Heide Park

[Danny]

In my opinion, I do actually think Hansa looks superior to Heide from the point of view of someone who has visited neither. The theming at Hansa looks stunning from pictures, and even in terms of roller coasters, Heide only has 2 more than Hansa including Colossos. Kärnan and Novgorod are both branded as fantastic rides by people who have visited, also. The only ride I've ever heard get consistently rave reviews at Heide is Colossos, even though I'm sure Flug Der Dämonen and Krake are excellent rides. I'm presuming Hansa is also much better value in terms of admission prices.

Krake is not an excellent ride. It's a joke, a boring snoozefest that they seemingly forgot to theme first time round, then hilariously rolled out the cut and paste "add a live actor attraction and remove not long after" experience.

Flug is also far from brilliant, slightly stronger than The Swarm but a huge waste of potential.

The only positive is that Limit is far from being the worst SLC (looking at you El Condor).

 

[Matt N]

Flug der Damonen does look to have a nice queue though, maybe this is where Wicker Man got its sense of creativity from. Or was Flug the ride where they didn't actually install any new theming and just used what was already there? Which if they did, is a tad lazy of them, because even if the existing theming looked good, it needs/needed new theming to go alongside it.

 

[John]

The Flug queue reuses the old log flume queue and station building, plus some extra cattle pen for good measure.

 

[Rick]

Flug der Damonen does look to have a nice queue though, maybe this is where Wicker Man got its sense of creativity from. Or was Flug the ride where they didn't actually install any new theming and just used what was already there? Which if they did, is a tad lazy of them, because even if the existing theming looked good, it needs/needed new theming to go alongside it.

For the park that built Collosos, Big Loop, Limit and Desert Race... I think Flug is bottom of their list of problems in the theming department. It's not that kind of park, particularly from a coaster perspective, it never has been, really.

 

[Matt N]

For the park that built Collosos, Big Loop, Limit and Desert Race... I think Flug is bottom of their list of problems in the theming department. It's not that kind of park, particularly from a coaster perspective, it never has been, really.

So Heide is not really a themed park as such, then? Is it more like a Cedar Fair-type park in terms of coaster theming?

 

[Rick]

So Heide is not really a themed park as such, then? Is it more like a Cedar Fair-type park in terms of coaster theming?

I think that's a fair description for most of their coasters. The feature on Krake is cool, Bobaan has a cool station and Grottenblitz is well presented but as for everything else...

 

[AstroDan]

Heide-Park was just a pleasantly landscaped park, basically. Merlin have come in and added themed rides but I feel that these don't really manage to get a proper whole-family feel. Like most Merlin themes, the rides are either dark and sinister or bright and cheery. Desert Race might not have much theming, but the idea of the theme is actually really good. That was a classic late-Tussauds addition, though. Lazy.

The Bobsleigh has seen its traditional Alpine station given a torture/darker overtone recently. Weird for a family ride.

Merlin need to look at things like Mammut at Gardaland and do more rides with that kind of mid-level theme!

 

[Matt N]

Merlin need to look at things like Mammut at Gardaland and do more rides with that kind of mid-level theme!

Did Merlin actually build Mammut themselves, as I believe it opened in 2008 and Merlin acquired Gardaland in 2006? Or was Mammut announced prior to the Merlin acquisition?

 

[AstroDan]

Yes, Mammut was built by Merlin Entertainments.Quite shocking, really. I mean, look at it (the queue looks horrendous in the image, think it was opening day) ...:

 

[Matt N]

Yes, Mammut was built by Merlin Entertainments.

Quite shocking, really. I mean, look at it (the queue looks horrendous in the image, think it was opening day...):

What?! Where are the security cameras? The danger signs? The barbed wire? The black/grey track? Were Merlin OK when they designed this?

In all seriousness, Mammut looks like a fun, well themed attraction for everyone.

 

[Matt N]

Sorry for double posting and for bumping the thread, but who's ready for a Colossos update? Well, construction is well underway on the retrack, as exhibited by this video that Heide Park put on Facebook:

However, around the final turn of the ride, footers and construction have been seen for some sort of large theming structure. I unfortunately don't have any pictures, but metal has begun to rise around the final turn. I don't know what this theming structure might be, but some have joked that it will be a wicker man structure in order to make the ride a Wicker Man "sequel", like how Nemesis Inferno was a sequel to Nemesis and Oblivion: The Black Hole was a sequel to Oblivion.

However, we unfortunately can't observe said theming structure being built... because in typical Merlin fashion, a large scaffolding wall has been erected around the final turn of Colossos so that it cannot be seen from anywhere in the park. It can't even be seen from Desert Race and Scream, apparently.

 

[CSLKenny]

Retracking is well underway. And as seen in this picture from coasterfriends.de the new large theming structure is taking shape with large branches now visible over the fence.

Also "Colossos Kampf Der Giganten" has been registered as a trademark by law firm Lane IP, who work with Merlin. It translates to 'Colossos Battle of the Giants'.
This logo was also included:

Presumably the structure may be a wooden tree like (and possibly burning) giant...
...wonder where that idea came from.

Shame to lose the great Aztec style theming and soundtrack the coaster received in 2016. That investment lasted half a season...

 

[KingNemesis]

Visited the park on Friday and got a few photos of the work taking place:

 

[jlm2002]

Colossos is a sequel to Wicker Man? Aside from the logo (which looks similar) I don't think this is going to happen, haha

 

[Robert.W]

Yeah, it won't be anything related to Wicker Man, even though there are definitely some similarities between the two projects.

As per usual, we get the signature "centre piece" theming element, which may or may not take design inspiration from Wicker Man, and who knows, it may even have fire effects of its own.. Then there is the logo / branding which looks very similar to that of Wicker Man...

There's clear similarities between the two projects, but that's only when looking at them purely from a construction / design perspective, because it's clear that they're not actually meant to be related theme or story wise.

 

[Stuie]

There's clear similarities between the two projects, but that's only when looking at them purely from a construction / design perspective, because it's clear that they're not actually meant to be related theme or story wise.

The logos are very similar and have the same design approach.

 

[Danny]

A look at the current progress of Colossos's re-track courtesy of Heide Park World:

 

[JB1985]

Looking good

 

[siralgenon]

Is this going to be ready for next year?

 

[AstroDan]

Is this going to be ready for next year?

Yes. Unsure when in the season though as of yet.

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