Theme Parks are essentially amusement parks which are developed around a central theme. These parks along with traditional amusement parks represent a staple entertainment option of the summer months when parents usually have to think of various ways to entertain their restless children. They often take time off from work during the children’s summer vacation so that the whole family can enjoy a holiday together either at a kid-friendly beach resort or on a camping holiday or even at a theme/amusement park which provides hours of entertainment and fun for children and adults alike.
The concept of an amusement park which is essentially a collection of various rides and entertainment options evolved from the periodic holding of fairs and expositions through the ages. The world’s first amusement park called Dyrehavsbakken commonly known as ‘Bakken’ opened near Copenhagen in Denmark in 1583 and continues to be intact until today.The worlds most famous and most visited parks are today concentrated in Orlando in Central Florida which is home to the many theme parks that belong to the Disney corporation. However, many other popular amusement parks/theme parks exist in other parts of the world as well that entertain and charm visitors who venture out to these parks for a bit of fun in the sun.
Walt Disney World Resort, Orlando, Florida
Walt Disney World also called Disney World, located in Orlando in the Florida is a choice destination when people chose to visit a theme park. This gargantuan resort has four theme parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom), two aquatic parks (Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon and Disney’s Blizzard Beach) and an awe-inspiring 23 themed hotels with many other recreational locales for shopping, dining and entertainment. Disneyworld now has outposts like Disneyland in California, Tokyo, Paris and Hong Kong which are called Disneyland Parks.
SeaWorld, Orlando
Among the many parks located Orlando is SeaWorld ,which in addition to thrilling roller coasters has several attractions and shows that include marine creatures like killer Whales and Dolphins. The park is open all year round and is a perfect entertainment option for all the family.
Six Flags (various locations in the USA and the world)
Six Flags are a series of theme, water and animal parks that are located in many states in the USA and have now expanded to Canada, Mexico and Dubai. The Six Flags theme parks are known for their many thrilling rides which terrify and entertain simultaneously
Hershey Park, Hershey, Pennsylvania
It’s all about chocolate at Hershey Park. Hershey Park was created as a recreation facility for the employees of Hershey’s chocolate factory by the firm’s founder in 1907. This old world amusement park which has sixty attractions and ten roller coasters continues to amuse and lure many visitors to its many chocolicious attractions until today.
Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
Owned by country music star Dolly Parton and the Herschend Family, Dollywood is another old world amusement park which has the usual thrills like roller coasters and water rides but also promotes traditional arts and crafts and music of the Smokey Mountain region where it is located.
Legoland ( Denmark, UK , Germany and California in the USA)
Legoland is a theme park created and operated at several international locations by the company that introduced the beloved children’s construction toy ‘Lego’ to the world. These parks are aimed at young families and have a series of rides that are all Lego themed and are made to appear as if they have been constructed out of Lego blocks. All the Lego parks also feature a Lego miniland which has models of international landmarks and scenes built entirely out of Lego blocks.
Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen, Denmark
Tivoli Gardens is one of the world’s oldest amusement parks and a showpiece summer attraction in the Danish capital of Copenhagen. The park has theaters, band stands, restaurants, gardens and old world rides in the form of an ancient wooden roller coaster called Rutsjebanen which is operational until today. This enchanting and magical park is also home to the world’s tallest carousel.
Drayton Manor Park, Staffordshire, England
Drayton Manor Park is a theme park which attracts more than a million people annually. Along with rides and roller coasters, the park which opened in 1949 also has an open plan zoo and a Thomas Land which enables young children to interact with their favorite characters from the beloved series which features a toy train-Thomas and Friends.
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This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 30th, 2008 at 11:01 am and is filed under Fun, World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
August 8th, 2008 at 3:06 am
I’ve been to a few of those parks (though Hershey was a good 15-20 years ago!!)
I have mixed feelings about sea world though - we went there for a trip when i was in high school and spent 12 long hours there - some of us still have nightmares about the place!! Meanwhile we visited disney world on the same trip and were only there for 8 hours…whoever did the trip planning wasn’t thinking very well!
August 13th, 2008 at 3:49 am
I’ve been in universal studios in LA, and even it was not really big, I had really good fun. People talk about six flags that is really cool and entertaining. I can’t wait to go six flags after seeing universal.
August 23rd, 2008 at 6:06 am
Ah theme parks. Even at 35 years of age they make me dream. I hope I will soon be able to go with my own kids (the youngest is 1 year old).
September 1st, 2008 at 3:20 am
Greets! Really funny. keep working!
October 8th, 2008 at 7:46 am
good to see florida getting 2 in the list. I was at legoland years ago, absolutley adored it
October 20th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
“Six Flags have now expanded to Mexico”.
Do you know where in Mexico the Six Flags theme parks are Located?
Guadalajara I hope!
Now I live 45 minutes from Guadalajara the world’s best weather (according to National Geographic) on Lake Chapala, Mexico.
I grew up 35 minutes from Disneyland in Southern Cal…. Had some fun times!
Joel
October 26th, 2008 at 10:49 am
Hi Joel,
Six Flags Mexico is located on the outskirts of Mexico City in a borough called Tlalpan.
December 1st, 2008 at 2:57 am
I’ve only been to Seaworld in Orlando and we had a great time. The highlight was the killer whale show (Shamoo). I would recommend Seaworld as much to do if you enjoy animals. The parrot shows were also great.
I thought Epcot was too commercial and now outdated with the theme.
I will work to visit the Tivoli gardens in Denmark. I try to get over to Europe every few years.
February 4th, 2009 at 9:05 pm
This is absolutely awesome. My kids would go crazy when they see this.
-Ricardo
February 5th, 2009 at 1:30 am
Thanks Ricardo maybe you should plan to take them to some of them in the summer!
February 8th, 2009 at 6:05 am
I had no idea that Logoland was an actual theme park. I live near Chicago, they recently opened a ‘Legoland’ in a large strip mall. I took the kids and they had a blast. Maybe next year we can take a trip out to California to visit the ‘real’ Legoland.
March 21st, 2009 at 7:33 am
I just love Drayton Manor Park, its a really nice park especially if you have children.
May 29th, 2009 at 1:53 am
I love Disney World, although it seems like they have cut back with the current economic conditions, this was evident during my last visit to the park in January when the grounds looked “undisney like” still a great destination for a family!
May 30th, 2009 at 11:24 pm
I love themed parks but only got to visit a few of them though. Last trip was in Jurong bird Park, lots of bird species, i personally enjoyed the cute parrots!
June 20th, 2009 at 4:08 am
I THINK KINGS DOMINION AND BUSH GARDENS SHOULD HAVE BEEN ON THE LIST….BUT THAT MY OPINION
June 21st, 2009 at 1:20 am
Thank you maybe I could include them in another post which concentrates solely on US parks.
June 21st, 2009 at 4:55 pm
I always dream t of going to Disney land.but not yet.After reading your post,my thirst has increased to a great level…
June 22nd, 2009 at 4:44 am
As for the UK, Alton Towers is much better than Drayton manor park! Maybe you could do an article with theme parks for age groups? I think that Guillivers Kingdon is one of the best little parks, but you only really want to be taking little ones.
June 22nd, 2009 at 5:24 pm
Awesome list, One dedicated to US Theme Parks only would be really nice. And maybe a whole section of categorized parks by location. Thanks for this list, Im bookmarking this and ill come back to check if you added more lists.
June 22nd, 2009 at 10:40 pm
Thanks Amy, there have been so many suggestions from readers of this blog post for such lists.I will try and upload some more as soon as I can.
June 22nd, 2009 at 10:40 pm
Thanks Tamil, hope you achieve your dream to see Disneyland soon.
June 23rd, 2009 at 2:35 am
Hershey Park looks absolutely amazing. I’ve always wanted to go there. It’s so far away from me though :/
Also I want to go to Legoland before I die.
June 27th, 2009 at 4:44 am
I love Hershey, I haven’t been there since I was a kid though.
August 13th, 2009 at 8:42 am
Thanks for the great list. I have always wanted to go to Sea World and Disney World. Hopefully I will get there soon.
September 20th, 2009 at 12:13 am
Definitely worth visiting places.My first on the list-Orlando for its great Seaworld!
September 30th, 2009 at 12:52 am
I visited Paris Disneyland and it was great experience.