Beijing China's Fake Fake Disneyland

September 13, 2018

(He looks so familiar)

You might remember hearing about the Fake Disneyland earlier. Well there is a less well known Disneyland knock-off in China. It is also located in Beijing. The park is known as Chaoyang Park. It is the largest park in Beijing. It is like Central Park with an entrance fee and a theme park.

(Is this where we talk to Stitch?)

Like most theme parks in China there is an entrance fee and separate fees for each attraction. However most attractions are very inexpensive. Chaoyang is not just a theme park though. It is also a large city park. It feature a lake that you can rent boats on. The park features art sculptures. This park is where the Olympic Beach Volleyball tournament was held. There is a water park in the park that is an additional fee. The park also features many sports facilities. Unlike the US though these sports facilities cost money to use. This is common in Asia as well as parts of Europe. The park has a rope course. Their is also an outdoor laser tag facility.

(Thunder Mountain)

There are a number of different entrances to the park. The park is huge and takes a lot of time to walk around. Fortunately the main theme park fun fair area is all located in the same area. The park has knock-offs of Disney and other characters too. Like many parks in China the park is a bit run down. There is an indoor roller coaster that is a knock-off of Space Mountain but I never saw it open even though I visited many times during the summer. The knock-off of Thunder Mountain though is open. Star Wars is also open but it is nothing like Star Tours in fact it is closer to Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. Oddly they were missing a knock-off Dumbo. Many parks in China have the actual Dumbo ride. I have seen manufactures selling the exact same ride they have at Disney. I am pretty sure Disney made the mistake of having a local manufacture make the Disneyland Hong Kong Dumbo and now everyone in China can make it.

(Just like I remember it just smaller and more beat up)

They even have the old parachute tower from Knott's. It had the tower and the observation deck. I had to go on both for the nostalgia. They look a little different but the overall preexistence was pretty similar. I would like to say there are a couple knock-offs of the Haunted Mansion but really they are just a couple carnival style Ghost Trains.

(That is literally what the walk through looks like you go outdoors and see similar static figures)

If you are into scares besides the Ghost Trains you can also experience a few scary walk through attractions. I only went through one since I really hate these things in China. My biggest issue is the workers touch you. I once went to the park with a Tasmanian and a German. The German friend was scared to death of a simple walk through. You walked down a straight corridor with some tacky
Wal-Mart Halloween props painted to glow in the dark. They give you firework glasses but they make it hard to see so I took mine off pretty early. It is easy to figure the place out. You just head down a corridor and make a u-turn. On the left wall there is a Chinese guy with a stick with a fake arm on it. He sometimes pokes you and sometimes grabs you with his own hands. The Tasmanian and I enjoyed as the German freaked out. Even though we enjoyed watching his horror we explained that the guy was always on the one side. Even knowing the guy was there waiting he was scared. With one person freaking out the employee just focused on him and ignored us. The end of the attraction has you walk through a revolving barrel.

The Chinese haunted walk through attractions are usually pretty tame. Often the worst part is someone touching you. Some of these attractions the doors were open and there was no need to go in to see what lurked inside. Some were very lame.

(What does 4D mean?)

The park has lots of typical kids rides. There are a number of roller coasters. You can make a game out of trying to find intellectual property theft in the park. Another game is see who can finding the funniest English translation of the ride signs.

(Why is it witty?)

(Umm what is unrecycling?)

(Glad it's not a dirty one)

The park is a lot of fun. Even if you are not into rides there is lots to do. However the simple rides are actually pretty good. They have an outdoor CS shooting ride. There is an outdoor World of Warcraft ride. The indoor rides are great too. One of my favorites was Star Wars which was in a building with the Mega Man bosses on the outside. The inside was a dark ride that featured crazy space scenes including a knock-off Buzz Lightyear, World of Warcraft characters, and even E.T.

(Outside of Star Wars Ride)

(World of Warcraft Ride)

The park offers a wide variety of rides and attractions. Even if you do not want to spend the money on rides there are plenty of other activities to do here. I highly recommend Chaoyang Park. I would go see the major attraction first but Chaoyang offers you a great glimpse into how Beijiners like to spend their free time. The park has a very different feel then the other fake Disneyland in town. The rides are usually not as ambitious but there are more of them. The park is much larger and offers so much more to do. I don't really know which one I prefer. Fortunately I didn't have to choose.