Gardaland

Gardaland Resort
place	Castelnuovo del Garda , Italy
opening	July 19, 1975
Visitors	2.85 million (2015)
surface	about 33 hectares
Website	www.gardaland.it
Gardaland Resort Location of the park

Coordinates: 45 ° 27 ′ 16 ″  N , 10 ° 42 ′ 50 ″  E

Gardaland, located almost on Lake Garda in the municipality of Castelnuovo del Garda, next to the municipality of Peschiera del Garda in the Veneto region, is Italy's largest amusement park with around 2.85 million visitors in 2015 .

history

The park opened in 1975 and today has over 32 rides and nine shows on approximately 33 hectares . Even if the division into thematic areas is difficult, Gardaland can be counted as a theme park category, as each attraction is themed for itself. In addition to the roller coasters, the main attractions in the park are the water attractions and themed rides.

In 2004, the “Gardaland Hotel Resort” rated with four stars created an overnight accommodation with 247 rooms in the immediate vicinity of the park. In 2005 the park was ranked 5th among the most successful amusement parks in the world in a study published by Forbes business magazine .

Since 2006, the newly built “Gardaland Theater” with a compilation of the great American musicals has offered space for around 2,500 park visitors. In the summer months, the park stays open until 11 p.m. and visitors are offered light parades, light and laser shows and fireworks once a week.

Entrance to the Sea Life Center in Gardaland

In October 2006, 90.8% of Gardaland was taken over by the Blackstone Group for approx. 500 million euros and integrated into the Merlin Entertainments Group .

The “Aquatica by Gardaland” water park was opened near Milan in 2007 and has been called “Gardaland Waterpark” since 2008. In 2008, the resort opened its third park with a Sea Life Center . Furthermore, a new roller coaster opened in the park in the 2008 season, a 1030-meter-long mine roller coaster from Vekoma called Mammut with the theme "Glacier".

In 2011, another new roller coaster opened in B & M's park called Raptor .

mascot

Like many amusement parks, Gardaland also has a mascot. The dragon Prezzemolo (Eng. Parsley) was created for this purpose . In addition to this there is still Princess Aurora (the daughter of King Astor ), the panda Bambù , the bird Pagüi , the bat Mously and the tiger Ti-Gey . Prezzemolo has its own animated film series that is known all over Italy.

Attractions and rides

The park is essentially divided into four thematic areas: Adrenaline, Adventure, Fantasy and Show.

Adrenaline

• Raptor (roller coaster, since 2011)
• Blue Tornado (roller coaster, since 1998)

The Blue Tornado roller coaster

• Magic House (Mad House)
• Shaman (classic and oldest roller coaster in the park, since 1985)
• Sequoia Magic Loop (ride with three head-over rides, since 2005; Sequoia Adventure until 2019)
• Space Vertigo (Freefall Tower)
• Oblivion - The Black Hole (roller coaster, since 2015)

Adventure

• Colorado Boat ( log flume in the log)
• Fuga da Atlantide (elaborately designed water roller coaster )
• Jungle Rapids ( Rapid River )
• Mammut ( mine roller coaster , since 2008)
• I Corsari ( Dark Ride with pirate theme in the boat)
• Ramses (interactive dark ride / ghost train with the theme "Aliens conquer ancient Egypt")
• Ice age (4D cinema, since 2012) (2018 new San Andreas Adventure)
• Kung Fu Panda (roller coaster, since 2016)
• San Andreas 4D Experience (4D cinema since 2007, current film and exterior design "San Andreas" since 2018)

Fantasy

The fantasy offer is mainly aimed at families with (small) children.

• Ortobruco Tour (family roller coaster - also for smaller children)
• Baby canoe
• Baby Cavalli
• Baby corsaro
• Baby pilota
• Doremifarm (playground for (small) children with a ride in front of an agricultural background)
• Flying Island (viewing platform)
• Funny Express (train for (small) children)
• Giostra Cavalli (classic carousel)
• Coffee cups (carousel)
• L'Albero di Prezzemolo
• Monorotaia (overview drive in the back of the park)
• Peter Pan (cog ride carousel for families)
• Saltomatto (freefall tower for small children)
• Super baby
• Transgardaland Express (overview trip in the front part of the park)
• Volaplano (overview trip in the children's area)

show

• Welcome to Gardaland (daily before opening of the park on the forecourt - national anthem of Italy and the theme tune of Gardalandpark)
• 5 Elements (circus performance with singing and acrobatics)
• Gardaland on Broadway (Musical show at the Gardaland Theater)
• Various short appearances by artists, dancers or artists in the various subject areas (constantly changing)

Detailed overview of the former offer of the park

Former attractions

Surname	Type	Max height	Manufacturer	opening	closure	Whereabouts or later use
Mini Treno	Ride			1975	1980	1982-2006 Panoramic Tour
Crazy House	Horror house			1979	1981	1982–1994 Castello del Conte Dracula
Giostra Cavalli	carousel			1975	1981	flower bed
Cyclones	Roller coaster		Schwarzkopf Coaster	1980	1984	flower bed
Circo			teatro circense	1975	1986	Teatro Azzurro
Giostra baby	carousel			1975	1988	1975-1981 Giostra Cavalli
Labirinto Giapponese	labyrinth			1975	1988	flower bed
Prezzemolo tour	Roller coaster		Montagna Russa	1986	1989	Today it says Ortobruco Tour
Calci	Chain carousel (wave flight)		Ornamental	1989	1994
Villaggio a fumetti	Ride			1975	1989	1990-2000 Il Villaggio degli Elfi
Cinema tridimensional	3D cinema			1988	1990	Today it says Ortobruco Tour
Cinema 3D	3D cinema				1991
Ruota Panoramica	Ferris wheel		Ruota panoramica	1986	1992	Top spin
Top spin	Top spin		Huss Rides	1993	2014	Today is Kung Fu Panda Academy here
Viaggio all'interno del Corpo umano			FIONDA ltd	1988	1993
Aster Line Saturno 7	Flight simulator			1978	1994	1995-2000 Space Lab
Calci			Giostra calcinculo	1989	1994	1998-2000 Baby Carousel
Castello del Conte Dracula (Castello di Dracula)	Passage theme		Walk through	1982	1994	1995-2000 Castello di Mago Merlino
Il corpo di Eva	Passage theme		Walk through	1988	1994
UFO (UFOUFO)	Carousel (Hully Gully)		Mack (Ballerina da luna park)	1975	1992	was replaced by Moonraker in 1993
Moonraker (UFO)	Carousel (Hully Gully variant)		Mack (Ballerina da luna park)	1993	2000	replaced UFO (UFOUFO)
Padiglione Barbie			mostra	1994	1996	1996-2008 Arena Medievale
Safari Africano	Water slide		Percorso acquatico su canoe Intamin	1975	1999	1999-2010 Tunga
Baby carousel	carousel		Series di mini attrazioni per i più piccoli	1998	2000
Castello di Mago Merlino				1995	2000
Il Villaggio degli Elfi	(Oldtimer) circuit		Mack	1990	2000	Today it says Funny Express
Moonraker			Ballerina da luna park	1993	2000	Today there is Toys Shop e Teatro delle Marionette (Fantasy Kingdom)
Space Lab	Flight simulator			1995	2000	Today there is Fantasy Kingdom
Cinema Dinamico	4D cinema		Cinema	1990	2001	The Spectacular 4D Adventure
The Spectacular 4D Adventure	4D cinema		Cinema	2004	2016	Today there is T-REXtaurant
Nuvola	Rainbow	26.5 m	Huss	1988	2001	flower bed
Prezzemolo Baby Fun			"Series di mini attrazioni per i più piccoli	2000	2002	2002-2006 Games Area
L'isola dei dinosauri	3D cinema		Cinema 3D	2001	2003	Today there is The Spectacular 4D Adventure
Teatro Azzurro			Teatro sotto tensostruttura	1987	2004	Today there is Gardaland Theater
Games Area			Giochi da luna park	2002	2006	Today there is mammoth
Teatro del Dragone			Teatro sotto tensostruttura	2005	2006
Panoramic tour	Panoramic cable car		Cestovia monofune Graffer	1982	2006	Inferis: il labirinto del terrore
Arena Medievale			Arena Medievale	1996	2008	Today there is Prezzemolo Magic Village
Canyons			Pinfari	1975	2008	Today is Canyon Creek there
La Valle dei Re			Dark ride intamin	1987	2008	Since 2009 Ramses: Il Risveglio
Time Voyagers	4D cinema			2007	2009	Ice Age 4-D
Ice Age 4D	4D cinema			2010	2017	Today: San Andreas 4-D Experience
Convention Center			Tensostruttura	1995	2009	Inferis: il labirinto del terrore
Safari Africano	Water slide		Intamin	1975	1998	1975–1998 redesigned as Tunga
Tunga	Water slide		Intamin	1999	2010	Today there is raptor
Games Area de Mexico				2007	2011	Today there is Prezzemolo's labyrinth
Icarus	Condor	34 m	Huss	1989	2011	Since 2012 in the Italian amusement park Miragica
Inferis: il labirinto del terrore	tent			2010	2011	Today the queuing area for Oblivion The Black Hole

Former shows and exhibitions

Surname	Type	Opened	Discontinued	annotation
Veliero Corsari	show	1993	2000
Souk show	show	1989	2001
Parrot show	show	1975	2011

Visitor numbers

swell

1995–2005: Clavé, Salvador Anton: The global Theme Park Industry. 2007, p. 65

2006–2013: Global Attractions Attendance Reports 2006–2013 ( 2006 ( Memento from April 22, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF), 2007 ( Memento from March 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF), 2008 ( Memento from 11. July 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF), 2009 ( Memento from September 17, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF), 2010 ( Memento from July 19, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF), 2011 ( Memento from November 5, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF), 2012 ( Memento from October 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF), 2013 ( Memento from 6 June 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF))

See also

• Canevaworld - a neighboring amusement park

Web links

Commons : Gardaland  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official Homepage (German)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Global Attractions Attendance Report 2015. (PDF) TEA, accessed on January 13, 2017 (English). 
2. ↑ map
3. ↑ Gardaland among the world's ten most successful amusement parks ( Memento from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (DOC)