GILROY, CALIF. (April 15, 2005) – With the 2005 opening of Bonfante Gardens, California’s only horticultural theme park, guests will notice construction crews digging around Coyote Lake to make room for Bonfante’s Splash Garden™, a fun-filled water play area that will give kids of all ages a place to cool off in the hot summer sun, climb up a replicated Circus Tree, play on a water-soaked teeter-totter, spin water wheels, tip over buckets of water, splash around in a bubbling fun zone and more – all FREE with park admission! Set in the center of the water playground is the towering Tree Top Sprayground™, a fun-filled, 18-foot tall water structure that looks like the famed Basket Circus Tree and is equipped with spraying water, a climbing area inside the trunk and a dry slide that wraps around its perimeter.

“Bonfante Gardens performed well during the 2004 season showing a bright future ahead for the park, giving us the confidence and ability to invest in Bonfante’s Splash Garden™ for the 2005 Season,” says Barb Granter, vice president of Bonfante Gardens.

Bonfante’s Splash Garden™ opens in June and includes five interactive water attractions:

Tree Top Sprayground™ – This 18-foot tall, 12-foot diameter Basket Circus Tree replica is a circus treehouse filled with approximately 15 platforms that twist up inside the tree structure of cascading water fun! Kids can climb to a deck, located 13-feet high inside the trunk, where they feel like they are in the middle of a noisy rain storm as they board a 17-foot long dry slide that sends them swinging around the perimeter of the tree!

Agua Playground™ - This bubbling shallow water wonderland allows kids to play and stomp creating a splashing fun zone. They’re in for a big surprise as water squirts up three to four-feet into the air adding to the splish-splashing festivities!

Soakin’ Fun Sea Saw™ – Imagine a sea saw pumping station of squirting water with a waterfall tree as its fulcrum! This teeter-totter style pump for two to four is activated by kids as they use pumps to control the amount of water that shoots up. Vertical geysers and surprise pinhole sprays will gush down surprising users and passersby. This Soakin Fun Sea Saw puts traditional sea saws to shame!

Super Squirter Station™ – This water shooting station has six wood-grained squirt guns set in a circle at regular intervals around a garden blasting zone. Guests can manually blast streams of water at twirling flowers and water barrels, and kids of all ages will love the buckets of fun and water explosions that arise when they hit the targets!

Splashing Branches™ – This wacky 12-foot Circus Tree is surrounded by tipping buckets, shower heads and a spinning water wheel! With imagination and the touch or turn of pull ropes, wheels and valves, water will shower guests from the branches overhead!

“The board is excited about bringing water to Gilroy! Bonfante’s Splash Garden™ is in keeping with Bonfante’s commitment to education and family fun and will give Premium Pass™ and Lotsa Card™ holders an added benefit, encouraging more ticket sales and continued revenue growth,” says Bob Kraemer, president of Bonfante Gardens’ board of directors.

Bonfante Gardens has lotsa trees, lotsa value, lotsa family fun and now has the Lotsa Card™! The Lotsa Card gives guests lotsa value; when purchasing a full-price admission to Bonfante Gardens, guests get unlimited admission for the rest of the season for FREE! Guests can purchase the Lotsa Card™ at the front gate for $36.99 for adults (ages 7-64), $26.99 for children (ages 3-6), $26.99 for seniors (ages 65+) and free for children ages 2 and under.

With the 2005 Bonfante Gardens Premium Pass™, guests receive unlimited admission and FREE parking for the 2005 season plus additional values. Bonfante Gardens Premium Passes are available for only $59.99 when guests buy four or more and $67.99 when purchasing three or less. Bonfante Gardens is open through October 30. Discount tickets, operating calendar and additional information are available online at http://www.bonfantegardens.com. For more information, please call 408-840-7100.

Bonfante Gardens is a nonprofit organization managed by Paramount Parks.
Bonfante Gardens, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, is California’s only horticultural theme park designed for families with young children and garden lovers featuring 19 rides, 27 attractions, majestic gardens and the world famous Circus Trees. Attractions are designed to educate guests and foster a greater appreciation of the natural world and man’s ability to shape it. Bonfante Gardens is managed by Paramount Parks. The park is located in Gilroy, Calif. on Hwy. 152 (West) just off Hwy. 101. Open through October 30. For more information, call 408-840-7100 or visit www.bonfantegardens.org.