VIALAND Tema Park — Attraction in Eyüpsultan

Overcharged and underdelivered!

This theme park is a missed opportunity, which could have been all fixed by a new management/ strategy. It was truly a big disappointment and waste of our time and money!

I could only compare it to numerous parks I visited in Germany. A theme park there would have around 100 attractions, including some shows (some of which are worth the admission alone). For all that only about 60% of the price is charged. Additionally, it's very common to find copouns which add further 20 to 50% discount. As a result, theme parks are crowded even on weekdays, and it's very common to wait 30 minutes or more for major attractions.

Here, on the other hand, you get charged 60$ for the basic ticket, which permits the use of 30 attractions with no shows (not even a single mascot on the park). This ticket will not even be offered at the entrance if you didn't explicitly ask about it. I got 2 higher priced tickets (Silver Packages for 90$ each) for my 8 and 10 years old kids for additional fun at a parkour course and a horse/ archery course plus a free picture each. Without those, we wouldn't have anything to do the last few hours of our visit.

As for pictures; they were useless as no shots were taken during attractions with true emotions. As soon as u get inside, u will be greeted by employees who will ask you about your picture allowance and will take pictures in front of a green screen and you will be told where to collect them. Background options were available, but we were not given the chance to choose.

We went on a weekday in December, and the employees to visitors ratio was very high. I wouldn't be surprised if it was a 1:2 ratio. Much fun couldn't be realized, as we were wandering in an almost empty park. The other part of fun was destroyed as we were surrounded by staff who were very keen to enforce the rules and stopped my children from playing together for even a 2cm deviation. I have never seen in my life a theme park with so many regulations, even on the most basic attractions. 2 years old, not allowed to be accompanied at the horse carousel game. The most disgusting of all was an empty slide with tires at the parkour course where if I remember 110 to 150cm children were allowed. Then, based on another weight restriction of 30kg, nobody was allowed. My eligible kids were 132 and 137cm and clearly couldn't even knack the 25kg mark. I can't imagine how many kids would fulfill such a requirement. So yes, there were no lines to hold you from the games, but there was not much fun to be had.

And as if not all this was enough, 3 major attractions were closed due to maintenance. Two of which we were really excited about. Both water rides (Viking and the rapid ride) closed for the day. And of course, there is no mention of that during booking. The third closed attraction had something to do with VR.

And then there was this horse/ archery course to which we had 2 tickets. 1 ticket would grant admission to just one of the two. Either a 2 min. guided horse ride (three staff members gathered around my daughter to prepare her as there was absolutely nobody else in that area) or 10 shots of archery.

As a positive note; the park itself was fine although small. Has more WCs than u can count. All it needs is a new management, which understands how to run a park profitablely without messing up the experience for its visitors. Admission price should be adjusted to get an employee to visitors ratio that makes sense. Transparency in the pricing should be a given. Those regulations should be adjusted and not be taken (in most cases) too seriously. With all this staff, surely there should have been room for some to make the park more exciting instead of the police-minded mentality!

As this park was the biggest and most famous in Istanbul. I thought that it should be a must for a family trip to the city but boy was I wrong. This was just a tourist trap no different than many other restaurants in the city. Our 2 and half hours bike ride around the main Princess Island was far more exciting than...

This is the best attraction in Istanbul. If you dont visit this you have missed the best part of Istanbul. The ticket price is 200 T.L. You have to present your id or passport to get a ticket. You can take as much rides as you can in this 200. It was not crowded. It waz awesomly neat and clean. The staff is more than super friendly. They speak english very well. I asked the staff on the Alladin 4d cinema to take some pictures of me with my camera and she willingly helped me out. I dont know her name but i want to thank her because the clicks she did were the most beautiful clicks in my whole visit. The roller coaster is awesome. You cannot take mobile phone with you while riding roller coaster and it is a correct decision of the management as i assure you will drop it during the ride. It is super fast. However they have cabins where you can put your stuff including mobile phones right where you board the roller coaster and get them back after the ride. The name of roller coaster is nefsesken. The 4d cinema is good as well. It played Alladdin movie. It can be improved a little however it was good. All the rides were very neat, clean and well managed. You may feel 200 T.L a little expensive but infact it is not expensive at all. It offers you a vast range of rides suitable for different age ranges accordingly. I wish to go there again and again. The building, the structure, the staff, the management everything is superb. It is situated inside the Vialand mall. The entry is after passing through the mall. The vialand mall is itself super cool. A must visit in Istanbul. Believe me if you miss vialand, you missed the real attraction not only in Istanbul, rather in whole Turkey. A must go for adventurers. It was not crowded even on eid days. I visited on 3.05.2022. Every single ride is operational. A lot of appreciations to the management. The only negativity is about the ticket. you purchase it online it is for 179 T.L amd if you buy from the booth outside the park it is for 199 T.L and if you dont have a Turkish residence permit/identity document. The ticket is 749 which is too much expensive. This is an unjust rule. They should give the ticket to the foreigners for...

Extremely Unprofessional and Inconsistent Staff Ruined Our Day*

Our recent visit to Vialand was nothing short of a disaster, primarily due to the unprofessional and inconsistent behavior of the staff. As a family, we were looking forward to an enjoyable day, but our experience left us frustrated and disappointed.

We have a 5-year-old daughter who had already been measured and allowed to ride an attraction earlier in the day, confirming her height was over 100 cm. However, when she wanted to go on the same ride again later, she was initially allowed to enter without any issues. Unfortunately, as we were waiting in line, we were abruptly told by the staff that she needed to be measured again. This led to a scene where she was pulled out of the line, causing her to cry and ruining her excitement.

Despite informing the staff that she had already been measured and had ridden the attraction before, they rudely insisted on measuring her again. Their dismissive and accusatory attitude made us feel like we were being treated as liars. The excuse that the gatekeepers work independently and have different rules was unacceptable and only added to our frustration.

After measuring her again and confirming her height was indeed over 100 cm, she was allowed back into the line. This unnecessary and humiliating process was both frustrating and upsetting for our daughter. Staff members Ms Elif and Ms Dilek, who were involved in this incident, seemed more interested in satisfying their egos rather than ensuring a pleasant experience for visitors.

The lack of professionalism, courtesy, and proper training among the staff at Vialand is alarming. We came to this park hoping to give our children a joyful experience, but instead, we were met with rudeness and incompetence. I strongly advise anyone with a shred of self-respect to avoid this place. If Vialand management values their reputation, they should seriously consider re-evaluating their staff training and customer service policies.

Overall, this was a deeply disappointing experience, and we will not be...