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Germany's 'Disneyland for Dudes'
I wonder whether this is what James Brown had in mind when he sang, "It's a man's world."Wired has a short, funny piece on what it calls "Disneyland for Dudes," an amusement park on a 17-acre farm outside Kassel, Germany, where men can go to do all the things that men apparently like to do: Ride ATVs and other powerful quads, operate backhoes and front-end loaders, and presumably yell real loud at one another and drink beer.
Well, I don't know about the last two, but the park is real. It's called Männerspielplatz -- or "man's playground" -- and for about $300 you can spend a day behind a lot of manly, heavy machinery. The park's slogan is "We fulfill men's dream's!" Sadly, there do not appear to be any scantily clad women shooting machine guns there, but other than that...
Writer Andrew Curry catches up briefly with the brain behind the park, a guy named Alexander Bammer (great name!). He tells Curry, "Most men these days don't work on a construction site; they work at a desk. They dream about experiences like this."
Bammer opened the park in 2004. Anyone out there know if there is a place like this in the States?
Click the pictures to learn about other unusual amusement parks, from R-Rated "Love Land," to a park based on the works of Charles Dickens, from a park with a ride called "Dog Fart Switchback," to a park that's twice the size of Disneyland.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
BrianM Jan 7th 2009 6:16PM
This and Nurburgring! I need to learn German!
kath Jan 8th 2009 10:07AM
There will never be a place like this in the states. Liability insurance would be a killer right off the bat -let's face it, there are enough morons around to do something stupid and someone will get hurt, plus many places require heavy machinery certification depending on the type of machinery operated, which most people don't have, plus just calling it a "man's" playground will inevitably produce a few discrimination lawsuits. I can't imagine anyone would be willing to jump through all the hoops to open a place like this here.
John Jan 9th 2009 7:19AM
Why can't we have a place like this just for men? We have women's only gyms, we black only schools and colleges, we special considerations for gays, why the hell can't men have something just for them? PC has run amok and you can't even burp withouot offending someone. I say just do it and I will come and play. Build it and the men will come. If everyone else wants the same playground then build one just for that group, I am tired of having to share the boy club becuase we are able to have fun.
dal Jan 12th 2009 4:29PM
john, (one of the first comments) - you're a bigot!
no one's stopping you from enjoying off road driving, ATV adventures, and such - and you have the gull (and all to typical ignorance) of pointing out men should have a place like this in the US and say that women have exclusive gym's, Gays have "special" rights (oh really, WHERE? nowhere, and that's such a load of crap to say!), and that Blacks have colleges - um, OK?
People - read his comment and realize we have a LONG way to go - talk about macho arrogance.
John Jan 12th 2009 4:55PM
I am not sure where you are from but right down the street from where I work are two predominantly black colleges, all around town we have women only gyms. So I am not sure where you live. Why must every thing be shared? This has nothig to do with being a bigot. All I am saying is that there is a place for everyone and not everyone has to belong to everything. No where did I say anthing about excluding black men from being in an all male establishment. You read way to far into things are probably more racially motivated than anyone. I work with and live next to all races and have no problem with any of them. What is wrong with going and hanging out with the guys without having women hanging around? Women have their places with their own things to do. So if that is a problem for you then I really feel sorry for you. And, if you think that gays don't have special rights, then you have had your head buried in a hole. As things are going, they will have all the rights and straigh people will become second class citizens. If you don't believe that, read the damn newspaper.
Is is people like you who show that we really have a long way to go.
jeffro Jan 9th 2009 7:32AM
there is a place in colorado that you can pay to run some heavy equipment, but i don't the name
Angiebaby Jan 9th 2009 7:50AM
I don't think this is a bad idea at all. But I would never open anything like this in the US. I can just see it now... a guy puts on a helmet, takes a 4-wheeler out, loses control and ends up with a bruised pride and a broken arm. Then he will sue me and HE will own the park.
Animal Jan 9th 2009 9:04AM
There are places where quads, dune buggies, fourwheel drive vehicles etc can run. For example, the dunes in California. Close to Yuma Az, across the state line. Coming from CA you would be coming from or through San Diego. For those who have been there, know about competition hill. Its not for the faint hearted. It has also been the site for movies.
sunny Jan 9th 2009 9:29AM
to quote Joan Rivers:
"Men are stupid and they like big boobs."
Konnie Jan 12th 2009 7:44AM
I think part of the reason women would get upset that they can't come play here is because there are probably a bunch of women who would love to play with ATVs and Quads. Truthfully, there probably won't be alot of women at these courses anyways because we tend to spend our money on different kinds of things. The women who will come to this sort of park probably would not mind beer or yelling or heavy machinery either haha.
And to John -
Historically Black Universities are NOT Black ONLY colleges. You don't need to be black to get in, but I'm sure you wouldn't want to go because you would be the minority for once in your life.
Women's only gyms are made because some women feel uncomfortable working out around men because either A) they don't want to be hit on, B) they are not comfortable in their own skin, and C) they don't want to get weird looks and wait forever when working out in the weights section. Personally, I enjoy working out with men because I think it's funny to use the more fit of your sex as a challenge.
Karl Jan 12th 2009 4:27PM
you mislead with your title just to get views from your AOL homepage - it doesn't have quotes around Disneyland, like it does on this page.