ThomVD
Giga Poster
So I finally have time to write the report of my visit to this park on 18 July. My mom wanted to spend some quality time with me, and she knows I love theme parks, so she suggested that I choose one. At first I couldn't choose between Holiday Park and Phantasialand. Holiday Park was a new park for me with one of my most wanted coasters, but I'd heard that the park itself was pretty bland. Phantasialand is my favorite park and I just wanted to show it to my mom as well, just how beautiful it is, but eventually I chose Holiday Park.
It took about 8 hours to drive from the Netherlands to Hassloch, but it was actually really nice. Germany is a beautiful country and we even drove past Phantasialand which was a nice surprise. We spend the night in a monastery, which was really cheap (€19 per person for a night), and quite nice. The surrounding area and the gardens were beautiful as well.
We had dinner in the local football club restaurant which was really unique. We could even watch their training.
So the rest of the night we spend watching onride vids of rides in the park. We were ready for a great day tomorrow.
We woke up early in the morning, had breakfast and then headed towards the park (which was a 30 min drive). The closer we were, the more excited I was, reaching its peak when we arrived at the parking lot and when I could see Expedition GeForce's lifthill and the Intamin drop tower (which really freaked me out, fear of heights...). I got a fast pass just to be sure, since the weather was great, it was during the summer holidays, there is a new coaster and it might be the only time I'm visiting the park. The fast pass meant unlimited queue skips on the big rides. After we got a map as well, we rushed inside.
Once we entered the park, we immediately noticed how nice it actually was. I love the forest-y setting, and the entire first area looks lovely. I guess that's got to do with Plopsa taking over. We immediately walked towards the crown jewel of the park, the Intamin airtime machine. My mom doesn't do coasters, so she filmed a lot of the coaster and also my first ride on it. Like I (almost) always do with big coasters, I went for the front seat first. Had to queue because the fast pass doesn't count for front seats. The first wait was the longest, probably 15-20 minutes due to the crappy operations. They really liked to take their time, and it was 33 degrees celcius. It also didn't help that the station is outdoors, which is probably nice if it isn't so hot. I really got a bit nervous when it was finally time to ride.
On the lifthill I was chatting with the guy next to me. For him it was apparently also the first ever ride on EGF so that was pretty awesome, to share that special moment. Then we got to the top of the lifthill, so I put my hands up. The first drop of phenomenal. It was actually the steepest first drop I've ever been on so far. After that follows the incredible first hill, which is like Goliath's first hill but then even bigger. The sustained ejector air you get on those big steep hills is probably my favorite feeling on a coaster. Then the overbank and after that another awesome ejector hill. The middle section is the least impressive, but still fun, especially the fast S-hill. Trims were barely noticable either. Then the last 4 bunny hops. I'd heard that you don't get that much airtime on those, and they did look pretty slow on POVs, but all of them had ejector. We hit the brakes and I knew that the coaster didn't disappoint, and it could only get better as the day went on. I definitely prefer it over Goliath, simply because it has more airtime. Goliath has the stengel dive, but that's not enough to me to make up for a lesser first drop and 2 less airtime hills. EGF also seems smoother than Goliath.
^my favorite part
I immediately went on it again, and had to wait 0 minutes thanks to the fast pass. Went on the back seat this time. I love how during the first drop in the back, you get ejector airtime first, and then suddenly you twist to the side. It was pretty intense. I slightly prefer the ride in the back. I had an interesting talk with the German guys in front of me. I asked if they had heard of Goliath in Walibi, and one of them had actually been on it, and said he prefered it over EGF because of the stengel dive. I didn't share his opinion, but it's always nice to meet fellow enthusiasts in a park.
After that, we decided to move on. We went past the log flume, so I got on. Again, no wait thanks to the fast pass, and the queue did seem pretty long because of the weather. Log flume was the same as Walibi's, with different theming. I enjoyed it, but it's a shame that they don't let you sit backwards in this one. A cool moment was when we got to the top just before the big drop, and then I could suddenly see the new coaster for the first time in person.
So we wanted to go towards Sky scream now, but on the way I got distracted by this flat:
The only thrilling thing about it was that it sounded like it could fall apart at any moment. But oh well, I had never been on one before.
We arrived at the new coaster. I didn't feel like queuing a long time to get on the front seat, so I just used the fast pass again and I was literally done with the coaster in 3 minutes in total, it was shocking how fast I got on, how fast we started to ride and how short the ride is. It did really like it though. The launches aren't powerful, but my favorite part is when you get to the third and final launch, and when you go straight up to the top. The airtime at the top is crazy. The heartline roll was slow, and I'm not a fan of hangtime, but it wasn't that bad. In the back seat, the non-inverting loop was pretty forceful. Really fun ride, but no top 10 material.
Next was a ride that I was completely terrified of, but I just HAD to get on. One of my biggest theme park related regrets is not riding Eclipse and Frittfall in Gröna Lund, and in this park I could somewhat make up for it, so I got on this scary ass ride:
It was not too bad actually. As long as I looked forwards I had no problem really. Now I really want to ride Eclipse, especially at night, because Stockholm <3
We did some of the small family flats like the pirate ship, and then we moved back to EGF for a couple of more rides on it.
Then we decided to go to the other half of the park. First up was the wild mouse. Riding a wild mouse with nobody next to you is never a nice thing, but I wanted the cred
. Ouch.
We went on the rapids next, and the first ride was not too wet, unfortunately. This is one of those times where I wish I would get completely soaked, because it was really hot. My mom loved it though, so we went on it again. This time was a different story. We shared a boat with just us two, and my mom sat next to me. She was doubting if she was gonna sit next to me or on the opposite side, but she made the right decision, because it was absolutely crazy how wet the opposite side got. We got pretty wet as well. Decent rapids, but nothing special.
The dark ride, Castle Frankenstein I think it's called?, was our next stop. I heard it was pretty awful, but I did enjoy it. It was quirky and weird, and just a fun change of pace. Didn't feel the need to re-ride it though and it doesn't even come close to the quality of Efteling's dark rides.
Now it was time for the ride I really dreaded. The drop tower. I did ride Katapulten in Gröna (the S&S combo tower), but for some reason frittfall really freaked me out so I decided to skip it, but now I did go on Anubis free fall, and I liked it. It was short, and not intense or scary at all, and it went up pretty fast, but it was still fun. I actually rode it 4 times in a row.
In the meantime we were admiring the nice atmosphere the park actually has, which was a big surprise. Some areas looked really nice.
We went to the kiddie area to just have a look, and I rode the bouncy kiddie tower. Funny thing is, I actually felt a little bit of a flutter in my stomach, which is more than the big drop tower. I have no idea why that is. The rest of the area looked nice with some cute kiddie rides.
We had done pretty much all in the park, so we went back to re-ride EGF and Sky Scream.
^This was my mom's favorite ride in the park
I also came across the breakdance, which was pretty slow. The one at Gröna is still my favorite. Love it <3
And that was my day in Holiday Park. I really liked it. EGF is definitely the best thing in the park and without it, it would probably not be worth a visit with a travel time of an hour or more, but I really did like the park as a whole. And sky scream is a much needed addition. My mom and I both had a wonderful time. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it.
It took about 8 hours to drive from the Netherlands to Hassloch, but it was actually really nice. Germany is a beautiful country and we even drove past Phantasialand which was a nice surprise. We spend the night in a monastery, which was really cheap (€19 per person for a night), and quite nice. The surrounding area and the gardens were beautiful as well.
We had dinner in the local football club restaurant which was really unique. We could even watch their training.
So the rest of the night we spend watching onride vids of rides in the park. We were ready for a great day tomorrow.
We woke up early in the morning, had breakfast and then headed towards the park (which was a 30 min drive). The closer we were, the more excited I was, reaching its peak when we arrived at the parking lot and when I could see Expedition GeForce's lifthill and the Intamin drop tower (which really freaked me out, fear of heights...). I got a fast pass just to be sure, since the weather was great, it was during the summer holidays, there is a new coaster and it might be the only time I'm visiting the park. The fast pass meant unlimited queue skips on the big rides. After we got a map as well, we rushed inside.
Once we entered the park, we immediately noticed how nice it actually was. I love the forest-y setting, and the entire first area looks lovely. I guess that's got to do with Plopsa taking over. We immediately walked towards the crown jewel of the park, the Intamin airtime machine. My mom doesn't do coasters, so she filmed a lot of the coaster and also my first ride on it. Like I (almost) always do with big coasters, I went for the front seat first. Had to queue because the fast pass doesn't count for front seats. The first wait was the longest, probably 15-20 minutes due to the crappy operations. They really liked to take their time, and it was 33 degrees celcius. It also didn't help that the station is outdoors, which is probably nice if it isn't so hot. I really got a bit nervous when it was finally time to ride.
On the lifthill I was chatting with the guy next to me. For him it was apparently also the first ever ride on EGF so that was pretty awesome, to share that special moment. Then we got to the top of the lifthill, so I put my hands up. The first drop of phenomenal. It was actually the steepest first drop I've ever been on so far. After that follows the incredible first hill, which is like Goliath's first hill but then even bigger. The sustained ejector air you get on those big steep hills is probably my favorite feeling on a coaster. Then the overbank and after that another awesome ejector hill. The middle section is the least impressive, but still fun, especially the fast S-hill. Trims were barely noticable either. Then the last 4 bunny hops. I'd heard that you don't get that much airtime on those, and they did look pretty slow on POVs, but all of them had ejector. We hit the brakes and I knew that the coaster didn't disappoint, and it could only get better as the day went on. I definitely prefer it over Goliath, simply because it has more airtime. Goliath has the stengel dive, but that's not enough to me to make up for a lesser first drop and 2 less airtime hills. EGF also seems smoother than Goliath.
^my favorite part
I immediately went on it again, and had to wait 0 minutes thanks to the fast pass. Went on the back seat this time. I love how during the first drop in the back, you get ejector airtime first, and then suddenly you twist to the side. It was pretty intense. I slightly prefer the ride in the back. I had an interesting talk with the German guys in front of me. I asked if they had heard of Goliath in Walibi, and one of them had actually been on it, and said he prefered it over EGF because of the stengel dive. I didn't share his opinion, but it's always nice to meet fellow enthusiasts in a park.
After that, we decided to move on. We went past the log flume, so I got on. Again, no wait thanks to the fast pass, and the queue did seem pretty long because of the weather. Log flume was the same as Walibi's, with different theming. I enjoyed it, but it's a shame that they don't let you sit backwards in this one. A cool moment was when we got to the top just before the big drop, and then I could suddenly see the new coaster for the first time in person.
So we wanted to go towards Sky scream now, but on the way I got distracted by this flat:
The only thrilling thing about it was that it sounded like it could fall apart at any moment. But oh well, I had never been on one before.
We arrived at the new coaster. I didn't feel like queuing a long time to get on the front seat, so I just used the fast pass again and I was literally done with the coaster in 3 minutes in total, it was shocking how fast I got on, how fast we started to ride and how short the ride is. It did really like it though. The launches aren't powerful, but my favorite part is when you get to the third and final launch, and when you go straight up to the top. The airtime at the top is crazy. The heartline roll was slow, and I'm not a fan of hangtime, but it wasn't that bad. In the back seat, the non-inverting loop was pretty forceful. Really fun ride, but no top 10 material.
Next was a ride that I was completely terrified of, but I just HAD to get on. One of my biggest theme park related regrets is not riding Eclipse and Frittfall in Gröna Lund, and in this park I could somewhat make up for it, so I got on this scary ass ride:
It was not too bad actually. As long as I looked forwards I had no problem really. Now I really want to ride Eclipse, especially at night, because Stockholm <3
We did some of the small family flats like the pirate ship, and then we moved back to EGF for a couple of more rides on it.
Then we decided to go to the other half of the park. First up was the wild mouse. Riding a wild mouse with nobody next to you is never a nice thing, but I wanted the cred
. Ouch.
We went on the rapids next, and the first ride was not too wet, unfortunately. This is one of those times where I wish I would get completely soaked, because it was really hot. My mom loved it though, so we went on it again. This time was a different story. We shared a boat with just us two, and my mom sat next to me. She was doubting if she was gonna sit next to me or on the opposite side, but she made the right decision, because it was absolutely crazy how wet the opposite side got. We got pretty wet as well. Decent rapids, but nothing special.
The dark ride, Castle Frankenstein I think it's called?, was our next stop. I heard it was pretty awful, but I did enjoy it. It was quirky and weird, and just a fun change of pace. Didn't feel the need to re-ride it though and it doesn't even come close to the quality of Efteling's dark rides.
Now it was time for the ride I really dreaded. The drop tower. I did ride Katapulten in Gröna (the S&S combo tower), but for some reason frittfall really freaked me out so I decided to skip it, but now I did go on Anubis free fall, and I liked it. It was short, and not intense or scary at all, and it went up pretty fast, but it was still fun. I actually rode it 4 times in a row.
In the meantime we were admiring the nice atmosphere the park actually has, which was a big surprise. Some areas looked really nice.
We went to the kiddie area to just have a look, and I rode the bouncy kiddie tower. Funny thing is, I actually felt a little bit of a flutter in my stomach, which is more than the big drop tower. I have no idea why that is. The rest of the area looked nice with some cute kiddie rides.
We had done pretty much all in the park, so we went back to re-ride EGF and Sky Scream.
^This was my mom's favorite ride in the park
I also came across the breakdance, which was pretty slow. The one at Gröna is still my favorite. Love it <3
And that was my day in Holiday Park. I really liked it. EGF is definitely the best thing in the park and without it, it would probably not be worth a visit with a travel time of an hour or more, but I really did like the park as a whole. And sky scream is a much needed addition. My mom and I both had a wonderful time. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it.
