Netherlands + Germany 08/17 – Movie Park Germany + BillyBird Park Hemelrijk
Day 2
After no where near enough sleep we were soon up again and on our way to Movie Park Germany.
Movie Park Germany
This was a park that until they added their brand new Mack launch coaster I was completely uninterested in visiting. The line up seemed weak, the park looked run down and I’d heard many horror stories on the operations of the park. Now while the park is far from perfect and I could agree to some extent to those statements, I ended up having a really nice time in the park, so let’s go into it.
Star Trek: Operation Enterprise – The 3rd reason we came on this trip, Mack’s brand new and first ever shuttle launch coaster and of course it’s really good.
The theming in the queueline and preshow areas is amazing, I know nothing of Star Trek but was still blown away, if you were a fan I’m sure this would be incredible.
Coaster wise it was very comparable to yesterday’s Gold Rush and I’d struggle to clearly say one was better than the other.
Gold Rush is probably more intense, the launches hit harder and the airtime (though much less) is stronger.
Star Trek is longer, has more airtime moments and has a more exciting layout taking alot more risks.
While it’s the least memorable Mack launch I’ve ridden it’s still a super fun coaster and easily the best in the park.
Van Helsing’s Factory – I’ve never really been a fan of Gertslauer Bobsled coasters but Van Helsing changed that because this enclosed horror themed coaster is fantastic fun.
Extremely well themed inside and out and featuring a coaster that kicks serious ass. The dark setting makes everything feel really fast and for this coaster type things do get surprisingly intense at parts.
After a quick walk around to gauge crowds we decided to get the one go on everything except Star Trek fastpass because we weren’t feeling up to queueing that long for the park’s less worthy attractions, plus we really wanted another go on Van Helsing and that had now gotten quite busy. This ended up saving us so much time that we were able to fit in several more Star Trek laps even though we had to queue for it.
Mystery River – Movie Park’s rapids ride and it was such good fun. Violent rapids, hauled round parts of the course and the theming was so weird it was great. In short, Mystery River had a real character to it and thankfully this would become a theme today.
There was masses of food options to choose for lunch but Heartline wanted to go with Asian food and I really enjoyed it, very well priced too if I remember right.
Lost Temple – My first ever immersive tunnel and now I want more because this was great fun.
MP-Xpress – SLC and what an example of one it was too. Hidden at the back of the park, looking abandoned, covered in rust and I haven’t even told you how it rode. Well, mostly fine but then several moments it felt like something utterly awful was occuring. Me and Heartline were crying with laughter when we hit the brakes and how often does that happen on SLCs?
Bandit – Branded by many as one of the worst wooden roller coasters on Earth but in reality it’s completely fine and actually quite a fun coaster. Much like MP-Xpress, me and Heartline spent most of Bandit laughing out loud. I said as we left the lift, “the worst wooden roller coaster on Earth…”, then when it wasn’t that statement suddenly became the funniest thing ever.
Time Riders – John Cleese: The Ride. This simulator based attraction was class. The preshows just kept coming and get more and more funny and then the simulator itself is brutal as all hell, I came off bruised. I loved it.
Then I decided I needed crepes to calm my nerves and they were really nice, seriously good food showing at this park.
Burmuda Triangle – We probably couldn’t have a picked a better ride to end our day at the park than this wonderful, campy and incredible special effects filled water ride that’s set inside a freaking volcano.
If you’re visiting Movie Park Germany just for the coasters you may walk away disappointed but I’d strongly advise you to find the time to ride their dark/water rides because other than Star Trek and Van Helsing that is where the park truly shines. It was certainly the discovery of them that helped make my time in the park so enjoyable, I’m so glad we decided to get the fastpass or my opinion of the park may have been dramatically different.
We had a couple of hours spare after finishing with Movie Park, so we drew up a plan to go ride a rather unique coaster that was on route.
BillyBird Park Hemelrijk
As the sat nav told us we were going to arrive 5 minutes before the last entry time, we decided to phone the park to let them know we were coming. The lady on the phone was really friendly and told us not to worry about it.
When we got to the park we were able to put a face to that friendly voice as the same lady sold us discount late entry tickets and lead us into the park via a special staff only entrance, what a fantastic welcome.
Famileachtbaan – My first Tube Coaster, a relaxing coast to the beach while celebrating our victory of getting here in time.
There was nothing else of interest at the park so we got a slush and just relaxed for a while before our drive back to the airport, where our plane was delayed by the standard 2 hours.
Thank you so much for reading.