| |
Location | Castelnuovo del Garda, Italy |
---|---|
Coordinates | 45°27′16″N10°42′50″E / 45.45444°N 10.71389°E |
Status | Operating |
Opened | 19 July 1975 |
Owner | Merlin Entertainments |
Operating season | Spring-Summer & Holidays |
Attendance | 1.350.000 (2020) |
Area | 260,000 m2 (64 acres) |
Attractions | |
Total | 37 [1] |
Roller coasters | 7 |
Water rides | 3 |
Website | Official 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.
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]
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. |
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. |
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] |
Name | Picture | Type | Opened | Manufacturer | Additional information |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jumanji - The Adventure | Dark ride | 2022 |
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. | |
Name | Picture | Type | Opened | Area | Manufacturer | Additional information |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wolf Legend | Drop’n Twist Tower | 2024 | - | SBF Visa Group | Family based drop tower ride located on the site of the former Sequoia Magic Loop. | |
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. | ||
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 various shows over the years. | ||
Jumanji - The Labyrinth | Mirror walk-through maze | 2023 | - | A walkthrough mirror labyrinth attraction themed to Jumanji. It's an upcharge attraction. | ||
Il Bosco degli Gnomi | Walk-through attraction | 2023 | Rio Bravo | A gnome walkthrough. | ||
Cedar Point is a 364-acre (147 ha) amusement park located on a Lake Erie peninsula in Sandusky, Ohio, United States, owned and operated by Six Flags. It opened in 1870 and is considered the second-oldest operating amusement park in the US behind Lake Compounce. Prior to the merger with Six Flags in 2024, Cedar Point served as the "flagship park" of the Cedar Fair amusement park chain and hosted the corporate headquarters. Known as "America's Roller Coast", the park features 17 roller coasters, which ranks third among amusement parks in North America behind sister parks Canada's Wonderland (18) and Six Flags Magic Mountain (20).
Alton Towers Resort is a theme park and resort complex in Staffordshire, England, near the village of Alton. The park is operated by Merlin Entertainments Group and incorporates a theme park, water park, mini golf and hotel complex.
Legoland is a chain of family amusement parks focusing on the Lego building toy brand. They are owned and operated by the British theme park company Merlin Entertainments, which shares a common owner with The Lego Group.
Thorpe Park, formerly also known as Thorpe Park Resort, is a theme park located in the village of Thorpe between the towns of Chertsey and Staines-upon-Thames in Surrey, England, 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Central London. It is operated by Merlin Entertainments and includes rides, themed cabins, live events and Hyperia, the United Kingdom's tallest and fastest rollercoaster. In 2019, Thorpe Park was the UK's third most visited theme park, behind Alton Towers and Legoland Windsor. However, in 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the park only had a 125-day operation season, along with limited capacity, leading to massively reduced visitor numbers.
Heide Park Resort, commonly known as Heide Park, is a theme park in Soltau, Lower Saxony, Germany. With an overall area of over 850,000 m2, it is the largest amusement park in Northern Germany and among the largest in the country. It is part of the British-based Merlin Entertainments, which operates 123 attractions in 24 countries.
Chessington World of Adventures Resort is a 128 acres theme park, zoo and hotel complex in Chessington, Greater London, England, around 12 miles (19 km) southwest of Central London. The complex originally opened as Chessington Zoo in 1931; the theme park aspect was developed by The Tussauds Group, debuting on 7 July 1987 as one of the first combined animal-amusement parks in the UK. The theme park, which features over 40 rides, is now owned by Merlin Entertainments, following its merger with The Tussauds Group in 2007. Under Merlin, Chessington has been increasingly developed into a resort and tourist destination, including two on-site hotels, swimming pools, a campground, spa and fitness facilities.
John Richard Wardley is a British developer for theme parks in the UK and Europe: an innovator of special effects, dark rides and roller coasters in the themed attraction industry. He is known for Nemesis: Tin Of Beans.
Legoland Billund Resort, the original Legoland park, opened on 7 June 1968 in Billund, Denmark. The park is located next to the original Lego factory and Billund Airport, Denmark's second-busiest airport. Over 1.9 million guests visited the park in 2011, and 50 million guests have visited the park since it opened. This makes Legoland the largest tourist attraction in Denmark outside Copenhagen. The Legoland parks that have since been built are modelled upon Legoland Billund, most noticeably the Miniland area, which is made up of millions of plastic Lego bricks.
Legoland Deutschland Resort is a Legoland park located in Günzburg in southern Germany, roughly halfway from Munich to Stuttgart, which opened in 2002. It is 43.5 hectares in area, and it is one of the four most popular theme parks in Germany. The Miniland contains Lego reproductions of various German cities and rural landscapes.
Blue Tornado is a steel inverted roller coaster at Gardaland, Castelnuovo del Garda, outside Verona, Italy. It is an extended standard model, with additional helix, of the Suspended Looping Coaster manufactured by Vekoma. The ride's highest force is at 4.5G's during the sidewinder inversion. A model Panavia Tornado fighter jet is seen on top of the station for decorative purposes.
Shaman is a steel roller coaster located at Gardaland, Castelnuovo del Garda near Verona, Italy. Manufactured by Vekoma, the roller coaster originally opened as Magic Mountain, featuring Arrow Dynamics trains, which were replaced with newer Vekoma trains in 2008. A VR experience and additional new theming was added to the ride in 2017, and it was renamed Shaman. The VR was removed the following year. In November 2020, Gardaland began removing parts of the track. It was replaced with new track pieces, similar to what was done on Python at Efteling, to improve the smoothness of the ride experience. The supports & other theming items were also repainted to improve the theming of the area.
Legoland California Resort is a theme park, miniature park, and aquarium in Carlsbad, California, based on the Lego toy brand. Opening on March 20, 1999, it was the first Legoland park to open outside of Europe. The park is currently owned by Merlin Entertainments, which took a controlling interest in 2005. The second park in the United States is Legoland Florida, which opened in 2011. A third park, Legoland New York, opened in May 2021.
Legoland Florida Resort is a vacation destination in Winter Haven, Florida. The resort features the Legoland Florida theme park itself, the Legoland Water Park, three on-site accommodations and a separately-ticketed on-site park based on the British children's animated series Peppa Pig that opened on February 24, 2022.
Legoland Malaysia Resort is a theme park in Iskandar Puteri, Johor, Malaysia. It opened on 15 September 2012 with over 40 interactive rides, shows and attractions. It is the first Legoland theme park in Asia and sixth in the world upon its establishment. Legoland Malaysia was officially opened by Ibrahim Ismail, Sultan of Johor on 22 September.
Raptor is a steel roller coaster at the Gardaland amusement park in Lake Garda, Italy. The ride is a prototype Wing Coaster design by Swiss roller coaster manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard. Raptor opened to the public on April 1, 2011. The ride begins from an underground station and features two water splash elements. The layout features several roll overs. The trains hang over both sides of the track like X2 at Six Flags Magic Mountain but the seats do not spin.
Wing Coaster is engineering firm Bolliger & Mabillard’s designation for its winged roller coaster designs. Winged roller coasters are a type of steel roller coaster where pairs of riders sit on either side of a roller coaster track in which nothing is above or below the riders. B&M began development on the first Wing Coaster between 2007 and 2008 leading to the opening of Raptor at Gardaland on 1 April 2011. There were sixteen B&M-designed Wing Coasters either under construction or operating worldwide as of December 2020.
Lego Technic Test Track, Technic Coaster, Project X - Test Strecke and X-treme Racers are the names of five identical steel wild mouse roller coasters manufactured by Mack Rides at Legoland theme parks around the world.
Oblivion: The Black Hole is a roller coaster at Gardaland, close to Lake of Garda. The ride is one of many Dive Coaster models to be manufactured by Swiss roller coaster manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard. Upon its opening, it became the first vertical drop roller coaster in Italy. The ride is considered the 'sister' to the Oblivion roller coaster at the also Merlin owned Alton Towers. The ride also shares part of its name with The Black Hole, a Jet star 2 rollercoaster that operated in the X sector section of Alton towers on the current site of The Smiler.
Mandrill Mayhem is a launched, steel shuttle wing coaster located at Chessington World of Adventures in Chessington, United Kingdom. The ride was designed by Swiss rollercoaster manufacturers Bolliger & Mabillard, and is located in the World of Jumanji section of the park, themed to the Jumanji film and book franchise. A consultation for the ride took place in May 2021, and the coaster opened two years later on the 15th May 2023. The last row faces backwards.