German Parks Trip Report 15 and 17 June 2007

June 15, 2007

Europa Park

Of the two parks I was able to visit in Germany, this was the first. My day began with getting up around 8:00 am with the goal of arriving at Europa around noon. It was only an hour and a half drive from the place my family and I were staying in Switzerland, but the room still needed to be packed up, the car needed gas, and we needed to get some drinks from a local grocery store. The drive was nice, but it rained the whole time and that made me nervous. As planned we arrived at Europa right around 12:15 giving us five hours and 45 minutes till closing. The first thing that strikes you driving in is the sheer height of Silver Star. As the highest coaster in Europe, it sure does not disappoint. You can see it from miles away. There was almost no traffic going in and it stopped raining. With no wait for parking we drove right in, took our spot, got rain gear and headed off towards the entrance. I was happy the park didn't try to scalp us with $15 parking prices. There was only one ticket booth open, but there was still no line. I was expecting some low wait times.

My first ride of the day was Silver Star, which I wanted to get done early because riding it in the rain was not my favorite idea. We found it quickly and I got in line. There was no wait until the station gates and I could see how big Europa could make the queue if they wanted to. I got in line for the front, waited maybe 10 minutes before getting on the the right center seat. Those B&M buckets are nice. This run was not the best on Silver Star though, because I forgot my glasses strap, which keeps them from coming off. I couldn't see anything, but I could sure feel everything. Going over the first drop was great. I really couldn't breathe until the train reached the top of the first hill, but it didn't bother me. The g's at the bottom of the drop were not too intense, but that's to be expected of a B&M hyper. Even with the trims on there was still great airtime. The helix was fun as was the right left turn combo. The first drop now has some big plastic boards which I guess could be called scream shields.

Lunch was up next followed by me going out on my own to conquer the coasters my family did not want to ride. We at right across from Eurosat and that was my next coaster. I knew it was going to be bad. Well, let me just say then that it was bad. The spiral lift took forever and even the front seat was a big pile of jerky turns and kidney abuse. If it wasn't a credit, I wouldn't have ridden it.

The next coaster I hit up was Matterhorn Blitz. While the theming in the barn that is the station didn't do it for me, as a wild mouse this was perfect. The elevator lift was completely new to me and gave the ride a nice uniqueness. Exiting the lift box at the top and making a right turn you take the longest wild mouse drop I've ever seen and then hit some great lats in the turns before more standard wild mouse elements. Overall I thought Matterhorn Blitz was a great coaster and a great wild mouse. I took the front seat.

While on my search to find Schweizer Bobbahn I stumbled across Euro Mir which I decided would be great to ride. As it spins, I really didn't care which car I was in. I ended up being in car three facing backwards in the station. Unlike the other spiral lift coaster at Europa, this one was not terrible. The spinning did help to break up the monotony and you could always wave at the people sitting across from you. The spinning turns were interesting as were the backwards drops. Again, it's another coaster that I really ended up enjoying.

After Euro Mir it started raining. I took cover under a covered bridge for a while before deciding it had let up enough to start riding coasters again. I found the bobsled and hopped on. There was nobody there. I had three repeat rides in the front seat and then two more with no wait. This coaster was fun, but not in the back cars where it shudders and vibrates like nothing I've ever been on.

Following this was another ride on Silver Star, this one in the back seat. It was also very good back here and the front eight seats helped to block some of the rain.

I met up again with my family and headed off to Pirates in Batavia. This was one funny ride. There were tons of copied Disney effects in here including Mara from Indy, the fire from Pirates of the Caribbean, the spinning people chasing each other from pirates, an animal holding a jail key, the selling of brides, man riding pig, etc. I left the ride still wondering what exactly the point of it was. The coffee cups followed.

I rode the powered coaster next, then the bobsled again, visited the Mack Museum, and rode Silver Star two more times in the eighth row and the front. My front seat ride was the last train of the day.

Ride Count:
Schweizer Bobbahn: 6
Silver Star: 4
Matterhorn Blitz: 1
Eurosat: 1
Euro Mir: 1
Alpenexpress (powered): 1

Look for pictures in the future as well as my Holidaypark TR. Both should be coming in the next few days.

Nice TR! I look forward to the pics.[:)]

Great report! Europa sounds like a really fun park, I can't wait to visit it one day.

June 17, 2007

Holiday Park

This was the second park I was able to visit. As most people serious about coasters know, Holiday Park is the home of Expedition GeForce. It was around two hours from Stuttgart, where I was staying, to the park. There was no traffic, but there was quite a bit of road work being done on the A8. We ended up leaving a little later than we wanted and arrived at the park at 1:15 pm. It seemed like there were a lot of cars in the parking lot, but in the entrance area, there was nobody.

Naturally, I did the first thing almost any enthusiast would do, I headed straight to EGF. There was nobody in the queue. The only time there was any bit of a line was on the station platform. There are some stairs that lead up to it, but never once were there people there. I decided to make my first ride a back seat one. There was only one train running and the ride ops were going relatively slow. It took maybe 8 minutes to get seated. I got buckled up, pulled the bar down and waited for dispatch. The cable catch slid under the train and we began to go up the lift hill. Anyone who has ever ridden a cable lift knows just how fast they are. It was my first time and I was quite surprised. We reached the top, passed the lightning rod, and then I got ejected. The first drop was like nothing I've ever been on. with the smallness of the crest of the hill, the train yanking you down, and the 83 degree steepness it was amazing. Following the huge air was 4.5g's at the base of the drop and a good bit of rattling. The turn at the top is very quick. The next hill was also amazing, because once again you just got lifted. Overbank 1 led into another air hill and the sweeping water turn. With a bit of speed scrubbed from the first trim, we headed towards the second overbank. Then began that magical section of bunny hills with great air on every one. Coming into the breaks I knew that it was definitely one of the best coasters in the world.

Following up my first ride, the family wanted to go see a multimedia show, something those German parks seem to be very fond of. It was entertaining, most was kind of lame, except for these laser "tubes" that were projected on fog.

It was hot that day and so we all decided to get in line for the log flume ride, "The Devil's Falls." It was the longest wait of the day for me, but still not very long. While watching the big drop we were all observing that really the people were not getting very wet. Still though, I was armed with my plastic poncho. Despite dealing with stares in the line I kept it on, a descision I was later happy with. The flume was enjoyed by all. Going down one drop backwards got a great reaction. Remember how I said people weren't getting all that wet? Well, when my log went down the drop we got soaked. It must have been the weight of all of us together in the log. Either way, the water was refreshing.

Next up was the other roller coaster in the park, Superwirbel. Just like with Eurosat I knew it was bad, but I still wanted the credit. One of the interesting things about this ride was that it had no gates in the station, that's right, none. Just a thick red line separated you from the train. It loaded slowly because there was only one ride op, and I thought it was broken once, but I did get my ride. The coaster was a like a badly made No Limits track. The track had odd bends in it and was a headbanger. Oh, and not to mention the terrible "padding" on the Vekoma trains. Ouch.

It was about time for a snack, so I enjoyed a nice chocolate covered banana in the shadow of the parks Condor.

At this point I was ready to get back to EGF. I separated from the group again and headed off back to the star of the park. Superwirbel had given me a pretty good headache, but that would not stop me from getting back on the coaster. I rode it 8 times in a row. Another in the back, then the front, row 7, 10, 12, 13, 11, and then the back again. There was air everywhere, in every seat. In row 7 there was a bit more floateyness, and the other rows being towards the back were similar to the first ride.

Like any good enthusiast I picked myself up an EGF t-shirt.

I apologize for not having any pictures right now, but they are not on my computer and I have to get them resized. I promise I'll get them to you. Thanks for reading.

Ride Count:
Expdition GeForce: 9
Superwirbel: 1

EGF sounds awesome. I am sure you were happy that there were no lines for it too! [:D]

[Dirk_Ermen]

hehe, the best thing about holiday park is: It's never really crowded! [pshades] Also did you notice the difference between front and back? Front you'd barely notice the trims. Which you clearly do notice in the back.
Sounds like you'd had 2 terrific days.
Also, why didn't you rode atlantica, posseidon and pegasus at Europa Park? [;)] That could have been 3 more credits for ya [;)]
One more thing...: Why didn't you tell me when you was going, maybe I could have meet-up with ya

I didn't ride the two water coasters mostly because it was pretty cold and the water on my clothes would not have evaporated quickly. For Europa I did not have my poncho.

For Pegasus, I just didn't feel like going on a family coaster. And as for not getting to you about a meet-up, well, that's because I wasn't exactly sure which days I'd be going.