Europark Idroscalo Milano is an

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

Segrate Segrate ( ) is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) located in the Metropolitan City of Milan in the Lombardy region of Northern Italy. An eastern suburb of Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, near

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. Opened to the public for the first time in 1965 (as Lunapark Milano), the park is a popular stop on Via Rivoltana near Idroscalo Lake. It is open seven days a week from March through September and on

weekend The weekdays and weekend are the complementary parts of the week, devoted to labour and rest, respectively. The legal weekdays (British English), or workweek (American English), is the part of the seven-day week devoted to working. In most o ...

s throughout the year.

Attractions

Within the triangular park layout are

roller coaster A roller coaster is a type of list of amusement rides, amusement ride employing a form of elevated Railway track, railroad track that carries passengers on a roller coaster train, train through tight turns, steep slopes, and other elements, usua ...

s, a midway (alongside railroad tracks that form the back boundary of the property), a

house of mirrors A house of mirrors or hall of mirrors is a traditional attraction at funfairs (carnivals) and amusement parks. It is a maze-like puzzle (made out of a myriad of mirrors). In addition to the maze, participants are also given mirrors as obstacle ...

, a

Ferris wheel A Ferris wheel (also called a big wheel, 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, gondola ...

bumper cars Bumper cars or dodgems are the generic names for a type of flat amusement ride consisting of multiple small electrically powered cars which draw power from the floor or ceiling, and which are turned on and off remotely by an operator. They are ...

(one for adults, "Miniautos" for school age children, and "Baby Karts" for small children),

merry-go-round A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (International English), or galloper (British English) is a type of amusement ride consisting of a rotating circular platform with seats for riders. The seats are tradit ...

s (and similar rides), two flume rides, houses of horrors,

go-karts Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on full-size motor ...

, a trip simulator, and various other fantasy and thrill rides. Each ride requires the purchase of a ticket (prices vary between one and ten

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

s per trip, depending on the ride itself). In addition, the park features a

restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...

and a

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

. Near the center of the park grounds is an enclosed "Playground" including plastic tunnels through which small children could crawl while their parents watch through a screen.

History

Lunapark Milano opened its gates for the first time in 1965 for a limited (45-day) season. In response to its growing success, its season expanded to two months in 1966 and three months in 1967.History of Europark Idroscalo Milano
Lights were erected in the park in 1968, allowing the park to stay open into September. Paolo Monti - Serie fotografica (Milano, 1963) - BEIC 6328651.jpg Paolo Monti - Serie fotografica - BEIC 6361598.jpg Paolo Monti - Serie fotografica - BEIC 6361599.jpg Paolo Monti - Serie fotografica - BEIC 6361600.jpg Paolo Monti - Serie fotografica - BEIC 6361601.jpg Paolo Monti - Serie fotografica - BEIC 6361602.jpg In 1970, Lunapark Milano adopted its current schedule (open seven days a week March through September) and every weekend throughout the year as it declared itself to be a "permanent park." In the ensuing years, attendance grew rapidly as rides and other attractions were added to the grounds. The increasing cost of the new attractions caused a rift between the owners of the park and the concessionaires, culminating in a change of management (afterwards called "Luna Park Management") in 1977. The relationship between management and concessions became free of contention as the vendors agreed to pay higher rent as management continued to add attractions through 1980. By 2002, the finances of the park became precarious to the point of the management giving the concessionaires an

ultimatum An ; ; : ultimata or ultimatums) is a demand whose fulfillment is requested in a specified period of time and which is backed up by a coercion, threat to be followed through in case of noncompliance (open loop). An ultimatum is generally the ...

: anybody not renewing his lease would be evicted immediately and the attraction dismantled. The evictions were then deferred for one year; Lunapark Milano closed in 2003, seemingly permanently. New owners took over management of the park and renamed it Luna Europark Idroscalo Milano in 2004. Since then, an upgrading that the park had not seen for two decades resulted in a restoration of the crowds that were lost since the early 1970s. Technology – both in rides and in communications – was added to the park's offerings as it started to exhibit

motion simulator A motion simulator or motion platform is a mechanism that creates the feelings of being in a real motion environment. In a simulator, the movement is synchronised with a visual display of the outside world (OTW) scene. Motion platforms can provid ...

s and an adult-oriented

house of horrors A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

. Live entertainment made its appearance in Europark Idroscalo Milano, as did larger and flashier rides, including the 30 meters (100 feet) tall "Super Frisbee."

References

External links

Official website
{{coord missing, Italy Buildings and structures in Segrate Tourist attractions in Milan 1965 establishments in Italy Amusement parks in Italy Amusement parks opened in 1965