Mirabilandia celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2022, so we made a visit to the popular Italian theme park including its newest addition, Ducati World.

Ducati World is the world’s first themed area to be inspired by a motorcycle brand and located in a theme park.

Mirabilandia is located in the Emilia-Romagna region, where Ducati was born, and is the second-largest theme park in Italy as well as the second-most visited park in the Parques Reunidos chain.

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Ducati World

Ducati World occupies a 35,000 m² area at Mirabilandia, on the far side of the park's large central lake. The contemporary design helps it stand out from the surrounding themed areas at the park. The pathway around the new area has been styled like a race track.

Approaching from one side, the main entrance features a huge archway inspired by the fuel tank of a motorcycle, and on the opposite side a simple yet striking sign sits at the secondary entrance.

A large open plaza emblazoned with the Ducati logo is flanked by the Ducati Experience building and headline attraction, Desmo Race. Shortly after we entered the area, a motorcycle and six performers arrived for the musical show That's Amore which takes place on and around a central stage.

Ducati World represents an investment of €25 million and includes a total of six attractions, three food and drink outlets, and a shop.

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Desmo Race

This new ride is the world's first interactive double-track duelling roller coaster. On a two-seat motorcycle - which simulates driving a Ducati Panigale V4 - it is possible to race along two parallel tracks. When sitting in the front, the driver can use the throttle and a boost button to affect the speed during the ride.

Anyone that's 6 years old or above, and at least 120cm tall, has the opportunity to feel like a racer and can experience the thrill of a motorbike race like no other.

Desmo Race is a Spike Racing powered roller coaster from the German manufacturer Maurer, and is only the second ride of this type in the world. It uses an unusual rack and pinion system to propel the motorcycles around the 1,722ft (525m) long tracks, which generates a roaring sound not dissimilar to that of a real motorbike.

The attraction didn't open until midday, which is possibly to limit the number of laps that each motorcycle completes per day, due to the level of maintenance required on such an unusual ride. The motorcycles appeared to become louder as the day went on, presumably as the greased pinions dried out.

A lap of each track takes around one minute to complete, and the motorcycles reach a top speed of just under 50 mph (80 km/h). As there are no conventional lap bars or overhead restraints, and with just a hefty seat bet to secure you, the riding position feels very exposed and this really elevates the level of thrill. The motorcycles look fantastic and all have onboard sound and video integrated into the dash.

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There are no inversions, but the track is extensively banked and sends riders through some very tight twists and turns, with considerable changes in elevation up to a maximum height of 72 ft (50 m). This leads to quite a few moments of airtime, with a g-force of 1.2 experienced by riders.

We tried both tracks, as they are subtly different, and swapped seating positions so that we could both try riding as a driver and a passenger. Sitting in the front has the obvious benefit of getting to hold on to the handlebar and staring directly down the track in front of you, with the responsibility of being in control of the throttle and speed boost button. However, in the back seat the elevated view is excellent and without needing to hold on and use the controls, you are free to let go and really enjoy the ride.

With up to 12 motorcycles (6 per track) and a dispatch time of as little as 10 seconds between motorcycles, a capacity of 1,000 riders per hour is possible. The staff were working hard to dispatch the motorcycles as quickly as they could, whilst ensuring rider safety, so the queue kept moving along steadily.

Although the ride has been designed so that the motorcycles on each track are released together to facilitate a race, it was rather more random than that. Either due to a discrepancy in the time taken to prepare each motorcycle to be dispatched, or an uneven number of motorcycles in use, sometimes a race was possible and other times it was not.

Overall, we really enjoyed riding Desmo Race and must commend both the park and the manufacturer for investing in such an innovative new ride that offers a very different kind of roller coaster experience.

Ducati Experience

The front fairing of the Ducati Panigale V4 has inspired the entrance of the new Ducati Experience building, a structure that houses a display of Ducati motorcycles, simulators, the Paddock Caffè and the Ducati World Shop, where guests can purchase clothing and accessories.

The two Motion Sphere simulators require the purchase of an additional ticket for €10 and allow guests to experience the thrill of riding a 221HP motorcycle or a Panigale V4R. They use a combination of motion, surround sound, a wind effect and video developed by Milestone in Milan, which uses aerial photography and drone-scanning to reproduce environments and details of the tracks.

There isn't a charge to use the other six Simulators, which are a line of two Monster 1200 R bikes, two Diavel Carbon bikes and two 1299 Panigale R Final Editions. These were made by the French company E6lab and allow riders to race each other in real-time on a motion-base in front of a screen.

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Other Attractions

There are three more attractions in Ducati World, created especially for younger guests. From the Italian company SBF Visa Group, Diavel Ring allows riders to try their hands at drifting and hear the wheels screeching and skidding, and next to this Kiddy Monster is a simple carousel ride that lets riders feel the wind in their hair as their mini Ducati Monster rises up into the sky.

From another Italian manufacturer, Preston & Barbieri, Scrambler Run is a track ride on two-seater bikes inspired by the well-known Ducati Scrambler. This ride was out of action during our visit, with the rather bare metal and concrete track system sitting empty throughout the day.

The range of food and drink options in Ducati World is rounded off with sweet treats from the Pit Stop and burgers, pulled pork, sausages and ribs at Scrambler BBQ.

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Mirabilandia

Mirabilandia is a 210-acre theme park, so there's much more to see and do than just Ducati World.

Some of the other highlights at Mirabilandia include the inverted coaster Katun, launch coaster iSpeed and water coaster Divertical.

We also enjoyed the interactive dark ride Reset and the incredible views from Eurowheel, a 302 ft (92 m) tall Ferris wheel.

Our day at Mirabilandia came to an end with the Hot Wheels City show, featuring a variety of impressive stunts including a real car navigating a 60 ft (18 m) loop!

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Find out more!

We were guests of Mirabilandia for the purposes of this review.

Find out more and book your visit at mirabilandia.it