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Gardaland & MovieLand in 1 day?

emoo

emoo

Hyper Poster
Assuming the UK government doesn't spite or tweet me out of action, I have booked a last minute trip to visit Gardaland on the 4th August. I arrive the evening before so plenty of time to get to wherever I need to.

Will also do Movieland Park so I can get the Intamin drop tower as they have eluded me so far. But when?

This could be done the following day and still make my flight home in the evening, but would rather spend that time in Venice and not be a complete philistine.

As long as everything works out with crowds and things opening on time, could I squeeze both parks into 1 day? They are both new to me and will aim for all coasters. Not fussed about shows and don't know if the water or dark rides are anything special.

Gardaland should be open till 8pm so would do Movieland first if I do this as they close earlier so I shouldn't change my mind part way through the day.

Thoughts?
 
Normally I'd say attempting to do this in Italy in the first half of August would be a nearly impossible task, but I guess COVID-19 having quite a strong impact on the region in Spring could make it somewhat doable, but I still expect it to be fairly crowded, so be prepared for that.

While I haven't been to Movieland in an absolute eternity, I believe they have quite a few rides that are worth checking out outside of the 2 creds and Intamin 1st gen drop tower that you won't find anywhere else (like Submarine simulator, Magma, Kitt Superjet, etc.), so it would be a shame to miss out on them. As for Gardaland, I don't think there's anything extremely noteworthy (apart from perhaps the Pirates ride) outside of the 8 coasters.

But yeah, if I were you, I'd probably only do Gardaland this time round and leave Movieland for some other time. Their water park is one of the more unique ones out there (if you're into those) and you can combine it with Ai Pioppi (which is currently closed) on a later visit.
 
emoo said:
As long as everything works out with crowds and things opening on time, could I squeeze both parks into 1 day?
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We did both of those parks on separate (but quiet) days at a reasonably relaxed pace - got bored of Gardaland after about 5 hours and had to be torn away from Movieland also after about 5 hours to catch a flight.
So under normal circumstances it's certainly doable, very hard to gauge these days until you get there though.

Movieland is better so I'd say just go there instead (though I'd also say skip Venice to do both parks too). Whatever happens, don't rush it and miss some of the most unique attractions in the world.
 
I'd probably say no. I spent 2 days at Gardaland 3 years ago in the summer and didn't regret it as it was relatively busy and spent a whole day at Movie as well. Only exception would be if it was really quiet at both parks and you literally did a cred run and nothing else. It may be possible with the 8pm close, but if you have the option I'd say spread them out. Movieland has a load of quirky non-cred rides I'd also recommend. Up to you obviously, but it would be quite a squeeze I think.
 
An unexpected rally for Movieland, thank you everyone. Good weird does interest me so will look a bit deeper - if there are any must do rides let me know.

These are unusual times so I was banking on crowds being out of the norm but guess I can't rely on that.

TilenB said:
you can combine it with Ai Pioppi (which is currently closed) on a later visit.
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Really nice idea as I am interested but completely forgot its in the area.
 
Movie Land definitely deserves a whole day, bring your trunks and spend a few hours in the water park too as it's hilariously dangerous. In the park itself my favourite bits were racking up re-rides on the drop tower and the Horror House. Great maze, really long with some fantastic costumes and sets. I know you said you're not into shows but if you have time the John Rambo Stunt Show is a delight, 20 minutes of non stop, over the top action.
 
I wouldn't do both in the same day for the reasons others have mentioned. Venice also deserves more than a few hours unless you're happy to just go for the sake of it to say you've been.

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No love for Gardaland sure is interesting. That was more of a credit run anyway with only a few points of interest so will start with Movieland and see what happens.

The Horror House is expected to be closed sadly, as is the Magic Loop which is something else.

I think a brisk walk around the city centre on arrival day should cover it for now, can do it properly next time.

Thanks again.
 
With Gardaland it's a decent enough park. All the rides have better equivalents in Europe and the theming is good but nothing special. You'll have a great day there but Movie Land will stick in your memory more because it's so weird and different.
 
I would recommend doing each park on a separate day. Movieland you can probably get away with a half-day visit but Gardaland is easily a day park. Not only you've got the coasters, there's also the water and dark rides which are worth doing.
 
Been at Movieland park all day and intend to stay until the only showing of the Army show thing at 5.

This place is fantastic in ways that cannot be fully expressed without putting people off. There are some very rough edges but that's also hilarious. Plus it's nuts. I haven't held on to the safety bar like this in living memory.

Had I brought a ticket for Gardaland I would have been able to squeeze in a few hours there and knocked out the coasters that were open. But that's only because so many are apparently closed and both parks are quiet.

Were it not for these extraordinary times everyone above would have been on the money about not doing both, and even though I could have done, glad I didn't rush anything.

Although why Gardaland is not opening Raptor, the reason for my trip, is baffling.

(All notes on Gardaland closed rides are purely based on a queue statistics website that I haven't proved it's worth, but have more faith in than Merlin)
 
emoo said:
This place is fantastic in ways that cannot be fully expressed without putting people off. There are some very rough edges but that's also hilarious. Plus it's nuts. I haven't held on to the safety bar like this in living memory.
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Glad you like it. ;)
 
I think you made the right decision opting for movieland, in my opinion it looks the more “exciting” park and in these times most of the attractions seem to be open bar the horror house, and the park is even running shows.

For some reason gardaland seems to have a significant proportion of rides closed including sequoia magic loop, which I can only assume is down to merlin budget cuts to be honest with you.
 
Oh yes the dumb ride that should never have been built anywhere, (nigh, even conceived) but they did (twice) so I have to see what the horror is like. And Gardaland had the nerve to retheme the m f ucker with stars. And now after coming here little has been checked of my list. Bastardos.

1st gen drop tower rocks though. Love it.
 
@emoo how were the queue-times and crowds in Movieland? What was the longest you had to wait?

And how were the shows and Covid-measures. Thinking about going... maybe..
 
I had to wait till 2pm for the Hollywood tower to open. Party due to the lightest of showers, low crowds, and a carriage got stuck at the top when they finally started testing. And then it was either a walk on or a couple of cars wait - the janky old thing ran flawlessly for the rest of the day. Loved it.

I just waited for the next shows to start on the simulators. Walked on the submarine as a solo rider which was embarrassing for the actors too. Only 1 boat wait on Kitt. Loved that with both drivers.

Went on Magma 2.1 when I walked past and a jeep was about to depart with an empty seat. Loved it even if too frisky with the water jets.

The stone age section only ran rides in the middle of the day, all walk on, waiting only to see if anyone else turned up. Area looks nice. English is not as fluently understood as I would have liked, I know it's a second language and appricate the help you can get, but the operator did not understand I only wanted to go round the bronto'ring (go-gator) once. At least no one else was there to see me walk on voluntarily.

Brontojet is still standing with the dinosaur perched on top but no access. Whatever path was there has been logged off.

The longest wait of the day was for Pangaea, about 10/15 mins . Given it's a drive yourself off road slow jeep with surprising traction, it's not surprising. My first ride took longer than the queue as the driver was appalling, and you are stuck with it. Second ride I took the wheel and loved it.

The shows that ran only did so once so I missed all but the army one which was great, love a bit of corn.

People were behaved, almost everyone wore masks correctly throughout the day (will never be perfect even with the best intent), reasonably spaced out.

Most of my waiting was for rides to open or have people around to fill it up. Maintenance wasn't in a rush and realistically didn't need to be. And they have cocktail smoothies to help with waiting, although the grappa was a poor choice.

Waterpark, Horror House, monorail and Space was closed all day.

The only person I saw called out to wear a mask was me after running and forgetting it wasn't on my face. At least I know they act. Been wearing it so long I could feel it but also just wasn't thinking. That caused a few seconds delay getting onto the inverted boomerang which ran surprisingly well. I didn't love it and was never going to. But one of the better ones, asides the face off aspect.

A silly day, well worth it.
 
emoo said:
I had to wait till 2pm for the Hollywood tower to open. Party due to the lightest of showers, low crowds, and a carriage got stuck at the top when they finally started testing. And then it was either a walk on or a couple of cars wait - the janky old thing ran flawlessly for the rest of the day. Loved it.

I just waited for the next shows to start on the simulators. Walked on the submarine ride as a solo rider which was embarrassing for the actors too. Only 1 boat wait on Kitt. Loved that with both drivers.

Went on Magma 2.1 when I walked past and a jeep was about to depart with an empty seat. Loved it even if too frisky with the water jets.

The stone age section only ran rides in the middle of the day, all walk on, waiting only to see if anyone else turned up. Area looks nice. English is not as fluently understood as I would have liked, I know it's a second language and appricate the help you can get, bur the operator did not understand I only wanted to go round the bronto'ring (go-gator) once. At least no one else was there to see me walk on voluntarily.

Brontojet is still standing with the dinosaur perched on top but no access. Whatever path was there has been logged off.

The longest wait of the day was for Pangaea, about 10/15 mins . Given it's a drive yourself off road slow jeep with surprising traction, it's not surprising. My first ride took longer than the queue as the driver was appalling, and you are stuck with it. Second ride I took the wheel and loved it.

The shows that ran only did so once so I missed all but the army one which was great, love a bit of corn.

People were behaved, almost everyone wore masks correctly throughout the day (will never be perfect even with the best intent), reasonably spaced out.

Most of my waiting was for rides to open or have people around to fill it up. Maintenance wasn't in a rush and realistically didn't need to be). And they have cocktail smoothies to help with that, although the grappa was a poor choice.

Waterpark, Horror House, monorail and Space was closed all day.

The only person I saw called out to wear a mask was me after running and forgetting it wasn't on my face. Been wearing it so long I could feel it but also just wasn't thinking. That caused a few seconds delay getting onto the inverted boomerang which ran surprisingly well. I didn't love it and was never going to. But one of the better ones, asides the face off aspect.

A silly day, well worth it.
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Thanks very much, hope you had a great day, it sounds all really good. Hopefully might get out there myself. Is Verona the best place for flying?
 
I went to Marco Polo as flights were cheap, as are some train tickets to get there. Also got to see Venice after all, fascinating city but a maze so don't be in too much of a rush.

I did have a great time but because of how weird and actually unique every thing is. How did they come up with, and get away with a place like this??
 
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