It would probably be safe to say that it’s finally the season when we are done with our initial euphoria of the monsoon and the gloom of the sky is painting our minds gray. While we could not do much to get over our weekday blues, we found a fun way to break out of the mundane on a weekend. A recent short getaway we had at Wonderla Parks and Resorts in Bengaluru took us back to our childhood and at the end, we came back from the staycation with our hearts happy and fully-rested. Here is how it went.
After a long drive from the city, we checked into the resort on a Wednesday morning. The resort is tucked within the much less discovered part of the city, Mysore Road. The main building — painted in white with splashes of maroon, green and yellow — looked like a doll house made of Lego blocks! Upon entering, the black and white square patterns on the floor and tinges of orange on the otherwise white wall made the space more vibrant. Spread over 1,00,000 square feet, the hotel complex has 84 rooms.
The check-in formalities took almost half an hour to get over and that kind of numbed down our excitement. But when we finally got to our room, the pop décor seemed inviting. What stood out the most in the room was a statement red wall, adorned with graphic art, breaking the monotony of pristine white walls and adding a pop of colour to our moods. The cosy Deluxe Room had two beds and a small seating arrangement by the window. Much to our relief, instead of facing the noisy amusement park, the room was overlooking the unruly green cover on the other side of the road. It seemed like a shroud of peaceful quiet had descended upon us — we could hear ourselves breathe.
The stillness came to an end as we heard our tummies growl and ordered breakfast from the on-property restaurant Woods. In 20 minutes, we were presented with a Grilled Chicken Club Sandwich (which came with a side of some fries and mayo dip) and Chicken Caesar Salad. Both the dishes tasted well and were filling. The ingredients used were surprisingly fresh and we polished off the light-yet-wholesome meal in no time. Finally up on our feet, we got ready and headed off to the most exciting part of our stay — the rides at the amusement park!
The park boasts a wide range of rides with over 60 land, water and high thrill rides. Spoilt with choices, we could not make a decision and ended up on the first ride we could lay our eyes on — Crazy Wagon. Simply put, a wooden wagon that takes you high up in the air and then down at a rapid speed, this is a ride we got up on for fun but ended up falling in love with the view at the top. We hopped on from one ride to the other, including high thrill rides like Drop Zone, Flash Tower and the roller coaster. The last one is not for the faint-hearted but if you are a sucker for an adrenaline rush, you would probably not get a higher and faster roller coaster than this in and around Bengaluru.
However, the ones that noob adventurers like us ended up loving the most were two: Termite Train and Ferris Wheel. The former is a termite-shaped train that is taken through a make-believe dark cave dimly illuminated with red lights: we felt like characters from some unwritten novel by Roald Dahl! Finally, we ended our trip to the park by watching the sunset from the Ferris Wheel. The serene view will remain etched in our memories for a long, long time. The only disruption in this was us trying to have a quick lunch at their restaurant Chillies, where the Chicken Noodles was, at best, disagreeable.
We walked back to the resort, chilled by the pool for a bit and then dined at Woods. We ordered Lemon Pepper Chicken Soup, Prawns Tempura, Chicken A La King (tender chicken pieces in creamy sauce), Risotto Al Gamberoni (risotto with prawns simmered in white wine and tomatoes), Char Sui Lamb (roasted lamb slices with bamboo shoots and spring onion) and the signature Wonderla Triple Chocolate slice with Fruit Caulis (layers of chocolates with fruits) for dessert. We would simply advise the readers to use their discretion – order the safer options and most importantly, one dish at a time.
However, the breakfast next morning redeemed it to an extent. From classic English breakfast options like breads and muffins to South Indian fare like dosas and idlis — the buffet had something for every preference. Needless to say why we went for the safer choice of English breakfast and found it to be simple and wholesome. All in all, we would recommend a getaway at this resort, whether you plan to visit with family or friends. If having exotic food is not your priority, the stay experience and time at the park would surely let you get back to your work with a fresh mind.
INR 8,500 onwards. At Mysore Road.
Email: prattusa@newindianexpress.com
Twitter: @MallikPrattusa