Fasten your seatbelts: work has begun on the construction of the Ferrari Land theme park. Based in the PortAventura Resort near Barcelona, Spain, it is described as a "take on the Ferrari myth." It will reference Formula 1, Ferrari innovation, traditional Italy and marque founder Enzo Ferrari.
Plans for Ferrari Land were announced last year and the first brick was laid last week. It follows in the footsteps of Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi, which opened in 2010.
The park itself will cover 75,000 sq m (810,000 sq ft) and will apparently make the PortAventura Resort the resort with the highest number of theme parks in Europe – three in total. PortAventura says the park will be aimed at families and fans of the Ferrari brand, and will seek for it to embody the essence of Ferrari.
With that in mind, the park will be home to a variety of themed attractions, a number of which PortAventura says will set new records. One of the biggest attractions is expected to be the "Vertical Accelerator." At 112 m (367 ft) tall, it is expected to become the highest roller coaster in Europe.
Passengers will be propelled vertically upwards to the top of ride, before plummeting straight back down. The Vertical Accelerator will reach speeds of up to 180 km/h (112 mph) in 5 seconds producing forces of up to 1.35 G.
PortAventura describes its partnership with Ferrari as "single most important project in the history of PortAventura Resort" and says it has invested nearly €100 million (US$1.14 million) in the new theme park. It expects the park to attract 5 million visitors and over 1 million overnight stays by 2017.
Ferrari Land is scheduled to open in 2016 and PortAventura says it will continue to be developed over the following years. More information is available in the video below.
Source: PortAventura