Wonderland Eurasia Theme Park

About 10 drive from the city center, this large amusement park is likened to the Disney World of Turkey. In fact, it's one of the largest theme parks in Europe, with 26 large roller coaster experiences as well as thousands of smaller rides and activities spread across its 130 hectares. There is also a huge multi-dimensional theater, a huge “Dinosaur Park” with a monster image measuring 70m in length and fountains over 120m (394ft) high.

Ankapark, renamed Wonderland Eurasia. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed the crowd at the park, hailing the site as "one of the symbols of pride for Turkey."

Built on 1.3 million square meters, the park boasts 26 large and 2,117 smaller games housed in 13 large tents and an equally large outdoor area. It also has a fountain that can spray water up to 120 meters high, a parking lot for thousands of vehicles, a 5km rail network and solar panels that generate energy for some areas of the city. the park is located in the Yenimahalle district of the capital.

Erdoğan said the park is leased by the city to a Turkish-Chinese joint venture, which will generate an annual income of TL 50 million (liras, Turkish currency) for the city. It will also contribute to the city's tourism activity with visitors from other cities and will enhance the brand value of Ankara. The President thanked former Ankara Mayor Melih Gökçek for establishing the theme park.

The Ankara city government spent TL 1.3 billion on the construction of the park before launching a tender for the private sector to operate the site. Gökçek said it was built at a low cost compared to foreign rivals such as Disneyland.

The park was once ridiculed for its bizarre advertising campaign with dinosaur and robot statues lining the busy streets of the capital. Animated dinosaurs featured prominently at the opening of the park, which drew crowds of visitors on the first day.

Immediately after opening, the park is free for 1 month and after that, visitors will have to pay a minimum fee of TL 25. Around 5 million visitors are expected to visit Wonderland Eurasia annually. The park offers free shuttle service at pick up points throughout Ankara.

Along with rides, the park boasts over 2 million species of plants and trees scattered throughout. A main entrance modeled after the famous old mosques and madrasas welcomes visitors to the park, and a similar architecture is used inside the site. Attractions such as 14 roller coasters that park owners say have some of the sharpest twists in the world, a 75-meter tower drop, locally produced Digital Dark Ride, a huge multi-dimensional theater, hologram shows and interactive animations.

Boating along the man-made side canal inside the park allows visitors the opportunity to see models of famous landmarks across Turkey. Another area called "Dinosaur Jungle" covers about 20,000 square meters and houses a 70-meter-long cartoon dinosaur that the park hopes will be listed in the Guinness Book of Records as a dinosaur model. the world's largest.

Along with rides and other attractions, the park has stages and will host concerts in April and May, as well as stage plays.

Economically, the park will provide jobs for 1,400 people and will contribute to the tourism activity of Ankara, which has not been a popular destination for local tourists until now. A hotel was also built near the park to address the accommodation needs of visitors. The Chinese partner of the two Turkish companies that operate the park also plans to promote the park in China. Speaking to the Anadolu Agency (AA), Cem Uzan, the park's manager, said they expect about 500,000 Chinese tourists to visit the park and that they also aim to attract tourists from Russia, Middle Eastern countries and from Asia.

Business hours:

Daily, from 11:00 to 22:00

Ticket price: 25 liras/pax

Address: Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bulvarı, Ankara, 6560, Turkey