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.
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.
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.
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 is the prototype Wing Coaster by Swiss manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard. It opened on 1 April 2011. The minimum height restriction is 1.4 metres.
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.
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.
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