What's new

Summer 17' Creds in Poland (Part 2: Legendia)

Coaster Hipster

Giga Poster
I had to make it to Poland this year. The self-hype on Lech Coaster was too big for me to handle! A goon friend joined me (not without intense lobbying from my part :p ) on this adventure which would comprise +14 coasters... but no Intamin, Mack or B&M!

Part 1: Energylandia

d0Pec7m.jpg


But first, Energylandia. After a short night of sleep and an early flight, I was quite tired when the cringy entrance theme of Energylandia greeted us. The entrance building is quite tall and mighty, but also lacks details and a less cubic shape.

Q5gxkLD.jpg


The architecture and appearance of the short "Main Street" really tells that the park has only opened/got massively refurbished a few years ago. In fact, Energylandia was inaugurated in 2014 and underwent massive expansions year after year.


KaKLDeq.jpg


We decided to tick off the less glamorous creds first. Happy Loops was our first cred of the trip and it was slightly more eventful than its short and flat-ish layout suggests. Quite jerky and still dull though.


M518tgi.jpg


Owocowy Ogrod is the local Wacky Worm. I can’t believe that having never ridden one in my previous 13 years as an enthusiast, but I got 4 in a single year. This one had the better theming of them all, which doesn’t say much anyway.


GYpsIdD.jpg


Energus sits closeby as a stark contrast in term of kiddie coaster quality. The theming, although still needing improvement in some areas, is far superior and fitting for a theme park. We got a ride on the back row which provided a nice pull on the first drop. The rest of the layout felt decent but decidedly unmemorable. I'm sure the kids will love it nonetheless!


S2oWd7Z.jpg

PT5mV2T.jpg


By this point we had enough of the mundane credits and felt it was time to go for some real coaster thrill. Formula 1 it is then. Finally getting a sight of the new, sleek Vekoma inverting track is quite impressive! It’s quite hard to resist being excited seeing how fast and seamlessly the new trains negotiate the tight elements :)

I have to say the operations are supremely efficient. What a pleasant surprise actually! I was not expecting such quick dispatches for a really young park. The ride station was run by 5 well-coordinated employees and trains rarely ever stacked, regularly leaving the station platform every 1 minute and a half. Perhaps even less!

brW5OJC.jpg

xSlk8X6.jpg

bEU81sY.jpg

xYalPE9.jpg


I got to ride F1 a total of 7 times on my first day (plus an additional 5 the next day), and I have to say Vekoma have really done well! The ride is not the most intense, but exciting with a fantastic pacing and sequence of elements. It provides my favourite moment of hangtime on a coaster yet with the remarkable Immelmann loop starting the layout. The rest of the ride is beautifully engineered and the airtime gets excellent towards the end of the day. F1 does feel a bit short, but to me, is like a prototype from Vekoma which displays what amazing products they can produce nowadays! The vest restraints were a little inconvenient at first, but I did not notice them at all for the rest of the trip.


pjMsJ4W.jpg

sdO4w0E.jpg

ebQhwRY.jpg


Our confidence in Vekoma boosted by this impressive experience, we proceeded to one of their older and most infamous designs: the SLC, Mayan Roller Coaster. However, the notable use of newer trains with vest restraints reportedly improved ride comfort - even though not all fans who already tried Mayan will agree. Our first lap on the front seats was actually really fun. It was still jerky and shaky at some times, but the vest restraints really mitigated the pain and allowed us to enjoy what is a fairly nice layout. The second lap, at the rear, that immediately followed (yes!) led me to the same conclusion. I even screamed in laughter surprised by how actually enjoyable this coaster design can be. The entrance of the double in-line twist provides a quite scary footchopper, and while not the most forceful ride, Mayan has a good pace. Curiously, my third ride, as well as my fourth on Day 2 on this coaster gave me a more ordinary SLC experience, with the usual jarring and discomfort. Inconsistent, but potentially good could well describe this recent SLC.


1Cq8gNo.jpg

sMVs8cx.jpg

yXSZsrA.jpg


After a late launch consisting some cheap but decent kebab food, we wanted to digest with something relatively tame. The nearby Family Boomerang, confusingly named Boomerang was a good fit. The theming is among the more detailed from the park, and apart from a jolt during the backward lift hill release, the experience from there was smooth and entertaining for what it is. There was decent moderate fun for the family as well as some fun floating moments. A second lap the day after was a little less convincing, the back row seating we picked providing no floater during the second spike.


uUyX6SA.jpg

9cBHZL9.jpg


Viking, an SBF Spinner with OTSR (!!) had the longest queue of the day with a 50 minute wait. It was also by far the worst ride of the park. No redeeming quality and an awful lot of headbanging.


HMrKILp.jpg


We got a couple of rerides on F1 to quickly forget this awful taste of poor coaster manufacturing, and found the new-gen Vekoma even more enjoyable. The only issue (with the park has not much to do with) is the annoying habit of some Polish peeps to shamelessly line-jump without being punished.


yVyrbf8.jpg

MhoD80F.jpg


Two kiddie creds sat next to each other. Circus Coaster and Mars are both forgettable and feel out-of-place for an ambitious, well-presented park. The former didn't even added anything to my main Coaster Count as it is a e-powered!...


gYhf08z.jpg

SGkQTFq.jpg

CSmWqeF.jpg

obW5Ko4.jpg


I was quite eager to try Dragon which is an iteration of the latest and biggest version of the SFC model. I find it to be one of the most exciting forms of family coasters, with a nice drop, an adequate amount of intensity and nice overall flow. The theming is probably among the best in the park, a quite immersive experience which interacts with the coaster. Re-rides on the next day made me enjoy the coaster even more!


ovmJp2Z.jpg

oQaLK2E.jpg

2pSxi3s.jpg


I left Energylandia having spent two very cheerful days. Employees are very friendly and respectful despite the language barrier. I lost one bag in a hurry and was astonished to find it back at the park reception with everything in it. Such a relief since it contained my GoPro transfer cable! The park as a whole looks much nicer than I expected. It's clean, easy to navigate and the paths have nice textures and aren't too large to feel like peep highways. I thought Energylandia would be a mere collection of coasters, but I found instead a charming place despite the perfectible theming! Very efficient operations and a coaster line-up which is set to become one of the most exciting in Europe makes for a must-visit park in a few years, if not already :D


Part 2 will focus on Legendia and the aforementioned/super-anticipated Lech Coaster!
 
Last edited:

JSM

Mega Poster
Great report! What's your coaster count? I don't think you mentioned it yet on your YouTube channel. Also, any idea when Speed opens? I'm looking foward to hearing if it rides any different then Divertical.
 

Hixee

Flojector
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Social Media Team
^Can't say for sure, but he'd only recently posted this:
XBwtL4J.jpg


The coaster I've self-hyped for months ended up as my first major milestone. <3

Interesting report - with a couple of people having been in the last few weeks you're making me think Poland could be on the cards later in the year (are they doing Halloween events at these parks?), or spring next year. These new Vekoma's look really great.
 

JSM

Mega Poster
^Can't say for sure, but he'd only recently posted this:


Interesting report - with a couple of people having been in the last few weeks you're making me think Poland could be on the cards later in the year (are they doing Halloween events at these parks?), or spring next year. These new Vekoma's look really great.
Oh yeah of course.
 

Coaster Hipster

Giga Poster
Part 2: Legendia

fMLxFZq.jpg

BQsM5LJ.jpg


Not many have heard of this park before 2016, including myself. But the addition of a brand new and exciting Vekoma looper suddenly put Legendia (formerly Slaskie Wesole Miasteczko) on the map! But the park did not just purchased a coaster, they've also refurbished a large chunk of the park too, starting with the pretty Main Street. Love the pathwork here :)


JxQtxOK.jpg


You can see Lech right from the entrance, at the opposite side of the lake. Great location choice!


HTp0MrF.jpg

oaWoJgN.jpg

zYaXkOL.jpg


Scary Toys Factory has a nice facade enough, but it hides a Galaxy Zyklon that continues the series of fairground-quality coasters at otherwise very promising parks in Poland. Something incredible happened when the very brutal trim brakes towards the end of the layout completely stopped once car once. Instead of pressing some buttons, the ride op took a fricking hammer (!!) and slammed into some part of the ride to unlock the car. Filmed the funny moment but accidently deleted it :( You can't change things overnight and I feel this coaster will be removed in a few years when the park will further move on from its past.


QZ2eqIC.jpg

RXybg36.jpg

qC9M5Um.jpg


My previous experience with a Soquet ride was the infamous King at a Paris fairground which was decidedly my worst coaster experience ever. Tornado being a permanent one as opposed to a portable one, I was wondering if that would improve the experience to a less horrible one. And honestly, that wasn't so bad... at least at the front. There's some good forces during the Vertical Loops as expected, and the turns do not provide too much banging. However, the backwards experience in the second-to-last row was appaling. Very jolty and really uncomfortable. At least I got 99 creds by this point which means...


DI30uyF.jpg

esMb39X.jpg

iegXkXd.jpg


Some lengthy calculations led me to realize that with good planning, Lech Coaster would become a milestone coaster: my #100. And so it happened. Months of anticipation and hype culminated there. I couldn't help but feel really happy, proud and obviously very excited to ride this beauty!


I ended up riding Lech 62 times in 3 days, and this figure tells how much I loved it :D This is one of the most intense and relentless coasters I've ever done in my life, yet it is smooth and doesn't feature any jolt whatsoever. A little breakdown of some of the many memorable elements:

- The drop is a little disappointing towards the back. Airtime and whipping laterals during said drop aren't as powerful as on Expedition GeForce, but still pretty good. At the front though, the drop is so much more visually impressive than the Intamin Mega from Holiday Park! A very fun plunge that sets the tone of incredible excitiment to come...
- I grayed out almost every time starting at the top of the Dive Loop. But then the following twisted hill gives a stunning airtime which instantly makes me regain my sight! It's a truly breathtaking sequence!
- The big airtime hump provide some good ejector air, though not on the insane level of El Toro's surprise hill.
- That fly-through inversion. It's also incredible! It's perfectly smooth, very fast and you get some fun delicate laterals if you seat left. You do not get the snappy rolls of B&M classics, but the speed and echoes inside the station are quite stunning in their own right!
- The small twisted hill after the turns around the station delivers the most extreme airtime in the layout. It's brutally fun!
- The Corkscrew has a continuous roll and no real snap unlike B&M Flat Spins, but is also taken at incredible speed.
- Then, an outward-banked hill lets you catch a small break, but isn't dull either with some soft laterals and floater air.
- The layout concludes with some forceful narrow turns and a final, surprisingly intense pop of ejector.

0RTEoA7.jpg

woQEJ10.jpg


Simply put, Lech Coaster is a masterpiece of coaster engineering. Great and varied elements along with fantastic pacing and intensity. I did not have a problem with the restraints, and was able to enjoy the fast transitions as well as the blasting airtime without discomfort. Truly exceptional job Vekoma!


RVxxlrl.jpg

rgAdOFe.jpg

eIkkmzw.jpg

XQRKiWT.jpg



I was impressed by Diamond River's theming. Really cool buildings and the foliage around this Shoot the Chute is vibrant. The ride itself had a noticable jolt at the end of the main drop which was an unpleasant surprise.


Ql1JzHU.jpg


Dragon Temple also has a nice - though similar - station building. This flat ride delivers a wicked yet amazing amount of laterals and some airtime too. I laughed quite a bit because of the ridiculous wonkiness of this attraction!


ANqpIRi.jpg


Dragon Riders
was more of an endurance test/washing machine experience. Never been on an Intamin ZacSpin, but that flat ride felt even more absurdly disorienting.


hRpV9my.jpg


Dream Hunters Society is the park's other Zyklon, and I struggle to remember something distinct from that second model, except for the unpleasant ride operator. The guy kept his arms crossed for the majority of the time and never smiled. Fortunately he was the only one to behave like that as all the other employees in the park were at least somewhat friendly, if not really enthusiastic in their job!


rwQp9Fo.jpg


Legendia Flower has spinning gondolas. Yes. You also get some good views on Katowice and - of course - Lech.

6axrtyB.jpg


Circus Hoppala was another piece left from the park's fairground-ish past. The restraints do not have several notches, which meant my skinny body was left with a lot of space. Predictably I bounced around a lot during the inverting moments of this ride... and to my surprise, I enjoyed that wonky stuff!


dKiYe6S.jpg

CiJdziH.jpg

Gw8DPZI.jpg

usDy1Rn.jpg


I have to say Legendia was a really pleasant surprise as a park! The place is certainly trying hard to compete with Energylandia and is doing quite well at that. The refurbished areas look really pretty, and while some of the theming may lack a little detail, it still feels quite charming and engaging. The self-service restaurant was also remarkably good quality for a park, offering fresh vegetables at a reasonable price. I really hope Lech Coaster is successful towards the public and that the park will continue investing. They have a top-class coaster to brag about, and it's a fantastic foundation to build upon!
 
Last edited:

Jarrett

Most Obnoxious Member 2016
Lech Coaster looks absolutely amazing! Sad to hear the drop is disappointing but it sounds really smooth and violent, plus I actually like newer Vekoma trains. Like the theme on it too, perfect for something that's probably the best coaster in Poland. The park looks nice and modern though, some great photos you have there!
 

Pink Cadillac

Giga Poster
Great to see more on the new Polish parks! Wow wouldn't have guessed that Lech coaster would be that intense! Not entirely surprised by your opinion on the drop, I think beyond vertical drops aren't as good as regular steep drops. Great report btw.
 
Top