Massive Europe Trip Report

I wish you would have posted some more pictures of Draak, but it's a good report nontheless.

I wish you would have posted some more pictures of Draak, but it's a good report nontheless.

 

If you really need a fix of Joris en Draak photos there are quite a few in this PTR from Hanno.

www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=915479#p915479

Day 5: Walibi Holland and Wunderland Kalkar

 

 

After visitirng Walibi Belgium (one of my favourite parks in Europe), I was expecting a lot from Walibi Holland. Afterall, they have the most well themed boomerang coaster in the world, an "outdoor" rock' n' roller coaster and Goliath.

 

My first ride of the day was Speed Of Sound. A really, really, really well themed boomerang, with on-board audio system and the new Vekoma restraints that worked very well for this kind of ride. For sure, the best boomerang I've ever ridden.

 

Next it was time for some credit whoring: Rattlesnake, a zierer tivoli coaster themed after a giant snake on the desert. The whole wild west area of the park was really nice, with a Huss frisbee that was not open that day (I read somewhere that Tomahawk struggles with a lot of technical problems, but the park still keeps the ride because it is very popular). By the way, the one at Walibi Belgium was working just fine on the day of my visit.

 

After a brief lunch at the Mexican plaza, I decided to face another SLC: El Condor. What is wrong with painting the SLCs, for God's sake? This is the third green and white SLC I've seen. And the third worst one, too. It's not as bad as Firewhip or El Desafio, but it's not as good as Raptor, MP Express or Limit either. It's more like an average SLC, I guess.

 

The last 3 credits were the ones I was most looking forward to: Robin Hood, Goliath and Xpress.

 

 

Robin Hood is the second of the 3 wooden coasters Vekoma has ever built. And since I really liked Loup-Garou, I was expecting a good ride on Robin Hood. And it is, indeed, a nice wooden coaster. It was a little bit slow (probably because of the weather and the fact that it was it's first weekend after a long winter), but anyway, it is a good coaster.

 

 

Goliath. What can I say about Goliath? First of all, when I hear the name Goliath, I think about SFMM's Goliath, something you can see from far far away, something that doesn't fit on your picture. That's not the case here. I was really disapointed when I saw Goliath. "Is that it? Where's the rest of it?". And the fact that it is hidden in an "alley" didn't help either. But Goliath proves the theory that size doesn't matter. I had a blast ridding Goliath. There are lots of air time and an incredible turn after the first two drops. Too bad it's too short. And since the waiting time was just about 5 minutes, I rode it again, and again, and again.

 

The last ride of the day was Xpress. Someone told me it was SBNO. I checked RCDB and it was SBNO indeed. So I was really happy when I saw it open that day. I'm not sure what happened to it, or for how long it hasn't been running, but I was glad it's open again. It's cool to ride an outdoor Rock' n' Roller Coaster.

 

Walibi Holland is not as beatiful as Walibi Belgium, but it has better rides, for sure.

 

 

 

 

Speed of Sound!

 

Best boomerang in the world

 

The station

 

Tomahawk

 

Rattlesnake

 

Mexican Plaza

 

 

El Condor

 

Another green and white SLC

 

Robin Hood

 

Nice wooden coaster

 

Goliath

 

Nice air time hills

 

 

Xpress, open and running!

 

The trains are painted in a purple sparkly color. Nice!

 

 

One last shot of Xpress

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wunderland Kalkar:

 

 

Wunderland Kalkar is a one hour drive from Walibi Holland (about 110km or 68 miles). So i left Walibi around 15:00 and arrived at Wunderland at 16:00. Lucky me, the entrance fee after 16:00 is just 9 Euros, witch means free food + nice park for just 9 Euros!

 

 

Wunderland Kalkar got a little bit famous in Brazil after it was featured on the 20:00 news here. (Link to that video: http://g1.globo.com/jornal-nacional/noticia/2011/09/usina-nuclear-inacabada-e-transformada-em-parque-de-diversoes.html).

 

That being said, I only knew 2 things about Wunderland Kalkar: It was built on an old nuclear power plant, and they offered free food!

 

The park is built in a very nice, very calm neighborhood. The parking is free, and they offer free coffee, sodas, juice, french fries and Ice Cream. Amazing!

 

The park is actually pretty nice. They have a powered coaster that wasn't open that day, a lot of nice rides like a disk'o and a water ride, and of course, the famous starfyer inside the cooling tower.

 

As I entered the cooling tower I thought: "Nice, they have a drop tower and a star flyer on the same ride". It turns out that it is not a drop tower, just an wierd way of enjoying the view for the ones that are afraid of starflyers. The starflyer ride is amazing, you can see the park and the rivers that surround the area. It is a must go, even for the ones that are not really into theme parks.

 

The park is very clean, very colorful and the french fries and the ice cream were not bad. I would definitely recommend Wunderland Kalkar for anyone visiting that part of Europe.

 

Wunderland Kalkar

 

The park where the food is free!

 

See? It is really free!

 

The park is really well taken care of

 

A lot of kiddie rides

 

 

They have a few rides on the first floor of the cooling tower

 

And the star flyer/ not drop tower on the second

 

 

The "doesn't drop" tower

 

Disk'o

 

 

 

 

RCT feelings

 

It's a live RCT!!!!!

 

 

Next it was time for some credit whoring: Rattlesnake, a zierer tivoli coaster themed after a giant snake on the desert. The whole wild west area of the park was really nice, with a Huss frisbee that was not open that day (I read somewhere that Tomahawk struggles with a lot of technical problems, but the park still keeps the ride because it is very popular). By the way, the one at Walibi Belgium was working just fine on the day of my visit.

 

 

That I would find pretty strange as Walibi Belgium does not have a Frisbee. The only Frisbee in Belgium (Sledge Hammer) resides in Bobbejaanland. Maybe that's the one you meant?

It's also not a Huss Frisbee at Walibi.

 

Walibi : SBF Dance Party

Bobbejaanland: Huss Giant Frisbee

One thing: robin hood is a rollercoaster that really goes faster during the day.. At the end of my visit last year I was even thinking about placing it on par with Balder.. But, as it groes faster it groes wilder and rougher.. It really is a mean monster near closing time..

 

The Xpress had corroded launch magnets by the way (those white blocks in the middle of the track).. That wasn't supposed to be possible, but appearantly it is and it takes a factory 9 months to make new ones.. So that's what Xpress has been doing last year.

One thing: robin hood is a rollercoaster that really goes faster during the day.. At the end of my visit last year I was even thinking about placing it on par with Balder.

 

Not even close.

I'm appreciating this reports a lot. Keep on the great work!

 

Next it was time for some credit whoring: Rattlesnake, a zierer tivoli coaster themed after a giant snake on the desert. The whole wild west area of the park was really nice, with a Huss frisbee that was not open that day (I read somewhere that Tomahawk struggles with a lot of technical problems, but the park still keeps the ride because it is very popular). By the way, the one at Walibi Belgium was working just fine on the day of my visit.

 

 

That I would find pretty strange as Walibi Belgium does not have a Frisbee. The only Frisbee in Belgium (Sledge Hammer) resides in Bobbejaanland. Maybe that's the one you meant?

 

Sorry, I meant Movie Park Germany!

Thanks for your tripreport, it is really good.

Looking forward to the rest of it!

 

JK

Day 6: Toverland and Bobbejaanland

 

 

That was my least favourite park combo of the whole trip. Many, many people say that Troy is the best wooden coaster in Europe, so after having a blast riding Joris, I was expecting a lot from Troy.

 

I arrived at Toverland around 10:15 (the park opened at 10:00), so I was among the first to enter the park. Troy was already running, so I went directly to that wooden beauty. There was just a few people ridding Troy again and again, so I joined them on this non-expected ERT.

 

Troy was... well... not good. It was bumpy and I couldn't feel the air times at all. The entirely ride was rough. I changed seats, from the back to the front of the train, but it didn't get better. I tried the back seat once more, but it still felt the same. I must say, it was freezing cold that day, maybe that was the problem. I hope that was the problem and that Troy is amazing during warm days. But for now, it is the worst GCI I've ever ridden.

 

The Booster Bike was my second credit that day. I've only ridden one motocoaster before, Pony Express at Knotts, and it is one of my favourite attractions there. The Booster Bike was a little bit rougher than Pony Express, althought it has a better layout. If I had to choose one, I would stick with the one at Knotts.

 

I didn't try the water ride, it was really, really cold, specially for someone from Brazil. But I did try the alpine slide and even though the course is a lit bit short, I had a lot of fun. That was the first powered alpine slide I've ever seen.

 

Boomerang was my last credit of the day and it really surprised me, in a good way. What a nice junior coaster!

 

I tried to spot some construction signs of the new coaster, but couldn't find anything relevant. I must return to Toverland in the summer of 2013 to give Troy another chance, and to ride the new coaster.

 

 

Toverland!

 

Too cold for that!

 

 

 

Troy!

 

 

It might not be amazing, but at least is pretty!

 

 

Pretty, indeed!

 

ERT on Troy!

 

Booster Bike

 

 

powered alpine slide

 

Boomerang!

 

 

 

Bobbejaanland

 

 

Bobbejaanland was an 1 hour drive from Toverland, and I got there by lunch time. I was a little bit surprised to see that the park is located on an urban area, since all the big parks were located more on the countryside. It reminded me of Kennywood and Waldameer.

 

I entered the park for free, using my Movie Park Season Pass. I asked for a park map, and they told me it would cost 2 Euros! That's right! 2 Euros, or 2.6 Us Dollars, or 4.9 Reais for a park map! That really pissed me off! I bought one, for souvernir purposes, but never opened it. It was raining, and if the map got wet, I would have to spend another 2 Euros.

 

The first ride was Typhoon, my first Eurofighter! It was nice, nothing amazing. Fluch (Hansa) was waaaaaay better.

 

Right next to Typhoon was Sledge Hammer, Huss' Giant Frisbee. I'm a HUGE MaxAir fan, so I was very disapointed with the cycle chosen for Sledge Hammer. It was short and not even close to MaxAir's.

 

Bob Express, on the other way, was AMAZING, The best powered coaster I've ever ridden. Really fast, nice turns, nice view.

 

Oki Doki is cute, and The Dream Catcher is just wrong. I think it should have remained as The Air Race. Speedy Bob and Dizz were just average.

 

Evolution is something really different, starting by it's train. I've never seen anything that big. It was so big that I couldn't spot where it beggins, where it ends. They play an eletronic music, while you go up on a neverending spiral lift, and then you enter a bulding full of psicodelic effects. Something you don't see very often, for sure!

 

 

I don't know if I would ever return to Bobbejaanland. It was just an average park with a 2 Euro park map. Thank God the next day was Phantasialand day! Bobbejaanland put me in a very bad mood!

 

Bobbejaanland

 

Typhoon

 

 

Not MaxAir

 

Bob Express: Best powered coaster ever!

 

 

 

Dizz

 

 

Dream Catcher

 

Oki Doki

 

Indoor kid's area

 

Dream Catcher

 

 

 

Speedy Bob

 

 

 

 

This is awesome!! I wish I had the balls to do a trip like this by myself.

I love to follow you on this trip...many thanks for sharing !

Great report so far.

 

What is the 'King Kong' holding a train carriage? Looks like a really nicely themed ride.

Day 7: Phantasialand and Aachen Ocher Bend

 

 

Before visiting Phantasialand, I knew just a few things about this park: That they have the best well themed B&M in the world, two spinning coasters that Elissa liked a lot, even thought she's not found of spinning coasters, something Michael Jackson related, a 65m tall frog hopper and that they have one ride where you get to shoot some mice in a bakery store. Shame on me! Phantasialand is sooo much more than that!

 

I parked my car in the Mystery Castle parking lot, but since drop towers scare the hell out of me, I decided to visit the park in a counter-clockwise direction, so Mystery Castle would be my last ride of the day.

 

I didn't ride the River Quest,it was really cold that day. Now I regret it. I would probably freeze to death, but after reading some reviews here at TPR, It was a ride I couldn't have missed. Well, I'll have to go back during the summer!

 

So I went directly to the end of the park to ride Temple of The Night Hawk. Again, it was... dark. A moving chair in the dark. Not Space Mountain, for sure.

 

The next ride was Winjas! I loved the "Winjas building", where you can see the cars spinning throught the track, but you can't tell if they are on the Fear side or the Force side. Winjas Fear is AMAZING, specially if you go backwards in the first two drops. It is something very unique, different from all the spinning coasters I've ever ridden. It was a very pleasant surprise! Winjas Force is not that good, it is a little bit rougher, but the track "stop-incline-go" at the end is soooo funny. Two thumbs up for Winjas!

 

 

Race for Atlantis is an Imax Ride very similar to Simpsons, the Ride at both Universal Studios. And I thought it was very, very good. Almost as good as The Simpsons. Place third on my list (1- Simpsons, the ride, 2- Back To The Future and 4- Spiderman).

 

My next ride was Maus au Chocolat, the best shooting ride EVER. It is a little bit too long, at some point I couldn't feel my arms anymore, but it was worthed. I scored 140.000 points, witch I thought was an amazing score until I was told that the best score was something like 710.000. Asians, probably.

 

After a brief lunch, Black Mamba! Before riding it, I thought "ok, it is just another B&M with a nice theme. I was wrong. Black Mamba is incredible! I had no idea that an inverted coaster could have so much air time! At one point my body was floating 2, 3 seconds in the air without touching the seat. I wanna say Black Mamba is the best inverted coaster ever built, but I have to ride Alpengheist once more before I make my final decision. And they say Nemesis is supposed to be even better (never ridden it). Anyway, Black Mamba makes the top 3 inverted coasters in the world, for sure!

 

After riding what could be the best inverted coaster ever, I rode the best mine train ever! Colorado Adventure! OMG, amazing. I just didn't understand what Michael Jackson has to do with this ride.

 

Phantasialand has a "Haunted Mansion" type of ride, but it is really bad.

 

So, time to face Mystery Castle. I asked one good friend of mine what was inside Mystery Castle before visiting Phantasialand. His exact words were: "it's a giant frog hopper". "But it is Intamin's?" "Yes, but it's not just a drop tower". Well, drop towers scare the hell out of me, and I'm really not found of Intamin rides (chubby people + Intamin rides never got along with each other), but I decided to give it a try. Mystery Castle is very different, very unique, and I'm very inclined to say that it's better than Disney's Tower of Terror. The layout is very interesting, with 48 people sitting around a "crazy scientist's office". Then, they shoot you up, down, up again, down again - at some point I had no idea if my body was going up or down - and then it pulls you all the way to the top, and drops. AMAZING. I rode it again, and again, and again.

 

Phantasialand is not a park with a lot of rides, but man, they really know how the make the best out of each one!

 

So far in my trip I found:

 

The Best Powered Coaster ever: Bob Express

The Best Shooting Ride Ever: Maus au Chocolat

The Best Spinning Coaster Ever: Winjas - Fear

The Best Mine Train Ever: Colorado Adventure

The Best GCI Ever: Joris en de Draak

The Best Drop Tower Ever: Mystery Castle

The Second Best Imax ride: Race to Atlantis

Top 3 inverted Coaster: Black Mamba

 

 

 

 

River Quest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winjas!

 

Fear! Fear! Fear!

 

 

 

 

Black Mamba!

 

 

5 minutes! That means: Ride again, and again, and again!

 

 

Colorado Adventure!

 

Seriously, why does it carries Michal Jackson's name?

 

Their not-so-haunted mansion

 

Mystery Castle!

 

 

6 x 8 people cars

 

Amazing, just amazing!

 

 

 

Aachen Ocher Bend:

 

 

Aachen is located 71km (44miles) away from Phantasialand, and lucky me, there was a fairly sized kermis (Ocher Bend) in Aachen that week, with a special extra something: It was Artistico's premiere!

 

Artistico is a 46m tall Mondial pendulum ride that looks like KMG's XXL, but with the seats facing outside. It is the first of it's king in the world, and it is very impressive. It's almost as good as MaxAir. Really. It is that good!

 

Ocher Bend also had the Booster Maxx (55m tall booster) ride. I must say, european boosters and american boosters are very, very different. American boosters are a fun, enjoy the view, ride, and Booster Maxx is more like "I'm gonna die here" type of ride. At some point it speeds so much that the seats don't even spin anymore.

 

I also rode a regular spinning coaster from Maurer, but after riding Winjas on the same day, it was just bleh.

 

 

That ended the first half of my trip. It was time to travel to Frankfurt for a few days.

 

Ocher Bend

 

 

Artistico!

 

It was really it's premiere!

 

5 Euros

 

Awesome!

 

140°

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The "omg I'm gonna die" booster!

 

 

Great report so far.

 

What is the 'King Kong' holding a train carriage? Looks like a really nicely themed ride.

 

It's exactly what you think it is. "King Kong" is a flat ride manufactured by HUSS. I think this is the only permanently installed park model.

http://www.hussrides.com/family-rides/king-kong.html

I have to say I'm a bit dissapointed you don't visit Plopsaland De Panne on your tour, they don't have the most thrilling rides except from Anubis , The ride... but still as the new owners of Holiday Park it would be nice to show of some pictures of the homepark from Studio100. Their theming is pretty awesome!!

Great report so far.

As you noted, Phantasialand isn't the biggest park, but it certainly is a park with an envious list of great attractions.

Damn you had Artistico first....

 

But at least we in Hamburg had the Olympia Looping for a month - I wonder were Alpina Bahn is hiding as its sometimes visiting Aachen in spring....

 

And after seeing your great impressions from Phantasialand which I last visited as a kid I need to visit again, maybe next year - this year is for Europa Park that I also last visited as a kid when they only had a powered coaster and a bobsled coaster....

Damn you had Artistico first....

 

But at least we in Hamburg had the Olympia Looping for a month - I wonder were Alpina Bahn is hiding as its sometimes visiting Aachen in spring....

 

And after seeing your great impressions from Phantasialand which I last visited as a kid I need to visit again, maybe next year - this year is for Europa Park that I also last visited as a kid when they only had a powered coaster and a bobsled coaster....

 

 

I think Alpina Bahn is in Stuttgart right now. I'm not sure. But I remember that Stuttgart is getting one of the big ones this year, and it is either Alpina or Hollenblitz.

 

I've ridden Olympia Looping on this trip. In fact, my hotel was like 200m from Hamburg DOM.

Love to follow this report...sooo many interesting thoughts...thanks Mrenata ! Looking forward to reading the rest...!

 

And yes...Alpinabahn is in Stuttgart right now

Nice trip report from our surrounding area! good to read that you love the parks and rides here!

 

The Colorado Adventure has the "Michael Jackson" name because the ride was opened by MJ himself in 1996.

Michael Jackson had visited the park many times, mostly after closing time and even during the winter months. He was good friends with the owners of the park and sometime in late 1995, during another visit, he was shown a model of a new ride that was under construction. They promised to name it "The Michael Jackson Thrill Ride", if he would open it himself the following season... which he did:

 

 

That's the official story.

Great TR, I'm highly enjoying following along!

Looking forward to your Frankfurt pictures as this is my hometown and I was there at the end of March/beginning April aswell. Wish I would have known of your travels as I would have loved to show you some of the cool Applewine places there