simon8899

Hopefully Hansa-Park also considers to upgrade the Fluch trains to new ones with lapbars-only. Specially in the long right-curve which brings you back to the vertical lift the coaster is starting to get a little bumpy.

^And whe know the explanation Anton gave on ride seating - sitting side-by-side are family-rides, sitting behind each other are lovers-rides...

@RoCo - You should really do the Star-Flyer, the view is amazing at day and night. I guess on a hot day it's even better to get freshened up over the warm city air. Learned in a small exhibit in the Ferris Wheel station that they could after recent computer model calculations hang up the missing cabins on the wheel. They were first removed after the wheel was damaged after allied bombardments in WWII and it was feared the wheel wouldn't support the weight anymore. But they decided to keep the current load to a) keep the signature look and b) the removed cabins were not stored but they're standing all around Vienna and Austria as tourist attraction and advertisement for the wheel.

Hansa-Park is planning a new major coaster in 2014 in the Mexican area. The Drop-Tower "Monte-Zuma" will be removed to make room for the new attraction. Also removed will be the Schwarzkopf Dschunke "Sturmvogel" - if this is also to make room for the new coaster is not said, but that there're problems with spare-parts for this ride. So far there is no information about the type or make of the new coaster. The teaser says: "The coaster will be unique in the world, Hansa-Park will position itself into the first themepark league". However the coaster will be built in the aft section of the park as there are "no height restrictions" in this area. Source: Luebecker Nachrichten interview with owner Andreas Leicht MOD EDIT: Thanks for sharing this information. I've moved posts regarding this vew attraction into this discussion thread. cfc

After nightfall the dark covers up the unpleasant sights and it can get quite spooky in the deserted sidelanes but if you keep on the main walkways you can have a nighttime carnival air here. Starting with a spin on the Boomerang The smaller ferris wheel Blumenrad Black Mamba with nighttime lights Entrance plaza with Waveswinger Eisvogel offers delicious food - mains starting at €20. First class dinning with pop music from the bumber cars next door Trying to keep the food in...lol They've a Sorani&Moser Sombrero here - a seldom found and very fun Polyp variant High-Flyer swirling The views at night were fantastic Always good to ride a Break Dancer at night Right next door to the Dancer is another HUSS ride... Why did one name a ride "Time To Say Goodbye"??? Someone actually tried the Volare Ending the last evening with a ride on the Boomerang

For opening times check the parks website. Disney will be open but likely with reduced times plus expect some ride rehabs. After booking my Orlando vacation also in Jan I'm still amazed that for most parks - except Disney - you don't know opening times 3 months in advance. But I guess this has to do with the year change. If you wanna book themepark tickets in advance online I'd suggest waiting till Jan. On my last years SFMM online tickets it was clearly stated that they're only valid the current year - so you might get problems with tickets you buy now.

Still amazed about Knoebel's commitment to this ride. Many parks would've demolished the ride after 2-3 years and built something different.

Only 2 half liters for a whole day - MEH!!!

It's quite a gamble as when I was there this summer Extreme always had "extreme" lines up to 60 minutes while most coasters topped at 20-30 minute wait time - so it was a very popular ride. I for one skipped it due to the long line as I can easily access a Top Scan without wait at a local german carnival.

We need more installations of this coaster...

I can't wait to see more of MACKs Mega-Loopers comming up - riding Blue Fire last month it was my best new looper this year, with Intamin inverted-looper Tornado at Särkeniemmi scoring second. The multi-launch concept of Helix was just waiting to happen as Blue Fire isn't using a pusher for lauch anymore but instead using a pure magnetic accelerated launch. Also true is that MACK is mostly known for it's family-friendly oevre and potential clients want to see working proof of their coasters - not only at the home park were technical service is nearby and free. I also wouldn't agree that Intamin has no signature coasters anymore - Intamin coasters are today the most forceful which I as Schwarzkopf fan appreciate. For me B&M is the most conservative coaster-builder today - while they're big, fun and ultra-smooth they're lacking progressive launch systems such as hydraulic or magnetic launch and for me they totally lack Gs - mostly topping at about 3.5G.

The new trains rode okay - beeing the same make than the ones on german carnival Schwarzkopf double-looper Teststrecke - but not really equipped for riders taller than 2 meters. Even if I normally prefer lapbar-only trains IMO the new rubber-OTSRs by Vekoma like I've ridden on Speed Of Sound at Walibi Holland better fit this coaster. Mainly due to the fact that on the lifts and the last inversion of each direction you slightly hang in the restraint - were an OTSR is better suited. On the Schwarzkopf this lapbars work better as those coaster jam you into the seats and you've no hangtime.

I was there the last week of September and visited all day evenings Tue-Thu, with Thursday starting the Vienna version of Oktoberfest called "Wiesn-Fest" right next to the Prater. Nevertheless the attendance was always very low - the only rides gathering good crowds were the Ferris Wheel, Schwarze Mamba and Prater-Turm (the HighFlyer). At least somne rounds were possible on the Tornado, Alpenblitz rafting, Break Dancer, TopSpin and the coasters. The rides seem to open and close at random. The Hochschaubahn and log-flume were only open on tuesday. The kiddie rides mostly closing at about 6pm. Some rides might be closed for the weekdays or season but others were closed far longer. Some walkways were completly dark at night and looked quite shadowy with some local teenagers gathering in these murky areas. On the other hand there was also construction going on for new rides or attractions in two places. This mirror maze is clearly closed for good.

It can't be a too wild coaster. Today a friend visited from Flensburg at the german/danish border who is fluent in danish and the small girl on the teaser wall says: "I'll also do this ride!" (Jeg vil ogsa vaere med!). So I'll put my bet on a woodie or family coaster - at least a coaster with 1,00m-1,20m height allowance.

Located just two subwaystops from the Vienna city center at Praterstern the classic city park offers a mixed bag. On the one side you've the signature Ferris Wheel and the unique Funtime attractions - on the other side you've closed up rides and gameshops which seem to rot for years. In between you'll also find a good collection of carnival flats and a so-so coaster collection with the brakeman woodie Hochschaubahn beeing the highlight. It's visible though that Prater Management is trying to revitalize the park by adding a renovated entrance quare with the upper-class restaurant Eisvogel and installing new colorful lightposts in the park. The main problem seems to be that each attraction or restaurant is independently owned and that each owner has it's own ideas and the owners obviously can't agree on future development let alone a flat-fee wristband. This also limits Prater's coasters as they've to fit into one of the properties - as I gathered there were sometimes ideas to install a major coaster but there was never agreement on the sharing of building coasts nor entrance revenue. After visiting Bakken and Prater this year I've to say that even while Prater offers more signature attractions the look&feel as well as atmosphere is way better in Bakken. The main reason most tourists visit the Prater Ferris Wheel machinery Worlds tallest High-Flyer at 115 meters or 377 feet This Pinfari coaster will shake you up Very fragile Ferris Wheel construction The Vekoma MK-750 Megablitz is actually pretty good Boomerang with unique lapbar-only trains Not a sign of excellence... The rafting ride Alpenblitz by abc-rides is mega-spinning - highly recommended! This is a sign of excellence Scenic railway Hochschaubahn Bext to Ferris Wheel and High-Flyer there's also this option to get a view over Vienna Funtime Tornado, Volare and small ferris wheel Funtime' Schwarze Mamaba beeing by far the best ride As the seats spin freely the ride is always different depending on the weight of riders - sometimes offering massive ejector-air

My answer will likely be the most common: Last year Montezooma's Revenge at Knotts last June. After Xcelerator my 2nd fav coaster in the park.

The following parks allowed re-rides if crowds were low and no one waiting for your seat: Heide-Park and SFMM. At Hansa-Park if there are no new riders waiting they ask over speakers if everyone wants to ride again and if response is positive they don't even open the restraints so they don't have to check them again - if there are only a few new riders you can even jump to a free seat after gate closing and before restraint check. Parks the didn't allow re-rides even if crowds are low: Särkeniemi and Knotts. On all other parks I visited crowds were too heavy to even try re-rides.

Sun Park looks better than the average chinese park as far as I can judge from the PTR.

In some areas they've buildings that were destined for demolition were moved to the appropriate "lands". Also Castle Balthasar was rotting for years before the Mack family purchased it for one Euro from the village of Rust and turned it into a restaurant. The park itself were originally the gardens of the Castle - that puts all the lush greenery in place.

I've Djurs and Färup Sommerlands on schedule for coming June - but still depends on my expenses in Orlando coming January...

YES - And shortly after they bought a SkyWheel from MaurerSöhne they've completed their own knock-off. The dimensions look a little different - most likely as it's done with the signature Arrow/Vekoma tracksystem - but's thats only my guessing as I can find no pics of it. Maybe the ride is as "good" as the vids I've seen and reports heard of the chinese Shuttle Loop...

Looks like an unique trip you had - fascinating and scary at times...

I mostly still buy and use DVDs as it's easy to copy them and edit the video to my own wishes and for portable devices.

Blue Fire has an inversion WITH airtime - the last rollover ist propelling you out of the seat. Hope to have multiple of such inversions on this beauty...

Love those "Passed Safety Test" signs... You can't see when the ride was tested and when the next test is due - so totally useless. I guess anyone can go to a local store to make their own signs...