Rhein Airtime (Germany Live) Trip reports!
- Thread starter Ian
- Start date
SaiyanHajime
CF Legend
Someone did actually suggest it.
Leighton
Mega Poster
Day 2 - Phantasialand
Warning Long Post!
The day began with another early start (which was not helped by the late departure from the fair on the previous night) and quite a lot of arguing with the SatNav we arrived at Phantasia. The first thing that struck me was how close the park actually was to quite a few houses, The Ropers have no reason to complain, some people have Black Mamba less than 20ft from their windows (literally!!)
The park theming was amazing from the moment we stepped though the gates, every area flowed well into the next, having not been to a Disney park, I have to say that Phantasialand is the best themed park I have ever been too.
Despite parking in one of the overflow carparks, the park was not unbearably busy, the crowds seemed to be dispersed quite well over the entire park.
The first stop of the day was Black Mamba, After finding the entrance we made our way though the queue line, which offers some nice views of track popping in and out of the ground in corkscrews and helixes. The ride did not have as much path/ride interaction as I would have liked, such that can be found on coasters like Nemesis and Colossus, but the sheer quality of the theming made up for this, and what views you did get though out the queue helped add to the atmosphere.
It was decided for the whole group to ride front row while the queue was reasonably short, the views were incredible, the drop is intense, and it gives you the impression that you are going to slam straight into a wall, right before the track pulls you into an immelman!
There is a lot of attention to detail thought the whole area and it is impossible to take it all in. In the 3 times we queued up for it I was still noticing new things.
As the ride is placed right next to Black Mamba, we decided to ride Talocan (sp?) which is the parks floorless topspin, some slight problems in the queuing where the non-riding Germans were blocking the queue line and treating it like an observation area.
The queue moved quite quickly and we were on the ride within about 15 minutes. There were some nice water/fire effects, and the theming was superb again. The cycle did seem quite weak compared to normal topspins though.
Next up were the duelling log flumes, since we didn’t really have time to do both, Harvey (costar) informed us that one of them had a larger drop, so naturally we did that one
The ride wasn’t too bad, nothing amazing though.
I believe we had food around this time, but I could be wrong.
It was then time for Colorado adventure, getting to the ride was fun, since they have apparently changed the path layouts, and forgotten to update the signage, so the ‘navigator’ was given the benefit of the doubt, later on in the day we re-rode the mine train and we went the other way, that person was clearly pwned.
Onto the ride itself, again it was very well themed externally, some of the internal tunnels were bare and left unthemed.
I rode in the very back row with Slayed, Mark and Marc were just in front of us, Being my first Vekoma Mine Train I wasn’t expecting much.
Wow, I was wrong. I have never feared for my life on a coaster before! Absolutely amazing!!
By this time, Ollie was literally bouncing at the prospect of a Walkthrough and a drop tower, so we went over to Mystery castle.
The queue line took forever, and seemed to go on for miles, but as usual, it was very well themed.
The initial launch was a bit meh, but as the ride accelerated faster on the top half of the shot, it did catch a few people by surprise.
The drop was a bit rubbish though.
We left the ride and found that it was raining very heavily, so clearly it was time for River Quest!
For those of you that don’t know, River Quest has 3 rather steep drops, and a whirl pool, the ride itself is moderately wet, unless you get the backwards facing seats on the drop, then it is ****ing soaking!!!
The elevator lift was very cool, since there were two elevator shafts, both of those had to converge into a single drop, as the boats left the elevator, the would hit the sides of the channel, sending them into a frantic spin while going down the first drop! Followed by some turns into the whirlpool straight into the 2nd drop, around a 180 degree turn into the 3rd drop, then back into the station.
We queued for quite some time for the ride in the torrential rain, but it was completely worth it!
It was time to head to the back of the park to ride the silly Temple of the ****e Hawk Space coaster thingy. This ride really let the park down, it was essentially a coaster in a green metal shed. With very little being done to disguise that.
The ride wasn’t too great either.
Then it was time for the last two credits: A pair of Maurer Sohne spinners.
First we did Fear, which had a ridiculous full cattle pen queue when we joined, by the time we got on ride the queue had decreased to around 20 people behind us.
The elevator was cool, much better forward facing than when I did it backwards on Force. The ride was fun and had some nice trick track elements, like a see-saw, and a weird bouncing section on the brake run.
Force was clearly the weaker of the two rides, and had a rather meh sideways tilting brake run to get the train into the helix.
We broke down on every block brake on this ride, and Maurer coasters normally have quite a few!
Followed by a quick dash to Mamba for what we thought would be our last ride, so most of us opted for the back row, which made the first drop even better!
Since the park had stayed open for another hour, we quickly went over to Colorado adventure where I rode front row with Ollie, I smacked my head on the supports for the roof of the loco quite a few times, so I will not be riding front row on a vekoma mine train again!
Since we had some extra time, we had the very last ride on Mamba, back row again. :--D
Later that night the group went out for a meal at an Italian restraint/ghetto take away place, I wasn’t hungry, so I just had a JD.
Walked back to the hotel where it was time to collapse for the night.
Warning Long Post!
The day began with another early start (which was not helped by the late departure from the fair on the previous night) and quite a lot of arguing with the SatNav we arrived at Phantasia. The first thing that struck me was how close the park actually was to quite a few houses, The Ropers have no reason to complain, some people have Black Mamba less than 20ft from their windows (literally!!)
The park theming was amazing from the moment we stepped though the gates, every area flowed well into the next, having not been to a Disney park, I have to say that Phantasialand is the best themed park I have ever been too.
Despite parking in one of the overflow carparks, the park was not unbearably busy, the crowds seemed to be dispersed quite well over the entire park.
The first stop of the day was Black Mamba, After finding the entrance we made our way though the queue line, which offers some nice views of track popping in and out of the ground in corkscrews and helixes. The ride did not have as much path/ride interaction as I would have liked, such that can be found on coasters like Nemesis and Colossus, but the sheer quality of the theming made up for this, and what views you did get though out the queue helped add to the atmosphere.
It was decided for the whole group to ride front row while the queue was reasonably short, the views were incredible, the drop is intense, and it gives you the impression that you are going to slam straight into a wall, right before the track pulls you into an immelman!
There is a lot of attention to detail thought the whole area and it is impossible to take it all in. In the 3 times we queued up for it I was still noticing new things.
As the ride is placed right next to Black Mamba, we decided to ride Talocan (sp?) which is the parks floorless topspin, some slight problems in the queuing where the non-riding Germans were blocking the queue line and treating it like an observation area.
The queue moved quite quickly and we were on the ride within about 15 minutes. There were some nice water/fire effects, and the theming was superb again. The cycle did seem quite weak compared to normal topspins though.
Next up were the duelling log flumes, since we didn’t really have time to do both, Harvey (costar) informed us that one of them had a larger drop, so naturally we did that one
The ride wasn’t too bad, nothing amazing though.
I believe we had food around this time, but I could be wrong.
It was then time for Colorado adventure, getting to the ride was fun, since they have apparently changed the path layouts, and forgotten to update the signage, so the ‘navigator’ was given the benefit of the doubt, later on in the day we re-rode the mine train and we went the other way, that person was clearly pwned.
Onto the ride itself, again it was very well themed externally, some of the internal tunnels were bare and left unthemed.
I rode in the very back row with Slayed, Mark and Marc were just in front of us, Being my first Vekoma Mine Train I wasn’t expecting much.
Wow, I was wrong. I have never feared for my life on a coaster before! Absolutely amazing!!
By this time, Ollie was literally bouncing at the prospect of a Walkthrough and a drop tower, so we went over to Mystery castle.
The queue line took forever, and seemed to go on for miles, but as usual, it was very well themed.
The initial launch was a bit meh, but as the ride accelerated faster on the top half of the shot, it did catch a few people by surprise.
The drop was a bit rubbish though.
We left the ride and found that it was raining very heavily, so clearly it was time for River Quest!
For those of you that don’t know, River Quest has 3 rather steep drops, and a whirl pool, the ride itself is moderately wet, unless you get the backwards facing seats on the drop, then it is ****ing soaking!!!
The elevator lift was very cool, since there were two elevator shafts, both of those had to converge into a single drop, as the boats left the elevator, the would hit the sides of the channel, sending them into a frantic spin while going down the first drop! Followed by some turns into the whirlpool straight into the 2nd drop, around a 180 degree turn into the 3rd drop, then back into the station.
We queued for quite some time for the ride in the torrential rain, but it was completely worth it!
It was time to head to the back of the park to ride the silly Temple of the ****e Hawk Space coaster thingy. This ride really let the park down, it was essentially a coaster in a green metal shed. With very little being done to disguise that.
The ride wasn’t too great either.
Then it was time for the last two credits: A pair of Maurer Sohne spinners.
First we did Fear, which had a ridiculous full cattle pen queue when we joined, by the time we got on ride the queue had decreased to around 20 people behind us.
The elevator was cool, much better forward facing than when I did it backwards on Force. The ride was fun and had some nice trick track elements, like a see-saw, and a weird bouncing section on the brake run.
Force was clearly the weaker of the two rides, and had a rather meh sideways tilting brake run to get the train into the helix.
We broke down on every block brake on this ride, and Maurer coasters normally have quite a few!
Followed by a quick dash to Mamba for what we thought would be our last ride, so most of us opted for the back row, which made the first drop even better!
Since the park had stayed open for another hour, we quickly went over to Colorado adventure where I rode front row with Ollie, I smacked my head on the supports for the roof of the loco quite a few times, so I will not be riding front row on a vekoma mine train again!
Since we had some extra time, we had the very last ride on Mamba, back row again. :--D
Later that night the group went out for a meal at an Italian restraint/ghetto take away place, I wasn’t hungry, so I just had a JD.
Walked back to the hotel where it was time to collapse for the night.
Yes Mark (Stitch) spoke about it and we will look into it.
Its the last week of September and 1st week of October from what we can see. I am up for it as well.
Going to start a trip plan topic now to find out who would want to go.
Its from the 20th September until the 5th October this year.
Its the last week of September and 1st week of October from what we can see. I am up for it as well.
Going to start a trip plan topic now to find out who would want to go.
Its from the 20th September until the 5th October this year.
Slayed
Hyper Poster
I think it's obvious by now that the Dusseldorf fair was a bit more of a success than Movie Park . Although Movie Park did have a Subway:-
What I loved about the fair was seeing everyone's face light-up as it came into view; despite the long day we'd had, we all turned into giddy 8 year olds for the next 3 hours.
Just to show how cool it was, they built the Wilde Maus around a tree:-
Anyway, Day 2 and onto Phantasialand via the narrowest road lanes I have EVER seen, they were terrifying!
I have to say that Phantasia was by far my favourite park of the trip. It doesn't have a huge amount of rides, but with the exception of one (Temple of the Night Hawk) the quality of the rides, theming and attention to detail is just fantastic.
3 different themes in one shot:-
Black Mamba has the best theming on a coaster I have ever experienced, the station is awesome, the music is fab, and the ride's pretty good too!
Talocan is extremely well themed, and is trying to introduce a sense of drama to the average Top Spin. It doesn't quite succeed since it's a bit tame, but nice effort.
The Colorado mine train was SO much better than I was expecting! (Especially for a Vekoma). Great fun with some definite force.
Mystery Castle looks wonderful and is a different take on a familiar ride (best kept a mystery if possible).
The rapids were MENTAL - about as close to the terror of white water rafting as you'll get! I suggest going on them with Peter, he attracts all the water.
Winjas is interesting - detailed but odd theming, unusual track features, a good first drop on Fear and I liked the tilting track on Force.
I can definitely say I'll be going back to Phantasialand.
Afterwards it was the long drive down to Mainz (I'd advise avoiding the truck stop with the enormous "Erotic Shop", too many scary truckers :shock.
Mainz itself looked like a lovely place, right on the Rhein and much more pleasant that Dusseldorf!
. Although Movie Park did have a Subway:-
What I loved about the fair was seeing everyone's face light-up as it came into view; despite the long day we'd had, we all turned into giddy 8 year olds for the next 3 hours
.Just to show how cool it was, they built the Wilde Maus around a tree:-
Anyway, Day 2 and onto Phantasialand via the narrowest road lanes I have EVER seen, they were terrifying!
I have to say that Phantasia was by far my favourite park of the trip. It doesn't have a huge amount of rides, but with the exception of one (Temple of the Night Hawk) the quality of the rides, theming and attention to detail is just fantastic.
3 different themes in one shot:-
Black Mamba has the best theming on a coaster I have ever experienced, the station is awesome, the music is fab, and the ride's pretty good too!
Talocan is extremely well themed, and is trying to introduce a sense of drama to the average Top Spin. It doesn't quite succeed since it's a bit tame, but nice effort.
The Colorado mine train was SO much better than I was expecting! (Especially for a Vekoma
). Great fun with some definite force.Mystery Castle looks wonderful and is a different take on a familiar ride (best kept a mystery if possible).
The rapids were MENTAL - about as close to the terror of white water rafting as you'll get! I suggest going on them with Peter, he attracts all the water
.Winjas is interesting - detailed but odd theming, unusual track features, a good first drop on Fear and I liked the tilting track on Force.
I can definitely say I'll be going back to Phantasialand.
Afterwards it was the long drive down to Mainz (I'd advise avoiding the truck stop with the enormous "Erotic Shop", too many scary truckers :shock
.Mainz itself looked like a lovely place, right on the Rhein and much more pleasant that Dusseldorf!
Day 4 Europa Park
!st thing you see and notice is Silver Star, the coaster looks fantastic.
The 1st ride we went to was Silver Star and I have to say it was probably the biggest let down in a coaster I have ever had. I found the seats nice but the coaster was a bit rough trimmed to much and just felt controlled. You do get floater time but it just feels fake. The 1st drop was nothing special the coaster just felt forceless apart from the s bend.
We then rode the other coasters and water rides but tbh they were nothing special apart from the best powered mine train I have been on. I loved the smell in the cave as did most.
The rapids were fun as there were loads of boats and the log flume was good as it went in that nice tunnel.
We had another go on Silver Star at the back to see if it was any better but nope just the same as at the front, I really could not be bothered to go on it again neither could Slayed, but we did as everyone else did. The group found a way to make it fun and that was to watch money and sweets full out their pockets. Joey and Lain had problems with a ride op as they could not understand him and the guy pushed their restraints into them hard.
The park felt very cramped ride on top of ride and it did not really have an atmosphere.
Maybe I was tired I dont know but I liked the park at the same time I did not. I would go back again when they get some new things and they need new things.
All that was left was the airport, which is not really part of the trip reports but lets just say for most of the time we did not think Mushroom or Slayed would make the flight. Big thanks to them for getting parts of egf checked in and on the plane.
All in all it was a great trip well planned out and I would go again.
Out of 26 coasters in the parks only 2 stood out for me Black Mamba and Egf the rest were very average or below. The mine train is up there as well.
I will scan in the ORP this week and post them.
Thanks again Slayed and everyone for making it a great trip.
!st thing you see and notice is Silver Star, the coaster looks fantastic.
The 1st ride we went to was Silver Star and I have to say it was probably the biggest let down in a coaster I have ever had. I found the seats nice but the coaster was a bit rough trimmed to much and just felt controlled. You do get floater time but it just feels fake. The 1st drop was nothing special the coaster just felt forceless apart from the s bend.
We then rode the other coasters and water rides but tbh they were nothing special apart from the best powered mine train I have been on. I loved the smell in the cave as did most.
The rapids were fun as there were loads of boats and the log flume was good as it went in that nice tunnel.
We had another go on Silver Star at the back to see if it was any better but nope just the same as at the front, I really could not be bothered to go on it again neither could Slayed, but we did as everyone else did. The group found a way to make it fun and that was to watch money and sweets full out their pockets. Joey and Lain had problems with a ride op as they could not understand him and the guy pushed their restraints into them hard.
The park felt very cramped ride on top of ride and it did not really have an atmosphere.
Maybe I was tired I dont know but I liked the park at the same time I did not. I would go back again when they get some new things and they need new things.
All that was left was the airport, which is not really part of the trip reports but lets just say for most of the time we did not think Mushroom or Slayed would make the flight. Big thanks to them for getting parts of egf checked in and on the plane.
All in all it was a great trip well planned out and I would go again.
Out of 26 coasters in the parks only 2 stood out for me Black Mamba and Egf the rest were very average or below. The mine train is up there as well.
I will scan in the ORP this week and post them.
Thanks again Slayed and everyone for making it a great trip.
Here we go again!
16th July – Phantasialand
This was the day I was most looking forward too. Up at 7am for an 8am departure, the route to Phantasialand was simple and we didn’t get lost.
Slayed’s car arrived about 30 minutes before everyone else, so we managed to hop across the road for some snacks and admire Mamba from the park entrance. The other 2 cars finally arrived but got put in separate carparks at opposite ends of the park.
Once we were in, it was straight to Mamba. The queue only had about 5 minutes to it, so we all joined the front row queue, which turned out to take about 30 minutes, but it was worth it! Mamba is defiantly up there in my top 3 coasters. The first drop is fantastic, and everything else flows so smoothly. The zero-g-roll gives you a sustained zero-g feeling and is one of the best I’ve ridden. Put that together with the extreme themeing and you have a world class ride. Even the break run was fun!
After recovering from Mamba, we headed to Talocan, a top spin with a difference. As Leighton said, the entrance of the queue was full of Germans just watching the ride, which made realising where the queue actually started quite a challenge. The ride had a backwards facing row of seats, but we soon realised that you’d spend the whole ride facing a brick wall, so we chose the front seats, with the fire and water effects. The ride itself looked good, but the effect didn’t add all that much when you were riding.
Since the log flume was next door, we headed over to that. There are actually 2 log flumes here, but with a single queue, which ment that it moved pretty quickly. I cannot remember the name of the one we chose, but it was the one on the left side as you entered the station. The themeing was alright, but there wasn’t anything special with the ride. The water smelt vile.
Quick stop for a burger before we headed over to Colorado Adventure. There was a slight disagreement on the route we should take, and in the end we went the long way, but we got there in the end. One of the better mine trains out there, but I think the inside of the mountain thing could have been done a lot better. The ride itself was very good, but overall I think the experience is still beaten by the likes of BTM.
Mystery Castle next. The queue for this was huge, but atlest it was inside since it had just started to rain. Lots of people had hyped up the ride, so when I actually got onto it, it didn’t quite live up to my expectations. The launches were good, when you’re thrown up to the ceiling it really feels like you’re not going to stop in time. After that the drops were rather poor and it was over far too soon.
Since it was raining, and we were already sort of wet, it was time to experience one of the best rapids in the world. The elevator lift was rather unique and the drops pretty crazy. I got absolutely drenched too, since I went down all 3 drops backwards. I don’t think I’ve ever been so wet on a ride before. Literally, when I got off, I squeezed my jumper and probably a litre of water came out of it! Unfortunately, my camera also got drenched in the process, and for the rest of the day half of the buttons didn’t work, but at least it could still take pictures. Come the evening it had dried up again.
Broke for lunch now, where a lot of people went to buy some ponchos. Since I was already drenched, I didn’t bother and went to get some currywurst with Slayed and William. Winjas Fear and Force had a 60 minute queue, so we contemplated getting fast passes between the group, but that worked out to be too expensive. Whilst waiting, Rich had fun trying to juggle, and then stealing the actors hat.
It was onto Temple of the night Hawk, an indoor dark rollercoaster with some very random themeing. It was the worst coaster there, but I thought it was better than the likes of X:\WTF and some other dark rides. It was very very long, with about 4 lift hills or something! Was quite smooth too if I remember correctly.
Time to get the last 2 credits, so we headed to Winjas Fear and Force. We queued 45 minutes for Fear first. Having not read any reviews or seen any videos of these rides before, I was pretty surprised. Elevator lift hills again, which tilted you as you went up. The first drop on Fear, going backwards, was amazing and easily puts it as my top spinner. The rest of the ride was pretty good too, with random sea-saw track and a bit of trick track on the break run. We rushed around to Force to get that credit too. It wasn’t as good as Fear, but still made it to my second fav spinner. The ride broke down on a lot of the Cfers, but my train made it to the final break run before stopping. I guess that stopping at the block breaks mid ride killed it for the rest.
It was approaching closing time, so we rushed over to get a final ride on Mamba, but we soon found out that the park was staying open an extra hour due to long queues or something (I wouldn’t really consider 30 minutes queues that long, but I wasn’t going to complain about an extra hour of coasterage!) Whilst in the queue, Harvey left us for his flight back to the UK, and we got back row on Mamba, which was far better than the front, and the front was amazing !
We stopped for a group photo and then headed back to Mamba, for another back row ride, despite what Leighton says. Finally we ended up on Colorado Adventure again, taking the short route to it this time!
I loved Phantasialand. It was easily the best park of the trip, and they really know how to do a rollercoaster well. Superb themeing all over the place and I would can’t wait to go back there.
It was a long drive back to the hotel, but quite simple, spending 90% of the drive on the same motorway. We stopped for fuel and got lost around the services, accidently bumping into an “Erotic Shop” with lots of evil looking German truckers around.
When we entered Mainz, the road that Slayeds car took was closed, and so we had a bit of fun navigating around Mainz to find the hotel. Turned up that the other 2 cars arrived before we did. 15 minutes in the hotel room, before we went out for a cheap Italian meal.
Ride Count
Black Mamba
Talocan
Wildwasserbahn
Colorado Adventure
Mystery Castle
River Quest
Temple of the Night Hawk
Winjas Fear
Winjas Force
Black Mamba
Black Mamba
Colorado Adventure
16th July – Phantasialand
This was the day I was most looking forward too. Up at 7am for an 8am departure, the route to Phantasialand was simple and we didn’t get lost.
Slayed’s car arrived about 30 minutes before everyone else, so we managed to hop across the road for some snacks and admire Mamba from the park entrance. The other 2 cars finally arrived but got put in separate carparks at opposite ends of the park.
Once we were in, it was straight to Mamba. The queue only had about 5 minutes to it, so we all joined the front row queue, which turned out to take about 30 minutes, but it was worth it! Mamba is defiantly up there in my top 3 coasters. The first drop is fantastic, and everything else flows so smoothly. The zero-g-roll gives you a sustained zero-g feeling and is one of the best I’ve ridden. Put that together with the extreme themeing and you have a world class ride. Even the break run was fun!
After recovering from Mamba, we headed to Talocan, a top spin with a difference. As Leighton said, the entrance of the queue was full of Germans just watching the ride, which made realising where the queue actually started quite a challenge. The ride had a backwards facing row of seats, but we soon realised that you’d spend the whole ride facing a brick wall, so we chose the front seats, with the fire and water effects. The ride itself looked good, but the effect didn’t add all that much when you were riding.
Since the log flume was next door, we headed over to that. There are actually 2 log flumes here, but with a single queue, which ment that it moved pretty quickly. I cannot remember the name of the one we chose, but it was the one on the left side as you entered the station. The themeing was alright, but there wasn’t anything special with the ride. The water smelt vile.
Quick stop for a burger before we headed over to Colorado Adventure. There was a slight disagreement on the route we should take, and in the end we went the long way, but we got there in the end. One of the better mine trains out there, but I think the inside of the mountain thing could have been done a lot better. The ride itself was very good, but overall I think the experience is still beaten by the likes of BTM.
Mystery Castle next. The queue for this was huge, but atlest it was inside since it had just started to rain. Lots of people had hyped up the ride, so when I actually got onto it, it didn’t quite live up to my expectations. The launches were good, when you’re thrown up to the ceiling it really feels like you’re not going to stop in time. After that the drops were rather poor and it was over far too soon.
Since it was raining, and we were already sort of wet, it was time to experience one of the best rapids in the world. The elevator lift was rather unique and the drops pretty crazy. I got absolutely drenched too, since I went down all 3 drops backwards. I don’t think I’ve ever been so wet on a ride before. Literally, when I got off, I squeezed my jumper and probably a litre of water came out of it! Unfortunately, my camera also got drenched in the process, and for the rest of the day half of the buttons didn’t work, but at least it could still take pictures. Come the evening it had dried up again.
Broke for lunch now, where a lot of people went to buy some ponchos. Since I was already drenched, I didn’t bother and went to get some currywurst with Slayed and William. Winjas Fear and Force had a 60 minute queue, so we contemplated getting fast passes between the group, but that worked out to be too expensive. Whilst waiting, Rich had fun trying to juggle, and then stealing the actors hat.
It was onto Temple of the night Hawk, an indoor dark rollercoaster with some very random themeing. It was the worst coaster there, but I thought it was better than the likes of X:\WTF and some other dark rides. It was very very long, with about 4 lift hills or something! Was quite smooth too if I remember correctly.
Time to get the last 2 credits, so we headed to Winjas Fear and Force. We queued 45 minutes for Fear first. Having not read any reviews or seen any videos of these rides before, I was pretty surprised. Elevator lift hills again, which tilted you as you went up. The first drop on Fear, going backwards, was amazing and easily puts it as my top spinner. The rest of the ride was pretty good too, with random sea-saw track and a bit of trick track on the break run. We rushed around to Force to get that credit too. It wasn’t as good as Fear, but still made it to my second fav spinner. The ride broke down on a lot of the Cfers, but my train made it to the final break run before stopping. I guess that stopping at the block breaks mid ride killed it for the rest.
It was approaching closing time, so we rushed over to get a final ride on Mamba, but we soon found out that the park was staying open an extra hour due to long queues or something (I wouldn’t really consider 30 minutes queues that long, but I wasn’t going to complain about an extra hour of coasterage!) Whilst in the queue, Harvey left us for his flight back to the UK, and we got back row on Mamba, which was far better than the front, and the front was amazing !
We stopped for a group photo and then headed back to Mamba, for another back row ride, despite what Leighton says. Finally we ended up on Colorado Adventure again, taking the short route to it this time!
I loved Phantasialand. It was easily the best park of the trip, and they really know how to do a rollercoaster well. Superb themeing all over the place and I would can’t wait to go back there.
It was a long drive back to the hotel, but quite simple, spending 90% of the drive on the same motorway. We stopped for fuel and got lost around the services, accidently bumping into an “Erotic Shop” with lots of evil looking German truckers around.
When we entered Mainz, the road that Slayeds car took was closed, and so we had a bit of fun navigating around Mainz to find the hotel. Turned up that the other 2 cars arrived before we did. 15 minutes in the hotel room, before we went out for a cheap Italian meal.
Ride Count
Black Mamba
Talocan
Wildwasserbahn
Colorado Adventure
Mystery Castle
River Quest
Temple of the Night Hawk
Winjas Fear
Winjas Force
Black Mamba
Black Mamba
Colorado Adventure
SaiyanHajime
CF Legend
Peter, facebook. Loads of your photos aren't showing up.
Stone Cold
Mega Poster
What a trip, and I suppose i'd better get going on my trip reports seeing as Marc has already finished his!
Day 1 was Movie Park, and this park didn't suit Germany at all. With it's bland themeing, lackadaisical rides and frankly pathetic car parking charges, it would have worked better in the UK as yet another park that is massively inferior to it's American counterpart.
There is is nothing redeeming about this park, the coasters are all detritus. You know a park is terrible when a Vekoma suspended family coaster is considered the best ride in the park. (Although though clearly it's Bandit, even though it violates you) Still, in typical CF fashion, we amused ourselves by playing silly word games, (Harvey, what about dwale, dwang or dwine?) watching the Wild Mouse chew up someone's hat or playing water roulette on the only ride worth talking about.
Alien Encounter is a prime example of experiencing a themed ride in another country, something incomprehensible was going on in the German pre-show, involving people in safari costumes surrounded by banks of costumes. Then all 16 CFers piled into a 16 person boat, which was our first proper take over of the trip (but not the best!) and were taken on a tour of the Bermuda Triangle, which is apparently full of robot aliens! The came a backwards section which soaked everyone on the right of the car and the drop, which got everyone at the front. This meant that poor Will (Garner) got a double soaking. Not the best ride in the park, but the most enjoyable ride of the day (well in Movie Park anyway).
So a 15-minute journey to the car and a long drive to the hotel later and we're all ready to go to the fair, with an ample supply of Hotel Ibis sweets just in case!
I had really wanted to go to the fair since I first heard it mentioned (good work Loefet, thanks!) and when Slayed handed out a map which showed the fair and it's 100+ attractions I wasn't sure why it showed it as covering four streets, I assumed it must be a name given by the fair people to their paths.
However, when the U-Bahn train came up and out of the tunnel I could see that this fair was truly spectacular and as significant as the map had promised. When we got off the tram there were police all around, however, unlike in UK fairs, they were controlling the traffic as huge swarms of people were crossing the roads to get to the fair.
As we picked our way down the main thoroughfares, it did indeed seem we would get lost as people were staring in wonderment as the world's largest travelling log flume, the elaborate stalls full of sweets and treats and the larger than life fairground style rides with their coloured lights and enticing music that just stretched endlessly into the distance until you were totally immersed into the crowds, the rides, the sights and the smells.
It really is impossible to describe the sheer scale of the fair, and as I didn't take any photos this holiday (too many other people were filling that need) you'll have to imagine your local fair. It's absolutely nothing like that, none of the top rides your fair could boast would be seen dead at a German fair, the deliquents are gone, replaced with families and people of all ages. The 15yr olds drunk on cider are gone, replaced with 7 or 8 beer tents where people are having a drink or two and "enjoying" German music. Instead of it being about two dozen attractions in your local playing field, imagine being only able to see rides as far as the eye can see. Of seeing an afterburner fly up in the sky three stalls down and realise that it's actually a giant afterburner and about 13 stalls down. This fair would dwarf the biggest fair you've seen bigger than Leed's Valentine fair, Nottingham Goose fair or the Irn-Bru carnival.
And onto the rides, Alpinabahn, a brilliant travelling Schwarzkopf which I can well believe is better than Eurostar (according to Tim and Mitch Hawker's poll anyway - and besides, it's a Schwarzkopf!) which we all agreed was a classic and so smooth a ride that you would not thing was taken down every week and reassembled somewhere else.
After that is was Hollenblitz, which was an oddity in that it was a themed indoor travelling coaster, which boasted an impressive waterfall on the outside, and inside, a facsimilie of Andy Warhol's brain. A coaster as close as any to the line between genius and insanity and one that after riding once and being totally surprised by the effects one that I never want to ride again, because I'm sure I'll not be as impressed again and put it on the other side of the genius/insanity line.
After this it was time for a beer and bratwurst stop, which as it was a German fair just had to be done. Then a very smooth Wild Mouse and Xtended XC 2000 later, it was time to brave a spinning ride of death. The weapon of choice was XXL a giant afterburner, and it was suitably vile, only half the group were foolhardy enough to brave it and a few of us, myself and Leighton especially, felt much the worse for wear afterwards. If their coasters are crazy, the flat rides at a German fair take it to a whole new level. As demonstrated by the nine minute cycle on the inverting breakdance.
After that it was time for another go on Alpinabahn and back to the hotel at about 12.30am for some hard earned rest after a long day of coastering, which consisted of a massive let down (movie Park) and a massive surprise. It can be summed up someone's comment (Mark Shaw or Joey?) who said "Richard you're having such a good time that for once you can see how much you're enjoying yourself"
Day 1 was Movie Park, and this park didn't suit Germany at all. With it's bland themeing, lackadaisical rides and frankly pathetic car parking charges, it would have worked better in the UK as yet another park that is massively inferior to it's American counterpart.
There is is nothing redeeming about this park, the coasters are all detritus. You know a park is terrible when a Vekoma suspended family coaster is considered the best ride in the park. (Although though clearly it's Bandit, even though it violates you) Still, in typical CF fashion, we amused ourselves by playing silly word games, (Harvey, what about dwale, dwang or dwine?) watching the Wild Mouse chew up someone's hat or playing water roulette on the only ride worth talking about.
Alien Encounter is a prime example of experiencing a themed ride in another country, something incomprehensible was going on in the German pre-show, involving people in safari costumes surrounded by banks of costumes. Then all 16 CFers piled into a 16 person boat, which was our first proper take over of the trip (but not the best!) and were taken on a tour of the Bermuda Triangle, which is apparently full of robot aliens! The came a backwards section which soaked everyone on the right of the car and the drop, which got everyone at the front. This meant that poor Will (Garner) got a double soaking. Not the best ride in the park, but the most enjoyable ride of the day (well in Movie Park anyway).
So a 15-minute journey to the car and a long drive to the hotel later and we're all ready to go to the fair, with an ample supply of Hotel Ibis sweets just in case!
I had really wanted to go to the fair since I first heard it mentioned (good work Loefet, thanks!) and when Slayed handed out a map which showed the fair and it's 100+ attractions I wasn't sure why it showed it as covering four streets, I assumed it must be a name given by the fair people to their paths.
However, when the U-Bahn train came up and out of the tunnel I could see that this fair was truly spectacular and as significant as the map had promised. When we got off the tram there were police all around, however, unlike in UK fairs, they were controlling the traffic as huge swarms of people were crossing the roads to get to the fair.
As we picked our way down the main thoroughfares, it did indeed seem we would get lost as people were staring in wonderment as the world's largest travelling log flume, the elaborate stalls full of sweets and treats and the larger than life fairground style rides with their coloured lights and enticing music that just stretched endlessly into the distance until you were totally immersed into the crowds, the rides, the sights and the smells.
It really is impossible to describe the sheer scale of the fair, and as I didn't take any photos this holiday (too many other people were filling that need) you'll have to imagine your local fair. It's absolutely nothing like that, none of the top rides your fair could boast would be seen dead at a German fair, the deliquents are gone, replaced with families and people of all ages. The 15yr olds drunk on cider are gone, replaced with 7 or 8 beer tents where people are having a drink or two and "enjoying" German music. Instead of it being about two dozen attractions in your local playing field, imagine being only able to see rides as far as the eye can see. Of seeing an afterburner fly up in the sky three stalls down and realise that it's actually a giant afterburner and about 13 stalls down. This fair would dwarf the biggest fair you've seen bigger than Leed's Valentine fair, Nottingham Goose fair or the Irn-Bru carnival.
And onto the rides, Alpinabahn, a brilliant travelling Schwarzkopf which I can well believe is better than Eurostar (according to Tim and Mitch Hawker's poll anyway - and besides, it's a Schwarzkopf!) which we all agreed was a classic and so smooth a ride that you would not thing was taken down every week and reassembled somewhere else.
After that is was Hollenblitz, which was an oddity in that it was a themed indoor travelling coaster, which boasted an impressive waterfall on the outside, and inside, a facsimilie of Andy Warhol's brain. A coaster as close as any to the line between genius and insanity and one that after riding once and being totally surprised by the effects one that I never want to ride again, because I'm sure I'll not be as impressed again and put it on the other side of the genius/insanity line.
After this it was time for a beer and bratwurst stop, which as it was a German fair just had to be done. Then a very smooth Wild Mouse and Xtended XC 2000 later, it was time to brave a spinning ride of death. The weapon of choice was XXL a giant afterburner, and it was suitably vile, only half the group were foolhardy enough to brave it and a few of us, myself and Leighton especially, felt much the worse for wear afterwards. If their coasters are crazy, the flat rides at a German fair take it to a whole new level. As demonstrated by the nine minute cycle on the inverting breakdance.
After that it was time for another go on Alpinabahn and back to the hotel at about 12.30am for some hard earned rest after a long day of coastering, which consisted of a massive let down (movie Park) and a massive surprise. It can be summed up someone's comment (Mark Shaw or Joey?) who said "Richard you're having such a good time that for once you can see how much you're enjoying yourself"
SaiyanHajime
CF Legend
I just got the "it feels like it never happened" weird lonely sadness thing.
SaiyanHajime
CF Legend
My nose is badly congested and giving me a headache.
Mushroom
Goon of the Year
^ Yes and its not nice as I am back to work and 1 of my ears was hurting.
Day 2 Phantasialand
Nice early start was needed, and we got to the park and were sent to the China entrance ****! Nice long walk for my car load. First up was Mamba. What a ride! But does not beat Nemesis. The rest of the park was goregous. During the lunch break, me and Harvey went and worked together to get some footage of Mamba.
Late on the day was the Winja's Awesome spinning coaster. And the trick-track at the end was a BIG surprise. Colorado Adventure was plain awesome. But the ORP section was in the wrong place. Stupid putting it at the end of the ride after the brake run!
Anyway, top notch day despite the weather. Oh and the top spin there was the best one I have been on =]
Day 2 Phantasialand
Nice early start was needed, and we got to the park and were sent to the China entrance ****! Nice long walk for my car load. First up was Mamba. What a ride! But does not beat Nemesis. The rest of the park was goregous. During the lunch break, me and Harvey went and worked together to get some footage of Mamba.
Late on the day was the Winja's Awesome spinning coaster. And the trick-track at the end was a BIG surprise. Colorado Adventure was plain awesome. But the ORP section was in the wrong place. Stupid putting it at the end of the ride after the brake run!
Anyway, top notch day despite the weather. Oh and the top spin there was the best one I have been on =]
Lain
Giga Poster
Okay, Wednesday the 16th - Phantasialand.
The journey to the park wasn't too bad, despite the sat-nav being generally rubbish and Mark calling it all manner of hilarious names and following the map instead. We were the last car to arrive, and as such were in a different car park to the others, miles away from the main entrance. After a lengthy walk, gawping at how such a huge, well themed park fitted discretely into a tiny little town, we met up with everybody at the entrance.
Upon getting into the park, we headed straight over to Black Mamba, and it only had a tiny queue, so we all decided to do the front row. A lot of people people were excited by this coaster, and some thought it was going to be crap. I hadn't really researched it at all so I didn't know what to expect.
One thing to note, before I get on to the ride itself (and this applies all over the park) is that the theming is immense. Everywhere you look there is some awesome theming, there's not one corrugated fence or shed to be seen anywhere, it's absolutely immaculate.
On to the ride then, oh where to start! It was absolutely amazing. The first drop was like nothing I've experienced, the loop was intense and the 0G was the first one I've been on which does what it's supposed to. The rest of the the ride is just none stop relentlessness through to the brakerun (which is even immacualtely themed!). I think it's definitely a Nemesis beater.
Next up was Talocan, the park's Top Spin. It has a different seating arrangement to the UK top spins, with just one tier of people on each side, as opposed to two tiers on one side. The restraints are more like traditional OTSRS than the medieval torture instruments that are found on Rameses and Ripsaw.
The ride was better than the UK ones, providing a fair amount of flips and intensity, but the best way to get enjoyment from this ride is to stand in the queueline and watch the ride, much to the disapproval of disgruntled would-be queuers. It's simply a glorious sight.
The log flume followed, but besides glorious theming, and the quirky double station thing, it was pretty average.
After this, we went over to Colorado Adventure I believe, but my memory isn't that good, so check someone else's trip report if you don't believe me. It was okay. I was sat around the middle of the train, and it just seemed to be your average Vekoma Mine Train ride with incredible themeing and tenuous pop star tie-ins. Later in the day though, we rode it again, and this time I was near the back, and it was pretty awesome. Another point for Phantasialand.
We did Mystery Castle next I think, and that was really awesome. A nice twist on an old classic. The ride itself could've been longer and more intense, I think, but as usual, the theming and incredible queueline really made it a fun experience.
It really started to bucket it down about now, so we had the wise idea of going on River Quest, the parks river rapids ride. Some people stayed in the dry, because they're a big bunch of women. Despite the rain, the rapids were easily the best I've been on, and I'm happy the rain didn't put me off. I don't want to ruin it for people who haven't been on it, but may do at some point, but let's just say it's not what you'd usually expect from a rapids ride.
After the rapids, lots of faff and a bit of a lunch break occurred I think. At this point I went to buy an awesome Talocan t-shirt and laugh at people trying to eat waffles.
Temple of the Night Hawk followed. It was an indoor ride, so it was nice to get out of the rain for a while. In terms of theming, this is probably the weakest ride in the park, and they could've done so much more with it. Perhaps they should take a look at Hollenblitz for inspiration! The ride was pretty good though, it's what X:\WTF dreams it could be. It's such a long and smooth ride.
The Winjas were right next to Temple of the Night Hawk, so we did those next. Fear was first. I really liked it. It wasn't quite as good as Dragon's Fury, but otherwise it's the best spinner I've been on. I really liked the quirky track sections, the epic lift and the bouncy brake runs. Force wasn't quite as good, but the ride was a bit broken during our ride, and got stuck for a few minutes a couple of times. The layout wasn't as good as Fear's either.
After everybody was off, we rushed over to Black Mamba, as we thought it was about to close, but to our surprise it wasn't closing until 1845, so we got another hour or so, yay! We rode it a couple of times, this time near the back, and it was just as amazing, if not even better. We closed the day with the aforementioned reride on Colorado adventure, and then began the long drive back to the hotel.
I had an excellent day at an excellent park, and I wouldn't hesitate for a second if I got the chance to go back there!
The journey to the park wasn't too bad, despite the sat-nav being generally rubbish and Mark calling it all manner of hilarious names and following the map instead. We were the last car to arrive, and as such were in a different car park to the others, miles away from the main entrance. After a lengthy walk, gawping at how such a huge, well themed park fitted discretely into a tiny little town, we met up with everybody at the entrance.
Upon getting into the park, we headed straight over to Black Mamba, and it only had a tiny queue, so we all decided to do the front row. A lot of people people were excited by this coaster, and some thought it was going to be crap. I hadn't really researched it at all so I didn't know what to expect.
One thing to note, before I get on to the ride itself (and this applies all over the park) is that the theming is immense. Everywhere you look there is some awesome theming, there's not one corrugated fence or shed to be seen anywhere, it's absolutely immaculate.
On to the ride then, oh where to start! It was absolutely amazing. The first drop was like nothing I've experienced, the loop was intense and the 0G was the first one I've been on which does what it's supposed to. The rest of the the ride is just none stop relentlessness through to the brakerun (which is even immacualtely themed!). I think it's definitely a Nemesis beater.
Next up was Talocan, the park's Top Spin. It has a different seating arrangement to the UK top spins, with just one tier of people on each side, as opposed to two tiers on one side. The restraints are more like traditional OTSRS than the medieval torture instruments that are found on Rameses and Ripsaw.
The ride was better than the UK ones, providing a fair amount of flips and intensity, but the best way to get enjoyment from this ride is to stand in the queueline and watch the ride, much to the disapproval of disgruntled would-be queuers. It's simply a glorious sight.
The log flume followed, but besides glorious theming, and the quirky double station thing, it was pretty average.
After this, we went over to Colorado Adventure I believe, but my memory isn't that good, so check someone else's trip report if you don't believe me.
It was okay. I was sat around the middle of the train, and it just seemed to be your average Vekoma Mine Train ride with incredible themeing and tenuous pop star tie-ins. Later in the day though, we rode it again, and this time I was near the back, and it was pretty awesome. Another point for Phantasialand.We did Mystery Castle next I think, and that was really awesome. A nice twist on an old classic. The ride itself could've been longer and more intense, I think, but as usual, the theming and incredible queueline really made it a fun experience.
It really started to bucket it down about now, so we had the wise idea of going on River Quest, the parks river rapids ride. Some people stayed in the dry, because they're a big bunch of women. Despite the rain, the rapids were easily the best I've been on, and I'm happy the rain didn't put me off. I don't want to ruin it for people who haven't been on it, but may do at some point, but let's just say it's not what you'd usually expect from a rapids ride.
After the rapids, lots of faff and a bit of a lunch break occurred I think. At this point I went to buy an awesome Talocan t-shirt and laugh at people trying to eat waffles.
Temple of the Night Hawk followed. It was an indoor ride, so it was nice to get out of the rain for a while. In terms of theming, this is probably the weakest ride in the park, and they could've done so much more with it. Perhaps they should take a look at Hollenblitz for inspiration! The ride was pretty good though, it's what X:\WTF dreams it could be. It's such a long and smooth ride.
The Winjas were right next to Temple of the Night Hawk, so we did those next. Fear was first. I really liked it. It wasn't quite as good as Dragon's Fury, but otherwise it's the best spinner I've been on. I really liked the quirky track sections, the epic lift and the bouncy brake runs. Force wasn't quite as good, but the ride was a bit broken during our ride, and got stuck for a few minutes a couple of times. The layout wasn't as good as Fear's either.
After everybody was off, we rushed over to Black Mamba, as we thought it was about to close, but to our surprise it wasn't closing until 1845, so we got another hour or so, yay! We rode it a couple of times, this time near the back, and it was just as amazing, if not even better. We closed the day with the aforementioned reride on Colorado adventure, and then began the long drive back to the hotel.
I had an excellent day at an excellent park, and I wouldn't hesitate for a second if I got the chance to go back there!