Haw Par Villa, Singapore
Grūtas Park, Lithuania
Nicknamed “Stalin World,” this 500-acre theme park near the Belarus border pays homage to the Soviet regime. While barbed wire fencing and watchtowers meant to imitate Gulag prison camps make for a rather oppressive feel, Grūtas also includes a zoo, playground and sculpture garden with 86 enormous statues of Communist leaders.
Photo via ComTourist.com
Harmonyland, Japan
At this Hello Kitty theme park visitors can check out the title character’s castle, ride a boat through her Sanrio pals’ underground apartments and experience “Time Machine of Dreams,” a 3-D and special-effects–filled show that features scented seats. A Ferris wheel and roller-skating themed rollercoaster round out the attractions at this over-the-top amusement park.
Photo via TopTenTop
Suoi Tien Park, Vietnam
This amusement and water park is meant to simulate Buddhist heaven with dragons, unicorns, tortoises, phoenixes and of course, Buddhas, used thematically throughout the rides. While generally family-friendly, the park has one unsettling feature: a pond with 1,500 live crocodiles that visitors are invited to feed with raw meat on fishing poles.
Photo via BattleFieldHeroes
Dwarf Empire, China
This controversial park is devoted to and staffed entirely by little people, who live on the grounds in miniature domed houses. Twice a day the employees emerge to perform dance, acrobatics and music for the hundreds of tourists who visit daily. While some praise the park for giving jobs to people who traditionally cannot find work in China, others see the arrangement as exploitive.
Diggerland, England
This construction theme park with four locations across Great Britain gives kids—and kids at heart—the chance to operate real construction equipment, including diggers and dump trucks. The park also features machinery converted into rides and a stunt team called “The Dancing Diggers,” who perform private shows.
Photo via Diggerland
Holy Land Experience, Florida
Visitors to this Evangelical theme park just 11 miles outside Disney can hang out in a simulated Garden of Eden or dine at a recreated Last Supper. Those with young children should skip the blood-filled Crucifixion reenactment, despite an undeniably entertaining karaoke performance by none other than Jesus, himself.
Photo via The Holy Land Experience
