15 Off-the-Wall Theme Parks

Posted by Jill Harness in Everything Else, Funny, Neatorama Only, Pictures, Travel & Places on May 30, 2009 at 2:58 pm


I’m a huge fan of theme parks. I love roller coasters and costumed characters and all that jazz, but there are some parks that are boring and some that are just plain weird. Personally, I think I could pass on quite a few of these bad parks…others I want to visit just to see that the deal is.

Image Via km33068 [Flickr]

1. Hershey Park, PA -Mmmmm….chocolate! Hooray, kisses! The company that combined the two truly is brilliant, but a theme park in their name? There’s roller coasters, water slides, and, of course, cute little Reese’s and Hershey’s characters wandering. If you were worried about getting your chocolate fix on, don’t worry, there’s plenty of sweet treats at the restaurants throughout the park.

Image Via Andrewds14 [Flickr]

2. Dollywood, TN –Maybe you’re a Dolly fan. Maybe you like the ironic humor of visiting a theme park dedicated to the blonde county bombshell Maybe you just love farms. Whatever your reason for visiting Dollywood, you’re sure to get an earful –of Dolly Parton songs. Enjoy the sights and smells of the Smoky Mountains while speeding through exciting roller coasters.

3. Diggerland, UK –Ever wish you could be a construction worker, but hate sweat and hard work? Finally, you can relax by going to work on backhoes and other digging devices. They even have rides where you get to be inside the digging bucket. Apparently the United Kingdom has a crucial shortage of construction jobs available.

Image Via Hazelisles [Flickr]

4. Limestone Heritage, Malta –What could be more fun than limestone? Why anything of course! This exotic destination located on the island of Malta teaches kids about the fundamentals of limestone. I’ve never seen anyone work so hard to remove the “fun” from “fundamentals.”

Image Via llamnudds [Flickr]

5. Dickens World, UK –Do you have great expectations when it comes to your amusement parks? Sorry, I couldn’t resist. You can finally chill out in downtrodden 19th century England like the characters of Charles Dickens.

Image Via Mukluk Land website

6. Mukluk Land, AK –Alaska isn’t exactly known for being a crazy fun place for children and their amusement park is no exception. Their biggest attraction is the World’s Largest mukluk (a traditional soft boot worn in the Arctic). Aside from that, there is skee ball, mini-golf and big cabbage.

Image Via blatantgizmo [Flickr]

7. Pedro Land, SC –Why is there a Mexican theme park in the middle of South Carolina? Because who better to build a stereotypical amusement park based on the South of the Border than people who know nothing about Mexicans? Pink flamingos, hot tamales and really bad puns, like a mini golf course called the “Golf of Mexico,” run abound in this cheesy park.

Image Via the website Gallery

8. Harry Potter Themepark, FL –This is park may be unfinished, but it is sure to be completed and opened sometime in 2010. It’s going to be part of Universal Studios Florida. Finally you can put away your muggle wears and “let out your inner wizard.”

9. The Ocean Dome, Japan –Ever go to the beach and think, “I sure wish I could be having a simulated beach experience right now?” Here’s your chance. With real sand, manufactured waves, a private rain forest and a simulated volcanic eruption every hour, the Ocean Dome would be a great attraction for landlocked people in Utah. Unfortunately, its actual location lies within 1000 feet of a real beach in Miyazaki, Japan.

Image Via azkid2lt [Flickr]

10. Grutas Park, Lithuania –Hooray communism. Go USSR. Grutas Park is nicknamed “Stalin’s Word” -and for good reason. This Lithuanian theme park is dedicated to the area’s soviet-occupation. There’s not only a great statue garden of the communist heroes and a zoo, but also a fun gulag experience for all you history lovers out there.

Image Via Theme Park Review

11. BonBon Land, Denmark –Yes the colors and statues look crazy, but the madness doesn’t stop there. One roller coaster peaks with farting sounds being played just as you pass behind Henry Hound’s butt. Vomiting, pooping and breasts are in full force throughout this tasteless park, making it any 13 year old boy’s fantasy land.

Image Via Angie Torres [Flickr]

12. Suoi Tien Park, Vietnam –Sure Buddhism is all about sacrificing material goods and obtaining enlightenment, but roller coasters and water slides are fun too. You know what else is fun? A pond full of 1,500 live crocodiles that you can feed with meat attached to fishing poles. And just in case you really don’t get the message of Buddhism through the tons of golden statues, there is also a fun animatronics ride featuring the 12 torments of fell.

13. Shijingshan Amusement Park, China –If you thought the Chinese bootleg DVDs were a huge source of copyright infringement, just wait until you see the Shijingshan Amusement Park. Despite numerous copyright lawsuits from Disney, blatant knock offs of Minnie Mouse, Cinderella and Donald Duck still roam the park grounds, along with their friend Hello Kitty.

Image Via Semisvetik [Flickr]

14. Love Land, Korea –A lot of the attractions at this park are too adult for the general Neatorama audience. Even so, you’re certain to enjoy this sculpture of dogs making love with while flashing the peace sign. The owner hopes that the park will not only be fun, but be a good-source of education for newly weds.

Image Via San Sharma [Flickr]

15. Neverland Ranch, CA –Lock up your daughters –I mean sons. This park is an American classic, filled with tacky artwork, a zoo and rides. Unfortunately, this is one park that is long gone and will likely never rise again as the attractions have been moved out in the last year. Jackson said he no longer considers this park home since he claims the police officers “violated it.”


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COMMENT

31 comments to "15 Off-the-Wall Theme Parks"

  1. TR
    May 30th, 2009 at 3:51 pm

    There is nothing "Off-the-Wall" about Hershey Park. It is one of the finest family amusement parks in Pennsylvania. Knoebels ranks a strong second; where else can you can get a pickle-on-a-stick?

  2. skidworth
    May 30th, 2009 at 4:03 pm

    i grew up about 20 miles from South of the Border. it is interesting to note that mr. schaefer also owns a beer distributing business, hence his start into business with a bar. NC was dry and it led to some rowdy border towns in SC such as Dillon and McColl (my little home) that were a mere thirty minute drive from Fort Bragg in Fayettville. the bars just south of the NC/SC border came with colorful names such as the Boondocks, the Mystic Eye and the Bloody Bucket.

  3. MadMolecule
    May 30th, 2009 at 4:09 pm

    Dollywood is in the Smoky Mountains, not the Rockies.

  4. Shannon
    May 30th, 2009 at 5:23 pm

    Wasn't that South of the Border one in the movie Mr. Destiny? It looks familiar.

  5. Guest
    May 30th, 2009 at 5:24 pm

    tl;dr

  6. HersHers
    May 30th, 2009 at 8:36 pm

    Can you take the Hersey-highway at the park?

  7. Dr Insanity
    May 30th, 2009 at 9:24 pm

    "There is nothing “Off-the-Wall” about Hershey Park. It is one of the finest family amusement parks in Pennsylvania."

    It's one of the finest in the USA, if not the world. It's classy, beautiful, and packed with state of the art rides. And the chocolate isn't so bad, either. ;-)

  8. smallerdemon
    May 30th, 2009 at 9:44 pm

    I can't believe you failed to mention the short-lived "The World Of Sid and Marty Krofft" in Atlanta during the 70s. I saw only the remnants of it as a kid, missing its existence by only a few months.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_of_Sid_and_Marty_Krofft

    It was housed in what is now the CNN Center in Atlanta.

  9. DrMeowMix
    May 30th, 2009 at 9:45 pm

    I came here to say exactly what TR & Dr Insanity said. Hershey Park is practically the antithesis of "off the wall."

    It's family friendly, ride enthusiast friendly, and has a distinct, but not by any means esoteric, comprehensive theme.

  10. earbox
    May 30th, 2009 at 11:47 pm

    Please tell me that the photo of Dickens World isn't in black and white and that that's what it actually looks like.

  11. turbo_girl
    May 31st, 2009 at 12:32 am

    I think including the Harry Potter "park" on this list is a little misleading. The Harry Potter thing is going to be a section inside of Islands of Adventure, one of the two theme parks at Universal Orlando. The wording makes it sound like a whole new theme park when actually they're just modifying an existing section of IOA, "The Lost Continent" and making it Harry Potter themed. It's like calling Future World a "theme park" at Disney's Magic Kindgom; it's really just a themed section of it.

    Otherwise, I enjoyed the article. I'd like to make it up to Hershey Park one of these days. Saw a segment on Ocean Dome on the travel channel, and it looks as amazing as it sounds.

  12. Ottawa Valley Girl
    May 31st, 2009 at 12:33 am

    There's also Logos Land, in Cobden, Ontario. It's a supposedly Christian themed park, but other than the big ark at the front, I don't remember anything particularily Christian about it.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logos_Land

  13. Kiddlemidd
    May 31st, 2009 at 1:37 am

    I live about 10 minutes away from Hersheypark. I had never heard of it until we moved up here though. (I wasn't even aware there was a town called Hershey until we moved up here) It really is your basic amusement park, but that doesn't make it not a totally weird thing to base a park off of.

  14. turbo_girl
    May 31st, 2009 at 3:03 am

    ...Sorry, I meant "Tomorrowland" not Future World. Got it mixed up with Epcot.

  15. Dale
    May 31st, 2009 at 4:53 am

    Diggerland is the worst, most boring 'theme park' in the history of theme parks. My son wanted to go as he likes diggers, (tut, 5 year olds!); you queue for 45 mins to sit on a digger for about 3 minutes to do some digging; it's just terrible.

  16. Toga
    May 31st, 2009 at 5:57 am

    Who wrote this? Have you ever heard of spell check?!

  17. Skipweasel
    May 31st, 2009 at 8:45 am

    Dickens World looks far too clean to me. Where are the piles of dung and the dead dogs and the Hogarthian gin palaces?

  18. Johnny Cat
    May 31st, 2009 at 11:43 am

    That Dancing Diggers video really cracked me up, thanks!

  19. Nicky S-Bomb
    May 31st, 2009 at 1:22 pm

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moomin_World

    Moomin world is a ridiculous place in finland. check it

  20. Jill Harness
    May 31st, 2009 at 1:26 pm

    Toga, what's your deal? I just double checked it and nothing's spelled wrong?

    MadMolecule, I made that change. Good catch.

  21. ted
    May 31st, 2009 at 4:12 pm

    That Chinese Disney ripoff was bizarre. One of the Seven Dwarves looked like the face-transplant lady.

  22. Staxeon
    May 31st, 2009 at 6:39 pm

    As others have said Hershey Park really isn't off-the-wall. We spent 4 days there a couple of years ago and never had a boring moment. Comprehensive amusement park, zoo, walking gardens, golf course, spa (sent the wife there), 3D show, fantastic trip.

    Plus, Milton Hershey opened the park for his employees, since there wasn't much else for them to do with their families in the area. What other boss does that?

  23. free online games for kids
    May 31st, 2009 at 10:42 pm

    It's amazing the authorities took so long to respond to the "rip-off" of China's amusement park - I mean, they started in 1986, but only came to light in 2007. Otherwise, I think these places are interesting. Would really like to see them myself, especially Dickens World.

  24. free games for kids
    June 1st, 2009 at 5:04 am

    The Fake Disneyland scares me lol...

  25. Sman
    June 1st, 2009 at 6:40 am

    What could be more fun than limestone? Why anything of course!

    Some people find limestone very interesting. Some of us even spend our entire careers studying sedimentology... go figure!

  26. Gauldar
    June 1st, 2009 at 11:20 am

    @Ottawa Valley Girl

    I live north of Toronto and didn't even know that place existed.

  27. MadMolecule
    June 1st, 2009 at 4:24 pm

    smallerdemon: Thanks for that link! I grew up in Atlanta in the 70s, and my parents took me to the world of Sid & Marty Krofft during its brief run. I don't remember much (I was maybe four years old), but I know got my face painted, and there was some kind of giant spider with a woman's head that scared the heck out of me.

  28. fsdoubleflip
    June 1st, 2009 at 8:58 pm

    I went to south of the border (pedroland) when I was a kid. I still have a keychain of pedro attached to my car keys and there's a photo in my house of my younger brother and I wearing sombreros.

  29. Trinie
    June 1st, 2009 at 9:21 pm

    I've actually been to Suoi Tien. My dad used to take me there when I was a little kid. I loved it.

  30. Martina
    June 9th, 2009 at 10:29 pm

    Actually there is a Dollywood in Myrtle Beach SC; its called The Dixie Stampede. Skidworth is right, there are alot of funky hole in the wall spots "south of the border" a few are "themed places" but the whole "south of the border" stigma is access to things that are illegal in NC,ie gambling, and the biggest one is FIREWORKS! They have hundreds of fireworks stores south of the border.

  31. Debra
    September 22nd, 2009 at 4:38 pm

    @TR
    Hooray Knoebel's!!! And I agree, Hershey Park is NOT off-the-wall. The rides are awesome!

    I personally cannot WAIT for the Harry Potter section of Universal to open (it's not its own park)!


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