The world’s first Jumanji ride, based on the hit movie franchise, is opening in Italy – with visitors in the £16million jungle-themed attraction dodging giant hippos and spiders

• The Jumanji: The Adventure ride will open on April 2 at Italy’s Gardaland Resort  
• A ‘special wagon’ on tracks will guide visitors through ‘hazards and obstacles’ 
• The attraction will be divided up into 12 ‘spectacular and highly dramatic’ parts

The world’s first fully-themed Jumanji ride based on the popular film franchise is opening in Italy next month.

Transporting visitors into the ‘parallel dimension of the Jumanji game’, the £16million (€20million) ‘Jumanji: The Adventure’ ride will open on April 2 at Gardaland Resort, which lies to the west of Verona on the shores of picturesque Lake Garda.

What’s in store for visitors? They’ll hop into ‘special wagons’ that whizz along a track around a jungle landscape, encountering ‘hazards, obstacles, and special effects’ along the way – including animatronics shaped like a giant hippo, spiders, and a ‘roaring’ stone giant.

The world’s first fully-themed Jumanji ride based on the popular film franchise is opening in Italy this year

Each visitor will be given the same ‘mission’ – to ‘return the sacred and precious jewel to the legendary temple and save Jumanji’, echoing the plot of the films.

Footage shows four actors dressed as characters from the Sony Picture Entertainment film franchise entering the ride via a wall of ‘scenographic rocks’ made from sculpted cement.

Once inside, they climb into the three-metre-long ‘special wagons’, that were ‘faithfully reproduced down to the smallest detail’ to resemble the four-by-four from 2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.

A scene from a promotional video for ‘Jumanji: The Adventure’ ride, which will open on April 2 at Gardaland Resort

The carriages on the ride take the form of the four-by-four from 2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and will spin and roll, ‘simulating the movements of a real off-road vehicle’

To make the experience ‘even more immersive and exciting’, the vehicles – of which there are 12 in total – can spin around and roll, ‘simulating the movements of a real off-road vehicle’.

The vehicles will follow a 287m- (941ft) long route that ‘switches between bends and straight stretches for an amazing adventure’.

The attraction will be divided up into 12 ‘spectacular and highly dramatic’ parts that are inspired by scenes from the films.

The vehicles will follow a 287m- (941ft) long route that ‘switches between bends and straight stretches for an amazing adventure’ 

Each visitor will be given the same ‘mission’ – to return the sacred and precious jewel to the legendary temple and save Jumanji, echoing the plot of the films

The attraction will be divided up into 12 ‘spectacular and highly dramatic’ parts that are inspired by scenes from the films 

The animatronics will be a key part of the ride’s obstacles – the huge hippo will appear from a swamp, while the spiders will drop down onto the moving vehicle.

Meanwhile, the Stone Giant will burst out of a cave and block the visitors’ way. A video released by the park shows its construction, with modelmakers sculpting a rocky demon with sharp teeth and huge hands.

Speaking last October, Aldo Maria Vigevani, CEO of Gardaland, said of the new attraction: ‘It will be a key investment of over €20million (£16million) for the realisation of the world’s-first Jumanji-themed attraction that will be one-of-a-kind worldwide also for its hi-tech features and unique, impressive theming.

The CEO of Gardaland says that the attraction will be one-of-a-kind for its ‘hi-tech features and unique, impressive theming’ 

Animatronics will be a key part of the attraction – a huge hippo will appear from a swamp, while spiders will drop down onto the moving carriages

‘We believe that this new dark ride for families and teenagers will be welcomed with great enthusiasm by both domestic and international visitors who return every year to discover and enjoy Gardaland’s exciting novelties. The great success – globally and in Italy – of “Jumanji” guarantees the excitement that only this brand is able to create.’ 

The long and lucrative history of the film franchise dates back to 1981, with the release of the fantasy children’s picture book Jumanji, written and illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg.

It tells the story of a magical board game that is played out in real life, with exotic animals, stampedes and monsoons jeopardising the lives of the players.

It was adapted into a film starring Robin Williams and a young Kirsten Dunst in 1995, and was a hit with cinemagoers – it raked in £197million ($262.8 million) in the box office.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (pictured) sees the ‘Jumanji’ board game morph into a video game

A scene from 2019’s Jumanji: The Next Level, which sees the return of, from the left, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Dwayne Johnson, and Karen Gillan

Gardaland, pictured, opened in 1975 and has been owned by British company Merlin Entertainments since 2006. It attracts around three million people a year

More than two decades later, the first sequel, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, was released. This time, the board game morphs into a video game. A group of teenagers are sucked into the virtual world of Jumanji, with Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, and Karen Gillan playing their avatars as they battle a villain in the hopes of saving Jumanji – and escaping the game.

Two years later Jumanji: The Next Level hit cinemas, following the same group of teenagers as they yet again get trapped inside the game – this time with Danny DeVito and Danny Glover joining the cast.

Gardaland opened in 1975 and has been owned by British company Merlin Entertainments since 2006. Its ride line-up includes eight roller coasters and the park attracts around three million people a year. 

For more information visit www.gardaland.it.

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