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's entrance | |
Location | Castelnuovo del Garda, Italy |
---|---|
Coordinates | 45°27′16″N 10°42′50″E |
Owner | Merlin Entertainments |
Opened | 19 July 1975 |
Operating season | Spring-Summer & Holidays |
Visitors per annum | ![]() |
Area | 260,000 m2 (64 acres) |
Attractions | |
Total | 36[1] |
Roller coasters | 7 |
Water rides | 4 |
Website | www.gardaland.it/en/ |
In June 2005, Gardaland was 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. The park's mascot, Prezzy has been popular in the Italian licensing market during the 90s and the 2000s.
History
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
Note: the following list is incomplete. For a more comprehensive list of all the former and present attractions, see the unofficial site
Roller coasters
Name | Picture | Type | Opened | Area | Manufacturer | Additional information |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Blue Tornado | ![]() | Suspended Looping Coaster | 1998 | Energy | 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. Height restriction 1.4m. |
Shaman | ![]() | Steel sit down coaster | 1985 | Energy | 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. Height restriction 1.2m. 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 a prototype Wing Coaster by Swiss manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard. It opened on April 1, 2011. Height restriction 1.4m | |
Mammut | Steel sit down | 2008 | Polar World | Vekoma | Mammut (Italian for Mammoth) is a steel roller coaster which includes a herd of Mammoth. | |
Oblivion: The Black Hole | Dive Coaster | 2015 | Area Oblivion | Bolliger & Mabillard | Oblivion: The Black Hole opened on 28 March 2015 and is a dive coaster manufactured by Bolliger and Mabillard. Height restriction 1.4m. It's based on the prototype dive coaster at Alton Towers which is called 'Oblivion'! | |
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 | 1991 | Luna Park | Pinfari | Ortobruco Tour is a Family Caterpillar Coaster from Pinfari and opened in 1991. | |
Sequoia Magic Loop | 2005 |
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.[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 Rapids | 1999 | Intamin | Rapids ride in a small boat, which passes by various Asian scenes.[5] |
Dark rides
Name | Picture | Type | Opened | Area | Manufacturer | Additional information |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ramses: il risveglio | Dark ride | 2009 | Ramses: 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 Adventure | Cinema 4D | 1990 | ||||
Time Voyagers | Cinema 4D | 2007 (2017) | In 2018 it was closed and rethemed to 'San Andreas 4D Experience' based on the 2015 film of the same name. | |||
I Corsari | Dark boat ride | 1992 | Pirati | Intamin | Enter the pirate ship and take a boat ride underground. | |
Flat thrill rides
Name | Picture | Type | Opened | Area | Manufacturer | Additional information |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Space Vertigo | ![]() | Drop Tower | 1998 | Space | Intamin | |
Flying Island | ![]() | 2000 | Space | Intamin | ||
Magic House | Madhouse (ride) | 2001 | Vekoma | |||
Family rides
Name | Picture | Type | Opened | Area | Manufacturer | Additional information |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Baby Pilota | ![]() | Spinning ride | 2000 | The cabs rotate and move up and down. | ||
Peter Pan | Spinning ride | 1986 | Mack Rides | Fast spinning family ride | ||
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. | |
Gallery
- 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
- "Gardaland Park Map" (PDF). gardaland.it. Gardaland. Retrieved May 16, 2015.
- (in Italian) Grande festa per il trentesimo anniversario di fondazione. Archived 2009-05-14 at the Wayback Machine
- Gardaland on rcdb.com
- Super Splash Archived 2012-09-06 at the Wayback Machine on intaminworldwide.com
- Jungle Rapids
External links
![]() |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gardaland. |
- Official website
- Unofficial Website Includes a comprehensive list of all the former attractions
- Information about Gardaland
- Gardaland's roller coasters
- Gardaland Weather