larrygator
-
Posts
18,149 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
2
Posts posted by larrygator
-
-
When does everyone think they will announce the new ride?
Sometime after yesterday
-
^Thank you for your response. Since I prefer PayPal, I went ahead and sent in the payment that way. Who knows, maybe I'll try a check in the future.
Statements like this make me feel real old!
-
I'm a Blue Fire buddy also. I loved Blue Fire
Glad you posted the room pictures from Hotel Matamba. I was just thinking about that room the other day and couldn't remember where my roommate slept. I knew I had the big bed and my rememberance was that there was not another bed in the room. Then you reminded me of the cave room.
-
Benny - I did all the coasters (28.3 Euros) and all the dark rides (not the mirror mazes) for 41 Euros but only four flat rides (21 Euros). I spent a total of 90 Euros on rides, 20 Euros on food/drink and 2 Euros for the WCs/restrooms. It costs 50 Euro cents for each visit to the WC.
I spent a grand total of 112 Euros at the Wiener Prater, quite an expensive day.
Again my apologies for posting Wiener Prater piecemeal but I have to devote some time to real work, since that pays for the trips. I'm going to try to do the rest of the park in one shot
-
I over estimated the allure of fun houses, or cake walks as they are sometimes referred to in Europe.
As I stated in my last post the park also has 3 Ghost Trains (I thought there were 4, but in reviewing my notes one was a walk through) and 3 Mirror Mazes/Glass Houses. I did not do the mazes, in the interest of saving money, but I'm sure anyone who could find their way from the Kings Domnion entrance to Intimadator 305 would have no trouble getting through any of the mazes.
I did not get the prices of the mazes, but the Ghost trains were between 2.5 and 3.5 Euros.
Here is the Hallowien maze and that is all that I have to say about it.
And here is a much larger looking maze, that I think was named Lachspiegelkabinett.
As you have already figured out, those last three photos were just filler. And now the moment that ryancrash and cfc have been waiting for: The Ghost Trains
This huge building houses Geister Bahn
It bills itself as the biggest and longest Ghost Train in Europe, all for only 3 Euros. At least that's what I think the sign says.
Sorry, no pictures from inside the ride. It was very dark inside and great timing on all the stunts. In particular there was a great stunt involving a broken bridge that the car had to pass.
Geister Schloss costs 3 Euros and had some of the cheesier props, but all worked well.
The ride was very heavy on the animatronics (and cheesy artwork)outside the building to draw people.
The Ghost Train portion of this PTR is being interrupted as I found the picture of the "original" lachspiegelkabinett.
Close-up of awesome artwork on GeisterSchloss
The ride vehicle
Second level outdoor section.
Geister Bahn Zum Roten Adler was the third Ghost Train.
3.5 Euros to ride in these vehicles
Just like the other Ghost Trains, this had an outdoor portion on the second level.
The stunts were not as well times as to others rides, but this one had a shocking "Bug's Life" type effect in the seats that made me jump.
Keep following as walk-throughs, fairy tale themed rides and other indoor stuff is still to come.
-
I believe Hawaiian Mike also escaped Hans' camera, as Hans could not decide if Hawaii was part of the USA or not.
-
After ERT Erik and I left the fairground to watch the WorldCup game Holland vs. Brazil at a local German bar. After that we returned to the beer tent and I also never left the tent before it was time to go to the bus.
----Hans
Don't know how I ended up in the bus that evening. And pee-stop? What pee-stop they never woke me up! Ohh man I was K.O. after all that german beer!
Note to future trip participants, do not sit in the seat behind Erik after he drinks alot. Erik gets on the bus and sits in front of me and asks if it is OK to recline the seat. He reclines the seat as far back as it will go (which is much further back then on US coaches) to a sleeping position, crushing me and forcing me to move seats. 6 hours later Erik wakes up. He did sleep like a baby, a big orange baby.
-
^It looks like your current title is still relevant.
-
Is there still time to sign up? And how much does it cost?
Pricing is within the first post of the thread as is timing, sign up ASAP.
Once tickets are sold out Robb will make an announcement and change the title or sub-title of this thread
-
^remember not a spinning wild mouse, a spinning coaster. Since this is a custom model it could take up a larger and non-traditional footprint
-
I am still determined to teach her about good music, though. She'll be the only kid rocking the Diablo Swing Orchestra t-shirt in first grade...
dt
Elissa's good parenting skills will inhibit your musical mentoring.
I'm so glad that traveling the world is having a positive effect on her and that knowing Ryan did not block any progress.
-
OK, I know there are plenty of dark ride and walk through fans out there and Wiener Prater has plenty of them to appease you. There were 17 attractions at Wiener Prater:
4 Fun Houses
3 Ghost Trains
3 Mirror Mazes/Glass Houses
2 Fairy Tale themed Dark Rides
3 Walk Through Haunted Attractions
1 Shooting Dark Ride
1 Miscellaneous
My captions are going to be long as I want to give a description of each ride and provide my commentary. Unfortunately many of these attractions blended together after awhile and even now looking at my notes I can't quite remember everything about each attraction. Pictures were not allowed or difficult to take in many of the attractions. So if we have any DAFErs reading this thread, break out a new box of Kleenex.
I just hope that when I am done that you all will enjoy what I feel is the most comprehensive overview ever shown of Wiener Prater and that it inspires others to visit. When I initially planned this trip I was so worried that I would be disappointed in Wiener Prater, but as you can see I was not.
First up will be the Fun Houses
This is Super Top Dance
They know how to have FUN in this house.
This was the best of the four Fun Houses and cost 2.5 Euros.
Highlights include this 5 story plastic slide, not for the claustrophobic.
And just when you think you are done and trying to balance as you walk over the last obstacle, the ride op starts firing at you with a high powered water gun.
Funball was the second best fun house and is priced at 3 Euros.
One of the first gags in the fun house is this short rope bridge with an arc of water that is practically impossible to avoid.
Not surprisingly, Funball is sports themed.
More sportiness
and a disorienting tunnel
Magic Dreamland was 2.5 Euros and was one story shorter then Super Top Dance, hence a shorter slide.
This was the sight at the other end of the spinning barrel.
Just like the other 3 fun houses there were plenty of floor traps and conveyor belts. The memorable part of this fun house was on the last set of conveyor belts the ride op was able to change the speed of them while you were stepping on and off. Another never in America moment.
Calypso was the most permanent looking of the fun houses (Magic Dreamland and Super Top Dance were clearly portable even if they have not moved in years).
It cost 2.5 Euro and was the only fun house with a glass maze room and had the best tilt room but many of the other gags were just working better in the other houses.
I just found some more photos from inside Calypso.
Dizzy Tunnel
Did someone order a picture of Larry with no sleeves?
Siamese twin Larry
Long Tall Larry with a big butt.
-
Besides the fact that your first post does not make sense grammatically...
5. Do not post for posting sake.
I'm just moderating!
-
^^Correct answer
^Wrong answer
-
Benny - BPB is a good comparison in terms of how close the rides are to each other but Bakken is probably a better comparison.
Chad - I felt secure but I'm not afraid of heights. There is no way you are accidentally coming out of the chair (seat belt and locking mechanism). Now granted I didn't check the welds on every link of the chain attaching my seat to the arm, but I figured the chains would be strongest during the ride's first year.
Derek - I was laughing every time I came across another driving ride. I can't say that any of them were extremely busy but I guess they must be money makers for those leasing the space.
Actually none of the rides had lines and the only ones running more than half filled were: Space Shot, Prater Turm, Tornado, Turbo Booster and the Tagada. I never entered the Riesenrad queue but that also seemed popular. Many flats ran with only one or two riders.
-
Eos rides (Italian company)
rcdb has as interesting snippet on the history of the coaster
-
Hans - I'll add to the Park Index later today
1 - I love the ParaJump
2 - Can adults ride the Donkey Track?
3 - I'm a nice American
thanks
-
Great stuff, Larry. This park looks amazing. I need to get there soon.
How the hell did you read it that fast? You were skimming! Go back and view it in a proper manner!
-
Ledgy - this is the first Tagada I have seen in person, we don't have them in the US (stupid lawyers). So, I don't know if standing is common.
As nice segue into my post covering the flat rides of Wiener Prater. First, let me mention that the park has a lot of driving attractions (bumper cars, go karts and even Segway rentals). I rode some of the flat rides, but not a lot. It would have cost over 200 Euros ($240) to ride everything at the park.
The most impressive rides being the Riesenrad (Ferris Wheel), Prater Turm (383 foot Star Flyer), and a flat ride called Tornado that I had never seen before.
The picturesque Riesenrad must be included in any Wiener Prater PTR. The costs is 8.5 Euros but I did not ride.
The new star attraction for 2010 is the 383 foot Prater Turm, towering over everything else in the area.
I was surprised that it was only 5 Euros to ride.
The other new ride for 2010 is the Octopus. Or as they say in the Netherlands, Oc-to-puuuuuuussssss.
For 3 Euro, it offers you up to the gods and then shakes you around a lot.
Grimas was the first bumper car track I encountered.
But there is also Turbo Autodrom
Grand Autodrom
Elite Autodrom
and finally Super Autodrom
Then you have the Go Karts, here are the KNY Go Karts
Bergrallye
Gran Prix Monza
and the Buggy Star
Enough of the adult car rides, yes there were more for kids. As I entered the park they were greasing up the Weiner Rutsch (1.5 Euros)
This is one of the typical rides that was included on the Fun Card, but since I wasn't going to ride stuff like this the card was not worthwhile. This ride was 2.5 Euros.
This appeared to be a pretty good Screamin Swing (4 Euros)
I had no desire to spend 3 Euros here.
4 Euros to ride the "Panther" friendly Liliputbahn.
Wiener Prater is KidTums approved.
This owner was inspired by theming at Movieland Studios when decorating his rotor.
People who paid 3 Euros to ride the rotor. I used to love rotors when they were run properly in the US
The Toboggan slide costs 3 Euros
Another operator still runs the original Star Flyer at Wiener Prater for 4 Euros.
15 Euros for the Ejection Seat is too rich for my blood.
It is pure coincidence that the 3 Euro Discovery
and the 5 Euro Space Shot are in close proximity to each other.
No comment, besides it costs 3 Euros! Now go back two pages and watch the video!
The Break Dance is a "cool" 3 Euros to ride.
I'll leave it to these people to answer the following question. Does the Top Spin offer an unacceptable level of wetness?
Apollo 12 ready for take-off (2 Euros)
Blumenrad is a smaller and cheaper ferris wheel option at 3 Euros.
The park's Falling Star: The Joker costs 2.5 Euros.
Luftikus is German for: this Wave Swinger costs 3 Euros to ride.
It's my PTR and I like the way the Octopus looks so here's another photo of the ride.
This was the best picture I could get of the ultra fast Extasy while the riders were upside down (3.5 Euros)
Wildalpenbahn is a well themed spinning raft ride with an elevator lift. A spin will cost you 3.5 Euros.
The park's other water ride, Donau Jump (log flume) will also cost you 3.5 Euros.
The person leasing this area seems to think he can make more money with vending machines than a Merry Go Round.
So this antique mini version is the only carousel in the park.
Unless you count the classic Wiener Ponny Carousel, where the horses look so authentic that they even poop.
OK, the last two rides are the most intense I rode. This is Turbo Boost.
You hand the ride op 8 Euros and he tries to kill you.
and my favorite was the Tornado which costs 5 Euros.
I wish I had taken video of this ride.
I can't really explain what the ride did.
So I'll let the pictures do the talking.
Thanks for viewing, I'll try to get the dark rides posted by the end of the day tomorrow, but no promises. Remember to check out Wiener Prater in the Park Index for additional photos.
-
^Jay - sorry to tell you this but I made a last minute trip to Knoebels last Saturday and didn't PM you first. I fail.
Also, funny that you mention the video being the essence of me. I had two batteries with me at Wiener Prater but was on the last life bar of the second battery before I took that video of the Tagada. This was after taking hundreds of still photos of every other ride at the park. I started filming the video when I saw the girls standing up during the ride but the recorder shut off after 4 1/2 minutes due to the diminished battery before the ride cycle completed.
I'll start working on the Wiener Prater flat rides portion in 30 minutes, during my lunch today.
-
For 2010
Six Flags Pass from SFGAdv
Cedar Fair Platinum Pass from Knotts
Busch Platinum Pass from Sea World San Antonio
-
For anyone planning to visit Hoffman's Playland, ride the bumper cars. These are Lusse models and not to be missed. Some insist they hit harder than Knoebels.
Martin - I was also amazed by the Snow White exhibit when I stopped by Magic Forest a couple of years ago.
-
A 24 hour lounge devoted to the TPR Night Crew..."The Chat Room"
Highly unlikely to happen!
-
^^^Benny - I can't believe more TPR members from mainland Europe have not been to Wiener Prater.
^^thank you
^Mark - The Condor is no longer there, but as I said the operators appear to change out the flat rides on a regular basis if interest diminishes since there won't make money unless people pay for their ride. I bet many more of the dark rides will look more familiar to you versus the flats. Not many of the flats appeared to be 20 years old.
PTR: larrygator's 2010 European Travels
in Photo Trip Report Archive
Posted · Edited by larrygator
Eli - How coincidental that you ask. Next up are the remaining dark rides and walkthroughs at Wiener Prater. Then I'll post remaining pictures from the park, since these last couple of my posts only showed rides. Lastly, I'll have coverage from my last park of the trip VidamPark in Budapest and sightseeing photos of Budapest in my typical style.
This is Eisberg, a great shooting dark ride for two reasons.
1 - it is air conditioned in the building
2 - you shoot wild animals like seals and polar bears.
OK, so you shoot the animals with a camera and make scenes change, but still cool. Get it "COOL"!
Yo, we're hanging out on an iceberg, word. 3.5 Euros to ride
Looking at this Spectacolo sign I expected a fun house.
Then I see this sign and don't know that to think. Lasers in a fun house? WTF?
So I pay 3 Euros, end up in a room with surprise effects and then encounter this Stop Sign. The wall opens and I enter a room and sit in an indoor frog hopper. They turn out the lights, tilt the seats forward and then bounce us up and down staring at a laser show shown on a smoke filled floor. Very interesting. At this time I starting circling the park again to make sure I didn't miss any other indoor rides.
So now I have to ride Silberbergwerk 2.5 Euros.
It's an indoor dark ride themed to fairy tales.
Right across from Silberbergwerks is any family dark ride called Grottenbahn, that appears to be fairy tale and cartoon themed.
for 2 Euros, Mickey and Minnie are included.
and Joan of Arc being set on fire
On to the walk throughs: in my head, in my head
Since it was a walk through there were no sharp turns and I could actually take pictures.
It was a decent size for 2.5 Euros
but not too scary, props light up as you trip sensors
Blue Planet was just odd.
First you buy a ticket from this dog for 3 Euros
You stand in an elevator that shakes and you watch old dinosaur movies
Then you sit in a psuedo ride vehicle (still not sure if it actually moved) and these eyes stare at you. Then a T-Rex appears out of nowhere.
Then you go on the Dino Tour portion
and walk across a rope bridge and see dinosaurs. Shocking! Then there was another dark elevator to exit the building and of course you are attacked by T-Rex again
The last walk through looked most impressive.
And this sign is next to it, but it all looks like the same ride for 4.5 Euros.
Although the sign is not grammatically correct, it sounds like this is another ride with an elevator.
No pictures from inside, so you have to take my word. It's a long walk through themed to Jack the Ripper with a lot of well timed stunts, air blasts and scary sounds. No live actors. Then at the end you get in this elevator. Guess what? The elevator shakes a lot. Then you get to the Action House portion final room which is actually a small haunted swing. All in all a good attraction. In about twelve hours I'll post some more overview photos showing the rest of the park.