RyanY
TS Member
Got back from my first trip to Phantasialand yesterday so I thought I'd do a trip report on my experience as a first time visitor. Getting to the park was very easy, quick Ryanair flight from Stansted airport to Cologne. I know it's possible to get to the park using public transport but we wanted to spend as much time at the park as possible so we booked a transfer straight to the hotel, it only took about half an hour. We'd booked to stay in the Ling Bao hotel and as soon as I entered I was extremely impressed with how it looked, they even have smell pods in their to give an authentic Asian feel. We arrived at about 11:00 so I didn't think I'd be able to check in, but luckily the room was ready so we could drop our bags off before heading into the park.
Taron
This was the main draw to the park when I was deciding where to go for the trip, I booked a few months in advance for the trip so I was lucky that it'd open just in time for the trip.
As soon as we entered the park we walked over the the Klugheim and I was struck with the immense level of detail that they've gone to in the area. The level of details even reaches into the toilets where the locks and hooks on the doors are themed to the area. When we got into the the area Taron had just broken down, so we decided to just have a look round the area and wait for it to reopen. In about 5 minutes it reopened and we joined the queue which I think was advertised about 35 minutes, as soon as we joined it broke down again, but we stayed in and waited, in the end I think we waited about 70 minutes, which wasn't to bad considering it's only been open a week.
We managed to get on Taron 6 times over the two days, and it's a really incredible ride, the first launch packs a punch, not anywhere as powerful as the launches on Rita or Stealth but a lot smoother. The first airtime is one of the highlights for me, you feel as though you're coming out of your seat and since you've just come out of a tight turn where you're being pushed into the seat really makes the airtime hill feel more extreme. From there you're thrown from side to side through twist and turns until you reach the second launch. This is my favourite part of the ride, the feeling of being pushed back into the seat is great. I think the second part of the ride is much better than the first, it's much more forceful, has more airtime and maintains its speed right until the break run. It's a amazing ride, the multiple near misses and tunnels add to the experience and it's very close to being my number one. But I think I still just prefer Shambhala.
The operations on this ride are incredible, I timed it that they were getting a train out on average every 50 seconds when it's fully operational. They were running it on fours trains both days apart from Friday evening when it was on three but I don't think it makes much difference. Reliability is a problem at the moment, it broke down quite regularly but most times they get it back up with 10 minutes. The restraints are very comfortable and give you loads of freedom.the only restraints that I prefer are B&M hyper restraints, but I haven't been on a Mack Megacoaster yet and I've heard they're slightly better. I hope Intamin are offering cheap retrofits with these trains as the experience with these is incomparable with the OTSR you find on there other launch coasters.
Overall I think Taron is a brilliant ride and there's nothing I can think of that they could of done better. I don't think where you sit on the ride makes much difference to the experience, it more what time of day you ride it, we managed to get the second train of the day on Saturday and it seemed to pull considerably less force then the ride we had at about 7:30 on then Friday. So I'd say you need to wait for the ride to warm up later in the day to get the full experience of it.
Raik
We did this ride second I again the theming is top notch, the only other Vekoma boomerang I've done is Ben 10 and I'd say Raik is much better. Operations are good, with the staff moving quickly to check restraints and get trains out as quick as they can. It's a very good family coaster, pulls some decent forces on the helix and is a very enjoyable ride.
Chiapas
I was really looking forward to Chiapas after hearing such positive reviews for it on here. But I wasn't expecting it to look as good on ride as it did. The whole a Mexico area is amazing. The music, theming and the offride views you get make this area my second favourite on park just after Klugheim. The ride itself is very fun, again the theming is brilliant the soundtrack really adds to the whole experience and the drop is quite forceful. I don't think Chiapas would look out of place in a Disney park, I just wish a park closer to home would get a flume ride like this.
Black Mamba
I wasn't expecting this ride to be as good as it is, I thought I'd be on par with Nemesis Inferno in terms of force and the layout but it's was much better. I think this ride is better on the back row, as it really pulls you through the first drop and the inversions. I think this is close to being as good as Nemesis in my opinion, but Nemesis' layout just edges it for me even if Black Mamba has better theming. Operations are very good, however it was running on one train from late afternoon on Friday, but since it was walk on it didn't matter. I don't think the queue exceeded 20 minutes for Black Mamba even on the Saturday.
Winjas Fear and Force
These where both surprisingly good rides. Fear is the superior of the two in my opinion but I prefer the trick track element of Force. Having two of them keeps queues down quite well. However I think they do break down quite regularly. Probably my least favourite queue line. It's quite cramped and gets quite hot on a warm day. That one thing I would change about Phantasialand, get some AC in the inside queue lines, because it's not a pleasant experience being in them on a hot day. However both Fear and Force offer very good rides, both are much better than Spinball.
Other rides
I won't do a separate section for the other rides as it'd make this trip report so long. I found Colorado Adventure to be a good, fun mine train, a bit rough in some sections but enjoyable nonetheless. You can tell Temple of the night hawk was done before the park really got into the theming,not really sure where the name of the ride relates to the actual ride itself at all. They could use the space it takes up to build something much better, and I wouldn't be surprised if they did. Talocan is a really good top spin, the effects are really good to watch but I can't help feel you lose something being on the back of it, would be better it it had two rows facing forwards. I didn't overly enjoy Maus au Chocolat, the station is nice and so is a lot of the theming but with all the screens one after another it felt a bit boring. I actually prefer Duel. Feng Ju Palace the madhouse was strange, the preshow was a bit boring and pointless and nobody seemed to know what was going on. The madhouse itself looked really nice and the sequence was good but I think a madhouse feels incomplete without a good preshow and much prefer Hex and evening the Haunting to Feng Ju Palace. The Splash battle Wakobato was a bit rubbish, you just go around aiming at targets hoping to set off a water jet, but there's no chance of getting wet or getting others wet which makes it feel a bit pointless. Mystery Castle is very good, we got the longer sequence on the first day and the shorter on the second but both seemed to pack a punch. Not as much as other drop and shot towers but enough to make it enjoyable. The two dark rides Hollywood tour and Geister Rikscha feel very dated. River quest is a good Rapids but I think you just get a bit to wet to make it enjoyable.
Hotel
I can't think of much negative to say about the Ling Bao hotel, the gardens are fantastic for relaxing in the evening, the smells, water fountains and the music create a real nice atmosphere. The bar is a bit expensive for what you get but that's what you expect at a theme park. The rooms are very nice, very clean, comfy beds and great showers and the breakfast buffet is very nice as well.
Overall I really enjoyed my trip to Phantasialand and would encourage other who haven't gone to go, if you plan on going for just a day try and avoid the weekend as it it a bit busier, on the Friday everything but Taron and Raik was pretty much walk on, but Saturday most rides had 10-20 minute queues. The range of rides they have is enough to please everyone and the general atmosphere at the park is far superior to any park in the UK. However be warned there is a lot of stairs and inclines when walking from ride to ride.
Total ride count
Taron - 6
Black Mamba - 5
Chiapas - 3
Winjas Fear - 2
Winjas Force - 2
Temple of the Night Hawk - 2
Colorado Adventure - 2
Raik - 2
Talocan - 2
Mystery Castle - 2
Wakobato - 1
Feng Ju Palace - 1
River Quest - 1
Das Verrückte Hotel Tartüff - 1
Maus au Chocolat - 1
Wellenflug - 1
Hollywood Tour - 1
Geister Rikscha - 1
Taron
This was the main draw to the park when I was deciding where to go for the trip, I booked a few months in advance for the trip so I was lucky that it'd open just in time for the trip.
As soon as we entered the park we walked over the the Klugheim and I was struck with the immense level of detail that they've gone to in the area. The level of details even reaches into the toilets where the locks and hooks on the doors are themed to the area. When we got into the the area Taron had just broken down, so we decided to just have a look round the area and wait for it to reopen. In about 5 minutes it reopened and we joined the queue which I think was advertised about 35 minutes, as soon as we joined it broke down again, but we stayed in and waited, in the end I think we waited about 70 minutes, which wasn't to bad considering it's only been open a week.
We managed to get on Taron 6 times over the two days, and it's a really incredible ride, the first launch packs a punch, not anywhere as powerful as the launches on Rita or Stealth but a lot smoother. The first airtime is one of the highlights for me, you feel as though you're coming out of your seat and since you've just come out of a tight turn where you're being pushed into the seat really makes the airtime hill feel more extreme. From there you're thrown from side to side through twist and turns until you reach the second launch. This is my favourite part of the ride, the feeling of being pushed back into the seat is great. I think the second part of the ride is much better than the first, it's much more forceful, has more airtime and maintains its speed right until the break run. It's a amazing ride, the multiple near misses and tunnels add to the experience and it's very close to being my number one. But I think I still just prefer Shambhala.
The operations on this ride are incredible, I timed it that they were getting a train out on average every 50 seconds when it's fully operational. They were running it on fours trains both days apart from Friday evening when it was on three but I don't think it makes much difference. Reliability is a problem at the moment, it broke down quite regularly but most times they get it back up with 10 minutes. The restraints are very comfortable and give you loads of freedom.the only restraints that I prefer are B&M hyper restraints, but I haven't been on a Mack Megacoaster yet and I've heard they're slightly better. I hope Intamin are offering cheap retrofits with these trains as the experience with these is incomparable with the OTSR you find on there other launch coasters.
Overall I think Taron is a brilliant ride and there's nothing I can think of that they could of done better. I don't think where you sit on the ride makes much difference to the experience, it more what time of day you ride it, we managed to get the second train of the day on Saturday and it seemed to pull considerably less force then the ride we had at about 7:30 on then Friday. So I'd say you need to wait for the ride to warm up later in the day to get the full experience of it.
Raik
We did this ride second I again the theming is top notch, the only other Vekoma boomerang I've done is Ben 10 and I'd say Raik is much better. Operations are good, with the staff moving quickly to check restraints and get trains out as quick as they can. It's a very good family coaster, pulls some decent forces on the helix and is a very enjoyable ride.
Chiapas
I was really looking forward to Chiapas after hearing such positive reviews for it on here. But I wasn't expecting it to look as good on ride as it did. The whole a Mexico area is amazing. The music, theming and the offride views you get make this area my second favourite on park just after Klugheim. The ride itself is very fun, again the theming is brilliant the soundtrack really adds to the whole experience and the drop is quite forceful. I don't think Chiapas would look out of place in a Disney park, I just wish a park closer to home would get a flume ride like this.
Black Mamba
I wasn't expecting this ride to be as good as it is, I thought I'd be on par with Nemesis Inferno in terms of force and the layout but it's was much better. I think this ride is better on the back row, as it really pulls you through the first drop and the inversions. I think this is close to being as good as Nemesis in my opinion, but Nemesis' layout just edges it for me even if Black Mamba has better theming. Operations are very good, however it was running on one train from late afternoon on Friday, but since it was walk on it didn't matter. I don't think the queue exceeded 20 minutes for Black Mamba even on the Saturday.
Winjas Fear and Force
These where both surprisingly good rides. Fear is the superior of the two in my opinion but I prefer the trick track element of Force. Having two of them keeps queues down quite well. However I think they do break down quite regularly. Probably my least favourite queue line. It's quite cramped and gets quite hot on a warm day. That one thing I would change about Phantasialand, get some AC in the inside queue lines, because it's not a pleasant experience being in them on a hot day. However both Fear and Force offer very good rides, both are much better than Spinball.
Other rides
I won't do a separate section for the other rides as it'd make this trip report so long. I found Colorado Adventure to be a good, fun mine train, a bit rough in some sections but enjoyable nonetheless. You can tell Temple of the night hawk was done before the park really got into the theming,not really sure where the name of the ride relates to the actual ride itself at all. They could use the space it takes up to build something much better, and I wouldn't be surprised if they did. Talocan is a really good top spin, the effects are really good to watch but I can't help feel you lose something being on the back of it, would be better it it had two rows facing forwards. I didn't overly enjoy Maus au Chocolat, the station is nice and so is a lot of the theming but with all the screens one after another it felt a bit boring. I actually prefer Duel. Feng Ju Palace the madhouse was strange, the preshow was a bit boring and pointless and nobody seemed to know what was going on. The madhouse itself looked really nice and the sequence was good but I think a madhouse feels incomplete without a good preshow and much prefer Hex and evening the Haunting to Feng Ju Palace. The Splash battle Wakobato was a bit rubbish, you just go around aiming at targets hoping to set off a water jet, but there's no chance of getting wet or getting others wet which makes it feel a bit pointless. Mystery Castle is very good, we got the longer sequence on the first day and the shorter on the second but both seemed to pack a punch. Not as much as other drop and shot towers but enough to make it enjoyable. The two dark rides Hollywood tour and Geister Rikscha feel very dated. River quest is a good Rapids but I think you just get a bit to wet to make it enjoyable.
Hotel
I can't think of much negative to say about the Ling Bao hotel, the gardens are fantastic for relaxing in the evening, the smells, water fountains and the music create a real nice atmosphere. The bar is a bit expensive for what you get but that's what you expect at a theme park. The rooms are very nice, very clean, comfy beds and great showers and the breakfast buffet is very nice as well.
Overall I really enjoyed my trip to Phantasialand and would encourage other who haven't gone to go, if you plan on going for just a day try and avoid the weekend as it it a bit busier, on the Friday everything but Taron and Raik was pretty much walk on, but Saturday most rides had 10-20 minute queues. The range of rides they have is enough to please everyone and the general atmosphere at the park is far superior to any park in the UK. However be warned there is a lot of stairs and inclines when walking from ride to ride.
Total ride count
Taron - 6
Black Mamba - 5
Chiapas - 3
Winjas Fear - 2
Winjas Force - 2
Temple of the Night Hawk - 2
Colorado Adventure - 2
Raik - 2
Talocan - 2
Mystery Castle - 2
Wakobato - 1
Feng Ju Palace - 1
River Quest - 1
Das Verrückte Hotel Tartüff - 1
Maus au Chocolat - 1
Wellenflug - 1
Hollywood Tour - 1
Geister Rikscha - 1
