10 Memorable Movie Theme Parks: From Walley World to Jurassic Park

Hollywood has proved amusement parks can be just as fun to watch as they are to visit. In honor of the new 'Vacation,' starring Ed Helms as the latest Griswold to take his family to Walley World, take a tour of some of the most memorable attractions featured in movies.

Walley World was closed for repairs when Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) arrived over 30 years ago, but hopefully Rusty Griswold (Ed Helms) will have better luck when -- and if -- his family makes it there in the sequel. Based on what they go through in the trailer alone, they probably won’t.

This is the home of the Rocket, the wooden roller coaster that is blown up by a terrorist at the start of this thriller, which closed in 1978. Still, the theme park that once entertained tourists in Norfolk, Virginia has been immortalized in a film that climaxes on the Revolution, a roller coaster still operating today at Six Flags Magic Mountain in California.

This movie theme park -- which is actually California's Great America in Santa Clara, California -- was a family-friendly front for a counterfeiting operation that brought Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) back to the Los Angeles area. Screenwriter Steven E. de Souza envisioned "'Die Hard' in a theme park," but critics saw it as the worst installment of the franchise.

A live-action 'Scooby-Doo' movie wasn’t the best idea in the minds of most critics, but amusement park enthusiasts probably wouldn't mind traveling to the movie's haunted tropical resort in real life. Although it was fake, fans can still vacation to Queensland, Australia and stay at the Tangalooma Island Resort, where a portion of 'Scooby-Doo' was filmed.

This Vancouver attraction isn't mentioned in the horror film about teens trying to outsmart death after a number of students are killed in a roller coaster accident during their senior class trip. If you're ever curious to tempt death in real life, visit America's friendly neighbor to the north to ride the Corkscrew.

The fictional Los Angeles amusement park is where survivors played by Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin had their final showdown with an army of the undead. Most of the scenes, however, were filmed at Valdosta, Georgia theme park Wild Adventures.

‘Superbad’ director Greg Mottola’s coming-of-age comedy starring Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart was actually shot at Kennywood, a historic amusement park near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The film is based on Mottola’s experience working at Adventureland, which is still operating in East Farmingdale, New York.

The happiest place on Earth turns into a nightmare for one unemployed father on vacation with his family in this Sundance hit that was shot at both Disney World and Disneyland without the company’s permission or knowledge.

A giant great white turns its teeth to the Orlando, Florida theme park in this critically panned sequel to Steven Spielberg’s original. The movie about the monster shark terrorizing the popular tourist destination was actually filmed there, too.

The prehistoric park envisioned by John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) is finally open for business in the franchise’s fourth installment starring Chris Pratt. Now instead of just paleontologists and park employees, thousands of tourists can risk their lives to see dinosaurs in action. No real-life counterpart exists, but it was filmed on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.