Martin
TS Member
No, you grow up.
As the title suggests, last month I fulfilled a lifelong dream and attended the legendary Munich Oktoberfest, and joined the growing list of TSTers to visit and fall in love with Phantasialand. Oktoberfest has always been on my list, not just for the beer but also for the fairground, not least Olympia Looping, while Phantasialand opening Taron this year and a mix up with work meaning I couldn't make the road trip, plans were formed to hit up both locations in one trip. Sadly schedule and budget reasons limited the trip to just a couple days at each location, when either could easily soak up a whole week, but that'd be enough to get a decent feel for both and ensure I'll be returning in future.
Battery and weather in Munich meant there aren't as many pictures, let alone good ones as I would like, unfortunately. In Phantasia, being well aware there's already much better pictures than anything I could take, I mostly just went for a point-and-shoot approach, to give a sort of Martin-eye view of the place, so you see the park how I saw it. Pictures in the spoilers, but plenty more pictures, especially of Taron and Klugheim, here https://flic.kr/s/aHskKazKLc
I'm aware there's been quite a lot of trip reports of Phantasia and Taron recently but I thought I'd throw my opinions into the ring anyway.
So read on to part 1, where I barely contain my love for Oktoberfest, and part 2, where I completely fail to do the same for Phantasialand.
PART 1
Oktoberfest is the world's biggest, most famous volksfest, in which a large open space in Munich is filled as far as the eye can see with rides, stalls and massive tents full of beer. Beer, rides, loud music, it's a place that could have been made for me. Our first day was a Saturday and the opening of the festival, which makes it one of the busiest days, not even the rather dismal weather put off the thousands of locals and tourists descending on Theresienwiese. On a busy day, particularly in the afternoon and onwards, getting a space in one of the tents can prove very difficult without a reservation, and although most tents have an outside area that is usually less crowded, the mad weather made the tents even more packed, and it is almost impossible to find a space, and with no seat, there is no service. Who would have thought it would be so difficult to buy beer at a beer festival?
We were having no luck in getting inside the tents so instead spent the first evening focusing on the attractions, particularly the three major rollercoasters; Hollenblitz, Alpina Bahn, and of course, Olympia Looping, the coaster that had been top of my wanted list for many, many years. Hollenblitz is an indoor spinning coaster full of effects and trains about as long as the country of Chile, and with smaller trains could easily be replicated at a park, even unenclosed, as it has a much more fun layout than many custom and off the shelf spinning coasters. But it is the soundtrack, lighting and pyrotechnics, not to mention the outside theming, complete with waterfall, that makes it special. Alpina Bahn is a massive Schwarzkopf travelling coaster similar to Olympia but without inversions. I'd been rather looking forward to it and it did not disappoint. It has a ridiculously good first drop and a twisting layout full of airtime and is very smooth. I really enjoyed it and would love to ride it again.
Olympia Looping however, was a ride I went in to with a lot of excitement. It looked great and I'd heard nothing but good things about it, but after waiting so long, would it live up to the massive hype?
Yes.
Constant massive, ridiculous forces combined with a solid, if familiar, layout create a relentless, thrilling ride and despite its age and being a travelling ride, it's extremely smooth and pleasant to ride. It's funny in a way that the year I finally get out to Germany to ride it is the year it comes to Britain for Winter Wonderland, but I'm delighted I'll be able to ride this beast again much sooner than I expected. Hopefully the long rumoured move to China doesn't go through because it'd be dearly missed, I have no doubt that Olympia is one of the best rides in Europe.
There were also twin wild mouse coasters which we didn't bother with, but as well as the coasters, there are plenty of flat rides in the fairgrounds, and they're all without exception much better looked after than most permanent rides in England, let alone travelling rides, and they run on longer, more intense cycles. You may think you've been on a Huss Breakdance, but until you've done one at a German fair, you haven't really been on a Huss Breakdance.
That's the obligatory review of the rides out the way, so back to what really matters, the beer. On the second day we actually managed to get ourselves spaces in some of the tents and tried some of the beers on offer. The way the tents work is very different to how pubs in England work. Each tent serves one of the several official Oktoberfest beers, and when a host approaches you, you simply ask for however many beers you would like, and moments later, that number of two pint steins will appear in front of you. At the risk of sounding like a teenager that's just been to Amsterdam and taken drugs for the first time, it almost feels like I had an epiphany, I never realised beer could be so good. You simply can't go back to Carling after trying the beer here. Of the beers we tried, our favourite was definitely Lowenbrau, but Hoffbrau, probably the most famous of the beers, is great too, less sweet and with more of a kick than Lowenbrau. Go steady though, as the beers here are brewed specifically for the festival and quite stronger than normal, even stronger the regular varieties produced by the Munich breweries themselves.
As well as traditional beer, the festival is famous for its traditional food, and although there was so much more we wish we had tried, I strongly recommend the chicken from the Schutzen-Festhalle tent, it is absolutely perfect.
The site looks incredible by day and even more incredible by night, not just the fairground but the tents themselves, massive structures each with their own distinct style and features. Every tent has its own character too, the Hoffbrau tent is the largest with 10,000 and one of the rowdiest atmospheres due to its size and popularity with tourists and celebrities, while Armbrustschützenzelt holds crossbow competitions and the Weinzelt, as the name suggests, is the only tent to serve wine and champagne, alongside beer. Each tent has something to offer so if you're planning a trip it's worth researching them and working out which ones you most want to go to, and making a reservation.
There's no one I would not recommend Oktoberfest to, but you people, reading this on here, I especially urge you to. It's rare to find a place that combines so many of my passions into one place and does it so well, but it turns out heaven exists, and it's a two week long folk festival in Munich. I'm hoping to go again for longer and with more money next year, learning Germany and getting myself a traditional rig out to fully go native in my spiritual home.
Swerve the leather shorts, though.
As the title suggests, last month I fulfilled a lifelong dream and attended the legendary Munich Oktoberfest, and joined the growing list of TSTers to visit and fall in love with Phantasialand. Oktoberfest has always been on my list, not just for the beer but also for the fairground, not least Olympia Looping, while Phantasialand opening Taron this year and a mix up with work meaning I couldn't make the road trip, plans were formed to hit up both locations in one trip. Sadly schedule and budget reasons limited the trip to just a couple days at each location, when either could easily soak up a whole week, but that'd be enough to get a decent feel for both and ensure I'll be returning in future.
Battery and weather in Munich meant there aren't as many pictures, let alone good ones as I would like, unfortunately. In Phantasia, being well aware there's already much better pictures than anything I could take, I mostly just went for a point-and-shoot approach, to give a sort of Martin-eye view of the place, so you see the park how I saw it. Pictures in the spoilers, but plenty more pictures, especially of Taron and Klugheim, here https://flic.kr/s/aHskKazKLc
I'm aware there's been quite a lot of trip reports of Phantasia and Taron recently but I thought I'd throw my opinions into the ring anyway.
So read on to part 1, where I barely contain my love for Oktoberfest, and part 2, where I completely fail to do the same for Phantasialand.
PART 1
Oktoberfest is the world's biggest, most famous volksfest, in which a large open space in Munich is filled as far as the eye can see with rides, stalls and massive tents full of beer. Beer, rides, loud music, it's a place that could have been made for me. Our first day was a Saturday and the opening of the festival, which makes it one of the busiest days, not even the rather dismal weather put off the thousands of locals and tourists descending on Theresienwiese. On a busy day, particularly in the afternoon and onwards, getting a space in one of the tents can prove very difficult without a reservation, and although most tents have an outside area that is usually less crowded, the mad weather made the tents even more packed, and it is almost impossible to find a space, and with no seat, there is no service. Who would have thought it would be so difficult to buy beer at a beer festival?
We were having no luck in getting inside the tents so instead spent the first evening focusing on the attractions, particularly the three major rollercoasters; Hollenblitz, Alpina Bahn, and of course, Olympia Looping, the coaster that had been top of my wanted list for many, many years. Hollenblitz is an indoor spinning coaster full of effects and trains about as long as the country of Chile, and with smaller trains could easily be replicated at a park, even unenclosed, as it has a much more fun layout than many custom and off the shelf spinning coasters. But it is the soundtrack, lighting and pyrotechnics, not to mention the outside theming, complete with waterfall, that makes it special. Alpina Bahn is a massive Schwarzkopf travelling coaster similar to Olympia but without inversions. I'd been rather looking forward to it and it did not disappoint. It has a ridiculously good first drop and a twisting layout full of airtime and is very smooth. I really enjoyed it and would love to ride it again.
Olympia Looping however, was a ride I went in to with a lot of excitement. It looked great and I'd heard nothing but good things about it, but after waiting so long, would it live up to the massive hype?
Yes.
Constant massive, ridiculous forces combined with a solid, if familiar, layout create a relentless, thrilling ride and despite its age and being a travelling ride, it's extremely smooth and pleasant to ride. It's funny in a way that the year I finally get out to Germany to ride it is the year it comes to Britain for Winter Wonderland, but I'm delighted I'll be able to ride this beast again much sooner than I expected. Hopefully the long rumoured move to China doesn't go through because it'd be dearly missed, I have no doubt that Olympia is one of the best rides in Europe.
There were also twin wild mouse coasters which we didn't bother with, but as well as the coasters, there are plenty of flat rides in the fairgrounds, and they're all without exception much better looked after than most permanent rides in England, let alone travelling rides, and they run on longer, more intense cycles. You may think you've been on a Huss Breakdance, but until you've done one at a German fair, you haven't really been on a Huss Breakdance.
That's the obligatory review of the rides out the way, so back to what really matters, the beer. On the second day we actually managed to get ourselves spaces in some of the tents and tried some of the beers on offer. The way the tents work is very different to how pubs in England work. Each tent serves one of the several official Oktoberfest beers, and when a host approaches you, you simply ask for however many beers you would like, and moments later, that number of two pint steins will appear in front of you. At the risk of sounding like a teenager that's just been to Amsterdam and taken drugs for the first time, it almost feels like I had an epiphany, I never realised beer could be so good. You simply can't go back to Carling after trying the beer here. Of the beers we tried, our favourite was definitely Lowenbrau, but Hoffbrau, probably the most famous of the beers, is great too, less sweet and with more of a kick than Lowenbrau. Go steady though, as the beers here are brewed specifically for the festival and quite stronger than normal, even stronger the regular varieties produced by the Munich breweries themselves.
As well as traditional beer, the festival is famous for its traditional food, and although there was so much more we wish we had tried, I strongly recommend the chicken from the Schutzen-Festhalle tent, it is absolutely perfect.
The site looks incredible by day and even more incredible by night, not just the fairground but the tents themselves, massive structures each with their own distinct style and features. Every tent has its own character too, the Hoffbrau tent is the largest with 10,000 and one of the rowdiest atmospheres due to its size and popularity with tourists and celebrities, while Armbrustschützenzelt holds crossbow competitions and the Weinzelt, as the name suggests, is the only tent to serve wine and champagne, alongside beer. Each tent has something to offer so if you're planning a trip it's worth researching them and working out which ones you most want to go to, and making a reservation.
There's no one I would not recommend Oktoberfest to, but you people, reading this on here, I especially urge you to. It's rare to find a place that combines so many of my passions into one place and does it so well, but it turns out heaven exists, and it's a two week long folk festival in Munich. I'm hoping to go again for longer and with more money next year, learning Germany and getting myself a traditional rig out to fully go native in my spiritual home.
Swerve the leather shorts, though.
