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Weird and wonderful theme parks around the world
From giant crocodiles to a zoo formerly owned by drug lord Pablo Escobar, these are some of the weirdest and most wonderful theme parks in the world.
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Australia
Status: Open
Crocosaurus Cove is located in Darwin, Australia and as its name might suggest, the main attraction is crocodiles. It is home to the world’s largest display of Australian reptiles, including the iconic saltwater crocodile.
(Aaron Burton/Newspix/Getty Images)
Visitors can, if they muster the courage, have an up-close interaction with crocodiles inside the 'Cage of Death', which is an underwater, transparent enclosure.
(Aaron Burton/Newspix/Getty Images)
The attraction also has a reptile house, a croc feed show, swimming with the croc and holding a baby croc.
(Greg Wood / AFP via Getty Images)
Germany
Status: Open
Wunderland Kalkar is an amusement park in Kalkar, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is built on the former site of SNR-300, a nuclear power plant that never went online because of construction problems and protests.
(Ina Fassbender/AFP via Getty Images)
Many of the facilities built for the plant are integrated into the park and its attractions, including the cooling tower, which features a swing ride and a climbing wall. The park also features four restaurants, eight bars, and six hotels.
(Ina Fassbender/AFP via Getty Images)
The park was constructed by Dutch entrepreneur Hennie van der Most, who purchased the site for a rumoured price of US$3 million. Wunderland Kalkar receives around 600,000 visitors each year.
(Ina Fassbender/AFP via Getty Images)
Romania
Status: Open
This former salt mine was turned into a tourist attraction, but it also serves as a potential civil defence shelter over growing fears of nuclear warfare.
(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
The attraction is listed by emergency authorities as a potential civil defence shelter amid fighting around Ukraine's nuclear power plants and Russia's threats to use nuclear weapons reawakened nuclear fears in Europe.
A woman walks inside an access gallery of the Salina Turd in central Romania, Monday, Oct. 17, 2022.
(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Malta
Status: Open
This village was built as a film set for the production of the 1980 live-action musical feature film Popeye, starring Robin Williams and Shelley Duvall. It is open to the public as an open-air museum and seaside resort.
(Emrah Guney/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
There are shows, rides and museums, as well as play houses where children can climb and explore the village. Children can meet the main characters from the movie such as Popeye, Olive Oyl, Bluto and Wimpy.
(Emrah Guney/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Construction of the film set began in June 1979. A crew of 165 worked four months to build the village, which consists of 19 wooden buildings. Hundreds of logs and several thousand wooden planks were imported from the Netherlands, while wood shingles for the rooftops were imported from Canada. (Emrah Guney/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Florida
Status: Closed
The Holy Land Experience was a Christian amusement park in Orlando, Florida that opened on August 17, 2002, which recreated the architecture and themes of the ancient city of Jerusalem in 1st-century Judea.
(John Greim/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The theme park had 43 exhibits for visitors to attend and featured live presentations and re-enactments of the passion and crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
(Roberto Gonzalez/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
The property was sold to AdventHealth on August 2, 2021, which had plans to redevelop the land for a new emergency department, hospital and office building.
(Godong/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Singapore
Status: Open
The Haw Par Villa theme park located along Pasir Panjang Road in Singapore contains more than 1,000 statues and 150 giant dioramas depicting scenes from Chinese literature, folklore, legends, history, and religions.
(John S Lander/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The best-known attraction in Haw Par Villa is the Ten Courts of Hell, which features gruesome depictions of hell in Chinese mythology and in Buddhism.
(Eye Ubiquitous/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Hell's Museum used to be set inside a 60-metre dragon's tail but the dragon has been demolished, so the attraction is instead now covered by grey stone walls.
This photo taken on May 1, 2024 shows visitors walking past statues at Haw Par Villa.
(Roslan Rahman / AFP via Getty Images)
Colombia
Status: Open
The Hacienda Napoles zoo was a private zoo with animals that were illegally imported and animals that belonged to the drug lord Pablo Escobar.
Colombia's Environment Ministry announced the hippos were an invasive species, in response to a lawsuit against the government over whether to kill or sterilize them.
(AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
While animals are the main attraction, the property also boasted a large car collection, a private airport, a brothel and even a race track.
(AP Photo/Fernando Vergara, File)
Following the death of drug lord Pablo Escobar in 1993 most of the animals at the zoo were taken to new homes or died. But due to their size and the cost to transport the hippos, they were abandoned.
(AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)
United Arab Emirates
Status: Open
Ferrari World is said to be home to the world's fastest roller coaster. Visitors get ready for the coaster during the opening of Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on Oct. 27, 2010.
(AP Photo/Farhad Berahman)
Ferrari World also features a cable walk across the iconic red roof of the attraction, a roughly 400-metre zipline and a tire changing challenge.
Locals visit the theme park during its opening on Oct. 27, 2010.
(AP Photo/Farhad Berahman)
Netherlands
Status: Open
Efteling is a fantasy-themed amusement park in Kaatsheuvel, the Netherlands. The attractions reflect elements from ancient myths and legends, fairy tales, fables, and folklore.
(Pierre Crom/Getty Images)
It is the largest theme park in the Netherlands and one of the oldest theme parks in the world. It is twice as large as the original Disneyland in the United States and predates it by three years. Annually, the park has more than 5 million visitors.
(Pierre Crom/Getty Images)
A general view of Efteling theme park is seen on December 25, 2009 in Kaatsheuvel, Netherlands.
(Didier Messens/Getty Images)
Tennessee
Status: Open
Dollywood is owned by country music legend Dolly Parton. The attraction hosts nearly 3 million guests in a typical season from mid-March to the Christmas holidays.
(Jacob Biba for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Dollywood is the biggest ticketed tourist attraction in Tennessee and has won international awards.
(George Rose/Getty Images)
Dollywood is organized into 11 themed areas: Showstreet, Rivertown Junction, Craftsman's Valley, The Village, Country Fair, Timber Canyon, Wilderness Pass, Jukebox Junction, Owens Farm, Adventures in Imagination and Wildwood Grove, which reflect the historical eras and culture of East Tennessee.
(Leon Morris/Redferns)
United Kingdom
Status: Open
Diggerland is a theme park and water park chain in the U.K. and U.S. that provides specially engineered real machines for children to operate.
(Graham Barclay/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
There are currently four theme parks located in the United Kingdom and one located in the U.S. Diggerland had a temporary park in Dubai during the summer of 2005.
(Graham Barclay/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Diggerland's 2006 plan to expand to Richmond, Virginia in the U.S., however, was stalled out by the Great Recession.
(Graham Barclay/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
United Kingdom
Status: Closed
Dickens World was based around the life of author Charles Dickens, briefly a resident of Chatham in Kent as a child and who, as an adult, lived at Gad's Hill Place in Higham.
(Carl De Souza/AFP via Getty Images)
The park closed in October of 2016 when the restructuring and refinancing company pulled out of negotiations.
The staff were informed by text messages and email that the company had ceased to operate.
(Carl De Souza/AFP via Getty Images)