Amusement parks in the modern world are a favorite vacation spot for families with children, fans of extreme attractions and in general everyone who wants to cheer themselves up, forgetting about gray everyday life.

Of course, the king of all family parks, without which it is impossible to imagine the world entertainment industry, is Disneyland in Florida. His "Magic Kingdom" is visited annually by more than 16 million people – such an impressive number of people is quite comparable to the population of the metropolis. And even the most popular park in Asia is also Disneyland.

However, the sphere of amusement parks is not limited to the world of Disney characters and roller coasters. Classic European parks offer guests to immerse themselves in the world of fairy tales, intricately decorated carousels and miniatures of famous sights of the world.

Developed Asian countries do not want to lag behind the West: new entertainment complexes appear annually in the capitals and resort centers and existing ones expand. They attract crowds with dizzying rides, water parks and green gardens.

Listed below are the best amusement parks on the planet – with the most interesting themed areas, stunning costume shows, record-breaking rides and playgrounds.

Disneyland Parks in the World

The first Disneyland opened in the United States during the lifetime of the legendary animator - in 1955. A fabulous complex unfolded in the Californian city of Anaheim near Los Angeles. Eight of its themed zones have become classics and have appeared in all new Disney parks.

The largest and most popular amusement park in the world is the second American Disneyland, Walt Disney World in Florida. It is located in the town of Lake Buena Vista, located 34 kilometers by car from Orlando. This is a real fairy-tale city, which is located on the territory of 121.7 km² and incorporates four thematic and two water parks, 33 hotels, golf courses, cafes and restaurants. Walt Disney World's first theme park, The Magic Kingdom, is by far the most visited park in the world. In its center, the fabulous "Cinderella's Castle" solemnly rises - the one with whose image several generations of animation fans associate Disneyland and the Disney company itself.

The famous Disneyland Paris, built in the suburbs of the French capital, in the town of Marne-la-Valais. It amazes with its size and even has its own station. This is the only Disneyland in Europe.

The first Disney park to appear outside the United States is the grandiose Tokyo Disneyland, which was opened in 1983. Its territory is divided into seven thematic zones, four of which are base and for other company parks - adventurelad, Westernland, Tommorowland and Fantasyland, includes the Tokyo DisneySea theme park.

Hong Kong Disneyland occupies the most modest area of all the network parks of the corporation. Built on Lantau Island, near the airport, it is one of the best amusement parks in Asia.

Legoland Parks

Legoland amusement parks are in Europe, the United States and Asia. In 2016, the first branded park in the Middle East (Dubai) was opened, which became the seventh in the world.

The largest of legolands is the first theme park with attractions and construction works, which opened in 1968 next to the original LEGO factory in the Danish town of Billund. To create it, 45 million blocks of the world-famous designer were required.

Legoland themed areas in Denmark have become the base for new parks around the world: in each Lego park you can find your own Miniland with Lego copies of attractions, the "Hollow World" game park for the little ones, the 4D attraction "World of Imagination", "Pirate Land" and "Kingdom of Knights", the Star Wars universe and other attractions.

Two more amusement parks Legoland in Europe are located in Günzburg (Germany) and Windsor (England), in winter they are closed to the public.

American LEGO parks – in California and Florida – are modeled after the Danish park, but have features. For example, in addition to the classic attractions and LEGO shops, Legoland Orlando (Florida) has a beautiful botanical garden.

The only Asian Legoland is currently open in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. This park is filled with lush tropical greenery and flowers, about 3.5 thousand rare species of trees grow here, there are many pools and fountains on the territory.

Universal Studios Parks

Theme parks of the oldest Hollywood film studio Universal Studios are in four cities in the world: two of them are located in the United States - in the area of Los Angeles and Orlando, one each - in Japan, the city of Osaka, and in Singapore.

The main theme of the parks under the auspices of the film company is cult films and animated hits ever shot by Universal Studios.

The main park of Universal Studios is located in Hollywood, at the film studio itself. It grew out of the tradition of conducting excursions to the pavilions and the territory where films are shot. The park is divided into upper and lower levels with attractions, playgrounds and show grounds, a retrospective museum. The most popular locations are "Despicable Me", "Shrek", "Jurassic Park", "The Simpsons", "Transformers", "Revenge of the Mummy". A lot of famous characters always walk around the park: the mascot of the park woodpecker Woody, Dracula and Frankenstein's monster, SpongeBob, Betty Boop, Wolverine, the Blues Brothers and others. In 2013, the park was visited by 6.148 million people, making it the 17th most popular in the world and the 9th place among North American parks.

In Orlando, there are two theme parks at once: Universal Studios Florida and the new Islands of Adventure park created as part of its expansion, which includes 7 thematic islands. Here you can see not only the heroes of films and animation from Universal, but also licensed characters of competing studios, including "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" (Warner Bros.), Marvel superheroes. The entertainment complex is located in the resort region and receives much more tourists than the original park at the film studio.

The first outside the United States opened Universal Studios Japan in Osaka, consistently enjoying unusually high popularity among the Japanese and tourists from Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea. In 2013, the attractions were able to evaluate more than 10 million people, which brought it in the world ranking to the 9th place among the 25 best theme parks with attractions.

The newest, Universal Singapore Park, is currently known for a huge number and variety of attractions, the Hollywood Zone with the Walk of Fame and statues of celebrities.

Water & Amusement Parks in Europe
 

Among European countries, the leaders in the number of amusement parks are great Britain, Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Denmark.

The two most popular parks in Europe are Disneyland in France and Europa Park in Germany. The latter began with an exhibition of the achievements of the Mak family company, and eventually grew into a huge park with a dozen roller coasters, thematic zones with mini-copies of 11 European countries, each of which has its own attractions and attractions, national cuisine establishments.

The Spanish Port of Aventura has gained popularity among tourists with its extreme and water activities: on the territory of 117 hectares there are more than 40 attractions, a water park, golf courses and beach clubs.

Mirabilandia Park in Italy is known not only for its attractions, but also for spectacular circus shows, performances on ice, stunt shows and night fireworks.

A classic European amusement park, Efteling, is located near Tilburg, in the Netherlands. Its highlight is the fairy-tale orientation: in the first thematic part of the complex, the plots of the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, Andersen and Perrault are easily guessed, and popular modern attractions are located in the new one.

One of the oldest European parks - Tivoli in Denmark, pleases with high-speed and high-rise attractions and loyalty to traditions - a pantomime theater and a concert hall are still working at it.

The largest amusement park in Russia is "Divo Ostrov" in St. Petersburg. On its territory there are more than 50 attractions - extreme, family and children's. In summer, the park is open seven days a week.

Best Amusement Parks in Asia

Amusement parks in Asian countries constantly compete in grandeur: the number of attractions and carnival sites, the height of roller coasters and the size of carousels.

From European entertainment complexes, they differ not only in design and color, but also in structure: the southern climate allows you to build water parks on the territory of the complexes, working all year round.

Among the most popular in Asia are well-known network amusement parks: Disneyland in Tokyo and Hong Kong, Universal Studios in Osaka and Singapore.

Lotte World Park in South Korea was included in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's largest amusement park under the roof. At the same time, the indoor complex is only the first part of the park, the second is located in the open air. Lotte World hosts a popular carnival of the peoples of the world. In addition to attractions, the territory has an ice rink, areas for parades and laser shows. In terms of attendance, it overtakes most European and American parks, and in Asia it is second only to Tokyo Disneyland.

Among the most famous parks in the world is another South Korean park - Everland with European and "magical" attractions, a zoo and a water park, as well as a shopping area "World's Fair".

There are large amusement parks in several cities in China, Japan, Malaysia, the UAE, Vietnam and other Asian countries.

Water & Amusement Parks in USA

The United States is the country with the world's highest share of theme parks per capita. This is the birthplace of the world's most famous family entertainment complexes - Disneyland and Universal Studios.

The largest parks are concentrated in the territories of two states - California and Florida. Each has its own Disneyland, Legoland and Universal Studios Park. Busch Gardens, Daytona Lagoon parks in Florida are also very popular.

Amusement parks and natural areas with various attractions are in most states, their indispensable attribute is a roller coaster and bright carousels, with large complexes in the southern states there are usually water parks. Basically, such entertainment centers are focused on residents of the regions and tourists traveling within the country.

Other amusement parks
 

Resting in Australia, it is worth visiting the capital's Luna Park and at least one of the spacious amusement parks - the movie Movie World from Warner Brothers in Brisbane, where guests are met by Batman and the characters of the "Police Academy", or dreamworld located next door, which has an entertainment area and a zoo.

In South Africa, there is a unique park of gold miners Gold Reef City, one of the best in Africa, with the popular attractions "Anaconda" and "UFO".

The most famous parks in South America are Hopi Hari in Brazil and De La Costa in Argentina.

In Canada, the best rides can be found in The Wonderland Park, where vacationers are certainly greeted by Snoopy and SpongeBob, or in the second largest park in the country – La Ronde, in which the world's tallest double slides of wood are built.