larrygator

^Because the location sucks.

For years Magic Mountain battled Cedar Point for the most coasters but I no longer percieve them as top dog in the chain. Outside of Chiller, I can't think of another popular coaster leaving SFGAdv. Viper and GASM popular? Unless all their riders were invisible I didn't see it. In recent years SFGAdv got El Toro, Kingda Ka and Dark Knight. Even if people want to quibble about Dark Knight it fills a need for a mid-size family coaster. Before I get to the other improvements you suggest, I think SFGAdv has made very impressive strides in park cleanliness and professionalism of the staff in recent times. Expanding the park - costs money and permits are needed. Much of the land SF owns is protected wetlands and the process to expand is not an easy one. More flats - costs money, but hopefully relief will arrive soon Saving old coasters - sometimes the upkeep costs are not worth it the save old rides. It costs money to staff and maintain. As long as the removed coasters are not popular it's not a problem, especially when replaced with newer coasters. Theming - you can't have everything unless everyone agrees to higher ticket prices to pay for it. But since we are on the topic. Golden Kingdom - one of the best themed areas of any park. Plaza de Carnavel doesn't look that bad (Alhtough it would be nicer if Tango ran and they left in Rodeo). They added one of the best themed Wild Mouse's and people poo-pooed all over it. It just very difficult to theme extreme coaster. Once people ride them a couple of times, the theming becomes an annoyance, delaying them from getting to the coaster quicker (I.e. : Terminator Salvation, Flight of Fear) With limited funds, I think SFGAdv is fighting and winning many of the correct battles.

This next update will be quick. After leaving Strasswalchen I took the train back to Salzburg Central Station and transferred to another train for a 20 ride to Hallein. I originally planned just to visit the Hallein Salt Mine, but upon further research two weeks before leaving for Europe I found a mountain coaster right near the Salt Mine, and a special combo tickets for both attractions. After departing the train a took a bus ride the Zinkelift, a ski area with a mountain coaster. I really love mountain coasters. After getting off the train in Hallein you need to take the 41 Bus. Request a stop at Zinkelift and you get to "Austria's longest summer roller coaster" A look up the mountain. It's a single tubular track. This sign and the warning pads did give me worries and I gently applied the brakes. Someone is going too slow. S-Curve My chariot Awesome view from the top of the mountain. I don't recall any written signs with rules, only these revolving billboards. NO TAILGATING! No driving with your head. Keep legs in the ride vehicle and don't use your cell phone. Don't stop or exit your vehicle and take pictures. This is not the Michael Jackson Thrill Coaster. Women may not use cell phones, either. No riding with a cane. This isn't Bedrock and you're not Fred Flintstone, "NO BREAKING WITH YOUR FEET" Please keep arms inside the vehicle and absolutely no dancing allowed.

^I mentioned beer. I can't remember the variety they had at the restaurant. A lot of places in Austria served Gosser exclusively. I can't remember if that was the case at this park.

Coaster?????? Well this was my first PAX and I had heard there were all kinds of messed up, so I was expecting a near death experience. It was a fun little coaster, crazy at times with quite a bit of air over these little bunny hills that looked like nothing. If I hadn't been expecting the pops of air it would have really caught me off guard. I think you all will really enjoy it on the Oktoberfest Trip.

Here is that park brochure that I picked up two weeks ago.

thanks Mark, it would have been more charming if it was flat ground.

Dave, you would be in charge of the music that gets played throughout the park. No. Elissa mentioned something about making money.

I picked up a current park brochure that I will try to scan tonight.

FYI - for all of these parks, additional ride photos and park maps can be found in the Park Index. As an added bonus here is a link to the Park Brochure that I referenced. 2010 Park Brochure Erlebnispark Strasswalchen

If it does those people will be served a temporary ban. Discussions of SFA are to remain in the SFA Discussion thread.

The next morning I hopped on a 7:26 train for a 90 minute ride to Salzburg, grabbed a 24 hour storagelocker for 2Euro and hopped on another train for a 30 minute ride to Strasswalchen. Then a walk to the park. Being that I felt like I gained about 10 pounds during the TPR portion of the trip thanks to all the meals Robb and Elissa included, I decided I was going to do a bit of walking during the solo stage of my trip to burn some calories. My walking map showed the trek from the train station to the park to be about 1.5 miles uphill, but the grade of the hill was more intense than I expected. I can usually walk 1.5 miles in 20 minutes, but this walk took me 30 minutes. Still there didn't seem to be any cab options readily available at the train station so I'm not sure I really had a choice from this train stop (I'm pretty sure I could have caught a bus to the park if I had got off the train one stop earlier, but that was not in my plans). Erlebnispark Strasswalchen is a family park, and doesn't have a lot of thrill rides. Actually it doesn't have a lot of rides at all. What it does have is a crazy PAX coaster, an extremely well done walk through haunted castle, a Sinbad dark ride with perfectly timed effects and an awesome restaurant that served fabulous Wiener Schnitzel and beer. Not understanding the langauge very well it appears they group people together every half hour for the Schloss Dracula (Dracula's Castle) walk through. They are tour guides (not scare actors) and even though I could not understand them, through the inflection in their voices I could tell they were weaving a tale (and scaring the teenage girls). I was the lead person in my group and about 1/3 of the way through the house my tour guide said something to me and I let him know I only spoke English, he directed everyone else ahead and started speaking with me in English. I showed him my Theme Park Review bag, he mentioned going to IAAPA last year and although I did not realize it until an hour later it was Erich Wagner, one of the Park Directors, working one of the attractions. Hopefully, when TPR visits for Oktoberfest, Mr. Wagner can guide them through Schloss Dracula. All the way at the top of that hill there is supposed to be a park. Although I have a map and walking directions, some of the streets do not have proper signage. A GPS would be helpful. But I'm old school. 15 minutes into my walk I catch a glimpse of the park. and 15 minutes later the Travelocity Gnome greets me at the entrance. 14 Euros is a fair price. Here is the entrance to Schloss Dracula. Very well done, no scare actors, but lots of surprises inside the building including a very effective final scene. The park has a western themed train. with authentic bison. I was confused by the bumper cars. It appeared to be a do it yourself upcharge attraction. Hot slide of death The park's star attraction Nice little air time hills. Wheeeeeee! I think I can, I think I can. I went back for one last ride after my lunch, but the ride op had just left. I assume for his own lunch break. There is one of these snail and mushroom themed monrials. An "in depth" POV shot for JizzMan, wouldn't want to disappoint by not being "in depth". And the snail/mushroom ride is educational with a display showing you which mushroom are deadly or edible. Take that Bear Grylls! Sorry that I have a shirt with sleeves, my later travel that day would take my to very cold temperatures so I wanted to be prepared. No pictures are allowed inside Schloss Dracula after this entrance queue. But you can buy Dracula's Blood at the exit. This doesn't look like a safe way to ride the go karts. There is a jungle cruise type ride. With a familiar looking scene in the background. Sinbad's Adventure was another pleasant surprise of the park. These ride vehicles are perfectly synchronized to gently spin to catch all the effects. The antique car ride was short and not interesting. Pedal Swan Boats looked like fun. I skipped the 3D theater and I skipped the Pirate Ship. One area of the park has a fairy tale walkway with these dioramas. Jungle Love - Monkeys love bananas There was also an outdoor theater with a Country Bear Jamboree type show. While eating this awesome Wiener Schnitzel I looked up at the wall and saw a lot of promotional photos on the wall. and saw my tour guide from Schloss Dracula wearing a suit and tie (red shirt in the upper left hand picture) in a lot of pictures. It was then I realized he must be important. I consulted the park brochure and realized it was Mr. Erich Wagner, one of the Park's Directors. I went back to Schloss Dracula to thank him but couldn't find him. That concludes my morning at Erlebnispark Strasswalchen, a great value for the price. More from this day to be posted shortly, including a Mountain/Alpine coaster and a tour of the Hallein Salt Mine.

Der Der Dongt - you point out a huge difference in American and European parks. America have larger and faster coasters, but European parks allow you to have more fun with simple attractions Chadster - Glad I could make you work day less productive Moose - All signs are in the Park Index, the signs just don't make for a fun and compelling PTR. I thik you guys are going to really enjoy this park during Oktoberfest, but someone is guaranteed to get hurt on the DIY rides. cfc - The real horror of the set-up was checking into the hotel the night before going to Legoland. I got off the train at Augsburg Oberhausen instead of Augsburg. I couldn't figure out why my printed map did not match the street pattern and my hotel was nowhere to be found. Then I pulled out the full train itinerary and determined that I got off the train one stop too soon. Luckily an 8 Euro cab ride got me to the hotel, I purposely printed out pictures of every train station and hotel in case I got lost and that was very helpful it getting a non-English speaking cab driver to understand where I needed to go. A picture if worth one million words, especially when the other person can't understand your words. Then when I got to the hotel there was a Russian tour group congregated around the check-in desk while there leader handed out room keys. I was the frustrated person trying to manuever through these clueless people to get my key from the front desk. Very similar to how clueless and rude TPR trip participants refuse to a create a passageway for other hotel guests to pass when Robb and Elissa are handing out room keys.

As someone who grew up with the park your passion is warranted, but you have to look at reality, also. I remember waiting 3 hours to ride GASM the year it opened, the longest I ever waited for a coaster, so I have a connection with GASM. However, if the coaster is going to be replaced with a superior installation I have no problem with it's removal. Yes, I'm still upset about the removal of Chiller, but how many years did we stare at only one side working, and even that one side which was extremely low capacity had a lot of down time. The cost to run that beast can not have been cheap. Viper - I don't know how you proposed saving it, it was garbage. During it's last years there was a reason that the ride never had a line. In the end El Toro is infinitely better even if it was not an immediate replacement. Remember while coaster may look fine from an outward appearance, just like bridges, buildings and people they have a life expectancy and they get to a stage where there may be many behind the scenes maintenance costs we don't see.

^Hanno - I know the Wet n Wild Rafting was installed after your visit, was the Bayern Curve there on your last visit

A certain UK trip participant complained to me about this very thing. That they were used to luxury trips where you never have to touch a bag and you stay in the finest hotels and eat gourmet food. LOL! Didn't they notice that the luxury tour was twice as expensive? Was your wife that upset?????

^I tried that once, the trouble is that some of the attrcations at Idlewild close early. I missed out on Story Book Forest, not a big deal if you are just trying to whore coasters, but it's a big miss if you are an historical fan of parks.

ARE YOU AMERICAN?!?!?! ARE YOU NICE?????? TPDave - You are a fraud, you weren't even on Hans' bus.

Are you referring to the whole thread or the posts of one particular dead horse beater? Getting mugged in DC > Getting mugged at SFA

The photos of this coaster being destroyed make me almost as happy as the similar pictures for Viper did years ago.

i just realize my last photo was from half up the mountain while still on the chair lift. Here is a picture from the start of the Alpine Coaster.

Logistically this was the toughest day of the trip with six train segments and two bus segments to fit in both parks. Also, the walk from the train station to Skyline was 20 minutes through a cornfield. While not a very stressful walk, the time did need to be factored in to trip planning. The second park of the day was Skyline Park. Skyline Park was intriguing for me from a coaster standpoint because: I had never ride one of these sad and pathetic butterfly coasters before, it has a Maurer Sohne coaster in the middle of nowhere and another coaster is the unique Caripro Gyroflyer. What surprised me is how spread out the rides all from each other and that dense brush surrounds the pathways at the park. Also, although Hanno had featured many of their "do it yourself" rides in a previous PTR, the sheer number of them caught me off guard. Do you see the Ferris wheel on the left? That's my destination from the train station, walking along the dirt path on the right. I'm halfway there and an amusement park arises out of the corn fields. I'm a sweaty mess but I made it. Did I mention this is the one day that I could not leave my bags in a train station in storagelockers so that 1.5 mile walk in 90 degree + weather was with about 20 pounds on my back. First I'm going to show you all the do it yourself rides, like this swing. Just a rope to swing on aimlessly. Something to make you dizzy and dizzier and dizzier and dizzier These random looking bicycle pedals serve a purpose. They power the Tetrakarussell They really do have coasters here. There's the Sky Wheel which had minor mechanical problems when I rode. A better overview of the Schwarkopf from the Ferris Wheel. The 3rd non-sad and pathetic coaster. With funky cars. and for all you sad and pathetic folks This ladies' job is to start the Butterfly Coasters once you are seated. Butterfly POV, I think this was the one on the right. My view from the one on the left was exactly the same. Unlike Boardwalk Bullet, I don't think time of day, temperature, weather or phase of the moon affect performance. If you are only here for the coasters or pictures of self operated ice cream machines, then turn back now. There will be no more in this post. I did not realize there was a Bayern Curve in the park. As member Tezee just informed me via PM, Sky Twister came from Heide Park's "Huss Land". The BobKart broke when I was next in line. I never made it to the drop tower. It is hard to see from the rest of the park, I never found and entrance and I forgot about it. They got one of these whatchyamacallit's that would make a fast food enthuseast from Washington cream his pants. and they have one of these "thingamajigs" also. It ran an extremely intense cycle, I did not care for a second ride. New for 2010, spinning raft ride with an elevator lift. Elevator Lift Powers activate Form of "water" Form of a "goat" There's plenty of other interesting stuff at the park, like this rocking ship. Climbing Tower without escape slides???????? More spinny things. Pedal Cars Nautic Jet Boat Jump. Just like with the Butterfly coaster there was a ride op available to assist on this slow day at the park. One last interestingthing at the park was these tables that looked like miniature mini-golf holes on stilts. Since Google is my friend I found out that it is a game called Pit Pat and played with pool sticks. A combination of pool and mini golf, if I was there with others i would have tried it out. You see that building way the hell in the background. Neither do I, but that's the train station. Derek - Are these hops? If so I'm walking through a Bavarian hop field. Never mind. I just googled it, and it's only barley. The Rammingen Bayern is a rockin' train station as you can see. But there are ostrich in a nearby pen. When I got to Munich I checked in to my hotel then walked around looking for a place to eat. But fund only topless clubs, casinos and pizza being made by Arabs so I ended up back at the Munich Bahnhof with some brats and a pretzel. And watched the Dutch march into the World Cup Finals. Tomorrow, I embark for Austria.

My view from the Sommerrodelbahn at Zinkelift Bad Durnnberg on an overcast day. Amazing

The food at DelGrosso's is amazing if you like pasta and pizza. Best park pizza. I have nothing good to say about the food at Lakemont.

Did you guys drive around or travel by public transportation on this trip? I also rode the Alpine Coaster at Zinkelift less than two weeks ago.