Gardaland

Gardaland Resort is an amusement park located in northeastern Italy. Opened 19 July 1975, the resort includes Gardaland Park, Gardaland Sea-Life, and the Gardaland Hotel. It is adjacent to Lake Garda. 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.

Gardaland Resort
Gardaland's entrance
LocationCastelnuovo del Garda, Italy
Coordinates45°27′16″N 10°42′50″E
OwnerMerlin Entertainments
Opened19 July 1975 (1975-07-19)
Operating seasonSpring-Summer & Holidays
Visitors per annum 2.9 million (2018)
Area260,000 m2 (64 acres)
Attractions
Total36[1]
Roller coasters7
Water rides4
WebsiteOfficial website

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.

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. 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.[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, Shaman, Sequoia Magic Loop, Raptor, Kung Fu Panda: Academy, Mammut and Oblivion: The Black Hole.[3] Fuga da Atlantide is a Shoot the Chute.[4]

Themed areas
  • Area Camelot
  • Souk Arabo
  • Rio Bravo

Attractions

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. The minimum height restriction is 1.4 metres.
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. 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.
RaptorWing Coaster2011Bolliger & MabillardRaptor is a prototype Wing Coaster by Swiss manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard. It opened on 1 April 2011. The minimum height restriction is 1.4 metres.
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. It's based on the prototype dive coaster at Alton Towers which is called 'Oblivion'! The minimum height restriction is 1.4 metres.
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.
Sequoia Magic LoopScreamin’ Squirrel2005EnergyS&S Sansei technologiesSequoia Magic Loop is an S&S Screamin’ Squirrel coaster and opened in 2005. It was previously known as Sequoia Adventure until 2017 when it became SBNO, then reopening in 2019 as Sequoia Magic Loop.

Water rides
NamePictureTypeOpenedAreaManufacturerAdditional information
Colorado BoatLog flume1984Mack 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 RapidsRiver rapids ride1999 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 It closed in 2017 and was replaced with Trex-taurant restaurant
Wonder Woman the 4D experienceCinema 4D2007 (2017) (2020)In 2018 it was closed and rethemed to 'San Andreas 4D Experience' based on the 2015 film of the same name. In 2020 it then changed to Wonder Woman the 4D experience.
I CorsariDark boat ride1992 PiratiIntaminEnter the pirate ship and take a boat ride underground.

Flat thrill rides
Name Picture Type Opened Area Manufacturer Additional information
Space VertigoDrop Tower1998SpaceIntamin
Flying IslandFlying Island2000SpaceIntamin
Magic HouseMadhouse (ride)2001 Fantasy KingdomVekoma

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 BravoReplaced by Foresta Incantata in 2019
Sea Life AquariumAquarium2008
Gardaland TheatreTheater2006 Piazza
MonorotaiaMonorail1990 Mack Rides

Food, features
  • Casa di Prezzemolo
  • Blue Tornado fast food
  • Inside the pirate area
  • Bar Hawaii
  • Silver Saloon
  • Mexico area
  • Station of the TransGardaland Express
  • Information

References
  1. "Gardaland Park Map" (PDF). Gardaland. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 April 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  2. "Grande festa per il trentesimo anniversario di fondazione". Gardaland (in Italian). Archived from the original on 14 May 2009.
  3. "Gardaland". Roller Coaster DataBase.
  4. "Super Splash". Intamin Amusement Rides. Archived from the original on 6 September 2012.
  5. "Jungle Rapids". Archived from the original on 19 September 2016.
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