History Main / SouvenirLand

* VideoGame/BanjoTooie has Witchyworld, a decrepit, unsafe theme park known for terrible sanitation, bribing authorities, and employing pickpockets. Oddly enough, Boggy's family still thinks it's a pretty awesome place.
* ''Theme Park Tycoon 2'' in VideoGame/{{Roblox}} allows players to design a stereotypical theme park like the ones described here. You can add your favorite theme parks rides (including a Dumbo-like Planes ride) and build all kinds of roller coasters (including steel and wooden), not to mention water and dark rides. However, you cannot build theater shows nor set up meet-and-greet characters or parades. You can add food/hat stalls, but no proper restaurant or gift shops. Also the visitors pay for each ride they ride.

* Tropical Land in ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' - it's very Disney-esque, with a central hub and themed sub-areas.

* '''Dumbo-type rides'''. AKA the ones that spin in a circle through the air. These usually will be depicted as a huge deal, a major attraction on par with the roller coasters, and everyone in the group will want to ride, except for the people who get squeamish on thrill rides. This is the most obvious sign that the writers have not been to Disneyland since they were little kids as, at that age, these rides seemed legitimately impressive. [[note]]Indeed, Dumbo is notorious for being so popular with little kids that its small per-ride capacity ensures looooong waits.[[/note]]

** Some of the more recent Disney theme parks, Disney California Adventure, Walt Disney Studios Paris, and Hong Kong Disneyland, have been accused of this due to opening with a limited number of attractions (the first had a lot of off-the-shelf carnival-style rides and clones of shows and rides from the Florida Disney World complex, and many Disney park signatures like ''Ride/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' and ''Splash Mountain'' haven't yet made it to Hong Kong) but a full contingent of shops and restaurants -- i.e., you pay to get in, and then there's not much to do that doesn't require more money.

* ''Film/CatsAndDogsTheRevengeOfKittyGalore'' has Playland. Kitty Galore uses a Dumbo-type ride to beam his "call of the wild" code that hypnotises dogs into acting evil across the world via satelite.

* Literature/TomGates has Dino Village, a small dinosaur-themed park. Its main attraction is a train that takes you through various dinosaur-related imagery and ends with a loud dinosaur roar, thus parodying the “water ride” variation of this trope.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' has had several over the course of its [[LongRunners long life]]:

* ''Series/{{Dinosaurs}}'': Wesaysoland from the episode "Variations on a Theme Park" is an [[UpToEleven absurdly pathetic]] version of this. The rides are nearly all under construction, it costs 6 dollars for ice on a stick (minus the ice), there's a nine-hour waiting list for strollers and the mascot is Moolah the Cash Cow. The whole thing was thrown together in a day to take advantage of the newly invented concept of vacation.

Note, however, that the depiction is often not ''meant'' to be a parody, merely an overgenericized example of something that attracts visitors precisely because it relies on exclusive attractions, referencing or parodying which would require additional explanation for the sake of viewers unfamiliar with the original. However, snark often works its way into the depiction regardless, as a stealth rant on consumerism and the ability of entertainment industry to make a profit off any idea, no matter how lame.

* Creator/DCComics has Winkyworld (obviously Disneyland as there's also [=EuroWinky=]), Funny Stuff Park (named after a defunct DC humour title, and with cartoon characters from that book) and Happyland (which similarly has Sugar and Spike on the logo, but is actually a [[CircusOfFear front for Intergang]]).\\
\\
The DC villains, The Extremists, were originally robots created for Wacky World, a theme park from an Earth-like world in another dimension. They were based on real villains from that world and animated by the only surviving member of the "real" group.\\
\\
Survivors of this world, now on ours, treat Mitch Wacky as some sort of god. Too bad Mitch got his neck stepped on. Ouch.

* '''Roller coaster'''. Sometimes steel, but usually wooden. Always completely outdoors with visible track supports. This doesn't quite fit Universal or Disney-- Universal coasters nearly all feature inversions (which is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wooden_roller_coaster#Inversions_in_wooden_roller_coasters possible on wooden coasters]] yet very difficult to pull off), while Disney parks typically hide the track in some way, whether by putting it inside a building (Ride/SpaceMountain, Rock 'n Roller Coaster) or by theming (Ride/BigThunderMountainRailroad, Matterhorn Bobsleds, Expedition Everest etc.). Ride/SixFlags does use this sort of coaster at its parks, often playing up the nostalgia angle, but typically has steel coasters alongside them.

There will generally be no shows or novelty format movies in theaters, though there will occasionally be street entertainment. If there is a parade, it will probably be a) in the daytime and b) clearly based on the Main Street Electrical Parade, which is held at night. There will be no restaurants -- all food comes from little carts, and characters will complain that it is expensive, which is TruthInTelevision.

If there are specific ride parodies, they will almost always be of older rides -- you'll rarely see a parody of, for instance, Epcot's Test Track. This has the side effect that, sometimes, the show will parody something that is no longer operating. Again, this is because the writers are working not from a recent guidemap but from their childhood memories. Such parodies will be retrofitted into one of the three ride types -- if there was a parody of Test Track, for instance, it'd probably be a roller coaster.

Frequently, rides will empty right into a gift shop. This is TruthInTelevision for both Disney and Universal, where any ride of any significance has its own gift shop which is usually conveniently located right at the ride's exit [[note]]Disneyland itself was largely built prior to this becoming prevalent, so the only rides there that exit directly into gift shops are Star Tours and Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters, which are coincidentally directly across the path from each other. One might also count Smuggler's Run and Rise of the Resistance, given that the entirety of Star Wars Land is basically an enormous gift shop with those two rides (and a couple of restaurants) in it.[[/note]].

* '''Roller coaster'''. Sometimes steel, but usually wooden. Always completely outdoors with visible track supports. This doesn't quite fit Universal or Disney-- Universal coasters nearly all feature inversions (which are impossible on wooden coasters), while Disney parks typically hide the track in some way, whether by putting it inside a building (Ride/SpaceMountain, Rock 'n Roller Coaster) or by theming (Ride/BigThunderMountainRailroad, Matterhorn Bobsleds, Expedition Everest etc.). Ride/SixFlags does use this sort of coaster at its parks, often playing up the nostalgia angle, but typically has steel coasters alongside them.

* ''Film/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'' (the Creator/JohnnyDepp version) has a parody of "Small World".

* One foodgasm-induced ImagineSpot in ''Manga/ShokugekiNoSoma'' transforms a group of judges into school girls spending the day at "Yukihee Land," as the dish was [[{{Pun}} a roller-coaster of flavors]].

* ''Film{{/Tomorrowland}}'' is perhaps surprisingly ''not'' this, though the original entrance to the titular Tomorrowland is hidden inside the "It's a Small World" ride at the World's Fair.

* ''Film{{{Tomorrowland}}'' is perhaps surprisingly ''not'' this, though the original entrance to the titular Tomorrowland is hidden inside the "It's a Small World" ride at the World's Fair.

Frequently, rides will empty right into a gift shop. This is TruthInTelevision for both Disney and Universal, where any ride of any significance has its own gift shop which is usually conveniently located right at the ride's exit [[note]]although some rides built before the concept took hold make do with keeping a merchandise cart nearby[[/note]].

In cartoon land, every kid wants to go to Souvenir Land, a [[TheThemeParkVersion theme park version]] of the theme park. Going here is a lot less fantastic. While Souvenir Land is almost always ''treated'' as if it was the world's equivalent of the Disney parks, it tends to be noticeably less original and impressive than anything Disney or Universal have built. [[note]]It can be more accurately compared to the level of Busch Gardens or the smaller regional theme parks that mushroomed in TheFifties but started fading out in TheEighties precisely because the standard assortment of rides was no longer believed worth the ticket price.[[/note]]

* '''Roller coaster'''. Sometimes steel, but usually wooden. Always completely outdoors with visible track supports. This doesn't quite fit Universal or Disney-- Universal coasters nearly all feature inversions (which are impossible on wooden coasters), while Disney parks almost (but not quite) always hide the track in some way, whether by putting it inside a building (Ride/SpaceMountain, Rock 'n Roller Coaster) or by theming (Ride/BigThunderMountainRailroad, Matterhorn Bobsleds, Expedition Everest etc.). Ride/SixFlags does use this sort of coaster at its parks, often playing up the nostalgia angle, but typically has steel coasters alongside them.
* '''Boat rides'''. In real life, these take two forms: rides that keep trying to splash you, usually with a big drop at the end, and rides that just use the boat as a form of transportation to show you scenery (Ride/PiratesOfTheCaribbean is one of these). Souvenir Land boat rides look like the latter for most of the ride, then suddenly throw in a big drop at the end (possibly the result of misremembering Ride/SplashMountain). Ride/JungleCruise is frequently parodied. Oddly, the inevitable "Ride/ItsASmallWorld" parody [[note]]which usually features incredibly low-quality puppets that Walt probably would have fired you for trying to put in his park, or super-high-quality puppets that turn out to be enslaved children[[/note]] is rarely one of these, usually just happening out in the open.
* '''Dumbo-type rides'''. AKA the ones that spin in a circle through the air. These usually will be depicted as a huge deal, a major attraction on par with the roller coasters, and everyone in the group will want to ride, except for the people who get squeamish on thrill rides. This is the most obvious sign that the writers have not been to Disneyland since they were little kids when, at that age, these rides seemed legitimately impressive. [[note]]Indeed, Dumbo is notorious for being so popular with little kids that its small per-ride capacity ensures looooong waits.[[/note]]

There will generally be no shows or novelty format movies in theaters, though there will occasionally be street entertainment. There will be no restaurants -- all food comes from little carts (and characters will complain that it is expensive, which is TruthInTelevision).

If there ''are'' specific ride parodies, they will almost always be of older rides -- you'll rarely see a parody of, for instance, Epcot's Test Track. This has the side effect that, sometimes, the show will parody something that is no longer operating. Again, this is because the writers are working not from a recent guidemap but from their childhood memories. Such parodies will be retrofitted into one of the three ride types -- if there ''was'' a parody of Test Track, for instance, it'd probably be a roller coaster.

Frequently, rides will empty right into a gift shop. This ''is'' TruthInTelevision for both Disney and Universal, where any ride of any significance has its own gift shop which is usually conveniently located right at the ride's exit [[note]]although some rides built before the concept took hold may have to make do with keeping a merchandise cart nearby[[/note]]. If there is a parade, it will probably be a) in the daytime and b) clearly based on the Main Street Electrical Parade, which is held at night.

There is a reasonable explanation for some of this -- theme parks are ''notoriously'' expensive to keep running and merchandise sales are always the parks' #1 source of revenue, far more so than ticket sales. Therefore, it's vital for a theme park's future to entice its guests to buy the merchandise. This trope is merely the result of such a thing going ''way'' too overboard.

** [=EFCOT=] ("Special Edna", Season 14, 2003) is a parody of Epcot, though the attractions parodied were pulled from an assortment of different Disney parks. It takes the "older ride parodies" to ridiculous extremes -- there's a parody of a Disneyland attraction that closed in ''1967'' (sponsored by real-life but long-defunct Eastern Airlines), and there are no parodies of attractions that ''were'' operating at the time save for ''Honey, I Shrunk the Audience'' and the ''[=IllumiNations=]'' light show. It starts looking less like a mistake and more like an intentional nostalgia trip. (At the episode's end, Homer runs off to the ''real'' Disney World.)

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' has Glove World, perhaps an obtuse reference to [[WhiteGloves Mickey Mouse's gloves]]. One episode revolves around [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick trying to work up the nerve to go to the newest roller coaster, the Fiery Fist O'Pain. Careful. [[Film/TheShawshankRedemption The last person that called that place obtuse got two months in the hole.]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS4E16TheCourtshipOfStewiesFather The Courtship of Stewie's Father]]" Peter took Stewie to Walt Disney World, although the writers clearly had only ever been to Disneyland. Among the mistakes in the episode: the appearance of a Pinocchio boat ride in the background that is not present at Disney World, a parody of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (which had since been replaced with a Winnie the Pooh attraction) called "Halle Berry's Wild Ride," which consists of Creator/HalleBerry committing a hit-and-run, ''Captain EO'' (with Music/MichaelJackson kidnapping a boy who commented on the 3D special effects being so real that it looks like Michael is coming right at him) was being shown (it closed at Epcot in 1994), and a chase sequence in an Indiana Jones ride (Walt Disney World only has an Indiana Jones stunt show, and that's in Disney's Hollywood Studios, NOT the Magic Kingdom).

In cartoon land, kids want to go to Souvenir Land, a [[TheThemeParkVersion theme park version]] of the theme park. Going here is a lot less fantastic. While Souvenir Land is almost always ''treated'' as if it was the world's equivalent of the Disney parks, it tends to be noticeably less original and impressive than anything Disney or Universal have built. [[note]]It can be more accurately compared to the level of Busch Gardens or the smaller regional theme parks that mushroomed in TheFifties but started fading out in TheEighties precisely because the standard assortment of rides was no longer believed worth the ticket price.[[/note]]

Other than the almost-mandatory monorail and the occasional train ride, there are usually exactly three types of rides:

* '''Fair-type circling rides'''. This is more commonly known as the Dumbo-type ride. These usually will be depicted as a huge deal, a major attraction on par with the roller coasters, and everyone in the group will want to ride, except for the people who get squeamish on thrill rides. This is the most obvious sign of the underlying difficulty, which is that the writers have probably not been to Disneyland or Disney World or whichever since they were little kids, at which point these probably seemed legitimately impressive. [[note]]Indeed, Dumbo is notorious for being so popular with little kids that its small per-ride capacity ensures looooong waits.[[/note]]

There will generally be no shows or novelty format movies in theaters, though there will occasionally be street entertainment. There will be no restaurants -- all food comes from little carts (and characters will sometimes comment that it is expensive, which is TruthInTelevision).

If there ''are'' specific ride parodies, they will almost always be of older rides -- you'll rarely see a parody of, for instance, Epcot's Test Track. This has the side effect that, sometimes, the show will parody something that isn't actually there anymore. Again, this is because the writers are working not from a recent guidemap but from their childhood memories. Such parodies will typically be fitted into one of the aforementioned three ride types -- if there ''was'' a parody of Test Track, for instance, it'd probably be a roller coaster.

To amuse yourself, take out some maps of Walt Disney World theme parks and cross out every restaurant, every theater, and every ride that isn't a roller coaster, boat ride, or Dumbo-type ride.

There will inevitably be people in [[GoofySuit (really bad) cartoon character costumes that obscure the face]]. They will be free to wander aimlessly around the park without getting mobbed by little kids and disturbingly determined parents. [[note]]Nowadays, real characters have to appear at specific "greeting areas" with attendants and well-defined paths for approaching and leaving, because not all guests are all that well-behaved, and even those who are can be very dangerous to a cast member in one of these costumes. "Wandering" characters have not been seen with any reliable frequency since the early 2000s.[[/note]] There will usually be no sign of "face characters", who are actors/actresses portraying characters who look enough like normal humans that they don't need masks or anything along those lines (think of Aladdin, for instance, or the various Franchise/{{Disney Princess}}es). The park may have a mascot character whose face can be [[SigilSpam seen absolutely everywhere]].

If it's obviously terrible and not even enjoyable, it's a CrappyCarnival who's going to rip you off without the merchandise.

In cartoon land, kids want to go to Souvenir Land, a [[TheThemeParkVersion theme park version]] of the theme park. The viewer, on the other hand, would find the experience much less amazing. While Souvenir Land is almost always ''treated'' as if it was the world's equivalent of the Disney parks, it tends to be noticeably less original and impressive than anything Disney or Universal has built. [[note]]It can be more accurately compated to the level of Busch Gardens or the smaller regional theme parks that mushroomed in TheFifties but started fading out in TheEighties precisely because the standard assortment of rides was no longer believed worth the ticket price.[[/note]]

* '''Roller coaster'''. Sometimes steel, but usually wooden. Always completely outdoors with the track supports obvious (i.e. from a distance, it is immediately recognizable as a roller coaster). This doesn't quite fit Universal or Disney-- Universal coasters nearly all feature inversions (which are impossible on wooden coasters), while Disney parks almost (but not quite) always hide the track in some way, whether by putting it inside a building (Ride/SpaceMountain, Rock 'n Roller Coaster) or by theming (Ride/BigThunderMountainRailroad, Matterhorn Bobsleds, Expedition Everest etc.). Ride/SixFlags does use this sort of coaster at its parks, often playing up the nostalgia angle, but typically has steel coasters alongside them.
* '''Boat rides'''. In real life, these take two forms: rides that keep trying to splash you, usually with a big drop at the end, and rides that just use the boat as a form of transportation to show you scenery (Ride/PiratesOfTheCaribbean is one of these). Souvenir Land boat rides look like the latter for most of the ride, then suddenly throw in a big drop at the end (possibly the result of misremembering Ride/SplashMountain). Ride/JungleCruise is frequently parodied. Oddly, the inevitable "Ride/ItsASmallWorld" parody (which usually features incredibly low-quality puppets that Walt probably would have fired you for trying to put in his park, or super-high-quality puppets that turn out to be enslaved children) is rarely one of these, usually just happening out in the open.
* '''Fair-type circling rides''' (like Dumbo The Flying Elephant or Astro Orbiter in the real Disney parks). These usually will be depicted as a huge deal, a major attraction on par with the roller coasters, and everyone in the group will want to ride, except for the people who get squeamish on thrill rides. This is the most obvious sign of the underlying difficulty, which is that the writers have probably not been to Disneyland or Disney World or whichever since they were little kids, at which point these probably seemed legitimately impressive. [[note]]Indeed, Dumbo is notorious for being so popular with little kids that its small per-ride capacity ensures looooong waits.[[/note]]

To amuse yourself, take out some maps of the Walt Disney World theme parks (there are four on the property, and beyond that two water parks and more besides) and cross out every restaurant, every theater, and every ride that isn't a roller coaster, boat ride, or Dumbo-type ride.

Note, however, that the depiction is often not ''meant'' to be a parody, merely an overgenericized example of something that attracts visitors precisely because it relies on exclusive attractions, referencing or parodying which would require additional explanation for the sake of viewers unfamiliar with the original. However, snark often works its way into the depiction regardless, as a stealth rant on consumerism and the ability of entertainment industry to make a profit off any idea, no matter how lame. If taken to the logical extreme, the attraction becomes a CrappyCarnival.

If there''are'' specific ride parodies, they will almost always be of older rides -- you'll rarely see a parody of, for instance, Epcot's Test Track. This has the side effect that, sometimes, the show will parody something that isn't actually there anymore. Again, this is probably because the writers are working not from a recent guidemap but from their childhood memories. Such parodies will typically be fitted into one of the aforementioned three ride types -- if there ''was'' a parody of Test Track, for instance, it'd probably be a roller coaster.

Frequently, rides will empty right into a gift shop. This ''is'' TruthInTelevision for both Disney and Universal, where any ride of any significance has its own gift shop which is usually conveniently located right where you exit the ride (although some rides built before the concept took hold may have to make do with keeping a merchandise cart nearby). If there is a parade, it will probably be a) in the daytime and b) clearly based on the Main Street Electrical Parade (which is ''at night'', thus the lights that make it "Electrical"; alternate versions of the parade include Fantillusion at Disneyland Paris, Dreamlights at Tokyo Disneyland, and Spectromagic at Walt Disney World).

There is in fact a reasonable explanation for some of this -- theme parks are ''notoriously'' expensive to keep running (as evidenced by the large number of parks that have been shut down over the years) and merchandise sales are always the parks' #1 source of revenue, far more so than ticket sales. Therefore, it's vital for a theme park to entice its guests to buy the merchandise it's selling, as it will ensure that the park has a future. This trope is merely just the result of such a thing going ''way'' too overboard.

Typically avoided in live action, since it's easier to get permission to use an existing theme park than to build your own for the sake of what's usually just one episode. For a time in the mid-1990s, after Creator/{{ABC}} was bought by Disney, virtually every sitcom on the network did [[VacationEpisode at least one episode]] at one of the Ride/DisneyThemeParks in the form of an EnforcedPlug. (Nowadays, [=ABC=] uses grand prize episodes of ''Series/AmericasFunniestHomeVideos'' as their primary Disney shill.)

* '''Boat rides'''. In real life, these take two forms: rides that keep trying to splash you, usually with a big drop at the end, and rides that just use the boat as a form of transportation to show you scenery (Ride/PiratesOfTheCaribbean is one of these). Souvenir Land boat rides look like the latter for most of the ride, then suddenly throw in a big drop at the end (possibly the result of misremembering Splash Mountain). Ride/JungleCruise is frequently parodied. Oddly, the inevitable "Ride/ItsASmallWorld" parody (which usually features incredibly low-quality puppets that Walt probably would have fired you for trying to put in his park, or super-high-quality puppets that turn out to be enslaved children) is rarely one of these, usually just happening out in the open.

* One foodgasm-induced ImagineSpot in ''Anime/ShokugekiNoSoma'' transforms a group of judges into school girls spending the day at "Yukihee Land," as the dish was [[{{Pun}} a roller-coaster of flavors]].

* The Gift, in the ''Literature/DiogenesClub'' story "The Gypsies in the Wood" is a Souvenir Land in VictorianLondon, based on a series of books about faeries.