Benenen
Hyper Poster
Evening guys and welcome to my brief report on Phantasialand. I wrote a full TR of the winter event two years ago so this will be more of a list of observations followed by a photo dump. Let's get into it!
-For this trip I got the shuttle bus from Bruhl each morning so it was my first time entering in the Berlin entrance. The turnstile area is bleak but once you go down the stairs and round the carousel the way the view opens up is lovely. The street looks great and because the plaza at the end is so open you don't feel like you're being funneled down to your first ride.
-I adore the way the right side of the park is layed out. To get from any point A to point B there's at least three different routes of similar length and the paths all interact with each other at different points and levels. Klugheim is a great example of this as it has four separate entrances from different areas so you can wander in from anywhere. Compare it to say The Swarm at Thorpe where it's a one way in and out dead end and it shows how creatively the space at Phantasialand is used. I've now spent six days total here and I still don't fully know how some of the paths between Mexico and Africa connect to each other.
-Maus seems to be a very loved or hated ride but I'm on the fence with it. From stepping into the queue to leaving the building it's an immersive experience but the ride itself is repetitive. The park lacks a true modern dark ride and I think alongside one Maus would be a fantastic filler attraction.
-Winjas grows on me more with each visit. I love the atmosphere in the station created by the ambient soundtrack. It sounds very fantasy and mystical but with a hint of dread. Annoyingly I can't find it on YouTube apart from in the first few seconds of the CF POV
-After riding both cycles of Mystery Castle I prefer the shorter one. Going straight into the full height launch is much more exciting than being teased by a half height one beforehand.
-There's a few tweaks to the audio this year. The awful steel drum Christmas carols in Africa are gone and the Chinese carols have been replaced by well known classical pieces which fits the China area a lot better. It's nice to see Phantasialand making subtle changes to the event.
-Queue times were light midweek in January. Taron and Winjas peaked at 15 minutes while every other ride was walk on. If you're not fussed about River Quest then Winter is the time to visit due to the short queues and the chance to see the park at night which is gorgeous.
-I really like Tiempo De Fuego but others in my group were underwhelmed. Serena summed it up well in her report when she said it was a show of two halves. I imagine a lot of guests zone out during the ten minutes of projection mapping but then love the intensity of the fire section.
-Magic Rose is an odd show because other than the fire juggling it is just a cast of about 30 people walking round a stage. The build up to the fireworks is beautifully done so when the first one goes off it sent goosebumps all down me. And then walking down the lit up Berlin street afterwards with the 'Spirit of light illuminate' song blasting out is a magical moment.
-For this trip I got the shuttle bus from Bruhl each morning so it was my first time entering in the Berlin entrance. The turnstile area is bleak but once you go down the stairs and round the carousel the way the view opens up is lovely. The street looks great and because the plaza at the end is so open you don't feel like you're being funneled down to your first ride.
-I adore the way the right side of the park is layed out. To get from any point A to point B there's at least three different routes of similar length and the paths all interact with each other at different points and levels. Klugheim is a great example of this as it has four separate entrances from different areas so you can wander in from anywhere. Compare it to say The Swarm at Thorpe where it's a one way in and out dead end and it shows how creatively the space at Phantasialand is used. I've now spent six days total here and I still don't fully know how some of the paths between Mexico and Africa connect to each other.
-Maus seems to be a very loved or hated ride but I'm on the fence with it. From stepping into the queue to leaving the building it's an immersive experience but the ride itself is repetitive. The park lacks a true modern dark ride and I think alongside one Maus would be a fantastic filler attraction.
-Winjas grows on me more with each visit. I love the atmosphere in the station created by the ambient soundtrack. It sounds very fantasy and mystical but with a hint of dread. Annoyingly I can't find it on YouTube apart from in the first few seconds of the CF POV
-After riding both cycles of Mystery Castle I prefer the shorter one. Going straight into the full height launch is much more exciting than being teased by a half height one beforehand.
-There's a few tweaks to the audio this year. The awful steel drum Christmas carols in Africa are gone and the Chinese carols have been replaced by well known classical pieces which fits the China area a lot better. It's nice to see Phantasialand making subtle changes to the event.
-Queue times were light midweek in January. Taron and Winjas peaked at 15 minutes while every other ride was walk on. If you're not fussed about River Quest then Winter is the time to visit due to the short queues and the chance to see the park at night which is gorgeous.
-I really like Tiempo De Fuego but others in my group were underwhelmed. Serena summed it up well in her report when she said it was a show of two halves. I imagine a lot of guests zone out during the ten minutes of projection mapping but then love the intensity of the fire section.
-Magic Rose is an odd show because other than the fire juggling it is just a cast of about 30 people walking round a stage. The build up to the fireworks is beautifully done so when the first one goes off it sent goosebumps all down me. And then walking down the lit up Berlin street afterwards with the 'Spirit of light illuminate' song blasting out is a magical moment.
