Europe 08/20 – Creds + Conny-Land
On the neighbouring mountain to the previous one is a small park owned by the same people as the big boy Alpine that looked like a bit of fun.
Day 2 – Steinwasen Park
Although the website claimed the rides opened with the park and we were banging on the door at opening o’clock, they ended up starting an hour later so we had time to take in the surroundings.
Inside there’s an Ice Cave walkthrough with a scary looking seal.
And a man milking a horse?
Outside is a humble affair with a few animals, a big bridge and more nice views.
Apparently it can hold 10,000 people, though not in the current climate. It wobbles unnervingly with the wind too.
A queue was forming near the entrance to the rides area and we opted to head to the alpine first as it was likely to get the busiest.
2 back to back then. This one had the traditional lift hill that goes on forever. It started as wild as the previous one, with the added bonus of overgrown grass scraping my hands at full throttle but ended up with too many helices of doom.
The water ride nearby looked interesting with its bare metal styling and elevator lift.
Essentially Storm Surge with dignity, it kicked up one hell of a spin and then collided with a wall at full pace, nearly causing a casualty. Good.
In another display of Wiegand’s inventiveness, the summer toboggan cars automatically fold themselves in half here at the bottom of the layout before riding up to the top with a ski lift system.
Back inside there’s a rather unique combo of a duelling Mack powered mine train and Bobkart. One is themed to Yetis, the other themed to space. The mine train had a violent airtime moment upon exiting the station flythrough and I rather enjoyed the interaction between the two rides.
The Bobkart started in strobe lights and ended in concrete walls, with the layout being both entertaining and unrestricted.
Having finished everything of interest it was off to the next park on the itinerary.
Tatzmania Löffingen
A zoo with creds.
Only the finest too. An SBF spinner with no less than 3 ‘loops’.
And slightly more interestingly a Gerstlauer Bobsled. Same layout as the one at Motiongate including a random block section where the indoor portion should have been. Only 2 of this one in the world so far, set complete.
Done. I’m sure it would have been a nice place to stay a little longer but we’re worn out on zoos right now and there were still borders to cross and bigger things to come.
I’ve had my eye on the only park in Switzerland for a while now. My only previous experience with the country was sleeping on the floor of an airport (the bastards) so it was nice to arrive by car instead.
Conny-Land
For a nation that’s home to two of the biggest ride manufacturers in the world, getting a Pax was certainly an interesting choice, but I’m not complaining.
It’s by far the most well presented of their coasters I’ve come across.
I learnt on the spot that NEW FOR 2020! the trains have been replaced with ones made by the people who build butterflies. They’re now comfortable and exposed – the perfect combination.
As the exit shop contains this reaction shot of opening day on the original trains, I’d hazard a guess at the new ones being an improvement.
The backwards lift up a beyond vertical spike is as unnerving as it sounds, relying on raw leg power to keep yourself in the train by the time you reach the top.
Putting shuttle loops to shame, the two airtime hills deliver decently on the outbound trip.
And I actually liked this monstrosity of an element. The loop realises halfway that it needs to change alignment to not crash into itself, jolting riders to the side in amusing fashion and the hang in the tail is pretty glorious.
I’d describe Cobra as rugged, not rough and I’m very glad we made the trip to try it.
Oh, the new train has some BACKWARDS! seats too. The lift isn’t as good but the rest of it is even better this way.
The craziness doesn’t end there as a strange attraction called the Mammut Tree was beckoning. A 16 seater open cable car that randomly stops, bounces and sways as it traverses a straight line towards this tower. It passes straight through, teases for a while and then gets dragged back inside. The doors close. The deep voiced tree says “HALLO.”
Words should not describe the sequence of events that happen next but it’s as one of a kind as Cobra was and I loved it.
They also have a dinosaur shooting dark ride with that cheap Golden Nugget type hardware. For sanitary reasons I ended up playing a game of spotting how many modern screens they have shoehorned in that all play the same animation of a baby dinosaur breaking out of an egg.
There’s a second cred!
Wait.
Gerstlauer clearly invented these just to annoy us didn’t they.
Never mind, Knuffelbeers.
This sign literally broke my heart.
I didn’t want to leave them but we wanted another country cred before the day was out, with a whirlwind culture cruise through one of those little places beginning with L.
Starting with Liechtenstein cat.
‘Tis a mountainous place.
Looking for a castle, found a church by mistake.
Where the King lives.
And where the King doesn’t live. Also cat #2 in the shadows. I believe they outnumber the human population here.
Austria had been announced as the next no-go destination the previous night so being extra goody two shoes we skirted around it and back through Switzerland (which followed suit the very next week) into Germany’s safe arms again.
Day 3