simon8899

I had a great two days at Rheinkirmes. Weather was splendid but not too hot. The ride collection was awesome - from old to new from tame to wild. Not to mention the two big Schwarzkopf coasters which drained my money fast but it's always worth it. The Düsseldorf Alt beer was not really my taste but in the middle of the carnival there was Erdinger Beer Bavarian World which offered all the beer I liked on tap. PhotoTR Part 1 - Bridges and Towers Rheinkirmes is located right on the river Rhine. Offering unique view of the carnival and the rides were two bridges, the telecom tower and the Mondial portable gyro tower which premiered here. View over the carnival from the telecom tower across the Rhine At the base of the telecom tower it still looks better View over the rear of the carnival coming from the tram Alpina, Maurer Drop-Tower, Olympia and Mondial Turbine The rear part of the carnival from the Rheinkniebrücke Unique view of the worlds biggest portable log-flume Newly painted loops looking good in the sun Some pictures from the Mondial gyro tower. They let you walk freely around inside. Maurer spinner Fun rafting ride Rio Rapidos Bellevue ferris wheel by showmen Bruch Huss Dancer 2 and KMG Afterburner XXL Brewery party tent from the Brauerei im Füchschen Schwarzkopf Monster A final area view of Olympia before going more up close on Rheinkirmes.

Didn't really count so far but guess on a slow day have taken Nessie at Hansa-Park 30+ times. At carnivals numbers don't mount up so easy - did Olympia Looping 4 times last Saturday which means paying €30 (~ USD 40)...

I just checked my pictures and the water of the log-flume at Vienna Prater also looked quite dubious - but I also skipped it. The rafting ride there was quite clean though...

Even if I normally do like to do water rides I've noticed that in Chinese parks the water often looks so murky I wouldn't ride it out of fear to catch some fungus or skin rash. Can't somebody clean it? Or aren't there some health rules in place? I assume a log-flume like that would be closed here right away. On a lighter note the coaster looks like a unique Arrow knock-off variant with the long helix before the loop.

Goofy's Barnstormer @WDW - line too long (about 60 minutes) Woody Woodpecker Nuthouse Coaster @Universal Florida - haven't thought about it while there Flight of the Hippogriff @IOA - line too long (about 60 minutes)

^Agree on the Mondial TopScan. Did it at the carnival last weekend - but after a big cold beer I rode it a second time and it was a little better... Compared to parks this carnival version was running 4 minutes out of the 5 minute program on the fastest setting which made it far more intense than any park TopScan I've ridden so far.

Boy are there still new Zyklons? Why do there have to be.... The log-flume looks great. By just looking at it I'd guess it could be a Reverchon. Is it around much? This is quite the largest ride I've seen on US fairs...

^The point of parts and trains can't be the major reason - there are still companies around which are happy to deliver like Gerstlauer (SooperDooperLooper, Turbine) or SAT-Rides (Teststrecke). On Turbine Gerstlauer replaced the whole flywheel launch assembly with a modern magnetic one. I can of course see that as a park who needs to make the most of its small budget didn't have the capacity for it. Parks with better fiscal grounding are optioning to keep their classic but I guess no park would buy a coaster like this.

Alpina Bahn!

Olympia Looping and Alpina Bahn side by side - each 3 times today!!!

^As far as I understand it the car/train needs to have a certain speed for the magnetic launch to "pick up" the car/train and accelerate it further. Gerstlauer uses the small drop while others use for example friction tires.

Final construction pics from 2 days before the carnival. I'll be there Sat and Sun and weather looks splendid: Sparse clouds with 22-24 degrees C. ^No, it's a portable Gyro Obeservation Tower. Funny fact: The Telecom Tower with an observation platform at about 160 meters is right over the river Rhine... Source: radschlaegerstrasse.de Mondial tower goes vertical Wild Mouse around the trees 1920s historic Music-Express Mondial Tower test-run!

Looks great fun! Will be there in September - already booked my hotel in Heilbronn. Fluch also has the small drop before the launch. 300 guests for opening sounded very reasonable for a weekday during the holidays and the great weather. I guess the free beer isn't mandatory before the ride?

Thanks for the replies but I'd like to do NYC at the end as I want to return my car on my first NYC day - as a rental car is quite useless while staying in NYC.

For my next US trip I've this basic idea: Cedar Point -> Kennywood -> Hersheypark -> Knoebels -> SF Great Adventure -> New York (Luna Park) Now to my question: Which other park/location would you choose to visit? - Chicago with SF Great America before Cedar Point - SF New England before NYC My preferences are Schwarzkopf rides/ocasters and Intamin coasters but so far I'm not quite sure which too choose. Any hints appreciated.

Isn't this a great view??? Only one week to go. And weather forecast looks promising.... Source: radschlaegerstrasse.de Alpina and Olympia side by side

I wonder why the tower wasn't fixed. I know some parks having towers like this who are about the same age - Hansa-Park, Heide-Park, Europa-Park - and there were never any issues when I was there. And even at higher winds: I've never seen the Hansa-Park tower sway and I doubt its designed to do that...

^And I hoped they would have refurbished a classic Schwarzkopf Alpenblitz

Any seat in the Schwarzkopf coaster next door....

Any indoor coaster...

I'm totally a Cunard guy - but only for transatlantic crossings - I don't don't like to hop on and off the ship daily. And I'm not really a fan of round-the-clock noisy animation. The dining rooms look very classy. And I hope the bar has a wider booze selection than visible on the photo... the Sacher Torte looks good - even if it's a round cake if made by Sacher. Better is the Imperial Torte....

I believe when I see it. And as said in the article the TÜV and local authorities permit are still outstanding...

According to Technical Park a new flat called Aerobat will be installed "in the park of Istanbul". Aerobat sketch from Technical Park

While browsing through the manufacturers websites I found some news from the MaurerSöhne Newsletter- PDF - German - New compact layout of the X-Car launched coaster - 80 meter portable Giant Wheel for Mexico now testing at the Munich plant - Fantawild Xiamen gets 9th SkyLoop - and according to the picture a Vekoma Boomerang

Thanks for the TR - loved the park in February. Boooooo!