roomraider
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Hi guys.
Sorry for the large picture size this is my first TR for a while but I was recently lucky enough to travel through the Ex soviet Caucasus region for a couple of weeks. Its a bit off the normal travellers routes but its well worth a visit if you have the chance.
There are few parks there but I managed to visit many small parks in both Georgia and Armenia and came across a few surprises. On my way out I flew via Istanbul in Turkey and decided to spend a few days there before my flight on. Istanbul is a vibrant city and the hustle and bustle reminded me of South Asian cities like Bangkok and Shanghai. There are few major parks in Turkey but recently the construction of Vialand in Istanbul has turned a few heads with two brand new Intamin coasters and a variety of interesting flat rides.
Articles such as this http://english.sabah.com.tr/economy/2013/05/27/turkeys-biggest-entertainment-park-vialand-opened-on-golden-horn mentioned the park was now open so I took the opportunity to go and visit. I knew the Intamin LSM wasn't built yet but I have seen pictures of people on the other rides so I headed down the river (Vialand is a pain to get to, its not on the metro network) and got a taxi to Vialand.
However upon arrival I found the park is not open at all. The news articles mentioning the opening are lying. The shopping centre out front is open although not finished and actually looks really cool. But the park itself is not even close to an opening. Despite soft openings taking place on a few of the rides the park is most definitely closed. I spoke to a few staff around and they said the park proper would open mid July.
There was however the option to take a tour of the park in its current state. They did want the full entry price to look around though (around £17 or $27), I was travelling with 2 non enthusiast girls this day who didnt want to pay to enter a closed park, so it was decided to check out the shopping centre. So my first part of this TR is not even a park. its the shopping centre in front of a park.
I did head back to the park later in the trip but I was Cameraless so don't have pictures. But here are my thoughts on the park so far.
- It's small, very small.
- The themeing is good but reminds me of Chinese parks like Happy Valley. It looks good but its all a bit disconnected.
- The Intamin Family coaster looks really good and could provide some good airtime.
- The drop tour looks pretty cool with the top sticking out of the building but most of the ride enclosed.
- The park will be really quite green when finished with loads of trees and a large garden section.
- The spill water style flume looks great. They've done really well themeing a standard layout water ride.
- The park is way off the transport infrastructure and could struggle with visitor numbers.
- If you want a rough idea of the park. Think a small Happy Valley with good landscaping.
Anyway here the pics I took that first day.
The taxi dropped us off at the back of the unfinished Mall section.
The front gate looks the part.
The parks mascot... a Duck I think.
The Intamin LSM track by the entrance is still sat waiting to go up. the footers are in though.
The themeing is nice but its not quite perfect. The castle however looks pretty cool.
This is Sallie. Shes my new travel partner. She was not too happy i took her to a closed theme park.
Swing and a miss.
The shopping area is really nice.
The art installation in the middle was kind of cool.
Arty pic of an art installation.
The area will have a small tram running through the shopping district.
I thought they made violins? I would say about 50% of the shops are currently open.
The park is certainly nowhere near done.
Track waiting to go up.
This ride could be one of the highlights of this year. But they just need to build it really.
Sorry for the large picture size this is my first TR for a while but I was recently lucky enough to travel through the Ex soviet Caucasus region for a couple of weeks. Its a bit off the normal travellers routes but its well worth a visit if you have the chance.
There are few parks there but I managed to visit many small parks in both Georgia and Armenia and came across a few surprises. On my way out I flew via Istanbul in Turkey and decided to spend a few days there before my flight on. Istanbul is a vibrant city and the hustle and bustle reminded me of South Asian cities like Bangkok and Shanghai. There are few major parks in Turkey but recently the construction of Vialand in Istanbul has turned a few heads with two brand new Intamin coasters and a variety of interesting flat rides.
Articles such as this http://english.sabah.com.tr/economy/2013/05/27/turkeys-biggest-entertainment-park-vialand-opened-on-golden-horn mentioned the park was now open so I took the opportunity to go and visit. I knew the Intamin LSM wasn't built yet but I have seen pictures of people on the other rides so I headed down the river (Vialand is a pain to get to, its not on the metro network) and got a taxi to Vialand.
However upon arrival I found the park is not open at all. The news articles mentioning the opening are lying. The shopping centre out front is open although not finished and actually looks really cool. But the park itself is not even close to an opening. Despite soft openings taking place on a few of the rides the park is most definitely closed. I spoke to a few staff around and they said the park proper would open mid July.
There was however the option to take a tour of the park in its current state. They did want the full entry price to look around though (around £17 or $27), I was travelling with 2 non enthusiast girls this day who didnt want to pay to enter a closed park, so it was decided to check out the shopping centre. So my first part of this TR is not even a park. its the shopping centre in front of a park.
I did head back to the park later in the trip but I was Cameraless so don't have pictures. But here are my thoughts on the park so far.
- It's small, very small.
- The themeing is good but reminds me of Chinese parks like Happy Valley. It looks good but its all a bit disconnected.
- The Intamin Family coaster looks really good and could provide some good airtime.
- The drop tour looks pretty cool with the top sticking out of the building but most of the ride enclosed.
- The park will be really quite green when finished with loads of trees and a large garden section.
- The spill water style flume looks great. They've done really well themeing a standard layout water ride.
- The park is way off the transport infrastructure and could struggle with visitor numbers.
- If you want a rough idea of the park. Think a small Happy Valley with good landscaping.
Anyway here the pics I took that first day.
The taxi dropped us off at the back of the unfinished Mall section.
The front gate looks the part.
The parks mascot... a Duck I think.
The Intamin LSM track by the entrance is still sat waiting to go up. the footers are in though.
The themeing is nice but its not quite perfect. The castle however looks pretty cool.
This is Sallie. Shes my new travel partner. She was not too happy i took her to a closed theme park.
Swing and a miss.
The shopping area is really nice.
The art installation in the middle was kind of cool.
Arty pic of an art installation.
The area will have a small tram running through the shopping district.
I thought they made violins? I would say about 50% of the shops are currently open.
The park is certainly nowhere near done.
Track waiting to go up.
This ride could be one of the highlights of this year. But they just need to build it really.
