Wonderland Eurasia, previously known as Ankapark, was an

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, mak ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. Opened in 2019, the park had 17 roller coasters, the second-most worldwide. It was closed permanently in February 2020.

History

In 2013, the 27th mayor of Ankara,

Melih Gökçek İbrahim Melih Gökçek (; born 20 October 1948) is a Turkish politician who served as the Mayor of Ankara from 1994 to 2017. From 1991 to 1994, he was an MP. Gökçek has won municipal elections in 1994, 1999, 2004, 2009, and was controversiall ...

, requested name suggestions for a new

that would be located on the

Atatürk Forest Farm and Zoo Atatürk Forest Farm and Zoo ( tr, Atatürk Orman Çiftliği ve Hayvanat Bahçesi, in short ''AOÇ'') is an expansive recreational farming area, which houses a zoo, several small agricultural farms, greenhouses, restaurants, a dairy farm and a bre ...

's land, land bequeathed by Turkey's founder,

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, or Mustafa Kemal Pasha until 1921, and Ghazi Mustafa Kemal from 1921 until 1934 ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal, revolutionary statesman, author, and the founding father of the Rep ...

. On 10 July 2014, work was halted initially by the 14th Chamber

Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...

due to concerns on tarnishing the legacy of the land. In December 2014, work was halted again by the Administrative Court of Ankara over the land usage. By May 2015, a

roller coaster A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides ar ...

and

ferris wheel A Ferris wheel (also called a Giant Wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondolas, capsule ...

were tested and opened to the public. An overpass to the park was under construction in September 2016. By August 2017, the park was nearly complete. In October 2017, construction started on an underpass to allow easier access to the park. In November 2017, the total project had incurred a cost of 2 billion TL according to the 28th mayor of Ankara, Mustafa Tuna. In September 2018, GBM Ticaret-Çelik acquired the lease to the park for 29 years. In January 2019, it was announced that the park would open on 25 March 2019 after its certifications were completed. The park was given the new name of Wonderland Eurasia ahead of its opening, with the announcement by Turkey's President

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as mayor of Istanbul from 1994 t ...

stating that the park would open earlier. On 20 March 2019, the park opened to the public. It closed permanently in February 2020 due to low visitor numbers. The park had cost a total of more than US$801 million, according to the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality. In July 2022, the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality acquired the park following a court ruling. Afterward, the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality surveyed Ankara residents on how the park's site should be used. The survey showed that Ankara residents wanted the site to be redeveloped into a green area.

List of attractions

As of January 2019, there were 17 roller coasters constructed for the park. It tied with

Cedar Point Cedar Point is a amusement park located on a Lake Erie peninsula in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. Opened in 1870, it is considered the second-oldest operating amusement park in the U.S. behind Lake Compounce. Cedar Point is owned and oper ...

and

Canada's Wonderland Canada's Wonderland, formerly known as Paramount Canada's Wonderland, is a amusement park located in Vaughan, Ontario, a municipality within the Greater Toronto Area. Opened in 1981 by the Taft Broadcasting Company and the Great-West Life A ...

for the third-most in the world behind

Energylandia Energylandia is an amusement park in Poland. It is located in Zator in Lesser Poland, which is in southern Poland. It is approximately away from Kraków and away from Warsaw, Poland's capital city. Energylandia is the largest amusement park i ...

which has 18, and

Six Flags Magic Mountain Six Flags Magic Mountain, formerly known and colloquially referred to as simply Magic Mountain, is a amusement park located in Valencia, California, northwest of downtown Los Angeles. It opened on May 29, 1971, as a development of the New ...

, which has 20.

References

{{coord missing, Turkey 2019 establishments in Turkey Amusement parks in Turkey Defunct amusement parks Amusement parks opened in 2019 Tourist attractions in Ankara