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Crazy Bats VR Coaster - Phantasialand

The film is very good, much better than other VR coaster experiences I had before.
Unfortunately I couldn't really get it to stay sharp It was all a bit blurry on the 2 rides I had.
The third ride the film froze immediatly and I removed the headset and had a non-vr ride.
It's a shame there is no more music during the non-vr ride. But that just wouldnt work with the type of headphones they use. they aren't over-ear or noise cancelling so music inside the building would interfere. But it's actually kinda funny seeing all those headsets blink red and green while you are riding through the hall. Like a little rave party when theres multiple trains, lol

But the station and queue are unfortunately still a total sauna. Phew

Overall i'm happy with the end result. Yeah it's no Klugheim but it's still looking decent on a budget, VR still isn't my sorta thing, but I can see the appeal.
Just the outside is really looking sub-par in comparision and doesn't do the work they did on the inside justice.
 
If you want to see a walk-through video (of the queueline and station) instead of the pictures, here it is:

Laying the glasses on a conveyor belt prevents congestion and ensures a faster guest flow when leaving the station. Well done Phantasialand! :)

I'm looking forward to experience Crazy Bats myself. :D
 
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Some info from german newspaper express, interview with Sebastian Jonas. Phantasialand's project supervisor:

- The plans for Crazy Bats existed since 2017
- Only 6 Months ago they decided the technology was sophisticated enough.

Could explain the "rushed" look to the outside queue (and why at first "Temple of the Night Hawk" was still listed on the printed park maps).
So maybe during off-season they will find some time to make it look better. :)

They had some issues with the conveyor belt system yesterday (Headsets getting stuck ?) so sometimes only a half boarded train would be dispatched. But since it was announced as a "test operation" to the queueing guests that will be resolved soon I think.

I mostly hope for an AC System inside the queueline / station to be added. The current climate-change affected summers can't be compared to the summers of the 1988 era, where it wasn't needed as badly.
 
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At the park now in the queue for Crazy Bats. Park said it opened at 12:00. They then pushed it back to 12:30. It’s now 10 to 1 and we’re still stood here. Not fun.

Also, what happened to Phantasialand? The operations are pretty bad, rides are going down both yesterday and today (going down a lot), queue jumping, overcrowding etc. Not the park I fell in love with, sadly. Coming here after two days at Europa Park has made me like Phantasialand a little less tbh. And as usual, I know everyone will disagree, but I noticed this a little in April but more so now.

To be fair, there are a huge number of school trips here, which doesn’t help as German children apparently don’t know how theme parks work. Will post my irrelevant opinion of Crazy Bats here if I ever get on the thing.
 
Just left the queue after over 2 hours, still not open. What’s also bad is that the app still says it’s open with a 100 minute wait, and people are still joining the queue unaware that it’s shut.
 
Ethan said:
Just left the queue after over 2 hours, still not open. What’s also bad is that the app still says it’s open with a 100 minute wait, and people are still joining the queue unaware that it’s shut.
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I'd go and hop on Taron if I was you! Should be quiet if everyone is queueing for Crazy Bats!
 
Matt N said:
Oh dear... what about Black Mamba? Looks like a fantastic invert to me!
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40 minutes, a fab coaster but not worth the wait in this heat. But yeah anyway my point is that Phantasialand has dropped in my opinions, at least from this experience.

Crazy Bats is now listed as “temporarily closed”, so at least they’ve changed that. Doesn’t look great when they can’t get they’re newest attraction open, and they’re best attraction (Taron) goes down all the time.
 
Yikes. Have seen elsewhere others complain about today too.
That its busy with school trips this time of year is normal; and that the new VR might have technical issues is understandable but the lack of communication is ridiculous.
As for operations can't say in the all the time I've visited that I've ever had issues (other than Mamba occasionally running only 1 train), sure its not Europa level but then no where is with how seriously they take throughput. Was there for 2 days last week and it was perfectly fine.
Shame it sounds like a **** show from them today for you though.

In other PHL changes news though: Hotel Ling Bao's modernisation/refurbishment continues. Following the hotel rooms this year, restaurants and lobby last year, etc. now the rooftop Dragon Bar has received its brighter, more modern and Tibetan styled makeover.
 
Ethan said:
Also, what happened to Phantasialand? The operations are pretty bad, rides are going down both yesterday and today (going down a lot), queue jumping, overcrowding etc. Not the park I fell in love with, sadly.
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Oh no, I'm visiting for the first time tomorrow (if all goes to plan), was hoping for a quiet day, sounds like I have miscalculated!
 
Peet said:
Oh no, I'm visiting for the first time tomorrow (if all goes to plan), was hoping for a quiet day, sounds like I have miscalculated!
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Quiet days and June are not something you’d see in the same sentence unless you added the words “there are no”.

This kinda goes for any European park tbh, it’s the best weather, and all the school trips to parks generally happen on the weekdays in June.
 
Crazycoaster said:
Quiet days and June are not something you’d see in the same sentence unless you added the words “there are no”.

This kinda goes for any European park tbh, it’s the best weather, and all the school trips to parks generally happen on the weekdays in June.
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Which is fair enough, I don’t think that’s an excuse for the Crazy Bats trouble, bad operations etc. Obviously technical glitches happen, but communication from the park to guests was non-existent for hours and people were visibly pissed off.
 
It’s what you get for trying to ride a “new” ride in the first few days of operation I’m afraid. It’s gunna have teething problems, and communication isn’t going to be as good because the staff are all learning the new procedures. Just be thankful it wasn’t the 600 minute wait that Hagrid had, or that if it does end up shut all day, that it’s not actually a good ride in any case.
 
Well I’ve been on plenty of open days but never had it this bad. Ah well, I’m over it.

Also on the subject of Taron, they’re not using the unload platform. Anybody know why? What a coaster though, the first airtime hill and subsequent transition is all I need in life.
 
Are they only running 3 or less trains? They only use the unload platform when running 4 trains. Taron had a lot of train problems these last days, probably because of the wheels melting again in the heat.
 
In my opinion, when visiting for Crazy Bats, it's better to wait a few weeks, until the initial problems are solved. Except if you have a club card and can't lose an entrance fee. It is still immature, with occasional slow processing, downtimes, and frequent, broken auto-focus in the VR glasses, leaving the sights blurry. It's a nice overhaul, actually the return of a long gone attraction. Before it was like it was waiting for the junkyard, and it actually looked like one. Therefore, I liked the new theming and the film, with the story, and when the initial problems are solved, it will hopefully be the best VR technology available. Possible just as easy and fast as 3D glasses in a cinema.
 
I've found that if you want a quiet day in June it's usually the first week during weekdays and then after that it's chaos.

Europa Park on June 2nd, 2016 (Friday) and Europa Park on June 14th, 2018 (Thursday) were vastly different in terms of crowds.
 
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