PTR : My expedition to ride Expedition GeForce last August

Hello!

Last August I made a special trip out to Germany in order to ride Expedition GeForce having been so inspired by everything I had heard about it! Well, here are a whole load of photos I took on my expedition in my first (if not slightly late!) PTR:

(pictures will follow over several postings!)

...what?! No animals allowed on Expedition GeForce?

The entrance to the ride along with the ride rules and regulations. Hang on...

One of the most amazing first drops on a coaster...ever!

The Expedition GeForce area of Holiday Park with some lucky riders getting some insane Intamin airtime in the background!

...the coaster of course - and what a great sight to be met with!

Now, here's the reason for my trip - not the sign...

I flew out from London Stansted airport to Frankfurt Hahn which, from what I can make out, isn't really anywhere near Frankfurt! But then Stansted (and Gatwick as another example) aren't really in London!

Awesome pictures!!!

EGF is number one on my list of roller coasters that I have to ride one day!

Now, my visit just happened to coincide with a special 'Film My Ride' promotion Holiday Park were running in which their media/promotions department offered to film your ride on Expedition GeForce using the same modified crash helmet Robb used to get some of his EGF footage last year! After a bit of fiddling on Adobe Premiere, they burned my DVD for something like 15 Euros (I forget the exact price now). Here are some cheeky stills from said DVD:

...before it's time to go and re-join the queue! [taken from Holiday Park's My Ride DVD]

Picking up some final airtime moments... [taken from Holiday Park's My Ride DVD]

...and another! [taken from Holiday Park's My Ride DVD]

An overbank... [taken from Holiday Park's My Ride DVD]

...immediately followed by some insane negative ones! That's the Intamin stuff! [taken from Holiday Park's My Ride DVD]

A few positive Gs... [taken from Holiday Park's My Ride DVD]

...and zooming down the first drop that just isn't right! The guy next to me looks petrified!! [taken from Holiday Park's My Ride DVD]

...cresting the lift hill... [taken from Holiday Park's My Ride DVD]

Let the expedition commence! (I am on the left in the Warp shirt) [taken from Holiday Park's My Ride DVD]

But wait - there's more!!

Here are some shots of the surrounding area - it sure beats a parking lot!

One of the final bunny hills. I know it has been said before - but oh, to ride this without the trims!! That said, by the end of the day EGF was on fire compared to earlier in the morning - and I thought those first rides were pretty insane!

And the airtime keeps on coming!

Some head-chopping fun on airtime hill 4!

Some more overbank action!

The second airtime hill - ejector city!!

The first overbank.

The first supa-kerazy airtime hill!

Hmmm, this is very interesting!!!!

Your onride film...

When we were there in June we had Robb do the reverse thing of us on the ride and they loved it! Said they had never thought to do that before!!! Now all of a sudden they're doing it and charging!

I love it!!!

I guess you could say that you and Robb are trend setters!

I hope more coasters do onride filming like this in the future. IMO the onride DVD that you can buy of Sheikra isn't that good. I think it would be much better if they filmed you like they do on EGF.

Wow - I can't believe they stole Robb's idea!

Right - here are the final pictures. It may have been better if I hadn't have just closed my browser window accidentally losing this page the first time 'round, but my first PTR has been a learning experience, that's for sure! Hope you all enjoyed the pictures!

Robin

Finally some airtime of a different type! Bye and thanks for reading!

"Frankfurt" Hahn! Here's my plane taking off - but how did I take the photo? I lied.

Vor uns liegt ein weites Tal... Wir fahr'n fahr'n fahr'n auf der Autobahn. Er, anyway ... here I am back on a bus travelling back to "Frankfurt" Hahn airport in the middle of nowhere!

Just passing through Worms! That's right - Worms!

...plus Holiday Park have a shuttle bus service that runs from here (as seen in the background) to the park.

Here's Hassloch Bahnhof. All of my coaster trips have to be done by public transport as I don't drive. The train journey worked out fine...

Of course EGF wasn't the only thing I rode at Holiday Park! I also rode the Intamin Freefall! Mmmm.... drop towers! There's just something about waiting to drop that gets me every time!

Hmmm, this is very interesting!!!!

 

Your onride film...

 

When we were there in June we had Robb do the reverse thing of us on the ride and they loved it! Said they had never thought to do that before!!! Now all of a sudden they're doing it and charging!

 

I love it!!!

Check this out...

http://www.xtremex3.com/en/partners/thrillkeeper.php?ClickTracksPage=6

This company came out a year or 2 ago, and their cams are @ PKD. Guess they weren't at IAIIIPAIIAA that year. (whatever that trade show is... sheesh!)

That is quite a coincidence though... It's Nice to know of people who have influence.

^From what I understand though, that system is very different to what Holiday Park is doing.

I think that system you linked to is as bad as the Shakira DVD's!!!!

Here's a link to Holiday Park's original information about this special promotion: http://www.holidaypark.de/newstool/news_detail.php?News_ID=1285&lang=DE&portal=1

which never appeared on the English version of their site!

Please note that this only took place between 5th August and 15th August 2005 - although that's not to say they won't offer this again!

As I say, the link is in German but at the time I did a (slightly paraphrased) translation. I've just found it so here it is below:

"Expedition GeForce is 62m high, nearly 1.5 km long and with a speed of 120 kph a circuit takes 57 seconds. These are the most exciting 57 seconds of any discerning rollercoaster enthusiast's life. Apart from an on-ride photo, EGF's fans have nothing to take home with them to demonstrate their bravery etc. to their friends... until now! Holiday Park is offering an exclusive digital video to passengers in the forthcoming weeks. An experienced cameraman will be wearing a special helmet camera (rear-facing to capture shots of those behind him - i.e. you) and a second camera will be installed at the front of the train to capture a POV (or as Holiday Park put it, every drop, hill and curve!).

 

Director of the park, Wolfgang Cutter said : 'We are asked again and again whether riders can take a video camera onboard. But that is forbidden for reasons of safety - nobody is able to guarantee that they will be able to hold onto a camera with the G forces that arise on this ride. And, of course, no passenger wants to be hit by a camera flying towards them at 120kph'.

 

The solution comes from media enterprise 'OLS Media'. Jurgen Lotz and Willi Franc have worked for years as photographers and cameramen for the media/publicity department of Holiday Park. Over the last few months, they have modified a motorcycle helmet in order to integrate a high-quality DV camera. Now videos from the rollercoaster are possible. Jurgen Lotz said, 'We have already, of course, helped TV stations make reports on the ride. My partner Willi Franc has already ridden hundreds of times with a camera. The main problem was always the preparation - the camera had to be fastened securely with thick tape in order for it not to fly off and crash down 62 metres! The securely installed helmet-camera makes things a lot easier'.

 

Starting from 5th August, Holiday Park is offering this new video opportunity to all interested rollercoaster fans. For 17.90 EURO you get 2 videos on a DVD - the forward facing POV and the shot of the passengers directly behind the helmet-cam (i.e. you / your friends). Lotz is particularly proud of the speed at which they are able to turn the DVD discs around and goes on to talk about the fact that screams can still be heard through the helmet!

 

Reservations for 'Film My Ride' are being taken right up until 3.08.05 - simply send an e-mail with the subject 'FILM MY RIDE' to info@holidaypark.de indicating which day you intend on visiting the park. Reservations can be made for 5th August to 15th August. Reservations will be confirmed by e-mail - present a print-out of the e-mail confirmation on the day of your visit at 10am at the special 'FILM MY RIDE' booth (which is next to EGF) in order to receive the time at which your filming will take place (it'll be between 10am and 1pm)."

 

(Actually, that said - they were taking bookings on the day too, providing they could accommodate extra people in addition to those that had e-mailed in.)

So there you go! The process looked a bit like this...

...except it was Willi Franc of OLS Media doing the filiming rather than Robb!

^From what I understand though, that system is very different to what Holiday Park is doing.

 

I think that system you linked to is as bad as the Shakira DVD's!!!!

but then there's also this:

http://www.ridercam.de/

Strong rumours indicate use on Black Mamba

That Holiday Park did not think of that is no surprise to me!

Nice Photo's and thanks for posting them.

"robinschroder" Did you find the Airtime extreme..? Where is the best seat apart from the front or back.

Well, I thought the very back seat was best to maximise the superb ejector airtime! Plus that first drop is even more insane when you're whipped over the top of the lift hill! But since I'm not allowed to say front or back, I'll say second from back!!

Actually one thing to bear in mind is time of day as well. Rides at the end of the day seemed to be much more intense than those at the start of the day (and I thought it was pretty crazy then!). I guess it had a bit of time to 'warm up'.

Robin