2017 Europe Trip Part 6: Heide Park

Europa Park, August 6-7

I've noticed a curious behavior that locals often exhibit during my travels in America (and now the world) to ride roller coasters. Wherever you go, the people there think you are absolutely, clinically insane for leaving wherever you???re from to visit the parks and ride the coasters where they live. ???poop, you came from California just to ride Phantom???s Revenge? But why? It???s only Kennywood?????? I work in a large resort hotel where I assisted a Dutch family vacationing in California about a week before the Coaster Crazy Europe trip. They thought it was not just bizarre, but downright comical that I would do something as trivial as visit Efteling (I went on my own after the tour ended) during my first ever trip to the Netherlands. No matter that they were happily forking over $500 for one day at Disneyland on their vacation, the idea that an American would bother with Efteling was just too weird for them to comprehend. Imagine the look on their faces when I told them that I was not just visiting Efteling, but Toverland! The opposite behavior can best be observed at Six Flags Magic Mountain. ???Why would you ever leave??? We have THE BEST coasters in the world here! Don???t you know about the X2 and the Full Throttle??????

The first stop on the trip was a place that has lately assumed the mantle as the near-consensus best park in the world: Europa Park. After spending two full days there, I can look at Europa from two conflicting, yet entirely valid perspectives. (1) For a park of this stature, it doesn???t have a single top 20 caliber coaster and all but one of its dark rides are Disney knockoffs that range in quality from poor to ???almost as good,??? or (2) What an amazing place! Atmosphere, service and operations are industry-leading and even after two days I still couldn???t do everything!

Fortunately, the latter perspective is the ones that sticks two weeks after visiting. While it???s true that Europa could use one truly elite coaster (their three best, Blue Fire, Wodan, and Silver Star, are in my estimation only the sixth, seventh, and eighth best coasters in Germany after Expedition GeForce, Taron, Black Mamba, Karnan, and Karacho), the overall package the place brings is still unmatched by any other out of the now 60 parks I???ve visited. The blend of theming, quantity and variety of attractions, good if not great coasters, excellent resort hotels, ride throughput, and friendly, efficient service is tops in the industry. I can clearly see why people like to spend three or more days here. The level of emotional investment and care the Mack family puts into the place shows everywhere you look. This is clearly a business that asks questions beyond what will yield the greatest short term return on investment.

For the first three nights of the trip, I stayed at Hotel El Andaluz, one of Europa Park???s five onsite resort hotels (six if you count the campground). I highly recommend it if you don???t mind paying a little extra over staying in Rust or Ettenheim. The resorts are first rate and have plenty of restaurants, bars, and the two biggest ones have beautiful grounds to explore. Early entry into the park is accessed through a second gate in the Spain pavilion. From there it???s a quick walk to Blue Fire where you should have no problem getting at least three rides in before the main rope drop happens up front.

I was really here. It's not just pixels on a screen anymore.

Hotel Santa Isabel in the foreground with Colosseo in back.

Santa Isabel has a Catholic Monastery theme.

My hotel, El Andaluz, was the first Europa hotel and has a Spanish Villa theme.

The El Andaluz lobby. It's a nice hotel that's been kept up to date. Large enough rooms, nice grounds, and great location.

Hotel Colosseo is the first of Europa's "4-star superior" hotels and has a Roman/Italian theme.

Colosseo has the most impressive lobby of the five. It's just the most impressive in general.

Colosseo is known for its central courtyard with restaurants, bars, and a fountain show.

The New England/American-themed Bell Rock is Europa's newest hotel, another "4-star superior."

The lighthouse contains Bell Rock's priciest suites.

Lobby is nice, but less striking than Colosseo's.

Yep, they got this theme down.

Something that irritates me about the theme park experience that manifested again at Europa Park is the difficulty of finding suitable merchandise, specifically t-shirts. For those who don???t know, official theme park clothing comes in only two sizes: XXL and S. I had always assumed this was a uniquely American phenomenon, but Germany proved me very, very wrong. Want something in between? You have a slight possibility of finding an XL towards the back of the rack. What???s more, about 98.75% of theme park shirts have these obnoxious, garish, flashy ???designs??? that cover the entire front and/or back of the shirt from top to bottom. There???s nothing technically wrong with it if you like that kind of thing, but I just want a coaster shirt I can wear out in public without looking like I just came back from Comic Con. Planning on buying a well-fitted M or L shirt with a simple, tasteful park logo across the chest? Well think again, sunshine! Europa would rather sell you an amateurish Silver Star tee that mines a more prominent company???s intellectual property.

I left Europa Park souvenir-less.

Had a great breakfast at El Andaluz before heading out on day 1. Complimentary breakfast is a European practice I wish more full-service American resorts would adopt.

The nearby town of Ettenheim, where Paradox and slosprint stayed. This was my first time seeing this type of authentic Bavarian architecture in person.

Sideways Jesus wonders how he ended up here. Europa Park is soooooo close...

Reviews:

Blue Fire Megacoaster POWERED BY GAZPROM ??? The best ride in the park is honestly a little too tame for me, as good as it is, and it all starts with the launch. LSMs will never match the raw ferocity of a hydraulic or pneumatic launch system, but Mack engineered theirs to be especially mild, though you may think it???s extreme if you???ve never ridden a launched coaster before or you are Don Lemon. It???s just not sudden enough to lift your stomach the way Xcelerator???s or even Maverick???s does. Same for the elevated turnaround that follows. I???m not sure exactly what Mack was going for with that element. Fortunately everything that follows is pretty good. The loop is fun and the snappy right turn and climb into the MCBR offers some nice forces as do the drop that comes after and the twisted horseshoe roll that???s supplemented by some nicely integrated rockwork. The twisting camelback that threads the loop has decent airtime and the heartline roll finale is probably the best inversion on the ride. Blue Fire was also my 300th coaster. 8/10.

A Blue Fire footnote: I cracked my left had pretty hard on the mouth of the first tunnel exiting the elevated turnaround. It scared me at first because I thought I had broken my fingers and they were bleeding a good amount. Several of us had been smacking leaves from the nearby tree on previous rides and this time I stretched too far. This is entirely my own fault of course, but it highlighted how clearance envelopes in Europe seem a little tighter than in America. I saw numerous flat rides and coasters come closer to hitting supports/trees/whole buildings than I ever have in the US. And there???s nothing wrong with that. It just requires additional personal responsibility, which I don???t think is a bad thing at all.

Not the tunnel I'm talking about.

Wodan ??? The tallest, largest GCI outside of China mostly delivers even if it???s not quite one of the firm???s crowning achievements. The Rye Aeroplane-style first drop is certainly the best GCI has done. Great airtime delivered from a greater height than similar drops on Apocalypse and Kentucky Rumbler. But after that I felt it was a little light on airtime and the snappy directional changes its contemporaries are known for. The layout has a very interesting sprawl to it and interacts well with the neighboring Blue Fire and Atlantica. Scenery and the sheer scope of the ground this coaster covers is where Wodan excels. It???s a very good wooden coaster, if maybe not one of the best examples of its type, and you???ll have to wait until later in this report to see what I think the best wooden coaster on the trip was. The answer might surprise you. 8/10.

Santa Isabel poking out above Wodan's extended queue.

Animatronic in Wodan's extended queue.

Silver Star ??? This ride was the surprise of the trip. Prior to this one, I had been on six B&M hypers that I group into three tiers. At the top are Goliath @ Six Flags Over Georgia and Nitro. Those two offer above average airtime, good helixes, and layouts that finish as strong as they start. The middle tier is represented by Mako, Diamondback, and Apollo???s Chariot. Those three come close, but are compromised by too much trim braking and/or a weak finish (looking at you, Mako). Then at the damp, dirty, bottom of the barrel is Carowinds??? Intimidator which felt so slow and has so much braking they might as well rename it Steel Force-Mamba-SFMM Goliath. From everything I had heard about Silver Star over the years, I was reasonably confident it would be Europe???s Intimidator. But it wasn???t! Airtime wasn???t great to start, but by the time you exit the MCBR, the air is bordering on ejector territory. Maybe the park has eased up on the trims since the coaster opened, I don???t know, but I really liked what I saw. The Mercedes Benz racing theme is novel and well-executed, and the GP who flock to it still treat the thing as the park???s marquee coaster. I now rank it as my third favorite B&M hyper. 8/10.

Euro Mir ??? After two days of riding, I very nearly wanted to call it the third best coaster in the park. I was lukewarm on it after my first ride where I sat in the middle of the train, but it won me over after several rear-facing back seat rides. That back car really helps to feel the strong positive g???s it pulls diving around the glass towers once the controlled spinning portion of the ride ends. After so many years this coaster is still entirely unique in the industry and a true classic the park can be proud of. It???s a total package from the anticipation-building, techno music-pumping, carousel lifthill in the dark to the spectacular views it offers from the top, to the swooping dives and ground hugging curves in the second half. May it live long and never change. 7/10.

Arthur ??? Some don???t, but I???m going to consider this Mack powered-suspended as a credit-worthy coaster even though it can also be considered an elaborate dark ride. The queue line oddly tries its hardest to familiarize you with the principle cast of characters from the Arthur films even though they play no apparent role in the ride itself. That aside, it???s an immersive, quality family coaster that satisfies the modern dark ride niche in Europa???s portfolio. The exterior portion that flies over the river and through the trees is even a bit thrilling. I hope Universal or someone else finds an application for this model soon. 7/10.

Eurosat ??? I???m so glad I got to ride this longtime park staple before they rebuild it. Hopefully it gets the same treatment as Disneyland???s Space Mountain and they retain the layout with a smoother track. It???s a good layout that doesn???t need to change. It???s also the ideal coaster for VR, so hopefully Mack???s plan to build two loading stations, one with VR, one without, pays off with the same kind of throughput it has now. As it runs today, Eurosat feels a little dated and not in a purely nostalgic way (though I suppose trying to gauge the nostalgia of anything you just experienced for the first time as an adult is kind of futile). The trains don???t track all that well and it could really benefit from a few modern lighting effects inside. 6/10.

Poseidon ??? I think the book is pretty much out on Poseidon. The station and splashdown pool look great and it???s a nice, long water coaster that gets you just wet enough without soaking you, but the coaster portion tracks a little rough for some and the theming doesn???t carry over to the whole layout. I liked it, but don???t think it???s worth the 60-90 minute waits it had all day on an astonishingly busy Monday. 6/10

Atlantica ??? I didn???t expect to like this one as much as I did as it looked like too much of a one trick pony for me. I tend to prefer water rides with more to them like Poseidon. However, Atlantica is a ride truly made by its setting. The Portugal section might be Europa Park???s most beautiful with the brilliant, blue-green splash pool stretching seemingly forever along with Wodan hustling by and the steady flow of monorail trains overhead. Like other coasters here, Atlantica offers some amazing views and the drop fortunately doesn???t drench you. But that last point hardly matters because the f*cking water bombs before the station certainly do. 6/10.

Alpenexpress Enzian ??? This was my first powered coaster and I really enjoyed it. It???s easy to look at it and dismiss it as not thrilling because that???s entirely correct and exactly what it is. But continuing a recurring theme here, Europa packages it in such a way that it ends up being more than the sum of its parts. Alpenexpress is a powered scenic railway that zips through trees and a neat, little diamond mine it shares with the log flume that???s honestly more impressive than Disney???s Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Better than the majority of gravity driven family coasters I???ve done, and no, I didn???t waste my time with VR. 5/10 (hardly a bad score on the family ride scale).

Matterhorn Blitz ??? One of the best wild mice I???ve ridden. Nice theming/scenery and the trims don???t cripple it like they tend to do on plenty of others. The attention to detail Europa pays to the presentation of small coasters like this makes them feel like greater experiences than they would otherwise be. A wild mouse is usually a throwaway attraction for me at most parks, but here it feels like a worthy member of the park???s collection. 5/10 (probably the only mouse I give better than a 4 to aside from the truly insane Rat??n Loco at La Feria Chapultepec in Mexico City).

Schweizer Bobbahn ??? Well, it was my favorite bobsled almost by default for several days at least! Like most of its type, this one is too short and doesn???t do enough to maximize the potential of the bobsled concept, but like Matterhorn Blitz, it???s well taken care of and feels natural and integral to the park. Unlike all of the bobsleds in the US, I would not skip it on a return visit. 5/10.

Pegasus ??? A relatively impressive family coaster. I wish more US parks would buy these Mack Youngstars instead of resorting to Vekoma Rollerskaters every single time. They???re just big enough to feel worthwhile for more than the credit alone. 4/10.

The fifth resort hotel, Alcazar, towers over the Spanish section.

EP Express is not just for vanity here. Europa Park is huge and it's really helpful in getting around.

From one monorail to another.

Cassandra's Curse theming. Not one of the better Vekoma Madhouses.

This views stretches from Switzerland to Russia, then all the way to Iceland, Portugal, and the hotels.

France and Greece pavillions with Eurosat, Poseidon, and Silvers Star dominating the parking lot.

The Italy pavillion, one of the most congested hubs for foot traffic.

Other rides I liked: Voletarium (better than New Soarin???, worse than Old Soarin???), Tiroler Log Flume, Columbus Dinghy, Volo DaVinci, Glacier Flight, Euro Tower, EP Express

Rides I did not like: Ghost Castle, Universe of Energy, Pirates in Batavia, Cassandra???s Curse

Things I cared about but missed: Fjord Rafting, Food Loop, the small monorail

What does the park need? A themed drop tower. If Europa has one more Disney knockoff left in them, I???d love to see what they could do with Tower of Terror as a reference point.

[mkingy]

Great trip/ride report for Europa! Good to see your thoughts on Europa, which I think I agree with for the most part. Looking forward to the rest!

Tripsdrill and Holiday Park, August 8

I would describe Tripsdrill as a slightly better themed version of Silverwood in the United States. Both are relatively remote, local parks with distinct identities and small, though complete selections of thrill rides. Tripsdrill has theming, but like Silverwood, it relies more on immaculately landscaped grounds with flowerbeds and thick greenery to create atmosphere. The sad part is that even with only four coasters and one great flume ride as its major attractions, we still only had time to explore about half the park, maybe less. Cramming Tripsdrill together with Holiday Park in a single day ultimately allowed us only about 3.5 hours in each. There were no missed credits and I think everyone got a satisfactory number of Expedition GeForce and Karacho rerides, but both parks are worthy of a full day in hindsight.

The entire left side of the park nearest the entrance went virtually untouched during our visit. I???d really like to go back to Tripsdrill in a couple of years and take my time soaking in the full park experience, even if most of what we missed were family rides and odd bits of landscaping and theming. All of it looked so unique I really regret not exploring it.

On the road to Tripsdrill. This is what I think of when people back home ask me what German cities I visited. I'm like, "Well...."

Tripsdrill doesn't need elaborate theming everywhere. It already looks great.

Reviews:

Karacho ??? This was my dark horse coaster of the trip. I wasn???t very aware of this ride when it was built, but once I began thoroughly researching all of the parks once the trip was announced, I couldn???t believe how good Karacho looked. I had previously been on two Eurofighters, but this trip was my first broader experience with larger scale coasters from Gerstlauer and Mack, who have yet to develop the same kind of presence in America as B&M or Intamin. I was especially interested in comparing Karacho to its closest Mack equivalent, Blue Fire. I thought Karacho won hands down. Blue Fire is a little smoother and just feels more solid and substantial, but Karacho outdoes it in every other aspect. It???s snappier, the launch accelerates more quickly, the airtime pops a little stronger, and the positive g???s pull just a bit harder. Blue Fire wants you to relax. Karacho wants to freak you out a little bit. The highlights are (1) the launch sequence, where you turn out of the station and navigate a barrel roll in complete darkness, then make a sharp, sudden dip into the launch itself, and (2) the second to last inversion, a quick dive loop into an underground tunnel that creates some really interesting forces in the back, left seat. This was my first Infinity Coaster and I???m all the more excited for 2018 and Hangtime at my home park, Knott???s Berry Farm. 9/10.

Lining up before the ride opens. It seems like a big hit with the locals.

Aren't these the most badass "lightly themed" trains out there? Watch a video to see the lighting effect on the "afterburners."

The theme is a crazy inventor's garage.

This guy greets you at the exit.

Mammut ??? This is the most bizarre wooden coaster I have ever ridden. Not because anything about the layout stands out, but because I just cannot understand what the park???s vision was when building it. Off-ride, it creates the impression of a poor man???s GCI designed by Werner Stengel (the first and last time I???ll use ???poor??? and ???Stengel??? in the same sentence) and built by Gerstlauer. So Tripsdrill wanted a wooden twister and hired Stengel to design it. So far so good. But they chose to use these odd, three-bench trains running polyurethane wheels on it that track like no other wooden coaster I can think of. It???s fundamentally similar to the setup on an Intamin prefab, but they feel nothing alike. Mammut has the truly weird feeling being both bouncy and fluidic while riding. Like I said, I???m aware of no other wooden coaster that feels like this. And it???s not remotely intense or thrilling. It seemed very slow and friction heavy. These complaints would be one thing if it were clear that Tripsdrill wanted Mammut to be a family wooden coaster, but that doesn???t appear to be the case. Instead it seems more apparent to me that they planned it as a thrill ride, but the finished product just didn???t behave as intended. I???d love to talk to the brain trust behind Mammut and find out for sure. 5/10.

G???sengte Sau ??? A casualty of our split day, I only got to ride this coaster once. But I loved it. Gerstlauer calls this model a ???bobsled,??? but it???s not a bobsled in same sense as Schweizer Bobbahn. The first third is basically a wild mouse through a castle and the last two-thirds is a series of tight helixes broken up by a stretch of airtime bunny hops and it???s hardly trim-braked, if at all. It???s perhaps the fastest, most thrilling family coaster I can think of outside of some of Disney???s stuff if you want to count those. This great, little coaster was also the first Gerstlauer ever built. 7/10.

This coaster has come a long way since 1998.

You can see why Gerstlauer calls this a bobsled. The car basically is a sled on wheels!

Rasender Tausendfu??ler ??? Is this the world???s greatest kiddy coaster? If there???s better I haven???t seen it. It???s long, kind of exciting, snakes through lush landscaping, and you get to do it twice. I don???t know what else to say about it, but if you???re a hardened coaster enthusiast thinking about skipping it??? don???t. 4/10 (unheard of for kiddy coasters)

Badewannen Fahrt zum Jungbrunnen ??? Log flume review. According to Google, the name of this one translates to ???Bathing Trip to the Fountain,??? which actually makes a lot of sense given that the ride vehicles are not logs, but bathtubs. Seriously, does Germany have the best flume rides out there? Between this and Chiapas, I???m inclined to think so. Outside of Disney, Universal, and maybe Knott???s, American parks usually phone it in with their log flumes. Not in Germany. This one has two forwards drops and one backwards drop, a weird and randomly themed queue line, an ???only in Europe??? dark ride section, and it uses the same castle building as G???sengte Sau. 8/10.

Random queue line theming embracing the theory that DaVinci's Mona Lisa is actually a self portrait.

Plenty of room to expand. As in like, so much it will take this park years and years. Or...

Look very closely. Next to that guy in the green hat waaaaaaay down by Mammut. Looks like a survey marker. In fact the same kind of survey marker I once saw for the giga coaster at Knott's Berry Farm!

Tripsdrill is deep in German wine country. The hillsides around the park are covered by vineyards and crops.

Things I cared about but missed: I don???t know??? a lot, but mainly the Sky Fly and rapids.

What does the park need? An inverted coaster. B&M, Intamin, Vekoma (not SLC), for thrills, for families. Any of the above.


Holiday Park

Let???s turn the official coaster enthusiast atomic internet clock back to around 2002 for those of us who were around. Remember the industry back then? When RMC i-box technology wasn???t even a glimmer in Fred Grubb and Alan Schilke???s eyes and horrible, brutal wooden coasters such as Son of Beast and Psyclone were just a fact of life that were never going away and we just had to learn to live with them? When Badnitrus was a thing, Coasterbuzz mattered, a certain Robb was only pudgy, and Six Flags Worlds of Adventure was running commercials with families saying things like, ???We drove past Cedar Point to get here!???? Remember what the two top coasters in the world were supposed to be? According to anyone who had ridden them, it was either Expedition GeForce at Holiday Park or Superman: Ride of Steel at Six Flags New England. Sure there were the Millennium Force loyalists, but the cool kids didn???t listen to them.

Well some things change and others stay the same. Superman went full Bizarro and back, lost a bit of its luster, and only this year has started to reclaim it. Millennium Force is somehow still some people???s favorite (hey, I like it, but it???s not #1), and then there???s Expedition GeForce. Still there, unyielding, an unconquerable monolith tamed by neither innovation nor time. Sure, fewer people call it their #1 than a decade ago, but to those who still do, the rest of us don't bat an eye. To enthusiasts like me growing up in America, no coaster better approximated a pilgrimage to Mecca. So there I was on the eighth day of the eighth month of the year Two-Thousand-and-Seventeen, standing at the orange and brown gates to the holy city. I honestly never thought I???d be here. Fourteen-year-old me in 2002 would not have believed it. I didn???t care about anything else. There was one other credit to get and the Sky Fly and log flume looked nice, but one doesn't stop for a smoke in Obhur al Shamaliyah on the way to Mecca.

Reviews:

Expedition GeForce ??? So what does a one do if he goes to Mecca and thinks it???s just ???meh???? Well he probably lies about it and repeats the lie to everyone he knows. Fortunately, I don???t have to do that because Expedition GeForce was awesome! I had already memorized every foot of track from a decade of pov-watching, but this coaster still had some surprises for me. I had no idea about the intense positive g???s it pulls in the valleys between the first drop and big camelbacks. I also didn???t know how freeing it would be to hug tight to the trees near ground level only to gracefully soar over the tops of them during moments of ejector airtime. The airtime on Skyrush is all-time, but ???graceful??? it is not. Expedition GeForce struck a better balance of intense and endlessly re-ridable than any coaster I???ve ridden. So how does it compare to its Intamin peers? It???s definitely better than Millennium Force because it has so much more going on (and again, I love MF). It???s also better than Superman The Ride mostly by virtue of retaining the original, less restrictive t-bars (if both had t-bars, man I just don???t know. Maaaaaaaaybe Superman??? And if so, then just barely???). It???s also more fun than Intimidator 305. But I don???t think it???s quite Skyrush or Maverick. Those two are apex Intamin when they got even a tad more ballsy than in the early 2000s. But make no mistake, Expedition GeForce lived up to my sky-high expectations. I sacrificed plenty of other attractions so I could ride it eight times by the end of the night. My life is complete. 9.5/10.

This little bastard just grazes you before the final two bunny hills. Fortunately they still have ejector air.

One place where GeForce truly has the jump on Superman is the first drop. Still one of the best in the world.

It's a very decorated coaster.

Sky Scream ??? I???ll keep this short. I don???t like Premier Sky Rocket 2s. Didn???t after the first two I rode and still don???t. I think they???re short, gimmicky, one trick ponies and I don???t understand why they???re so popular with enthusiasts. 6/10 because writing about Expedition GeForce put me in a good mood.

Other rides I liked: Sky Fly, Wickie Splash

Things I cared about but missed: Anubis, Lighthouse Tower, Falkenstein Castle

What does the park need? A Gravity Group wooden coaster w/ inversion. Something like Mineblower or one of the Jungle Trailblazers.

[Paradox]

You definitely missed out on the drop tower. It was one of the better Intamin ones imo (better than the ones at Canada's Wonderland and Carowinds at least).

I can see why people don't like Sky Rocket II's but I feel they're perfect for small parks and I love them a lot. For some reason Phobia did feel more forceful than Sky Scream though.

[mkingy]

I missed the award plaques, clearly I wasn't looking closely enough.

[herman116]

Nice trip reports!

Tripsdrill is a very nice park that has a lot of originality. Too bad that you didn't get enough time over there. The logflume over there is themed to the fountain of youth. So that's why you saw all those women bathing in the water and getting younger.

Thanks Herman. Being the fountain of youth clears up a lot of what seemed like randomness to me! A very clever theme.

mkingy wrote:

I missed the award plaques, clearly I wasn't looking closely enough.

Yeah, you miss things like that when you spend all your time staring at anti-rollbacks and retractable magnetic brakes

[mkingy]

Touch??!

Toverland, August 9

Remember when I said I???d tell you what the best wooden coaster on the trip was? Well if I don???t tell you in this post??? just wait longer!

For coaster enthusiasts, Toverland is all about Troy, the park???s 2007 GCI woody. But this is not a park for coaster enthusiasts (don???t even start with me on the B&M in 2018). It???s almost like a couple of Dutch guys got together and one of them thought, ???Hey Thijs, you know how we could make a lot of money? By building an indoor playground for kids and charging their parents admission.??? Then not long after, his business partner went, ???You know Stijn, this building of ours is pretty big, I bet we could put some bitchin??? rides in it.??? ???Fantastisch! But what should it all look like???? ???I???m way ahead of you, Stijn. You know what the Netherlands needs more of? Fantasy theming!??? ???But, Thijs, have you ever considered building a big Trojan horse that guests can???t go inside of??????

How they built a Trojan horse replica without the single most fun and historically significant aspect of it is beyond me. Anyway, we had a little over 4 hours to spend at Toverland on an 11pm closing night after spending most of the day at Phantasialand. Much of the park is geared to young children so that allowed enough time to do everything that mattered to me: Plenty of rerides on Troy plus the other three credits and the super unique bobkart powered sled-ride thing. There was a log flume and rapids ride that both looked pretty good, but I was content skipping them given the cooler evening temperatures and short time allotment.

Reviews:

Troy ??? If Troy wasn???t good then I would have been borderline furious that we pissed away 3 additional hours at Phantasialand to come here. Good thing it was the second best wooden coaster of the trip! I???ll compare Troy very closely to Goldstriker at California???s Great America. Both have similar first drops, stats, layouts, and both are built over flat plots of land. GCIs don???t vary a whole lot, but I like to break them down into four subgroups: (1) The ???proto-GCIs,??? meaning those that were built before they knew what they were doing, like Wildcat, the Roars, and Gwazi. (2) The ???lightweights,??? meaning coasters in the 70-100 foot height range and under 3,000 feet long, such as American Thunder, Kentucky Rumbler, and White Lightning. (3) The ???middleweights,??? 100-120 feet tall and 3,000-3,500 feet long. This is most GCIs, including Thunderhead, Goldstriker, and Troy. (4) The ???light-heavyweights (GCI doesn???t build true heavyweights),??? rides that are 120+ feet tall and/or over 3,500 feet long. This means Wodan, Wood Coaster @ Knight Valley, and Python in Bamboo Forest. My favorites so far are those in group 2 because they tend to focus more on small hills generating a rapid supply of airtime rather than the larger, less numerous drops and curves of groups 3 and 4. As much as I liked Troy, I thought it was a little light on airtime compared to its smaller cousins or even Goldstriker and Thunderhead. What I liked most about it was the sustained sense of speed and the varied, prolonged feel of the layout. It feels a whole lot longer and faster than Wodan even though both are almost the same length and Troy is actually slower. Troy falls outside my top 10 wooden coasters, but I???m still glad I went to Toverland and rode it. 8/10.

Probably my best on ride photo in years.

Dwervelwind - I just had the worst time with spinning coasters on this trip. Alberto and I kept trying to stack the deck and unbalance the cars by sitting on one side, but it just didn???t work. We barely got Dwervelwind to spin at all and I didn???t spin much on Winjas until my third and fourth rides on it. But I saw countless other cars spinning like mad, so my assessment of this coaster is more about what I can ???tell??? it is versus what I actually experienced on it. I usually don't like spinners, but this one's got a good layout and a really nice setting and it???s clearly a cut above most others of its type. 6/10.

Booster Bike ??? It???s better than Knott???s Pony Express. This is enough. 5/10.

Boomerang (not the Vekoma kind) ??? I didn???t choose to marathon this little indoor coaster like some people did, but it was fun enough I???d give it a few rerides if I were visiting during a thunderstorm. I don???t know whether it more closely fits kiddy or family coaster territory, but it???s a great fit for Toverland. 4/10.

Maximum Blitz Bahn - I don't count this bobkart ride as a credit, but do not miss it if you go to Toverland. Capacity is crap so you'll likely see a longer line than any of the coasters, but I've never seen another example of this ride system anywhere and it's great fun. It's like a hybrid of a bobsled, powered coaster, and alpine coaster with the thrill factor cranked up a notch. 7/10.

Nice theming inside the Blitz Bahn queue.

Rides I cared about but missed: Backstroke, Djengu River

What does the park need? It???s time for Toverland to step into the dark ride game. Maybe a shooter?

Man, that spinner looks fantastic, thanks for sharing!

I believe Schwaben-Park has one of those weird powered alpine slides.

Nice to hear your thoughts on all these parks, really sad I missed out.

[herman116]

Nice report! Toverland is still pretty small but it's the fastest growing themepark in the Netherlands.

Connor_The_Colossus wrote:

What does the park need? It???s time for Toverland to step into the dark ride game. Maybe a shooter?

They already got that covered for a bit! Inside the first hall is the Toverhuis (magic house) which is a walkthrough with a magic wand that you can point at things to make them move. It's the house on the right of the lifthill of this picture: https://www.coastercrazy.com/forums/download/file.php?id=13637&mode=view It is pretty small though so you didn't miss much.

Also with the expansion of the B&M, they also open a boat ride which is partly a normal boat ride on the lake and partly an indoor darkride. They probably open a few extra rides but those probably won't be that big.

Phantasialand, August 9-10

The epistemological dichotomy of infinite expectations versus the finite, experiential reality of roller coasters. Perhaps you???ve heard of it. No? Well it was first thought up by either myself or Carl Jung. You know, somebody like that. Here???s how it works: A new coaster by Intamin, RMC, Mack, or Gravity Group is announced somewhere in the world, thousands of miles from where you live. You estimate your chances of riding it in the near future are low, so you follow construction updates habitually, maybe even design your interpretation of it in NoLimits, and then eventually, the ride opens. You spend the following months/years watching POVs and reading reviews captured and written by those more fortunate than yourself. From your experience as a well-traveled coaster enthusiast to one degree or another, you???re able to generate what should be a realistic mental facsimile of the ride. You might even spend time thinking about where it might fall on your top 10 list and how you???ll have to justify ranking it above or below others, all before you???ve even ridden it. As long as no evidence to the contrary is found, this expectation for all intents and purposes becomes the coaster to you.

Then one day, circumstances align just right and you finally ride it??? and everything changes. It isn???t what you expected, it???s all different and not necessarily in a good way, you don???t know what just happened, and what does life really mean anyway and why do you care so much about this stupid hobby??? But then something else happens. You soldier on, stubbornly re-riding, and by your fourth or fifth ride on it, you begin to understand the coaster???s true nature. The expectation???s place in your mind is gradually eroded and overtaken by the reality, one cross-tie at a time. Now the coaster is something else to you and you learn how to appreciate it. It might still be good, though a little worse than hoped for, or maybe it's actually better. But it is not and will never again be that old expectation. Never has this process been clearer to me than with Taron.

Phantasialand was the one park on the trip that I felt genuinely sad to leave. I guess that makes it my favorite. I like to think I???m a more logical person than that. Apparently not. This says a lot too, because the Phantasialand of 2017 is caught in a weird growth phase. Newer parts of it tell the story of a place actively becoming the bolder, ballsier alternative to Europa Park with bigger thrills and more spectacular theming. These parts are let down by older stuff (the rides in China, Temple of the Nighthawk, the Hollywood Tour I didn???t even ride) that looks downright embarrassing next to the new stuff. You also have Mystery Castle, which has promise but sits somewhere in between. Even an epic ride like Chiapas gives me pause when I see how much graffiti has built up in the queue line. Does the park periodically remove this? Or is it a sign that one day, Chiapas too will join the likes of rides in states of disrepair like the awful Geister Rikscha? Fortunately, with the awesome-looking Rookburgh only a year away, Phantasialand at least seems to be serious about gutting all of the subpar old stuff and building a park that???s world-class top to bottom. I just hope they take care of it.

This place already has the makings of a great multi-day destination. The park is worthy of two full days as it is now and it has the perfect pair of on-site hotels to complement it. The resort-like Ling Bao with its gardens, spa, and pool was impressive when I looked around. Matamba, where several of us stayed, is nearly as nice at a slightly lower price point.

The entrance to Hotel Matamba.

Our suite is advertised as sleeping up to six. It's snug, but you can do it, though we only had four. King bed and two bunks visible here, and a queen bed tucked away to the left of the shot.

Nice bathroom.

The hidden queen.

Front desk and lobby bar, where it takes fifteen minutes and you must ask three times to get a beer.

Included breakfast was pretty good if not as good as at Europa.

View from the hotel courtyard. Our room unfortunately did not have a Black Mamba view.

Walking up to Ling Bao.

Park entrance is a short walk from Hotel Matamba.

Reviews:

Taron ??? I thought this would be a world-beater. It honestly looked like a super-highly themed counterpart to Intamins like Maverick or Intimidator 305 with the same kind of snappy, gut-wrenching transitions and big moments of ejector air. Nothing I had seen or heard in the year since it opened told me otherwise. But that is not Taron. Not at all. ???What was that? Cheetah Hunt?????? I recall thinking after my first ride on it (Cheetah Hunt is a fine ride I really like, but it has no pretensions of being extreme). The launch and initial upward climb were forceful and the first airtime hill was pretty good, but from that point on until the second launch it felt like it was running at 80-90% speed and at some points even felt??? gentle. I think everyone in the group felt at least a little perplexed once we got off, though I kept the sheer extent of my disappointment to myself. Despite my first impression, I felt like I was getting used to it and slowly learning how to appreciate it by my third and final ride on day 1. But then an early morning row 2 ride on the second day left me feeling disappointed again. The next time around we fought with the ride op assigning rows (they don???t crumble when you stand up to them like the teenage ops in America) and I finally got a back seat ride. It was definitely better. I think riding Taron 8 times over 2 days gave me enough experience with it to see it and thoroughly enjoy it for what it is. Taron is like the intensity halfway-point between Cheetah Hunt and Maverick with better theming than both of them put together. Klugheim is without a doubt the most detailed and immersive themed setting for any coaster on the planet and Taron must be enjoyed within the context of its environment. It's very thrilling, just not in the same way as something that must stand out and wow people on a flat field like I305. It will never be the intensity monster I spent over a year mentally building it up to be, and by the end that was okay. I even decided it was worthy of a spot in my steel top 10 (rankings forthcoming), just not as high as expected. 9/10

These guys ruin any chance of an airtime finale.

Black Mamba ??? I???ve been on 14 unique B&M inverts and Black Mamba is now my fourth favorite (third with Dueling Dragons' imminent closure). I thought everything about it was great and even wondered if it was better than Taron a few times. This coaster???s experience is made by its surroundings to an even greater degree than its neighbor. Front row or side seat rides create a cascade of visuals unlike anything I???ve seen before. But that doesn???t mean the layout can???t stand on its own. Black Mamba pulls plenty of strong positives throughout the course and I really enjoyed an inverted layout that relies so heavily on non-inverting elements. Helixes and tight upward/downward spirals are always highlights when B&M decides to include them and Black Mamba has a ton. The most surprising part was the first drop. Black Mamba isn???t known for it at all and I thought it was one of the best parts of the ride, delivering a nice, snappy kick like those on Raptor, Afterburn, and Flight Deck. My favorite seat was back left, for visuals and prime location to get the most out of the first drop. 9/10

"See that part there? That's the exact point where Black Mamba becomes inferior to Nemesis!"

Colorado Adventure ??? Best mine train ever? That???s a tough one but I honestly think it might be, though I can make good cases for both Thunderation and Big Thunder Mountain. Colorado is definitely the most thrilling, especially in a pitch black indoor section that almost tries to buck you out of the train with some mid-helix airtime! Like many mine trains, it???s also a long ride, though unlike most of those it doesn???t waste much of that length. What it needs is a new queue line and entrance. You can hardly find the thing. 8/10

Winjas ??? As I mentioned in my Dwervelwind review, I had the toughest time making spinning coasters spin on this trip. We rode both sides of Winjas the first day and neither Fear or Force spun more than a couple rotations each the whole ride. So while acknowledging the presentation of the attraction as great, I didn???t like the actual on-ride experience much. That changed on day two when we gave up trying to purposely off-balance the cars. Sure enough, Winjas spun plenty and I enjoyed them much, much more. I don???t remember the difference between the two sides very well other than that Force banked to the side on the incline drop track near the end and Fear did not, and I think Fear may have had a pair of larger drops to start the layout as well. If memory serves me right, Fear was my favorite. Between these and Colorado Adventure, Phantasialand has two great coasters perfectly suitable for families that are also thrilling enough for enthusiasts. 7/10

Raik ??? This was my first Vekoma family boomerang and I thought it was pretty good for what it is. No deeper analysis to give besides wishing they would pull the train up the second tower as the standard program and not just a cold weather feature when it needs to regain more momentum. 5/10

Temple of the Nighthawk ??? It obviously needs to go, but it wasn???t that bad. I honestly expected far worse and I don???t think people would criticize it so harshly if it had a soundtrack and some lighting effects inside to break up the monotonous darkness. Really, it doesn???t suck that bad! 4.5/10

Chiapas ??? This is not only the best water ride I???ve ever done, but I???d take it over three quarters of the coasters on this trip. It really is the perfect modern flume ride: long, well-themed, a fun backwards section, and of course the premier drop on any flume worldwide. Cedar Point needs to buy this ride system to replace Shoot the Rapids. One of these would be perfect there. I still listen to the IMAscore Chiapas soundtrack almost daily! 9/10

Other rides I liked: Talocan (#1 permanent installation flat ride), Maus Au Chocolate

Rides I did not like: Feng Ju Palace, Geister Rikscha, Mystery Castle (so much potential though)

Things I cared about but missed: River Quest

What does the park need? A revamped Geister Rikscha. The theme is great: an ancient Chinese themed ghost train. It's an idea that never would have crossed my mind and certainly won???t be copied anywhere else. Keep the concept, gut the ride system, and rebuild it as a first-rate, modern dark ride. A scary Symbolica.

What struck me is that although Phantasialand manages to combine great thrills with phenomenal theming, there was little in the way of quality family rides. The indoor family-oriented rides are all quite bad (perhaps with the exception of Maus Au Chocolate, which I missed sadly) - although I definitely won't complain about F.L.Y. becoming the next Taron or Black Mamba I really hope Phantasialand will start investing in family rides again.

This park instantly became my personal favourite, but I wouldn't recommend my family to go there.

[Paradox]

Well after talking to a few German people it seems the Chinese area is up for a major refurb soon including the complete rebuilding of Geister Ricksha.

Shame your thoughts about Taron - what really kills coasters for any enthusiast is high expectations. Great to hear about your trip though!

Paradox wrote:

Well after talking to a few German people it seems the Chinese area is up for a major refurb soon including the complete rebuilding of Geister Ricksha.

Sweet.

[Dirk_Ermen]

Fantastic review so far of the entire trip!

(Cassandra's curse @ Europa park is btw a Mack madhouse. ~_^ )

Movie Park Germany, August 11

Okay, so this somehow actually marks draft 3 of my attempts to write the MPG segment of my TR. The first try came across so overtly negative I didn???t feel right posting it. So I had a couple beers and tried again, but that merely preserved the negativity and added a bunch of cringe-worthy jokes, so I didn???t feel right posting it. I honestly don???t like writing long trip reports just to rip on a park, especially one I???ve only visited once, but it???s hard with this one because I kind of feel that MPG basically sucks. So don???t expect the same degree of insight and analysis with this one.

Movie Park was the only park on the trip that I literally did not care about at all going into it. I know some people were really looking forward to Star Trek, but I saw that clunker coming a mile way, and even though I only rode it once, I feel like my opinion was vindicated by the general ???meh??? next??? sentiment among the group after riding it.

Movie Park looks nice from a distance, but is betrayed in the details.

There???s one piece of theming (if you want to call it that) which acts as a microcosm for MPG as a whole, and that is a giant Spider Man 3 poster displayed near MP Express. Spider Man 3 came out in 2007. Movie posters that out-of-date are acceptable as theme park props if (A) the park has a ride themed to said movie, or (B) it???s from an even older movie clearly representative of another era as part of a larger theme, as in Universal or Disney Parks. Here it???s clear MPG simply put the poster up ten years ago, then let it fade in the sun and never replaced with anything more relevant. So when looking at things like that as well as the molding, decaying foam rockwork on Bermuda Triangle: Alien Encounter and the general cheapness of the Federation Plaza area around Star Trek, I???m left feeling like the park simply does not have the know-how or resources to match their ambition.

No one had a whole lot of interest in this top spin after Phantasialand's Talocan.

It would be dishonest of me to not add the disclaimer that we only spent half a day here and did not ride any of the water or dark rides. But I???ve watched enough online content to familiarize myself with all that we missed and I really don???t think rides like Mystery River or Time Riders would have changed my opinion. Our group left early primarily because we all were eager to get to Cranger Kirmes, but not a single person expressed any interest in staying longer to ride anything else. So while my opinion might be harsh, I was certainly not alone in being underwhelmed by the place.

I once thought Knott's Berry Farm had too many family coasters. Then I went to Movie Park.

It's definitely the most complete section of the park.

In a way, Backyardigans has the most authentic theming of any ride at Movie Park. I bet the real Martian soil looks a lot like this.

Jimmy Neutron's Atomic Flyer was decent. I really need to get on Kvasten, Orkanen, or one of the better ones.

None of this is to say that we did not in fact have a good time at MPG, because we certainly did! Piling into the kiddie coasters and not taking ourselves seriously at all was pretty fun and I think everyone enjoyed the flat rides. High Fall is one of the best drop towers I???ve been on and the program they run on Side Kick, their Huss Frisbee, is insanely long, intense, and good. But despite the highlights, Movie Park is the only one on the trip I have no desire to revisit. It will take nothing short of RMC Bandit to bring me back.

There was an attraction in here. We did not ride it. With this, I was okay.

My fondest memory of Movie Park is the view of the nuclear power plant sprouting up out of the forest you get from High Fall. You start rising, then out of nowhere there's these huge cooling towers. Awesome.

I live pretty close to the real Santa Monica Pier. This pic made for a self-satisfying Facebook post.

This Disk'o was loud, rough, and kind of weird. The frisbee behind it on the other hand, changed my conception of what the standard model frisbees are capable of. It was better than any giant frisbee I've ever ridden.

Reviews:

Star Trek: Operation Enterprise ??? I thought this would be a dud once construction was half-way through and to this day I still don???t understand why so many people expected otherwise. With Blue Fire, and even Helix depending on who you talk to, let???s just say Mack megacoasters are not exactly known for being melt-your-face-off, Skyrush-on-a-rainy-summer-night intense. Knowing this, seeing that this coaster began with one of those lazy, forwards-backwards-forwards ???launches,??? and watching how slowly the train traversed the course in POVs, I thought my chances of coming away impressed with Star Trek were, at best, slim. It fulfilled my expectations perfectly. As I said before, we only rode this coaster once. I really don???t like trashing a coaster on such a limited sample size, but it???s all I can do. Our host for early entry no-showed, robbing us of another couple of rides we could have had on it before the crowds rolled in. By the time we knocked out the rest of the credits, the wait time for Trek looked to be around 45 minutes and none of us were interested in waiting.

I know I went on and on about how I was underwhelmed by Taron at first, then eventually came to really like it, but this is different. With Taron, I expected ???world class??? and only got ???pretty damn good.??? With Star Trek it was more ???mediocre??? and then ???yep, mediocre.??? That???s a lot tougher to come back from. I rode in the back seat which is usually my preference, so the reverse spike was fun and there was a nice yank coming out of the first hill. Otherwise it just felt slow and awkwardly paced. This coaster feels like giving a moderately fast car to a 15 year old on the first day of his learner???s permit. He can drive it, but nothing about the experience feels the way it???s supposed to. It???s like, ???Trekkkkkk??? Stop trying to give me airtime, you???re not doing it right!??? Intensity isn???t everything, I get that. But intensity plus pacing and airtime is almost everything and at least for me, Star Trek doesn???t have it. 6/10

One way I occasionally measure coasters is to ask myself if I would trade Silver Bullet at Knott's for it. I often say yes. With Star Trek, I said no.

Thought experiment: Pretend you're going the other direction and you're on Storm Runner. Now have fun.

Van Helsing???s Factory ??? Movie Park???s star attraction??? the second best Gerstlauer bobsled of the trip! This one was actually pretty fun. We rode it twice but my memory of the layout isn???t great. The theming elements still working are very effective and there are plenty of laterals, directional changes, and quick pops of air to make it interesting, and the queue line is just as entertaining as the ride itself. I???d still take G???sengte Sau over it. 7/10

This is not the show building for Van Helsing's Factory.

Bandit ??? Not terrible! I honestly expected much worse. Not that it???s actually good, just that it wasn???t as bad as some of the truly rough wooden coasters of yesteryear like Son of Beast, Psyclone, and the original Rattler. Supposedly Bandit used to be right at home with those guys, but MPG has taken an interest in retracking parts of it recently and it shows. None of the layout is thrilling and some of it feels pretty slow, but there was only one section towards the end that actually tried to kill us, so that???s good. 5/10

Wit the quantity of theming around Bandit, you could easily think it's a real marquee coaster.

This is where it goes from boring to trying to kill you.

First RMC i-box in Europe? Come on Movie Park, you can do it....

MP-Express ??? The rougher of the two SLCs on the trip. No real redeeming qualities to this one. It was actually kind of funny because I think most of us went in with the assumption that this was one of the better SLCs. I group my SLCs thus far into three categories. ???Worth reriding if short or no wait??? ??? Thunderhawk (Geuaga Lake/MA), Mind Eraser (SFNE), Limit. ???Okay, but probably never again??? ??? Batman: The Ride (Six Flags Mexico). And ???OMG please make it stop!??? ??? ???Kong, MP-Express. 3/10

This coaster is just perfect for Movie Park on so many levels.

The amount of European coasters with muted colors is amazing. You just don't see it in America. Some times the brightest colors aren't always the best choice. The coasters at Heide Park do the muted thing well. MP-Express does not.

I???m not going to review the family coasters. It???s a good lineup for kids, so they???ve done their job.

Other rides I liked: High Fall, Side Kick, Pier Patrol

Rides I did not like: Crazy Surfer

Things I cared about but missed: Bermuda Triangle Alien Encounter

What does the park need? Man, where to begin??? Let???s start with RMC Bandit.

[mkingy]

Nice report yet again

I think the jackhammering on that hill should be listed down as a feature, it was that prominent!

[Paradox]

All Star Trek needs to do is launch a bit faster but anything that costs extra money is probably not welcome by the park.

[Dirk_Ermen]

I stand beside you on that review. Moviepark is alright on park and it's finally slowly crawling from the pit it was tossed in, after Six Flags left. Imo a good way on improving this ride would be adding actual LIM's on the transfer section as well. Giving that initial zero to 'OMG, we're launching' kick. Then tweak the launch speed about 4-5km/u faster and the overall ride should improve drastically.

Heide Park, August 12

2017 is the year I lost my Merlin Entertainment virginity. And as with the real thing, losing your corporate-specific theme park virginity has the potential to be bittersweet. That???s how Heide Park felt, walking around in the rain, riding a bunch of average-to-good-but-not-great coasters while trying to shut the image of the massive, Intamin wooden monster across the park out of my mind. For those who don???t know, Heide Park???s Merlin overlords have demonstrated the highest degree of incompetence by basically mothballing Colossos because they couldn???t (or chose not to) do the requisite preventative maintenance over the past few years ??? on a coaster purpose built to be more easily maintainable than the average wooden coaster. My first experience at a Merlin Park told me all I needed to know about why European enthusiasts despise it before I even entered the gates.

As much as I hated Colossos being down, of the three big Intamins on the trip, I'm glad it wasn't Expedition GeForce or Taron.

A legit top 10 caliber wooden coaster felt like all that was missing from the tour.

But once inside, I found that Heide Park itself is actually pretty hard to despise even if the same can???t be said for its parent company. Several rides exceeded my expectations and the landscaping and picturesque views around the lake give Heide a richer atmosphere than you might expect. It???s obviously no Europa Park or Phantasialand. Few parks are. Instead, Heide Park feels part Sea World Orlando and part Six Flags Over Texas, with maybe a dash of Efteling buried deep inside, but slowly rotting away. The scale and ambiance is more than a little Sea World-like, especially with the central lake, and the variety of coasters nestled in their own habitats felt a kind of like the original (and still possibly nicest) Six Flags park. The scale of the park nears Efteling levels, though Heide is easier to navigate. Overall I feel if we had visited on a sunny day with an operating Colossos and less downtime on other rides, I would have thought Heide was a pretty good park. It still can be ??? if Merlin pulls themselves together and restore Colossos to its rightful place. But that???s a big if.

Big Loop was closed too. And that???s a shame because when you luck out and find one of these Arrow or Vekoma loop-screws that runs well, it feels like a real accomplishment.

"Nothing to see here, folks, just some light welding."

I had hoped to compare this with Efteling's Python. Didn't get the opportunity.

I wonder how much of what I liked about Heide Park is made up of remnants from previous owners. The park was privately owned until 2002 and Merlin acquired it with all of Tussauds??? assets in 2007. Merlin has at least done an okay job of investing in new rides with Krake, Flug der Daemonen, and Ghostbusters being commissioned during their ownership. The presentation of all three is first rate, but they???re also somewhat of a step down in sheer impact from what I imagine Colossos must have been like. Unfortunately, even from my limited experience, Heide feels like a park on the decline rather than on the rise. From reading coaster sites, that???s the impression I get of most Merlin parks. I hope I???m wrong.

All that's stopping this from being a really nice park is bad ownership.

Scream is much taller than High Fall, but I thought had less airtime.

Reviews:

Krake ??? The other sleeper hit on the trip after Silver Star. Confession???I don???t like dive coasters as much as most enthusiasts do. I enjoy the pacing and sense of embarking on a journey that coasters with long, full layouts provide and dive coasters are usually too short to do that. That???s why the two Busch Gardens divers are my least preferred B&Ms at both parks. They???re still good (especially Sheikra), but they give me less of what I want than other looping coaster styles. So imagine my surprise when Krake became one of my favorites on the trip! Now that doesn???t put it up there with Expedition GeForce and Karnan or anything, but out of the 57 new credits I rode, I???d rank Krake in the top 10. The layout only has three elements, but each one delivers perfectly. The first 134 foot first drop isn???t the tallest, but it was long enough to not feel appreciably shorter than Sheikra and it gave the same great airtime-lurch off the holding brake. Now the immelman??? I thought that inversion was just perfect. It???s a little snappier than on the other divers and for some reason it felt like there was just something extra to it. I think it???s because B&M had this one roll left out of the half-loop, but where other immelmans would exit the same direction, Krake???s actually exits on the right. So there???s a little more rotation than usual and the whole element is skewed differently. You can clearly see it in this picture:

All that???s left after that is a straight camelback and a slight right turn into the brakes. B&M ???airtime??? hills on their looping coasters are usually jokes because they???re just large and parabolic enough to produce no airtime at all. But not Krake???s. There???s no ejector, but what I did get was some of the purest, zero-g floater air I???ve ever felt over the whole curve of the parabola. It lasts a really long time. So yes, Krake is short, but every foot of track after the lift is bliss. I went on my own to Efteling after the group tour and as much as I was hyped for Baron 1898, I thought Krake was better. 8/10

You'll float too... You'll float too... YOU'LL FLOAT TOOOOOOOO!!!

The pirate galleon wasn't always there. Krake looks naked without it in old pics.

You don't even miss Sheikra's extra 70 feet when you have this waiting for you at the bottom.

Flug der Daemonen ??? I didn???t like this one nearly as much. The aspect that still stands out to me most is how it???s actually built over some fairly complicated terrain. You???d never know from pictures and videos, but the ground beneath this coaster is not even close to flat. Normally this would be a great thing, but here it just means that Flug is a lot more interesting to watch than ride. Unlike Krake, this is very much your stereotypical, overdesigned, force-neutered B&M. The highlight for me was the airtime hill between the first and second inversions. It???s not as good as Krake???s, but at least you take it fast enough to feel something. The rest of Flug is just too slow to matter. The weakest of the four B&M wing coasters I???ve ridden. 6/10.

Flug has a good layout, so I had moderate hopes for it. It wasn't too much of a letdown, just a little.

Thunderbird remains the only wingrider I particularly like. I don't think it's one of B&M's better concepts.

If you surround them with enough greenery, white coasters can look very nice. Try telling that to SF or Cedar Fair

Desert Race ??? What a waste. All that land and they decide to blow it on a Rita clone. Intamin accelerators are usually among the best coaster types out there, but this layout just doesn???t allow it to do anything. The eyeball test suggests there should be two solid moments of ejector airtime. None to be found. You could also easily be fooled into expecting some nice positives in the ground hugging turns. Nope. At least the hydraulic launch is good, though it???s not even Storm Runner intense, much less Xcelerator or TTD. 5/10

I'll take a tophat, a Norwegian loop, and some heartline rolls, please.

I feel very immersed, don't you?

Limit ??? Ahaaa! One of the good SLC???s! I really enjoyed this one. It runs fast and relatively smooth. I???d have given it a re-ride it wasn???t raining and I had stayed in the park longer. What???s remarkable is that this SLC manages to be good and it hasn???t even had any track or trains replaced. The single most amusing feature is the Mig-21 fighter perched on the station roof. For who knows what reason they painted it in United States Air Force colors even though it???s a Soviet design that the USAF only obtained a couple of back in the 1970s-80s through backroom dealings with third party air forces so they could take them apart and test them for adversary training. Could you imagine if that was actually Limit???s theme? OMG that would be the most convoluted and greatest thing ever. This particular Mig-21 looks like a 2-seater, probably dumped by the Luftwaffe following reunification with the East German air force in the early 1990s. 7/10 (+0.5 for the Mig)

The variability between SLCs is astounding for being a bunch of clones.

Still runs old-style SLC trains, still runs smooth.

Bobbahn ??? The biggest, longest, and best bobsled I???ve ever ridden. This one is a lot newer than most of the others too, having opened as recently as 1994. Only Trace du Hourra at Parc Asterix is newer. I haven???t ridden that one yet, so from what I can see, Bobbahn is where Mack realized the full potential of the bobsled concept. It???s around twice as long as the others (though a chunk of that is the lift hill back to the station) and it???s substantially more thrilling. It rides a little rougher than Europa Park???s, but it wasn???t a problem. And who doesn???t love an underground helix? 6/10

Bobbahn dethrones Ninja for most annoying end-layout lifthill.

I always assumed Heide Park was flat. It really isn't.

Grottenblitz ??? This one was just fun enough to not feel like a waste. It lacks all of Europa Park???s Alpenexperess Enzian???s theming though, so it was a one-and-done kind of ride. I still prefer these Mack powered coasters to most of the kiddie and small family coasters out there. 4/10

Other rides I liked: Scream, Ghostbusters 5D, Panorama

Rides I did not like: N/A

Rides I cared about but missed: Colossos???????????? Big Loop, Wildwasserbahn, Mountain Rafting

What does the park need? A Mack hyper coaster. Not that Merlin would build one or anything.