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In the Mangyongdae funfair, riding that white knuckle ride can actually be your last. Kuriositas blog explains why in this North Korea amusement park, having fun can be a deadly business:
Link - via I Heart ChaosThe rides at the park are so ramshackle that repairs are done on an as and when, ad hoc basis. To avoid the deaths of important North Koreans or overseas visitors (whose foreign currency is rather more important) local farmers are often recruited to test the rides for safety. This must be the only place in the world where a knock on the door and the words you’re going to the funfair are met with dread.
The following is an article from the book Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Plunges Into History Again.
The place that gave Mr. and Mrs. Joe Schmoe the crazy idea that happiness was just a few subway stops away.
Between about 1880 and World War II, Coney Island was the largest amusement park in the United States. But back in 1609, when Dutch explorer Henry Hudson became the first European to arrive on the premises, he found nothing more than barren sand dunes and very unfriendly Native Americans. After his petty officer was killed in a skirmish, Hudson moved on to a much calmer and peaceful island later known as Manhattan.
At some point the island (which is five miles long and up to a mile wide) was named Konijn Eiland, which is Dutch for “Rabbit Island.” Konijn became “Coney,” possibly during the days of Lady Deborah Moody, a London widow in her mid-50s, who brought a group of religious dissenters to the island during a lull in the Indian Wars. It was rough going -the local Native Americans still weren’t all that friendly- but the plucky group stayed on.
EASY ACCESS
Coney Island remained an island until 1829, when it was connected to mainland Long Island by Shell Road, a road made of -you guessed it- shells. It’s been a peninsula ever since. But linguistically, it’s still an island: one is said to be “on” Coney Island, not “in” it.
Hotel Brighton
HOLIDAY INN
Five years after Shell Road was built, a large hotel, Coney Island House, opened for business in hopes of drawing a summer crowd to the seaside. The hotel’s success encouraged builders of even more elegant hotels. What started as a genteel resort recommended by doctors (sea bathing was considered to be healthy and invigorating), quickly became a hot spot with the upper classes. Before long, hotels along the seashores welcomed such distinguished guests as P.T. Barnum, Daniel Webster, and Washington Irving. Visitors lingered on the the hotels’ long porches, ate their meals in posh dining rooms, and took dips in the Atlantic.
BATHING SUITS AND OTHER PURSUITS
more …
When you pay a visit to your county or state fair, or when a carnival comes to town, you may get a chance to ride on one of Michael Jackson’s amusement park rides. The rides were sold to amusement companies around the country and have been refurbished and put back into use.
“It was a blast!” said Benny Vasquez, a Visalia, Calif., welder who was regaining his bearings after a dizzying turn on the Spider, an arachnid-shaped contraption with blazing green bulbs lining its black legs. “It’s exciting for people to be able to sit on something that he owned.”
Over the years, Jackson acquired about 18 rides for his 2,600-acre ranch in Santa Barbara County. Some gradually were swapped out for newer models and hit the carnival circuit without fanfare. But most stayed in place even after Jackson, acquitted on child molestation charges in 2005, left Neverland for good.
Several big amusement companies purchased what remained in 2008, repainting and sprucing up rides run down by weather and lack of use.
(image credit: Tomas Ovalle/LA Times)
Does your child have ADHD? Good news: now you can skip the line at the amusement park in the United Kingdom, thanks to the anti-discrimination laws of the country:
Hyperactive children and those with attention-deficit disorders can now queue jump at theme parks because they cannot cope with the stress of waiting.
Tourist boards are offering the privilege so that they can skip the queue with their friends.
Teachers have criticised the scheme, saying that it undermines their efforts to encourage patience and it would be better for children with ADHD, attention deficit and hyperactive disorder, to learn how to wait.
Due to open in 2010, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter will be a theme park at Universal Orlando based on the world’s most famous scar-faced boy.
The 20-acre park will be located in Universal’s Islands of Adventure, which are themed "islands" built around a lagoon and currently comprises Seuss Landing, Marvel SuperHero Island, Toon Island, Jurassic Park and The Lost Continent.
Universal isn’t saying much yet about what the Wizarding World will include, but so far it looks like there will be a Hogwarts Castle, a village of Hogsmeade, and a Three Broomsticks Pub. I hope they serve butterbeer.
Link – via darkroastedblend
From the Upcoming 
ueue, submitted by 
Kelsey Timmerman, author of Where Am I Wearing? – a book about the countries, factories and people that make our clothes and a similarly named blog, was in Dhaka, Bangladesh, when he discovered a local amusement park named Fantasy Kingdom.
There Kelsey got a crazy idea: get as many kids, many of whom live just outside of the park but couldn’t afford the ticket price, into the Fantasy Kingdom for a day of fun!
Sixty Dollars admits one child for one day to Disney World in Orlando, Fla.
Sixty dollars admits 20 people for one day to Fantasy Kingdom, near Dhaka, Bangladesh.
I discovered this not long ago when I was in Dhaka. Now all we have to do is find those 20 Bangladeshi children to take to Fantasy Kingdom, I thought.
Behind us were the gates of Fantasy Kingdom, the brightest, cleanest, and most out-of-place sight in all of Bangladesh. The walls are plastic but look like sandstone. Standing atop them are two very happy cartoon kids – sentinels looking out to the crowded streets and the surrounding garment factories.
"One girl and one boy would be best," Ruma said. She is a 20-something Bangladeshi sportswriter who had taken the day off to help me with my crazy idea: Take as many kids as we can – who live in the park’s shadow but haven’t been inside – into the amusement park. Riding a roller coaster is a luxury they’ll probably never know otherwise and, as a lifetime roller-coaster enthusiast, something I hoped to change.
"I want 20," I replied.
Ruma approached three boys. As she talked, they stared at me before running off to find more kids. It wasn’t long before we had a crowd.
Read more of Kelsey’s fascinating account of the day trip at The Christian Science Monitor: Was it a frivolous gift or a lifelong memory?
