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Gardaland Resort

Gardaland's entrance
LocationCastelnuovo del Garda, Italy
Coordinates45°27′16″N 10°42′50″E / 45.45444°N 10.71389°E / 45.45444; 10.71389
StatusOperating
Opened19 July 1975 (1975-07-19)
OwnerMerlin Entertainments
Operating seasonSpring-Summer & Holidays
Attendance1.350.000 (2020)
Area260,000 m2 (64 acres)
Attractions
Total37[1]
Roller coasters7
Water rides3
WebsiteOfficial website

Gardaland Resort is an amusement park resort located in northeastern Italy. Opened on 19 July 1975, the resort includes Gardaland Park, Gardaland Sea-Life, Legoland Waterpark, Gardaland Hotel, Adventure Hotel and Magic Hotel. It is adjacent to Lake Garda. The entire complex covers an area of 445,000 m2 (4,789,940 sq ft), while the amusement park alone measures 200,000 m2 (2,152,782 sq ft). Sporting both traditional attractions and entertainment shows, it attracts nearly 3 million visitors every year.

In June 2005, Gardaland was ranked fifth in Forbes Magazine's list of the top ten amusement parks in the world, with the best turnover. According to 2011 data, is the eighth in Europe by the number of park visitors.[citation needed]

Since October 2006, the park has been owned by the British company Merlin Entertainments. Major attractions at the park include Mammut, Jungle Rapids, Fuga Da Atlantide, Shaman, Blue Tornado, Raptor and Oblivion: The Black Hole which opened on 28 March 2015.[2] The park's mascot, Prezzemolo, was popular in the Italian licensing market during the 1990s and the 2000s.

History

The Castle garden

Built on the eastern shore of Lake Garda at Castelnuovo del Garda, Gardaland opened on 19 July 1975, between Peschiera and Lazise.[3]

It has expanded steadily in both size and attendance, topping 1 million visitors annually for the first time in 1984. By 2007, attendance reached 3 million.[4] Gardaland is now the eighth-most-popular theme park in Europe,[3] and is run and operated by the Merlin Entertainments Group. It has a total of 32 rides, including 7 roller coasters and 3 water rides.[citation needed] The roller coasters are Blue Tornado, Shaman, Ortobruco Tour, Raptor, Kung Fu Panda Master, Mammut and Oblivion: The Black Hole.[4] Fuga da Atlantide is a Shoot the Chute.[5]

The park opened a ride based on the Jumanji film franchise called Jumanji - The Adventure for the 2022 season, featuring a large animatronic figure.[6]

Themed areas

Name Picture Additional information
Fantasy Kingdom Fantasy themed area featuring a variety of family rides.
Rio Bravo Western themed street.
Kung Fu Panda Academy An area based on Kung Fu Panda with family rides.
Peppa Pig Land A small Peppa Pig themed area with younger rides just by the main entrance.
Prezzemolo Land Medieval themed area featuring a variety of family rides, a restaurant & a playground.

Attractions

Roller coasters

Name Picture Type Opened Area Manufacturer Additional information
Blue Tornado Suspended Looping Coaster 1998 - Vekoma The Vekoma SLC (765 m [2,510 ft] extended with helix) is situated near the entrance of the park, and stands 33.32 m (109 ft 4 in) tall from the ground. The track is 765 m (2,510 ft) long, and the main elements are a rollover, sidewinder and a double in-line twist ending with several high speed helixes close to the ground. The minimum height restriction is 1.4 metres.
Shaman Steel sit down coaster 1985 - Vekoma Vekoma Double Loop Corkscrew, and is situated on the lower level of the park. The oldest coaster in the park. It stands at 30 m (98 ft 5 in) above the ground and 700 m (2,296 ft 7 in) long. Its main elements are a double loop, double corkscrew and a rising helix. In 2009 the classic Arrow Dynamics trains have been replaced with the new model of Vekoma. The minimum height restriction is 1.2 metres. In the 2017 season the ride was rethemed and renamed as 'SHAMAN' and featured a Virtual Reality experience. The VR was removed prior to the 2018 season.
Raptor Wing Coaster 2011 - Bolliger & Mabillard Raptor is the prototype Wing Coaster by Swiss manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard. It opened on 1 April 2011. The minimum height restriction is 1.4 metres.
Mammut Steel sit down 2008 - Vekoma Mammut (Italian for Mammoth) is a steel roller coaster which includes a herd of mammoth.
Oblivion: The Black Hole Dive Coaster 2015 - Bolliger & Mabillard Oblivion: The Black Hole opened on 28 March 2015 and is a dive coaster manufactured by Bolliger and Mabillard. It's based on the prototype dive coaster at Alton Towers which is called 'Oblivion'![citation needed] The minimum height restriction is 1.4 metres.
Kung Fu Panda Master Steel spinning roller coaster 2016 Kung Fu Panda Academy Fabbri Group Family spinning coaster from Fabbri. Opened on 14 May 2016 as part of the Kung Fu Panda Academy area.
Ortobruco Tour Steel 1990 - Pinfari Ortobruco Tour is a Family Caterpillar Coaster from Pinfari and opened in 1990.

Water rides

Name Picture Type Opened Area Manufacturer Additional information
Colorado Boat Log flume 1984 - Mack Rides Log flume themed to the Americas.
Fuga da Atlantide Shoot the Chute 2004 - Intamin Fuga da Atlantide (Escape from Atlantis), is a Shoot the Chute, the Intamin Super Splash, and is situated near Blue Tornado.[5] The ride begins with a cable lift hill, then the car/boat turns on a shallow helix and plummets down a steep drop on a track with water jets into a pool. The ride progresses to another similar element.
Jungle Rapids River rapids ride 1999 - Intamin Rapids ride which passes by various Asian scenes.[7]

Dark rides

Name Picture Type Opened Manufacturer Additional information
Jumanji - The Adventure Dark ride 2022
I Corsari: la vendetta del fantasma (The Corsairs: the ghost's revenge) Dark boat ride 1992 Intamin

Flat thrill rides

Name Picture Type Opened Area Manufacturer Additional information
Space Vertigo Drop Tower 1998 - Intamin A drop tower.
Magic House Madhouse (ride) 2001 Fantasy Kingdom Vekoma A mad house built underground.

Family rides

Name Picture Type Opened Area Manufacturer Additional information
Flying Island Flying Island 2000 - Intamin An observation tower offering panoramic views across the park and Lake Garda.
Baby Pilota Spinning ride 2000 Prezzemolo Land - The planes rotate and move up and down.
Peter Pan Spinning ride 1986 - Mack Rides Fast spinning family ride.
Monorotaia Monorail 1990 - Mack Rides Monorail with views across the bottom section of the park.
Mr Ping's Noodle Surprise Teacups 2016 (1993) Kung Fu Panda Academy Mack Rides Formerly known as Kaffetassen. Rethemed in 2016 as part of the Kung Fu Panda Academy area.
Il Trenino di Nonno Pig Junior train ride 2018 Peppa Pig Land I.E Park Children's train ride.
La Mongolfiera di Peppa Pig Balloon ride 2018 Peppa Pig Land I.E Park Balloon ride with scenic views.
L'Isola dei Pirati Junior boat ride 2018 Peppa Pig Land I.E Park Spinning boat ride.
La Casa di Peppa Pig Walk-through attraction 2018 Peppa Pig Land A walkthrough where you go through Peppa Pig's house.

Other attractions

Name Picture Type Opened Area Manufacturer Additional information
Sea Life Aquarium Aquarium 2008 - Sea Life Located outside the park at the back of the car park. Upcharge.
Gardaland Theatre Theatre 2006 - Theatre that houses Nautilus live show.
Jumanji the labyrinth Mirror walk-through 2023 - A walkthrough mirror labyrinth attraction themed to Jumanji. Upcharge.
Il Bosco degli Gnomi Walk-through attraction 2023 Rio Bravo A gnome walkthrough.

Gallery

Food and features

References

  1. ^ "Gardaland Park Map" (PDF). Gardaland. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 April 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  2. ^ "Best Theme Parks in Europe". Simify. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Grande festa per il trentesimo anniversario di fondazione". Gardaland (in Italian). Archived from the original on 14 May 2009.
  4. ^ a b "Gardaland". Roller Coaster DataBase.
  5. ^ a b "Super Splash". Intamin Amusement Rides. Archived from the original on 6 September 2012.
  6. ^ "Gardaland unveils huge animatronic created for new Jumanji ride". Blooloop. 15 December 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
  7. ^ "Jungle Rapids". Archived from the original on 19 September 2016.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gardaland.
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