simon8899

@KCForce Quite interesting insight you provided! When I was a kid all ride-ops were fulltime employees - so there were no teens/twens operating the rides. Some parks like Hansa-Park still do it with fulltime employees while others like Heide-Park now mostly hire teens/twens parttime - and I've to admit that the latter is at times reducing the turnaround time of the ride. The longtime employees really "know" their ride. Another thing I've noted on Arrow coasters is that the operator has to stop the ride at the correct position inside the station which he/she is sometimes not getting right while Schwarzkopf coasters are automatically breaked right on spot without any human intervention. On checking restraints the Schwarzkopf system is also interesting: Except for the first gen looping-racer cars all cars have small lights on the side to indicate if restraints are locked. Next to that only if all restraints are closed a circuit is closed for the operator to get green light. But even today here in germany not every restraint is checked manually - the ride attendant is only making a visual inspection and only intervenes if the restraint is visibly too loose. Next to that most modern rides have red/green LED indicators for restraints - added or secondary seatbelts are seldom seen on coasters here. The only ones I know are the seatbelts on wooden coasters by GCI and Intamin. All others - Vekoma, Schwarzkopf, Gerstelauer, Maurer-Söhne - have no secondary restraint system here. And honestly if a 2-point seatbelt would help much in the unlikely case if a train stops upside down with the main restraint failing is IMO highly questionable - you would need a four-point seatbelt system like in racing cars to prevent you falling off.

@ScottBrown I dont think its about capacity. First europe in general and germany especially is BIG in machine building and we've great manufacturers like Mack, Huss, Zierer, Mondial, KMG, Technical Park - so I guess there just no need to import rides from the US which adds cost by just beeing so far away. Right now I cant name a ride that was built in the US except for wooden coasters in parks that is active here. In Heide-Park there once was a Chance Wipeout but that is gone now. Also in the past we had Schwarzkopf, Klaus, Fähtz, DeBoer, Nautik-Bussink... Another reason might be that the US rides are delivered quite basic in lighting and theming compared to the massive light-setup and the huge colorful backwalls our rides have - these are mostly costum made by the - or by subsidaries - of the ride manufacturers. I guess for a german showmen american manufacturers should make their rides more "flashy". At last eurpean rides need to be made according to german DIN and european EN norms when it comes to materials and security systems - so an american manufactur has to work according to thses norms including prooving that he does so. I dont think that american rides are less secure but american norms are not accepted here when the ride needs its TÜV permission - and I've seen in the netherlands and denmark that those rides are also tested by the german TÜV as its security standards are known to be among the strictest and most in-depth. At the Edmonton triple-loop you see how it ends when TÜV regulations are not met...

Yes the Rodelpiste with real snow was still there - and at about 10 degrees nearly flooding the street....

Looks very good! Did you do the Ruppert Take-Off? In Berlin the ride program was sadly quite short and lame...

Italy and France are my "backup plans" in case the Euro fails and travles into dollar country will be to expensive.... Looks like Italy is quite worth it....

Great trip-report - the log-flume looks amazing! I don't know about the US but this sign - of course minus the tree - is a regular traffic sign here in germany: Warning that you enter a harbour area....

I see your point and in some german forums there're also some who plead for a reduction of DOMs. But as long as it seems to be profitable for the showmen and I have a Schwarzkopf coaster - OL, Teststrecke, Alpina - in town three months a year only three subway-stations away I won't complain about it.... On boarding the Dancers - and thats also often true for Schwarzkopf Monsters - the plattform or arms sometimes even keep slowly revolving while poeple hunt for their space and the ride starts after a warning horn blast over the speaker system after only 30 seconds again. Normally I avoid such hustle and visit on weekdays but the best trick is to always move with the plattform and not against it. On one visit two weeks ago I had a group of kids who were from Chernobyl on youth exchange on the Dancer and it ran nearly 8 minutes....

At least the cars are secured from derailing - looks like the system that was used early steel-coasters like the Wildcat.

Berlin - for christmas markets and rides Arriving in Berlin on the new central station. Trains north-south go on the lower level and trains east-west on the upper level - with three levels of shops and fast-food in between... Historic subway station. First up was the historic christmas market at Schloss Charlottenburg. Only some kiddie rides - still closed - but some good food. In the evening I took the subway east to the Alexanderplatz. The main spot for rides is behind the Alexa shopping center called Weihnachtstraum am Alexa. The only coaster was the Kinzler mouse but they had a very decent flats selection... As said before: No german fair without a Dancer. 60 meter ferris wheel with the KongaXXL. Magic time! Huss Take-Off: What a cool ride - but sadly here on a quite short and lame program... Swingy... Nice views from this spot... Yes - even the Take-Off is not completly fenced in.... Next to the XXL they also had a standard afterburner. As far as I found out this was a last minute replacement for a ride that got no TÜV permission.... Sadly the Top Spin had some technical difficulties and was closed... High-Flyer... View from the first floor of the shopping center - sadly it was not allowed to step onto the balcony... Back to Alexanderplatz. On Alexanderplatz you've the two former eastern Berlin icons: On the left the Urania World Clock - with the 24 hours and a world map with city names rotating around to indicate the time. On the right the Funkturm - Telecom Tower - at 368 meters it was in the 60s one of the tallest structures in the world and the tallest in europe, the globe with the observation deck and restaurant should resemble the Sputnik satellites. Elevators from the ground lounge to the observation deck take 40 seconds for 207 meters. Christmas market at Gendarmenmarkt. The Berlin Bear having a dance with a christmas angel. Elevated view over the market. All buildings were nicely illuminated.

Great footage!!! Especially love the Shuttle-Loop vids - after riding the Montezooma's Revenge I can say: They still rock!

Like most Schwarzkopf standard coasters the OL is made to impress on carnivals. With the exception of the Silberpfeil and Double-Loop the coasters have the hills in the backs and the loops in the front for spectators to see. What I also love - and thats due to the compact built needed for fairgrounds - are the high-G curves were you're whipped around from the back to the front of the coaster. On OL these are the curve after the first loop and the S-curve after the 2nd lift. And of course OL was not built by Schwarzkopf - just in case anyone asks. Steelworks made by BHS (Bavarian Steel Works) - trains, brakes and other active parts by Zierer - engineering supervision by Anton Schwarzkopf. This team also built the Jetline and Lisebergbanan...which I will hopefully get on comming summer. Thriller was even harder on speed and Gs. Not only about the first two loops but Thriller had no second lift for riders to catch a breath but its whipping you around from start to end at continuous insane speeds....

@MrMorgan It wasn't that cold compared to the last two years with sub-freezing temperatures and heaps of snow. This year it was nearly always dry - but foggy - at 5-10 C. As I always say: "What will you wear when it starts to really get cold?" As far as I know the "long" trains are only used at Oktoberfest for the heavy crowds there with one train departing each 30 seconds. Here in Hamburg they've one "short" train running weeknights and two "short" trains Fri, Sat and Sun.

Looks like a nice tour - but you cant get me to drink an american beer....

At what DOM the Olympia Looping will be back in my hometown.... But next to that also for my Scandinavian City Tour - hopefully doing: - Linanmaki (Helsinki) - Sarkeniemi (Tampere) - Gröna Lund (Stockholm) - Liseberg (Göteborg) - Tivoli & Bakken (Kopenhagen)

The second Breakdancer on the fair... Weber Carpet up in the air... Frisbee nerd-shot. 50 meter Starflyer. 55 meter ferris wheel from down below... And again we've the 40+ years old Rotor. This rotating "sky-beams" are the new thing on flatrides here. Approaching the best looping coaster in the world! When Olympia Looping is in town - weather permitting - I round off each working day with a ride or two... Now - Do I have YOU jealous??? The first inversion on SkyRocker is really slow with great hangtime. And the OTSRs are quite "slim" so you can lift your arms all up - or down... The kiddie credit - and no, I didn't do it! On my way back changing from subway to bus at city hall: Christmas market time is comming up!

Now finally the second take on Winterdom - this time I only had my smartphone with me so excuse the blurryness... noted! A life bakery - offering the always freshly made buns... View from the ferris wheel over the fairground. Zierer Waveswinger. Fabbri BoosterMaxx whirling you around up to 55 meters at 6 Gs - I even got a weird feeling in my lower legs and feet. A wild mouse! Colorful walktrough. Two-storey cart-racing. with real gas-powered carts. Music-Express. More comming soon...

Note to simon8899: Don't tell us you've ridden the Olympia Looping again twice this evening....

Theme Parks: Hansa-Park (twice) Heide-Park Belmont Park Pacific Park Disneyland Disney's California Adventure Knotts Berry Farm SFMM Santa Cruz Broadwalk Attractiepark Slagharen De Efteling Walibi Holland Carnivals: Frühlingsdom (Hamburg) Sommerdom (Hamburg) Schützenmarkt (Hannover) Freimaak (Bremen) Winterdom (Hamburg) Wintertraum am Alexa (Berlin)

Friday: Olympia Looping at Hamburg Winterdom Monday: Wilde Maus at Alexa christmas market in Berlin

The seldom seen Intamin pirates are best - like Halve Maen at Efteling. Bigger than the Huss ships and with more airtime.

As always in the US - with the exception of NYC, Boston and Frisco: Get a rental car. Even if not a themepark and the space program lies in shambles: Kennedy Space Center is not far off by car and makes a good day.

Eurostar was quite okay in the first and second year - but got rapidly bad with each travel. No match to the Schwarzkopf travelling coasters. But I also think to remeber that Intamin built this...

Tonights count: Olympia Looping: 2x Sky Rocker (inverting Afterburner): 1x Break Dancer: 1x Frisbee: 1x

Gerstelauer had a refurbished train that formerly ran on Laser on its website for only a week or two for sale....wonder were that went to.... As I said: A working Shuttle-Loop would be reason for a belgian holiday!

@donkeyman18 Intamin/Cordes woodies rule....