A CHINESE amusement park has been given the unwanted title of “world’s worst theme park” after tourists were left baffled thinking it was abandoned.
Sat in China’s capital of Beijing, the Shijingshan Amusement Park has been dubbed a knock-off Disneyland by tourists for decades because of the damaged, pound-shop versions of attractions and characters.
TripadvisorA broken windmill at Shijingshan Amusement Park points to the park being forsaken[/caption]
The atmosphere is eerie across the park and its various ridesTripadvisor
TripadvisorA diner appears closed and deserted inside[/caption]
Costing just 10 Yuan (£1.11), the cost of entering the not-so-magical park is roughly one per cent of Disney World’s hefty cost.
But despite the unarguable value for money, what lies behind the rusty old entrance gates certainly isn’t on the level of Disney.
Pictures online show a murky green pool of water sitting around the Cinderella Castle as the park’s main attraction.
With a tall Ferris Wheel just behind the eerily similar Disney Castle, the tall red turrets sit dirty and in desperate need of a clean, according to the pictures.
Across the park sits slowly decaying statues, from a Popeye needing more spinach to a rocket ship with it’s paint job peeling off.
An oddly coloured cyan castle inside is littered with purposely placed artwork from a cowboy hat and guns to a mummified man still wrapped in bandages.
The American Adventure castle is followed up by a wildlife exhibit filled with plastic animals and painted on safari walls.
With kangaroos, zebras and toadstools all next to each other the exhibit shows the best of the entire animal kingdom across the world living just feet apart.
Models of people standing on rocks wearing cowboy outfits and checked shirts complete the first part of the Shijingshan experience.
First opened on September 28, 1986, the theme park is owned and operated by the Shijingshan District government.
Back in 2021, the park underwent a major upgrade and three new roller coasters were designed – taking the total to 16 although only six are open all year round.
But it’s the park’s confusing obsession with guns, nudity and bizarre themed rides that have left many calling it “freaky”.
A giant pineapple sits on top of a narrow green roller coaster track in one of the world’s weirder rides as a giant goblin dressed in spiky armour stares at you while the Warrior Turnplate ride throws you around the air.
There’s also a huge great white shark hung up by its back fin with a rope around its neck for the whole family to enjoy.
For fans of the iconic Jurassic Park, Shijingshan tried its hand at a similar exhibit with mixed results.
The sign posts are losing letters and the scary T-Rex overseeing the park has blunt teeth, thin human-like fingers for claws and off-putting eyes.
Bright colours from purples, blues, pinks and greens flood the theme park but, instead of being enticing pastel shades to draw you in, they sit dirty and clouded with dust giving it a slight brown tinge.
The real attraction is the cartoon bunny pointing a gun at guests, a suspiciously similar mermaid to Ariel with clams over her bare chest and a cracked penguin with the word “party” painted on its front.
A baby elephant that looks less like Dumbo the more you stare at it and a pool with a pink flamingo raft in it sit in a dark corner of the park as Mickey, Minnie and Daffy all watch on from the painted walls.
And to top it all off, a four-fingered hand can be seen dangling a decapitated head over a wall and a creepy nativity-style scene has been set up featuring ghouls and fiends drenched in luminescent green splashes of paint.
Shijingshan went all-in on its faux Disneyland appearance and even advertised itself by saying: “Disney is too far to go, please come to Shijingshan”.
The park’s current slogan is “Happy, Healthy and High” but this was changed after Disney allegedly sued the owners for the previous title.
A visitor to the park left a review online saying: “The worst park I have been to! This felt like being in an abandoned amusement park.
“Almost freaky! It felt like two sections to this park, the part we entered first was absolutely abandoned and all rides were closed.”
As another said: “We actually quite enjoyed walking around the park because it was so strange.
“The place is so unloved despite being really busy but there are actually some really good rides.”
A third wrote: “I’d say it’s okay, just don’t put your hope to high that it’d be something like Disneyland.”
Despite this, the park does still have an average rating of four stars on Tripadvisor and is almost always busy in the summer months as tourists and locals flock to the amusements each year.
Another knock-off Disney World is Japan’s Nara Dreamland.
It was supposed to be the country’s most popular adventure attraction but it ended up being an eerie abandoned site filled with rot and dust.
The site is packed full of rides but has been dubbed the ‘world’s worst theme park’ by visitorsAlamy
TripadvisorRubbish lays uncollected, piled up beneath trees[/caption]
TripadvisorThe park appears incomplete with torn-up floors and mountains of rubble[/caption]
GettyThe Shijingshan Amusement Park is usually busy in the summer despite mixed reviews[/caption]
TripadvisorHollow brick buildings exist without purpose[/caption]
TripadvisorA murky green pool of water around a castle is the park’s main attraction[/caption]
AFPA spooky giant lion watches over those who visit the park[/caption]
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