Five record breaking theme parks

1. Santa Claus Land, Indiana

The first ever theme park opened this day in 1946. Santa Claus Land threw open its doors to the citizens of Santa Claus, Indiana with a fairly inevitable theme. The park, built by Louis J Koch, was designed to allow children to visit Father Christmas all year round in the town that bore his name.

2. Ferrari World, Abu Dhabi

The world’s largest indoor theme park is dedicated to the Italian super car giant Ferrari. It’s home to the fastest roller coaster in the world and spans 20,000 square metres (215,000 square feet). The entire park is enclosed under a bright red dome that is designed on a Ferrari nose cone.

3. Six Flags Magic Mountain, California

If you want roller coasters, head to Six Flags Magic Mountain. It currently holds the record for the park with the highest number of the breath-taking rides at 19. Highlights include Full Throttle, the coaster with the highest vertical loop and Gold Rusher, the park’s first ever roller coaster.

4. Magic Kingdom, Florida

One of the most exciting places on Earth, the Magic Kingdom in Florida has more people pass through their doors than any other park in the world. In 2013, 18,588,000 people experienced the wonder of Mickey, Goofy and the rest of the gang and enjoyed the magical fireworks crackle over Cinderella’s castle.

5. Chime-Long Water Park, Guangzhou

If watery adventures are more your thing, people are flocking to Guangzhou in China to enjoy Chime-Long Water Park, which has taken Typhoon Lagoon’s spot as the most-visited water park in the world. This may be mainly to do with the 10 Inversion Roller Coaster, which holds the joint record with The Smiler in Alton Towers and Colossus at Thorpe Park as the roller coasters with the highest number of loops and twirls.