Massive Europe Trip Report

[jynx242]

Thanks SO MUCH for taking the time to post your pictures and thoughts!! I have enjoyed every bit of your trip report thus-far and look forward to seeing more!

[Mrenata]

Day 8: Wild und Freizeitpark Klotten and Frankfurt Dippemess

 

 

Everytime TPR visits Klotten, I ask myself the same question: Why are they so excited about a 17m tall rollercoaster? I mean, this guys have traveled the world, have ridden the biggest and the fastest roller coasters. Why? Why does Heisse Fahrt makes TPR members so happy?

 

When I told my friends that I was going to drive 168km (104 miles) to visit a park that has just ONE rollercoaster, they called me crazy. Specially because I was going to visit Tripsdrill later on the same trip, and tecnically Tripsdrill has a "Heisse Fahrt" coaster itself. But there had to be something special with Heisse Fahrt. And I had to find out what it was.

 

Klotten is really in the middle of nowhere. At some point you leave the big roads and drive almost half an hour in some really small roads, with horses and tractors crossing your way. I don't mind that, but it is kinda weird to think that in just a few months that same park will have Germany's tallest water ride.

 

Klotten was built at the top of a hill, so you have a nice view of villages and pastures that surround the area. The parking is free, they have a nice restaurant at the entrance and a lot of self-operate rides, like the Nautic Jet. They also have a fairly sized zoo.

 

Heisse Fahrt is really good. On my first ride I was on the front row, so I didn't see anything special about this ride, but it is a complete different experience if you seat on the back row. That's where the fun happens!

 

I took a lot of pictures of Big Splash's construction. The paint job on the elevator lift seems done and the boats are already there, and they seem ready to go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The boats are ready

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heisse Fahrt

 

Nice view

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Random cute animals

 

 

 

Frankfurt Dippemess

 

 

Best kermis I've ever been!

 

I felt in love with Frankfurt and everything Frankfurt-related. The people are nice, the buildings are pieces of art and you can find a parking spot anywhere. Lovely, lovely city! I wish I have had more time to visit it.

 

Frankfurt's Dippemess was special for me because it had 2 rides that were Brazil-related. The first one was TestStrecke, that once was at Playcenter (São Paulo) under the name of Colossus until 1986. The second one was The King, a loop fighter ride. A traveling brazilian park recently bought one of those and it is a HUGE success here in Brazil and I haven't had the chance to ride the brazilian one yet.

 

The king is a very good ride. It's not Artistico/Konga/XXL material, but I can see why brazilians love it. It's probably the best flat ride we have in Brazil.

 

Teststrecke was awesome. I've never seen those trains on a Schwarzkpof coaster, but they fit very well.

 

There were also all the traditional rides and Wild Wasser, a huge, huge log flume. Too bad it was too cold to ride it.

 

I really loved Frankfurt Dippemess, it was the best kermis of this trip, even better than Hamburg Dom.

 

The view from the street

 

The King, also named The King here in Brazil

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What the hell is that?

 

Seriously, what is it?

 

Teststrecke!!!

 

 

Nice trains!

 

Too bad it's not in Brazil anymore

 

Wild Wasser

 

 

 

Isn't that pretty????

 

[jynx242]

I do like the trains!! Question, what was the tower thing??

[larrygator]

It's great to know the coaster is still running so well. Also nice to see the water ride almost complete, even if it didn't keep it's originally proposed Volcano theme.

Daguerreotype courtesy of Jeff Johnson

Daguerreotype courtesy of Jeff Johnson

Edited April 25, 2012 by larrygator

[mattnz]

Awesome trip report. I hope to get to many of these parks in the near future. Great to see Colossus/Laser operating again, and with new trains to boot.

[alexinla]

I do like the trains!! Question, what was the tower thing??

 

The Tower is a 9 Story interactive Funhouse with a cocktail/beerbar on the 7th Floor

Official Website: http://www.blume-service.de/the-tower/

 

 

[simon8899]

Its funny to see that on the Big Splash construction site the beverage supplier has the same-sized board than planning and engineering - but on the other hand the "Richtfest" is always quite a big party with lots of beers and snaps....

 

Too bad it's not in Brazil anymore

 

We trade it with Thriller in Mexico...

[Randomman295]

Great report! Loved the picture of that glorious Schwarzkopf looper. Almost forgot that one existed; glad you reminded me!

[chadster]

Excellent TR, very impressive, thanks for sharing!

[Mrenata]

Day 9: Europa-Park

 

 

Europa-Park was one of the most disappointing parks of this trip. If it wasn't for Blue Fire and Euro Mir, I would say they don't know how to make good rides.

 

Phantasialand, for example, has less rides, but they have the best ones (best mine train, best inverted coaster, best drop tower...). Europa-Park managed to make crap rides out of big ones.

 

Their first mistake: The park is too big, and getting around sometimes is a little bit confusing. It rained a lot that day, so you can imagine I had a hard time trying to open the park map to find my way.

 

 

The park is really pretty, really wll taken care of, but sometimes I got the feeling that it had too much information.

 

 

My first ride was Eurosat, as I was trying to get out of the rain. Another enclosed coaster with a neverending spiral lift, and a catchy eletronic music on the background. The ride os ok, but it's nothing like Disneyland's Space Mountain.

 

 

Silver Star was the second ride of the day. I've ridden 4 B&M megas (Nitro, Apollo's Charriot, Diamondback and Silver Star), and Silver Star is for sure the most disappointing one. It has like 1/3 of Nitro's or Apollo's airtime, even thought it has the biggest drop of the four. At least it has a nice building and queue area, with all those race cars displayed.

 

Matterhorn Blitz has one of the nicest theming on a wild mouse coaster and Schweizer Bobbahn was ok. Better than Efteling's, worst than Heide's bobsled coaster.

 

Poseidon is probably the best water coaster I've ever ridden. But something just doesn't make sense to me: Why did they build another water coaster (Atlantica SuperSplash), if they already had Poseidon? Specially because Poseidon is better, in my opinion. It is weird a park with 2 water coaster, the newest one being worse than the oldest.

 

Euromir was really fun, even though it had another neverending spiral lift with a eletronic catchy musinc playing on the backgroung. The ride can be rought sometimes, specially if you're traveling backwards (witch I did), but it's one of the best of it's kind, for sure.

 

 

Blue Fire was AMAZING! Specially because I wasn't expecting much. I thought it would be another launched/multi inversion coaster, but it was AWESOME! Made my top 10, for sure. I had no idea that you could have that much of airtime on this kind of layout. And the use of lapbars instead of the otsr is just genius!

 

 

Last but nos least, Wodan. I was expecting soooo much from Wodan. But it is just a nice wooden coaster. Not amazing, not awesome. I don't know if it was the weather, the lack of it's original wheels, but it was running slow. I could barely feel any airtime on it. I really hope it gets it's original wheels back, as it seems that Wodan ran 8 seconds faster with them. Any thoughts on that?

 

On my way back to Frankfurt, I got stuck on a 3 hour trafic jam in the middle of nowhere. The odd thing is that it happened to me 3 times on this trip, all of them in Germany! It seems that they are doing some road work all over the country, and sometimes they just close the road and make you take an alternative route. My GPS didn't understand that and was unable to find me another route, witch made me go throught some scary moments, not knowing what to do. Thank god, it all ended up well!

 

 

 

 

So much to do, so much to see

 

The park is really nice, but walking around can be confusing

 

 

Everybody was trying to get out of the rain

 

 

Poseidon!

 

Nice curves

 

Euromir

 

Euromir

 

 

Awesome Blue Fire

 

 

Coaster Construction Team

 

Atlantica SuperSplash

 

It really rained a lot that day

 

 

Wodan!

 

 

 

[australianalex]

Thats odd to hear that you didn't enjoy Europa Park, most people that go say its one of the best parks in the world.

[Team Thriller]

You thought Walibi Belgium was a good park but didn't like Europa? Something isn't right here.....

And the park has too much information? Is that a valid complaint? And having more than enough rides? (Two water coasters for example?)

Weren't you at Heide Park? I wasn't aware that having two of the similar ride (Even though they aren't really even the same)was a bad thing.

The park is huge though and getting lost is easy for first timers, however that is common for many big parks.

 

I'm sorry, it's your opinion, but I think your reasons for calling Europa Park a dissapointment are a little on the odd side.

 

-- James "Hardcore Europa Park Fan" Flint

[GeorgeT]

So..this must be the ultimate proof that you cannot do or build anything in the world that pleases everyone !

 

I totally respect your opinion...but I guess...maybe on another day with some nice company, better weather...you probably would have enjoyed it !

 

Wodan still didn`t fully break in...an Wodan doesn`t like the cold it seems...had some slow and VERY tame rides on it too.

 

And welcome to the "not so small" Blue Fire Fayboy club

 

Anyway...thanks again for sharing, Mrenata !

 

GeorgeT

[Toasty82]

But something just doesn't make sense to me: Why did they build another water coaster (Atlantica SuperSplash), if they already had Poseidon?

 

Europa Park is owned by ride manufacturer Mack Rides, so this park isn't just a theme park, it's some kind of showcase as well.

 

This park is wonderful. Can't get it why your opinion is that bad.

[larrygator]

^I think she explained the reasons for her disappoinment very well.

 

She only commented on the coasters, they are fun but not intense. Since she didn't comment on the dark rides or flats so I'm not sure if she even rode any of them. Clearly the rain affected her day, also. It is very difficult to enjoy the theming and beauty of any park if you are cold and wet and don't know where you are going. The park is not easy to navigate for a first timer. I've spent more than 3 days there and was still confused when I left.

 

Also, she made no comments on the food, so she might have picked up something quickly and not enjoyed one of the better offerings.

 

Europa Fanboys are almost as bad as Disney and Cedar Point Fanboys.

[BeemerBoy]

So..this must be the ultimate proof that you cannot do or build anything in the world that pleases everyone !

To be honest, everything in life can be an example of this.

 

This report had slipped by me until now, but I just caught up with it. It's been a quality look and account of your trip, and I've enjoyed reading through it. I loved the oddness of that tower thing with the supposed bar in it. Excellent work, and thanks for posting!

[Mrenata]

Please, don't get me wrong, Europa Park is a good park, one of the best parks in the world, if you look at its whole concept.

 

My only concern about the park is that they do not have anything amazing or breathtaking. I live in Brazil, but I travel a lot. And there are some parks that I try to visit at least once a year, because they have that extra special something (SFGA - El Toro and Nitro, SFMM - Superman, X2 and Goliath, Cedar Point - Magnum XL, etc). If I had to choose only one park to visit again in Europe, it would probably be Phantasialand (Black Mamba, Winjas, Mystery Castle) or Hansa Park (Fluch!). That's why Europa-Park disappointed me. It didn't make me feel like coming back in the near future.

 

But you are correct, I didn't have the time to ride the flat/dark rides or eat something special (I just had a spaghetti for lunch).

[_koppen]

Atlantica Supersplash is a more of a splash down ride, Poseidon is more of a coaster ride. Both rides exist because the water rides at Europa Park is extremely popular in the summer. They are both prototypes from it's parents company Mack, as already said.

[GeorgeT]

So..this must be the ultimate proof that you cannot do or build anything in the world that pleases everyone !

To be honest, everything in life can be an example of this.

 

No...you cannot proof this with any bad stuff...you need something outstanding to proof that there`s always someone not so excited

[therooboy]

Thanks for the review of Woden.

 

Europa is an amazing theme park, much like the Disneys, their coasters are generally more family friendly & not the most extreme or forceful in the world.

Was hoping for something a bit wilder.

[ernierocker]

Artistico does look insane! I am not a big flat ride person, but that thing looks amazing!

 

While your opinions on some parks/rides seem to differ from others on this site, you do a great job of explaining why in each case and no one should fault you for being honest! Too often, people get on here, trash a ride/park, but offer no real explanation for what was wrong with it and in the end come off as a whiny complainer.

 

Really great trip report. Please keep sharing more of your trips with us in the future!

[australianalex]

 

My only concern about the park is that they do not have anything amazing or breathtaking.

Blue fire begs to differ.

But I understand your opinion, since you were judging the park mainly on coasters. As others said, I'm sure that if you were there on a nice sunny day and took time to try the food offerings and other rides you would've had an amazing time.

[Mrenata]

Day 10: Tripsdrill and Holiday Park

 

Tripsdrill is a two hour drive from Frankfut, so my plan was getting to Tripsdrill early in the morning and then after lunch drive another hour to Holiday Park. Due to some road work on my way to Tripsdrill, I parked my car at the park sometime around noon.

 

Tripsdrill, along with Klotten, are the two parks in Germany that are located on a rural area.

 

I thought Tripsdrill ticket price was a little bit high (24 Euros), specially because the park doesn't have a large number of rides and attractions. At least they have 4 very interesting rides.

 

The first one is the drop tower. It's more like a frog hopper, with an extra something at the end. I didn't ride it, though, since there were only kids riding it. The second one is the bath tub water ride, Badwanna Sturzfahrt. The boats are themed as bath tubs and at some point you enter an ancient roman bath (or something like that) with half naked women on it and then you travel backwards for a while. That pretty much sums the ride.

 

I was really looking forward to ride G'sengte Sau, since I had a nice time at Heisse Fahrt. G'sengte Sau's queue area is very nice, with a horse/saddlery theme. Once you get to the station you can see some newspapers hanging on the wall with the story of the guy who skated this coaster on the opening day.

 

G'sengte Sau and Heisse Fahrt would be pretty much the same if it wasn't for a small detail that makes a lot of difference. G'sengte Sau hits the brake before going throught those airtime hills, while Heisse Fahrt speeds into them.

 

Mammuth was one of the nice surprises I had on this trip. As I was watching it from the queue area, I thought "what a smooth ride, it barely makes any sound". My thoughts were proven correct when I rode it. What a good coaster! Fast, smooth, nice turns and banks. It made me think it was a pre-fabricated track, or even a hybrid structure. It's kinda funny that 2 of the best wooden coaster in Europe (Mammuth and El Toro) are "hidden" in small parks.

 

I also rode the zierer coaster, but that was only for credit whoring reaons.

 

One last thing I should mention about Tripsdrill is that they sell the best park souvenirs in the whole Europe. I could find pens, lighters, keychans, stickers and even a puzzle with Mammuth on it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Holiday Park

 

 

I left Tripsdrill around 14:00 and Holiday Park was a 1 hour drive from there. At first I was worried that I would not have the time to visit Holiday Park properly, but as I got to the park I realized there were not much to see.

 

Holiday Park's entrance is going throught some changes, since the park was bought by Plopsa. All the stores and restaurants at the entrance plaza were under some kind of work. There were only one store open, the Plopsa Store.

 

Holiday Park's layout is a little bit odd. Expedition Geforce is isolated in the middle of the woods, and the rear part of the park, with the star flyer and the water boats was deserted.

 

I was suuuuuper looking forward to ride Expedition Geforce, since the reviews are so great. I was expecting El Toro + Nitro + Magnum + Phantom's Revenge + Superman/Bizarro all on the same ride. And well, it was not even close. The first drop is really good, but that's about it. I rode it again and again, first row, back row... But it was just a good coaster.

 

Holiday Park has a Condor ride. It is nice to see that there are still a few of them in the world. I got to see 3 of them in Europe (Holiday Park, Geiselwind and Slagharen). There's a condor here in South America at Fantasilandia (Chile). The funny thing is that in Chile they use a super fast program, with the cars spinning like crazy, making it a thrill ride while in Europe all the Condors have a slower program, more suitable for kids and families.

 

Holiday Park also has a Super Wirbel Coaster just like the one at Beto Carrero (Star Mountain). While I was riding it, Super Wirbel stopped on the lift hill and started to roll back slowly, when it suddenly hit the anti-rollback system. At least now I know how those anti-rollback systems work. The ride itself is not that bad, but it is really bumpy.

 

Holly's Wilde Autofahrt is actually cute, and the park has a lot of cute flat rides as well. My overall impression was that Holiday Park was more like a small park, such as Geiselwind, Slagharen, Plohn, etc, with one of Europe's best rollercoaster.

 

Anubis, Europe's first free fall drop tower.

 

Expedition Geforce, hidden in the woods

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[robinschroder]

Expedition GeForce varies wildly depending on the weather - the most amazing rides are generally delivered during the summer on a hot, sunny, wind-less day... It is often reported not to be running so well at the start of the season. If you're ever nearby when it's 21 degrees C plus, don't let your first experience put you off from a re-visit!

[AstroDan]

Great reviews.

 

I think with re: EP, it's not a park with massive, "rip your face off" coasters like you would find at a Cedar Fair or Six Flasga park. It is far more an experience; a family park.

 

1 day in the park is not enough to experience it properly. Spending time there with the shows, smaller rides and hotels add up to make it one of the best parks in the world.

 

For sheer, raw, coasters - clearly, it is nowhere near the best. There are many better parks in Europe for that (Mirabilandia, Heide Park, Alton Towers, Thorpe Park etc.).