Canobie Coaster

Heide Park Here's Colossos- Kampf der Giganten's new sign and theming. Limit Roller is just called Limit and I think Schweizer Bobbahn is just called Bobbahn now according to the website. I think Drachengrotte is a renovated Kanalfahrt. I think Kapt'ns Torn is a renovated/renamed Grachtenfahrt. Hochbahn was renamed Monorail. Minor Monorail was renamed Panoramabahn. Here are some missing rides and signs. Flossfahrt Flossfahrt Ghostbusters 5D Ghostbusters 5D Heide Park Express Heide Park Express Himmelssturmer Nostalgiekarussell Panoramaturm Sign Wolkenspringer Heide Park has also removed a ton of rides. These include: - Aqua Spin - Condor - El Sol - Hully Gully - Huracan - Koggenfahrt - Lady Moon - Monza Rennshecke - Okti/Riesenkrake (I think these two are the same ride. Either way it's gone) - Rainbow - Wildwasserbahn II

^ Thanks for clarifying. I remember Apocalypse being fantastic back in 2014, but it was brutal when I rode it a few years later. Based on the recent accounts, it sounds like it's running like 2014 again. My 2014 rides were honestly better than Gold Striker.

Even if Oktoberfest's ride lineup remained stagnant, there is plenty there to make it worthwhile. I vaguely remember seeing a spinning wild mouse with a launched lift on the fair circuit this year. Maybe that was Oktoberfest?

It was no Oktoberfest, but anytime I can get flats run by German carnies, I'm definitely interested.

How exactly does a urinal interactive video game work? Great report!

Thanks! Once you go to a European fair, you can never look at a US fair the same way.

^ Thanks! That makes sense with the ride's story.

This park has always looked long and hard at my digital camera, but they've always allowed it into the park. The only issue I've had with photography was being told not to take pictures of a ride under construction by a security guard. I didn't climb a fence or anything. I just took a picture from a midway and was told, "There is a fence there. Can't you see we don't want you taking a photo of that?"

yah, we TRIED to scream high pitch. . but couldn't quite get it high enough (wasn't about to squeeze anything to achieve higher. . ). No breathalyzer, just the question on the Enterprise. . but what a great story it would have made if we were asked to blow before being crammed into that coaster! as to the haunt with the candle - if it *was* still there, I didn't experience it. Was it over across the water, in the "town" section? it looked like there were quite a few walkthru attractions there that we bypassed (other than the ice house). so would think it might be in that section. the only "haunt" we did was the dark ride in the cage. Yes the candle haunt was on the town side. I think it was called Dr. Edgar's. It was just ok, but the candle thing was really bizarre. But not as bizarre as a breathalyzer before riding a coaster.

^ Thanks! I'll be sure to call on the day we're planning to go to check.

I personally like the one with all the hills lined up on Toro best, but they're all great!

Thanks for the report! I'm glad you guys got vouchers to return when everything is up and running. You're not the first person I've heard get those vouchers.

Great report! The key to that flume is having a high pitched shriek. I think it got us a score above 700. When we went at night last year, we had to pass a breathalyzer before being allowed to board Diving Coaster. I can't say I've ever had that happen anywhere else, so I'm not surprised they'd ask before you board the Enterprise. Did they still have that weird haunt where they give you an LED candle and measure your fear by how much it shakes?

Does anyone know what time the fried chicken restaurant typically stays open until if the park closes at 6? I couldn't find hours on the Knott's site, but Google says 9 which is reasonable for a restaurant.

Has Sandy's still not started testing? It sounds like the Halfpipe has been seen testing and Slime Streak was open at one point.

^ Yes my bad. It was the DOM fair. Hamburg HOF was my hotel (which was a good hotel with a water slide).

Hamburg DOM After an overnight train and a full day at Hansa Park, I was ready to crash. My bed was calling my name. However, a crazy European funfair called my name louder. My base for Hansa Park and Heide Park was downtown Hamburg. And the Hamburg DOM funfair just happened to be less than 2 miles from my hotel. It would have been criminal not to go. I could have admired the sights. But instead I went to a crazy European funfair. It was where the action was. I had no clue what the ride lineup would be. I sort of expected a lot of coasters and flats to overlap with Oktoberfest’s lineup. Much to my shock, basically every ride was different. The only ride I noticed from Oktoberfest was the weird multi-story Rotor with the funhouse queue. The biggest coaster was the Rock & Roller Coaster not starring Aerosmith. Instead of being a cool Vekoma launcher in the dark, this one was a Schwarzkopf wildcat with some light theming around it. This supersized galaxi was great for a fair coaster. The second and third drops had quick pops of air and it was immaculately smooth. The only rough part was a borderline violent stop at the end. Brace yourself for that! 5 out of 10 These galaxi coasters always look more imposing at a fair. Rock and Roller Coaster felt incomplete without Aerosmith. The other major coaster was Crazy Mouse. Since I got a solo ride, my car spun like a top in the second half. The other cool thing about this ride was that they had complimentary lockers adjacent to it. I’ve never seen that at a fair before. 5 out of 10 I never thought I’d find a wacky worm better than the one at Nigloland. What could be better than a wacky worm that gives ejector airtime? Well I may have found one. If you take a wacky worm and add animatronics, smoke, and water, you have officially piqued my interest. And that’s exactly what Kuddel Der Hai did. And it also plays the SpongeBob SquarePants theme as you crawl around the course. 4 out of 10 It may look like an ordinary wacky worm. But just look at all that theming! There was also a debatable fourth credit in Spuk. This was a gravity driven haunted house with a sizable spiral lift and multiple drops. Honestly, this is more of a coaster than Black Diamond or Conneaut’s Devil’s Den. One of the hills even had a tiny pop of air. But the highlight was the scare effects. The props themselves were relatively cheap looking, but the timing was impeccable. Jump scares were lined up perfectly with the coaster drops to give this haunt a unique flavor. And it gets major points for almost making me crap my pants. 9 out of 10 SPOILER As you round the corner, I thought there was one last animatronic. Except this was a real dude. Not only that, but he swung a rubber axe into my throat. WTF?! I’ve been touched before on haunts, but I’ve never had someone go for my jugular. It's the things that would never fly in America that make Europe special. END SPOILER This drop is 100% gravity powered. Credit whores can rejoice. Since one effed up haunt wasn’t enough, there was also this multi-story shooter that begins with an elevator lift. The props and targets on Geister were bare bones; however, it had some unique things that made it memorable. For one, it has some drops. They’re 100% powered, but there were targets during this drop that were a real challenge to hit. Second, there were multiple jump scares. When you’re busy focusing on targets, you really let your guard down so cheap carnival effects suddenly become effective. And like Spuk, this one also has a surprise finale. 7 out of 10 SPOILER Just when you think the ride is over, the car actually moves on a motion base. A zombie then “attacks” you and you rise into the air and shake around a bit. It wasn’t thrilling, but I guarantee you’ll be laughing at the randomness of it. END SPOILER I think the elevator lift was scarier than the zombies. Off-ride, the grandest dark ride appears to be Dr. Archibald Master of Time. The multistory building is absolute eye-candy. You’d think a ride that puts that much effort into the facade would have some detailed sets on the inside. Except there’s one problem, Dr. Archibald is a VR dark ride. Rather than trying to scare you, this VR was to transport you to different fantasy worlds. It was definitely novel, but the overly cartoonish scenes just weren’t immersive enough for me. Honestly, the coolest part was how the unload station matched the final scene from the VR. 5 out of 10 What a facade! Happy Family was a disorienting fun house. I lost count how many shaking, spinning, rolling, bouncing, and sliding platforms there were. All I know is that my legs felt like jelly afterwards and I couldn’t walk straight. There was also a super tall and fast spiral slide for good measure. 8 out of 10 I'm glad Mario, Angry Birds, and Despicable Me could come together to form one big happy family. Crazy Island was the lesser of the two fun houses. Not all the indoor effects worked, but the outdoor section is where it got interesting. There are all sorts of platforms above a pool. There are also a series of sprayers. If you lose your balance, you will fall in the water. If you mistime your journey, you’ll get blasted. And if you somehow manage to stay dry, don’t worry. The last platform sinks into the pool anyway. 5 out of 10 It may look like an innocent fun house. But it has a very unacceptable amount of wetness. And of course the fair was filled with insane flats. It’s a toss-up what was crazier- the Huss Breakdance or the Mondial Shake. I never rode the famed Break Dance at Coney Island, but I find it hard-pressed that thing could top Dancer. To start, it had a ridiculously long cycle. The cycle lasted two FULL songs! Even if it ran like crap, that alone would make it notable. But it didn’t run like crap. This thing was insane. I never knew a break dance could be operated so fast. The Gs on the spinning combined with the violent whipping was pure bliss. I didn’t think it could get any faster, but the operator laughed maniacally and yelled, “Spin like a bee!” And somehow it got even faster. The Gs were so intense it pushed the skin back on my cheeks a la Top Thrill Dragster. 10 out of 10 People need to learn from German carnies how to run a flat. I loved Tik Tak at Tivoli Gardens. I thought it was the perfect flat. It was beautiful, had a super long cycle, and was wild. Shake isn’t a looker, but it has an insanely long cycle and an insanely wild ride. Tik Tak had violent rocking and long, drawn-out flips. Shake had the long, drawn-out flips, but instead of violent rocks, it did complete 360 flips in the blink of an eye. Combine that with a disorienting lighting package and you’re going to have no idea which way is up. 10 out of 10 If you give a German carny a ride capable of doing crazy flips, you can bet you're going upside down more times than you can count. Viva Mexico was a waltzer, which is basically a tilt-a-whirl on sterioids. And it had the potential to be one of the best spinning rides of all-time. There was just one problem. I don’t have boobs. During the ride, the operators ran around the platform manually spinning vehicles. Every so often they’d give me a token spin and the Gs were incredible. But most of their time was spent on the all-female cars. So if you want a great ride, I hope you’re female or willing to dress in drag. 8 out of 10 Note the dude spinning the cars himself. And since it was a German fair, there was of course beer and food. I feel like I committed a mortal sin skipping the beer, but I did indulge in food. I had a jumbo pretzel, some fluffy pofferjes, and a delicious unknown-meat sandwich. For those unfamiliar with a European fair, there’s no wristband. A different showman owns every ride. On one hand, that stinks because it can become costly. On the other hand, this is why every ride is run to the max. They need to make their ride more appealing than the competition! The Hamburg DOM isn’t a destination fair like Oktoberfest. However, it’s still a riot. The atmosphere is electric and you see plenty of things you’ll never get in America like vomit-inducing flats and crazy dark rides.

Thanks!

Looking back, it looks like 40 degrees is the start temperature for Fury. Does anyone know what Copperhead Strike needs? I'm guessing it may be lower if it runs for Winterfest.

I haven't been on a bad wing coaster yet and they're always crowd pleasers. While it may not have the uniqueness of Volcano, it would be a super reliable crowd pleaser.

I can confirm I rode Nitro with temperatures in the upper teens/low 20s last year. It was throwing an absolute fit though.

Here we go again. I don't care what the ride is classified as provided it's awesome. And it probably will going by Leviathan and Fury 325.

Great report! I didn't spend too much time at Tokyo Dome City last year, but I remember Thunder Dolphin's drop being wonderful. And that setting is super unique. I also love how the food you receive in Japan matches exactly what you see in the displays.

Ober Gatlinburg I know you typically don't list mountain resorts, but I saw Ober Gatlinburg in the park index with only the Alpine Slide listed. If you'd like the other rides, I have few other photos. Ski Mountain Coaster Ski Mountain Coaster Aerial Tramway Blue Cyclone Carousel

That hangtime on the loops is fantastic, especially with the lap bars.