News

World of Warcraft theme park? Picture proof!

By Ron Burke

Posted on January 13, 2013

world-joyland

Reddit user Francesca offers up pictures from a recent trip to China. Why is this gaming-related? Well, her pictures from from an unauthorized World of Warcraft / StarCraft themed amusement park. I’m not talking a little park either – this looks like it likely took years to build, and from the looks of these pictures, I would absolutely visit! Doing some digging, I found this information on ” World Joyland”:

World Joyland (环球动漫嬉戏谷, Huánqiú Dòngmàn Xīxì Gǔ) in Changzhou, China (Jiangsu province). Some enterprising business people in China have created an unlicensed, amusement and theme park primarily featuring World of Warcraft-like (very much like in some cases) giant statues and ornamentation. While not all of it is Warcraft themed — there is a large Starcraft themed section as well — much of it is and with some very distinctive features.

The intellectual property theft goes far further – there is also a “Disney” store with knockoff merchandise and mascots. From the videos I found, it’s a little light on actual rides, but it does look like a fun place to take the kids. Enjoy the video and the screens with thanks again to Francesca.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVfEnSBB6Qg[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1S4qAWCGPoc[/youtube]

Ron Burke

Executive Director and Editor-in-Chief | [email protected]

Ron Burke is the Editor in Chief for Gaming Trend. Currently living in Fort Worth, Texas, Ron is an old-school gamer who enjoys CRPGs, action/adventure, platformers, music games, and has recently gotten into tabletop gaming.

Ron is also a fourth degree black belt, with a Master's rank in Matsumura Seito Shōrin-ryū, Moo Duk Kwan Tang Soo Do, Universal Tang Soo Do Alliance, and International Tang Soo Do Federation. He also holds ranks in several other styles in his search to be a well-rounded fighter.

Ron has been married to Gaming Trend Editor, Laura Burke, for 28 years. They have three dogs - Pazuzu (Irish Terrier), Atë, and Calliope (both Australian Kelpie/Pit Bull mixes), and an Axolotl named Dagon!