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Phantasialand: General Discussion

Having returned from two days at the park I have to say Taron is looking stunning in person. There is still a fair bit of work to do, particularly in terms of planting, landscaping, and a general tidy, but all in all it's certainly nearing completion.

River Quest however is looking stunning. The changes to the lift tower are brilliant, and sit perfectly alongside Taron and Raik. Personally, I'm hoping they plan to enclose the staircase at the back, as it sticks out quite badly, with clear scaffolding stairs and steel walls inside of it. They've also added some small window openings to the side of the towers, which allows you to see the lifts traveling up and down. Not sure why they've done this mind, as there's no windows in the lifts themselves. It makes no real difference when you're on the ride, aside from lighting up the opening of the lift shafts, revealing the pit beneath when they aren't at the bottom. Like I say, part of me hopes there is still work to do here.

Remaining on the subject of River Quest, there's been a lot of work done all over the ride to clean it up and repaint it. They've also added some giant beams over the second drop, which can create some very effective head choppers. The water is also crystal clear, and it appears that they have added a new water treatment facility next to the station, so hopefully no more green water!

Black Mamba's rockwork is looking much better for a freshen up. However, it has made the bits which haven't been done stand out much more. Some areas of the ride do appear quite shabby of late. Hopefully they'll continue to address this over the coming seasons, as they have carried out bits of work over the past few. It's clearly a big project.

Other changes around the park include Winjas' queueline. I'm not sure whether this is permanent or not, but they seem to have been playing around with the cattlepen. A few years ago they changed the ride so that it was one shared queue, with the line splitting for Fear and Force at the top of the stairs to the platform. They also added in some fences and doors shortly after, clearly to try and ensure people queued correctly. However, on both days of our visit the door at the top of the stairs for the old Force queue had been opened. This meant that there was a shared queue up until the first set of stairs. Here the queue split in two. Turn right and straight down the stairs for Force, or turn left and circle the opening before going down the stairs to Fear. This set up meant that Fear always had a longer line.

As I say, I'm not sure if this is permanent, as all of the old signage about the shared queue and split at the stairs are still in place. There is also no fence where the queues used to split, meaning guests can slip into the other line if they wish. Either way, it really doesn't work as well as the previous set up, and hopefully it will be revised/reverted soon.

Race for Atlantis is now completely gone, with nothing but a fence at the top of the stairs where it used to be. It's opened up a vast area, and also made the Fantasy area feel much more open and spacious.

I have previously seen comments that Chiapas has had its switches slowed down. This certainly wasn't the case at the weekend, as the ride was running full pelt (slamming on the turntable and all!). Thankfully it does appear all of the lapbar issues are now behind us. There have been a couple of small alterations to the boats again, presumably to rectify the problem, but nothing which impacts upon the ride, or would be noticed unless you really looked.

Colorado Adventure is running much better. The new axels have really quietened the ride down, and whilst it remains pretty untamed and shakey, it certainly is a little smoother!

Lastly, the queue time boards in China have been relocated. These used to be opposite the entrance to River Quest, where the path ran down to Taron/Silbermine. They have been uprooted (literally!) and moved into the back corner of China, next to Wang's meet and greet area. It looks as though they have done this in order to widen the path down to Taron, presumably for access and the increased footfall.
 
I have previously seen comments that Chiapas has had its switches slowed down. This certainly wasn't the case at the weekend, as the ride was running full pelt (slamming on the turntable and all!). Thankfully it does appear all of the lapbar issues are now behind us. There have been a couple of small alterations to the boats again, presumably to rectify the problem, but nothing which impacts upon the ride, or would be noticed unless you really looked.

Really? That's a shame. I had hoped that was true. The forcefulness of turntables and the lapbars are the only two things I dislike about Chiapas.
 
Really? That's a shame. I had hoped that was true. The forcefulness of turntables and the lapbars are the only two things I dislike about Chiapas.

Personally the sliding switch has never bothered me. It does slide to a halt quite nicely, and can catch you off guard if you've not experienced the ride before.

However, I do agree with the first turntable. It's great that it does run so fast and keeps up the pace, but if you're sat at the back of the boat it really does slam into place with a bang, and can give you a nasty bump. Even if they just added some shocks to it to absorb some of the impact it'd be an improvement.
 


Phantasialand have posted a video of the testing!!!


Looks a lot quicker than previously anticipated. Fingers crossed we won't actually have a Cheetah Run style coaster on our hands after all :blush:
 
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Cheetah hunt is a good coaster for what it is. It caters for a large demographic of people. Just wish it did not invert. This however looks to cater more for the thrill market, and doing it well looking at the pace of it.
 
Phantafriends have posted that Taron has now completed the full circuit. Visitors (including Tobi who made the models during the off season) today saw the train on the second half of the ride after the second launch.
 
That testing video is very promising! Showing great speed and it is still early days in terms of testing. Excellent!

:)
 
More testing today!!
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Good to see. Is there a date for opening of this yet? Or an estimate?

Nothing yet but it's surely going to be May, or early June at the latest. Unless they want to annoy people even more and delay it for the sake of it, which wouldn't actually surprise me.

:)
 
Nothing yet but it's surely going to be May, or early June at the latest. Unless they want to annoy people even more and delay it for the sake of it, which wouldn't actually surprise me.

:)

May or June at the very lastest July it will definitely open. I personally think May as there isn't much left to do. Large parts of the area are sitting complete.
The park won't purposely delay it.
They have a good track record of getting things open quickly (with the very big exception of Chiapas).
 
May or June at the very lastest July it will definitely open. I personally think May as there isn't much left to do. Large parts of the area are sitting complete.
The park won't purposely delay it.
They have a good track record of getting things open quickly (with the very big exception of Chiapas).

The reason I asked was because I was thinking back to Chiapas and following the construction of that :tongueclosed:

Thank both!
 
The reason I asked was because I was thinking back to Chiapas and following the construction of that :tongueclosed:

Thank both!

Chiapas had issues as it used new technology while Taron uses mostly existing tech - okay new train, track designs + most intense launches of their type but still.
Black Mamba perhaps one of the most themed rides ever looked like a construction site a month before opening. Just concrete buildings and track. While Taron looks almost finished.
 
Black Mamba perhaps one of the most themed rides ever looked like a construction site a month before opening. Just concrete buildings and track. While Taron looks almost finished.

Sounds like The Smiler.

Looks great, definitely giving me a reason to visit Phantasialand again!
 
A short video of some full circuit testing has appeared on YouTube. Not sure how long it's going to stay up, Phantasialand seem intent on having no trace of testing online.

 
Still looks nippy which is a bonus!

Not sure how long it's going to stay up, Phantasialand seem intent on having no trace of testing online.

Sounds like they've been speaking to AT about things like that!
 
Oh my! I have no interest in Raik as a coaster but that is one heck of a train!

:)
 
Entirely forgiving them for the rubbish logo now!!

THAT IS AMAZING!

Like, that makes Taron's trains look like something on a pinfari!
 
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