Postcards from Imagica

It is 2016! 

Happy New Year everyone.

Another year of travel ended, leaving me with a bag full of experience and memories. Some I have already shared with you, some still waiting to be out of the bag. One such memory is what I want to share today – one that I never fathomed would happen, ever.

People usually have resolutions phase of the year in the first couple of months, I usually have them during the end of the year. Before the 2015 ended, I had decided to go to an adventure theme park – after being challenged by God knows how many friends of mine. If you think it is no big deal, wait for it – I am terribly scared of rides! Dead scared!! So yes it was a big dare to myself, and as luck would have it, I was invited to Adlabs Imagica near Mumbai for a FAM (Familiarization) trip for a day.

So straight to the postcards from my day at Imagica. But before that, Imagica has a surprise New Year gift for all people living in Mumbai. How many of you had procrastinated going to Imagica cause of transport issues as it is a bit far from the main city? Well guess what, Imagica has recently tied up with BEST! Now you have two BEST AC Buses from Churchgate and Borivali to reach Imagica.  

Source

And now here are the reasons why you should visit Imagica –

Yes this is Imagica

1.   Theme - It is all about Disney from the minute you enter. The Dream Magic castle with a pond full of lotuses; 3D walls with stories of Disney Princesses and little bit of magical touch to every corner. It is a mini Disney land which actually has tried to stay very different from Disney with a magical Indian flavour in the theme.

Snow white was a Disney princess after all!

Free fall in the water pool!

2.  Rides - As scared as I was, I did try out some rides including Nitro, Deep space, Mr India - the death ride and Rajasaurus River Adventure (An indoor ride which takes back the visitors to dinosaur age via a boat in on river which ends with an splashy inclined fall down to a water pool from a height of 20m). Love rides, you will not be disappointed even for a minute!

Nitro - sure it made me sick but OMG!!

 

Age old gates of Salimgarh, Beware!

3.  Shows and Theme Rides - This is for kids, grown ups and for people like me! Fun, themed and mildly scary ride of Salimgarh - the land of the death, into the cave of the forty thieves from Ali Baba and Chalis Chor, finding and fighting life forces in the Temple of Gods, travelling underwater will sleeping on ground during prince of the Dark water and admiring bird's eye view of the diversity of India in I for India. These were my favourite part of the theme park!

'Cause this is Arabia!

4.  The parade - With Belle and Cinderella inviting you and the dwarves to Imagica, the Imagica parade sure takes you though the theme of the park in a span of 15 mins. Dance, music, fun, and magic - define the parade which happens every evening at 5 near the magic lake. But in case you have plans of leaving early, the stunts and dance performers have impromptu shows around the park throughout the day.

Straight out of the books

5.  For Photo Crazy People - Yes, It is me after all. And I couldn't help but go click click around the place that is brilliantly decorated with dreamy lights and quirky decore.

As quirky as it can get, right?

Reasons why you might not want to visit Imagica:

Still not Disneyland!

I am not a PR agent for Imagica. 

Though I had a hell lot of fun there, with minor jolts of shock scare and motion sickness, I did realize some reason why you might not want to visit Imagica.

1.   Express ticket - Imagica entry does not guarantee comfortable rides without the hassle of queues. If you are an adrenaline junky and enjoy rides it is better to pay for the express ticket. But at the same time express ticket is nothing but a waste of money for people like me, who are extremely scared of rides, there aren’t many rides or shows to keep you occupied the whole day.

2.  Food - You are not allowed to carry anything inside the park and the food at Imagica eateries is slightly heavy on your pockets and not really tasty.

3.  Sun – Imagine standing in long queues with no shade at all during summers. Trust me it is not fun, especially when it is the tropical sun. Not scared of tanning completely, well you don’t need to worry a bit the.

4.  Diversity of rides – As the park is still new, it has a lot of new and exciting rides but fails in numbers, the shows seemed more than the rides at a point and some rides seemed like ‘just there for the sake of having something’ eg. The Cup and Saucer ride and the dashing boats.

The FAM Group of the day!

Nevertheless, thanks to Adlabs Imagica, Mumbaikars have a new weekend getaway and now with less worries about how to get there and back!