The South America Trip Report

by **Mrenata** » Fri May 25, 2012 5:59 am

Early this year I decided to explore those south american parks that are not well known and that barely no one talks about it. I left Rio de Janeiro towards Santiago, Chile in order to travel all the way to Buenos Aires by bus/plane.

On my way I could visit six parks, including the most amazing abandoned park ever, Parque de la Ciudad!

One thing you should know is that Chile and Argentina are pretty much "first world countries" in South America, so it's kind of easy to get around, even for a woman traveling by herself who didn't speak a fluent spanish.

Both countries are very safe, have decent hotels and hostels, reasonable airports, good public transportation and most important, everything is cheap compared to USA or Europe, or even Brazil.

So, those were the parks I visited:

Fantasilandia - Santiago, Chile
Super Park - Córdoba, Argentina
Neverland - Buenos Aires, Argentina
Argenpark and Parque Luján - Luján, Argentina
Parque de La Ciudad - Buenos Aires, Argentina

: That was pretty much my itinerary; Viewed 8037 times

by **Mrenata** » Fri May 25, 2012 7:06 am

Fantasilandia - Santiago, Chile

Santiago is Chile's capital, and one of the biggest cities in South America. It's architecture is a mix of new office buildings with some old colonial houses. There's a hop on, hop off bus that goes arount the whole city and it works pretty much the same way the other hop on/offs buses around the world do. The subway system ir really good, it takes you everywhere and it's easy to understand how the lines are combined.

Fantasilandia is one of South America's biggest and most important parks. And is one of my favourites around here. It is located inside Parque O'Higgins, a local city park, and it's easily accessible by subway. The park even offers a shuttle from the subway station to the park gate, even though it's a 500m walk.

The park area is not big, but they make the best out of it. Their flat ride collection is very good, and includes a Condor, Top Spin, Disk'o, Go Karts, Drop Tower, Wave Swinger, Tidal Wave, etc. They also have 5 roller coasters: A SLC, a Wild Mouse, A Boomerang, A dragon and a Galaxi.

Their website is also very good and easy to navigate, even for non-spanish speakers. http://www.fantasilandia.cl/

The entrance fee is very cheap, around US$16.00!

: If you're flying from Brazil or Argentina to Santiago, the plane will cross the Andes, giving you a nice view of Aconcagua, South America's Highest point; Viewed 8015 times

: Santiago's achitecture is a mix of new and old; Viewed 8015 times

: This bus takes you from the subway station to the park entrance. There was a sign saying that it costs 100 pesos, but when I tried to pay for the ride, the bus driver told me it was free.; Viewed 8015 times

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: Raptor, a Vekoma SLC Coaster; Viewed 8015 times

: Raptor, along with MP Express are the two smoothest SLC coasters I've ever ridden.; Viewed 8015 times

: And it also has a nice landscape!; Viewed 8015 times

: The park has a lot of gardens, benches and family rides. It looks like a cute RCT park.; Viewed 8015 times

: Fun South American fact: Both Fantasilandia and Parque de la Costa (Argentina) have a wild mouse coaster, but for some reason none of the brazilian parks have got one yet. It's a shame, since it is a nice adition to any small park.; Viewed 8015 times

: The lap bars were all tied toghether. Never seen that on a wild mouse before.; Viewed 8015 times

: The Top Spin that really makes evryone wet!; Viewed 8015 times

: They also have a Pirates of Caribbean ride that is actually good, even though the boats are really, really tiny!; Viewed 8015 times

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: For some reason, this ride is very, very popular in South America!; Viewed 8015 times

: The Go Kart track goes under Boomerang; Viewed 8015 times

: A galaxi coaster, another VERY popular ride in South America; Viewed 8015 times

: This one has no lap bars, just a creepy car seatbelt; Viewed 8015 times

: The seatbelt is completely loose and one can easily take it off during the ride; Viewed 8015 times

: Ikarus was the newest addition for 2012 season; Viewed 8015 times

: And they also have this boat ride that is so rare to find nowadays. It's the only one of it's kind in South America.; Viewed 8015 times

by **simon8899** » Fri May 25, 2012 7:28 am

Looks like a nice little park with a good flat collection.

The Top Spin looks a like a former carnival ride as it still has the faded german sign "Ausgang" on its side...

Website · by **Jerrykoala2112** » Fri May 25, 2012 12:00 pm

I love it when people hit 'out of the way' parks like this! The park itself might not have the best coasters, but the scenery and greenery look top notch. It looks like such a clam park where people can relax and not worry about anything. And it looks like they take care of your rides, if you say that the SLC is smooth. I'm planning a trip to Peru in the upcoming years, and I may just make a pit stop in Santiago to visit this place. I'm am interested in picking up the credits, but that's not the only reason I'd want to visit the park.

Cannot wait to see your other trip reports

Facebook · by **RoCo** » Fri May 25, 2012 12:42 pm

Thanks for sharing this adventure! Great to see and hear about South American parks, which absolutely don't get much coverage.

That Pirates dark ride is hysterical; those boats are absurdly small. :lmao:

And loved the shot of the Andes from the plane window. Awesome.

by **beatle11** » Fri May 25, 2012 2:36 pm

Looks and sounds like a nice little park. Looking forward to the rest of the report.

by **larrygator** » Sat May 26, 2012 1:23 pm

Is the "boat" in this picture a funhouse?

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I saw a few of those riverboat funhouses in Spain and really liked them.

by **cfc** » Sat May 26, 2012 8:06 pm

The pirate boat ride is what intrigues me the most about this park--looks like a nice place.

by **Mrenata** » Sun May 27, 2012 6:24 am

The park advertised the "boat ride", caled Mississippi, as a terror ride, but I can't tell for sure whether this is accurate or not. I tried to find more information about this ride on the web, but the only thing that I could find out is that the ride is not operating anymore due to a lot of injures (which makes me think that it was indeed a Fun House). Apparently now they use the boat as a stage for some shows and contests.

by **Mrenata** » Sun May 27, 2012 6:57 am

Super Park - Córdoba, Argentina

: Culture credit: If you travel from Chile do Argentina by bus, you will cross the Andes. The trip from Santiago to Mendoza takes aprox 8 hours, and the views are breathtaking!; Viewed 7714 times

: It's almost a Wild Mouse credit!; Viewed 7714 times

: The view is amazing all the way. The roads are very safe and the buses are double decker with free snacks and beverages all the way! The one way fare is around US$50.; Viewed 7714 times

: Seriously, this road is insanely beautiful!; Viewed 7714 times

: There are some Inca ruins all the way. Breathtaking!; Viewed 7714 times

: The mules ready to climb Aconcágua; Viewed 7714 times

: The first major city in Argentina coming from Chile is Mendoza. It's the base camp for anyone who's going to climb Aconcágua. From Mendoza you can choose to either take a bus or fly to Cordoba and Buenos Aires. I choose to fly, since the air fare was really cheap (around US$90). The Airline Companies in Argentina are really good (Andes, Austral (which belongs to Aerolineas Argentinas) and LAN. Cordoba is Argentina's second biggest city and is one of the nicest ones too!; Viewed 7714 times

: Super Park is a small park inside Parque Sarmiento. It looks like a small carnival that stood still on time. It's cute, though.; Viewed 7714 times

: There are no entrance fees, or wristbands for unlimited rides. You pay 5 pesos per ride, less than US$2.; Viewed 7714 times

: They still use the good old paper ticket; Viewed 7714 times

: Speedy Gonzales, the only credit there; Viewed 7714 times

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: The park has around 20 rides, but they're all well taken care of. Their website, though, is a mess, http://www.super-park.com.ar/superpark.php; Viewed 7714 times

: Good, old flat rides; Viewed 7714 times

: Tagadas: For some inexplicable reason, they are SUPER popular in South America. I hate those rides, it doesn't make sense why one would spend money to end up with a stranger sitting on your lap. Or does it?; Viewed 7714 times