Wonderla opens amusement park in Hyderabad

Leading amusement park operator Wonderla Holidays Ltd on Wednesday formally launched its amusement park, which has come up with an investment of Rs.250 crore off the Outer Ring Road here.

The third amusement park by the company after Kochi and Bengaluru, it has been developed on 50 acres of land near the Hyderabad international airport.

The park with 43 attractions, including 18 water-based rides, can cater to more than 10,000 visitors a day.

D.S. Sachdeva, Chief Executive Officer, Wonderla, said three rides including a giant wheel and a 3D theatre would be ready in four to six weeks.

He said the pre-launch phase since last month evoked good response from the visitors.

Its attractions include India's first reverse looping roller coaster name RECOIL. With maximum height of 40 meters and six inversions per ride, it has been imported from the Netherlands.

Wonderla, which has a resort at its park in Bengaluru, is also looking at a similar model for Kochi and Hyderabad parks.

The company is also scouting for 50 acres of land in Chennai to develop its fourth amusement park in the south. It will invest Rs.350 crore on the project.

"We have also signed MoUs with the Andhra Pradesh government for developing the parks in Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam," he said.

The CEO said they want to focus on the south before expanding to the west and the north.

It invested Rs.45 crore on the first park set up at Kochi in 2000. The park and resort set up in Bengaluru over 82 acres in 2005 cost Rs.150 crore.

Listed on Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange, Wonderla so far enthralled 2.5 crore visitors. It has been ranked India's number one amusement park and Asia's seventh best amusement park as per Trip Advisor ranking for three years in a row.

--IANS

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