Kiwi Tourist's Unsettling Discovery at Vietnamese Water Park
A New Zealand tourist was left deeply unnerved after stumbling upon a virtually deserted water park while holidaying in Vietnam. Jessie Riley visited the Wonderland Water Park in Mui Ne last week during her travels across Southeast Asia with her partner. The couple arrived to find an empty car park and quickly realised they essentially had the entire sprawling venue to themselves, with only a handful of other patrons present.
'I Don't Understand It' - A Bizarre Tourist Experience
'I don't understand it,' Ms Riley recounted. 'Tickets were literally 15 New Zealand dollars for the whole day and there were no wait times on anything. There were all of these rides - including inflatables and water slides - but no one was there.' Unsettling footage captured by the tourist showed rides completely empty, massive pools abandoned, and hundreds of sun beds unoccupied throughout the seven-hectare facility.
Ms Riley described how one of the few patrons approached them at the entrance offering a discounted entry fee. 'This lady walks up to us and says she'll sell us a ticket $5 cheaper than the entry price,' she explained. 'I think she bought a family pass and then we paid her to pay off the family pass.' The tourist called the overall experience 'weird and eerie' as they explored the unusually quiet attraction.
Not an Isolated Incident
Ms Riley is far from alone in this peculiar experience. When she shared video of the empty water park on TikTok, numerous social media users revealed that encountering vacant attractions is surprisingly common throughout Vietnam. 'I was there but I got a bad feeling and left,' one commenter admitted. Another added: 'I travelled to Vietnam for two months and can confirm that almost all the theme parks there are like that.'
A third user shared a similar childhood memory: 'When I was a kid, my parents took my sister and I back to Vietnam to visit family and we went to the water park down the road. When we got there it was completely empty to the point where I thought it was closed or abandoned. It was just us the whole day and we had the entire place to ourselves.'
Local Explanations for the Phenomenon
Vietnamese locals provided context for why water parks often appear so deserted during certain periods. 'It's a thing here in Vietnam,' one local explained. 'There's not a lot of holiday, so it's either no one or everyone.' Another clarified: 'In Vietnam, we love the beach - water parks are busy during the holidays but not on regular days.'
A third local offered seasonal context: 'These theme parks are empty because we're not in summer or the holidays yet. It will be more crowded than your country during the summer and holidays.' This pattern suggests that tourist attractions experience extreme fluctuations between peak holiday crowds and near-complete emptiness during off-peak periods.
The Wonderland Water Park Details
The Wonderland Water Park, which boasts a 4.8-star rating on Tripadvisor, is described as 'a themed water park designed around the concept of the Ocean Realm.' Among its numerous attractions are:
- Ocean Warriors
- The Great Bubble Battle
- The Ocean Kingdom
- The Ocean Fortress
- The Mysterious Ocean
- The Lost River
- The Typhoon Bay
- The Blue Wave
- The Kraken Challenge
Despite its impressive array of features and positive reviews, the park's emptiness during certain periods continues to surprise international visitors like Ms Riley, highlighting the distinct seasonal patterns of Vietnamese tourism and leisure activities.
