Tivoli Gardens Announces Japan Area Featuring New Attractions

(eap) At the historic Tivoli amusement park in Copenhagen, which is also known internationally as Tivoli Gardens, the largest thematic construction project in the park’s history is taking shape: a Japan area is scheduled to open as early as August this year.

The area previously known as the “Asia area” has undergone a striking transformation over the past two years. Soon, the area will bear the name “Hikari” (German: “light”) and invite visitors into a street atmosphere with Japanese-inspired architecture, scenography, street food and original Japanese art, as well as two new attractions. The new area covers more than 2,000 square metres and represents an investment in the triple-digit million range in Danish kroner.

Rendering: Tivoli The new Japan area is not intended as a nostalgic reconstruction, but as a modern interpretation of Japan, inspired by its architecture and landscape and interpreted through Tivoli’s own perspective. Among the highlights will be two new attractions: the family-oriented funhouse “Hotel Hikari” and the adrenaline ride “Tyfonens Øje” (German: “The Eye of the Typhoon”), which rotates at high speed before the floor is lowered, causing riders to be pressed weightlessly against a circular back wall under high G-forces. The latter attraction, a Zero Gravity model supplied by Italian manufacturer SBF-Visa, marks a premiere installation at a Scandinavian park. The funhouse, designed as a hotel and sending visitors on a journey through rooms full of surprises and obstacles, comes from the likewise Italian supplier Gosetto.

Park Map Image: Tivoli In addition to the two new attractions, the existing roller coaster “Dæmonen” – a Floorless Coaster from Swiss manufacturer B&M that opened in 2004 – will be integrated into the new Japan area. According to the park, extensive scenographic changes have been made to the ride so that it fits into the new Japan theme. Alongside the mechanical attractions, another key focus of the new area will be Japanese cuisine: a total of five street-food outlets will provide food and drink, offering both takeaway options and dishes to be enjoyed in covered dining areas. Guests can also look forward to authentic Japanese artefacts such as doors, windows and vintage items, as well as a work by Japanese artist Takashi Murakami that will be exhibited in the new area. Further street-art works and decorative elements are intended to complete the Japanese atmosphere at Tivoli.

Susanne Mørch Koch, CEO of Tivoli, comments: “The solid financial results achieved by Tivoli in recent years have enabled us to invest even more ambitiously in the development of the amusement park. That is why we have been looking forward to lifting the curtain on an extremely visionary area at Tivoli. With this area, we are showing that Tivoli can continue to renew itself, surprise its visitors and offer them new experiences […]” – while at the same time retaining the historic charm of the amusement park founded by Georg Carstensen in the heart of Copenhagen in 1843.

Learn all about the new Hikari themed area in one of the next issues of EAP Trade Magazine. ■