Inside Europe's biggest theme park once hailed 'pride for Turkey' left to crumble
10.02.2024 - 13:29
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
A theme park once dubbed "one of the symbols of pride for Turkey" now lies as an overgrown wasteland.
Wonderland Eurasia, which once hosted 26 roller coasters, has been left to crumble. It was suddenly shut down and left to decay just one year after its grand opening.
When it was launched in March 2019 - six years after it had first been announced - the park had much to boast about within its 1.3-million-square-metre site and excitement was certainly building. Now, as reported in the Mirror, its only visitors are burglars who move in to swipe cables and other recyclable parts.
Since the amusement park plans were announced by the then-mayor Melih Gokcek ten years ago, his grand scheme quickly found itself hit with legal issues and political scandals - and it didn't have a happy ending. In its prime, Wonderland Eurasia, previously known as Ankapark, offered loads of big thrill rides as well as 2,117 smaller amusement rides, all housed in 13 huge tents.
The large outdoor area included a majestic fountain built to sprinkle water in jets as high as 120 metres, and the park featured among other decorations large statues of dinosaurs and robots. Costing around £647million to the Ankara municipality, the park had the capacity to host five million visitors per year.
Issues at the park started early on with one of its roller coasters breaking down just two days after it opened. The facility had been launched despite some of its rides not being finished and remaining off-limits to paying guests.
The unfinished state of the park was noticed by visitors too, with one taking to Tripadvisor in July 2019 to say: "This theme park still needs at least more six months in my opinion as most of the mature rides and games are either under