Island of Dreams

What is visible in the photo

The shot is taken from above, most likely from a drone or a high vantage point. On the left and in the center stretch light buildings with flat roofs and several glass vaults of a bluish tint, which resemble curved waves. On the right and in the foreground stands a row of light buildings with red roofs, turrets, and pointed spires, and on some of them there are bright vertical panels.

Beyond the complex, broad water glitters; farther on, along the bank and on the horizon, residential buildings stand, and the sky is hazy. There are still many empty plots and leafless trees around: the photo was taken soon after construction. Cars stand in the parking lots. The park's name does not appear in the frame, but it is recognizable from its facades and glass domes.

The scale is best read in the frame: against the glass domes, the cars in the parking lot look very small, and the towers with red roofs seem like stage scenery. These two parts, the “castle” and the “hangar,” make up the main visual contrast that captions use.

What is known about the park

“Island of Dreams” is located on the Nagatinskaya floodplain in Moscow. The main complex occupies roughly 300 thousand square meters under a roof, and outside there is a park of about 44 hectares. It contains theme zones, a cinema hall, a concert hall, cafes, shops, and rides.

The park opened on February 29, 2020. In March it was closed because of the pandemic, and on July 18, 2020, it reopened with restrictions. Media reports cited an investment of roughly one and a half billion dollars, although the exact amount of the investment has not been officially confirmed.

How the mockery arose

For several years the project was discussed as the future largest indoor amusement park in Europe, and expectations were high. In the first weeks, many journalists compared the park to a shopping mall with rides installed inside, and some of the rides did not work on the opening day.

The phrase “the Russian Disneyland” also worked against the park in the press: such a loud comparison immediately invited a search for discrepancies. The aerial photo is used as an “official” portrait of the place, to which captions about the gap between promise and result are attached.

Reviews of the park were mixed, and the first weeks of a large project's operation are often difficult. That is why jokes about the park most often concern not people but the mismatch between words and outcome.

Examples for your own caption

“Disneyland, which we deserved.” A classic move: a promise in the first part and a “modest” reality in the second.

“When the mockup looked better than the end result.” Suits any project where the presentation is prettier than the finished product.

“My weekend plans: first a trip to ‘Island of Dreams,’ then a trip to the shopping mall.” A joke that it is hard to tell one from the other.

“The fairy tale ended in the parking lot.” A play on the red turrets and the empty square in the foreground.

How to approach this kind of joke

Memes about the park concern expectations, not people: even this park has fans, and many visitors were satisfied. So it is fairer to caption the photo by pointing out the gap between advertising and practice, rather than trying to “prove” that the place is bad.

The photo is also useful for any other jokes about large projects: a new metro station, a shopping center, a redesigned website. It is enough to leave the red towers as a “picture from a brochure,” and the caption describes what came out in practice.