5. Gulliver's Kingdom (Kawaguchi-machi, Japan)

The Japanese government invested vast sums of stimulus money to create Gulliver's Kingdom, a lilliputlian land in the shadow of Mount Fuji. In theory, it could have been successful - after all, around 25 million tourists visit the region every year. It was backed by a loan of $350 million from the Niigato Chuo Bank, allowing it to build some fairly spectacular-looking attractions such as a 147-foot statue of Lemuel Gulliver.

There weren't many rides on offer when the park opened in 2007, other than a bobsled track and a luge course. And the statue itself was securely tied to the ground, rather than towering above guests. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Gulliver's Kingdom proved to be a white elephant, creating construction jobs but generating little actual revenue.

Eventually, the Niigato Chuo Bank collapsed, and was instructed to clear its book of unprofitable assets. One of those was Gulliver's Kingdom, which shut its doors in 2001. Perhaps this should be a warning to the new theme parks springing up all over China, many of them funded by similarly huge amounts of debt.

4. Splendid China (Citrus Ridge, Florida, USA)

Reported to have cost $100 million to build, Splendid China was designed as a sister park to Splendid China in Shenzhen, China. It opened in 1993, and allowed guests to explore more than 60 replica landmarks, each recreated at one-tenth scale. Nearly seven million 1-inch-long bricks were used to create its Great Wall of China scene.

The park quickly came in for fierce criticism, mainly due its ownership by the Chinese government. Protesters were unhappy about the inclusion of the Potala Palace, which served as the home of successive Dalai Lamas in Tibet. Meanwhile, management were embarrassed when a number of performers shipped in from China "escaped" to seek political asylum in the US.

Opened in 1993, the park managed to struggle on for around a decade. After being pillaged by vandals and thieves, it was finally torn down in 2013.

3. Hard Rock Park / Freestyle Music Park (Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, USA)

Major new theme parks are built fairly rarely in the US these days, so there was plenty of excitement when, in early 2007, HRP Myrtle Beach Operations announced that it would build Hard Rock Park in Myrtle Beach. The company had licensed the Hard Rock name from the owners of the Hard Rock Cafe brand, and planned to install a host of music-themed attractions.

Built at a cost of $225 million, Hard Rock Park welcomed its first guests on June 2, 2008. It featured six "rock environs", with names such as British Invasion and Born in the USA. The main attractions were roller coasters and live shows, all set to music, while a 10,000-seat amphitheater hosted live performances.

Unfortunately, the park had opened slap-bang in the middle of a major financial crisis. It was unable to secure funding for its planned advertising campaign, and visitor numbers were massively below projections. The park was unable to service its debts, ending its season a month early and filing for bankrupty protection.

In February 2009, the park was sold to FPI MB Entertainment for just $25 million. The Hard Rock Name was dropped, and all Hard Rock merchandise was destroyed. The newly-renamed Freestyle Music Park proved to be no more successful, despite reopening on May 23, 2009. Heavy discounting failed to boost attendance figures, and the owners were hit by a number of lawsuits. It shut once again at the end of the season. Many of the park's rides are now up for sale, while sections of the property have been sold off.

2. The Battersea (London, UK)

John Broome, a millionaire property entrepreneur, turned Alton Towers into Britain’s first theme park in 1980. Flush with his success, he set his sights on creating a second major park elsewhere in the UK. Incredibly, he settled on building the park in and around Battersea Power Station, an iconic structure close to central London. If he could pull it off, the park would have a potential audience of millions of people within a short train ride from the site.

The Battersea, as the attraction was to be known, would boast a wide selection of rides, restaurants and shops spread across the building’s main gallery and two turbine halls. These would be connected by glass elevators, with a wall of water plunging down one side of the building. A balloon ride on the upper floor would be the main indoor attraction, while the area outside the power station would host a roller coaster and a rapids ride. Up to seven thousand visitors per hour were expected to arrive via a spectacular entrance colonnade.

Unfortunately, Broome wildly underestimated the cost of renovating the power station, which turned out to have no foundations and to contain tons of toxic asbestos. Work stopped after just four months, but not before the roof was removed, leaving the building’s interior exposed to the elements for years.

1. Freedomland U.S.A. (Bronx, New York, USA)

After Disneyland opened, Walt Disney was approached by several groups about the possibility of opening an east coast version of the park. One of the proposed sites was near New York, but Disney rejected it on the basis that it would not be able to operate year-round. Fresh from being fired by Disney, C.V. Wood had already played a big role in designing the doomed Magic Mountain. But he wouldn't stop there - he also took up the challenge of creating a theme park in New York. He partnered with Milton T. Raynor, a television sports producer and attorney to build Freedomland U.S.A., perhaps the best known early Disneyland rival of all.

Freedomland would sit on the site of a former municipal landfill, with the park itself covering 85 acres. Hundreds of artists and architects were brought in, while Broadway composer Jule Styne wrote an original soundtrack for the park. A total of $65 million was invested, with the park featuring eight miles of navigable waterways and lakes, 10,000 trees, 18 dining outlets and parking for 72,000 cars.

The park was shaped like a giant map of the US, with areas dedicated to Old New York, Old Chicago, The Great Plains, San Francisco, The Old Southwest, New Orleans and Satellite City (inspired by Florida's "Space Coast"). It boasted no fewer than four unique dark rides, each built by Arrow Development - a key partner of Disney.

Freedomland's opening season was beset by problems. Less than a week after opening, a stagecoach overturned in the Great Plains section, causing ten injuries including a broken spine. Two months later, armed men made off with more than $28,000 from the park's front office. By the end of 1961, the park was $8 million in debt. Competition from the 1964 New York World's Fair was the final straw, with the park being declared bankrupt and subsequently being demolished.