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Parks that are themed around the country they are in

Gazza

Gazza

Giga Poster
What parks are examples of parks primarily focused on :

- presenting a good little themed microcosm of the country they are in
- not getting stale or scratching for tenuous things that suit the theme
- Not feeling cheesy

A few that spring to mind:


Dollywood – It’s in the American south but it still manages to explore everything from mining to 50s hot rods.

Silver Dollar City – Similar to Dollywood really, but perhaps sticks very heavily to the historic theme.

Tripsdrill. Very heavy on the southern Germany theme though a couple of things like (Mammut feel out of place)

Fuji Q? – Probably not a great example, since the park is a bit of a mish mash, but its surprising how much of it focuses on Japanese culture….Fuji Airways for example, and the very esoteric themes of Nagashimasuka, Takabisha, Eejanaika etc
 
i suppose in some ways Disneyland is the OG of this sort of thing. Maybe barring some of the adventureland/fantasyland stuff, a huge chunk of it is Disney's nostalgia for the old days
 
I guess Hunderfossen Familiepark fits the bill nicely enough for Norway. It has trolls, folklore, and lots of traditional architecture. I mean, this is the park's entrance and here is the centrepiece castle. Its only coaster is themed to the quintessential Norwegian movie, Flåklypa Grand Prix. Somebody snuck a 360 camera to the top of the castle to give a good overview of the park, and it appears that nearly every building within has a traditional turf roof. It seems they even build an ice church in the winter.

I've said it before, but it bears repeating: When it comes to amusement parks in Norway, TusenFryd has the most coasters ... but the others have the most effort. I guess I'll have to go on a trip and write up a real report one day.
 
Had it gone ahead as originally planned/promised, I think Britannia Park would have fit the bill of being themed to the country it was in quite well; heck, even the name implies a heavy British theme.

Basically, this was the park in Derbyshire, England that later became the more well-known American Adventure, but it was originally built as an Epcot-styled park celebrating all things British. Here’s a really interesting Theme Park Tourist feature on Britannia Park, if you’re interested in knowing more: https://www.themeparktourist.com/fe...ritannia-park-doomed-rival-alton-towers-crown

Had it been fully realised, the park would have been very heavily Britain-themed, but sadly, the park opened in 1985 with barely anything finished. The project later closed at the end of 1985, and was transformed into The American Adventure by a new owner. The man behind the Britannia Park project, Peter Kellard, was later arrested along with the park manager in one of the UK’s largest ever fraud investigations.

Back to the topic of the thread, though; I’d personally agree with @cocoa in suggesting Disneyland, and probably the Magic Kingdom as well, for this. Many aspects of the Disney castle park are themed to or inspired by aspects of American life; for instance, Main Street USA is themed to the 1920s Americana that Walt remembered from his youth, and Frontierland is themed to a romanticised version of the Old West. Liberty Square (in the Magic Kingdom, at least) is also quite heavily America-themed; attractions like the Hall of Presidents, and the street entertainment of the Muppets reenacting various events in American history, are certainly quite patriotic.
 
Some additional mentions:

- Kennywood - It's arguably difficult to find a better park that matches the mood and vibe of their resident City... let alone one that built a 200 ft. monolith monument to it's primal sports industry.

20180712arSteelCurtain06-1564891399.jpg



- Six Flags Over Texas and Fiesta Texas - The OG Six Flags parks have a definite Texas undertone that plays through, despite you know... being Six Flags parks.
- Holiday World and Hersheypark - perks of playing to your namesake/main industry. :p
 
BigMike said:
Six Flags Great America
Click to expand...
back in the Marriott days, Great America actually had a pretty decent and cohesive Americana theme.

but ever since the six flags era, it's done nothing but drift ever further from those roots, particularly with the onslaught of the non sequitor superhero stuff all over the park.

what does superman have to do with new orleans?

what does batman have to do with a new england fishing village?

what does a battle for metropolis have to do with the american southwest?

it's all a complete mess now, like most SF parks.
 
Hyde said:
- Holiday World and Hersheypark - perks of playing to your namesake/main industry. :p
Click to expand...

Hershey also kinda plays towards the coal industry that used to be heavily prevalent decades back but they've sort of strayed away from directly calling the theme and the area as such. The area around Coal Cracker and Great Bear used to be called Minetown but now it's called Kissing Tower Hill.

Their water park also plays off of the Jersey Shore but besides some names and foodstuffs plastered on a play structure, you'd feel pretty insulted if you were a New Jersey resident the amount of effort that went into it.
 
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