Wonderla is the largest chain of amusement parks in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It is owned and operated by Wonderla Holidays Limited which is headquartered near

Bidadi Bidadi is a town situated on the Bengaluru – Mysuru expressway and is part of the Ramnagar in the state of Karnataka. The town is located 32 km from Bangalore towards Mysuru and is connected by both rail and bus to Bengaluru City. It ...

, from Bengaluru,

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

. It operates 3 amusement parks in

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

, Bengaluru, and

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...

. Wonderla is promoted by

Kochouseph Chittilappilly Kochouseph Thomas Chittilappilly (born 27th March, 1957) is an Indian business magnate, writer, investor and philanthropist. He is the founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of V-Guard Industries and a chain of amusement parks called Wo ...

and his son Arun Chittilappilly. The first amusement park project Wonderla Kochi was set up in 2000, followed by the second in Bengaluru in 2005, and finally the third in Hyderabad was commissioned in April 2016. Wonderla is currently planning to open its 4th amusement park in Chennai. Wonderla amusement parks offer a variety of dry rides such as roller coasters, ferris wheels, drop towers and water rides for its customers.

History

In the year 2000, Kochouseph Chittilappilly started the flagship amusement water theme park under the name

Veegaland Wonderla is the largest chain of amusement parks in India. It is owned and operated by Wonderla Holidays Limited which is headquartered near Bidadi, from Bengaluru, Karnataka. It operates 3 amusement parks in Kochi, Bengaluru, and Hyderaba ...

in Kochi, Kerala. 75-crore INR was invested in the construction and development of Veegaland. In 2005, due to the overwhelming success of the Veegaland project, Kochouseph Chittilappilly and his son, Arun Chittilappily, launched another amusement park on a larger scale at a cost of around 105 crore INR in Bengaluru by the name Wonderla, spread over an area of . The third amusement park, Wonderla Hyderabad was commissioned in April 2016. Currently the company is run by Arun Chittiplappilly as managing director.

Locations

Kochi

The Kochi park was started in 2000 as

until it was re-branded in 2011. This park is situated on the top of a hill at Pallikkara, 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) from the city center. The park was set up in 2000 and was designed by architect Joseph John. Wonderla Kochi is the first park in India to get ISO 14001 certificate for eco-friendliness and OHSAS 18001 certificate for safety. The park is spread over 30 acres of landscaped space with more than 60 amusement rides. In July 2018, Wonderla Kochi was ranked eleventh in the TripAdvisor 'Travellers' choice awards for amusement parks and water parks in Asia.

Bengaluru

The park features a wide variety of attractions including 55 land and water rides, a musical

fountain A fountain, from the Latin "fons" (genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. Fountains were ori ...

laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fi ...

shows, and a

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), e ...

show. Wonderla Bangalore has a full-fledged dance floor with a twist, electronically controlled rain showers. Wonderla also has attractions specially designed for children, and these are gentle yet unusual like a kiddies free fall ride. It uses solar-heated water for all its pools during winter. It has conference facilities for up to 1,000 persons and features five restaurants with a total seating capacity of 1,150. It has

locker room A locker is a small, usually narrow storage compartment. They are commonly found in dedicated cabinets, very often in large numbers, in various public places such as locker rooms, workplaces, elementary schools, middle and high schools, trans ...

s with over 2,350 lockers and restrooms and showers. Wonderla Bangalore has been ranked 1st in India and 7th best in Asia by Tripadvisor for 2014, the highest for any Amusement park in India. Wonderla Holidays opened its first luxury resort, an 84-room hotel complex spread over 100,000 square feet and operational since 2012. The resort features includes a dedicated children's play area, other recreational and conferencing facilities. The resort is located next to Wonderla Bangalore.

Hyderabad

Wonderla Hyderabad offers 28 land based rides and 18 water based attractions on 50 acres of land. Wonderla Amusement Park is located 28 km away from Hyderabad City. Its most notable ride is ''

Recoil Recoil (often called knockback, kickback or simply kick) is the rearward thrust generated when a gun is being discharged. In technical terms, the recoil is a result of conservation of momentum, as according to Newton's third law the force r ...

,'' a reverse looping roller coaster. It was launched on January 20, 2018, by Managing Director Arun K Chittilappilly and chief executive officer DS Sachdeva.

IPO

The initial public offering (IPO) of Wonderla Holidays for about Rs 180 crores received overwhelming response. The IPO proceeds were to be used for its upcoming theme park project in

Upcoming Park

Wonderla Holidays will set up an amusement park on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar. The property will be developed as one of the biggest parks in the country on a 50-acre patch of land at an investment of 115 crore. The company has signed an agreement with the State government for leasing of land for a period of 90 years for the amusement park on an asset-light business model at Kumarbasta village in Khurda district. The proposed park will be a compact one compared to others owned by the company and is expected to be operational within two years. Managing Director of Wonderla Holidays Arun K Chittilappilly said the company has decided to develop the facility following an invitation by Odisha government to set up an amusement park in

Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango trees (''ekamra'')). Bhubaneswar is ...

Expansion plans

Wonderla holidays is currently working on its 4th amusement park in Chennai and the park awaiting final approval from the Chennai Department of Town & Country Planning to commence its project. Amusement park in Chennai will cost , spread over of land.

References

External links

{{Tourism in Kerala Amusement parks in Karnataka Tourist attractions in Bangalore 2000 establishments in Kerala Buildings and structures in Bangalore Amusement parks in Kerala Buildings and structures in Kochi Amusement parks in Hyderabad, India Tourist attractions in Hyderabad, India Tourist attractions in Telangana