We’ve seen a few theme parks around the world that rip off Disney parks. There’s the one in Japan that we visited in 2005 (OMG, the videos!!!). It closed in 2006, but the last we heard, this one in Beijing, China is still up and running and still with Disney knockoffs galore.
But we had never seen a theme park that had blatant copies of Harry Potter stuff. Well, until now…
There’s a Buddhist-themed theme park and seasonal water park called Suoi Tien Amusement Park that’s located just outside Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Most of the park is very Buddhist themed, complete with a golden dragon at the entrance, hanging prayer flags, a garden full of Buddhas, and lots and lots of temples (some of which are 100% legit, complete with people praying in them, but many others that lead into attractions or restaurants). The park also has a water park, amusement park rides, coasters and a crocodile farm, none of which really fit into the Buddhist theme, but who am I to question?
But one of the attractions seems more than a little bit magical, albeit in a copyright infringement sort of way. Called the “Magic Castle,” it’s a walk-through attraction that’s not really Buddhist-themed, but more of a haunted house with mentions of The Goblet of Fire, Dobby the House Elf, Order of The Phoenix, Voldemort, dragons and more. I’m sure J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers don’t mind…? LOL!
Want to see some video?
This video has some footage of the whole park – so you can see how weird it actually is. But from about 7:50 onward you can see a chunk of the Harry Potter attraction.
And this is the “official” video from Suoi Tien theme park, with some footage of the attraction starting at 13:11:
This website gives a better description of the park and its meaning. It offers some great photos, too.
This is Suoi Tien’s website in English (a lot of it is still in Vietnamese, but info on ordering tickets online is in English). It’s recently been giving me problems loading, but here’s their Facebook presence.
So…yeah. I don’t know if the Harry Potter attraction is all that, but the rest of the park just seems just weird enough to pique my interest. Maybe one of these days…;-)
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