-
(#1) Love Land
- Location
Many places in Asia are more open to sexuality than the repressed Judeo-Christian atmosphere of the United States. It's not uncommon to see adult video theaters in Tokyo, or nudie mags in public, or... a park full of penis sculptures. Jeju Loveland (otherwise known simply as Love Land) is on the Korean island of Jeju, and it is that park full of rock hard body parts.
The island became a popular honeymoon destination in the '70s when overseas travel was limited by the Korean government due to the Cold War. Since many marriages at the time were arranged, the island became a center of sex education, helping new couples break the ice in the boudoir. So it was a natural evolution that a few decades later, South Korea created an erotic theme park, with sculptures of people doing the nasty, and animals doing the nasty, and animals and people doing the real nasty. Don't worry, though - some of the sculptures are interactive. There's an adjacent playground for children, too, of course, so no need to fret, parents.
-
(#2) BonBon-Land
- Amusement Park
"In Denmark, on the island of Zealand, a 45-minute drive from Copenhagen, lies a disgusting and magical world every family should experience," reads the opening line in Atlas Obscura's exploration of BonBon Land. And disgusting it is. In the park one can find a statue of a cow with human breasts spilling out of her dress, a mural depicting a seagull crapping in an alligator's mouth, and a giant sculpture of a farting dog.
Danish confectioner Michael Spang owned a successful candy business, and decided to step up his marketing game by building a theme park dedicated to his creations in 1992. If you think the toilet imagery is out of place, discordant, or even anathema to his sweet treats, you're wrong. His candies boasted such enticing names as Seagull Droppings, Large Boobs, Pee Diapers, and Hundeprutter (“Dog Fart”). So the wild and gross sights of the park are actually right in line with this dude's candy business, which proved successful because kids are gross.
-
(#3) Dwarf Empire Is A Theme Park For Those Soulless Individuals Who Wish To Witness The Degradation Of Little People
In Kunming, China, exists a magical place called the Kingdom of the Little People, or the Dwarf Empire. Of course, anyone visiting this theme park is very likely not concerned about political correctness. The park is full of little mushroom houses in which dwell real little people who emerge every couple hours to perform, singing and dancing and generally just acting like real-life Oompa Loompas. "This park must have opened decades ago and surely can no longer exist," you must be thinking. But you're wrong. This park opened in 2010. The fact that the employees of the park are there of their own volition doesn't make it any less exploitative or appalling.
-
(#4) Hacienda Nápoles Is Pablo Escobar's Former Estate, Somewhere Between Disney's Animal Kingdom And A CSI-Themed Nightmare
Hacienda Nápoles is the defunct estate-turned-theme park of deceased drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, located 150 miles outside of Bogotá, Colombia. The sprawling complex is nearly eight square miles of roving now-feral hippos, dinosaur sculptures, and an exhibit celebrating el Triunfo del Estado (the Triumph of the State) — the centerpiece of which is a giant picture of a Colombian police officer posing with the freshly slain corpse of Escobar himself. The compound was named after Naples, Italy, and the drug lord's apparent love of European culture, which is also why he built a bullfighting ring on the premises.
As families frolic through the park, most prominent above all else — above even the statue of a triceratops eviscerating a t.rex or the garden of burned-out car skeletons in such a state after a bombing by a rival drug cartel — is the specter of a man who murdered thousands, which earned him a virtually limitless fortune, allowing him to build this somehow-even-more-nightmarish version of Neverland Ranch.
-
(#5) Survive The Oppression Of Communism At Lithuania's Soviet Bunker And You'll Earn A Free Shot Of Vodka
Gas masks, interrogations, and involuntary medical exams — what fun! At the Soviet Bunker in Vilnius, Lithuania, you get to experience firsthand the hardships of Soviet life under the watchful eye of former soviet soldiers, who still remember how to oppress like the best. "Survival drama," they call it, which gives you a pretty solid idea about just how much fun you'll be having. Who wouldn't want to pay $200 to hangout in a Gulag? The free shot of vodka at the end must feel well-earned.
-
(#6) At Parque EcoAlberto You Can Experience An Illegal Border Crossing Without Having To Illegally Cross Any Borders
Parque EcoAlberto in El Alberto, Mexico, has all the grand vistas and protection of American National Parks, plus water slides, kayaking, ziplining, and of course, an immersive three-to-four-hour night hike through unforgiving terrain while being hunted by "border patrol" in a realistic simulation of illegally crossing the Mexico/U.S. border called Caminata Nocturna. The not-free rugged experience includes ski masks and a semi-hostile "tour guide" who hurries his charges through a rough landscape full of brambles and coyotes in the dead of night so they can truly appreciate the hellishness of an attempted border-crossing.
The Hñahñus, the local Native Americans, are the organizers of this experience, with the aim of deterring Mexicans from attempting the illegal infiltration of the States by showing them how terrible and dangerous it is, hoping that people will stay and help the community flourish and grow. The goal is noble, but there's yet to be any
-
(#7) The Children's Republic Is A Theme Park Centered Around Everyone's Childhood Favorite Topic: Democracy
In 1951, Republic of the Children (or the Children's Republic) was established in La Plata, Argentina, by Eva Perón, wife of populist authoritarian President Juan Domingo Perón. How ironic. The park is a miniaturized city where kids can elect congressman and apply for fake bank loans, because fun! Apparently, the thing about democracy that isn't fun for kids is the lack of governmental buildings scaled down to be proportional to their size. Otherwise, hooray, bureaucracy! The architecture is inspired by the Brothers Grimm with "a mixture of Medieval, Islamic, and European styles," and rings a little reminiscent of Disneyland, which was built three years after this. Coincidence? Almost certainly.
-
(#8) 'Stalin's World' AKA Grutas Park Is Lithuania's Nostalgic Nod To The Cold War
In addition to the Soviet Bunker, Lithuania also offers Grutas Park, or "Stalin's World," in the wetlands of Dzukija National Park. The park opened in 2001 as a lasting homage to communism with "a Soviet-era playground, a restaurant serving Soviet-era dishes and, oddly, a zoo, complete with non-Soviet-era ostriches," according to Time. Stalin's World is as much a museum of communism as it is an amusement park, with dozens of sculptures memorializing Soviet leaders. Visitors meander through the wetlands on wooden walkways flanked by barbed wire fences and guard posts, reminding the guests what gulags were like.
-
(#9) Beijing Shijingshan Amusement Park
- Amusement Park
If it looks like Disney World, it might just be Disney World. Unless, of course, it's a Chinese ripoff of the "Most Magical Place On Earth." The Shijingshan Amusement Park in Beijing opened September 28, 1986, with anthropomorphic animals and princesses frolicking around a castle. They managed to skate by for quite some time before Disney had anything to say about it, but it all came to a head in 2007 when Disney did indeed say something, and shortly thereafter, regulars like the dark-haired princess with seven elf companions were nowhere to be seen.
The park's slogan, which graced the entry arch, read, "Disney is too far, so please come to Shijingshan!" and was visitors' first clue that something might be amiss. But once they saw a round-eared mouse and his aquatic avian companion the jig was up. Shijingshan engaged in equal-opportunity copyright infringement, though, with characters that resembled Shrek, Bugs Bunny, Hello Kitty, and more. Though they never admitted to wrongdoing, they ultimately removed all of these characters and imagery under the scrutiny.
-
(#10) Wunderland Kalkar
- Location
Wunderland Kalkar was never supposed to be a "wunderland." Just north of Dusseldorf, this site was supposed to be home to a $5.3 billion nuclear power plant, but due to construction issues and protests, it never went online as such, instead being repurposed as an amusement park. Inside the central cooling tower you'll find a climbing wall and a swing ride, but the park is much more expansive than that, with over 40 attractions, four restaurants, eight bars, and six hotels. Despite being a seasonal attraction (not to mention a power plant), the park gets over 600,000 visitors each year.
-
(#11) Dickens World
Dickens World boasted everything from corset-clad prostitutes to sewer boat rides to a classroom where girls weren't allowed to sit in front and were roundly admonished if they did. Unfortunately, the one thing it did not feature were guests. Not enough anyway. Located in Kent, near where Charles Dickens was born and died, this indoor amusement park was as authentic as a mid-19 century London recreation could be, replete with dilapidated buildings in the slums, replete with "carefully slimed brickwork and authentically crumbled plaster."
The attraction that was decades in planning ironically survived less than one, opening in 2007 and closing its doors for good in 2016 after almost constant financial struggles. There's apparently only one British author who can create a world so immersive and loved that amusement parks based on the tale can flourish. "Dickens World" just lacks the "magic" of J.K. Rawlings's world.
-
(#12) Suoi Tien Amusement Park
- Amusement Park
Because nothing says Buddha like go-karts, right? It's not that a Buddhist theme park is inherently weird, but it's what you can find in Ho Chi Minh's Suoi Tien Amusement Park that makes it strange. Beyond the go-karts, there are water slides, various rides, including a roller coaster apparently named "Roller Coaster," sprinkled in among more traditional Buddhist iconography, like temples, gardens, and statues of the cherubic Buddha himself. There's also a boat ride through a Buddhist representation of hell to keep park goers on their toes. This actually isn't the only such park in the world as a very similar one exists in Singapore called Haw Par Villa. And yes, it too, offers a whimsical jaunt through hell.
-
(#13) Salina Turda
- Tourist attraction
A 400-foot-deep salt mine in Romania named Salina Turda has had a dynamic life since its discovery more than 300 years ago. Located in Turda (hence its hilarious name), the mine-turned-theme park is beautiful, with a glowing boardwalk floating on a subterranean lake, a Ferris wheel, mini-golf, and a lot of ping pong tables, for some reason. While its strange history make this a truly unique attraction, it's also really amazing. Business Insider placed it in the top "10 Of The Coolest Underground Places In The World." It definitely looks cool, but a salt mine with a bowling alley is inherently weird.
-
(#14) Diggerland
- Employer
And Bob the Builder changed the world. In April of 2000, the first Diggerland was opened to the public in Kent. The word "first" obviously implies there's more than one location, which of course there is, with four in the UK, and as of 2014, one in the US. It's no secret that kids love construction equipment, but it's still surprising that founder Hugh Edeleanu was able to build an entire empire out of that love. This "ultimate adventure park," as the site calls it, has everything from skid loaders to that one other piece of excavating construction equipment you might be able to name, with interactive exhibits and even a choreographed show called "Dancing Diggers."
Of course, there are activities for adults, too. You or your corporation can book all day experiences where you race dumpers of all kinds and control the mechanical arm of a digger, ripping up earth like an easily amused god.
-
(#15) Popeye Village
- Place
Popeye Village may be beautiful and kind of awesome, but it's still weird. This seaside shanty town in Malta was built for the 1980 musical Popeye starring Robin Williams. Since it took the crew seven months to build this town, it would have been a waste to just leave it to rot, so it was repurposed and turned into a bustling theme park with water trampolines, puppet shows, and silversmith demonstrations, plus wine tastings for adults — you can even get hitched there.
While the musical this town was constructed for may not be particularly memorable, Popeye Village itself has become one of the "major tourist attractions on the Maltese Islands." There's not a lot of public information about the edible offerings, but one can assume spinach is readily available.
New Random Displays Display All By Ranking
About This Tool
The theme park should be a modern and joyful tourist place with many creative activities, more and more theme parks were built to meet the diverse leisure and entertainment needs and choices of tourists around the world. There are a huge number of theme parks with different styles, some places with ridiculous themes that make tourists sneer at them, such as the peculiar erotic theme park Love Land in South Korea, which only allows adults to visit.
If you are looking for different travel experiences, you may wish to check this collection of 15 absolutely preposterous theme parks to specify your travel plan. The random tool introduced some basic information about these places here.
Our data comes from Ranker, If you want to participate in the ranking of items displayed on this page, please click here.