May 19, 2009 01:29 PM
19592 Views
Visited Wonderla amusement park last week and had an amazing time. Without doubt, Wonderla has become a must-visit tourist spot in Bangalore. We planned our visit on a weekday to avoid the weekend rush and also to avail the lesser fee. (Weekday fee for adult is 470 and children 360, on weekends it is 570 adult and 440 children). We also got a 10% discount as we had a privilege card.
Wonderla is close to Bangalore on the Bangalore-Mysore road. Once you cross Kengeri, you should be able to reach within 20-30 minutes. Even if you dont have a vehicle, there are plenty of buses to Bidadi which stop on the highway and Wonderla has pickup from the highway. We went by car and the drive was a breeze. Lots of parking place and lots of security staff.
The park has around 50 rides, each of them extremely well-designed, well-maintained and of course very safe. All the rides in the park can be divided into three categories - Kiddies ride, Dry ride and Wet Rides.
Kiddies Ride
Lots of rides for kids, who will have a blast. Toy trains, mini-pirate ship, carousel, mini-merry-go-round and many other places which kids will enjoy. Dont miss tyhe friendly fish, which you can feed with your hands, kids would love this place.
Dry rides
It is better to finish the dry rides first as you may not be allowed into some of them if you are wet. There are high-thrill rides like Twister, Insanity, Y-Scream which turn and rotate you 360 degrees and churn your stomach. These rides are the adventurous only. Wonderla Bamba at the entrance is an interesting high-thrill ride, where you sit on a bench and are moved clock-wise, just as you are enjoying the ride, you are suddenly sent spinning anti-clockwise and before you recover, back to a clock-wise spin, leaving you screaming in fear and of-course screaming for more.
Other interesting rides include:
a) Termite train (slow) and Coaster( fast) : train rides inside a termite hill
b) Techno-jump : Takes you for a fast spin
c) Drop zone : takes you up and down from a height
d) There is a tall tower and a merry-go-round, which spins you slowly and gives you a fantastic view of the whole city from the top.
e) Dungeon : is a horror ride, where you encounter many types of ghosts. Not much scary
f) Cinemagic : NOT TO BE MISSED. You sit down on a bench and the movie starts and you think it must be a documentary, you will never be prepared for what follows. A virtual reality ride which leaves you stunned and screaming for more.
g) Musical fountain and Laser show (we missed due to lack of time)
h) Hang glider : you are seated in an open cable car and move up a calbe to the top and then come down at moderate speed, giving you a feeling of flight.
and many other rides including Crazy dashing cars, wagon cars, pirate ship, etc.
Wet rides
Start off your wet rides with Wonder Splash, you are taken in a wagon uphill into a dark cave and you descend to a steep fall into the water creating a huge splash. This is the most popular ride and has long queues. You can also get a photo of your ride, taken just before the dizzying drop.
For the adventurous, there are twisters and water slides and water pendulum. For others, the play pools and wave pools are excellent places to chill out. Waves and a rain disco are run at specified timings. Dont miss the Lazy river, where you sit in a tube and glide in a river at a lazy place soaking in the pleasant atmosphere. Of course, lockers are available at nominal costs and there is a well-maintained change room.
Food is extra, veg food is available at 50 per head (unlimited), taste is ok. But other snacks were not so tasty. The best thing here is everything is available at MRP. Whether you want to buy water, cola, chips or ice-cream everything available at MRP, unlike other places where you are fleeced. In fact there are boards advising you not to pay more than MRP.
The main USP's of Wonderla are:
1) Excellent maintenance : Most water parks have problems with maintenance, but this place is wonderfully maintained and lots of staff available to keep the place clean
2) Orderly queues and all rides are safe
3) Though the initial entry fee seems high, it is value for money
4) Lots of rides, lots of things to do, but time is short. We went in at 11:30 (park opens 11) and came out at 7:30 (official closing time 6 on weekdays), but still were not available to cover everything!
Overall, we had an ooh-la-la experience at Wonderla. If you are in Bangalore, dont forget to plan one full day to have a great time at this wonderful amusement park.
