Behold the amazing unlicensed Chinese World of Warcraft amusement park
A $48 million lawsuit waiting to happen.
Joyland, the once rumoured unlicensed World of Warcraft theme park in Changzhou, China actually exists. Even better, someone went to it and lived to tell the tale.
Reddit user FrancescaO_O took pretty extensive photographs of what must be the world's largest copyright infringement and stuck around to answer user questions about the place.
Evidently it cost ¥300 million (approx $48 million) to build and there are still new areas under construction. Admission cost ¥200 ($32/£20).
According to FrancescaO_O, it was pretty fantastic time. "We didn't have time to see everything but the rides we did go on were great," she wrote. In fact, it was so much fun that she decided to forego catching the last bus just so she could stay until closing (resulting in a spendy cab ride back).
Hilariously, rides have a "Happiness" rating, suggesting that rides without a high rating probably suck. When asked about this FrancescaO_O said, "I have no idea. There was also a 'splendor index' rating. The happiness ratings seemed to be on the more kid-friendly rides. Whereas 'splendor' was on the thrill rides."
Curiously, the Splash of Monster Blood ride notes that "tourists over 60 years old are not permitted." This is probably because the park doesn't want to get sued by the families of dead elderly tourists, yet being sued by one of the biggest video game publishers in the world didn't seem to stop them.
Oh, and that gargantuan staircase to that stone castle? Turns out there's only a cafe up there. "400 steps to a castle with a cafe, would have been awesome if it there was a ride at the top," she wrote.
