I was fortunate enough to be able to visit Toverland on Saturday for the opening of Port Laguna and Avalon. I have visited Toverland once before in 2014 and loved the park then, so it was great to return 4 years later on the day of their biggest expansion to date.
The weather was perfect; hot without a cloud in the sky. We arrived at about 9.45am and headed straight to the new entrance where there was already a large crowd gathered for the opening ceremony. This was very nicely done with a little story ending with streamers, fireworks and a banner drop for the grand opening of Port Laguna.
In we went and we moved quickly through Port Laguna to head towards the other new area, Avalon. I'll come on to it a little bit more later on but Port Laguna is beautiful.
Upon entering Avalon, home of a new B&M Wing Coaster (Fenix) and a Mack Boat Ride (Merlin's Quest), there was already quite a large queue waiting for Fenix to open. We stood for 10 or 15 minutes however no one was being let in to the queue line and no test runs were taking place. It turns out that it had been suffering with software problems since staff rides the night before. We gave up after figuring it wasn't going to open any time soon and headed towards Merlin's Quest.
Now this is a very pleasent boat ride with a lovely little dark ride section; nothing mind blowing but just really nice. There are a few basic animatronics in the dark ride section but it is the lighting in here that is the real highlight. The only pity with this ride is that the boat's don't have onboard audio as this would really enhance the outdoor sections.
We left Avalon after this to experience the rest of the park whilst Fenix was down, however returned for lunch at the new (and Toverland's first) sit down restaurant - The Flaming Feather. It's always a bit risky trying a new restaurant on the day that it opens, everything is new to the staff and you don't know if they will have perfected the food. Ordering was a little slow however the food was delicious; I enjoyed two juicy chicken legs, lovely soft and fluffy potato wedges and tasty roasted veg. The beer selection here was also top notch with two options on tap and numberous bottles available. If I had eaten this meal at say Disney or Europa I would have been exceptionally impressed so that in itself is a huge compliment to Toverland.
Whilst we were eating we noticed some activity around the entance of Fenix, and what do you know, it started testing and opened shortly after. We also found out at this point that Toverland had decided to keep Port Laguna and Avalon open until 8pm (park close was 7pm) to compensate guests; a wonderful touch.
Needless to say that we were straight to Fenix after lunch and expeced somewhat of a long queue considering that so many people had the chance to queue before we got there. The queue line itself consits of some very well themed indoor sections and a nice little outdoor section. The queue moved quickly and we only waited around 40 minutes which was more than acceptable for a new coaster on its opening day.
The inside of the station is very well done with blue skies and clouds on the ceiling complementing the wooden beams and stonework. The start of the coaster is slightly bizarre as you complete a turnaround in a vasty but totally unthemed section of the building. Then there is some theming above the exit of the building and what looks like some screens built in to the rockwork for a pre-lift scene/show, however nothing happens. I suspect that Toverland have plans to complete the theming of Fenix ready for 2019.
The only B&M Wing Coaster that I have ridden previously has been The Swarm and I much prefer Fenix, not least because the vest restraints do not tighten and dig in to your shoulders. As a coaster Fenix is short but sweet, it flows really well with the zero-g being the real highlight. And later in the day, once it had warmed up, there was some decent floater airtime on the first hill, especially at the front of the train. The drop is better on the left hand side (as you flip over) however we all preferred the right of the ride on the right hand side; convenient as most of the locals wanted to wait longer for the left!
Fenix is one of the most beautiful rollercoasters that I have ever seen. The deep blue track looks phenomenal and the view you get of the speed hill and zero-g roll open entering Avalon is stunning. Overall Avalon is a new area that suits Toverland perfectly and it will look even better in the coming years once all of the new vegitation has a chance to grow. Audio in the area seemed quiet so I do hope that they tweak with it over the next few weeks.
Going back to Port Laguna, we did not return here until the end of the day. It does feel a bit seperate to the rest of the park at the moment; not somewhere that you would head to apart from at the start and end of the day. This is a shame as it looks so vibrant and has a wonderful atmosphere. There are so many colours and I only wish that we had a chance to sit around the lagoon with a refreshing drink. If Toverland do eventually build a hotel then this area is very suited to staying open late in the evenings.
The rest of the park was just as I remembered it, magical and so much fun. Magic Valley remains one of my favourite theme park areas with so much to explore. Troy is superb. I go to experience Maximus' Blitz Bahn for the first time, it has the most delightful queue line and is so much fun!
If you have not been to Toverland then do try and get there! It is a family theme park that really cares and is quite different to any other park I have been to with lots of little paths and water features around the place. I can only hope that Port Laguna and Avalon are a huge success for them and we see more impressive expansions in the years ahead.
Long post I know; I'll endeavour to upload some photos later on in the week!
