Phantasialand 2016: Taron and Raik

Looks way better than I thought! I thought it was going to be a well themed version of Cheetah Hunt. Instead it looks like a well themed version of Maverick! Makes me want to get to Phantasialand even more.

Taron is using a collection of Intamin's "exhilarating" twists in an ideal way!

That second launch just looks and sounds insane and I love how close the scenery is the entire time. It also seems to be much faster than the first few runs on these newer POV's I've been seeing

The perfect dispatch timing on Taron!

Close to the feel of near misses rather than just saying arm choppers!

[herman116]

I have been able to ridden Taron 4 times on Friday and Raik 2 times. I think Taron and Raik fit perfectly into the park, they both offer something new that the park didn't had. Black Mamba is a pretty good coaster but it doesn't has the speed of Taron and Taron doesn't have the inversions of Black Mamba.

Raik is a fun small family coaster which is well themed and has some sound effects. The layout is nice but nothing really interesting. The second time I rode it, while we were going bachwards the train seemed to duel with a train from Taron for a few seconds. I'm sure that this was a coincidence and normally they don't duel but it looked pretty awesome!

Taron was a pretty awesome ride. The theming adds a lot and it's pretty awesome that you see it going everywhere in the area. It's the first multi launch coaster I've ridden and I really like the second launch being taken at an pretty high speed. Most turns are pretty fun and forceful but some of the turns could've been taken a little faster in my opinion. There are a few ejector airtime moments between the transitions which at every ride I didn't saw coming. For me, the best part about the ride was that it seemed to go on really long. As I said, in some turns the speed could've been a bit faster but overall the train keeps a nice speed from the first launch to the last brakes.

I really enjoyed the new area and Taron is one of the best coasters I've ever ridden. I find it hard to compare all coasters to each other and therefore I don't have a top 10 list of coasters I've ridden but I'm still sure that it's one of the best coasters I've ridden. I do think Taron is the best coaster in the park but for some people Black Mamba may be a better coaster. It all depends on your preferences of what a good coaster should have. I see some people here say that it only has a lot of turns and I can't argue with that but personally, I like the turns.

Nice review -- kinda jealous of you being able to ride such a masterpiece. hahaha

But seriously, in my eyes Taron just looks sooooo good in every way. I said before that I liked Wildfire more, but that's changed. Right now, for 2016, I'm on #TeamTaron

^^ How long were the wait times for the rides when you went?

[slosprint]

Those ride-op uniforms are amazing.

KG9 wrote:

^^ How long were the wait times for the rides when you went?

40 minutes for Taron I saw on facebook, with single rider queue 5 minutes

[herman116]

straightbanana wrote:

KG9 wrote:

^^ How long were the wait times for the rides when you went?

40 minutes for Taron I saw on facebook, with single rider queue 5 minutes

The first two hour the ride was open, almost the entire park was at the area and it had a wait time of about 1.5 hour / 2 hours. After this the wait time was about 0.5 hour the entire day and only a 5 minute extra wait time to ride the front seats. I only tried the single riders queue once but then the wait was also 0.5 hours...

But I wasn't there on a weekend or holiday so the rest of the park was pretty empty. Most other rides had a queue of just 0 / 5 minutes.

I'm excited to get some more rides on Chiapas, last time I went I waited 60 minutes and only rode it once.

herman116 wrote:

straightbanana wrote:

KG9 wrote:

^^ How long were the wait times for the rides when you went?

40 minutes for Taron I saw on facebook, with single rider queue 5 minutes

The first two hour the ride was open, almost the entire park was at the area and it had a wait time of about 1.5 hour / 2 hours. After this the wait time was about 0.5 hour the entire day and only a 5 minute extra wait time to ride the front seats. I only tried the single riders queue once but then the wait was also 0.5 hours...

But I wasn't there on a weekend or holiday so the rest of the park was pretty empty. Most other rides had a queue of just 0 / 5 minutes.

I am going this Friday (busy day?) and I assumed avoiding Taron in the morning would be the best bet to have shorter queues on other rides Coming back to Taron later in the afternoon would be smarter. The park is also open from 9am-8pm and I will force myself to stay there ALL. DAY. LONG. so that I can get some "night" rides in (even though the sun will still be up).

[herman116]

^ I just looked up the school vacations and it looks like they won't start till the week after your visit, so that should mean you're pretty lucky and the park should still be pretty empty.

The entrance of the park indeed opens at 9 am but not all the rides will be open at that time. The rides that will be open will be showed at a sign at the entrance. They will probably open the carrousel and maybe another small ride at 9 and a few other rides at 9.30. But which rides (and how many) they open early depends on if they expect a huge crowd that day or not. However, the park is mostly really empty at this time so if you don't visit the park often it's worth it to come at 9 / 9.30 am. Maus au Chocolat opens almost every day at 9.30 am and before 10 am it almost always has a 5 / 10 minute wait time while it can have a 40 minute wait time in the middle of the day.

Normally all rides will be open at 10 am but at my visit the area of Klugheim was opened at 10.30 am (although it said on the signs that the rides in the area were open at 10 am). They opened the area with a small prerecorded story. Nothing really interesting but it was a nice surprise to suddenly have a loud opening blasting through the speakers which I didn't expected (I didn't even knew the speakers could be turned up so loud) However, I have no idea how long they will have this small opening and if they still have it when you go to the park.

After the area opened we went to Raik (which took a while to find the entrance ) and had a train for our selves instead of waiting an hour to get a ride on Taron. After the area was open for about an hour, Raik had a wait time of about an hour. Later in the day, the wait time was again reduced to 0 / 5 minutes. So if you also want to do Raik, make sure you don't get in the line when it's long.

The park may close the queues before the closing time of the park but the closing time of the queues is always displayed at the entrance of the ride and will (of course) stay the same throughout the day. So if you want to ride Taron as late as possible in the evening, you'll know when you'll have to get into the queue.

herman116 wrote:

The park may close the queues before the closing time of the park

most park's "closing" times are actually when the ride Queues close. i know Alton Towers do that, anyway.

Is it just me or this coaster has got some large turns that remind me of those on "bluefire" at Europa Park?

lol240 wrote:

Is it just me or this coaster has got some large turns that remind me of those on "bluefire" at Europa Park?

Only the turn after the loop in bluefire

I just rode this beast today and this is my favorite coaster I have ever done.
The sense of speed on this thing is crazy, going trough tiny buildings on full speed, and there was a surprising amount of airtime!
I wish my English was better so I could express my feelings towards this ride.

sounds great, cant wait to get back to Germany. In probably ten years :(:(

I'll be sure to tell you all how the park (and Taron) are after my trip today.

Have fun! (Man I am so jealous of you all right now. Hahahaha)

^^ Can't wait to see your fantastic experience posted!

TARON: 10/10
Taron. This is why I came to Phantasialand. I did not watch an on-ride POV before this moment, nor did I know what to expect. I saw it slink around through Klugheim and wondered what it would be like: good launch; the first half looked rather slow with not much action; the second launch looked fast from what I could see; the second half looked interesting with some quicker, stronger transitions before the finale.



I'll say that after I got off my first ride I started calling Taron "Crazy Goat" in my head. I couldn't quite figure out what the theme or story of Taron was, so I came up with Crazy Goat to suffice. So, here's my review of Crazy Goat Taron:

The turn out of the station is filled with anticipation as I rolled up to the launch, dramatic music and sound effects surrounding me. Everything goes silent for about 4 seconds until the launch kicks in and you're off. The first launch reminds me of Maverick's second launch; strong, but enjoyable. The first turn is a bit of a lull, but then you're thrown into an ejector airtime hill that put my hood on my jacket in front of my face. The left turn that follows banks at a radius that isn't at all with your heartland, thus throwing you to the right after you're already in the air from the bunny hill. You're sort of thrust sideways as you fall into a tunnel, bracing so that you don't hit the side or the top of the entrance underground. Pulling up and out, you twist to the right, where Taron throws you to the left this time, ejecting you up and to the side in a way that you cannot anticipate whatsoever. The turn to the right that follows allows you to catch your breath and pace again, then a turn to the left through a wooden house with a small, almost Stengle-dive down to the right that throws you to the left once again. You bank up and to the right again, to then flatten out and be thrown up a tad before a coasting turn to the left. Some quick transitions side to side fool you before you drop down into the second launch - the launch from hell.

Like a rocket, Taron shoots you from what could be 30, maybe 40mph into a 70mph+ launch in under two seconds. The immense sense of speed you have being in such a restricting tunnel is amazing as you blast out of launch two and past a waterfall that get's in your eyes and face no matter what (good placement on that waterfall, folks!) What follows after this is pure and utter awesomeness. The transitions in the middle of the air seem as if you're bouncing from rock to rock, galloping over Klugheim with force and aggression and speed. You're tossed around a bit here before you fly down to the bridge again and into an overbanked turn with intense G's, rushing through the rock work and diving under and up into a transition that could, if you were not held down by a handlebar, launch you into River Quest. I am not kidding! This transition throws you up and to the right so aggressively that you cannot help but smile, laugh or scream. You drop to the left, under another wooden house, and then up into another horrific (in a good way) transition to the right. Taron throws you up again, this time to the left. You do a quick helix up to the left, riding the rocks that surround Klugheim before you hit a little dip then another good bunny hill to drop beneath the bridge. Another s-curve into the final turn before Taron hits the brake run. You're also thrown to the left when you hit the final stretch, a reminder that Taron isn't done yet and would like to say goodbye one last time.



Taron is, and will now forever be, my favorite roller coaster I have ever ridden. Forget the height and speed gimmick that most American rides hold and forget the Intamin creations of the past. This ride is a work of pure genius not just from a theming standpoint, but just from a purely force and G's one. It was terrifically terrifying, awesome, and brought tears to my eyes every time I rode. I felt like I had just been put into a blender and thrown around, but really enjoyed it and wanted to go again and again. Launch one is good, but launch two takes you by such surprise that it makes you wonder "Can this thing get any love faster? Oh, yup, here it goes...!!!" LOVED IT.

Taron is great. End of story. Everyone book your trips now to Phantasialand because you will not want to get off this one. I regretted leaving because I knew I'd miss Taron so much...and already do.

Row 8 right*
Row 1 left*
Row 8 right
Row 7 left
Row 5 right
Row 3 left

^ nice photos!

The wonky-looking transition just above the launch and the brake is kind of deceiving my eyes, but while reading positive thoughts on the feel of riding Taron, I'm like phew and can see that you are really fond of this second "Black Mamba"!

Props to you!