From Voltron to Voltrum, this was new to me. Love a massive Funtime drop tower and this was no exception.
The lack of absolutely anything in the surroundings and the scale of a nearby forest looking so tiny gave me some height-related heebie-jeebies. Rides can still scare me – fantastic.
Up the top of a hill was the new boy and the main draw, #1 FirleFranze. You know you’re onto a winner by name alone sometimes.
What’s in the shed?
A fab little Gerstlauer, that’s what. Theme is simple, there’s a screen of the mascot lion mashing some buttons in hilarious fashion before ‘things go wrong’, runaway train style.
Somewhere along the way, magic happens.
Spot the difference.
Anyway, it’s great. Satisfying ride length, some decent forces for the size and a lovely sense of all out fun. Perfect for a place like this.
I didn’t find this on my previous visit, not that I care for Butterflies. Thought it was kinda cool, and weird, to do one indoors, themed to space. Self-operation is always a joy. Passed on the flippy thing next to it.
This guy is a legend.
This ride type is a legend.
They sure have been busy.
Stadlgaudi 4D is a little revolving theatre, interactive shooter thingy with a cute farmyard theme.
See? Nicely done.
The indoor drop tower Thaolon still has its own merits. It’s only a kiddie bouncy one, but is quirkily themed to spooky goblins and has a cracking soundtrack. Combined with a sense of mystery and a maze of a queue, always worth a shot.
And the OG main event is Freischutz, a legend of a launched X-car.
It also has a maze of a queue, which is a bit of a pain when you’re dying in the hot sun.
Was pretty much how I remember from all those years ago. Surprisingly intense, and a little bumpy. The continuous sequence of inverted top hat, vertical loop and whatever tight corner after provides a really sustained quantity of high positives.
From there it just kinda rattles its way back to the station in an unrefined sense. It’s a shame that it lacks any of the exceptional moments of a Shock, or even a Formule X, but at least it has its own identity, that China copied with weird trains and then didn’t open… ew.
Once was enough, mainly because it was too hot and we had places to be, but this is a pleasant little place with a well rounded lineup, well worth your Euros.
Had a few new coasters to bag in this very functional German park.
I do admire how understated the entrance is and, while lacking any soul whatsoever as a collection of rides in some fields and trees, the place is rather more pleasant in atmosphere than I remember from the previous visit.
A stock layout maurer spinner that’s rough? Check.
On the way to #1 Sky Dragster. I’ve finally caught up with one of these monstrosities. Was here last when it was supposed to have opened, but it was still under construction. Let’s not talk about Desmo Race.
It still looks like it’s under construction, but there was some mild excitement when I saw the pace at which one of the cars hit this hill, though angles can be deceiving as we well know.
It’s actually OK. Less offensive than I thought. Couldn’t quite tell what the controlled aspect was doing, only that the texture of the throttle handle was a little rough in the hand and I bagged a top 3 time for the day, 30 minutes after opening. Woo. It rides weird, but kinda fun. Some light airtime, a bit of speed and some odd laterals. Just seems so over-engineered with those teeth on every inch of track while not really achieving a whole lot other than being a reliability and capacity nightmare.
In typical European fashion, the ‘new for 2024’ coaster that was already printed on the park maps looked like this. Only an SBF as well, can’t be hard can it?
Thankfully there’s another new to me SBF in #2 Flotter Otto.
I think Sky Rider is the best in the park now, with a growing appreciation for rare and janky coasters over the years. It provides a sense of unnerving freedom, and peril, as you hang there, spin around, swing and hit trees. They don’t make ’em like this no more.
They make ’em like this instead. #3 Kids Spin was a thing. This was the last in the park to open because of timeslots. It was a ‘lowen’ (lion) day – cheaper tickets at the cost of limited attraction availability.
Oh and they have a Geisterbahn now. It’s rather good inside, with good music and solid pacing – not obnoxiously loud or fast. The prolonged outdoor sections are a little weird in this setting, likely working better at night, in a fairground environment, but then it would be pay per ride and I probably wouldn’t pay.
Cheers to a +3.
P.S. didn’t realise, though should have expected, the park’s 200ft Gerstlauer project they announced was a joke. What a scam.
Been here before, not much to say, just a whistlestop tour of some old creds and a new B&M.
The little Gerstlauer used to be the best in the park. Potentially still is.
I always thought this was its name though, but no, that’s the Zierer Dragon with Dark Ride section. One thing I noted here is how the big lego dragon isn’t continuous like Windsor – you see two different parts of him, but they aren’t physically connected.
Kinda bothers me that the new land is just plonked unceremoniously behind Egypt. The Windsor Mythica has a bit of a presence to it, but to a visitor of that one, this just felt like a low effort copy and paste of some figures.
As such this lost its striking impact somewhat. Pretty cool entrance on the flying theatre. Now a blue shed for a bad cred.
Oh, I spoilt the review. Well I don’t know how, but they managed to make this less interesting than Mandrill Mayhem. It was such a non-event of a coaster. I can’t even remember it’s name. Oh, #1 Maximus – Der Flug des Wächters.
Uncomfortable inversions and very little else interesting going on. Didn’t seem popular either. Shortest queue, area was dead. I guess it looks kinda cool at the right angle, but deep down I wanted it to kick Chessington’s ass. Shouldn’t have expected that from it also being Merlin, and Legoland.
But hey, +1, and back to having ridden all the B&Ms in Europe, woo.
And they have one of these. Eww.
P.S. didn’t realise German Daddy Pig (Papa Wutz) was a thing now, what a scam.
Fire is bad, but getting a new +1 is good. Fresh Mack mine train, rides well. I was glad to not feel obliged to need the VR on this occasion and thereby ruin the visual experience although it’s a shame it don’t go through the diamond cave no more. This statue of the miner mourning the loss of the dragon is such a beautiful touch.
#3 Baa-a-a Express
Last time I was here this was under construction, a little blip of track seen from the observation tower. It was being lovingly run by an old guy, so chill. Retirement goals to work on a ride like this. The sheep sings as you go round, what more could you ask from a +1.
Piccolo Mondo
Don’t remember much of anything about it from before. Don’t remember much more now. Was cute.
Madame Freudenreich’s Curiosites
Don’t remember much of anything about the old dinosaur ride but this genre of ‘add more character to a tired old dark ride’ is something I can definitely get behind.
Gorgeous queue.
And dinosaurs with cake. Perfection.
Abenteueuer Atlantis
I liked working out which targets score more points on the interactive dark ride. Tactics always add to these things. S’alright.
Bench: the Ride
Don’t remember much of anything about it from before. Don’t remember much more now. Was cute.
Euromir
I liked Euromir a lot, save for the fact it bashed my knees up back in the day. Managed to avoid that this time and had a great time on it. Spins less than I remember with the whole controlled rotation aspect, but is probably wise, it goes real hard in that final section and would probably mess people up at any other angle. Great ride with great character. Next one to get a looking at now that Croatia is done though I hear.
Piraten in Batavia
Fire is bad, but getting a dark ride rebuilt is good. Don’t remember much of anything about it from before.
Now it’s amazing, a real standout in the park. In being very comparable to such Disney rides, it’s nice to ride one that isn’t a clone and matches the quality in many ways. Epic scenes, gorgeous scenery, a good time all round.
Snorri Touren
I love how understated some of the entrances are at Europa. With such a breadth of things to do they don’t even need to hammer you over the head with –>MAJOR RIDE HERE<–.
And Snorri is a solid addition to the dark ride lineup. Love the character and the pacing in the first half of the ride but then it does end in a rather jarring and abrupt fashion, which I found a bit odd.
Best thing about the whole thing – his animatronic actually hits the right mushroom drums in time with the soundtrack.
Voletarium
Best thing about the whole thing – the drone in the queue.
It’s fine, it’s a flying theatre. Having one run semi-efficiently without a huge interruption between pre-show storyline and final showdown makes for a nice change but it’s still a faff and then just wafting over some stuff. Was interesting how many European locations I didn’t recognise – I swear they made some of them up.
Donkeys
The park has an excellent donkey game.
There’s even one in the new area, with a hat.
Also love how many parts of the park can simply go unseen. Tell me where this is.
Eurosat
I was extremely worried about what had happened to my beloved Eurosat. Really fell hard for this ride in the past, it was a defining moment of the trip back in the day, an overwhelming emotional rollercoaster hearing the soundtrack in person on the lift, thoughts equivalent to ‘I’m finally out living the dream and visiting these worldwide theme parks’ in the early days of my hobby, perfectly paralelled with the phrase in the soundtrack ‘finally, the time has come’.
Then they said they were making it the Can-Can. It felt like they were turning it into a joke. There’s no way that can work, ride ruined.
And yet, somehow, it works. I expected to despise everything it had become but sitting there on that endless spiral lift hill – wait, what’s this? They’ve kept the old music here, an updated and slowed orchestral version in perfect tribute to what this ride once was. The emotions hit me all again while in the dark, anticipating the inevitable. It’s such a beautiful touch.
Then with all the build up and crescendo of reaching the top and it turning into something wild and fun, the Can-Can music actually works too. A wink from the moon and a bon voyage leads to a frantic carnival of sound with a wild indoor ride that still hauls and still kicks ass in all the ways it shouldn’t be able to given the limitations of its situation. A classic piece of music that doesn’t know how to end, but then neither does the ride, as you drop through a windmill and then there’s just a whole extra floor to go after its already been going on an age.
It ends to epic fanfare, as it should. They’ve made it better, against all odds. I can only applaud.
Only thing I miss is the astronaut stuck in a wall mouthing words we’ll never understand.
Silver Star
I’d heard they killed the fun of this ride too, by canning the cheesy ass song that was its only character anyway.
Don’t remember the queue being quite as unpleasant, but it is. Basically a warehouse with some bad cars in it, and tv adverts for bad cars. But then on our second go, the theme hit on the speakers. It was all we needed. Ride on, Silver Star.
Still one of the better B&M hypers in my books, I had worried how it would stand the test of time (and experience). The old school nature doesn’t lend itself well to that magic row near the front, which works on many of the newer ones but is a bit of a dud here. Instead, back row is best for the unrefined, jankier moments that include ejector out of the midcourse and some uncharacteristically fun twists and turns that so many others fall short on.
Pegasus
Better than a Vekoma Junior, but priced accordingly.
Kassandra
I don’t remember this madhouse being so incomprehensible, but it is. The magic of the swing is a little lost when you don’t know what’s going on in the themed experience, but the magic within the seat itself cannot be denied.
Jim Button
Hadn’t heard of this, and though this park is likely highly researched, it looked like it posed the question ‘is it a dark ride?’
It wasn’t, but this big dragon is great.
Wodan
Still one of the better GCIs in my books, I had worried how it would stand the test of time (and experience). I don’t see it as being quite as epic as it once was, it’s better than ‘the norm’ but far from up there with the greats. What have they done to the start? I remember it being real out of control into that first drop but now it just wobbles around on some asphalt.
Arthur
This went up in my estimation in that it was nothing like how I remembered. The locker faff has been rectified. I remember issues with the screens in that sitting in the back row would miss all the action in a comedic sense, unless I’m confusing it with another ride. There aren’t many though. The soundtrack was funny. It had far more physical sets than I recall. It rode with a little vigor too and thus, wasn’t entirely pointless. I’ll assume they’ve fixed things rather than that I was wrong. Oh, and is that spotlight and camera combo meant to look like a face? Creepy.
Frog game is pretty good too.
Think that’s about it for Europa. Blue Fire was a thing of course, but I’ve ridden like 12 of them since, so really didn’t care. They messed up the onboard soundtrack on my single lap, which is the only thing that makes the original worth doing to me, so that sucked.
Had a lovely 2 days, queues were a little bigger than you’d normally like to get absolutely everything done or spend time on some filler coasters, but shout out to the free fastrack system. If you game it on your phone in the first couple hours it can reward you pretty well, including a walk on Voltron or two.
It’s been 9 long years since I last visited Europa Park. For the sake of a crazy statistic I had 126 creds to my name at the time, meaning there’s been just another 1500-odd in the interim.
I really, really liked the place back then, it was clear that it was a global standout. I had also always looked forward to returning some day but it was always on the preface that they got something worth returning for, to sweeten the deal. The years went by…
I heard they got something. We spent 2 days on park, which was the perfect amount for our own needs and pace.
The primary need was to experience #1 Voltron as much as possible. I avoided whatever spoilers I could and went in knowing as little as possible.
Presentation-wise, I think the whole thing looks excellent. An entrance exterior with that start coming out of the top of it.
A dedicated observation tower built within the layout. Plenty of opportunity to get in, up and under a lot of track for views and photos, while maintaining a little mystery about the back end of the layout. With constant trains buzzing round, on a summers day it’s a coaster lovers dream.
Plus other stuff in the area going on because why not.
The indoor queue brought new hope to my hobby. As I passed through for the first time and absorbed the details in here a crescendo of emotions built to a level of excitement for a new rollercoaster/attraction that I haven’t felt in what seems like quite some time. Far surpassing the simple raw excitement of skipping down some queue in China (that’s actually open) to ride some world’s fastest Mack thing, no, this was an anticipation you can only build with a themed experience. The development of character for a ride. A reason you want to like it, to support it, to back this creation of steel. Standing there in that room for the first time, with those feelings, is exactly why I’m in this game.
The big turret thing that plugs itself into the wall to power up. Mr. Tesla waffling on about who knows what.
Easter egg characters in the return to station screen.
The fact that the shutters close when you see a train enter the preshow, to hide what’s going on. And then the ride theme injected into your eardrums by terrifying tesla coil noises. Awe, intimidation, elation, the lot. This is how you make someone (like me) want to like a coaster.
From a practical standpoint, the locker system is the best I’ve seen yet. Choose your own locker with an RFID card, get on the ride. Don’t worry about remembering the number after an overwhelming experience because it can just tell you at the end. Unlike Wildcat’s Revenge. The throughput, capacity and efficiency with the moving station and just Europa Park being Europa Park in general is beautiful to behold once more.
– – –
Onto the ride experience then. I didn’t know what the trick was, and it’s hilarious. Brilliant for first timers and crowd reactions. I love it, but it loses impact over a few goes, so I kinda hope it remains somewhat unique to this attraction and that not everyone starts doing it, there’s a risk of losing the magic as always. Possibilities are endless though, so mix it up.
Before you’ve fully recovered from that you’re lurched off, and up, and over, and out. Of that start. It’s so unnatural but it’s done so gracefully considering the combination of technology and forces. Looking at it, it shouldn’t feel like it does, but it works, and then you’re suspended in the air for a brief moment for a ‘this is where the fun begins’ into the layout proper.
Frantic, I think is the word for all the elements that go on in between the defined sections, namely a combination of inversions and airtime moments. It’s our bread and butter at this point. It reflects the theme of science experiment gone wrong rather perfectly in this regard, but, critical hat on, I’m going to introduce another word into the fray. Lumpy.
I like and appreciate the individual components of what’s going on in this sequence, but there’s something about the flow. It’s lumpy. I think this is just an inherent issue I personally find with shorter trains and ride vehicles. It reflects back to my experience with the Big Dipper model, and by extension Infinity coasters (both of which I love more than most) and Eurofighters. Regardless of their execution I just can’t see myself sitting in one and thinking ‘this is the best rollercoaster layout in the world’. You can’t create as beautiful a symphony of forces with a ride that’s built for the tightest of manoeuvres. Blame physics.
Anyway there’s a multi launch bit on a curve in there which follows the recent industry trend of ‘adds a little pep, doesn’t take your breath away’ moments into the recent industry trend of the stall. A couple of newer rides have made this their own standout moment (Batman GCE and the Super Boomerang spring to mind), sadly Voltron does not. Surprisingly the most characterful moment for me hits home when you come slamming into the brakes at the end of the first half. It’s pretty brutal. And then you’re on a turntable with lightning and what the hell is this?
I’ve got two ways of looking at this – it’s amazing, clever, fun to behold, did you know it can turn in either direction? I didn’t until a few laps in. Quirky, love it. The other – it leaves a little to be desired in terms of presentation when compared with the station, queue, pre-launch experience. You’re just in a crude circular cage with no roof and a sunbleached graphics display. Doesn’t quite uphold the wonder.
What it does lead to is a wild backwards launch, again another great crowd reaction moment but you can give it your own extra punch with anticipation by putting your arms and legs directly in front of you and getting a wicked ‘fold you over the restraint’ moment. Then you’re forwards again with the most satisfying launch, one which lands closest to those I personally adore with their ‘the fun is far from over yet’ sensation. It’s faffy, but given it isn’t detracting from ‘damn near best thing ever’ status either side of it, I think it works.
The wonky top hat puts me straight back into the ‘lumpy’ mindset however, albeit what follows is an incredible sequence of powerful airtime moments, shouty after shouty, including up into and back out of another mid course. Dizzying inversions and strong positives round out proceedings before one final shout of airtime into the brakes. Ends strong this one.
And I think that review should demonstrate a little why I’m all over the place on Voltron. There’s so much of the experience that I adore to the core, but as a coaster it fell short of perfect in many, many ways. To clarify, the ‘lumpy’ business is nothing to do with ride comfort. I’ve heard riders found discomfort in left wing seats etc. and while there was noticeably a bit more shake there, it didn’t impact my personal ride experience. It is pretty damn intense though, and I don’t doubt that the ‘lumpy’ flow of the layout does exacerbate such feelings.
I’ll stop saying lumpy now, but I will also mention that a few of the inversions lack definition and character. If you’re going for the golden seven, make them count.
Though I went in with lack of spoilers there was a little thought at the back of my mind with the whole 9 years away from Europa Park thing. What a wonderful moment it could have been, having traversed the globe and, by my most recent assessments, ridden basically everything worth riding, to come back to such an early days trip and land a new #1. It was Mack, it was Multi-launch, it was Europa Park. It was possible. It wasn’t to be.
Enough ramblings, it’s the perfect prototype and near perfect showcase. Go ride it if you haven’t already, it needs to be beheld. Technology 11/10. Presentation 9.5/10. Layout 8/10. By all rights it should be threatening my top 20, but I keep talking myself out of it. Maybe. For the feels.
On the way down to (spoilers) Europa Park we decided to get a new country cred. Last time this was considered was back in covid days, when you had to write a letter to the King of Luxembourg in order to be granted special permission to enter. We were tempted at the time, given that they had one of those big Schwarzkopf travelling coasters in town while our own Eurodemption was going down. Postage time may have been an issue though.
First stop was a castle, don’t have those at home.
It was free to park and free to wander around, a common theme for Luxembourg, and my kinda sightseeing.
Is nice.
I was a little confused by the strategy of the location upon approach as it seemed to be rather far downhill to get to it, but it makes more sense from over here, in the rain.
Luxembourg City
My recollection of a Tom Scott video had me thinking that all public transport in Luxembourg was free. Sure enough, it was, so we went to the capital, Luxembourg City, and did a park + ride job to get into the centre. Free and easy, just how public transport should be.
We got off the bus in front of this.
Over the road from this.
And this. Everything is very elevated, and green.
Took a wander through the centre, which is very town-like for a city.
Or even model village-like from out the other side. You can basically walk to all the ‘things to see’.
History, culture.
Excitement? You can spot our next target out towards the back left.
After crossing a busy city road.
And going down a hill.
The great glass elevator in the sky is a tourist attraction here.
Not your average elevator.
Up top there was a piano, with what I believe to just be another visitor riffing some highly impressive piece and making intense but awkward eye contact with everyone else.
It was great. And free.
And that was Luxembourg. We chilled for a bit, had some food, then drove off to a travelling cred in Germany. Would recommend.
Merzig Funfair
Parking anywhere near here was a nightmare because the entire town was undergoing roadworks and the fair itself was on the only car park.
But it was all worth it of course, for three laps of #1 Kuhnos Farm.
Here it is then, the final day of an over 3 week super holiday flying around Europe, because none of the rest of the World wanted us. I know I say this every time but this trip easily goes down as one of the best ever and I’d had an incredible time visiting loads of new parks and revisiting old favourites.
Almost as punishment for having such a great time though, the final day of the trip didn’t exactly live up to expectations.
Holiday Park
The day started with a revisit to Holiday Park.
It turns out I never wrote a trip report of my first visit in 2016, but it’s fair to say I’ve never really been a fan of the park. The too long didn’t read summary would play out as such…
Rude staff, not a great atmosphere, they didn’t want to run Expedition GeForce leading us to cut a day short at Europa Park to return and the ride line up without GeForce isn’t good.
Today though, things would be even worse…
Warning! This is going to get ultra descriptive and ranty, but trust me it needs to.
We arrived at the park entrance and much like at some of the other expensive chain parks (Magic Park Land + Jacquou Parc) we got burnt to a crisp in the slow moving completely unshaded cattle pen queue.
During this slow moving queue I’d been reading the Covid safety signs that were everywhere in the entrance plaza. You must wear “a face covering” at all times indoors and while queuing for and experiencing the attractions. You didn’t need to wear “a face covering” while just strolling around in the park.
I bring your attention once more to the phrase, “a face covering”, because it was for this reason I wore my standard mask I’d been wearing all trip. Had they said here that a medical mask was required I would have got one out of the car, exactly like at Phantasialand.
The reason the queue had been moving so slowly is they were checking Covid vaccination certifcates at the front. You were given a wristband for showing one and this enabled you to visit indoor attractions and the shops.
Me and Heartline were given the all clear and a wristband from a man at the front of the queue, all while I’m still wearing my normal mask.
Tabalugas Achterbahn
This wristband enabled us to ride the park’s (new to us) indoor coaster, Tabalugas Achterbahn.
The staff member at the entrance of the building nodded and waved us inside at the sight of our wristbands and soon we were at the coaster, where the operator once again checked our wristbands before letting us on, oh and I’m still wearing the same face mask by the way.
I make this the 6th Zierer Force Two that I’ve ridden, I’m not proud.
Then it was time for the big one, the reason we’d even returned, the (once) incredible Expedition GeForce.
We strolled over to the ride, I’m buzzing to get back on (what used to be) one of my favourite coasters in the World.
The queue is moving slowly, of course, this is Holiday Park, what do you expect?
When we got to the station stairs though it was clear why things were moving so slowly. One of the two members of staff running the ride was being an absolute word I can’t say here, getting into arguments with everyone for everything and just generally throwing his weight around, thus completely killing the already awful throughput of the ride.
Then it was my turn, for both the final chapter in the medical mask saga and to the face the wrath of this idiot.
I’m standing at the airgates, the coaster train is rounding the final bend in its return to the station and then it happens.
“You’re not wearing a mask”.
“I am”.
“Yeah, but it’s not a medical mask.”
“It doesn’t say anything about needing to wear a medical mask at the park entrance”.
“It’s the law.”
“I’ve worn this same mask countless days in Germany and no one has once said that.”
“It’s the law, you can’t ride the coaster.”
“I’ve literally just ridden Tabalugas indoors and I’ve been given a wristband to say I’m good, are you saying your other staff members have done wrong?”
“It’s the law, you’ll have to leave, get a mask and then come back to ride.” He points as though he wants me to leave back through the queue while wearing my apparently unsafe mask.
“So I’m safe to walk back through the queue but not to ride the roller coaster?” He panics slightly.
“No… you can walk through the coaster, but you can’t ride.”
With that, I left.
I went to guest services, both to get a mask and question what had just happened.
The lady inside gave me a mask and although she agreed my normal mask was fine she wasn’t all that interested in hearing me complain about the idiot over at GeForce.
Expedition GeForce
All medical masked up now I returned to the coaster.
Almost 7 months later (yes I’m slow at trip reports) and I still can’t 100 percent be sure what the exact cause was, but to say Expedition GeForce plummeted out of my top 25 would be an understatement.
I pin the blame halfway between the coaster itself running no where near how it ran in 2016 and the fact I’ve ridden over 800 coasters since.
Either way, it was real poor. The airtime moments were now meh and the boring stuff inbetween was even more boring.
Just to add insult to injury, upon my return to the coaster, I noticed many guests not wearing medical masks and some not wearing any at all…
After 2 laps I’d had enough, both of what’s left of Expedition GeForce, and the park itself.
With that, it was time to leave, but even that’s too much for Holiday Park.
We got back to park entrance but couldn’t see any way to exit. People were pouring in through all the turnstyles, the exit gates were locked and the staff were ignoring us as we stood there.
So we walked into guest services, where we were blanked again and once again found no exit.
With no other option we just powered back through the turnstyles into the sea of people, with the staff still ignoring us…
Let’s get the hell out of here.
For the record I’ve emailed the park countless times now asking them to justify any of the crap we faced that day and so far (7 months later) I haven’t recieved anything, not even an insincere apology.
Wild und Freizeitpark Klotten
The 2nd park of the day and the final of the trip would be a park that’s been the butt of many jokes ever since I started taking travelling seriously. “They went all that way for just a Gerst Bob?!” Well today was our turn, but in our defence they have now added a dark ride…
I think it’s fair to say the park has a rather special setting, perfect for calming down after the shambles that was Holiday Park.
After a rare bit of language related miscomunciation, we purchased our tickets and made our way into the park.
Just after you passed through the turnstyle, but just too far away to see when you are buying tickets was a hand drawn information sign, which was informing vistors that today the dark ride would not be in operation, dirty.
There was nothing at all in the ticket area or on the ticket window itself, nothing on the website and the lady at the desk didn’t tell us anything to that effect, Klotten are happy to take your money before telling you what’s operating apparently…
We stood at the sign for a while seriously contemplating walking back to the desk and asking for a refund, in the end though we decided to press on.
Heiße Fahrt
And head straight to the aforementioned Gerstlauer Bobsled, Heiße Fahrt.
Klotten need to count themselves damn lucky that Heiße Fahrt is as good as it is, because thanks to this coaster alone I almost forgive the park for their dirty tactics.
This trip had the ongoing joke that every Gerstlauer Bobsled we rode was the best yet, well, with the expection of Van Helsing, Heiße Fahrt is the best in the World.
I think the picture below speaks a thousand words but this coaster goes way harder than I thought the hardware allowed. It’s a truly out of control experience, that feels like it’s going way too fast, throwing you around far too much, oh and then there’s actual freaking amazing airtime, which for a Gerst Bob is insane.
Don’t take my word as proof though, or even the above picture, ask Heartline, who managed to lose his hat on the ride in circumstances that still puzzle us to this day.
Zum Rittersturz
With the dark ride closed, the only other attraction worth riding in the park was Zum Rittersturz, the park’s giant elevator lift flume ride.
The ride was better than I expected to be fair, it featured a small indoors section which was fun, the drop itself was great and thankfully we didn’t get too wet.
On our way to exit we spoke to the lady at the admissions desk about how we might be able to get the hat back, not even Google translate could help make sense of what was being spoken however.
Upon returning home and emailing the park in German, we got a response saying that many black hats are lost daily and we are welcome to come back and search through the box of black hats to find Heartline’s, 7 months later and I’m still not sure if this is parody or not. At least we got a response however, unlike Holiday Park…
Then it was time to head back to the Chunnel and back to reality, at least for a couple of weeks.
3 weeks into the trip now and it was time to pay a revisit to Movie Park Germany, continuing our quest of riding all of Europe’s new Intamins.
On our last visit in 2017, despite the park and its attractions not blowing me away, I still walked away with a good opinion of the park. It turns out the park is quite consistent in this because today would go down the exact same way.
Movie Park Germany
Exactly like last time, we arrived in the car park to the smell of sewage and the sight of a rusting SLC, this time though we knew the park was more than just this awful first impression.
Studio Tour
Once inside we made our way straight to Studio Tour, the aforementioned new Intamin. I know they had to because the show building was located there, but Studio Tour’s location in the park is really strange, hidden in the far right of the park, behind the children’s area.
Let’s get it out of the way early, if you were to judge the park’s newest investment as just the roller coaster ride system used, which you shouldn’t, then you’d probably walk away pretty disappointed. It’s fairly tame, rather short and really could have benefitted from the use of a drop track.
If you are able to appreciate Studio Tour as a full package though, then you’re going to have a great time on this highly themed, charming, complex family coaster on a wacky journey around the Movie Park Studios. You’ll have an even better experience if, unlike me, you are aware of the park’s history, because they have gone to great efforts to throw in loads of ‘easter eggs’ for the fans which is pretty awesome.
Is it the best coaster at the park? No, but it is an excellent addition to a park that even now feels like it needs more things to do.
Excalibur – Secrets of the Dark Forest
Next up was a ride on the recently(ish) rethemed rapids.
I’m happy to say when changing the ride from Mystery River to Excalibur that 70% of the great theming survived, as did 60% of the character. Regardless it’s still a great example of an Intamin rapids and well worth riding.
Then it was time to reunite with an old favourite.
You know how during this trip report I’ve been finding the greatest Gerstlauer Bobsled yet on a regular basis? Well you need to exclude Van Helsing from that discussion (let’s go with the logic that it’s fully enclosed) because it is the greatest Gerstlauer Bobsled ever made, is the park’s best coaster and I love it.
I loved it before, but somehow experience has made this thing even better. How they managed to make something this insane that doesn’t crack 30 feet tall or 30 mph is ridiculous. Heavily themed, an amazing soundtrack and stupidly intense, Van Helsing is amazing.
I may have let my inner Mack fanboy sway my opinion when I first rode and ranked Star Trek: Operation Enterprise. That or somehow it’s now riding considerably worse than in 2017? Maybe a bit of both?
Either way, today, it really wasn’t doing all that much for me.
Time Riders (John Cleese dark ride) was closed for Covid, the immersive tunnel was closed due to Covid, Halloween set up or it didn’t exist anymore. We didn’t want to ride the SLC, because of course we didn’t. We didn’t want to ride Bandit, in case, unlike last time, it was now the worst wooden roller coaster on Earth.
So in other words, we had many hours left in our day, with 3 things worth riding. Star Trek (which wasn’t riding well), Studio Tour and Van Helsing.
Credit to the park, we decided to stick it out, and I’m glad we did because it all came together quite nicely in the end.
At around 2/3 we took advantage of the Covid tests the park offered in their car park. We needed a negative test to get home in 2 days and were quite worried about how we’d go about getting it done.
I’m not sure how much credit can go to the park for this but the guys running the test centre were incredible. Thankfully English was spoken, the process was super quick, they couldn’t have been more helpful and about 20 minutes later we were now cleared to return home, not before 2 more days of coasters though.
Job done, let’s celebrate with a slushie.
Oh crap, we forgot to ride Area 51…
Area 51
Much like with Excalibur, I think I preferred Area 51 before it was rethemed, when it used to be Bermuda Triangle. Don’t get me wrong, it looks amazing now and is still a great ride but there was something legitimately unnerving about the previous version that I really enjoyed.
Despite feeling like we’d run out of things to do several times, we’d once again had a good day out at Movie Park Germany. I think it’s fair to say that I wouldn’t rush back until the park add another major investment but I once again left the park with a good opinion of the place.
Thanks for reading, click here for day 22 of my trip report, where we visit Fraispertuis City and manage to get back to the chocolate dark ride at the Swiss museum of transport.
Much like Energylandia, we’d find ourselves returning to Phantasialand just over a year since our last visit in order to ride a new large-scale Vekoma. Unlike Energylandia, I wasn’t really all that excited to ride said new Vekoma or to return at all really, after having gotten a much better than usual trip to the park the year before.
Phantasialand
But alas, back to Brühl.
This time, for the first time, we were directed to park in the car park behind Mystery Castle, which is thankfully one of the decent car parks.
You’ve missed it, I’ve missed it, but medical masks are back and shockingly Phantasialand are one of the best parks in how they handle it.
There was a repeating announcement in the car park and at the park entrance that warned that medical masks must be worn in the park. This gave Heartline the warning he needed to put on one of the blue medical masks before leaving the car. I wasn’t sure if my mask, basically a medical mask in shape, not colour or fabric though, would be accepted, so I brought both masks in just in case.
After what I believe was actually the nicest greeting to the park we’ve ever recieved, it was time to F.L.Y..
F.L.Y.
In more comparisons with Energylandia, we must discuss the presentation of F.L.Y. and Rookburgh before we move onto how the coaster rides.
Quite honestly Rookburgh is one of the most stunning and highly detailed areas I have ever witnessed at a theme park. There’s so much to look at, I swear I barely took in half of the detail on my visit. There is also so much going on effects wise, with smoke, sound effects and animated theming either going off at random or being triggered by the arrival of F.L.Y..
Another thing I really like is how the coaster track perfectly blends in with the theming, which means you’ll never be able to memorize the layout.
If I had to nitpick though, I’d say it’s a shame that the intense theming doesn’t really carry all that much into the queue of F.L.Y..
Speaking of the queue, further praise must be given to the park for actually having a completely functional locker system. You can’t bring anything onto F.L.Y., so it’s good that this has been well thought out, unlike Arthur at Europa Park which descends into several thousand people battling for lockers for 15 minutes every time you ride.
On a technical level it’s something really special, the way the coaster is able to effortlessly switch between sitting and flying to start the ride is something I’d never get bored of experiencing. Also you can’t gloss over how cool the concept of a multi-launch flyer is. Finally the way the coaster interacts with the stunning theming of Rookburgh is incredible.
Then there’s my 2 major downfalls the coaster has, which stop it from being in any way near my favourite coasters in the World.
It’s uncomfortable.
I’m slightly shorter and slightly chunkier than the average bloke, not by much though, and to me F.L.Y. borders on being a painful experience. The vest part of the restraints cut deep into my shoulders throughout the entire flying experience and then I find myself faffing about trying to push myself off the vest, which takes away quite a bit of the fun of the ride.
It’s pretty boring as a roller coaster.
Take away the amazing theming interactions and F.L.Y. would suck. The coaster suffers from the new Vekoma issue of applying the exact same forces to your body for 90 percent of the experience. This coupled with the flying position (which hurts me) means it’s really hard to understand what is actually happening to you, other than I’m flying on my stomach (and it hurts), now I’m flying on my back (and it doesn’t). Compare this to the best flyer in the World, Flying Dinosaur, which offers a beautiful variation of forces, including weightlessness, followed by crushing positives and I hope you can see where I’m coming from.
In summary, F.L.Y. and Rookburgh feature some of the best theming in the World, the coaster itself though is not a World class ride.
On the second of our back to back rides on F.L.Y. to start the day, the lady at the entrance of the coaster politely asked me if I would change my mask for one of the blue medical masks. She didn’t expect me to do it right there but instead said I could change it while walking through the queue.
A warning at the park entrance, meaning I had the mask on me and a polite request from a staff member, this is how this sort of thing should be handled, stay tuned for the last day of our trip to see the exact opposite…
That’s enough F.L.Y. for now, let’s go check out the rest of the park.
Maus au Chocolat
Maus au Chocolat was first and remains one of my favourite interactive dark rides.
Black Mamba
Followed by Black Mamba, which wasn’t riding as well as it was the last time we visited but was still pretty awesome.
In constrast however, Taron, which is still the park’s best coaster, was riding the best it ever has.
The coaster was back to how I remembered it riding when I first experienced it and nothing like it had been riding in recent years. Airtime was back and it was great, I was being violently thrown out of my seat again and I loved it and the snappy changes in direction were actually snappy again. I don’t exactly know what was causing Taron to suddenly ride much better today but I hope it continues because the coaster has moved way up in my books, sadly not in my top 25 though because Hyperion is still better, sorry.
Next up, in true Phantasialand style, we were angrily shouted at in German by a staff member for accidentally entering Wuze Town when we weren’t supposed to while lost looking for where you’re meant to queue for Winjas now.
Winjas
It turns out the queue starts outside, opposite the long closed Hollywood Tour.
You still aren’t able to pick your fate on Winjas, thankfully though we got lucky and were able to ride on the Fear track. Winjas (Fear especially) are always fantastic fun and nothing has changed.
We visited Crazy Bats next, which is still running without the VR, meaning you get several minutes of pitch black riding around a warehouse, which is interesting… It felt good to have a ride though, surely this thing can’t have much long left at the park.
Colorado Adventure
Lastly, for fresh stuff today, we went to check to see if Colorado Adventure is still amazing. Sadly we were unable to get anywhere near the back of the train, where the magic happens, always next time I suppose.
Then it was time to get to know F.L.Y. some more before ending our day with a few awesome laps on the newly reborn Taron.
Phantasialand are famous for kicking you out of the park (and the toilet) as quickly as possible, today however, with barely 30 seconds before the Taron queue was due to close, a wonderful staff member ushered hundreds of people in before the deadline, what park are we at again?
2 trips in a row that I’ve really enjoyed, F.L.Y. for the most part is great, Black Mamba is always an underrated gem, Winjas are awesome and Taron is now kicking serious freakin’ ass. I hate to admit it guys but I might be slowly becoming a fan of the place.
Thank you for reading, click here for day 18 of my trip report, where we visit the decent Duinrell, the horrible Hellendoorn and the wonderful Waarbeek.
Thanks to last night’s shenanigans, we decided we’d make the most of our hotel until they kicked us out at check out. This meant sleeping until the last second, getting ready in record time, then meeting Heartline in his room for some intense last minute ticket purchasing.
Due to Efteling selling out (in more ways than one) the day we were visiting would need to change, as would Movie Park Germany, which for reasons unknown was no longer open on the day we planned to visit.
Laptop closed seconds before house keeping booted the door down, it was time to get back on the road, God help us all…
The revised plan for today was now just a visit to Erlebniswelt Seilbahnen Thale, which from this moment onwards shall be referred to as simply Thale.
This plan sounds a bit lame on paper but was actually both a really good idea and very enjoyable visit.
Erlebniswelt Seilbahnen Thale
The sat nav took us to a large car park surrounded on 2 sides by stunning mountains with at least 2 cable cars travelling up them. Where we went from here was completely guess work but eventually we found our way to the park.
I knew from reading the park’s website that the local area has ties to witchcraft but I wasn’t expecting the small park you walk past on your way to the park itself to have embraced the idea as much as it did.
Under the gaze of the witch (or decoy) you have a choice to make, turn left and down to enter the main park or turn right and up and head to the cable car station which takes you to the top of the mountain to ride the alpine coaster.
We opted to start at the bottom, mostly through lack of understanding the set up yet.
Unless my memory is spiting me again, all of the rides in the bottom main park are self operated, which for the record I enjoy massively.
This meant you had to purchase a “points card” from a little ticket office, which we eventually did after confusing every member of staff in the area and at one point being quoted a price that was almost 10 times the price it should have been.
Boderitt
Points card in hand, we first started with a ride over the Bode in a witches cauldron on Boderitt.
This wacky suspended Wiegand single rail coaster was good fun, made better by getting to operate it yourself, which was done by tapping your points card on a reader, pulling the lapbar down and then pressing a button when you get the green light, which of course I managed to do wrong, but I enjoyed it so it’s fine.
Next up Heartline and his wife went to ride Hexenbesen.
Hexenbesen, which I forgot to take a photo of, is an even more wacky suspended single rail Wiegand coaster where 1 rider at a time lays down, unrestrained, in a metal tube, that then goes flying around the course. You board the ride at the top of a flight of stairs, then exit before it goes back up to the start position at the end.
I was slightly too heavy for the posted max weight, so told myself before the trip that I wouldn’t attempt it. I did however see that many credit hunters (currently 241) had got a ride in and no doubt many of them had been cheeky with that restriction. I therefore told myself if the opportunity presented itself I was open to the idea.
Now was not the time though. Heartline and his wife accidentally ended up riding the coaster with a group of children infront and behind them, with parents given them disapproving looks, and they were below the listed weight limit, Heartline is rather tall though.
Butterfly
To cheer myself up I rode my first Butterfly. I won’t rant about how even after riding one they clearly aren’t a coaster, instead I’ll once again praise how much I enjoy self operated rides.
While Heartline and his wife were riding the Butterfly I noticed via the Coaster-Count app that 2 more credit hunters had added Hexenbesen to their count today, stop tempting me temptation.
In the end though, it proved too much.
While wandering around the park trying to find something to spend the last of our points on, Heartline noticed that Hexenbesen and the area around it were completely empty, so we launched.
Hexenbesen
We ran up the stairs, I slid into the tube, Heartline scanned the card, I pressed the button and there was no turning back.
Did the coaster collapse into a fireball? No. Was I arrested on the spot? Also no. Am I recommending you repeat my actions? Certainly not.
Hexenbesen was really good fun. Sliding about while laying on your stomach in a metal tube just feels so wrong it’s right.
No one had even noticed or cared that I rode Hexenbesen, but in my head I was now Germany’s most wanted, so we made a quick escape to the cable car station, so I could hide at the top of the mountain, oh and ride the alpine coaster.
How great it was to have clearly printed and displayed packages for the cable car and alpine coaster, I’m looking at you Andorra…
We lucked out and managed to get the glass bottomed cable car on the way up, which is apparently highly sought after.
After a leisurely walk through stunning scenery we stumbled on the alpine coaster, named Harzbob.
Harzbob
I really enjoyed Harzbob and it reminded me of a situation that was very simular to our last major Europe trip.
You start the trip by riding several large famous alpine coasters, think the little ones later in the trip are going to be fairly boring and tame, then they absolutely kick your ass.
This was certainly the case with Harzbob which was viciously throwing me around in the woodland, where I was half expecting the witch to appear at any minute.
Another leisurely walk took us back to the cable car station, the fresh air melting away the stress of the night previous.
We got another glass bottomed cable car on our descent, either we are extremely lucky or they aren’t that difficult to obtain.
As we walked back past the small park with the devil on the bench, there was an old lady chanting to the passers by, I think the witch has arrived, let’s get out of here before she finds out I rode Hexenbesen.
I really enjoyed my visit to Thale, it was the perfect relaxing way to recover after last night’s incident and we were now charged back up and ready to experience the final leg of intense days that the trip had to offer.
Thank you for reading, click here for day 17 of my trip report, where we visit Phantasialand to ride F.L.Y. and see if Taron needs to move further down my top 25.
