Dismaland (Photo : www.dismaland.com)
Despite the Sunday afternoon rain, about 2,000 people visited the anti-Disneyland creation in England of artist Banksy, called "Dismaland."
A reverse of Disneyland's tag as being the happiest place on earth with welcoming staff, Dismaland employees were deliberately rude, notes 28-year-old visitor Andrea Griffiths. Tourists were given angry pat downs, reports the New York Times.
CNN reports that a girl in Mickey Mouse ears greeted the reporter at the gates. The main attraction was am old, dirty fairytale castle surrounded by a moat with murky water. Nearby is a crashed police van. Other features include an upside down slide made from an old, battered truck, a Ferris Wheel, an old school carousel and Cinderella's coach that has crashed, while paparazzis surround the coach.
Besides the works of Banksy, the satirical take on a theme park also featured the creations of Damien Hirst and Jeremy Golzeer. Sixty artists contributed their masterpieces to Dismaland which offers funereal theme park games and grumpy guards.
On Friday, only locals were allowed at the exhibition site which are abandoned grounds of what used to be a family swimming pool. Dismaland opened to the public on Saturday and will remain open until late September.
Banksy's old and new works are displayed such as a fat cat in a suit eating opposite a gaunt woman and children. There is also a pool with mobile boats with loads of figurine immigrants crossing the English Channel. A work, labelled for children only, showed a trampoline and a booth that offers small loans but with excessive interest rates.
Dismaland's website went up on Thursday but the portal crashed because of 6 million hits per minute. It affected the online sale of tickets expected to resume this week. Tickets are still available at the gate. Dismaland allots 4,000 tickets daily at $5.
