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15. Jeju Myths and History Theme Park (Jeju, South Korea)

Resorts World Jeju artwork

Image: Resorts World Jeju

Status: Under construction
Opening in: 2017

There's some serious money (around $2 billion) behind Resorts World Jeju, which will be located on South Korea's Jeju island (a self-governing province). Given that it's a sister resort to Resorts World Sentosa (the home of Universal Studios Singapore), that's not a surprise.

Jeju Myths and History Theme Park

Image: Resorts World Jeju

The resort and its headlining Jeju Myths and History Theme Park are being jointly developed by Genting Singapore PLC (which owns Universal Studios Singapore) and Landing International Development Limited. It will be five times larger than its Singapore counterpart, and will eventually also incorporate a casino, a water park, retail and dining complexes, hotels with more than 2,000 rooms and a spa.

Realm of Olympus artwork

Artwork for the Realm of Olympus area.
Image: Resorts World Jeju

The Myths and History Theme Park will boast 20 rides and attractions, spread across seven zones: Port Horizons (built in the architecture of the late 19th century), Adventure Village (home to cartoon characters and kids' rides), A New World (a mysterious ancient city built in a jungle), The Gallant Kingdom (a Medieval-era European village), Realm of Olympus (an area dedicated to Greek myths, and seemingly home to a spectacular inverted coaster), The Old World (themed around ancient Persia) and the Far East (based on the ancient Indochina peninsula). A seperately ticketed, 13,000-square-meter water park will also be located on the site.

Resorts World Jeju is slated to open "progressively" from 2017, with the entire development being completed by 2019.

14. Kingdom of Poseidon (Harbin, China)

Kingdom of Poseidon concept art

Image via news.wenweipo.com

Status: Under construction
Opening in: 2016

At some stage, the trend for opening new theme park after new theme park in China will surely come to an end. There's no sign of that happening any time soon, though, with even fears over the nation's economy not dissuading investors who are eager to tap into the spending power of China's growing middle class.

A good example is Kingdom of Poseidon, a park in Harbin, China - an area that's already well-known for its annual winter Ice Festival. It makes sense, then, that the park will be housed indoors, featuring rides, live shows and experiences based upon stories of Poseidon and other ocean-related myths. The centerpiece will be a water park but it appears that non-water rides will also feature.

Kingdom of Poseidon artwork

Image: Goddard Group

Construction started in June 2014 and appears to be moving along, although the planned July 2016 opening date looks a little ambitious. There's certainly potential here, with Gary Goddard's Goddard Group designing the resort (Goddard was heavily involved in the creation of attractions such as Terminator 2: 3-D, Jurassic Park: The Ride and The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man). Goddard rightly views his company as the "Rolls Royce" option of theme park design, and we can only hope that the construction budget is big enough to bring his team's visions to life.

13. Twentieth Century Fox World Dubai (Dubai, United Arab Emirates)

Twentieth Century Fox World Dubai artwork

Status: In design phase
Opening in: 2018

Malaysia isn't the only country that's due to welcome a new Twentieth Century Fox theme park in the next few years. Fox has also signed a deal with Al Ahli Holding Group to build a park in Dubai, opening just one year later in 2018.

So...you'd expect the two parks to be pretty similar, right? Wrong. Our friend Lance Hart over at Screamscape reports that Rethink Leisure & Entertainment, based in Burbank, California, has been busy designing the Dubai park. But, according to Chief Creative Officer Josh Updike, "Rethink is not involved in the previously announced Fox World Malaysia park being built by Genting." Different backers, different parks, it seems.

Springfield artwork

Concept artwork for the Springfield area.
Image: Twentieth Century Fox World Dubai

According to Fox's Greg Lombardo, the Dubai park will feature attractions based on Ice AgeRioPlanet of the ApesAliensPredatorNight at the MuseumTitanicThe Simpsons and Sons of Anarchy (OK...so maybe it's not so different to the Malaysia park, after all). Many of these intellectual properties are barely represented at existing theme parks, although there are lands dedicated to The Simpsons at Universal Studios Florida and Universal Studios Hollywood.

Ice Age area artwork

Concept artwork for the Ice Age area.
Image: Twentieth Century Fox World Dubai

The concept art released so far (though clearly just indicative of the style of the park) shows a number of these properties, including what appears to be the museum from Night at the Museum, a Springfield area similar to those at Universal's parks and a snow-covered Ice Age area.

A hotel with more than 300 rooms will accompany the park when it opens, making this first Fox-branded resort.

12. Universal Beijing (Beijing, China)

Universal Beijing logo

Status: Under construction
Opening in: 2020

In October 2014, Universal Parks and Resorts announced that it had signed a deal to build Universal Beijing, a $3.3 billion resort due to open in 2019. Since then, construction work has begun but local officials have suggested that the opening date may now be delayed until 2020.

Few details of the attractions that will be housed at Universal Beijing have been released, but we do know that the first phase will include a 300-acre theme park. Later phases could add a second theme park, a water park, a CityWalk dining and entertainment district and up to five hotels, sprawling across a 1,000-acre area.

Universal Beijing artwork

Image: Universal Parks & Resorts

No rides or themed areas have been confirmed for the park, but it seems a safe bet that popular attractions from other Universal Parks will make the transition. That's likely to include a Wizarding World of Harry Potter (Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley or both), a Jurassic Park area, Transformers: The Ride and Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem. Universal is rumored to be in talks with Bolliger & Mabillard about designing coasters for the park, which could be a sign that a clone of Islands of Adventure's Hulk roller coaster could make an appearance.

When Comcast announced that it was acquiring NBCUniversal in 2009, many expected it to quickly divest of the theme park division. Instead, enamored by the the success of the first Wizarding World of Harry Potter, it has poured money into expanding it - with that investment being split between the US and Asia. After acquiring a majority stake in Universal Studios Japan, it will jointly own Universal Beijing with Beijing Shouhuan, a consortium of four Chinese state-owned companies.

11. LEGOLAND Japan (Nagoya, Japan)

LEGOLAND Japan concept art

Image: Merlin Entertainments

Status: Under construction
Opening in: 2017

Merlin Entertainments is continuing its race to catch up with Disney as the largest attractions operator in the world, and has several new LEGOLAND parks in development.

The first LEGOLAND park in Japan is expected to cost around $300 million to build, with an investment group actually owning the 9.3 hectare property and Merlin leasing it and operating it. The park will be located near Kinjo pier in Nagoya, around two hours from Tokyo and an hour from Osaka.

LEGOLAND Japan groundbreaking

Image: Merlin Entertainments

Individual LEGOLAND parks aren't known for their originality - LEGOLAND Japan is likely to follow a well-worn template, featuring the usual selection of rides aimed at children aged 2-12, including the inevitable clones of Driving School and Miniland. The latter will include a recreation of Nagoya castle using some 225,000 LEGO blocks. Artwork also appears to show a large observation tower among the attractions.

The theme park itself is due to open by mid-2017, with construction work having begun in April 2016. If it's a success - Merlin is forecasting two million visitors a year - expect the company to follow up by installing a hotel, as it has at several of its other LEGOLAND locations.

 
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Comments

I really don't like the design of that Shanghai castle. Way too much going on. Too ornate & cutesy. I guess Disney has done research to ensure this castle's design is appealing to Chinese?

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