New Town: Eco Park, a sprawling entertainment zone in New Town, recorded a higher footfall this Christmas than last year's.

Officials of Hidco, which maintains the park, said as many as 1,07,398 tickets were sold on Christmas Day. Last Christmas, the count stood at 99,689.

Alipore Zoo, an old favourite, drew 92,426 people on Christmas.

The 480-acre Eco Park, which has an expansive water body on its premises, had 61,167 visitors on Christmas Eve.

Adventure rides such as water zorbing, kayaking and speedboat ride were among the top draws this year. The visitors also made a beeline for a forest designed like a Japanese Garden and the toy train.

The newest addition - the Seven Wonders Park, which has models of the seven wonders of the world - was much in demand.

Visitors were seen posing for selfies at the toy train station modelled on Ghoom station in Darjeeling and at the mask garden.

There was such a rush of visitors to the park that the Major Arterial Road outside was packed with cars throughout the day. Every gate had a serpentine queue in front of it. The park authorities had to arrange for additional security and parking space.

Multiple lifeguards had been deployed on the banks of the water body and security guards kept a watch on the crowd from two towers.

"The park is so big that we can walk around comfortably even when thousands of visitors are inside," said Megha Dutta, 27, who spent almost the entire Christmas Day at the park.

Priyanka Agarwal, 31, who had a picnic at the park with her family, said: "We come here mainly for the rides. The children love them."

Ballygunge resident Bijay Chakraborty said the main USP of the park was that it had something to offer to people from all age groups.

"While my parents sat beside the water body, I and my son tried almost all the rides," said Chakraborty.