The Magic Kingdom is the heart of Walt Disney World, where costumed Disney characters roam the streets and Space Mountain rules the ride roost. Cinderella's Castle, based on the turreted Bavarian castle Neuschwanstein, is a classic.

It may be close to Mickey and Minnie, but those who dare to wander through the halls of Skull Kingdom’s haunted castle at night will vouch for this place’s high fright factor. During the day, there are less frightening, guided tours of the castle aimed at youngsters – children are even given their own flashlight for extra security!

For more information: Walt Disney World, Skull Kingdom

Dear old Disneyland (est. 1955) is the granddaddy of all modern theme parks. Watch a parade with your favorite Disney characters on Main Street USA, or check out the new Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage attraction at the Tomorrowland Lagoon. Make sure that you don’t leave the park without singing along on the “It’s a Small World” ride and going for a spin on the teacups at the Mad Tea Party in Fantasyland.

Knot’s Berry Farm is home to Camp Snoopy, where kids can ride roller coasters that are just their size and interact with their favorite Peanuts characters. For the older crowd, Ghost Town is the place to be – this 1880’s boom town re-enactment has extremely fast roller coasters for the fearless, and stagecoach rides for the coaster-shy.

For more information: Disneyland, Knott’s Berry Farm

Tokyo Disneyland is part of a massive Disney complex that also includes Tokyo DisneySea and a number of branded hotels. The first Disney park to open outside the United States, Tokyo Disneyland is broken up into seven themed lands. Rides include Big Thunder Mountain in Westernland, a four-minute train ride through a "haunted" mine.

Meow! Puroland is all Hello Kitty, all the time – even The Nutcracker at the park’s Märchen Theater has Hello Kitty in the starring role. Check out the Sanrio Character Boat Ride, or visit Kitty’s House and have your picture taken with Hello Kitty.

For more information: Tokyo Disneyland, Sanrio Puroland

Is it still (or was it ever) the "cultural Chernobyl" French intellectuals once slammed it as? If so, it sure has turned into a popular one, spurring economic growth too in Marne-la-Vallee along Paris's eastern fringe.

This park draws on the famous French comic book characters of Asterix and Obelix for inspiration. While geared for kids, roller coasters like La Tonnerre de Zeus (Thunder of Zeus) are not for the faint of heart.

For more information: Disneyland Paris, Parc Asterix

Everland in South Korea holds a number of annual festivals, including Snow Festival, Euro Festival, Summer Splash, Happy Halloween and Christmas Holiday Fantasy. The park celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, and special events include nighttime parades and animal-themed safari tours. For the older crowd, the Ho-Am Art Museum, featuring a traditional Korean garden, is next door.

Lotte World has all the staples of a fun amusement park, such as bumper cars, a flume ride, a carousel, and thrilling roller coasters. Don’t miss the Aeronauts Balloon Ride for a unique evening, and catch a show at the 4D Theater (goofy glasses and all).

For more information: Everland, Lotte World

Open annually from March through November, Blackpool Pleasure Beach caters to an older set looking to let loose and feel like kids again. Rides for thrill-seekers include the Pepsi Max Big One and Valhalla, but there's a wide array of family rides as well, including the first commercial monorail in the world.

The roller coasters at Alton Towers in Staffordshire are sure to please thrill-seekers – Nemesis, for example, has G forces more powerful than those at a space shuttle take-off. Younger kids can explore “There’s Something in the Dung Heap,” a new playground all about dung.

For more information: Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Alton Towers

Disneyland Hong Kong may be home to Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, but it’s anything but a snore. Space Mountain at this Disney theme park has undergone a Halloween make-over, and is now Space Mountain-Ghost Galaxy, complete with ghouls. Check out “The Festival of the Lion King” show in Adventureland, or take a ride in a rocket at the Orbitron attraction in Tomorrowland.

With Snow White roaming the streets and a “Gothic Cinderella castle,” the Beijing Shijingshan Amusement Park is tons of fun – but if you’re traveling with copyright attorneys, you might want to leave them at the hotel. The amusement park, unaffiliated with Disney, offers more than 60 attractions, and admission is ridiculously cheap.

For more information: Disneyland Hong Kong, Beijing Shijingshan Amusement Park

Opened in 1843, Tivoli Gardens is now as much a concert venue as it is an amusement park. The Copenhagen Jazz Festival takes place on the open-air stage, and there is a different rock concert every Friday night. But plenty of people still come for rides like The Demon, a 60-foot roller coaster with a series of stomach-turning loops.

From the Statoil Traffic School, where one can earn an official LEGOLAND driver license to LEGOLDMINE, where gold-mining wannabes can pan and melt gold dust to make shiny coin souvenirs; this park is fit for a prince— as evidenced by the recent visit of two year old Prince Christian of Denmark.

For more information: Tivoli Gardens, Legoland

Europa Park in Germany is based on the idea of a unified European continent. Mini-parks are named after 12 European countries, from Austria to Switzerland. There is an Adventure Land, where guests can cruise the River Elz, and a Children's World with a Viking-themed village.

Thrill seekers looking to travel through space and time will find their fix at this amusement park which boasts themed attractions such as 1920’s Berlin, the Wild West, and Deep in Africa – notorious for its inverted roller coaster, the Black Mamba. Overnight in Chinatown at the four-star on-site Hotel Ling Bao, whose roof tiles were imported from China.

For more information: Europa-Park, Phantasia Land

Port Aventura and Caribe Aquatic Park are part of a big resort complex on Costa Dorado in Spain. The resort has a wide array of roller coasters, from the Drago Khan, an intense eight-loop roller coaster, to the Stampida, two tracks wide and made of wood. The resort itself is made up of distinct regions, or "countries;" themed shows like "Can Can in the Saloon" are popular.

For an authentic Spanish experience, come to Parque de Atracciones and bring your dictionary since nothing here is in English, not the maps, not the information, nada. But it’s a nice compromise between a supersized amusement complex and a diminutive town fair. For the absent minded, there’s even a temporary tattoo as a ticket so there’s no need to strap on the fanny pack.

For more information: Port Aventura, Parque de Atracciones (Spanish only)

Everything’s bigger in Canada, and with some 200 attractions and 60 rides, plus a 20-acre water park, this enormous theme park in Ontario is no exception. The scariest rides include Drop Zone, which takes riders 230 feet high and then drops them at a rate of 16 feet per second, and Vortex, the first suspended roller coaster in Canada, which runs over waterworks to increase the adrenaline rush.

Tucked on the Jean Drapeau Island, site of the 1967 Montreal World’s Fair, La Ronde is the second largest theme park in Canada. It is home to Le Monstre, the tallest double-track wooden roller coaster in the world, and the impressive fireworks competition, l’International des Feux Loto-Quebec. Munch on a Beavertail — a sweet donut-like pastry.

For more information: Wonderland, La Ronde

Opened since 1952, Efteling is one of the oldest amusement parks in the world and thanks to its timeless charm, it is also one of the best, having received the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions’ (IAAPA) Applause Award. Efteling’s unique appeal can be credited to its blossoming gardens and calming lakes which give it a green edge against other leading theme parks’.

Madurodam is Holland’s smallest city: It boasts ten museums, five train stations, a post-office, 3150 lamp posts, and 30,000 bulbs, mainly tulips. Named after George Maduro, a law student who fought and perished under the Nazi occupation, this miniature city is actually a replica of a typical Dutch town on a 1:25 scale replete with bridge houses, canals and cheese markets. It even has a mayor, only life-sized.

For more information: De Efteling, Madurodam

Only a stone’s throw away from Verona, Gardaland offers breathtaking panoramas of Lake Garda. The best views however would have to be from the domain of Prezzemolo, the park’s mascot. Perched on a giant fantasy tree as tall as a six-story building, this gargantuan tree house opens up to a wonderland of erupting volcanoes, towering pyramids and jungle rapids.

Fewer Lines, Fun Times: Monster Park, Bomarzo, ItalyWell, maybe not fun times, but certainly stranger times at this 16th-century fantasia of giant, grotesque sculptures that hunchback artist Pier Francesco Orsini designed to shock, although no one, not even Salvador Dali, could ever figure out why. Among the sculptures that pepper (seemingly at random) this otherworldly grove are a gargoyle whose mouth you can walk into, a tilting house of stone, and one of Hannibal’s war elephants trampling a Roman soldier. Bomarzo is 42 miles north of Rome.

For more information: Gardaland, Monster Park

Hailed as the most popular Latin American amusement park, Six Flags Mexico is located in a Natural Preserve Area of the Tlalpan Forest and was once home to the orca Keiko of Free Willy fame. Thanks to animal right activists, the only creature in captivity at the park these days is Horstachio, who at 48 feet by 52 feet and 4,400 pounds is the largest piñata in the world. Baseball bat, por favor!

La Feria is located in Chapultepec Park, 16,000 acres of centuries old trees and numerous lakes. Once a temporary home to the Aztecs, it is now best-known for its roller coaster, the first in the country and one of just three Möbius wooden roller coasters in the world. (Möbius rides have the distinctive feature of one continuous track instead of two separate ones.)

For more information: Six Flags Mexico

Overlooking Rio Tietà, one of the most polluted rivers in São Paulo, this city-center park can be unsightly and crowded. Perhaps it is the lure of having Brazil’s biggest roller coaster, but like they say: bigger isn’t necessarily better. For those willing to overlook the wait, there is a medley of rides across the adrenaline spectrum from harmless bumper cars to the free falling Turbo Drop.

Oiê! Bom bini to Hopi Hari! (Hello! Welcome to Hopi Hari!) Perhaps the only theme park to have its own language, an imaginary lingo based on a variant of Portuguese, Hopi Hari is the new kid on the block having being built only in the last few years. Though well-designed, it is smaller than the average theme park and is lacking in thrill rides…for now.

For more information: Playcenter, Hopi Hari (Portuguese only)