bbc.co.uk navigation

IN ASSOCIATION WITH
Travel Nav
The Passport blog
IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Vietnam’s faux-Disney World

In
02 May 2011 | By Suemedha Sood
Castles

Happyland (right) appears to be putting an Eastern spin on Cinderella's Castle (left), the famous centrepiece of Orlando's Magic Kingdom. (credit: The Walt Disney Company, Happyland)

In 2014, Vietnam plans to unveil a $2 billion amusement park just outside Ho Chi Minh City called Happyland.

With palatial buildings, roller coasters, themed attractions and a 1,000-room five-star hotel, the massive project -- which has attracted investment from Joe Jackson, father of the late Michael Jackson -- hopes to attract 14 million people annually. As we looked over the video of the theme park's plans and projected images, we noticed major similarities between Happyland and another happy place -- one that some have called "the happiest place on earth" since Walt Disney coined the phrase in 1955. In particular, we think Happyland looks a whole lot like Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom theme park in Orlando, Florida. Here's our slideshow of Happyland renderings alongside what we believe is their Magic Kingdom counterparts. Check it out and leave your thoughts on our Facebook page.

Web link http://www.bbc.com/travel/blog/20110427-vietnams-faux-disney-world

BBC Travel content is produced in partnership with Lonely Planet. Lonely Planet is a unit of BBC Worldwide. The information supplied by BBC and its partners was accurate at the time of publication. BBC accepts no responsibility for any loss resulting from this information. Verify critical information before travel.

More

BBC © 2012 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.