Italy’s Gardaland is teasing its new attraction for 2024. The park has not announced what type of ride or show its new attraction will be, save to say that it will be “inspired by the legends of the Native Americans.”
The park has installed a purple fence next to its Shaman roller coaster with a message promising a summer 2024 debut for whatever the attraction might be.
Photo courtesy Gardaland
“The story of the Native Americans is known by everyone and, for this reason, the new attraction will involve – in a different way – guest of different generations,” Gardaland Resort CEO Sabrina de Carvalho said. “This will be a major attraction, with a very strong theme inspired by the legends of the Native Americans, who have always been the protagonists of true stories as well as cinematographic and literary works which illustrate qualities such as courage and physical prowess, as well as altruism and a strong connection with nature and famous rituals performed for a wide variety of purposes, from the Sun Dance to that of purification.”
The gold standard for theme park attractions featuring indigenous people in North America long has been Knott’s Berry Farm’s now-defunct Mystery Lodge. BRC Imagination Arts created the Pepper’s Ghost “Holavision” theater show in 1994, following a similar production, called Spirit Lodge, that Bob Rogers created in consultation with the ‘Namagis First Nation for Vancouver’s 1986 world’s fair.
With Mystery Lodge closed due to ongoing technical issues (parts for unique projection systems built in the 1990s tend to be hard to come by), I would love to see another park deliver an attraction that honors Native American storytelling. But that attraction would need to be developed in cooperation with Native and First Nations artists, no matter where in the world it is located. So I will eagerly await more detail from Gardaland and Merlin Magic Making about what they have planned for next summer.
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