Exploring Moscow's new theme park Dream Island on its opening day as a guest for the media event, I got to know a couple of Russian words pretty well: Скоро открытие.
Translated, it means "opening soon." The Intamin launched coaster that bursts out of the walls of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles themed New York section? Скоро открытие. Dinosaur-themed flying theatre? Скоро открытие. Hotel Transylvania ride housed in a massive, imposing show building? Скоро открытие. Snow Queen 3D show in the park's centrepiece frozen castle? Yep, you guessed it.
But while Dream Island might lack the nuance or imaginative detail of a Disney or Universal, it's a clear step above many of the knock-off parks we've seen in the emerging Asian markets.
And crucially, this is a significant theme park for a market that currently didn't have one. A market where, for most people who are likely to visit, a "Disneyland" isn't a specific property owned by one company, but a catch-all term for the kind of designed space they've seen the world over but had little chance to experience themselves. A disneyland, rather than a Disneyland, if you will.
Source: https://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/202003/7297/