Gold Reef City is 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 ...

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. Located on an old

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

which closed in 1971, the park is themed around the

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...

that started in 1886 on the

Witwatersrand The Witwatersrand () (locally the Rand or, less commonly, the Reef) is a , north-facing scarp in South Africa. It consists of a hard, erosion-resistant quartzite metamorphic rock, over which several north-flowing rivers form waterfalls, which ...

, the buildings on the park are designed to mimic the same period. There is a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

dedicated to gold mining on the grounds where it is possible to see a gold-containing

ore Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit.Encyclopædia Britannica. "Ore". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 Apr ...

vein and see how gold is poured into

barrels A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, u ...

. And multiple shops around the park can be located. There are many attractions at Gold Reef City, including water rides, roller coasters and the famous Gold Reef City Casino. Gold Reef City is located to the south of the

Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

off of the M1. It is also the site of the

Apartheid Museum The Apartheid Museum is a museum in Johannesburg, South Africa, illustrating apartheid and the 20th-century history of South Africa. The museum, part of the Gold Reef City complex, was opened in November 2001. At least five times a year, events a ...

Rides and attractions

Some of the popular rides at the theme park include: * The Anaconda, the world's only

Giovanola Giovanola Frères SA was a prominent steel manufacturing company based in Monthey, Switzerland. It was known for building electrical power stations, water storage tanks, pipelines, boilers, highway bridges, submarines, ski lifts and many other st ...

inverted coaster. * Golden Loop, originally White Lightnin' at

Carowinds Carowinds is a amusement park located adjacent to Interstate 77 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The park straddles the North Carolina-South Carolina state line, with a portion of the park located in Fort Mill, South Carolina. However, it has an of ...

. It is a Schwarzkopf

Shuttle Loop Shuttle Loop is a type of steel launched shuttle roller coaster designed by Reinhold Spieldiener of Intamin and manufactured by Anton Schwarzkopf. A total of 12 installations were produced between 1977 and 1982. These 12 installations have bee ...

. * Jozi Express, a high-speed roller coaster built and manufactured by the German amusement park ride manufacturer

Zierer Zierer Karussell- und Spezialmaschinenbau GmbH & Co. KG (Short name: Zierer ) is a German company located close to Deggendorf. Zierer manufactures Tivoli and Force line of roller coasters, as well as panoramic wheels, wave swingers, flying car ...

. * Miner's Revenge * Raging River Rapids * Runaway Train * Storm Chaser * The High Flying Maverick * Tower of Terror, a high-speed rollercoaster with a vertical drop into an old mineshaft and the highest g force on any roller coaster at 6.3 gs. * UFO, a giant wheel that spins at high speed while being lifted from a horizontal position to a near-60 degree position. * Giant Wheel, a

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, capsules ...

Potential flooding

It was reported in 2013 that acidic mine water was slowly rising within the mine on which the park is built and that there was a possibility of the park being flooded if left unattended. Mine tours were temporarily halted, and the museum was moved from 215m underground to 80m above ground.

Photo gallery

Image:Gold Reef City 001.jpg, Original mining houses from the early 20th century on display in the park Image:Gold Reef City 002.jpg, The living room in the mine manager's house. Image:Gold Reef City 003.jpg, The dining room in the mine manager's house. Image:Gold Reef City 004.jpg, The kitchen in the mine manager's house. Image:Gold Reef City 005.jpg, The mine headgear as seen from the Big Wheel. Image:Gold Reef City 006.jpg, Class 19D steam locomotive on display. Image:19 D class info board.jpg, The information board for the Class 19D locomotive on display in the park.

References

External links

Official Website
{{Greater Johannesburg, econ Tourist attractions in Johannesburg Amusement parks in South Africa Buildings and structures in Johannesburg Culture of Johannesburg