COTALAND Opens Saturday at Circuit of the Americas — What $65 (or $99) Actually Buys You

COTALAND opens its gates for the first time this Saturday, Sept. 26, at Circuit of the Americas — a 30-acre theme park built trackside between Turns 19 and 20, with 30 rides and attractions split between family fun and genuine thrill-seeking. According to ATX Things analysis of the park's own opening-weekend schedule, the actual grand opening runs two distinct days with two different prices, and neither one is the $59.99 rate you'll pay once the party's over.

Austin has never had its own theme park. COTALAND changes that Saturday, in Del Valle, on a chunk of land that already hosts Formula 1's only U.S. race.

When does COTALAND actually open, and what does it cost?

Grand opening weekend is genuinely two separate events, not one long open house, according to COTA's own announcement. Saturday, Sept. 26, 4–10 p.m. is a ticketed party: $99 per person, food and drinks included, with a first-ride ceremony, ribbon-cutting with celebrity guests, family entertainment and fireworks to close the night. Sunday, Sept. 27, 10 a.m.–7 p.m. is the park's first full day of normal operations — rides, attractions, family entertainment — for $65 per person. Both are on sale now at cotaland.com.

After opening weekend, standard admission settles to $59.99 for adults and $39.99 for guests under 48 inches tall, with a 15% discount for Austin residents who show proof of residency, and a $149.99 season pass for anyone planning repeat trips. The whole campus, including parking and food, is cashless — bring a card or a phone, not a wallet.

What rides are actually there?

The park's two marquee coasters are the reason out-of-towners will drive in for this. Circuit Breaker is Texas' first tilt roller coaster and only the second of its kind in the country — it stops and tilts riders vertically in midair before dropping them down a steep drop (48" minimum height, 80" maximum). Palindrome is billed as the first infinity shuttle coaster in the U.S. and the only steel coaster anywhere that soars over an active roadway, running the same track forward and backward (48" minimum, 77" maximum).

Beyond the two headliners, COTALAND splits its roughly 30 attractions across three tiers it calls Rookies, Contenders and Champions:

Racing is baked into the park's DNA beyond the coasters. COTA Karting puts drivers 16 and up (with a valid license) on a 15-turn outdoor track; Kiddie Karting scales it down for ages 5–11. There's a 27-hole mini golf course, a 180-foot Soaring Eagle Zip Line over the Circuit's main straight, and — for guests willing to spend real money — Hot Lap, where you ride shotgun in an actual race car circling the track for $175 per person. COTA says it's the only permanent hot-lap experience on a Formula 1 track in the country.

Is there anything to do besides rides?

Yes, and it's the detail most theme-park previews skip: the Flutterarium, a Victorian-style butterfly conservatory that runs a monarch butterfly education and release program and is home to a resident tortoise named Turbo. It's a genuinely calm, air-conditioned counterpoint to a park built around a race track.

Shade was apparently a real design priority, not an afterthought. COTA has already planted more than 800 trees across the property, with roughly 850 more going in around the entrance and plaza areas — towering pines around the log ride, a bamboo-and-banana-tree jungle around Safari Adventure, plus seasonal Texas wildflower displays and a rose garden.

COTA founder Bobby Epstein didn't undersell the ambition in the park's own announcement: "This is something the United States has never seen before."

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"This is something the United States has never seen before." — Bobby Epstein, COTA founder, in the park's opening announcement

How is this different from the theme park ATX Things covered in January?

This is the actual thing opening, not the plan for it. Our January preview of COTALAND's construction covered permits, site work and announced ride names months before a single guest could walk through the gate. Saturday is the day those filings turn into an actual park you can visit — the clearest reminder yet that a permit record and a grand opening are two very different milestones, months or years apart.

The timing isn't an accident, either: COTALAND opens less than a month before the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix returns to the same property Oct. 22–25, giving the park a full month to work out opening-week kinks before its biggest crowd of the year shows up.

What locals should know

• Grand opening weekend is two separate tickets: $99 for Saturday's party (food/drinks included, fireworks at close) or $65 for Sunday's regular first day.
• Standard admission after this weekend: $59.99 adults, $39.99 under 48", 15% off for Austin residents with ID, $149.99 for a season pass.
• The whole park is cashless — cards and mobile pay only, including parking.
• Address is 9111 Circuit of the Americas Blvd, in Del Valle/far Southeast Austin, a genuine drive from most of the city — budget real travel time.
• The Flutterarium and its tortoise, Turbo, are free with park admission and fully indoor/shaded.

FAQ

Do I need a race ticket to get into COTALAND? No. COTALAND is a standalone theme park with its own admission, separate from race-day tickets for events like the U.S. Grand Prix.

What's the cheapest way in for opening weekend? Sunday's $65 general-admission ticket (10 a.m.–7 p.m.) is less expensive than Saturday's $99 party ticket, though Saturday includes food, drinks and fireworks.

Can kids ride the big coasters? Circuit Breaker requires riders to be at least 48 inches tall, and Palindrome has the same 48-inch minimum — both also have maximum height limits. Several rides, including Safari Adventure (41") and Buck's Silly Soaker, are built for younger kids.

Is there an Austin resident discount? Yes — COTALAND is offering 15% off standard admission for Austin residents who show proof of residency, effective once grand-opening-weekend pricing ends.