What with Pleasure Island closing this weekend, I've been getting nostalgic for some of the other attractions that Central Florida lost over the years. With perhaps the most bizarre being Splendid China.
I don't know how many of you ever got the chance to visit this 76-acre theme park during the 10 years that it was in operation. But Splendid China Florida truly was something worth seeing. This $100 million attraction featured 60 recreations of famous Chinese landmarks, among the Great Wall of China.
It took two years to build this theme park, with 120 artisans laboring to make sure that Splendid China Florida was authentic in every way. Which -- in the case of the park's quarter mile long replica of the Great Wall -- meant that 6.5 million miniature bricks that were used to build this Wall had to be laid by hand.
Splendid China Florida opened with great fanfare in December of 1993. And given how close their theme park was to World Drive (i.e. Walt Disney World's main entrance road), SCF investors thought that Orlando's newest attraction was sure to be a hit with both tourists & locals.
Alas it wasn't meant to be. Though the people who did visit Splendid China Florida marveled at the obvious care & craft that had gone into the creation of the place, they were also puzzled by this theme park's lack of traditional rides, shows and attraction. And once word got out that SCF was beautiful but boring ... That's pretty much all she wrote.
Splendid China Florida limped along for ten years before its owners finally threw in the towel in December of 2003. The contents of this theme park were auctioned off back in December of 2004. And since that time, the property has basically been abandoned.
But ever since then, I've heard stories from friends who have actually visited what's left of Splendid China Florida. And from what they told me, there was a surprising amount of stuff still standing within the walls of that park.
So one recent Saturday, I decided to go see for myself. I drove over to Splendid China Florida and -- at the entrance of this now-defunct theme park -- I encountered a very sympathetic security guard. Who -- after hearing my extended explanation about how I just wanted to experience Splendid China one more time, and how I promised not to disturb anything -- let me into the park. But only after saying "Okay. But I didn't see you and you didn't see me."
And once I got inside the gates ... I have to admit that I was stunned by what I saw. Nature is rapidly reclaiming the land that Splendid China Florida was built on. So there were weeds everywhere. But if you can look past all of this overgrowth, you can see that a lot of this theme park is still intact.
Oh, sure. A good portion of the park's miniature recreations of famous Chinese landmarks were sold off at auction. But the truly huge pieces -- the ones that were too heavy to carry -- are still here. The Stone Forest, for example ...
... was still intact. As was that not-so-miniature recreation of Potala Place.
But -- that said -- it was still rather depressing to see this theme park's elaborate recreations of famous Chinese landmarks (Like SCF's beautiful miniature version of the Forbidden City) ...
... reduced to rubble and strewn with trash.
But then again, nothing lasts forever. Even the real Great Wall of China is in need of repair these days. Which is why it (sort of) seemed okay to stroll the length of the miniature recreation of this Wonder of the World the day that I visited Splendid China.
Now remember, folks. This Central Florida theme park is no longer open to the public.
I only got to tour Splendid China Florida because I was in the right place at the right time.
Given the general conditions of the grounds ...
... I can understand why Security shoos most visitors away.
But given that so many JHM readers seem to be concerned about what's happening to Pleasure Island this week, I thought that it was important to remind you guys that WDW's nighttime entertainment district isn't only thing that we've lost over the past few years. That not that long ago, there was this neat little place in Kissimmee called Splendid China.
And speaking of neat little places in the Kissimmee area ... Orlando Fun Tickets is located less than 2 miles from the Walt Disney World Resort, 2 lights west of I-4 at 8472 Palm Parkway. Their office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. EST Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. For further information, please call 866-225-4712 and/or check out the official Orlando Fun Tickets website.
I know that there's a time for everything, and understand why it closed, but it's so sad to see that nothing has replaced it. All that work...
Interesting article. I was a paying guest when it first opened. Sad to see what happened to it.
Gotta say, not cool of the author to mention his encounter with the security guard, though. I hope his bosses don't see this article and give him grief as a result.
This is the first time I'm hearing of this place. Sounds like it would've been a better attraction had it not been placed so close to WDW. The comparison did them in, it appears.
Ditto on the security guard comment.
Hey wow.. You just solved a big mystery for me. We just got back from Florida a few weeks ago and our rental house was right across the street from this place. I had no clue what the heck this place was and why (it appeared to me) some land owner had dedicated his property to building recreations of Chinese landmarks, only to let it all go. I had no idea this was an actual park. Very interesting. I puzzled every time we drove by as to what could be behind those walls. Great article!
The first thing I thought after I read the article was about how awful it was to throw the security guard under the buss like that. The man did you favor and now you are going to get him fired!
Poor taste on the Security Guard comments. We did not need to know that information for the article to be of intrest to us. It was great to get a look at a park I never knew exsisted. It is hard to compete with Disney and the other major players just a few miles away. So it is no suprise to me that they folded.
Never even heard of the place until right now. Wow. What a shame.
I'm actually surprised Disney didn't just buy it.
We went to Splendid China several times while doing research for "Mulan". It was a very beautiful and very hot museum. I knew its days were numbered the moment I walked in.
Once, a group of us was being given a tour by a very grumpy former Epcot cast member, who took every opportunity to dis his previous employer, and stated at every turn how much better their miniatures were than Disney's Temple of Heaven in World Showcase.
When he found out we were working on a film, he asked what it was. Without missing a beat, I replied "Honey, I Shrunk the Chinese."
I love the idea of walking around abandoned theme parks, kinda creepy but exciting! The security guard should not be letting people in though (that is his job)... he's obviously in the wrong business
Very interesting article, and I really like the pictures. It's like a post-apocalyptic environment or something.
I've been in there since it closed myself. It's a marvelous place if you're into abandoned theme park exploration. It's chock full of neat little spots and things to discover. Furthermore, there's an awful lot of pretty interesting stories that have cropped up since it closed.
In all fairness to the author, the owners of the park employ multiple security guards; some of them are fine with explorers, others not so much. But I don't think that this article is going to cost anyone their job. I sincerely doubt that the land company that owns Splendid China is going to be reading this site any time soon.
I have been to the Mutianyu Great wall and find it really worthy to visit. Don't miss the great wall if you travel to China for some days.
You can find the detailed introduction about the great wall here:
http://www.chinahighlights.com/greatwall/
I visited Splendid China twice, and I have fond memories. Actually, I didn't miss the roller coasters etc. The place had a distinct character that wouldn't mix with the omnipresent entertainment that some visitors may have missed. It was in the 1990s and I still haven't seen a tenth of all the variety of elaborated CHINESE (not all-American) shows that were on display there. Yesterday Jan 28, 2012 there was a Chinese New Year show in NYC's World Financial Center that was so bleak compared to the fascinating shows I remember in Orlando that I just left.
I guess this is the meaning of "good old times" - they are at one point gone and you better be happy you were there
Loved this article, I am very into old and abandoned tourist and theme parks. Did you all see the one on the internet about River Country in WDW? Like World Without People, first park Disney just abandoned. Think it was because of the "Orlando lake disease" amoeba phenomena, plus their two new contained water parks that had opened. Thanks again!