SirDossa
TS Member
Hi all!! Just got back from my first ever trip to Phantasialand and thought I’d do a little write up on how it went. The trip was much anticipated as it had originally been booked for April 2020, and then again in October 2020, but both trips ended up being cancelled.
The park-
We spent two full days on park (Wednesday and Thursday) and the park definitely met my expectations. The park was busier than I thought it would be on the Wednesday, but we still managed to get on everything we wanted to, and also managed a few re-rides. The Thursday was very quiet with most rides not exceeding a 5–10 minute queue. This may have been helped by the rain that was forecast although it only ended up being some on and off showers throughout the afternoon.
Having wanted to ride Taron for what has felt like an eternity, it was amazing to finally experience it. We rode it first thing on the Wednesday, and I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t come off it feeling slightly underwhelmed. However, a couple more rides later on in the day once it had fully warmed up, and a few more the next day changed my view, and it was definitely the most enjoyable ride of the trip. It’s so re-rideable, and the airtime moments are superb as are the launches. The general theme and look of the ride (along with the whole Klugheim area) is a sight to behold, and it’s crazy to think that this isn’t even the best themed area in the park…
ROOKBURGH- WOW!!! Photos and vlogs just don’t do this place justice. It really is stunning. You could get lost just walking around taking in all of the incredible theming. Similar to my first ride on Taron, my first flight on F.L.Y didn’t blow me away, and I thought it was a bit uncomfortable and a bit too intense. I don’t think it helped going on not long after consuming lunch which included a rather large ice cream! However, further re-rides proved to be much more enjoyable, and it is hands down the best flying coaster I’ve ever been on. A front row ride on it was pretty magical, and it felt like I was piloting the whole train through the rides crazy layout over the amazing Rookburgh. The locker system and security check was a bit of a faff on our first ride, but it was not an issue on any of the other rides we had. It is worth mentioning though that my fiancé didn’t enjoy F.L.Y at all, and didn’t fly again after her first ride.
On to the other coasters and Winjas Fear/Force was the best of the rest. Both of these coasters are great fun with the Fear layout being my personal favourite (I think it was Fear..but it was the one on the left!) This ended up having the longest queue experienced all trip as we ended up waiting about 45 minutes on the Wednesday for it. For some reason, the queue was just moving really slowly which was a bit odd as the operations on all of the other attractions were top notch. I also really enjoyed Colorado Adventure, and it’s safe to say that it’s the most intense mine train I’ve ever done. I didn’t think I’d enjoy Crazy Bats much but it was actually really good fun, and the VR worked very well. Black Mamba was also a great ride, and once again, the theming was sublime. We also rode Raik which was a fun well themed family coaster.
The other highlights were most definitely Chiapas and River Quest. I’d wanted to ride Chiapas for a long time, and thankfully it did not disappoint. I think it’s the best flume I’ve ever done although it was more of a soaker than I was prepared for. The detail on display from a theming point of view is impeccable, and I look forward to riding it again at some point in the future when temperatures are a bit warmer. River Quest is a bonkers rapids, and my fiancé had no idea what to expect when riding it so was definitely taken back by all of the drops involved.
Other highlights included Mystery Castle although I think I experienced the “Misery Castle” cycle. However, the scale of this ride, and once again the presentation/theming on display is incredible. I also really enjoyed Geister Rikscha, and I quite liked the unique theming/set pieces that were on display. I didn’t realise what a long layout it had either! I watched a couple of Talocan cycles, and it really does look the business off ride. However, I chose not to ride as I had travelled light and didn’t want to have any potential mishaps!Suffice to say, these kind of rides aren’t really for me.
Food/ Drink/ Other amenities-
We kept it pretty basic when eating on park with lunches being “chicken crunchies” and bratwurst with good old pommes frittes! It was all tasty enough but I do now wish we had sampled one of the sit down restaurants. It’s worth noting that bottles of water seemed to be relatively hard to come by, and they were the same price as a bottle of Fanta/coke/Mezzo mix (which I did sample, but didn’t particularly enjoy!). Having recently been to Energylandia where Beer was a constant refreshment throughout, this wasn’t the case here as it didn’t appear to be as readily accessible..at least during the day anyway. We did enjoy a few nice beers though in Klugheim.
The merch on offer wasn’t great, and as an avid collector of fridge magnets, I only came away with one basic Phantasialand one, and only actually came across 2 other ones in total.
We did catch the “Jump” show which was a hybrid of dancing and people jumping on trampolines and pogo type things. It was mildly enjoyable, but some of the routines did appear to be a bit out of sync.
Travel/ Accommodation-
We flew from London Stansted via Ryan Air and thankfully encountered no issues. With the flight being only just over an hour, it’s crazy to think that my commute to work sometimes takes longer. Once at Cologne airport, we did take a few hours to explore the city centre, and the Cathedral really is an amazing architectural feat. We also enjoyed some lunch and a few beers at a tavern close to the Cathedral. We used public transport to get to PL, and it was a pretty easy journey which involved two short train journeys followed by the PL shuttle bus which ferried us from Bruhl to the wonderful Hotel Matamba which would be our digs for both nights.
Much like the park, the theming and attention to detail on display throughout Matamba was immaculate, and it was great having a room with a balcony which overlooked Black Mamba. The reception staff were brilliant and this reflected the superb customer service that I had received throughout the whole process of re-scheduling the trip over the last two years. The bar was the perfect place to unwind and sample a few different beers and cocktails throughout the evening. We had initially booked a meal at Zambesi restaurant, but upon discovering that the bbq meat on the menu was actually Zebra, Ostrich and Crocodile (that theming again!), we decided not to dine there in the evening. This is more of a reflection on my relatively fussy food tastes, but I wasn’t really willing to part ways with nearly 80 euros (for 2 of us) on food that we might not have enjoyed. The breakfast buffet was very tasty though, and did include all of the normal breakfast tucker.
We did however dine at the Chinese buffet located at Hotel Ling Bao, and this was nice although everything did taste a bit too salty. Once again, this hotel was stunning, and it was nice having a few drinks there on the second evening.
All in all, I can’t recommend Phantasialand enough. I do think that a world class dark ride is needed though along with a hyper (probs not logistically possible) or a wooden/RMC coaster to complete the park’s coaster lineup. What they do currently have though is fantastic, and some of the engineering feats on display are mind boggling. I’ve never come across a park which packs as much in to such a relatively small footprint while maintaining such an incredible level of theming and quality.
The park-
We spent two full days on park (Wednesday and Thursday) and the park definitely met my expectations. The park was busier than I thought it would be on the Wednesday, but we still managed to get on everything we wanted to, and also managed a few re-rides. The Thursday was very quiet with most rides not exceeding a 5–10 minute queue. This may have been helped by the rain that was forecast although it only ended up being some on and off showers throughout the afternoon.
Having wanted to ride Taron for what has felt like an eternity, it was amazing to finally experience it. We rode it first thing on the Wednesday, and I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t come off it feeling slightly underwhelmed. However, a couple more rides later on in the day once it had fully warmed up, and a few more the next day changed my view, and it was definitely the most enjoyable ride of the trip. It’s so re-rideable, and the airtime moments are superb as are the launches. The general theme and look of the ride (along with the whole Klugheim area) is a sight to behold, and it’s crazy to think that this isn’t even the best themed area in the park…
ROOKBURGH- WOW!!! Photos and vlogs just don’t do this place justice. It really is stunning. You could get lost just walking around taking in all of the incredible theming. Similar to my first ride on Taron, my first flight on F.L.Y didn’t blow me away, and I thought it was a bit uncomfortable and a bit too intense. I don’t think it helped going on not long after consuming lunch which included a rather large ice cream! However, further re-rides proved to be much more enjoyable, and it is hands down the best flying coaster I’ve ever been on. A front row ride on it was pretty magical, and it felt like I was piloting the whole train through the rides crazy layout over the amazing Rookburgh. The locker system and security check was a bit of a faff on our first ride, but it was not an issue on any of the other rides we had. It is worth mentioning though that my fiancé didn’t enjoy F.L.Y at all, and didn’t fly again after her first ride.
On to the other coasters and Winjas Fear/Force was the best of the rest. Both of these coasters are great fun with the Fear layout being my personal favourite (I think it was Fear..but it was the one on the left!) This ended up having the longest queue experienced all trip as we ended up waiting about 45 minutes on the Wednesday for it. For some reason, the queue was just moving really slowly which was a bit odd as the operations on all of the other attractions were top notch. I also really enjoyed Colorado Adventure, and it’s safe to say that it’s the most intense mine train I’ve ever done. I didn’t think I’d enjoy Crazy Bats much but it was actually really good fun, and the VR worked very well. Black Mamba was also a great ride, and once again, the theming was sublime. We also rode Raik which was a fun well themed family coaster.
The other highlights were most definitely Chiapas and River Quest. I’d wanted to ride Chiapas for a long time, and thankfully it did not disappoint. I think it’s the best flume I’ve ever done although it was more of a soaker than I was prepared for. The detail on display from a theming point of view is impeccable, and I look forward to riding it again at some point in the future when temperatures are a bit warmer. River Quest is a bonkers rapids, and my fiancé had no idea what to expect when riding it so was definitely taken back by all of the drops involved.
Other highlights included Mystery Castle although I think I experienced the “Misery Castle” cycle. However, the scale of this ride, and once again the presentation/theming on display is incredible. I also really enjoyed Geister Rikscha, and I quite liked the unique theming/set pieces that were on display. I didn’t realise what a long layout it had either! I watched a couple of Talocan cycles, and it really does look the business off ride. However, I chose not to ride as I had travelled light and didn’t want to have any potential mishaps!Suffice to say, these kind of rides aren’t really for me.
Food/ Drink/ Other amenities-
We kept it pretty basic when eating on park with lunches being “chicken crunchies” and bratwurst with good old pommes frittes! It was all tasty enough but I do now wish we had sampled one of the sit down restaurants. It’s worth noting that bottles of water seemed to be relatively hard to come by, and they were the same price as a bottle of Fanta/coke/Mezzo mix (which I did sample, but didn’t particularly enjoy!). Having recently been to Energylandia where Beer was a constant refreshment throughout, this wasn’t the case here as it didn’t appear to be as readily accessible..at least during the day anyway. We did enjoy a few nice beers though in Klugheim.
The merch on offer wasn’t great, and as an avid collector of fridge magnets, I only came away with one basic Phantasialand one, and only actually came across 2 other ones in total.
We did catch the “Jump” show which was a hybrid of dancing and people jumping on trampolines and pogo type things. It was mildly enjoyable, but some of the routines did appear to be a bit out of sync.
Travel/ Accommodation-
We flew from London Stansted via Ryan Air and thankfully encountered no issues. With the flight being only just over an hour, it’s crazy to think that my commute to work sometimes takes longer. Once at Cologne airport, we did take a few hours to explore the city centre, and the Cathedral really is an amazing architectural feat. We also enjoyed some lunch and a few beers at a tavern close to the Cathedral. We used public transport to get to PL, and it was a pretty easy journey which involved two short train journeys followed by the PL shuttle bus which ferried us from Bruhl to the wonderful Hotel Matamba which would be our digs for both nights.
Much like the park, the theming and attention to detail on display throughout Matamba was immaculate, and it was great having a room with a balcony which overlooked Black Mamba. The reception staff were brilliant and this reflected the superb customer service that I had received throughout the whole process of re-scheduling the trip over the last two years. The bar was the perfect place to unwind and sample a few different beers and cocktails throughout the evening. We had initially booked a meal at Zambesi restaurant, but upon discovering that the bbq meat on the menu was actually Zebra, Ostrich and Crocodile (that theming again!), we decided not to dine there in the evening. This is more of a reflection on my relatively fussy food tastes, but I wasn’t really willing to part ways with nearly 80 euros (for 2 of us) on food that we might not have enjoyed. The breakfast buffet was very tasty though, and did include all of the normal breakfast tucker.
We did however dine at the Chinese buffet located at Hotel Ling Bao, and this was nice although everything did taste a bit too salty. Once again, this hotel was stunning, and it was nice having a few drinks there on the second evening.
All in all, I can’t recommend Phantasialand enough. I do think that a world class dark ride is needed though along with a hyper (probs not logistically possible) or a wooden/RMC coaster to complete the park’s coaster lineup. What they do currently have though is fantastic, and some of the engineering feats on display are mind boggling. I’ve never come across a park which packs as much in to such a relatively small footprint while maintaining such an incredible level of theming and quality.
