TR: bobbejaanland

[Jew]

So I’m finally writing the second TR from Europe…

 

Anyways, today would be the start of one of the major themes of the European trips: Parks in the middle of nowhere! After a detour due to a road closure, we found bobbejaanland. Like Robb said, we really didn’t know what to expect of this place. I had heard absolutely nothing about it except that it had the Gerstauler 95 drop coaster. Thankfully the place turned out to be awesome!

 

After being Jewish and not buying myself a map (yes…they make you pay for maps!), we walked around for a bit and then decided to wait for “Typhoon” to open. This ride looked like it was either going to kill us or be lots of fun! Luckily for me, since I didn’t take that 3rd ride that turned out to beat the hell out of Robb, Dan, and Elissa…it was lots of fun! This ride was the first vertical lift I had been on, so when it slowed down towards the top it scared the f*ck out of me! The view from the drop, with no track below you is really cool! The rest of the ride felt like a wild mouse with a loop and the barrel rolls thrown in at the end. Definitely more fun than I expected, but not “OMG WOW!” I think these rides could be great additions for smaller parks as long as they are well maintained.

 

Then we wandered over to the parks Wild Mice. They have two Wild Mice coasters that are mirrored and next to each other and they are called “Speedy Bobs.” I was hoping to be a credit whore and get on both sides, but only one side was open =( Anyways…the ride itself was one of the better mice I have been on! It was hardly braked until the end, and had a pop of psycho airtime. It even stole Elissa’s sunglasses!

 

After that was a Vekoma suspended roller coaster “Air Race”. Everything about it looks like an Arrow, except it is a Vekoma with awesome airplane themed cars! I can’t really say anything bad about this coaster, but I can’t really say anything good about it either. It was very much just an “ehh…whatever” coaster. Not too fast, not too slow, not a lot of forces, yet still kind of fun.

 

Then came some awesome Hawaiian pizza, followed by the start of another trip trend: being stupid and going on the water rides! They had one of those “wet/dry” slides (a la Yosemite Sam’s Sierra Falls @ SFMM) that ended up getting me SOAKED, but since it was one of the ones with like a quadruple down the airtime was sweet. We also rode the raft ride, which apparently used to have some sort of crazy windmill lift and a big drop. Even without those, the ride turned out to be really fun. It had a wave machine section (something not really seen on American raft rides) and a whirlpool section (another first for me). I’m not a huge raft ride fan by any means, but this one was fun. Didn’t soak us either, which is always a plus.

 

I think after that we went to the other side of the park, where we ran into some of the coolest rides ever! First of was the “Okie Doki” coaster, which is a Vekoma roller skater on crack. This ride definitely wasn’t a top 10 ride, but it was a great family coaster. Not too fast (or too slow), no huge drops (not too small either), and a SLIGHT bit of airtime. I’d even go as far as calling it a Vekoma junior mine train (which is a good thing)!

Across from “Oki Doki” was the coolest ride ever! I don’t even remember the real name, but we referred to it as the “beaner shooting ride.” What do I mean by that? Exactly what it sounds like! It’s a shooting dark ride where you go around shooting Mexicans, Confederates, Indians, and there was even spousal abuse! To top it all off…it was the legendary “Bench: The Ride!!!!” Makes me wish SFMM really was getting “Bench: The Ride!” By far the coolest dark ride ever. Then there was the indoor log flume, which was like the log ride at KBF with cooler effects…at least I think that was the story.

 

The last coaster of the day was “Revolution.” Who knew Vekoma could make so many good rides? This thing had a LOOONG train, a LOOOONG spiral lift, and then a bunch of turns in the dark with crazy lighting effects. Also on the lift there was a projector on the ceiling showing a black hole and even more crazy lighting effects. I don’t know what to say about this ride except “WTF?...this thing is cool and I’m not sure why!”

 

The park also had a couple of HUSS flat rides next to each other, both of which were firsts for me. First up was the giant Frisbee. It’s a fun flat ride, but it had a short cycle. I think we got one full swing at the top before it started to slow back down. Then it was the fly-away. Extremely uncomfortable, but seriously one of the most disorienting flat rides I have ever been on. This thing really takes your stomach for a ride! I don’t think I’ll ever go on one of these again, lol.

 

We did other things like the potato sack slide and the strange funhouse/kiddie area with odd show things like a bear watching us on TV….but I don’t really remember where in the day we did those things.

 

The last thing I remember is the parking arm not wanting to work for Robb, then magically working when the employee came out (which of course made Robb look like an idiot, so it was awesome!).

 

Overall, this park turned out to be awesome. It’s nicely landscaped, really big, has good operations, has good food, and LOTS of rides to occupy a full day. Just don’t try and pronounce the name…

[SharkTums]

I can't wait to slow motion you getting drenched on the boat ride for this years video. I am busting out laughing in my office right now as I think about it!!!!

 

Now get back to writing the rest of your TR's!

 

Elissa "never trust a European about a water ride!" Alvey

[Hattuchili]

Hey Joey,

great TripReport! Good to hear you really enjoyed the Bobbejaanland! I can not wait to read the next TR from your European Trip!

 

--Sören "keep´em coming" Schomburg

[tinhead]

Ah so it was Robb who broke the parking arm, we had the same prob that day.

 

Tin (late that day as Robb broke the parking arm) head.