Marcus
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Helix
Long time coming but here is my final part of the trip:
Phantasialand
So then the next day it was onto our final park of the trip Phantasialand. We arrived around an hour after opening due to being pretty tired after the day before and the slightly longer drive. We were directed to the car park next to mystery castle. It almost seemed like we were going along a back alley and it was only once inside did we realise we had driven underneath the park. It was once again not very busy probably due to Klugheim not being open and the weather being on off rain.
Mystery Castle
First ride that we did was Mystery Castle as it had a 0 min queue. The themeing for the ride is really detailed and the inside of the building is suprising large. A very nice touch that the park has which they seem to have across most of the rides was a uniform suited to the rides theme with mystery castle's mad science theme having its staff dressed as scientists. I won't go too much into the ride experience as I hope not to spoil too much with what I am writing but we spoke to one of the staff who was english but had been working out in Germany for the last 10 years, really nice guy and informed us that we were getting the more intense cycle which was great (we did re-ride later and got the other cycle which was still fun but imo was'nt quite as good but that could also be down to the fact I had already done the ride so knew roughly what it was going to do).
The way you are arranged so you can interact with other riders is fantastic and this is my favourite of this type of ride now and it managed to get me more nervous on the re-ride which suprised me.
River Quest
WOW this ride is crazy! What the hell? Full credit to the park for being so inventive with their limited space in putting in a rapids ride and a mad one at that. SPOILERS! That vertical lift is maddness, comparing this to something like rumba rapids just shows the diversity rapids can have. We had been fooled into thinking that these 9 seater type rapid rides with 3 way divide in the middle absorbed the impact of larger waves as we had hit some pretty nasty looking waves on Toverlands Djengu River but had got off pretty unscathed but there was nothing of the kind of river quest, those drops are no joke and with 9 in a boat making it heavy and with no room to wiggle around with got drenched (me in particular as the first drop mega waved all over my lap!) and even without the typical rapid elements to get you wet this was still a really fun rapids. I prefer Priana as it seemed a bit more of a well tuned traditional rapids which is defiantly not what river quest is.
There is just something so very strange about being on a rapids ast roof top level going down a whirlpool after you have just been drenched and this is by far one of the strangest rides I've been on and although it isn't my favourite I did really enjoy it, kind of wished we did ride it earlier (and myself and my little brother did re-ride it at the end of the day, my mum was having none of it!) it is a fantastic gem of a ride and as with many of the rides at the park its the rides uniqueness that will keep me wanting to return!
Chiapas
After the soaking on river quest and the weather starting to drizzle we decided we might as well go on Chiapas. First things first the entire mexican area is top notch, it has a really up beat vibe and was probably the best area of any park I have experienced (I have a slight bias as I do really enjoy Mexican theming anyway) as it is exactly what I want out of a theme park.
The queue for the ride is really well themed and it almost seemed a shame we didn't have to queue it as the ride was walk on. One slight (and it is tiny) gripe I had with the ride was the lapbar system, far from the worse restraints I have had, it was probably just a shock for me to be riding a log flume with restraints but I can understand with it being a modern log flume and such a steap drop they are probably needed. The ride wasn't a soaker but didn't leave you bone dry and imo seemed to get a real balance although we only had 4 in a flume. The ride seemed to remind me of how mack rides at Europa Park are built and are often show pieces showing all the different things they are capable of (Arthur) as Chiapas seemed to do anything and everything thing with some really great effects (the disco room was awesome!!!).
The ride itself is beautifully themed and seems to wind through the mexican area up, down and around and it was quite hard to track in relation to the rest of the are where you were which I enjoyed as it made it that much more immersive. The ride just seemed to have a pure emphasise on fun and it was by far one of best rides I have done and definantly my new favourite water ride! It really feels like phantasialand must of really thought long and hard out everything with this ride as it is so finely polished and if this as a newer ride is anything to go by and the pictures arising from Klugheim prove that Klugheim is going to be world class and fit right in with the best sections of the park.
Black Mamba
Black Mamba has one of the nicest themed areas of any ride I have been on with the coaster poping up all around the pathways and queueline which really adds to the atmosphere, it was just a shame it was only on a one train service which did make sense as the ride was still walk on for all but the front row but it felt like when you were walking through the queue the track was all around but you rarely saw a train. The themeing of the queueline is great, up there with Wodan's queueline for me, only slight complaint would be it floods a bit at the part were you enter the station and the front row queue but other than that it was awesome! (Those skulls!!)
The entire section looks like it could of opened yesterday, it must of been looked after very well. The dancers in the african area were alot of fun, it looked like most people were just walking by but I couldn't help myself so Istarted dancing infront of them to their music, they then invited me to dance with them, it was one of the best parts of the trip! We didn't get food from the african food outlet but it melt really good.
The ride itself was really great, probably one of the few rides that I had seen POV's of years ago and wanted to go on, with the top of the lift hills inside section with the bones feeling somewhat iconic. The ride itself rushes down and round interacting greatly with the ground, tunnels and footpaths and I really after the first drop I had no idea where I was in relation to the station until you suddenly pull into the darkness which was a small grip as I would of loved to have a final effect at the end but the pitch black does a good enough job. It is quite a relentless ride and does have some forces especially in the backrow and definantly is in my top 10 somewhere. However I do think Nemsis is the better of the two rides, key points being the ride experience on Nemesis trumping BM and the front row experience is also alot better imo but Black Mamba's themeing and surrounding area are better, both are great coasters and Black Mamba is defiantly the biggest coaster on park but I am sure Taron will give it a run for its money and I cannot wait to re-visit to ride it.
Maus au Chocolat
Maus au Chocolat is in the central berlin plaza area with a chocolate factory with a mouse problem with you shooting the mice similar to duel and tomb blaster. The themeing and queue area are really well done with lots of details and great use of smell pods. The ride was a bit meh to me. I didn't go in with any expectation as I hadn't heard much about the ride. You wear glasses which for me means the ride better make good use of 3D otherwise I have worn your glasses for no reason and they really didn't make that great use of it IMO. I also didn't like the fact it was screens as I felt it almost pointless them moving us round on a train they might as well of left us on the same screen and changed what was going on, I definantly prefer the Duel andAtlantis Adventure type gun games as they have more interactive scenery rather than just plopping you infront of a screen.
Another point I wasn't keen on and the thing I walked away from most confused about was the gun itself. The gun is themed around a icying/ chocolate squeezer which was a really neat idea, however instead of having a trigger like most of these types of rides it had a piece of rope that you pull on to shoot, which in principal sounds good, however I found it at times unresponsive and continuous use to be kind of annoying, I would of taken a bog standard gun anyday as the way the squeezer worked did detract from the ride experience and afterwards I wasn't in a rush to ride again. Definantly not the worst ride ever, but far great and one of the lesser gun rides I have been on.
Hollywood Tours
This ride is definantly showing its age, it seemed to have a damp smell to it (I know its a water raft but I mean a soggy, old curtain kind of smell). I did find it quite funny due to how ridiculous parts of it looked (the massive spider haha!) and it kind of had you thinking about what you were going to have for lunch, wondering is it still raining outside and I wonder if there is a toilet near this ride when I get off rather than enjoying the ride and being immersed in the ride. Even with its theme in never felt at all like classic hollywood with lots of areas being very generic. I kind of felt sorry for it, as due to its themeing, unlike something like Pirates in Batvia or Fata Morgana which although have sections showing age they make it up with buckets of charm this felt like a bizzarre experience, it would of been so much more enjoyable if it was themed for example around traditional german themes.
Once off my little brother instantly said "thats your new favourite ride Marcus", which was obviously ment as an insult which pretty much summed the ride up for me, very bad but in quite a funny way. I am sure it has served its purpose back in the day to get people in the park but the park has outgrown it. I could'nt of felt any further away from hollywood riding it. As it has been mentioned before on here this must be in the parks scopes for permanent retirement.
Temple of the Nighthawk
Another ride thats very close to receiveing its pension! An old vekoma coaster, it was dark, long and boring. It kept feeling like it was about to get started but it never really did much, it just miranders around the track. Considering what something like Eurosat could do completely inside this really does kind of suck by todays standards. StillI I did prefer it X/ X no way out (X is just the worst!!).
Winja Fear and Force
These two rides are alot of fun and with the problems most Maurer Sohne spinners have with their dog shit throughputs it was great so see the only section we had to queue being the final staricase, and even then on some of the re-rides there was no queue at all! One of the staff was also very funny joking around with the guests, parks need more staff like him! The rides have between them 4 different positions you can ride with the two different tracks and being able to start facing forward or backwards meaning they were very re-ridable. Both very similar but have a few different elements with Fear being my favourite of the two. They seem similar to Chiapas in that they have lots of unique elements including their lifts, the trick track section and the fact that its a dueling maurer sohne spinner!
The ride experience was very fun and had a nice variety of elements in them including the dramatic first big drop, the zi zagging section and the giant spiral down through the centre section. They were definantly the best coaster that was fully inside of the trip and I have always really rated Maurer Sohne spinners as they always seem very smooth and shed loads of fun but have a poo throughput, but due to it being a quite day at the park and that there is two of them this was never a big problem unlike their UK counter parts. Overall I would rate them behind dragons fury but they still are a great pair of coasters.
Talocon
This took me by suprise by how good it was and is definantly one of the best flat rides I have ever done. Set in the Mexican themed area Talocan is a top spin ride, however it has alot more going for it that your standard top spin. The themeing around the ride is superb and makes the ride feel semi- incaved. It also has the queue and a football around the ride for viewing which makes it almost feel like a roman area with everyone watching similar to Ramesis Revenge which I really like. The cycle that Talocon is on is much more intense and exciting than any of the Ramesis or Ripsaws that I ever got to do and along with that it has some fab fire effects.
I did kind of wish the water fountains got you but it was raining both times we rode it soit wasn't like we were'nt getting wet and last time I went on Ramesis I remember they seemed to hold the fountains on for so long you could hardly breath so I was very glad it wasn't like that. This is how flat rides should be down, the amount of effort put into what some would just see as a basic topspin (which it isn't anyway due to the fact that it is double sided/ back to back) but by putting in so much more effort it really makes the ride alot better. Also the restraints wern't nearly as harsh on my shoulders as Ripsaws and Ramesis can be.
Colorado Adventure
This was a well themed ride that lasted for a long time but never got boring. The track is very long and it goes through some beautful sections of the park with numerous tunnels and track crossovers.You also get great views of Chiapas whilst on the ride in some sections. A real people eater, there was no queue at all and half the train was empty as we went round. This is a solid family coaster and although a rip off of Disneys big thunder mountain, I cannot compare them as the last Disney park I went to was Disneyland Paris (Euro Disney as it was then) at least 16 years ago so my memory is patchy. This is the kind of ride Chessington really needs IMO and it would work very well there.
There you go, thats all my thoughts on these three incredible parks. We did do some site seeing in Cologne which was very nice but I won't go too much into that other than we got wetter due to the rain on that day than any of the rides we had done! These parks are brilliant and all seem to be making greater and greater improvements. My favourite park of the trip would have to be Efteling as it was stunning and seemed to tick so many points that I like to have in a theme park. I would definantly do this trip again as it worked out really well and it was my first time driving abroad (we rented a car from Cologne airport) it really wasn't bad at all and would recommend his trip anyday, I just won't stay in the heart of Cologne like we did for our 3rd night as the other two nights we stayed on the outskirts of Eindhoven which worked out great but the place in Colonge wasn't the best and it was a pain in the ass to find so next time we will stay on the outskirts of both cities. But don't let that put you off, this is a trip I will be doing again eventually.
As a trip comparing these to Europa Park last year I prefered this trip but that was due to doing three completely new parks which on there own are still some of the best in Europe but individually arn't as good as Europa, it just proves on a single park vs park basis Europa has no rivals in Europe although I havn't yet done Portaventura but am doing Liseberg next week so lets see what other great parks there are out there in Europe! They definantly put most of the UK offerings to shame, but I am hopeful for the future. Europes Parks so far have all been brilliant!
Phantasialand
So then the next day it was onto our final park of the trip Phantasialand. We arrived around an hour after opening due to being pretty tired after the day before and the slightly longer drive. We were directed to the car park next to mystery castle. It almost seemed like we were going along a back alley and it was only once inside did we realise we had driven underneath the park. It was once again not very busy probably due to Klugheim not being open and the weather being on off rain.
Mystery Castle
First ride that we did was Mystery Castle as it had a 0 min queue. The themeing for the ride is really detailed and the inside of the building is suprising large. A very nice touch that the park has which they seem to have across most of the rides was a uniform suited to the rides theme with mystery castle's mad science theme having its staff dressed as scientists. I won't go too much into the ride experience as I hope not to spoil too much with what I am writing but we spoke to one of the staff who was english but had been working out in Germany for the last 10 years, really nice guy and informed us that we were getting the more intense cycle which was great (we did re-ride later and got the other cycle which was still fun but imo was'nt quite as good but that could also be down to the fact I had already done the ride so knew roughly what it was going to do).
The way you are arranged so you can interact with other riders is fantastic and this is my favourite of this type of ride now and it managed to get me more nervous on the re-ride which suprised me.
River Quest
WOW this ride is crazy! What the hell? Full credit to the park for being so inventive with their limited space in putting in a rapids ride and a mad one at that. SPOILERS! That vertical lift is maddness, comparing this to something like rumba rapids just shows the diversity rapids can have. We had been fooled into thinking that these 9 seater type rapid rides with 3 way divide in the middle absorbed the impact of larger waves as we had hit some pretty nasty looking waves on Toverlands Djengu River but had got off pretty unscathed but there was nothing of the kind of river quest, those drops are no joke and with 9 in a boat making it heavy and with no room to wiggle around with got drenched (me in particular as the first drop mega waved all over my lap!) and even without the typical rapid elements to get you wet this was still a really fun rapids. I prefer Priana as it seemed a bit more of a well tuned traditional rapids which is defiantly not what river quest is.
There is just something so very strange about being on a rapids ast roof top level going down a whirlpool after you have just been drenched and this is by far one of the strangest rides I've been on and although it isn't my favourite I did really enjoy it, kind of wished we did ride it earlier (and myself and my little brother did re-ride it at the end of the day, my mum was having none of it!) it is a fantastic gem of a ride and as with many of the rides at the park its the rides uniqueness that will keep me wanting to return!
Chiapas
After the soaking on river quest and the weather starting to drizzle we decided we might as well go on Chiapas. First things first the entire mexican area is top notch, it has a really up beat vibe and was probably the best area of any park I have experienced (I have a slight bias as I do really enjoy Mexican theming anyway) as it is exactly what I want out of a theme park.
The queue for the ride is really well themed and it almost seemed a shame we didn't have to queue it as the ride was walk on. One slight (and it is tiny) gripe I had with the ride was the lapbar system, far from the worse restraints I have had, it was probably just a shock for me to be riding a log flume with restraints but I can understand with it being a modern log flume and such a steap drop they are probably needed. The ride wasn't a soaker but didn't leave you bone dry and imo seemed to get a real balance although we only had 4 in a flume. The ride seemed to remind me of how mack rides at Europa Park are built and are often show pieces showing all the different things they are capable of (Arthur) as Chiapas seemed to do anything and everything thing with some really great effects (the disco room was awesome!!!).
The ride itself is beautifully themed and seems to wind through the mexican area up, down and around and it was quite hard to track in relation to the rest of the are where you were which I enjoyed as it made it that much more immersive. The ride just seemed to have a pure emphasise on fun and it was by far one of best rides I have done and definantly my new favourite water ride! It really feels like phantasialand must of really thought long and hard out everything with this ride as it is so finely polished and if this as a newer ride is anything to go by and the pictures arising from Klugheim prove that Klugheim is going to be world class and fit right in with the best sections of the park.
Black Mamba
Black Mamba has one of the nicest themed areas of any ride I have been on with the coaster poping up all around the pathways and queueline which really adds to the atmosphere, it was just a shame it was only on a one train service which did make sense as the ride was still walk on for all but the front row but it felt like when you were walking through the queue the track was all around but you rarely saw a train. The themeing of the queueline is great, up there with Wodan's queueline for me, only slight complaint would be it floods a bit at the part were you enter the station and the front row queue but other than that it was awesome! (Those skulls!!)
The entire section looks like it could of opened yesterday, it must of been looked after very well. The dancers in the african area were alot of fun, it looked like most people were just walking by but I couldn't help myself so Istarted dancing infront of them to their music, they then invited me to dance with them, it was one of the best parts of the trip! We didn't get food from the african food outlet but it melt really good.
The ride itself was really great, probably one of the few rides that I had seen POV's of years ago and wanted to go on, with the top of the lift hills inside section with the bones feeling somewhat iconic. The ride itself rushes down and round interacting greatly with the ground, tunnels and footpaths and I really after the first drop I had no idea where I was in relation to the station until you suddenly pull into the darkness which was a small grip as I would of loved to have a final effect at the end but the pitch black does a good enough job. It is quite a relentless ride and does have some forces especially in the backrow and definantly is in my top 10 somewhere. However I do think Nemsis is the better of the two rides, key points being the ride experience on Nemesis trumping BM and the front row experience is also alot better imo but Black Mamba's themeing and surrounding area are better, both are great coasters and Black Mamba is defiantly the biggest coaster on park but I am sure Taron will give it a run for its money and I cannot wait to re-visit to ride it.
Maus au Chocolat
Maus au Chocolat is in the central berlin plaza area with a chocolate factory with a mouse problem with you shooting the mice similar to duel and tomb blaster. The themeing and queue area are really well done with lots of details and great use of smell pods. The ride was a bit meh to me. I didn't go in with any expectation as I hadn't heard much about the ride. You wear glasses which for me means the ride better make good use of 3D otherwise I have worn your glasses for no reason and they really didn't make that great use of it IMO. I also didn't like the fact it was screens as I felt it almost pointless them moving us round on a train they might as well of left us on the same screen and changed what was going on, I definantly prefer the Duel andAtlantis Adventure type gun games as they have more interactive scenery rather than just plopping you infront of a screen.
Another point I wasn't keen on and the thing I walked away from most confused about was the gun itself. The gun is themed around a icying/ chocolate squeezer which was a really neat idea, however instead of having a trigger like most of these types of rides it had a piece of rope that you pull on to shoot, which in principal sounds good, however I found it at times unresponsive and continuous use to be kind of annoying, I would of taken a bog standard gun anyday as the way the squeezer worked did detract from the ride experience and afterwards I wasn't in a rush to ride again. Definantly not the worst ride ever, but far great and one of the lesser gun rides I have been on.
Hollywood Tours
This ride is definantly showing its age, it seemed to have a damp smell to it (I know its a water raft but I mean a soggy, old curtain kind of smell). I did find it quite funny due to how ridiculous parts of it looked (the massive spider haha!) and it kind of had you thinking about what you were going to have for lunch, wondering is it still raining outside and I wonder if there is a toilet near this ride when I get off rather than enjoying the ride and being immersed in the ride. Even with its theme in never felt at all like classic hollywood with lots of areas being very generic. I kind of felt sorry for it, as due to its themeing, unlike something like Pirates in Batvia or Fata Morgana which although have sections showing age they make it up with buckets of charm this felt like a bizzarre experience, it would of been so much more enjoyable if it was themed for example around traditional german themes.
Once off my little brother instantly said "thats your new favourite ride Marcus", which was obviously ment as an insult which pretty much summed the ride up for me, very bad but in quite a funny way. I am sure it has served its purpose back in the day to get people in the park but the park has outgrown it. I could'nt of felt any further away from hollywood riding it. As it has been mentioned before on here this must be in the parks scopes for permanent retirement.
Temple of the Nighthawk
Another ride thats very close to receiveing its pension! An old vekoma coaster, it was dark, long and boring. It kept feeling like it was about to get started but it never really did much, it just miranders around the track. Considering what something like Eurosat could do completely inside this really does kind of suck by todays standards. StillI I did prefer it X/ X no way out (X is just the worst!!).
Winja Fear and Force
These two rides are alot of fun and with the problems most Maurer Sohne spinners have with their dog shit throughputs it was great so see the only section we had to queue being the final staricase, and even then on some of the re-rides there was no queue at all! One of the staff was also very funny joking around with the guests, parks need more staff like him! The rides have between them 4 different positions you can ride with the two different tracks and being able to start facing forward or backwards meaning they were very re-ridable. Both very similar but have a few different elements with Fear being my favourite of the two. They seem similar to Chiapas in that they have lots of unique elements including their lifts, the trick track section and the fact that its a dueling maurer sohne spinner!
The ride experience was very fun and had a nice variety of elements in them including the dramatic first big drop, the zi zagging section and the giant spiral down through the centre section. They were definantly the best coaster that was fully inside of the trip and I have always really rated Maurer Sohne spinners as they always seem very smooth and shed loads of fun but have a poo throughput, but due to it being a quite day at the park and that there is two of them this was never a big problem unlike their UK counter parts. Overall I would rate them behind dragons fury but they still are a great pair of coasters.
Talocon
This took me by suprise by how good it was and is definantly one of the best flat rides I have ever done. Set in the Mexican themed area Talocan is a top spin ride, however it has alot more going for it that your standard top spin. The themeing around the ride is superb and makes the ride feel semi- incaved. It also has the queue and a football around the ride for viewing which makes it almost feel like a roman area with everyone watching similar to Ramesis Revenge which I really like. The cycle that Talocon is on is much more intense and exciting than any of the Ramesis or Ripsaws that I ever got to do and along with that it has some fab fire effects.
I did kind of wish the water fountains got you but it was raining both times we rode it soit wasn't like we were'nt getting wet and last time I went on Ramesis I remember they seemed to hold the fountains on for so long you could hardly breath so I was very glad it wasn't like that. This is how flat rides should be down, the amount of effort put into what some would just see as a basic topspin (which it isn't anyway due to the fact that it is double sided/ back to back) but by putting in so much more effort it really makes the ride alot better. Also the restraints wern't nearly as harsh on my shoulders as Ripsaws and Ramesis can be.
Colorado Adventure
This was a well themed ride that lasted for a long time but never got boring. The track is very long and it goes through some beautful sections of the park with numerous tunnels and track crossovers.You also get great views of Chiapas whilst on the ride in some sections. A real people eater, there was no queue at all and half the train was empty as we went round. This is a solid family coaster and although a rip off of Disneys big thunder mountain, I cannot compare them as the last Disney park I went to was Disneyland Paris (Euro Disney as it was then) at least 16 years ago so my memory is patchy. This is the kind of ride Chessington really needs IMO and it would work very well there.
There you go, thats all my thoughts on these three incredible parks. We did do some site seeing in Cologne which was very nice but I won't go too much into that other than we got wetter due to the rain on that day than any of the rides we had done! These parks are brilliant and all seem to be making greater and greater improvements. My favourite park of the trip would have to be Efteling as it was stunning and seemed to tick so many points that I like to have in a theme park. I would definantly do this trip again as it worked out really well and it was my first time driving abroad (we rented a car from Cologne airport) it really wasn't bad at all and would recommend his trip anyday, I just won't stay in the heart of Cologne like we did for our 3rd night as the other two nights we stayed on the outskirts of Eindhoven which worked out great but the place in Colonge wasn't the best and it was a pain in the ass to find so next time we will stay on the outskirts of both cities. But don't let that put you off, this is a trip I will be doing again eventually.
As a trip comparing these to Europa Park last year I prefered this trip but that was due to doing three completely new parks which on there own are still some of the best in Europe but individually arn't as good as Europa, it just proves on a single park vs park basis Europa has no rivals in Europe although I havn't yet done Portaventura but am doing Liseberg next week so lets see what other great parks there are out there in Europe! They definantly put most of the UK offerings to shame, but I am hopeful for the future. Europes Parks so far have all been brilliant!