rcjp

I actually can't believe they're finally building a new big coaster, since they haven't done so since opening, 20 years ago. Should be a great addition for a park that is more heavy on looping and non launched rides. Still wishing for a coaster express RMC conversion but I guess that won't happen anytime soon with these retracks.

Thanks! Hmm, ok. Interesting to know There was this sort of "street market" in the area by Krake (IDK if this is a temporary thing or not) which did sell a bunch of stuff, including food. So I did have some choice, it was just annoying that I initially walked to a few particular food places I had seen in the map and then had to go elsewhere.

^ Interesting stuff you mentioned about Talocan. I had no idea these rides usually had to cool down after some spins. And, I as I said, I usually don't do these rides myself so I didn't have much to compare it to (intensity wise). I went on it mostly for the setting/theming, for sure. And yes, the theming on Mystery Castle is an important feature but for me, as much I think good theming elevates the overall experience, the ride itself is the main thing and what I care about most. Still a pretty cool experience, though

Trip Report So the day after my Phantasialand visit (Tuesday, 19 October) I headed to Heide Park. It was gonna be tough be beat the previous day/park but then this one has a nice coaster collection and I was really looking forward to trying my first big intamin pre-fab (I had only been on Balder at Liseberg). The park didn't have a lot of people but I wouldn't call it dead. Lines were fairly consistent with around 5-10 min for Desert Race, 10-20 for Krake 15-30 for Flug der Dämonen and 25-35 for Colossos. All these coasters were running the 2 trains. Weather looked terrible all day but I only started getting a drizzle from around 15-16h and by that time I had done all I wanted, so I just had a few more rides and left. Even though there were some people in the park, it felt a bit weird as a lot of food places were closed (don't know if it's normal or if it's Covid). Despite this, services and operations were, overall, pretty good (much better than Movie Park the following day ) I did enjoy the park quite a lot. Not Phansatialand or Europa Park (although it has a better coaster collection than the latter) but my 3rd favorite park in Germany, now. Now to a review of the main coasters: - Desert Race: this was my first of these small, low to the ground intamin accelerators (I had been to Kanonen at Liseber but it's a very different ride style). And it was pretty much what I expected. Very fun forceful launch, some nice twists and pops of airtime and a good sensation of speed. It's just a little short and I find the placement of the brakes terrible as they ruin airtime on the last hill for those further back in the train. Since the line was pretty short I rode it a bunch of times (trying to get the front row but with no luck). - Flug der Dämonen: I really enjoyed this coaster. It might actually be my favorite of the type, next to the one at Toverland. It's funny because I have been on Gatekeeper which is much bigger but these ones just rode better, for some reason. It felt like the layout really was meant to be a wing coaster (while Gatekeeper felt like a forceless sitting coaster layout with winged trains on it). Don't get me wrong, this is pretty forceless too . And maybe the reason I liked it more was the fact that I have come to accept that B&M wing coasters will never be about intensity like their older sitting ones (Dragon Khan or Kumba). But this one had very fluid and nice transitions with a pretty original and unique layout. It was the first wing coaster that really gave me the flying feeling, as I was floating through the inversions with nothing above or below (especially when I got a front row ride). It was the coaster I rode the most that day (I would have done colossos more but it had the longest line). - Krake: not much to say here. It was the first small scale dive coaster. It has a nice first drop, the splashdown is always a cool touch a standard inversion and an airtime hill with some very light floater air. Did it once in the back and once in the front. - Colossos: this was by far the ride I wanted to try the most. Especially as I heard so much praise for these coasters and when I went to SFGAdv El Toro was down . I had been to Balder but was a bit disappointed, to be honest. Sure, it had some pretty good airtime hills but overall didn't feel very fast and the turns between the hills kinda broke the pacing. This one was much better for sure. First of all, it was very smooth (something I can only say about balder too, when it comes to wooden coasters) and the height and speed made it much more fun, in my view. The airtime wasn't insane but very very good, it had a nice long layout and kept a good pacing. It might be my favorite woodie now. Or perhaps Phoenix Knoebels but that's a totally different ride (which gets all its points from the loose restraints which let you fly all over the place). But still, I have to say that, in my experience, no wooden coaster has ever come close to my steel top (and I know this is rare for many here). Maybe I have just been unlucky (I mentioned El Toro being down and I haven't been to any RMC woodies, only hybrids). And yes, maybe when this ride was built it was among the best (and don't get me wrong, it is still a very very good coaster) but after having experienced RMC hybrids and insane airtime on rides like shyrush and even Ride to Happiness at Plopsaland De Panne (this ride gave me some of the most aggressive airtime I've ever felt and it totally caught me off guard), the airtime here (which is what the ride is all about) doesn't feel so crazy anymore. Still a great ride and I hope they keep taking good care of it. Went on it twice (front and back). Maybe would have done more if the line was a bit shorter or if it wasn't raining when I left the park. Now to the pictures Approaching the entrance Oh, here began my main (and only, really) issue with the park. IDK if I'm the only, but I found the park map (on paper or app) so confusing that I ended up almost getting lost , or should I say, often taking much longer paths than would be needed. Still, I did like the layout of the park. Interesting looking ride.. The obligatory western section Brings back childhood memories of the movie First ride of the day With its unique operator room A bit of theming here and there. I remember seeing these (or very similar ones at another park) on an old TPR vlog style video (my grandad would download these for me when I was like 6-8 as he was the first one in the family to have a PC and internet and of course I had no idea what TPR was). They look so intense for kid slides that I wanted to try one but felt embarrassed as I only saw kids going in I'll come back to you later Really nice roller coaster landscape. Just a shame the weather wasn't at its prettiest Oh no... here we go This one was actually fine Not this The two vekomas with the same paint job make a nice pair (visually aha) SLCs are very photogenic, I find. This one still had the old trains and it gave me a nice little beating. It was a complete walk on Also the same color scheme, actually This was my favorite bobsled as it was long and with some pretty fast turns throughout. Overall, the park had some nice theming elements. I had just come from Phantasialand but I had to give it some credit. This area was pretty nice looking Also a walk on for the tower. I love these. Very simple but always deliver This was a positive surprise for me since from POVs it looks kinda slow. And it wasn't fast and intense for sure, but a very enjoyable ride. May be my favorite wing coaster now. The interaction with other rides/buildings and the terrain is awesome Floating through the inversions Very unique element, this one Zero G roll really did give good zero G. Favorite seat was front right Nice fast airtime hill after the drop I'll get more pics of this one later. But not much to say. New trains make the ride comfortable but it is what it is. Just meh Diving time! Wait was pretty short for this. Shoutout to the park for running 2 trains on these rides with not much queue. Something that I could not say about Movie Park the day after... A kiddie coaster with a strange looking train... You'll see what I mean in a bit I love parks that have a lake in the middle. It makes for some cool shots and it's also a nice way to separate different areas Really cool theming on the first drop A very mild pop of air I ran away like an idiot after taking this shot as the whole area would get drenched after Big Loop looping ...aaand looping some more Now I realize that all the coasters in this section do have the same color scheme aha I love when you can get really close to rides. It means parks somewhat trust their guests. Yeeess finally The structure looks massive Cool sign First awesome airtime hill Nice first drop (nothing like El Toro, though) I didn't get many pictures of the ride, it wasn't very easy Some brave souls who are not afraid to get wet in the cold Good luck Nice theming here too Ahh, there is the weird front car Me trying to get diabetes Some more winged action. This was the ride I went on the most Standard B&M wing coaster first drop Station building for the bobsled looked really cool No, not going there again Here These old style corkscrews look very photogenic One last ride And one last attempt to get diabetes

Yeah, I only went on it once, so maybe I was unlucky.... The theming and anticipation (lighting, sound,...) really is amazing. But the ride itself was nothing special. I can tell you than on my sequence it immediately started with an upwards launch but nowhere near as strong as S&S ones (I also didn't get any air as it reached the top). Then it spent some time moving up and down (but very slowly, only to build up the anticipation) and it finally ended up a drop from the top but, once again, not forceful enough to leave my seat (so not even 0G, like a standard drop tower). To be fair, although I enjoy a good S&S tower, I prefer simple drop towers. Honestly those are, nowadays, the only rides that I'm never fully prepared for as when you get that sudden 0G you always get that funny feeling in your stomach.

Yeah, it is the former coaster from Liseberg It's a fun little ride with a surprisingly aggressive launch

Thanks It was a great opportunity to test my new phone's photography capabilities aha Yes, F.L.Y was an amazing ride! As I said, not the most extreme/insane coaster experience but I did not have a single negative thing to point out about it. Even the restraints were pretty nice. I forgot to mention that but basically these work a lot more like the ones on B&M flyers than the old vekoma flying Dutchman. You have a vest restraint (the vest part only locks as you actually start moving) and then the leg/shin holders that are also kinda like the ones B&M uses. The trains are not the largest (20 riders, I think) but with the separate stations and efficient operations the line moved at a decent pace. Now having been to the largest German parks, I think I can say Phantasialand has the best coaster line up with Taron F.L.Y and Black Mamba, in my view. And with all the awesome theming, it's definitely my favorite park in the country and among my favorites overall!

Thanks for the great report! Now it's time for mine Two weeks ago I did a car trip across a few parks in Germany that I hadn't been to. I took some pictures from the others too but this was my favorite and the one I have more stuff to show/talk about. I might eventually do a report on Heide Park as well. But for now, Phantasialand I really loved this park, it has become one of my favorites. Amazing and immersive theming, great attention to detail, some nice food and, of course, a great selection of rides. None of them totally blew me away but the 3 main coasters are very solid and the theming only makes it better. This report dates back to Monday, October 18. It was a nice, mostly sunny day but sadly, however, I wasn't as lucky with the queuing times as Satchboogie3. The lines for the main coasters were pretty consistent throughout the day with Taron's being between 30-50min, black mamba 20-30 and F.L.Y around 40. It's a shame that there is no unlimited skip the line pass (especially if you're just going for a day) but I won't complain as many/most German parks don't seem to have any pass at all. I got the thing and used my two rides on Taron (F.L.Y wasn't included). I ended up getting two rides on each of these 3 coasters and 1 on the remaining stuff that I went on. Overall, operations were very efficient (especially after having come across with some awful ones this year) and everything worked nicely. The park was very beautiful and nicely put together. It was the only park of the trip where I stayed the full day and left wanting more. Now to a review of some of the coasters (with some "spoilers" for less obvious stuff not everyone might know): - Winja's: these were some very unique and fun spinning coasters! They would have made it to my favorite of the type if it hadn't been for Ride to Happiness earlier this year, although that should be on a category of its own. Overall, I preferred Fear, I think (the one which does not tilt sideways). I just got the impression it was longer and did more stuff. Or maybe it was the element of surprise as it was the first. The tilting elevator lifts were very fun and an unique way to start the ride. The other tilting sections were fun to and I was totally caught by surprise by the dropping/bouncing track on the final brake run. It was a weird feeling and as a coaster nerd and a mechanical engineer, I was really intrigued by how that worked as the train never stopped moving through the track as it would bounce down and then up. I was quite frustrated cause I wasn't able to see what was going on since it was dark . But it amazes how many moving parts and track switches there are and it was running fine. Does anyone know how reliable these coasters are? I'm curious; - F.L.Y: I was really excited about this one especially as lately I've been riding some of these new Vekomas and they have been really good. Also cause there are basically no POVs of the ride and I was intrigued by the boarding process (very different from any other flying coaster). I then found out why. They have a really fancy locker system with bracelets that you use to open the locker and you really have to put everything in there as after you go trough metal detectors (I guess this is because the coaster goes over a lot of walkways and there are no nets, which I quite like). So after this part there are no phones (so no pics of the station too). It has a separate loading and unloading station (interesting fact, this is probably the coaster I've been on where the trains move the fastest in and out of the station). The trains come sideways with the seats straight up and facing the queue. You board them and then go through this slightly uphill bit (the station is underground and the first launch is elevated) still sideways. I guess Vekoma realized that being in the flying position for very long isn't so comfortable as you only face down just before the launch. Basically the track twists to the inverted position at the same time as the seats rotate 90 degrees to be aligned with the track (all done in motion and very smoothly). The launch isn't really forceful but it's definitely fun to experience one in a flying coaster. I agree with Satchboogie3 in the sense that it wasn't so soft or forceless as I expected. It definitely has no insane moment like a pretzel loop but (like the inverted coaster Hals über Kopf at Tripsdrill) it keeps going without really having a slow moment and everything feels very fluid. The transitions, twists, dives underground and even the second launch/boost are very well put together and it really is a fun great experience. My front row ride on it was probably my best ride on a flying coaster as you really get the flying sensation (going over all the track mess and walkways). These new vekomas I've been on have this particular feeling to them: not very intense but never stop and feel very fluid, with great transitions between elements and no "dead" moments; - Black Mamba: This was a pretty solid B&M invert. Not as intense as an old-school one (like batman) but after riding the super "new-school" invert at Grona Lund, it seemed quite forceful. The fact that you're flying around theming elements, trenches and with a bunch of near misses definitely adds to the experience. It also had a pretty good pacing, despite not being that intense. It was pretty much what I expected (in a good way). I was lucky to be put in the front row for my first ride; - Taron: Pretty awesome ride. Not on my top 3 or 5 but definitely very good. I was expecting it to be all about twists and turns but it still delivered some nice airtime moments (the trim near the end is annoying, though). Pacing was better than I thought too (on the POVs it seems to kinda crawl to the second launch but it felt faster in real life). Once more, the whole scenery really adds to the experience too as well as the interaction with the vekoma family boomerang the the rest of the ride itself (you'd often see two trains on the track at the same time). The launches were pretty forceful too, for LSMs (especially compared to many recent Mack rides). I was just annoyed that you can't go for the front row if you use the quick pass. IDK why, really. Cause you merge with the regular queue before it splits into rows... So the extra time you'd wait would be the same. I'm actually not quite sure if I prefer F.L.Y or Taron, overall. F.L.Y amazed me for its uniqueness and novelty, in a way. It's a very "satisfying" coaster to ride, IDK quite how to put it. You do get a very good flying sensation. But maybe, if I had to marathon one, it'd be Taron as it's, overall, a faster and more intense coaster. I was sent to the China area entrance. A nice first impression As with the rest of the park, theming was top notch My first look at Taron as I was making my way to the center of the park to buy the quick pass. First ride of the day was Maus au Chocolat as it was near the place I got the quick pass (or whatever the name is here) and it had a very small wait while the big coasters already had large queues by then (I drove 3h40 to get to the park, so I wasn't quite there for opening, but close) . I had no idea what the ride was (didn't know it was a shooting ride) but the queue looked pretty cool. Fun ride too I don't really know what's on the other side of this (maybe rookburgh, the layout of the park and how well the transitions between areas are sometimes made it difficult to get what was on the other side) but it looked really cool First coaster(s) of the day was Winja's Amazing setting and really fun rides! Even for me, who usually knows all the coaster layouts before riding, this was full of little surprises. One of the best spinners I've been on. Queue and exit theming amazing too of course I then headed to Crazy Bats, a Vekoma family coaster which appears to have changed theming a couple of times. Now it was supposed to have VR but cause of covid it doesn't, so the ride itself is practically just in the dark. Still fun, though. And supposedly the longest indoor family coaster in the world? I'm pretty sure I read it there, somewhere. Queue and station looked pretty cool. The transition to the center of the park Which, of course, looks amazing Was getting a Disney vibe here I must say, this whole area looked awesome. I really like the theming and the steampunk vibe of the area. First look at the long awaited F.L.Y I'm a huge fan of the colors predominantly used here. First launch (which you walk under) The entire area is also full of trenches and tunnels where the coaster very often dives into. The entrance And the view from the queue. I find all this track and theming mess really stunning to look at. The final inversion before the brakes. I must say that I initially had some trouble getting photos with the trains on the track because, since I didn't know the layout and there are so many tunnels and overlapping track, it is quite difficult to know where the train will pop up next. Bit of the underground part of the queue That is pretty much the last bit you can go still with your phone. The lockers were just after this bit of queue ended More rookburgh awesomeness And now heading to the other rides View of the Mexican area And of course, the visually stunning Talocan With all the effects working, of course Heading to the "newer nemesis" I love when the queue has a lot of interactions with the actual coaster. Scenery amazing too It's amazing when parks put in the effort to add all these little details not everyone will notice It's also great when parks have a lot of these interaction places with the rides Pretty standard B&M invert first drop, but with a nice forceful pull into the loop Mine train time! This one was really long and with a lot of interaction with nearby buildings and rides too Didn't realize you could smoke in the park. Or maybe you couldn't Finally heading to Taron The two coasters (Taron and Raik, the Vekoma family boomerang) blend in really nicely IDK what else to say, this whole area looks awesome too The rockwork was amazing too. It's funny that I clearly remember watching a video about the building of all these rocks and scenery like 6 years ago, when the ride was getting built. I didn't think I'd end up here now Coming out of the second (and best) launch You go by this waterfall with great speed Some Raik action (this was just a standard junior boomerang but in an amazing setting) Two coasters in one Interesting.... I really wanted to try Chiapas for being such a special log flume (and to be able to sing "we're on a log flume", of course ) but it was just too cold for me (and the huge body driers had quite the queue ) Yup, I'll just watch And of course, absolutely amazing theming I generally don't do these as I'm not a fan of this type of ride, but I had to go on this one. Just after a nice full meal As I said, I don't do many of these but this one had the most intense program of the ones I've tried (with the most flips) Another great looking water ride which was too much for me I then headed to Mystery Castle, an unique (one of a kind?) intamin compressed air tower Does the park have noise restrictions? Cause none of the coasters are very tall and are all surrounded by walls and this one is also enclosed, so... Looked amazing from the outside, but the biggest let down of the park. Anyone find the same? No forces at all (no great positives and I didn't leave the seat once). I feel like it spends a lot of time just building up and being intimidating and then doesn't really do much. Some more Taron, cause why not? This was my second (and final ) ride on it Also a last ride on mamba And, to end the day, a ride on F.L.Y. I realized I wasn't gonna have time to do anything else so I just waited for the front row (and I didn't regret it) One final look at some Intamin awesomeness

Expedition Geforce 2 weeks ago It's always nice to finally get on a ride that you had been hearing about for years, and it surely did deliver

aha cool! Yeah, not bad at all. When, on Thursday, I was told the park would open on Friday, I wasn't so confident (especially as there was still some wind on Thursday) but all ended up working out pretty good! It was a shame to miss sky scream but it was more for the credit, really, as I have been on a clone of it

Sorry, was only able to have some time on my PC now. But thanks for all the tips! And now to the big reveal...... I got to the park Thursday morning and it was closed They had some bad weather during the previous night and didn't open from damage..... Luckily, it was my last park of the trip and I had already booked a hotel nearby. So I managed to spend 2/3h in the park on Friday, before having to drive back to Switzerland. Expedition GeForce took 1h30 to open (due to cold) but then it was almost a walk on, so I still managed to get 5 rides that day. As expected, it was a really awesome ride (with a lot more positive Gs than I thought, actually!) Sky Scream had a sign saying "closed for maintenance". There was also nobody near the entrance so I couldn't really ask what the matter was. Overall, it felt like they were still recovering from damage of Wednesday night since a lot of rides were closed or took a bit to open. Overall, however, given this issue and the time limitation on that day, I was really happy with the visit and glad to close the "coaster year" with a back car ride on Expedition GeForce

Thanks for the tips I guess I didn't see the pass cause it's not available in the English version of the website (these "issues" also seem to happen with other parks too) Thanks a lot for the extensive explanation! I'll go to all parks during the week except Tripsdrill, next Sunday. I'll go to holiday park on Thursday, temperatures seem well above 8 but rainy. In fact, it looks like I'll get rain in most of these places. How are their "rain protocols"? I've already downloaded the apps for all parks that have them, they seem to be in German only but I'll manage

I must say your post made me a little worried aha I'll be going to the park next Monday (and I only have that day, I took a week off to go to a few parks in that area). I suppose this Quick Pass is a sort of skip the line pass, right? I couldn't find anything on their website, though. Also, just to be sure: I'll also be going to Tripsdrill, Heide Park, Holiday Park and Movie park. None of these have any fast pass available (or at least in a visible/clear way) on their websites, do you know if they all don't have one? I see this is a bit of a German trend.

^ Now that I'm living in Switzerland I also think the same thing. But I won't complain much cause I come from a worse place

Vilda Musen at Grona Lund A very unique and funky wild mouse built literally on top of other rides and walkways