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Gardaland

According to the report issued to shareholder when Merlin bought Gardaland it was getting 3.5 million visitors a year. At the time Port Aventura was getting 3.3 million visitors a year, so Gardaland was getting more visitors than Port Aventura. Given that Merlin paid £240 million for Gardaland it seems likely that they expected it to have more than regional significance, as this is really quite a lot of money to spend on a theme park (although admittedly substantially less than the figure being quoted for this Paramount Park). Themed Entertainment Association figures suggest that their visitor numbers have been in decline and anecdotal reports support this.

Looking at past editions of the Gardaland website achieved on the Internet, Gardaland’s prices did initially rise under Merlin, but from 2007 they began declining.

I’m not saying Gardaland has been quiet. According to the most recent TEA report it still gets more visitors than Alton Towers, and we all know Alton Towers can get pretty busy. In fairness they also get a high number of visitors given the small acreage of the site, while part of the money lost from lower ticket prices is made up with the introduction of Fast Track. It is also fair to say that competition in Italy has grown tougher. Gardaland doesn’t do badly by any means, but I don’t think Merlin have realised its potential, despite a significant improvement in the quality of coasters (when Merlin took over they had two off the shelf Vekomas and a Whacky Worm!).
 
Merlin might well be investing, but are they investing into the right things?

Given that the UK parks are kept together via duct tape, and the spin doctored Towers Loving Care scheme, I would say no... Does Chessie need a glamping thing for example? Instead of investment into the park's infrastructure and maintenance?

Merlin only focus on quick ROIs, with no real long term goal or aim these days... Which is probably why the parks are so lost in their own goals...
 
I would urge you not to confuse attendance numbers with profit. Six Flags had huge attendance when they were losing money hand over fist.

Gardaland is still the biggest division in terms of revenue (not profit), in the theme park group, as far as I know?
 
Off topic with the investments upcoming at Gardaland, can anyone suggest the better time of year to go to the place? I've never been but I've been given a trip there as part of a Christmas present and would ideally not like it too hot or busy. Any help would be much appreciated :)
 
CoasterMadMatt said:
Off topic with the investments upcoming at Gardaland, can anyone suggest the better time of year to go to the place? I've never been but I've been given a trip there as part of a Christmas present and would ideally not like it too hot or busy. Any help would be much appreciated :)
Click to expand...

June is when the 11pm closes start, the weather is very warm, the park isn't stupidly busy and you also have the added attraction of Movieland Park just down the road from Gardaland which it would be a massive crime not to visit whilst you're there.
 
Thanks for your advice guys, that's a great help :)

Sorry, one last question, Is it a park usually easily done within a day?
 
It will all depend on the day you visit. I would suggest going for 2 days as there is a lot to do if you want to watch all the shows and explore all the areas.

This is an important tip. Gardaland hides some of its rides. The Vekoma Mad House (named Magic House) is in the underneath the large orange tree in the middle area. The Pirates of the Carribean dark ride is underneath the ship.

Shows wise, it depends on what you want. The shows are very well done but nearly all of them are in Italian. The Madagascar circus show I recommend due to some amazing acts.

If you need any advice, just ask me as I have been to Gardaland probably about 5 times in my life. Movieland I have done once and it is definitely a half day park. Unless you want to do some UNIQUE AND MAD rides, don't go.
 
Movieland is well worth a visit if you're in the area - it's so close you can see it from Gardaland. The coaster line up is very poor, but they've got lots of other interesting and unusual rides - I'd say it's worth it for Magma 2.1 and U571 alone. It's not a full day park, but you can get a combi ticket with the water park next door for not much more money, which will stretch it to a whole day.
 
I know that some hotels do offer free tickets for Gardaland I think. This is what happened to me before.

Movieland is allright. I mean I want to go but having a choice between both parks, I would definitely go to Gardaland!
 
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Merlin's latest coaster masterpiece, the beautiful looking Fabbri spinning mouse:

aadytda

Source: RCDB

Goodbye to Merlin grey/white/black/brown. Hello to garish red!

:)
 
I have a few reservations about Fabbri, but sure it'll be a nice addition to an already great park.

Here's the concept art if you haven't already seen it

0.9.0.r%23kfpvisual2.jpg
 
Rick said:
I have a few reservations about Fabbri, but sure it'll be a nice addition to an already great park.

Here's the concept art if you haven't already seen it

0.9.0.r%23kfpvisual2.jpg
Click to expand...

I'd say that's more a promotional image than concept art! It ain't going to look like that! :p
 
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