Phantasialand Improvements for 2018

The hilly terrain and the way the park is built up with a lot of concrete makes it difficult to get an uniformly strong mobile reception through the park. After two years of planning of planning and coordination with three different service providers Phantasialand has installed a new hidden transmitter mast.
The park already has two transmission towers (one at Hotel Ling Bao and the other at Wuze Town) and the third mast is there just to increase capacity for even more data traffic so guests can "send selfies anytime, anywhere, share fantastic experiences on Facebook or just check your emails."

The task was problematic as the location had to be high enough for long range, stable enough for the heavy technology and perfectly hidden as not to disturb the immersive themed areas. The solution was to hide the modern technology within one of the towers on top of the Schauspielhaus (home to the 4D cinema and annual pass centre) on corner of Kaiserplatz in Berlin.
The tower on the roof however had to be extended by more than two meters to fit the transmission mast.


A specialist film set painter was brought in to create the fiberglass structure that encloses the mast and fits the typical look of the existing building resulting in the perfect illusion. They had to be careful about the paint used to create the copper look to blend with the roof. It couldn't be rich in metal as that would interfere with the signals.

Video showing the process and the finished new look.

https://phantasialandblog.de/fuer-v...endemast/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=post

EDIT: The video features a shot of a drawing of the facade of the Schauspielhaus with the new transmitter tower.

"Eingang Gasteservice" - entrance guest services. A teaser/sign that we can expect the 4D cinema to be removed and replaced with a new large guest services soon? Seems like a waste of such a large venue in my opinion but as long as that awful cinema is disappearing soon I'm happy.

 

^Dude, you are a construction update machine!
I know I've been mildly critical of Phantasialand in other threads, but credit where credit's due, I do admire the effort they put into things, even the seemingly less headline-worthy stuff like this. All that trouble, just so guests can upload selfies quicker.
Kudos, Fritz. Das ist gut!

 

Yes! I realized that the cell reception was unbelievably horrible there. Nice to see that they're fixing it!

 

Good that the park care about stuff like this, signal was terrible both times I visited to the point where I couldn't upload to instagram at all. Still waiting on that new park entrance though...

 

Another off season update from Phantasialand's blog.

Willkommen im Tacana - Willkommen im Mexico

In the off-season the park is continuing its efforts to increase the unique detail of their themed worlds. Therefore this off season Phantasialand has worked on creating a new authentic entrance for their burger restaurant Tacana in the Mexico themed area.

The centrepiece of the new entrance canopy is an almost three-meter-long wooden sign with the Tacana lettering and two fiery hot peppers. The green primed piece of wood should become a real eye-catcher thanks to the work of the park's decorative painter, Thomas Müller. For more than 35 years you can find his handwriting across Phantasialand.
The lettering on buildings, facades, dining tables and signs around the themed areas has all been hand painted. Thomas Müller's workshop is located in the heart of the park, in one of the houses in the Berlin area. Behind the historic façade, he studies templates and mixes the right shades for the new Tacana Shield, before putting the brush on. In one go, a curved green arch emerges on the wood and a hot pepper takes shape. But it is only perfect when it looks as if it is illuminated by the Mexican sun. An effect for which Thomas Müller uses light and dark shades of green - creating light and shade. The letters of the large Tacana lettering are also hand-painted. The result is a unique piece that simply makes you want to indulge in pleasure in Mexico!


At the Tacana itself, the beams that support the new canopy get their patina. This is ensured by the set and stage decorators from Fake Filmconstruction. For years, they have been working on many buildings and materials in the park to turn "new" into a weathered "lived" one. At the Tacana, the experts provide the right look with a large Bunsen burner - until the wood looks as if it has been defying sun, wind and water for years. Just like in the ruined city of Palenque in the Mexican state of Chiapas - that is the role model for our Mexico theme. Rocks between which rushing waterfalls, magnificent plants and colorful, lovingly decorated houses authentically convey the unique customs and joie de vivre of the Mexicans.

(I certainly hope they weren't aiming for a child friendly look cause these things look ****ing terrifying... haha)

Also our "Gaucho" and his "Chica", who will in the future invite you from the new Tacana canopy to feast in Mexico. They could come directly from Palenque; where, once a year, the Mexican Day of the Dead is celebrated. All over the country, at the "Día de los muertos", gift tables decorate with delicacies and everywhere there are decorated skulls. There is a popular mood because the Maya believe that the dead come to visit. Even our "muertos" can not separate themselves from earthly pleasures. Handpainted on white enamel by the fake experts, the woman in the red dress and the man in the black suit are a special eye-catcher at the Tacana. From far away, they seem to call out to you: "¡Buen provecho!" - "Bon appetit!"
In the Tacana itself they meet you, the colourful colours and decorated skulls that are so typical of Mexico. Not to forget the delicious burgers! Should it be the classic with cheese or rather the fiery Chiapas Grande? Or you can be seduced by our latest vegan creation - the falafel burger! And if you then set off on an expedition with Chiapas, you can celebrate the "Día de los muertos" authentic with distinctive rhythms in the party cave - before you go down into the depths with the world's steepest drop on log flume. ¡Viva Mexico!

At 2:22 in the video you can see concept art for how the new entrance canopy will look when finished.

And for comparison how the entrance of Tacana looked before. From RideOnBlog.com

 

I love everything this park does

 

Although I get that an improved phone signal will appeal to many of Phantasia's visitors; I can't help but be a bit disappointed that it has become so important to a park experience. Theme parks should be about escapism! I want to be fully immersed in the experience and would hope that other visitors will be equally immersed without constantly looking down at their mobiles.

 

I get your point completely, but no matter where I am, whether in a theme park or not, I'd like to be able to get online to contact people if it is needed. If you've lost somebody you're with in the park, or if you need to contact somebody else, I think it's good. Rather have the option to do so than not be able to/have to struggle to do so.

 

For a while now Phantasialand have been slowly but surely renovating parts of Hotel Ling Bao. This off season the lobby has been renovated, and both restaurants have been shut for over a month for a massive renovation. Restaurant Bamboo has just reopened, while the other Lu Chi is still shut but will reopen before the summer season starts this Saturday.





Pictures from cephista on PhantaFriends.de.
It is quite a drastic change for Bamboo. Apart from the the tables and chairs everything has changed. The new look is brighter, more open and more modern. However it no longer has the traditional Chinese theme/look as before.

For comparison a before picture.


I think is still too early to really call it, but given that the changes are moving away from the traditional old worldly Chinese style of the rest of the hotel and area, it made me think of the rumour that popped up a back in December on Freizeitparkcheck.de which claimed the next project after Rookburgh would be a complete restyling of the China area to look Tibetan and Geister Rikscha being replaced by a new dark ride.
Maybe the park simply wanted to modernise the restaurants, and it is all just a coincidence.
Or maybe it is a sign of things to come, and for Geister Rikscha (the underground Chinese ghost train) is end is nigh...

 

I hope that Geister Ricksha gets reworked soon as it was definitely in disrepair. Hopefully Feng Ju Palace gets some upgrading as well as it is kinda boring.

 

New off season work blog post from the park.

Deeper in Africa: Giving rockwork a soul

A dark mountain range with deep ravines, rough walls and a large weathered rock with a monkey's face carved into it, have been shaping our theme area "Deep in Africa" for almost twelve years. Around the Inverted Coaster Black Mamba, we designed a unique African world with many lovely details, whose uniqueness astonished our guests. And now we want to raise our Africa once again to a whole new level - from artificial rocks to be a nature-identical mountains. Because when we built the imposing basalt chain in our Klugheim theme area, we got to know new materials, techniques and experts that we were not able to use twelve years ago.

This is how the Deep in Africa landscape looked previously:


Already in Klugheim, rockwork company Universal Rocks proved what they can do - so we have entrusted them with our Africa. The team leader in this project is the Portuguese Filipe Rodrigues. "I started working with Universal Rocks at Phantasialand. This is something very special for me. I just love being here. Also, because every project is different. We never know what to expect and always learn." For Filipe, the vision for our Africa theme is even more challenging than Klugheim, as he tells us in an interview. "When we create a completely new mountain, then we can do that from the beginning in our own way. Here in Africa, this is more difficult - we have to practically break up the existing rocks and create completely new shapes and structures. That's even more demanding - and dirtier," he laughs.


It's wet and dusty indeed. Because before the shape of the rocks in Africa can change anything, once dirt and paint of twelve years have to be washed off - otherwise the new cement will not last. Square by square, the experts spray the rocks that rise meters high in front of them. Only after the purge follows the second step, the "Cagework". For this reason, the rock builders bring in steel cages that create corners and edges, protrusions and indentations - where previously uniform rocks shaped the image. "So far, the rocks look artificial here. We make them look more natural and try to give them life, "says team leader Filipe Rodrigues. For this to succeed, every single cage must now be covered with a special plastic fabric. Many hundred meters of this fabric will have been laid in the end in Africa. And then, after this elaborate preparation, the rocks get their new look, their character.



Two layers of cement are needed to give the old dark brown rocks a new, "lived" structure. The first layer covers the cages and connects to the old cement, thus roughly creating the new shape of the mountain landscape. At the same time, the experts must always take care to comply with the so-called clearance gauge of the Black Mamba - the space that guarantees a safe ride on the roller coaster. And then the sculptors are in demand - they "hear" the second layer of cement. In loving detail, they work their way step by step, meter by meter, along the cliffs towering above them, through ravines and past overhangs. With trowels and knives they give the cement form and structure, create notches and stone folds. And not only do they keep an eye on the section that lies directly in front of them, but also on the big picture. Because only if the structure of the entire mountain range corresponds to that of natural rock, the perfect illusion of a grown rock in the middle of our Africa arises - as if the rock had resisted the climate of the African continent for ages, withstood sandstorms and could be shaped by the wind.

There is still work to do before it is all finished and Black Mamba can get back on track for the start of the season on March 24th. Until then we will keep you up to date. And one thing we can already tell you: our monkey rock gets a lot more bite.
Video (in English):

https://phantasialandblog.de/wenn-felsen-eine-seele-bekommen/

 

Nice to see they are refreshing the rockwork.

 

I don't know, weathering can do nice work for rocks. If they're just doing it while they cover the tunnels, that I can get behind. Bare concrete tunnels take away the magic.

 

Some of that restaurant theming looks Tibetan so there could be substance in that rumour. Why would they do that theming change though?

 

New official blog post from Phantasialand:

When Art Meets Rocks.

In our Africa, a completely redesigned mountain landscape is being created. We have already told you about the experience, many layers of cement and how much artistic know how is needed to give the existing rocks a more natural look - until they look as impressive and real as on the African continent: dry, hard and sandy ! And for this weather-tinted painting next to the sculpture another special skill is in demand: that of natural stone painting. "I make the rocks more characteristic and give them even more life," says painter Diana Crispim. She is one of the Rock Experts of Universal Rocks and started her career in Phantasialand - working on the imposing mountains of basalt in Klugheim. And now she shimmies with brush and paint pump along the rocks in our Africa themed area. Here she had to get involved again in a new world. "In Africa everything is a bit more relaxed and slower. And the rocks are different too. Above all, they have to look dry and they are not that dark and heavy, but have a certain lightness. "

The sculptors of Universal Rocks are giving the rock in Africa a completely new character - rugged, authentic and expressive than before. And to emphasize this work even more clearly is the task of Diana Crispim. "The rocks look very natural. But if they've just got their new structure, they need an extra effect to look real. "And that's where color comes into play. For the typically African-looking rock Diana uses different basic tones - which she sometimes mixes with yellow, for even more patina. Step by step, she works her way along the mountains and slowly gives her face to the rocks, at dizzy heights as well as down to the ground. And with real endurance. Most of the time she needs several layers of paint until she is really satisfied - up to 20 are in some places. And only when the basic color is right, it's time for the details.

"The rocks here in Africa must look like the sun has already bleached them. The tips and edges on the surface are therefore bright. So I let the light of the rock shine through and you can see that it is a really massive rock. Elsewhere, the stone must look worn, as if there had been a landslide, or as if the rains were always gathering at that spot." To make the new mountain as natural as possible, Diana has done a lot of research therefore our Africa rockwork is a work of art that can compete with real rocks on the African continent.

"It's a process. Sometimes I think I'm done at this point. Then one day later, I'll go back and set new accents, "says Diana. When the painter is finished, a nature-identical rock rises in Africa with wrinkles, protrusions and cracks. Different shades make different segments and layers stand out. Almost like the tree rings of a tree, they betray the apparent age of the mountain range and give an idea of the history of the African continent. This landscape makes Africa even more noticeable and real in Germany's best theme park. Every hand-crafted notch and every thoughtful set of brushstrokes make for a fantastic overall look - even as you rush in with the Black Mamba within seconds, the rock builders at Universal Rocks have paid attention to every detail. And if you then look upside down at our Africa, you may also discover something new on top of the peaks ... but that's another story we'll tell you here soon.


New video (in English).

https://phantasialandblog.de/wenn-kunst-auf-felsen-trifft/