Magikland

Lodging at the Hotel Antonella

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In the course of the tour planning we thought to book a package deal via the Rainbow Magicland site, but as this site was not international and therefore a booking was only possible for Italian citizens, we booked a hotel and theme park package via the theme park Zoomarine. The journey to the Hotel Antonella in nearby Pomezia turned out to be a bit more difficult due to closed roads, but the stay at the 4* Superior Hotel was a welcome surprise. In addition, we treated ourselves to the best dinner of the tour and for a little more than 20€ we got a high-quality 3-course menu with pasta, steak and delicious sorbet and ice cream creations.

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Il Viaggio dei due Runner Day 5

Rimini’s desolate amusement park

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Fiabilandia

The fairytale land of Rimini is one of the oldest amusement parks in the country. Opened in 1965, Fiabilandia had its heyday with German mass tourism on the Italian Adriatic Sea until the mid-1980s. A steady decline in the number of visitors led to the sale to the owners of the safari and amusement park Zoosafari Fasonolandia, who gradually refurbished and slightly extended the park.

Il Castello di Merlino, Il Lago del Sogno and Il Labirinto di Fu-Ming

In the front area of the park, Fiabilandia looks quite impressive, especially since most of the older rides are located here and actually still show a little of the original fairytale park charm. Here you can find the dark rides Il Castello di Merlino and Il Lago del Sogno, as well as the maze Il Labirinto di Fu-Ming.

La Baia di Peter Pan

Following the route of the Fiabilandia Express, after a short while you will come to La Baia di Peter Pan, where you will find Captain Hook’s ship and the hiding place of Peter Pan. The latter can even be visited, and you can even see the childish rascal in a hammock. From here you also have a good view of Lake Bernado, a quarry pond around which the park is located.

La Miniera d’Oro

Passing a mat slide and trampolines we enter the western themed area of Fiabilandia, which has visibly left its best days behind. Next to a small show stage with an adequate scenery there is a walk-in fort and the roller coaster La Miniera d’Oro, which winds its way through an artificial mountain and past an Indian village.

After you have climbed the wagons, the journey begins very shallowly with a right turn and then a slightly longer straight line. After a short left turn and an U-turn you reach the first lift hill of the ride. At the top the train disappears in a lefthand curve into a tunnel where some crystals, which look like cacti, are colourfully illuminated. Over some waves you increase a little bit in speed and are surprised by a bear animation. Shortly afterwards you leave the cave in a right turn, followed by a gradient with a holding brake. Unaware and delighted that the ride is finally speeding up, you are slowed down to a standstill and after a short stop you continue to move at a walking pace. In a short slalom you cross the Indian village and then disappear into another cave that contains the second lift hill. Once again at lofty heights you can enjoy the sun for a while before entering another tunnel. Completely by surprise, you will now pass through a distinct slope with subsequent ascent, which has even been given a light effect. Back in the fresh air, two very flat serpentines follow, which lead the train back to the station.

La Miniera d’Oro is a nice dark ride where there is not much to see. It was built sometime in the 80s by Pinfari and is therefore one of the last attractions of the golden era of Fiabilandia. Younger children in particular should have a lot of fun on the ride, while the adults enjoy the greater amount of space in the car and the speed rush towards the end of the ride.

Valle degli Gnomi

Passing several circus tents and a 3D cinema, you approach the next highlight of Fiabilandia, the Valle degli Gnomi. The ride, built in 1976, also by the Italian manufacturer Pinfari, was once opened under the name Brucomela and is the prototype of this type of coaster, which tries to take over the world in a small transportable model. In fact, it is the most built roller coaster in the world and is offered for sale by several (mostly Italian) manufacturers.

The journey begins with a slight left turn, which is immediately followed by a right turn. Over several bumps you now cross a straight line which ends in a cave. In this cave a turning curve is made, where you can catch a first glimpse of the gnomes that give the cave its name. They are enjoying themselves in an underground lake. After a short detour to the right there is a slight drop followed by another turn to the left around a small lake. This immediately takes you to the only lift hill of the ride. The lift takes you up along various animatronics, freely inspired by the seven dwarfs from the Disney classic Snow White. At the top, a right-hand bend above the first tunnel leads you along an ugly blue wall and the house of the dwarves. Several small zigzag bends now lead through two large apples, where we can watch another caterpillar at work. Via a small drop with holding brake we reach the level of the station, which we enter soon after.

Space Mouse

Next to the very nice dark ride there is also the third and last roller coaster of Fiabilandia. The Space Mouse is the biggest roller coaster of the park and unfortunately not necessarily the most beautiful one, but it is, like the log flume next door, an unparalleled advertising medium due to its location directly next to the neighbouring main road.

The ride in the Fabbri Power Mouse starts as usual with the two-part lift of the ride, with a narrow left turn in between. At the top you immediately take a small drop which takes you to the other side of the ride. This is followed by a narrow hairpin combination of three extremely compact serpentines. After a block brake you cross the station on another small gradient before you dedicate yourself to the big shots, each initiated by one curve. After a final double drop you reach the final brake and immediately the separate exit area of the ride.

The ride on the Space Mouse would have been fine if it weren’t for the miserable handling at the ride, where only one car at a time made its way through the track, while all the others waited unmanned in the station. Even after boarding it took a while until the car was sent off, which made the short waiting area quite long.

Pictures Fiabilandia

Closing Words

After all the rides were done, we went past several children’s carousels, some of them taken from Movie Park Germany, and a splash battle from Preston & Barbieri towards the exit. It was about time, as Mirabilandia near Ravenna, 60 km away, should not wait any longer. My mood was already down, as I had last experienced such a desolate park with the Portuguese theme park Magikland in Penafiel near Porto. Although the number of attractions here almost justifies the high entrance fee, the decay of the park is more than just noticeable. The few interesting attractions could have all been completed in a few minutes, but the delayed opening of the rides prevented this from happening with bravura and forced us to spend considerably more time in the park than I personally would have liked.

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Fiabilandia / Il Viaggio dei due Runner Day 4

A place without magic

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Magikland

On a mountain near the town of Penafiel is Magikland, the country’s northernmost theme park. The calendar of the park indicated an opening time of 10-17 o’clock on the days I could visit, but with the addition of “mediante marcação previa”, which means “by appointment” according to the Google translator. Said and done, and I wrote to the park in English. Shortly afterwards I received the answer that the park was closed on that Monday. A change in my plans and another e-mail later I at least had the certainty of being able to visit the park the following Friday.

After I picked up my rental car at Porto Airport, I immediately went to Magikland, which is barely 40km away, but even this distance was enough to make the underbody of the rented Fiat Panda come loose and start swinging, necessary screws are simply overrated, as well as additional insurance. So my mood was not very good when I reached the park.

While the park management spoke quite good English, the language skills of the other employees turned out to be non-existent. It doesn’t matter, because one is used to it from many other European countries; especially compared to the rest of Portugal, where only the old people didn’t know the language, this is a rather weak performance. There is also a considerable lack of attractions, which had probably only recently been reduced further.

Montanha Mágica

In return, however, there were plenty of school children who actually enjoyed themselves in the park. Especially when queuing for the rides and hence also for the roller coaster Montanha Mágica. The waiting area was very manageable in itself, but it took about half an hour to get past the two short zigzags and stand in front of the station’s turnstile. Apart from the children jumping the queue, this was also due to the very slow speed of the lift.

When you finally get on the train, the train heads towards the lift hill, where you spend some time. In the shape of an eight you now complete the first drop and a subsequent turn, before approaching a longer straight in another right-hand bend. The transition is surprisingly rough, but the straight itself is quite nice due to the increased speed. Another right turn later a camelback is indicated, but it doesn’t ride particularly well. After another bend you reach the braking track of the ride, whereupon you slowly approach the station.

For a park like Magikland, such a ride from L&T Systems is certainly the right choice, especially since it was taken over from the former Bracalândia. However, I don’t really understand how one can let the ride deteriorate like this – despite the existing rush of visitors. The ride is a bit jerky due to the condition of the train, but basically not bad. Due to the long waiting time, however, I didn’t have another ride, be it on the roller coaster or the other sparsely seeded attractions of Magikland.

Pictures Magicland

Conclusion Magicland

Magikland itself is by no means a small amusement park with a rock-solid design. Unfortunately, many corners of the park are simply not maintained or even accessible. Why they tore down their log flume and simply did not operate a small children’s log flume in a closed-off area remains a mystery to me. The remaining attractions of the park are a ghost train, a Ferris wheel, a trabant, a western railway on elevated tracks and a few smaller children’s rides and thus basically nothing that justifies the somewhat higher admission price.

 

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Magikland