
- Park once boasted a pink Cinderella Castle
A once-iconic theme park known for its Snow White cottage, Cinderella castle and dragon cave has hit the market after eight years of renovations.
Fantasy Glades, a sprawling two-hectare property in Port Macquarie on the NSW mid-north coast, closed its doors in 2002 after 35 years in operation.
The theme park was opened in 1968 by George and Rosemary Whitaker, who both lived with dwarfism.
In the theme park’s heyday, thousands of excited families streamed into the tourist attraction to spend time in fairy tales brought to life.
In 2015, Fantasy Glades was sold to Jeff Crowe and his cousin, who quickly set about restoring the forgotten theme park to its former glory.
Mr Crowe told Sunrise he ‘fell in love’ with the property as soon as he saw it.
‘We looked at the property and found out that it had a castle and had some other tiny buildings on it, and I fell in love with it,’ he said on Wednesday.
The unique site, which has DA approvals for a café in the pink Cinderella castle and nine self-contained cottages, best suits a buyer with a business venture.
The tiny churches and mini cottages have been restored and the sprawling lawns and surrounding bushland neatly manicured.
The former theme park boasts bushwalks across rustic bridges and gentle streams, and is just metres from Shelly Beach and surrounding rainforest.
Previous owners Shane and Karen Hay put the theme park on the market for $560,000 in 2015, after six years of restoring and modernising the site.
‘We wanted to bring it back to life, and it was a matter of bringing it into the new age to make it digital and more modern,’ Mr Hay told Daily Mail Australia in 2015.
‘My father was a builder and he was going to help us, but he passed away and unfortunately we have to move on,’ he said.
Fantasy Glades had deteriorated over the years, vandalised by graffiti and attacked by natural elements, and required a decent amount of restorative work.
Mr Hay said he and his wife both had fond memories of Fantasy Glades, and his wife’s favourite attraction was the chapel and Cinderella’s castle.
Popular attractions included Snow White’s cottage – complete with dwarves and beds – the Old Lady who lived in a Shoe, the Crooked House, a monorail, Humpty Dumpty, Little Red Riding Hood’s Grandmother’s House, and many others.
The Hays had made plans to import modern dinosaur figures, to add to the original figurines, which have now been sold and are being kept in storage.
They were ultimately successful in selling the park to someone who would be passionate about the site and interested in restoring it to its former glory.
‘My wife always wanted to do it up, and we’d like to see it sold to someone who will preserve the heritage,’ Mr Hay said ahead of the sale.
‘We’ve had a fair amount of interest, and some from local groups who would like to use it as a community site for gardens and sculptures.
‘Port Macquarie really needs something like this. I’m sure there’s someone out there, someone younger than us.’
McGrath Real Estate Agents Nathan Owen and David Geary said they were looking forward to seeing who would benefit from Mr Crowe’s restorative efforts.
‘We are so excited to see this project come to life for the vendor who has put in so much time and work to restore the property and pave the way for an eco-friendly project for a developer with a vision,’ they said.