Amused! beyond expectations

Following a week filled with 45hrs of work, 150km of smoked riding over discontinuously appearing patches of asphalt and irritating rains, one wishes for a fun-filled weekend offering a change from the mundane activities. And this weekend, someone out there said: 'Tathastu!'

The city (well, technically Bangalore IS a city. Mind you, technically alone!) always persuades one into believing that a fresh-air retreat is away from your reach. Thankfully though, occasionally this turns out to be just an illusion. Just an hour's drive away on Mysore road, Wonder La awaits to welcome you to enjoy a fun-filled day.

Owing to a recent trip to Six Flags Magic Mountain my expectations for the Wonder La experience were set below the mark. I am happy to admit that this prejudice was proven to be out of place. Another factor that had led me to set low expectations from Wonder La was a trip to Essel World, Mumbai about 4yrs ago. All I remember from the trip is the feeling of having been to an over-used and under-maintained area of reclaimed land!

Wonder La is a lot different than both Six Flags and Essel World in a lot of ways. A more natural and genuine comparison though for Wonder La would be with Essel World. Even though Wonder La gets the advantage of being just a couple of years old, kudos are due to the management for maintaining exemplary cleanliness as compared to Indian standards. Inspite of the missing civic sense among visitors, the housekeeping staff was found winning all the time in the battle of trash! Essel world on the other hand I remember was close to a dumpyard made of over-flowing dustbins. Wonder La fills your day just about right. Some nice dry-rides and commendably designed water rides make you feel the money's worth. Essel World (read Essel World + Water Kingdom) on the other hand seems too big for a day and leaves you unsatisfied if you are aiming to cover the dry as well as wet rides. The food at Wonder La is as cheap as you would get it at any other restaurant in Bangalore and you dont feel cheated on that aspect. On the other hand, I remember paying 100 bucks for a pav bhaji which was probably not even worth half of it. I might be sounding too anti-Essel World here but that's just based on my personal experience. I admit my Essel World experience could be hugely out-dated. Nonetheless I feel its worth a comparison.

Not everything is wonderful in Wonder La though. The most striking deficiency is the poor choice of ride variety. I had never imagined that an amusement park could live without a roller coaster! Strange, isnt it? Moreover, all the rides seem to be inspired from one particular feeling of thrill. Some of them also felt as if they were manifestations of the sadistic fantasies of the designer more than rides meant to thrill. This struck me primarily because I had found myself finding it difficult to choose from the 15 or so all-different coasters at Six Flags. Apologies to the local junta of the Bangalore region but nothing other than rice seems to fit their definition of edible food :P One expects a park like this to serve some light munchies which let the bowels take it easy since the rides are going to take them for a toss anyway. I guess the local area needs some time to grow up and I sincerely hope it will!

One thing that deserves a special mention is the excellent use of solar energy at Wonder La. On the 'drop-zone' (vertical fall ride) I could notice all the buildings in the park laden with cutting-edge solar collectors that were being used to maintain the entire water supply in the park at a comfortable 28 degrees C. Talk about going green, the first steps have been taken already! Kudos to the Wonder La team.

Although this post seems to have taken the form of a skeptical review of Wonder La, the only feelings I had while at the park were those of fun, frolic and occassional euphoria :)

Worth a day and worth the money! Wonder Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...