Blue Tornado

A video by British theme park fan Orson Bourne suddenly put Gardaland in a harsh spotlight in October 2025. Looopings described how the nearly three-minute TikTok video passed 100,000 views and focused on closed attractions, queues running out of control and disappointing food service. Blue Tornado played a concrete part in the story: Bourne decided to skip the coaster because the posted wait had reached 100 minutes. His visit also stalled elsewhere in the park. He found Jumanji disappointing, saw a two-hour queue for a water ride and ran into delays at several coasters. According to the visitor, only part of the park was accessible at opening, which he linked to cost-cutting by owner Merlin Entertainments. For Blue Tornado, the mention matters because the queue shows how heavily the ride can still shape a busy-day visit. The video drew recognition from other guests and was picked up by British media as a sharp public takedown of Gardaland.

In November 2021, Gardaland chose to keep its gates open for the first time in the period between Halloween and Christmas. Looopings reported that the Italian park would welcome guests on every Saturday and Sunday of that month for Prezzemolo & Friends, a family event with shows, meet-and-greets and activities from 10:00 to 17:00. The programme was smaller than a regular park day, but Blue Tornado was still included in the list of major rides scheduled to operate. Jungle Rapids, Mammut, Fuga da Atlantide, Raptor, Oblivion, Space Vertigo and Flying Island were also part of the line-up, while areas with Shaman, Colorado Boat and Kung Fu Panda Master remained closed. For Blue Tornado, the news matters because the coaster was not treated only as a summer crowd-puller, but also as a key ride in a limited off-season offer. The story shows how Gardaland used its major thrill rides to make a short November opening attractive for guests who would normally have no park day between Halloween and Christmas.

In November 2018, Vekoma announced a new generation of suspended coasters: the suspended thrill coaster. Looopings placed Blue Tornado in the technical family tree of the classic suspended looping coaster, alongside rides such as Condor at Walibi Holland, Vampire at Walibi Belgium and MP Xpress at Movie Park Germany. That comparison gives the news real value for Blue Tornado's history. The Gardaland coaster is not an isolated ride, but part of a Vekoma lineage that shaped the look and feel of suspended looping coasters across Europe for many years. Vekoma presented its new Thunderbird layout as a more comfortable follow-up, with two inversions, five airtime hills, six tight turns, a height of 31 metres and a top speed of 80 kilometres per hour. For visitors and fans, the story shows how expectations around this ride type changed. Blue Tornado represents the classic generation, while Vekoma's successor showed how the same basic idea could be made smoother, more modern and more broadly appealing.