Gardaland

Gardaland

Gardaland's entrance
Location Castelnuovo del Garda, Italy
Coordinates 45°27′16″N 10°42′50″E / 45.45444°N 10.71389°E / 45.45444; 10.71389Coordinates: 45°27′16″N 10°42′50″E / 45.45444°N 10.71389°E / 45.45444; 10.71389
Owner Merlin Entertainments
Opened 19 July 1975
Operating season Spring-Summer & Holidays
Visitors per annum 3 million (2016)
Area 260,000 m2 (64 acres)
Rides
Total 36[1]
Roller coasters 7
Water rides 4
Website www.gardaland.it/en/

Gardaland is an amusement park located in North-Eastern Italy. Opened 19 July 1975, the resort includes Gardaland Park, Gardaland Sea-Life, and the Gardaland Hotel. It is adjacent to Lake Garda, but does not actually face the water. The entire complex covers an area of 445,000 m2 (4,789,940 sq ft), while the theme 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 has been ranked fifth in the top ten amusement parks in the world with the best turnover by Forbes Magazine, and according to 2011 data is the eighth in Europe by number of park visitors.

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, Ramses: Il Risveglio, Raptor and Oblivion: The Black Hole which opened on 28 March 2015.

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.[2]

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.[3] Gardaland is now the eighth-most-popular theme park in Europe,[2] and is run and operated by the Merlin Entertainments Group. It has a total of 32 rides, including seven roller coasters and three water rides. The coasters are Blue Tornado, Magic Mountain, Sequoia Adventure, Raptor, Orto Bruco, Mammut and Oblivion: The Black Hole.[3] Fuga da Atlantide is a Shoot the Chute.[4]

Themed areas

Attractions

Note: the following list is incomplete. For a more comprehensive list of all the former and present attractions, see the unofficial site

Roller coasters

NamePictureTypeOpenedAreaManufacturerAdditional information
Blue TornadoSuspended Looping Coaster1998EnergyVekomaThe 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. Height restriction 1.4m.
ShamanSteel sit down coaster1985EnergyVekomaVekoma 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. Height restriction 1.2m. In the 2017 season the ride will be rethemed and renamed as 'SHAMAN' and will feature a Virtual Reality experience.
RaptorWing Coaster2011Bolliger & MabillardRaptor is a prototype Wing Coaster by Swiss manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard. It opened on April 1, 2011. Height restriction 1.4m
MammutSteel sit down2008Polar WorldVekomaMammut (Italian for Mammoth) is a steel roller coaster which includes a herd of Mammoth.
Oblivion: The Black HoleDive Coaster2015Area OblivionBolliger & MabillardOblivion: The Black Hole opened on 28 March 2015 and is a dive coaster manufactured by Bolliger and Mabillard. Height restriction 1.4m
Kung Fu Panda MasterSteel spinning roller coaster2016Kung Fu Panda AcademyFabbri GroupFamily spinning coaster from Fabbri. Opened on 14 May 2016 as part of the Kung Fu Panda Academy area.
Ortobruco TourSteel1991Luna ParkPinfariOrtobruco Tour is a Family Caterpillar Coaster from Pinfari and opened in 1991.

Water rides

NamePictureTypeOpenedAreaManufacturerAdditional information
Colorado BoatLog flume1984Rio BravoMack RidesLog flume themed to the Americas.
Fuga da AtlantideShoot the Chute2004 IntaminFuga da Atlantide (Escape from Atlantis), is a Shoot the Chute, the Intamin Super Splash, and is situated near Blue Tornado.[4] The ride begins with a cable lift hill, at the car/boat turns on a shallow helix and plummets down a steep hill with water jets in the track into a pool. The ride progresses to another similar element.
Jungle Rapids1999 IntaminRapids ride in a small boat, which passes by various Asian scenes.[5]

Dark rides

NamePictureTypeOpenedAreaManufacturerAdditional information
Ramses: il risveglioDark ride2009Ramses: il risveglio (Ramses: The Awakening) formerly La Valle dei Re/The Valley of Kings is Gardaland's first interactive dark ride. The vehicles are omnimover like the Haunted Mansion. The original ride starts during an expedition, then takes riders through burial chambers, tombs with mummies, and a town with explorers partying.
The Spectacular 4D AdventureCinema 4D1990
Time VoyagersCinema 4D2007 (2017)
I CorsariDark boat ride1992 PiratiIntaminEnter the pirate ship and take a boat ride underground.

Flat thrill rides

NamePictureTypeOpenedAreaManufacturerAdditional information
Space VertigoDrop Tower1998SpaceIntamin
Flying Island2000Spacevekoma
Magic HouseMadhouse (ride)2001 Vekoma

Family rides

NamePictureTypeOpenedAreaManufacturerAdditional information
Baby PilotaSpinning ride2000 The cabs rotate and move up and down.
Peter PanSpinning ride1986 Mack RidesFast spinning family ride
Mr Ping's Noodle SurpriseTeacups2016 (1993) Kung Fu Panda AcademyMack RidesFormerly known as Kaffetassen. Rethemed in 2016 as part of the Kung Fu Panda Academy area.

Other attractions

NamePictureTypeOpenedAreaManufacturerAdditional information
Canyon Creek2009 Rio Bravo
Sea Life AquariumAquarium2008
Gardaland TheatreTheater2006 Piazza
MonorotaiaMonorail1990 Mack Rides
Food, features

References

  1. ↑ "Gardaland Park Map" (PDF). gardaland.it. Gardaland. Retrieved May 16, 2015.
  2. 1 2 (in Italian) Grande festa per il trentesimo anniversario di fondazione.
  3. 1 2 Gardaland on rcdb.com
  4. 1 2 Super Splash on intaminworldwide.com
  5. ↑ Jungle Rapids
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