2004 Within These Walls - Gardaland Revisited

It does not feel like three years had passed since our first visit to Gardaland, so a return was necessary as we were in the area. The price had gone up a little to 21 euros, still much cheaper then Alton Towers and much better value. Gardaland is the largest theme park in Italy and claim that they are only second best to Disneyland, but will soon be better. Having never been to Euro Disney it is not for me to pass judgement........yet.
For photographs from our previous visit click here.
Within a few minutes of arriving, via a free bus service from the bus station at Peshiera we were in the Wild West area talking to a horse that was being cleaned out by its owner, Alan. Alan was working there as a Native American, having his own show doing various rope tricks.
He was quite pleased to have the opportunity to speak English, being of American-Ceylonese (now Sri Lanka) birth. His father was in the American forces based in Ceylon. Alan was married to an English woman from Bideford at one time.
We spent a good half hour talking about places he had lived and performed in. Alan also recommended the best shows to see and places to visit within the park, one of these being the Bubble Show. It is amazing what can be done with soap bubbles and cigarette smoke.
The above trick Alan told us how it was done but I will not spoil the illusion. The bubble that can be seen in the last picture is slowly rising towards the ceiling, having come out of the dome bubbles on the table top.
This year Gardaland had a new attraction, Fuga Da Atlantide, which is basically a large log flume.
When we look at all the detail that goes into the design of the rides in some of the theme parks in Europe I think you can see why we do not often venture to many back home.
Throughout the day we managed to go on several rides along with a couple of shows, including the Bubble Show mentioned above.
As we were about to depart we met up with Alan again, who suggested having a beer, well it would have been impolite to refuse. He also insisted that we accompanied him to the Ice Show (Mary Poppins) and the Magic Show.
Before going our separate ways we swapped phone numbers and one day we may meet up again.
During the Summer period Gardaland stays open until midnight with all the rides illuminated, parades, fireworks etc. Sometime we may even stay till the end.
To finish with here are a couple of shots of the surrounding area taken from the Space City Tower ride.

2001 An Italian Odyssey - Gardaland

Today after breakfast we travelled by the local bus service to Gardaland, the largest theme park in Italy. When it is considered that Alton Towers is possibly the best park in England then all I can say is get over to Europe and see what is on offer! Gardaland, although tacky in areas with a few older looking rides wins hands down. We managed to stay most of the day in the park with food and drinks being reasonably priced. Due to the heat in Italy there are several water mist areas to walk through to cool off. The queuing time for the rides was about 40 minutes. This may have been down to the fact that the schools had started back. Many of the queues being in the shade with areas selling ice cream if the queue was longer.

On waiting to return to Laize the bus appeared about half an hour late, but we have been there before.