Fantasy Gardens

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This article is about a former amusement park in Canada. For the attraction in Hong Kong Disneyland, see Fantasy Gardens (Disney attraction). For other uses, see Fantasy Gardens (disambiguation).

A panorama of Fantasy Gardens.

Fantasy Gardens is a former amusement park in Richmond, British Columbia that is located at the corner of Steveston Highway and No. 5 Road. The park is called Fantasy Gardens because it is surrounded by a series of stone buildings that were designed to resemble structures built during the Middle Ages. The buildings have been used as a backdrop in numerous music videos, television productions, and movies (it stood in for Halloweentown in Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge).

Behind the stone buildings are the Biblical Gardens. These gardens are filled with numerous religious icons, including a hedge that has been carved into the shape of a Bible.

In 1984 the gardens were bought by Bill Vander Zalm, who established the Christian theme of much of the park. Then a provincial MLA, Vander Zalm went on to be Premier of British Columbia. His later sale of the park led to charges of conflict of interest, which in turn led to his resignation in 1991 and the defeat of the Social Credit government.

During the 1980s and early 1990s there was a small-scale amusement park at Fantasy Gardens. The biggest attraction was a miniature railroad that visitors could ride throughout the park and the gardens. When the fair closed down, most of the miniature railroad tracks were ripped up. Before being closed, this miniature railroad was filmed and it appeared in the X-Files episode "The Calusari." During this episode, a toddler chases a balloon that is being carried away by a ghost, and he runs on to the track and is hit and killed by the train.

The site was also used as the primary set of the Revisions episode of the TV series Stargate SG-1, and the Irresponsible episode of Stargate Atlantis.

Recently, Fantasy Gardens was home to a massive plant store in the Art Knapp's chain, owned by Bill Vander Zalm's son, Wim. Many people visited the store to get a glimpse of its turtle-filled pond. This plant store closed its location at Fantasy Gardens, moving to a vacant nursery one mile west along Steveston Highway at No. 5 Road. 49°8′8″N, 123°5′20″W.