【9:10】Inside ‘Europe’s biggest theme park’ left abandoned just a year after opening- 1 名前：名無しさん@えむちゃん：2024/04/15(月) 01:09:51 0
- While the world is littered with the remnants of theme parks which were abandoned after failing to ignite the public's imagination, few have flopped in quite the way Wonderland Eurasia in Turkey did. The attraction was Europe's biggest theme park when it opened in 2019 - but it closed its doors just a year later, and hasn't re-opened since, with its grand-looking colourful attractions left to rot and fall into disrepair. Just what happened to the park?
- 2 名前：名無しさん@えむちゃん：2024/04/15(月) 01:10:56 0
- Wonderland Eurasia - also known as Ankapark - opened its doors in the Turkish capital Ankara in March 2019, costing around $801m to build, and offering punters around 1.3 million square metres of space, and 17 rollercoasters - the third most of any theme park anywhere in the world at the time, alongside Cedar Point in Ohio and Canada's Wonderland. It even attracted the attention of the country's president Recip Tayyip Erdogan, saying it was 'one of the symbols of pride for Turkey'
- 3 名前：名無しさん@えむちゃん：2024/04/15(月) 01:12:01 0
- As well as 26 large rides, the park hosted more than 2,000 smaller ones housed in 13 huge tents across the site - not to mention an expansive outdoor area, and a fountain which was capable of cascading water more than 120 foot in the air. The plan was to attract five million visitors per year, which had been under construction since 2013. Except it didn't quite work out that way
- 4 名前：名無しさん@えむちゃん：2024/04/15(月) 01:13:04 0
- Problems initially set in just two days after opening when one of the rollercoasters broke down, with other areas of the park - such as the toilets - also being left in disarray shortly after the inauguration. To make matters worse, some areas of the attraction were still unfinished even after the park opened - leaving them off limits to the public
- 5 名前：名無しさん@えむちゃん：2024/04/15(月) 01:14:12 0
- more six months in my opinion as most of the mature rides and games are either under construction or haven’t opened yet, and we weren’t even told about that before buying the tickets which led to us being disappointed and frustrated'
- 6 名前：名無しさん@えむちゃん：2024/04/15(月) 01:15:40 0
- Ultimately, low visitor numbers and the Covid pandemic led to Wonderland Eurasia shutting its doors in February 2020 - less than 12 months after it flung open its doors to much fanfare. Four years on, it has stood empty ever since
- 7 名前：名無しさん@えむちゃん：2024/04/15(月) 01:17:42 0
- All that's left of the venture is ride parts and broken toys which litter the site, and which provide a target for burglars on the hunt for cables and other items which can be recycled. Most of the time though everything that was left behind sits gathering dust
- 8 名前：名無しさん@えむちゃん：2024/04/15(月) 01:18:45 0
- However, Wonderland Eurasia was shrouded in scandal even before it closed so prematurely. The park was built on the site of the Ataturk Forest Farm and Zoo, originally bequeathed by Turkey's founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Memular reports work was first halted in July 2014 amid concerns over 'tarnishing the legacy' of the land - and it stopped again in December 2014 after a ruling from the Administrative Court of Ankara over the land usage
- 9 名前：名無しさん@えむちゃん：2024/04/15(月) 01:19:49 0
- According to The Sun the current mayor of Ankara, Mansur Yavas, also accused Melih Gokcek, who was mayor at the time of the park's inception, of corruption amid the park's demise, and filed several complaints against him for negligence and abuse of office. Shadow leader Meral Aksener also criticised the venture, calling it 'a concrete version of all the corruption and waste that has been carried out in Turkey to date'
- 10 名前：名無しさん@えむちゃん：2024/04/15(月) 01:20:53 0
- But what of the deserted park's future? Well, the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality acquired the park following a court ruling in 2022, but as it stands it's unclear what happens next. Locals were consulted and many said they wanted the park to be redeveloped into a green area. Whether or not that will happen any time soon remains to be seen. But equally it's unlikely that the once grand park will ever be re-opening
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