Jumanji - The Adventure, the world’s first fully themed Jumanji ride based on Sony Pictures’ popular film franchise, is now open at Gardaland.

It is a new dark ride for adventurers of all ages, from families to teenagers to young adults, which features an exciting and engaging story.

The new 20 million Euro attraction replaces the former interactive dark ride Rameses: The Awakening.

Aldo Maria Vigevani, CEO of Gardaland:

“This attraction is the result of an international agreement between Sony Pictures Entertainment and Merlin Entertainments, the parent group of Gardaland, for the creation in Europe and North America of rides, hotel rooms and shops inspired by the world of the Jumanji films. In Italy, at Gardaland, the first output of this important project is already available to visit, a mark of the importance of our park on an international level.”

After stopping to admire the impressive exterior which features an enormous hippo, visitors can step into the attraction and pass through a mysterious Egyptian temple. They here encounter a desk that acts as a portal into the world of Jumanji and then find themselves in a mysterious bazaar with the Magic Mirrors, in which they can see their own reflection transform into the image of their selected avatar.

It is from the bazaar that the thrilling journey begins for visitors, through 12 different location settings, on board special jeep-style vehicles, which reproduce the famous 4-wheel drive from the film down to the last detail. Each multi-motion vehicle not only moves in a linear direction on the track but also reacts to dangers, obstacles and audio and video effects along the way, twisting and swinging around to simulate the movement of a real jeep.

Along the way they will meet obstacles of all types, such as the terrible Stone Giant who is ready to block the progress of the adventurers, and enormous spiders dangling from up high to shock them.

The adventure is made even more impressive and captivating with 7 screens; two of these are an incredible 15 metres wide and 5 metres high, and two are “pepper’s ghost screens” which are created with a special tempera to enhance the images, and are able to recreate optical holograph illusions. The screens, all suitable for large-scale projection, offer visitors the emotion and amazement of the Jumanji jungle, seen from up close to make them feel like protagonists in the story.

At the end of the ride, visitors can stop off at the exclusive shop (the first Jumanji-themed shop in the world) where they can find lots of products to satisfy all adventurers: from caps, water bottles, cups and soft toys to real survival kits complete with torch, compass and tactical pens.