1. Darius Eneea Mârza
In 2008, he graduated from the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics, English Language Department, of Babeș Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca (UBB). He started working at a very young age and founded his first company while still a high school student, in the 10th grade. He was among the first to sense the explosive expansion of information technology and computers, a field that, at that time, was unknown to many people. He has been married to Maria Ioana since 2009 and they have four children together.
2. Family
He was born on October 5, 1985 in Cluj-Napoca, the only child in the family. His mother, Carmen Maria, graduated as the top graduate of the Faculty of Installations Engineering at the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca (UTCN). He is currently a professor at the same higher education institution, where he also holds the position of Department Director. Carmen Maria Mârza is the author of numerous professional books (16 published volumes, 5 reprints, 2 lithographed volumes, 11 research contracts, 114 works published in the country and abroad), including: Descriptive Geometry. Probleme (ed. Utpress, 2025), Case study regarding the conversion efficiency of small horizontal axis turbines, Improving the Energy Performance of a Household Using Solar Energy: A Case Study or An Assessment of Pollution with Volatile Organic Compounds in the Electric Arc Furnaces.
The father, Enea Magnoliu, an engineer by profession, is a former member of the Romanian mathematics Olympic team. Currently, he is active in the field of entrepreneurship, helping to manage Wonderland Resort.
Simion Mârza, his paternal grandfather, graduated from three faculties, majoring in chemistry, political science, and economics. For 30 years, he was the Director of NAPOCHIM. Simion Mârza was a political prisoner. Nilda Mârza, his paternal grandmother, was a biology teacher.
Both his paternal and maternal great-grandfathers were notaries and Greek Catholic priests. The most distant great-grandfather known in the family tree, Maxim, was a tribune of Avram Iancu. The best-known members of the family are: Samoilă Mârza and Ovidiu Hulea.
3. Personal life
Darius Eneea Mârza has been married to Maria Ioana since February 14, 2009 and they have 4 children together. It is the only marriage of each of the two. In fact, no member of the Mârza family in the last three generations has had more than one marriage and none of them has ever divorced.
Ioana’s marriage to Darius was a particularly romantic one and took place in secret, being a surprise even for the couple’s parents. Only the two godparents were present at the event. The special religious ceremony was organized on a private boat on the Thames River (London). Neither the bride nor the guests knew what event they were going to attend. Darius bought plane tickets for each of those who were going to take part in the ceremony, without divulging the secret of the event to them.
His wife, Maria Ioana (born June 19, 1990) graduated as the head of the class from the Pedagogical High School in Cluj-Napoca and then graduated from the Faculty of Law at the UBB. She began her professional career in her first year of college, when she worked as a teacher in a kindergarten in the city. In her second year of university studies, she worked in the kitchen of the first restaurant opened by her future husband in Cluj-Napoca. She then became an events manager at Wonderland Resort, a position she currently holds.
The couple has four children: Carla Maria (born 02.07.2013), Alice Magnolia (born 05.06.2016), Enya Sara (born 15.01.2019) and Dario Eneeas (born 07.07.2020). All three of the couple’s daughters are students at the “Nicolae Bălcescu” Theoretical High School in Cluj Napoca.
3.1. Religion
The entire Mârza family (Darius, his wife, children, paternal and maternal parents) are baptized and married by the Orthodox Church. Since the birth of their first child, the Mârzas have attended religious services every Sunday at the Greek-Catholic Chapel “Saint Joseph”, where a special service dedicated to children is celebrated and where a playground is organized for the little ones.
The couple frequently participates in conferences of all denominations that have various congresses and conferences within the Wonderland Resort (Pentecostals, Baptists, Army of the Lord, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Reformed, etc.) and manifest an openness to knowing the religious and spiritual precepts of each religion and to connecting with God.
3.2. Education
He graduated from the “Tiberiu Popoviciu” Computer Science High School in Cluj-Napoca in 2004, and in 2008 he graduated from the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, English Language Department, of the Babeș Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca (UBB).
He has demonstrated exceptional abilities in the field of exact sciences (mathematics and computer science) and above-average intellectual capacity. He participated in all the mathematics and computer science competitions and olympiads organized in Cluj County, where he won important prizes and qualified for the National Olympiad in Computer Science and Mathematics. Darius Mârza appeared in three issues of the prestigious publication “Gazeta de matematică și Informatica”. In the 12th grade, he wrote a mathematics and a computer science book, which he did not publish, and offered tutorials to students from computer science faculties.
Since his early years in primary school, he participated in numerous extracurricular activities, most of which were held daily (basketball, tennis, football, folk dances, modern dances, polo, volleyball, athletics, fencing, karate, skiing, Spanish, English, German) and, permanently, in intensive computer science and mathematics courses.
4. Professional career
At the age of 18, Darius Mârza borrowed money from his godfather and invested it in opening his first restaurant, “Talisman”, in Cluj-Napoca. Although his parents did not entirely agree with this approach for fear of financial failure, he worked side by side with the craftsmen who were in charge of the arrangement to fulfill his dream. Due to the tensions that accumulated in the family, Darius decided to take his life into his own hands and left his parents’ house to live with friends. There were times when he spent his nights sleeping on the bare floor of his future restaurant. After a short period of time after the inauguration of the restaurant, the family reconciled and there were never any further rifts. Moreover, the father came to work alongside his son, where he was in charge of managing contracts. Other investments in the entertainment and HoReCa sectors followed, including the famous restaurant “Havana”, located on a panoramic terrace.
In parallel, for almost the entire period of his entrepreneurship, Darius Mârza also worked as a programmer at IT companies in Cluj, but he finally gave up in 2013, a year after starting the large and ambitious Wonderland project. Darius organized his first event in 2004 and, from then until 2024, he successfully coordinated and completed over 14,000 events of various sizes (each of which was attended by from a few dozen to over 3,500 people). His exceptional entrepreneurial qualities and the flair he displays in the business field have meant that, throughout his professional career, he has not faced any bankruptcy at any of the companies he has managed and has fully respected his contractual obligations towards all his employees and collaborators.
4.1. Wonderland Resort, the “miracle of our lives”
The crowning achievement of Darius Mârza is, without a doubt, Wonderland Resort, the impressive luxury resort in Feleacu commune, one of the most appreciated in Romania and Europe. A resort grown by the ingenious entrepreneur from a vision, 500 euros and 1,500 square meters of land, to a solid business, with a market value of over 150 million euros and 350,000 square meters of land. A growth that did not happen overnight, but with a lot of work, ambition, dedication, fairness, coupled with entrepreneurial flair, courage and a brilliant mathematical mind, but, above all, faith.
The Wonderland story began in 2012, after Darius Mârza sold all his businesses, paid off all his debts and was left with 500 euros in his pocket. With them, he bought the first plot of land in Wonderland’s current location, a 1500 sq m strip, on a marshy land but in the middle of nature and with an extraordinary view of the city of Cluj-Napoca. From that view, Darius’ vision was born and he believed in it when he convinced his godfather and best friend to invest all their savings in the construction of the first building of the complex, an event hall equipped with accommodation spaces. It was an extremely difficult process, which began in 2013, the year in which the first child of the Ioana and Darius Mârza family, Carla, was born, sprinkled with many moments of uncertainty, especially due to the quality of the land and the lack of money. That is why its completion was considered a miracle by Darius and he named it as such: Wonderland, with a fitting tagline, “The Miracle of Our Lives”.
Everything that followed was no easier: every penny earned was reinvested in the development of the complex, both by purchasing new land (from dozens of owners in the area) to supplement the existing one, and by expanding the accommodation spaces and adding new facilities. All investments were made “close by close”, with the help of third parties that Darius convinced to invest in his dream and from whom, later, he bought back all the shares, so that, currently, Darius Mârza is the sole owner of Wonderland Resort.
4.2. Wonder Family Fest, “It’s better together”
From faith and love for his family, Darius Mârza’s second major project was born, Wonder Family Fest, the largest festival for families. From faith in God and the idea that deep joy is born in the family and that it is natural to experience it together with family, even at festivals, those places that, until then, were designed almost exclusively for adults or older children. Together with his wife, Ioana, and their 4 children, Darius imagined, within the “borders” of Wonderland, an outdoor event where every family member could find their favorite place and activity (chosen from dozens of options for each age), where boredom does not exist and the mobile phone has no meaning, where nature blends harmoniously with all the best that the entertainment industry has to offer.
Love, family, time spent together – these are the pillars from which the imagination began. He had the dream for many years, but in 2023, Darius put all his ideas on paper and turned them into reality: in just one year, he created a real amusement park for the whole family, which he inaugurated with a great festival, Wonder Family Fest 2024. Thus, the resort, which was known until now as the largest and most beautiful place to organize events (both domestic – weddings, baptisms or other parties, and corporate), but also for stays with various activities (horseback riding center, paintball, archery, hot air balloon rides, helicopter flights) was naturally completed with facilities for the whole family: the largest Adventure Tower in the world (24 m high, 5 levels of route, 120 adventure games), a DinoPark with 30 animatronic dinosaurs, a chairlift, a gravity bobsleigh track and a 3,000 sq m outdoor pool with infinity view and a beach 10,000 sq m.
At the first edition of Wonder Family Fest, over 50,000 people enjoyed, over the three days, all these facilities, but also dozens of activities organized in thematic areas, 4 stages, live concerts, an impressive line-up of international artists, shows, parades, sports competitions, conferences for parents, story-telling and storytelling relaxation areas.
Darius Mârza: “Through Wonder Family Fest, we contribute to strengthening a fundamental value – FAMILY – and emphasize the beauty and importance of a solid bond between its members. And for this, we offer a context dedicated to the entire family, while encouraging play, creativity and authentic moments of joy.”
Ioana Mârza: “The story of the festival is one about teamwork, family and the pure trust of a child that imagination can become reality. And Wonder Family Fest is the manifestation of this vision, in which dreams become reality before our eyes.”
