robinschroder

Part 3 : Pützchens Markt : Barth Wilde Maus This Wild Mouse wasn't quite as good as the one at Düsseldorf Rheinkirmes - mainly because you don't get eaten by a cat on this one!

Part 2 : Pützchens Markt : Teststrecke at Sunset Time to ride Teststrecke (formerly Laser at Dorney Park, USA but now on the German fair circuit)!

Part 1 : London to Bonn In mid-September this year (2011) I made the trip by train from London to Hamburg. I stopped off in Bonn on the way as, conveniently, it was going to be the final night of the Pützchens Markt. Join me in part 1 as I travel from London - Brussels on the Eurostar, Brussels to Köln on the ICE, and then Köln to Bonn on the IC. Queen Elizabeth II Bridge from the Eurostar Happy Cat Pylon + Friend Always great to see the Happy Cat Pylons! The ICE at Bruzelles-Midi / Brussel-Zuid It's Liège!! This Belgian train doesn't quite seem real in this photo, even though it is in Liège. Back in Köln with time to go and look up at the Köln-thedral! Back at Köln Hauptbahnhof again!

It was a great mini-weekend and brilliant to see you all! I agree that it is absolutely the best time of year to visit Alton Towers! It was my first Scarefest - Nemesis in the day is amazing... but Nemesis in the dark at night is even better!

It was only a matter of time... I wonder if Maja's Biene-flug* (AKA 'Expedition GeForce') will be part of it? *I should note that Maja's Biene-flug is not an official rebrand... yet (!!) and is purely in my imagination! Paint black stripes across the already yellow trains, attach flower themeing either side of the airtime hills, invent a back-story about how you have to travel with Maja to fly and collect pollen...

Thanks for all the photos - looks like a good fair! We get Euro Coaster in London at Christmas time as part of Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland event. Earlier this year, I saw it go a bit wrong during morning testing - having restarted after an E-Stop, the blocks were all out of sync and some cars went slamming into each other on several of the block sections as they tried to get the ride back to normal. No-one was on the ride at the time, and needless to say, the ride went down for quite a while until they managed to reset it properly... It made an excellent sound each time the cars banged into each other, though!

I love Screaming Swings! So simple, yet so full of airtime! And great that they managed to incorporate a story.

What a great combination Mirabilandia have in Katun and iSpeed! Great Wacky Worm video, by the way! It also brought back memories of the extreme Wacky Worm at Gardaland. Italy + Wacky Worms = A winning combination

Love the terrain-worm!

Woah - de griezelbus really freaked me out!! Too often we only hear about the International Criminal Court in The Hague - nice to hear about The Hague for different reasons! Tot de volgende keer!

Not sure about any detail on Hotell Liseberg Heden's pass situation - you may have to contact them directly. A lot of English is spoken in Scandinavia, so you are unlikely to come up against any language problems. Their contact details are listed here: http://www.liseberg.com/en/home/Accommodation/Hotel/Hotell-Liseberg-Heden/About-us/ We recently stayed at Hotel Poseidon: http://www.hotelposeidon.com/en/ Whilst it's not directly next to the park (although neither is Liseberg Heden...), it is only a very short trip away by tram to Korsvägen, where you can get off and take a short walk to the park. Have a look and see if the prices are any good - we found it to be comparable to the cheapest prices at other Gothenburg hotels, but it was very nice. Have a good trip!

Hi Mark - can't offer any advice about New York / Orlando, but just wanted to wish you a fun trip! It was good to meet you on the Mini-Europe trip - maybe see you again some time!

^ The NoLimits recreation makes me quite excited for this ride! Looks like there's potential for some nice floaty bits as well as some forceful bits... we'll see!

Wunderland Kalkar was in the news today in the UK... Today some friends at work said - ah, Robin, I'm sure you've heard about the German theme park in an old nuclear powerstation that was in the paper today! To which I had to reply 'Er... no! But I'll find out more!' When I came and searched on TPR, I found your report Morgan! Here's the news article. Not particularly news-worthy apart from 'OMG there's a park in a nuclear powerstation in Germany!!!' P.S. Found this 'Starflyer-type ride' video online - quite a unique setup inside that tower!

Wooden Warrior looks as if it is as much fun as Gröna Lund's Twister! And I love that final picture!

^ ^ Olivier, great that you went to Cranger Kirmes! I was trying to convince some work colleagues that were in Bochum that they should go, but they let me down! It would be great to see some pictures! ^ The German fair scene is just incredible, isn't it? So many great rides travelling around so many great fairs! That's why I was so sad that my work colleagues didn't go to Herne (only 30 minutes away from where they were!).

Busch Gardens Williamsburg seems like such a picturesque park - I'd love to go there one day! Glad you and Hans had a fun time on your pre-trip!

Your photos of I305 against the sinister grey sky are amazing! Looking forward to seeing more pictures from your trip!

Glad you enjoyed the report, Benny and Ryan! According to the book "Germany's Rollercoasters / Deutschlands Achterbahnen" by Ralph Latotzki (which is very good despite a few curious English translations, although you can also read along in German), there have been 10 different Wild Mouse travelling coasters over the years, 6 of which are still touring the German fairs. There are also 3 Spinning Wild Mouse coasters on the German fair circuit too. There are also 5 different Wild Mouse type rides on the Dutch and Austrian circuits! The one with the cat is owned by Eberhard/Göbel and has been touring since 1994!

BONUS Liège Update! Now for the part of the update that you've all* been waiting for! It's the BONUS Liège update! Wow!! But before we get to the pictures, here are some top Liège facts!** FACT 1 : In Dutch, Liège is "Luik" and in German, Liège is "Lüttich"! FACT 2 : Until 1949, Liège was written "Liége"! FACT 3 : Liège has Belgium's third largest Population! FACT 4 : Studio 100 band, K3 take all of their holidays in Liège!*** FACT 5 : Liège is, perhaps, best known for having hosted the Winter Olympic Games!**** FACT 6 : Liège is the official launch site of the European Space Agency's Ariane Space Rocket!***** * None of you. This update confuses even me. ** 50% of these so-called facts are not factual at all *** ^ Like this one **** ^^ And this one ***** ^^^ And this one too So, in the last update, I was just about to travel from Köln to Brussels. Here I am on my way via an ICE train! We're about to make a stop... in Liège!!! Approaching Liège! This is now officially Liège! Pulling into Liège station! (Liège-Guillemins) This moving walkway takes you from the station into Liège! I have arrived in Liège! I'm now officially in Liège! You can see Liège over there! Er... right, time to get back on the train. We're now pulling out of the station away from Liège. Goodbye Liège. I hope that you have enjoyed this BONUS Liège update. This is now the end of the report. Senk you for trewelling with Deutsche Bahn, Goodbye.

^ You are most welcome, Mark! And a fantastic postbox report!

Part 8 - Köln / Cologne No coasters involved on this day - just a bit of sightseeing on Monday before my trains back to London via Brussels, but I'm sure you'd like to see Köln / Cologne, a city in Germany famous for its Cathedral. With that in mind, here is my Köln / Cologne update! Also - watch out, as there may be a Liège BONUS update! Wilkommen! There is not a more appropriate photo to show you of Köln than the famous railway bridge across the Rhein and the Köln-thedral in the background! "Keine Ahnung - Ich bin ein Pferd" "Und ich bin ein Mann - Weiß auch nicht!" The Köln-thedral a little bit closer in. Right the way along the pedestrian walkway of the bridge, people have attached padlocks, mostly to mark couples' love for each other... ...although some love bread-based characters... ...and coaster manufacturers! Time to climb up one the Köln-thedral spires... it's higher up than it may look! These are the world's second tallest spires! Looking out over the railway bridge and the Rhein. This is Europe's largest Gothic church. Ins Büro? Ins Büro. (Told you there were still more Tampert references to come!) It's Köln's Hauptbahnhof! This is a good station! This is a good train! Time to head towards Brussels, with a quick leap off and back on again at Liège! This is the pigeon I promised you when I wrote the caption for the Silver Pigeon at Movie Park Germany. I have so far kept all promises made in this update.

^ Those 'before' and 'after' photos on Fujiyama are great!

Continued... It's the Power Tower 2 drop ride - I recognise this from London's Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park! High Energy (and Olympia Looping hiding in the background!) Konga - I believe this was its premiere! There it goes to the other side! Ja. Ja, ja. Alpenwelt (with Alpina Bahn hiding behind, but seamlessly continuing the Alpine theme!) - I believe this was a collection of food outlets, from one of which Hans got some Currywurst. Golden Greats - these were some very high speed Bumper Cars! This Formula 1 car kept lapping all of the other ride vehicles. Now... Devils Rock! This looks to be one EVIL ride!!! You can begin to get an idea of how BRUTAL this thing is... ...We just stood in amazement and watched these poor people get slammed back and forth... ...at high speed... ...whilst spinning around. It seemed to go on FOREVER too - the sort of ride you go on, instantly regret, but then can't get off for about 10 minutes! This was also a lot of fun to watch... ...such a simple thing as a bit of wool roughly in the shape of a spider on the end of a fishing rod... ...was endlessly entertaining as it attacked the riders and also members of the public waiting to go in! I love the level of detail - the German fair scene is just something else! Uh oh! Here comes the 'spider' again! Interestingly, none of the ride vehicles seemed to be the same; some were cages, some were clam shells, some rode forwards, some rode sideways... I laughed a lot when I saw this as a fan of Electronic Music. Bearing in mind that we are in Düsseldorf, home to Kraftwerk and their Kling Klang studios... ...I wondered if maybe Florian Schneider, former member of Kraftwerk, has now set up his own travelling florist?! This sign is surely based on Ralf and Florian's early neon name signs that they used to take on stage! This gives you an idea of the crowds as we begin to head out of the fair. Finally, here's Wildwasser, a TRAVELLING log flume! And it's not just a basic log flume... ...it has multiple lifts and drops... ...not to mention amazing views over the fair... ...as well as a REVERSING TUNNEL SEGMENT??! This is surely more elaborate than some PERMANENT log flumes! I just can't believe it... ...look at how huge this ride is!!! Hans said that I should lie about this picture and say that this is the crane that they use to construct Olympia Looping. All I will say is, take a look at how close it is to the log flume... and you can draw your own conclusions! Ha ha A final overview of the Düsseldorf Rheinkirmes taken from a bridge that crosses the Rhein (in case you wondered how these and the log flume shots were taken) Hopefully these pictures have demonstrated that we had a mixture of thrill and great fun at the Rheinkirmes! Goodbye Alpina Bahn, Olympia Looping, ... and Goodbye Düsseldorf! Aufwiedersehen! Tschüß! One final update to come from Köln / Cologne...

Part 7 - Düsseldorf Rheinkirmes - Everything Else! OK - time for a final update from the Düsseldorf Rheinkirmes with all of the other rides! Bear in mind that this is Germany's 3rd largest fair, so there is a lot to see! Photos are (mostly) by Hans and (also) me. So, here we go - the first attraction we saw was Looping The Loop, whereby (mostly) children try to swing their cage so high that it rotates a full 360 degrees. The guys on the far right came really close, but didn't make it. There's a transportable pirate ship - plus you get an idea of how busy the fair is! First we must stop for some cash - as Anth said, it's ALL about the Geldautomat! Hi Anth! Told you there'd be another picture especially for you! Oops - sorry to all of TPR's Dutch readers; I've corrected it now. It's an official Star Flyer! The guys running this were most likely good friends with (or former colleagues of) the operator of the Lighthouse Tower at Holiday Park. Do exactly what they say, and you won't get shouted at! An additional level of thrill was introduced by the high winds! It was also great fun! A mixture of thrill and great fun. We're now just outside one of the many beer tents. Everyone's crowding in because there's a passing rain shower. Later on at night, I'm sure this place was heaving! Whilst we waited, we enjoyed a Dutch song. Chair swings against a temporarily ominous cloudy background. This looked pretty extreme - it revolved 360 degrees in both directions! I can't put into words how amazed I am that these German fairs replicate every ride that you'd normally find in a theme park! Here, for example is a Vintage Cars ride! Another of the many beer tents. Another rollercoaster credit! This is Göbel's Wilde Maus. It was actually really good - I'd say a mixture of thrill and great fun! We even got some airtime in completely unexpected places! And we also got eaten by a cat... despite making barking noises to try to scare it away. This was running really well! The Game in... 6D! Not 3, Not 4, Not 5, but 6 Dimensions! Riesenrad. Wie Freddy sagt. Time for TPR's favourite slide from Oktoberfest, Rutschbahn! It's Europe's tallest helter-skelter slide... ...but it also boasts a unique conveyor belt system getting people up to the top... ...with often hilarious results for those watching! Although the attendants are on hand to help if necessary! This guy gave a running commentary via his headset microphone, and they rang a bell every time it looked as if someone might be about to attempt the conveyor belt and fail...!