Day Seventeen: Walibi Lorraine and Disneyland Paris
Today continued our "Credit Whoring Journey To Paris" with Walibi Lorraine. This was our last stop until getting to
Disney and after visiting Walibi Rhone-Alpes, we were afriad we would fine another dissapointing park.
And we were right.
Walibi Lorraine wasn't as bad as Rhone-Alpes in that the park had nicer landscaping and decoration, but it was
almost as bad with it's selection of rides.
We had met up with Matthew who gave us some insight to the park, and it seems that ever since they got rid
of the Smurf theming, the park has gone downhill. There were several empty or boarded up buildings and play areas
that used to house rides and attractions that are now gone. It was kind of sad.
As for the ride lineup, they had a wooden coaster that was basically the "PGA Grizzy of Europe", a Vekoma Loop-screw,
A log flume, rapids ride, a couple of flats, a few kiddie rides, and the new Huss Topple Tower.
The Topple Tower was the main reason we were here. At first we didn't know if we would get to ride it since it didn't
open with the park, and we weren't going to be here very long. About an hour later, the ride opened up.
I have to say it was kind of dissapointing. From the photos I had seen (and from the photos we took too) the ride
looks REALLY bad A$$! I mean, it's one of those rides that looks much better in pictures and watching it as a
spectator than it does to ride.
The ride is very tame, and I really thought that when it 'toppled' it would do more of a 'drop', but it doesn't at all.
The main ride vehicle spins, slowly, and while spinning the tower leans over, slowly. It was a nice ride, but it
was very gentle, and very tame.
While it was a weird experience, it's not one that I would consider 'thrilling.'
We left shortly after that and made our trip to the Disneyland Paris resort.
After meeting up with Frederic and Louis, we took a ride on the newly revamped Space Mountain: Mission 2.
What can I say? I like Mission 1 a LOT better. *sigh*
At least the ride wasn't quite as rough as when we rode it in 2002. It was still bumpy and you can tell it was
a Vekoma, but it was very rideable, and we will certainly ride again tomorrow.
As for the show scenes, quite honestly, not much has changed. There's a nice new paint job in the queue, and they
have also closed up the areas in the queue where you used to be able to see into the ride. That was a dissapointment
as it used to be very cool standing in the queue watching the trains go through the course.
The new soundtrack is 'ok', but it's a fairly generic techo soundtrack, and I really felt that the old soundtrack felt
more 'classic.' There were a couple of new effects in the mountain, but to be honest, nothing that was too
memorable. Mission 1 used to have 'story elements' that tied the ride into the Jules Verne theme, while Mission 2
just seems to have random effects and a techno soundtrack. The one effect going into "hyperspace" with the red
swirlly lights sounds a lot like one of the effects they have added to the Disneyland ride. I'll let you know once
I ride the DL version!
So overall, while Space Mountain seemed more rideable this time than in 2002, I miss the old show. =(
We took a lap around both parks, but since we got here late we didn't have too much time. We rode Rock N Roller Coaster
a couple of times and I still like this version a lot more than the WDW version. It's smoother and I really like the
"light show" during the ride.
The tram tour is still just 'ok', but the Reign of Fire effect at the end is very good!
Indy had returned to being a forwards coaster again. Some of us got a lot of head bashing, some of us didn't. Weird.
Then we had dinner at the Hunter's Grill in our hotel (Sequoia Lodge) which is like the "French Ohana's" as you are
servered random meats on a big skewer and by the time dinner is done, you feel like you've had way too much to
eat!
It was a great time hanging out with Frederic and Louis, thanks for showing us around the park!
Now onto some photos!!!
)
Too bad american theme parks lack a sense of humor...Im headed to europe next year myself and looking to hit some of these parks while im there....I also had a question about where your staying..how much/night (euro) is it setting you back and what class of hotel/motel do ya stay in??
