simon8899

Having not ridden many woodies as in parks they are lower on priority list, but this is my chip: 1. Colossos - Intamin/Cordes - at Heide-Park, given its speed it runs very smooth, feels more like the Intamin steel airtime coasters 2. Twister - Gravity Group with Timberliners - at Gröna Lund - running swift and comfortable 3. Wodan - GCI - at Europa-Park - a little bumpy but IMO running the better the colder the weather 4. Rutschebanen at Tivoli Gardens - bumpy yes, but still big fun considering its age 5. Mammut - Gerstlauer/Cordes - at Tripsdrill - cars oscilate a little, at times a little bumpy 6. Robin Hood - Vekoma - at Walibi Holland - cars oscilate heavily back and forth, also to the sides, weird to ride

For the Netherlands I can recommend: Efteling - one of the greatest parks in Europe, massive theming, world class dark rides and shows, a good woodie and a seldom found Intamin Swiss-Bob Slagharen - if you like 80s and 90s Euro carnival rides this is the park including a Schwarzkopf Looping Star, a little off the beaten path

^I am not into wine - but they also have a good beer here

^^No, runs fine as always... And that is at times not even strictly enforced...

In my experience it depends on how long the line is and how clever you are. If the ride is packed and seats are free ride attendents sometimes make you ride the free seat - of course you can let others go first to at least get into front, middle or back. The advantage on other carnivals is that on weekdays the crowds are low and the train has to wait to be filled up so you can always ride back seat - as is my preference.

A 400lb weight limit for the train... Does that result into the fact that heavier people can forget to ride this rightaway?

Stay with Chrome on my Note2 as mobile I only post in the "Whats your last coaster" thread. On first look it looked good - but uninstalled the App again. All other posts I do on a real computer as I generally prefer a real keyboard to post messages.

Great pics! So far I've always avoided Munich at Oktoberfest mainly because a room at a 2** hotel that normally is around €70 at this time of year cashes in at about €240. But a colleague of mine from our Munich office recommended to book a hotel in Nuremberg or Regensburg and take the local express train to Munich. Maybe do that some time in the future. On the other hand a carnival like Rheinkirmes which I visited this year the rides area is nearly as big an I could stay a tram ride away in a nice 3*** hotel for €60 a night. And the tents are honestly no major drag for me... One always has to stockpile the money to visit the huge US parks...

Part 2: Tripsdrill With better luck on weather we went to Tripsdrill. As we wanted the freedom to drink a beer or two we took the bus from Heilbronn as advertised on the Tripsdrill Website but the return bus in the evening somehow missed the park and we had to call a cab. This sadly overshadowed a great day. I'm now in "negotiations" with German Rail RegioBus about the refund for the additional costs - but German Rail is not known for its costumer service so it drags along... The park itself offers unique rides and weird theming all over. With Karacho Tripsdrill has completed its coaster selection this year. Rasender Tausendfüssler: A Zierer large Tivoli coaster in a very green setting running around a small lake. G'sengte Sau: A Gerstlauer Bobsled with lots of fast helices and some good bunnyhops. At 1,95 I really had to squeeze in. Mammut: A Cordes/Gerstlauer woodie. A unique manufacturer combo as Holzbau Cordes is mostly known for delivering the woodworks for the Intamin woodies. On the Gerstlauer trains the cars oscillate a little if by far not so worse as on Vekoma trains. A fun ride but a little low on highlights. Karacho: A great addition offering nice pops of air, good force and some amazing hangtime in the heartline roll before the launch. Major highlight are off course the lapbar-only trains. Wearers of glasses should be warned: Even with holding straps they are not allowed. Welcome to the park The Maibaum is a one of a kind observation / swinging ride. Feels a lot higher riding it than it really is. The Donnerbalken is a fun little drop tower kiddie log flume going through lots of greenery Tripsdrill offers a lot of weird animatronics all around A roofed Tilt-A-Whirl - going quite slow but the compartments spin very easily and fast A Zierer Waveswinger in a no frills Mushroom theming A smal Zierer Berg- und Talfahrt Large Tivoli coaster in a nice setting. On to the newer part of Tripsdrill one saw the major attraction The double dive loop is insane and very forceful The lapbars provide great fun. Maybe not as good as Blue Fire but a second great coaster for the area. Mammut is a fun family woodie More rides on Karacho! G'sengte Sau is fun a packs a punch The infamous log flume Fahrt zum Jungbrunnen Hurrah for cannons Twisty! Happy riders! Enjoyed this coaster a lot. Locals already named the so far unthemed station "Der Bunker" - "The Air-Raid Shelter" If the Puking Guy will remain in the future? Gerstlauer was still on site Some Mammut first drop goodness Final ride of the day on the way out was a spin on the Zierer

To get a better impression this it how Duplo Farm Village looks like in Billund:

^And prices were very good for such a venue with mains around €25 and desserts around €10. For that food quality I've paid quite more at other restaurants. And as all Europa-Park it is kiddie friendly with no strict etiquette or dress rules.

BGT has the more coasters and a little variety at them - 3x B&M, 1x Schwarzkopf, 1x Intamin, 1x Mack plus the kiddie coasters I forgot to ride - plus they also have some other rides like Phoenix, a rafting and more which makes a little more complete. The animal displays are IMO a little more natural than those at Animal Kingdom - I liked the white tiger and chetah habitat much, plus they have some freaky apes. The rides at Sea World are a little limited for my tastes with a Mack water coaster and two - very good - B&M. But if you are into sealife this is the park to visit. Liked the shark tunnel and the sea lion habitat. As I am not that much into shows after 2/3 of the day I was mostly re-riding the coasters till closing.

I think they are not concerned that one looses anything but that once it flies it hits a bystander so I can see their point. But as said: Here the rider loosing the article is reliable for any damage caused by lost property. Do not know how it is in the US - but I guess the operators are reliable in court also, even if only for the fact that you can sue off more money from a park chain than from an average rider.

Great trip report - Thanks!

On glasses: All parks - even here - now require straps to wear them on inversion or airtime-heavy coasters. But with straps I had no problems so far on either side of the pond. Tripsdrill is honorably excluded from this mention as you're there not even even allowed to ride with straps. Carnivals are a completly different matter here as ride attendants there do not care a bit, I have seen glasses, phones, cameras flying off riders but they clearly do not have the time and capacity to check for loose items. And of course the rider loosing it is responsible here - not the ride operator.

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Originally we wanted to go to Munich an visit next to the amazing city the parks nearby including Skyline Park and Bayern Park. But as on the weekend we wanted to come the state elections went on the hotel skyrocket peaking at €200 per night at a 2** hotel. So we decided to postpone Munich to coming years and went for a tour roughly along the Rhine. Starting in Freiburg visiting Europa-Park, heading on to Heilbronn visiting Tripsdrill and finally on to Cologne finishing up with 2 days and Phantasialand. At the begin of the trip the weather was quite overcast and more or less wet. We went on the best day - a sunday - were we had 8 out of 10 1/2 hours of dryness. Europa-Park even extended the opening hours until 19:30 and due to the unstable weather the park was even less crowded than last year when I visited during sunny weekdays. Coming from Freiburg by train and bus went smoothly We took the Monorail to the back of the park and started with spin on Feria Swing. However it runs quite slow comparing to travelling rides of this kind. First ride of the day was Alpenexpress. Travelling with non-coaster enthusiast meant I didn't do all coasters this day. Still early in the day the major crowds haven't already hit the back of the park. Atlantica Supersplash always a big fun While friends went for a breakfast I took four great spins on Blue Fire opting for sandwich to go afterward Can't wait for Helix next year... Finally I could convince all to take a spin on Wodan. IMO running better the colder the weather With family and friends waterrides are always most popular And more wetness Mack classic ride. But the cups are hard to spin - prefer Zamperla cup rides. Having a 40 minute line I skipped it this time Poseidon running great this day nicely themed station Family friendly Mack polyp as the compartments do not spin freely I took two spins on Silver Star while my friends needed a coffee break, waits were short at about 5 minutes Park founder before Schloss Balthasar BEER!!! A peek at the inverted powered coaster coming next year Completed the circle in the evening In case you cannot remember who built most of the rides here The final rides of the day before major rain set in: 3x Blue Fire and 2x Wodan It started to pour as the park closed, nevertheless a great day We tried out Europa-Park premium food venue: Schloss Balthasar. Entree: wild deer. Dessert: Creme Bruleé with a side of iced wild berries

^Hope they stockpile enough spare parts Quite different from when the Huss Ranger broke down at Hansa-Park around 10am - Huss on site at 2pm - ride operational again around 4pm...

Maybe inspired by the near-vertical drop on Schwarzkopf portable multi-loopers?

I wonder if this is pre-arranged. Just imagine the "victim" falls and hurts itself which in the US would lead to an insurance nightmare more than in any other country...

Looks like a nice park - but to complete their coaster oevre they need to add an inversion coaster. Without an inversion coaster a park isn't high on my To-Do list...

Looks like a nice park but has too many Arrow/Vekoma coasters for my taste. Also interesting to see a portable TopSpin in a park. The two towers on the side are filled with ballast to anchor the ride - park versions don't have those using two metal support beams on each side moored into a footer.

On my current trip it's Talocan. Phantasialand opened it after repairs for the last hour of the day - a splendid experience.

Black Mamba

Karacho