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The Land of Legends

Belek, Turkey

“Enormous entertainment resort near Turkey’s centre of tourism”

Turkey is one of the most beloved vacation destinations for European tourists. This is mostly due to the warm climate and the abundance of all-in hotels. Coaster enthusiasts, however, don’t seem to be too interested in this country. After all, a majority of the Turkish coasters are aimed at young children and you’ll often find them on semi-permanent fairgrounds. Still, there are some more interesting places. Near Istanbul, for example, we find two large-scale amusement parks, both of which happen to offer a red Intamin LSM Launch Coaster. And if you spend a vacation in Antalya, I’d definitely recommend taking a bus or taxi to the nearby Belek, where you’ll find the country’s largest amusement resort.

THE RESORT

Welcome to The Land of Legends, a large-scale entertainment destination that has something to offer for almost everyone. Fashionistas, for example, can visit Shopping Avenue. This modern shopping centre is mostly aimed at wealthy visitors, as it consists of expensive brand-name boutiques and upscale restaurants. Shopping Avenue’s most striking feature is the 70-metre tall Chateau, which is one of the tallest and most photogenic buildings in the area. Despite Shopping Avenue’s exclusive look and feel, access to the area is totally free of charge. The Land of Legends even provides free entertainment. There are several fountain shows and a boat parade takes place on the canals of Shopping Avenue each evening at 10 PM. I didn’t stay long enough to attend that parade myself, but I expect it to be a kitschy affair.

You don’t need a ticket to enter Shopping Avenue. For the other sections of Land of Legends, however, there’s an admission fee. A ticket is not cheap: online prices range between 70 and 90 euros, while you’ll pay a whopping 100 euros on-site. Fortunately, you get quite a lot in return. After all, The Land of Legends Theme Park is huge and it consists of four parts. Parts one and two are Aqua Park and Tropic Lagoon, which together form an impressive water park. Thanks to its exotic vegetation and the wide selection of attractions, this water park makes an excellent impression. Thrillseekers will find a lot of spectacular slides, but families with young children aren’t forgotten either. The most popular attraction of the entire water park turns out to be the Turtle Coaster, named after its turtle-shaped station. This water coaster is nearly half a kilometre long and it mainly stands out because of its rainbow-like colour scheme. A little patience is required, though. The wait time for Turtle Coaster hovered around 60 minutes, while most of the other slides had nonexistent queues.

ROLLER COASTERS

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that we mainly visited The Land of Legends because of its amusement park. This area is known as Adventure Land and it offers a surprisingly well-balanced roller coaster collection. The lineup includes one thrill coaster, two family-oriented coasters and a kiddie coaster. That kiddie ride is called Zippy Zappy Coaster. This is a standard children’s roller coaster from the SBF Visa Group, identical to Junior Red Force at Ferrari Land. Like its Spanish brother, Zippy Zappy Coaster is a simple and unthemed attraction. Yet, there’s one notable difference: while Ferrari Land allows adult credit hunters to take a ride, you can only visit this Turkish version if you bring a child.

Antalya has a pleasant climate and that’s an understatement. If you travel here during the summer months, hot weather is guaranteed. Fortunately, The Land of Legends provides multiple ways to cool down. The water park is obviously the main draw for water lovers, but the amusement park also boasts a Splash Battle and Typhoon Coaster. This Intamin machine is similar to the water coasters at Mirabilandia and Energylandia, albeit in a slightly more compact version. Recognizable elements are the vertical lift, a fast helix and the huge water basin. Typhoon Coaster provides a fun, family-friendly experience and I like the fact that the splash is refreshing rather than soaking wet. The ride also includes a short dark ride section, but this turned out to be relatively meaningless. Despite its limited theming, Typhoon Coaster is an excellent fit for The Land of Legends. And do you know what’s funny? The attraction’s entrance is actually located in a souvenir shop!

The Land of Legends is the proud owner of Turkey’s longest, tallest and fastest roller coaster. This ride is called Hyper Coaster and it’s undoubtedly the most spectacular ride at Adventure Land. Its most striking elements are a 61-metre tall lift hill, a giant loop and some camel backs. The experience starts with a steep, twisted first drop that provides a ton of airtime, especially if you’re seated in the back half of the train. This drop is then followed by the most intense moment of the ride, which is the vertical loop. The rest of the layout is filled with airtime hills, fast curves and a surprisingly cool zero-g roll. It should be noted that the train has a slight rattle as it races through the elements, but this didn’t bother me at all. Long story short: Hyper Coaster serves as a fine signature ride for The Land of Legends and it’s awesome to see that Mack Rides is able to build such brilliant roller coasters nowadays.

The Land of Legends isn’t that original when it comes to attraction names. If a roller coaster is over sixty metres tall, they simply call it Hyper Coaster. And if a roller coaster is suitable for the whole family, they choose to call it Family Coaster. This family roller coaster was manufactured by Gerstlauer and it’s similar to Dragon Fly (Duinrell) and Cobra des Amun Ra (Belantis). Honestly, those are fine coasters. The layout may be lacking a larger drop, but these rides feature forceful curves and they’re incredibly smooth. Unfortunately, the decoration of Family Coaster is far from impressive. The station looks pretty okay, but the actual roller coaster is located on a desert-like plot of land. Some additional trees or themed elements would be more than welcome.

OTHER EXPERIENCES

Because of its location, The Land of Legends caters mainly to international visitors. The park seems to be especially popular among Russians and the resort is clearly prepared for them. Many staff members are able to speak (basic) Russian and information signs are often written in Turkish, English and Russian. Moreover, the Russian animated series Masha and the Bear provided the inspiration for Land of Laughter, a children’s area that opened in 2020. This area is a bit tucked away, but I would definitely recommend taking a look here. In fact, theming at Land of Laughter is surprisingly elaborate and you’ll find the park’s most beautiful family attraction here. A Joyful Journey is a peaceful boat ride in which we experience four different seasons, accompanied by the characters from Masha and the Bear. I didn’t know the series or the characters, but A Joyful Journey convinced me with it colorful decors and two atmospheric dark ride scenes.

The Land of Legends offers a nice selection of flat rides. The more classic ones are a Tagada and the so-called Sky Walker, which offers weightlessness in a centrifuge-like machine. Sky Fighter is a more modern-day flat ride built by Gerstlauer. This airplane carousel will certainly look familiar if you’ve recently visited Toverland or Holiday Park. The nice thing about this Turkish version is the ride’s duration, which seems to last a bit longer than usual. It’s also fun that these Sky Fly rides are suitable for a large number of guests, as riders are able to control the intensity by themselves. Land of Legends’ most impressive-looking flat ride is Galeon. This inverted top spin excels mainly due to its setting, as it’s surrounded by antique water wheels, temple walls and fountains. Galeon deserves an award for its looks, but I’m unable to see it operating due to technical difficulties. Bummer.

Land of Legends’ main show venue is the Waterfront Kingdom Theater, which is centrally located between the amusement park and the water park. Here, the Waterfront Kingdom Show is scheduled twice every day. Essentially this is a dolphin show, as you know it from parks like SeaWorld. However, I mainly remember the Waterfront Kingdom Show because of the side acts, which are downright bad. First, there’s a predictable applause duel. Then, there’s a Kiss Cam that provides 10 awkward minutes. Finally, a dozen performers appear on the stage and they dance to pop songs from the nineties. Only then, a full twenty minutes after the show’s posted start time, the dolphins start to appear. And while similar shows in the US and Europe focus on marine conservation and protection, this turns out to be a circus-like performance with old-fashioned tricks. If you love to see dolphins jumping through a hoop or waving their tails, you’ll undoubtedly find what you’re looking for here. If you’re looking for a bit more depth, then the Waterfront Kingdom Show is a rather disappointing spectacle.

WORTH A VISIT?

A little warning to roller coaster fans planning a trip to Belek: The Land of Legends is huge, but the actual amusement park section is relatively small. So if you’re visiting solely for the roller coasters, there’s no need to consider the park as a full-day destination. Nevertheless, I had an excellent time here. The attraction lineup is fine and the roller coasters are nice headliners. Besides, I was pleasantly surprised by the atmospheric Masha and the Bear section and the clever design of the water park. Finally, kudos to the friendly crew, as they really did their best to help everyone along with a smile, despite the heat. Unfortunately, this doesn’t automatically mean that operations are top notch. Weird procedures are used here and there, which means that roller coasters are dispatched at a relatively slow pace. That’s not a problem on a day with a few hundred visitors, but wait times at top attractions may rise considerably during busier periods of the year.

Have you been able to travel to The Land of Legends? What’s your favourite slide in the water park? And do you think that a ride with two inversions deserves to be called Hyper Coaster? Share your thoughts in the comments section at the bottom of this page.

This article reflects my personal experience at The Land of Legends during a visit in June 2024.