World Cup of Theme Parks (2022 Edition) [Argentina: Parque de la Costa]

[ThemeParkPriest]

As the World Cup begins tomorrow, you may not care about soccer, but I know you care about theme parks!

This thread will take a look at the top theme park in each park represented in the World Cup. If anyone wants to present on a particular country, reply here!

 

[ThemeParkPriest]

USA (Disneyland): The USA is where things really got rolling for the theme park industry. I will be using the best, unique theme park for each country. Although something could be said for the Magic Kingdom, Epcot (joke: World Showcase is generally into soccer, but Future World is more about golf), Animal Kingdom, or Universal Studios Florida being the top park in the US, Disneyland gets the nod for its history, annual attendance, and attraction make-up. It's latest attraction is Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. It also boasts the Imagineering Forum's favorite rides (albeit ranked for WDW) of Haunted Mansion (#1) and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (tied for #2). Indiana Jones Adventure and the Matterhorn are a couple of rides that you'll find at Disneyland but not at WDW.

 

[ThemeParkPriest]

Qatar (Lusail Winter Wonderland): The host country for the World Cup is getting a new theme park this month. Over 50 attractions are located there. The location and the colors make it look like it would be rather photogenic.

 

[ThemeParkPriest]

Netherlands (Efteling): One of the best theme parks in the world is Efteling. It features great dark rides including Symbolica (which won Theme Park Insider's best new dark ride award) as well as coasters like the Baron 1898 dive coaster.
For an Imagineering take on Efteling, check out @TheSorcerersApprentice project:
Thread 'Efteling ~ World of Wonders'
https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/efteling-world-of-wonders.973990/

 

[ThemeParkPriest]

Wales (Oakwood Theme Park): I was tempted to go with the theme park that has a people-powered coaster and a solar-powered coaster, but Oakwood is going to be your best bet for thrills. The roller coaster Bounce goes beyond vertical and tops out at 95 mph. Drenched is not your typical shoot-the-chute as it’s drop is 100 feet.

 

[ThemeParkPriest]

Japan (Tokyo DisneySea): many consider DisneySea to be the top theme park in the world with its many nautically-based lands (although ironically, Sindbad's Storybook Voyage is the only proper water ride) that are rich with details. The Fortress Explorations is a great walk-through attraction. The Nemo & Friends SeaRider is a unique motion simulator style ride. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea uses submarines to take the guests "under water" (although not really under water unlike the earlier attempts at Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom). But the highlight of the park is the Journey to the Center of the Earth thrill ride.

 

[ThemeParkPriest]

England (Alton Towers): There is some debate as to the best theme park in England, but a strong argument could be made for Alton Towers. It is the most proper theme park in the country, and it also has 9 roller coasters for adults. "Th13teen" is "the world's first vertical freefall drop roller coaster, on which the track and train freefall approximately 15 feet in darkness. The park also has dark rides including Gangsta Granny (seen below) and Duel - The Haunted House Strikes Back.

 

[MickeyMouse10]

England (Afton Park): There is some debate as to the best theme park in England, but a strong argument could be made for Afton Park. It is the most proper theme park in the country, and it also has 9 roller coasters for adults. "Th13teen" is "the world's first vertical freefall drop roller coaster, on which the track and train freefall approximately 15 feet in darkness. The park also has dark rides including Gangsta Granny (seen below) and Duel - The Haunted House Strikes Back.

View attachment 681396

I think you mean Alton Towers my man.

Great park, I've seen it on a lot of English people's vlogs. It's such a massive park that it has a skyride (a.k.a. skyliner) that transports guests across the park.

 

[ThemeParkPriest]

I think you mean Alton Towers my man.

Great park, I've seen it on a lot of English people's vlogs. It's such a massive park that it has a skyride (a.k.a. skyliner) that transports guests across the park.

Yeah, Afton is a town where I live, so I'm not surprised I got it confused when I was posting.

 

[ThemeParkPriest]

Germany (Europa-Park): Typically ranked #2 in annual attendance for European theme parks, Europa-Park has over 100 attractions. Much of its theming is country-specific, which makes it similar to Busch Gardens Williamsburg with some nods to Epcot, especially with its own geodesic dome. The park is known for its coasters, but it also has some dark rides. Most notable of these is ARTHUR (2014), which, along with Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (Magic Kingdom, 2014), set the benchmark for story-telling coasters.

 

[ThemeParkPriest]

France (Disneyland Paris): Disneyland Paris is a bit different than the the three Disney castle parks that preceded it. It is a beautiful park, especially in winter (which is when I was able to visit). It is full of details including walk-through exhibits including the dragon beneath the castle. Its Frontierland and Discoveryland (essentially its Tomorrowland, but based more on Jules Vernes' vision of the future). Big Thunder Mountain, which whisks people under the river to an island, is probably the best version in the world. Phantom Manor takes more of a western feel compared with the similar Haunted Mansion rides throughout the world. And Space Mountain includes an outdoor launch and indoor inversions, which makes it rather thrilling, especially for a Disney park.

 

[MickeyMouse10]

DLP is one of my favs... even though I've never been there LOL. It's even more aesthetically pleasing than the Magic Kingdom. Magic has more attractions, but out of the two DLP, got the looks in the family.

 

[ThemeParkPriest]

South Korea (Lotte World): Ahnyeong haseo! When I spent a month in Korea in summer 2012, it was prior to theme parks becoming a huge passion for me. Needless to say, I did not visit any theme parks while I was over there.

Anyways, Lotte World has both an indoor section ("Adventure," which was the world's largest indoor theme park until Warner Bros. World in Abu Dhabi surpassed it in 2019) and an outdoor section ("Magic Island"). It even contains a castle that is reminiscent of Disney parks. The park has a mix of family rides as well as roller coasters. Pharaoh's Fury is a dark ride similar to Indiana Jones.


@Haymarket do you have anything else to add?

 

[Haymarket]

South Korea (Lotte World): Ahnyeong haseo! When I spent a month in Korea in summer 2012, it was prior to theme parks becoming a huge passion for me. Needless to say, I did not visit any theme parks while I was over there.

Anyways, Lotte World has both an indoor section ("Adventure," which was the world's largest indoor theme park until Warner Bros. World in Abu Dhabi surpassed it in 2019) and an outdoor section ("Magic Island"). It even contains a castle that is reminiscent of Disney parks. The park has a mix of family rides as well as roller coasters. Pharaoh's Fury is a dark ride similar to Indiana Jones.


@Haymarket do you have anything else to add?

It's a beloved park among South Koreans, and its outdoor section overlooks a very pretty lake with cherry blossoms all around it in the spring.

It appears in almost every K-drama featuring young people (inevitably there's an episode where they go to Lotte World), and K-pop artists often film content there:







Almost every young person in the Seoul area (where half the country lives) has been there at least once. A popular thing is to go there wearing one's school uniform. You can even rent pretty school uniforms to visit the park (a foreign visitor's video of the uniform renting below). Even couples in their 20's will wear their high school uniforms and have nostalgic dates there. It's very popular for dates; it's considered a romantic setting.

Because most younger South Koreans love theme parks, it's always somewhere in the top 20 most-visited theme parks in the world. There's heavy repeat attendance by locals

A lot of their newer attractions were developed by Legacy. There's also a huge ice skating rink in the center of its indoor section. Lotty and Lorry are their main characters, like Mickey and Minnie.

As beloved as Lotte World is, everyone knows it's not a world-class park. Lots of South Koreans visit the Tokyo Disney Resort and Disneyland in Anaheim, and it becomes clear as day that Lotte World is deeply inferior as far as theming, aesthetics, and characters/IP. I mean, the castle alone is clearly "off," but locals still love it because it's "theirs."

I have no doubt that if Disney built a park in the Seoul area, Lotte World and its bigger Samsung-owned rival Everland would be in big trouble. South Koreans love Disney, Pixar, and Marvel. This is weird and crazy, but of late they've even become enamored of very expensive National Geographic-branded clothing, but just randomly, not because it's a Disney brand.

Here's BTS at Lotte World lol:



This is from a week ago. Christmas decorations are all up of course.

 

[MickeyMouse10]

What a unique and cute park! I've never seen anything like it layout wise. You can see the Disney influences though, with Magic Island and the Adventure section.

I'd love to see them do something similar in the northern cold areas of the U.S, or even the desert areas of the south.

 

[ThemeParkPriest]

It's a beloved park among South Koreans, and its outdoor section overlooks a very pretty lake with cherry blossoms all around it in the spring.

View attachment 683615

It appears in almost every K-drama featuring young people, and K-pop artists often film content there:







Almost every young person in the Seoul area (where half the country lives) has been there at least once. A popular thing is to go there wearing one's school uniform. You can even rent pretty school uniforms to visit the park (a foreign visitor's video of the uniform renting below). Even couples in their 20's will wear their high school uniforms and have nostalgic dates there. It's very popular for dates; it's considered a romantic setting.



View attachment 683617

Because most younger South Koreans love theme parks, it's always somewhere in the top 20 most-visited theme parks in the world. There's heavy repeat attendance by locals

A lot of their newer attractions were developed by Legacy. There's also a huge ice skating rink in the center of its indoor section. Lotty and Lorry are their main characters, like Mickey and Minnie.

View attachment 683619
View attachment 683620


As beloved as Lotte World is, everyone knows it's not a world-class park. Lots of South Koreans visit Tokyo Disney Resort and Disneyland in Anaheim, and it becomes clear as day that Lotte World is deeply inferior as far as theming, aesthetics, and characters. I mean, the castle alone is clearly "off," but locals still love it because it's "theirs."

View attachment 683618

I have no doubt that if Disney built a park in the Seoul area, Lotte World and its bigger Samsung-owned rival Everland would be in big trouble. South Koreans love Disney, Pixar, and Marvel. This is weird and crazy, but of late they've even become enamored of very expensive National Geographic-branded clothing, but just randomly, not because it's a Disney brand.

Here's BTS at Lotte World lol:



This is from a week ago. Christmas decorations are all up of course.

That's very interesting about the traditions of wearing school uniforms to the park. I can see why Lotte World is not seen as a top tier theme park. However, the attendance numbers and the interest in the park shows that South Korea could sustain a top tier theme park like Tokyo Disneyland.

Last year I analyzed where the best locations would be for the next international theme park. Seoul scored highly on the list:

Next International Resort [TAIWAN TAKEOVER]

Strength of Intellectual Properties Disney and Universal have good internal numbers as to where their Intellectual Properties (IPs) are popular. From the outside, though, it can be tough to know where IPs are well-received. Avengers: End Game is the top grossing box office movie of all time at...

forums.wdwmagic.com

 

[ThemeParkPriest]

Denmark (Tivoli Gardens): Walt Disney was partially inspired by Tivoli Gardens when he was designing Disneyland. From what I understand, the beauty of the park rivals most other parks worldwide. The park boasts of a 1914 coaster called Rutschebanen that relies on an operator to provide the braking on it. Demon, which opened in 2004, is a floorless coaster that includes an Immelmann loop, a vertical loop, and a zero-G roll and provides a VR experience as an option.

 

[Goofy Ninja]

It's really neat to see theme parks I'll never go to. Because I'm both poor and don't like crowds.

 

[ThemeParkPriest]

It's really neat to see theme parks I'll never go to. Because I'm both poor and don't like crowds.

Well, if you don't like crowds, then a busy theme park isn't necessarily going to be your cup of tea!

But yes, sadly travel and top-tier theme parks are very expensive. Disney and Universal (especially in the U.S.) are really pricing out the lower class. But other parks give some good value.

 

[ThemeParkPriest]

The World Cup is over now, so time to highlight the winning country!

Argentina (Parque de la Costa): This park in Tigre has at least 30 rides including two roller coasters. El Desafío is a Vekoma SLC Standard floorless coaster that reaches speeds of 50 mph.