As soon as I booked my Italy trip of last month, I quickly researched if Rome has any theme parks that I might be interested in.  I saw that MagicLand was considered Rome’s largest theme park and that it was worth visiting in one of our 5 days in the city.  My friend and I went on a Thursday and it turned out to be a very hot day.

Getting There

We stayed at Hotel Charter, which is about a 40 minute drive to MagicLand.  Taking transit will require a combination of buses and trains and a long walk totalling over 2 and a half hours, so we stuck with getting a taxi.  It was tough getting an accessible taxi so we just took a regular car taxi and had my friend transfer me in.  We were told that it would cost 100 euros for him to drive us there and we agreed.

About MagicLand

MagicLand opened in May 2011 and is a magical family theme park that is about 16,000 square meters big.  It is actually located in Valmontone, which is 50 km from Rome.  There are 38 attractions at this park and there is something all age groups could enjoy from rides and playgrounds for younger kids to more thrilling rides for older kids and adults.

I knew from the website that wheelchair guests and their companions get free admission at the Info Point booth and do not need to book tickets online in advance.  I remember from my trip to Europe last year to bring my handicap parking placard and registration form as proof of my disability to get us both free admission.

We also get wristbands stating which rides I can get onto and and get to skip lines for the rides. I got level 1 which doesn’t allow me on many rides.  Looking back, I should have mentioned that my friend could have transferred me into some of the slow and easy rides and got a level 2 wristband.

Here is a recap of our day’s events:

Character Encounters

After entering the park and taking a few photos of the area, we see MagicLand’s mascot Gattobaleno who is a cat with a rainbow tail walking around with a dancer posing for pictures with guests.  It is always fun having character encounters at Universal and Disney theme parks and cruises, so we had to have one at this theme park too.  Surprisingly, he was the only character encounter for this park.

Yucatan Restaurant

Since we did not eat anything yet before arriving to the park, we wanted to eat right away.  We stopped at La Cambusa which was closest to us but they only served donuts, croissants and sandwiches so we moved on and saw Yucatan.  This restaurant had lunch items like hot dogs, pizza, and fries.

Food didn’t look too appetizing but we were hungry and got the hot dog, fries, drink combo which was almost 15 euros each and was just an ok meal.  The hot dog was very basic and tasted similar to the dollar hot dogs from Costco and Ikea.  At least it came with a reusable collectible MagicLand plastic cup.

Exploring the Park

Since there wasn’t many rides for someone with a disability 1 bracelet, for the next while we just wandered around to explore the park.  I still had fun looking around at all the cool attractions and rides and got to see my friend have fun on some of the rides like the water splash rides and rollercoaster.

The park was never really busy at any of the rides but I did get a couple chances to lean back in the Medic room waiting area.  By the time it was later in the afternoon, it got really hot so it was great relaxing in the air conditioned while waiting for my friend to finish his ride.

Flying Island

The Flying Island is the only ride that I could do with a level 1 disability wristband.  There is a ramp to wheel on the one side of the flying island.  This section is separated from the other side but my friend and I had it to ourselves.

The flying island slowly lifts up to over 50 meters high as we get a bird’s eye view of the entire park to see all the mountains, greenery and rides.  Although the wheelchair area does not wrap all the way around, the see through fence made it easy to see everything.  The ride only lasts a few minutes but it was worth doing.

Grand Illusion

The next thing we did was see the Grand Illusion show at the Gran Teatro.  To get to the accessible seating, we had to go around to the side of the theater.  This was a bit difficult at first because staff only spoke Italian and were trying to point us where to go.  When we did find it, it was the front row of the theater with a few seats removed for wheelchairs.

The show wasn’t high production value and seems to be aimed at families and kids.  There were levitating, lady in a box, painting illusions, card tricks and a few others.  The show was almost a half hour and it was enjoyable and nice and cool inside the theater.

Cosmo Academy Planetarium

While waiting for Bizarre Moons show at Cosmo Academy Planetarium, we enjoyed a nice smoothie and my friend went on another ride.  At the show, wheelchair guests are at the back row where there were empty spots for us.  The whole show was narrated in Italian and there were no English subtitles.  It was still cool to watch the video and be in an air conditioned room.

Show was almost 20 minutes and we had to exit and come back in 20 minutes for the Once Upon a Time there was a Big Bang show.  We went t the bathroom and then returned back to the Planetarium for the last show of the day.  Again, this show was narrated in Italian with no English subtitles.

Suddenly Splashes

After the Planetarium show, as we were heading towards the exit of the park, we happen to see the Suddenly Splashes show.  This a water fountain show that shoots up streams of water from the Bay combing with lights and music.  This actually happens every hour throughout the day and only lasts minutes.

Leaving the Park

The park closed at 6pm on the day we went and my friend called a taxi about 15 minutes to closing.  It was estimated to come in 45 minutes to an hour, so we had to wait for him outside of the park by the entrance.  Taxi guy took a while to find us but when he found us we were happy to head back to our hotel.  What was shocking was that he charged us 170 euros and would not back down.

Final Thoughts

MagicLand was still very enjoyable despite having only 1 wheelchair accessible ride.  There were a few good shows to watch and get out of the hot sun.  It was worth visiting since wheelchair guests and their companions get free admission but make sure you get the right level for the disability wristband since that dictates what rides and attractions you are able to do.

We spent over 6.5 hours at the park and it never seem crowded.  MagicLand is a bit out of the way from Rome but with proper planning there could be a cheaper and better way to get there.  I would definitely revisit if I had the time on my next visit to Rome.