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Phantasialand: General Discussion

It's more that they will still give you a wristband to get a locker, but if you do not have any need for the locker then you just ignore them and join the queue for the metal detectors. You need a wristband to be able to get out of the locker room after the ride.
 
Also different colour Wristbands exist to batch you into the correct queue in the station (although with Single Rider Lines not yet back - not all colours are in use - when eventually in use as planned 4 colours for 4 queues- SRL, standby, hotel quick pass, front row).

So after security check no one can jump the line by going into the front row queue for example.
And then yes as Rob says they are also necessary to exit - the band is scanned to let you out through the turnstile.
 
So single rider queues will be returning at some point? Was saddened last week to see it no longer being an option for Taron and Chiapas.
 
When I think about Phantasialand, I think about André Gide's answer to the question of who was the greatest French poet: "Victor Hugo, alas!"

What is the second-best park in Europe? Phantasialand, alas...
 
Matt N said:
What do you put in the locker, then? If you have no bags and no loose items, then I can’t think of what else you’d put in…
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It sounds crazy doesn't it? And that's because it is!

Every rider is given a wristband. The second time me and my kids went on it, we thought we'd avoid the faff by emptying our persons of everything, going on with nothing but our shoes, t shirts, shorts and pants. Yet still every person in the group had to have a locker wristband, including my 8 year old daughter. This is despite the fact we had nothing to out in them and if we did, we could easily have shared one.

It makes sense when you're there as it's integral to the whole setup of the ride. As it was walk on at the end of the day, we just took a wristband each, walked past the locker scrum and straight to the metal detectors. When getting off, we again avoided the locker retrieval process, went straight to the turnstiles to give in our unused wristbands to get out, rinsed and repeated.

That's 4 staff needed just for the wristband handout, retrieval and metal detector process excluding the 1 extra that's probably needed for break cover. That's enough staff to cover an entire coaster operation off peak in many other parks.

Very strange. But I can't say I don't absolutely love the place.
 
Matt.GC said:
It sounds crazy doesn't it? And that's because it is!

Every rider is given a wristband. The second time me and my kids went on it, we thought we'd avoid the faff by emptying our persons of everything, going on with nothing but our shoes, t shirts, shorts and pants. Yet still every person in the group had to have a locker wristband, including my 8 year old daughter. This is despite the fact we had nothing to out in them and if we did, we could easily have shared one.

It makes sense when you're there as it's integral to the whole setup of the ride. As it was walk on at the end of the day, we just took a wristband each, walked past the locker scrum and straight to the metal detectors. When getting off, we again avoided the locker retrieval process, went straight to the turnstiles to give in our unused wristbands to get out, rinsed and repeated.

That's 4 staff needed just for the wristband handout, retrieval and metal detector process excluding the 1 extra that's probably needed for break cover. That's enough staff to cover an entire coaster operation off peak in many other parks.

Very strange. But I can't say I don't absolutely love the place.
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They use the wristband colours for batching, so although you have to have one I don't think you're required to use a locker if you have nothing to put in one! That would just be silly...
 
So I’ve come back from Phantasialand for my second visit to the park…I adored the whole experience of fly, loved everything else I didn’t get to ride last time including river quest! Oh my god…it’s so aggressive, loved it to bits…the best part is sharing it with lots of other people, seeing there reactions etc.

Also I loved crazy bats, when I visited in 2019 I think it was, the queue was always 45-50 mins and I just wanted to reride everything else. However, wow I actually loved the VR on there, once it was a little blurry but every other time I was amazed by it! Suppose it’s the right coaster type rather than air
 
Yeah Crazy Bats was surprisingly well done, I went in 2019 and it was 90-120 minute queues both days but this time it was 15 minutes so gave it a try.
 
deathproof69 said:
So I’ve come back from Phantasialand for my second visit to the park…I adored the whole experience of fly, loved everything else I didn’t get to ride last time including river quest! Oh my god…it’s so aggressive, loved it to bits…the best part is sharing it with lots of other people, seeing there reactions etc.

Also I loved crazy bats, when I visited in 2019 I think it was, the queue was always 45-50 mins and I just wanted to reride everything else. However, wow I actually loved the VR on there, once it was a little blurry but every other time I was amazed by it! Suppose it’s the right coaster type rather than air
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How busy was it, I'm going on the 21-22nd September in the hopes that September will be pretty quiet.
 
I've just returned from a fantastic first trip to Phantasialand, and wanted to share some thoughts:
  • The quality and quantity of theming across the park is the best I've ever seen. I was particularly impressed by how the transitions between lands were dealt with. Everything is so well considered.
  • Taron is simply brilliant and easily my new number one coaster - although I'm not very well travelled. There's one transition in the first half that had me giggling like a child on all of my rides. In fact, I rode Taron 16 times across two days in the park - due to both very low crowds and terrific operations.
  • Raik is good fun too!
  • I adored Black Mamba (and the rest of the African section). It was on one train on day 2 of my trip but it was still walk-on - so I think I can forgive them.
  • FLY was the only disappointment for me. I found the restraints uncomfy on my shoulders and was constantly waiting for negative G's to reduce the strain. The layout didn't do much either - I preferred Black Mamba. The locker procedure was relatively smooth, but between that and the excruciatingly long physical queueline, some of the joy of re-riding was sapped. . And by George, can we talk about the loading process?! Of all the rides which desperately need an off-load platform, FLY is at the top of the list. Because the station is effectively one-sided, riders exit FLY through the air gates. This means that FLY is batched and boarded in one go, to reduce overcrowding in the station. The whole palaver was very frustrating (and slow).
  • Perhaps this is where I get over-critical, but I didn't love Rookburgh. Yes, it is immensely themed, but it wasn't a land where I wanted to spend any time or explore. I think this is down to the area being effectively a dead end, unlike Klugheim.
  • I truly believe that every park should have a log flume, a rapids and a mine train - and Phantasialand has 3 of the very best. Top marks from me.
  • Fear is definitely the superior side of Winjas.
  • Talocan and Mystery Castle are two terrifically theatrical flat rides. I particularly loved Mystery Castle - it was surprisingly forceful.
  • Crazy Bats is the best use of VR I've done in a theme park. I have no idea how good (or bad) the actual roller coaster was!
  • I genuinely loved Geister Rikscha. If I was to write an obscure theme park book, I think it would be about poorly-aged omnimovers. It was certainly better than the other ride in China; Feng Ju palace - by far the worst madhouse I've ridden.
  • I'm not a show person, but I gave Nobis a go, and thought it was a mixed bag. The acrobatic segments were very good, but I don't want to see two singers destroy Human by Rag'n'Bone Man - a song I already detest.
  • Eric Idle doesn't remember filming Journey into Imagination at EPCOT, but I wonder if he knows that he's dubbed into German in a terrible 4D theatre?
  • The Adventure Trail is a great little addition - I preferred it to Hotel Tartuff.
I rode lots of other smaller attractions too, which I won't bore you with reviews of. Overall, I had a brilliant two days - helped by no ride getting more than a 15 minute queue. I do still prefer both Europa Park and Efteling, but there's not loads in it.
 
Fly was offloading onto the offload platform? How odd. Was quiet when we went and it was still using the offload platform, on 2 trains on the second day of our visit.
 
F.L.Y.’s offload has strangely been off the past week or so apparently. Which is very unusual. Unknown whether technical or staffing issues.

Skyscraper said:
Yeah I was thinking about that. Very odd!
@Charlie N how did you get from the load station to the other side of the lockers when exiting?
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There is at the end of on-load beside the control room a door to the corridor between off load and the lockers exit. On dead days in winter I’ve experienced them open it for guests to immediately come back to on-load for re-rides without the whole queue/locker hassle again.
 
It's a great ride.


Looked at the top 5 and I guess Valhalla wasn't an option this year due to its closure (not that it stopped them winning it last year) so if it opens next season be interesting to see how well it does.
 
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