John_P
TS Member
Firstly I'd say this was part of a road trip, we'd visited Bellewaerde the day before and drove up to Bruhl and stayed in the H+ Hotel the evening before. I'm mentioning this as personally I'd say if you want the full experience and value for money you really want to be arriving before the park opens on the first day.
So with that we arrived into the Phantasialand car park around 8.15am and took our cases into the Charles Lindbergh Hotel. On checking in we were asked what times we wanted to book our evening meal, we went with an early one just after park close. And the same with breakfast choosing the earliest time available (7.30am).
The room was ready so we along with park tickets, FLY fast tracks etc we were given our hotel key cards. You get a map of the hotel which consists of a number of towers, we were in Block E so you sort of pass through the other blocks to get to it. The doors are labelled advising what you can access so it's relatively easy to navigate for the most part. The rooms were actually a bit bigger than I thought, well themed as well. Not sure I'd fancy numerous nights in it but for a one night experience it was good.
After that we moved further up the tower to take a few photos before returning to the lobby to await the park opening at 9am.
Guests in the Charles Lindbergh have their own private entrance into Rookburgh which they can make of throughout their stay. The lovely member of staff who welcomed us to Rookburgh was taking the time with new arrivals to advise us of the viewing area at the top of Tower B, but also pointed out that the best view was actually from a point in Tower C.
After this it was a danke and down into the world of Rookburgh. If you've not visited the pictures and videos whilst stunning just don't do the area justice in just how beautiful it looks.
The area is so self contained FLY or Rookburgh itself is totally self contained. If someone came here for the first time they could easily miss the whole place, currently it is only accessible from the park via the Berlin area of the park.
I'm not going to go into detail about the full two days but I will discuss FLY. So since its opening I've watched vlogs and what the park has published but have avoided any of the POVs or full descriptions of the ride experience. Something I'd highly recommend everyone do. There is something magical about the music as the train departs and the sort of pre show you get. The change into the flying position is so elegant it makes the B+M system look on par with the Volare. Over the two days I managed 6 rides, 3 front row (which there's a specific queue), 1 row 2, and 2 on the back row. So without going into full on discussion it's definitely a front row ride, the 2nd launch gives a real punch whilst the back row it's a push. It's a long ride with some amazing interactions as you travel over, under, and through Rookburgh. I'm still non the wiser on the layout.
The queue line works really well as you lap around the area before going down into the bowels for your experience. The wristband system for the lockers works really well so everything is nice and secure.
Just before park close we headed back into the Hotel upto the viewing points high into Rookburgh to get some photos of FLY in action before heading back down for lunch.
The evening meal in the Uhrwerk restaurant was fantastic, its included it the hotel price so you just choose your three courses. I started with the Green Journey a fruity fresh poke bowl which was a tremendous mix of fruits and tastes, the 2nd course I had The Navigator which was a chicken burger, and finished with the cheese cake. Genuinely one of the best theme park meals I've ever had. The restaurant is hotel guests only at night but is open to any park guests during the day.
After that it was into the private bar 1919 which features a free pool table, which I believe is in the spot were they'd move the floor and skylight to get the FLY trains out if needed, and a darts board. Given the explorers theme of the venue you can get a varied amount of beers, ciders, spirits, and cocktails. There's even a nice outside terrace to sit which looks directly at the second launch.
Then from 8.30pm til Midnight the hotel gate into Rookburgh is reopened and you can go down into the now dark area to explore and take photos to your hearts content. Just a pity FLY isn't operating during this period.
So for sleeping the bed was actually pretty comfy, only major worry is making sure you don't hit your head on the shelf.
The next morning it's back to Uhrwerk for your breakfast, sort of a buffet but with different bits located around the area. Plenty of options though and it was very filling.
Checking out that morning was nice and simple we left our cases in the luggage store room, and left the park that evening via the hotel guests entrance so we'd never left the confines of the park from when we arrived until we finally left to head off to our next destination.
So was it worth it I hear you ask?
Well the one night at the off peak price was €399, so roughly £180 each at the current exchange rate. This got you one night in the hotel, 2 x FLY fast passes per person, an evening meal (drinks not included), breakfast, and 2 x 2 days entry into the park. So with park entry at over €50 per day, and my meal based on the lunch time menu costing around €44, plus breakfast. Personally I think at the off peak price it's actually really good value for money factoring in the park entry and food costs. Given the opportunity I'd definitely consider staying again.
So with that we arrived into the Phantasialand car park around 8.15am and took our cases into the Charles Lindbergh Hotel. On checking in we were asked what times we wanted to book our evening meal, we went with an early one just after park close. And the same with breakfast choosing the earliest time available (7.30am).
The room was ready so we along with park tickets, FLY fast tracks etc we were given our hotel key cards. You get a map of the hotel which consists of a number of towers, we were in Block E so you sort of pass through the other blocks to get to it. The doors are labelled advising what you can access so it's relatively easy to navigate for the most part. The rooms were actually a bit bigger than I thought, well themed as well. Not sure I'd fancy numerous nights in it but for a one night experience it was good.
After that we moved further up the tower to take a few photos before returning to the lobby to await the park opening at 9am.
Guests in the Charles Lindbergh have their own private entrance into Rookburgh which they can make of throughout their stay. The lovely member of staff who welcomed us to Rookburgh was taking the time with new arrivals to advise us of the viewing area at the top of Tower B, but also pointed out that the best view was actually from a point in Tower C.
After this it was a danke and down into the world of Rookburgh. If you've not visited the pictures and videos whilst stunning just don't do the area justice in just how beautiful it looks.
The area is so self contained FLY or Rookburgh itself is totally self contained. If someone came here for the first time they could easily miss the whole place, currently it is only accessible from the park via the Berlin area of the park.
I'm not going to go into detail about the full two days but I will discuss FLY. So since its opening I've watched vlogs and what the park has published but have avoided any of the POVs or full descriptions of the ride experience. Something I'd highly recommend everyone do. There is something magical about the music as the train departs and the sort of pre show you get. The change into the flying position is so elegant it makes the B+M system look on par with the Volare. Over the two days I managed 6 rides, 3 front row (which there's a specific queue), 1 row 2, and 2 on the back row. So without going into full on discussion it's definitely a front row ride, the 2nd launch gives a real punch whilst the back row it's a push. It's a long ride with some amazing interactions as you travel over, under, and through Rookburgh. I'm still non the wiser on the layout.
The queue line works really well as you lap around the area before going down into the bowels for your experience. The wristband system for the lockers works really well so everything is nice and secure.
Just before park close we headed back into the Hotel upto the viewing points high into Rookburgh to get some photos of FLY in action before heading back down for lunch.
The evening meal in the Uhrwerk restaurant was fantastic, its included it the hotel price so you just choose your three courses. I started with the Green Journey a fruity fresh poke bowl which was a tremendous mix of fruits and tastes, the 2nd course I had The Navigator which was a chicken burger, and finished with the cheese cake. Genuinely one of the best theme park meals I've ever had. The restaurant is hotel guests only at night but is open to any park guests during the day.
After that it was into the private bar 1919 which features a free pool table, which I believe is in the spot were they'd move the floor and skylight to get the FLY trains out if needed, and a darts board. Given the explorers theme of the venue you can get a varied amount of beers, ciders, spirits, and cocktails. There's even a nice outside terrace to sit which looks directly at the second launch.
Then from 8.30pm til Midnight the hotel gate into Rookburgh is reopened and you can go down into the now dark area to explore and take photos to your hearts content. Just a pity FLY isn't operating during this period.
So for sleeping the bed was actually pretty comfy, only major worry is making sure you don't hit your head on the shelf.
The next morning it's back to Uhrwerk for your breakfast, sort of a buffet but with different bits located around the area. Plenty of options though and it was very filling.
Checking out that morning was nice and simple we left our cases in the luggage store room, and left the park that evening via the hotel guests entrance so we'd never left the confines of the park from when we arrived until we finally left to head off to our next destination.
So was it worth it I hear you ask?
Well the one night at the off peak price was €399, so roughly £180 each at the current exchange rate. This got you one night in the hotel, 2 x FLY fast passes per person, an evening meal (drinks not included), breakfast, and 2 x 2 days entry into the park. So with park entry at over €50 per day, and my meal based on the lunch time menu costing around €44, plus breakfast. Personally I think at the off peak price it's actually really good value for money factoring in the park entry and food costs. Given the opportunity I'd definitely consider staying again.