Splendid China, the bizarre theme park once down the road from Disney World

[pesco]

Originally published at: Splendid China, the bizarre theme park once down the road from Disney World - Boing Boing

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[Otherbrother]

@pesco

just down the road from Disney World in Orlando, Florida, another theme park opened. Splendid China was owned by a travel agency called China Travel Services and a US company called American Eastern International.

Red-blooded Americans in Orlando have a far more patriotic theme park that they can visit instead:

[mr_raccoon]

Abandoned - Splendid China Florida

[Mister44]

Huh, I have never heard of that place.

[sylvia]

Thanks for embedding the Abandoned vid

[Ben_Taylor]

I remember visiting Splendid China sometime in the naughts and it was already plain then that the park was failing. While the dioramas were fascinating to see, there was nothing else going on as we saw ourselves around and the intricate wooden constructions showed countless maintenance issues. The food at park’s cafeteria buffet was overcooked and underwhelming. Only the acrobatics show was genuinely “splendid”.

If somebody had told me then that the park was a front for the Chinese government, I’d have replied “No shit, and the Chinese government clearly has no idea how to operate a successful American theme park.”

[derockus]

I went there as a kid, probably 8 yo. My grandparents took me there and it was boring as hell.