captain Posted September 16, 2005 Posted September 16, 2005 Hi, some munich coasterfriends did a little Eurotour last week and I`ll post some photos and Tripreports in the next day. We visited Bobbejaanland, Walibi Belgium, de Efteling, Walibi World, Drievliet and the Movie Park in Germany. I`ll do this tourreport in three parts over the next days, otherwise you`ll have to look at too much photos. You`ll fin more photos of every part our journey on our webiste. Any comments are heartly welcomed. Part1 Bobbejaanland: About 3 a.m. in the morning on the 29th of august a small group of munich`s coasterfriends (Alex aka commander, Belli, Andi and Andy aka captain) began there way to belgium.We arrived at belgium`s bobbejaanland after a 780 KM (490 miles) journey without any problems. This is a lovely small park with some nice attractrions und some weird theming (it`s themed in a kind of wild west style, but not really all the way). There are 6 coasters to ride, but unlucky Speedy Bob, the Wild Mouse, had only one track open to ride. The highlight of the park is the 2004 established Gerstlauer coaster "Typhoon". This coaster is 110 % fun, smooth and is definitly one of our top ranked coasters if it comes to fun. Overall Bobbejaanland ist well worth a visit, because of its own flair and some nice attractions, but none of them are really spectacular. the little coasterfriends crew on tour Our first stop on this tour Thumps up for this lovely small park Small Overview; in the front the Mack Bob Express What a crazy idea...Chewing gum trees for the nasty ones Bobbejaan Highlight: Typhoon small and charming rides; but be careful some people will get wet Did I say something?
captain Posted September 16, 2005 Author Posted September 16, 2005 sorry the last photos were in wrong direction! Now to Part 2 Walibi Belgium: On our second day we decided to visit Walibi Belgium. The former Walibi Wavre and afterthat Six Flags Belgium park has 7 coasters to count, one of them a kiddie which is not to count for adults. Besides the average coasters and the soaking rapids ride, there`s one superb highlight: the Darkride the Challenge of Tuthankhamon. It`s nearly like the Men in Black ride but with the storyline of the mummy (both Universal Studios, Florida). I`ve to say that this belgium ride beats Men in Black because of theming, and for me it`s one of the best darkride shooters worldwide. Overall Walibi Belgium is a real good park (this was a surprise for us) with a lot to do and real nice mascots (everywhere was a chance to meet and greet). Their waterpark is also included in your entrance fee, but we didn`t have time to explore. But at the end there was one thing we hated about this park - it`s getting dirtier and dirtier every hour. This waste problem is a starparks group problem. And it`s not only the daily waste, it`s about everything in the park like there ugly walls in some attractions. At the end we didn`t had a good feeling with this dirt and it gave this overall good park somewhat a bad touch. Next Walibi World, Drievliet, Movie Park Germany and some more stuff will follow soon... Vekoma`s Loup Garou - long q`s, rough and uncomfortable ride Hurry, Hurry - no time to waste Vekoma`s Calamity Train - one of the nicer mine trains Vekoma`s Vampire - nice but average some more friends... Walibi & Friends Welcome to Walibi Belgium
SharkTums Posted September 16, 2005 Posted September 16, 2005 Nice Report! Was the Mack Powered Coaster open at Bobbejaanland when you were there?
rollermonkey Posted September 16, 2005 Posted September 16, 2005 Ooh, it looks like Elissa has some competition in Deutschland! :o Chris
captain Posted September 16, 2005 Author Posted September 16, 2005 Hi Elissa, Yes the Mack Coaster was open, and it was a nice one if someone likes powered coasters. The track is over water, what makes it even more nicer. @ Chris What you mean with Elissa has some competition :?
SharkTums Posted September 16, 2005 Posted September 16, 2005 ^I think what he means is that for a 'coaster chick' I'm somewhat okay to look at (Again, I'm not trying to be an egomaniac here or anything) and in your pictures it looks like you have some hot chicks with you as well! Although no one compares to the Swedish chicks!!! Damn they were all hot, especially the one working at McDonalds!
captain Posted September 16, 2005 Author Posted September 16, 2005 Thank You now I`ll understand. But hey, we`re also some nice guys and so we can travel with some nice chicks Thank god we`re living in this beautiful city of munich. We`re often travelling with a lot of girls - on our last trip to EuropaPark we`ve been 15 people, with more girls than boys (kind of different if I look f.e. at the ECC trip to Japan). If it comes to hot chicks, there are a lot of good european places, not only sweden. But that`s not my topic - I`m married with one these chicks on the pictures above - so no more chicks to talk about By the way your chicks enthusiasm makes it more easy for us boys if we say to our girls - "hey this Elissa chick is doing this coaster in the video - why you won`t do it!"
PhishyBrewer Posted September 16, 2005 Posted September 16, 2005 I need to get me one of those shirts! Nice TR
rollermonkey Posted September 17, 2005 Posted September 17, 2005 Wow, I only said nine words... Still Chris B, Even in milk!
captain Posted September 18, 2005 Author Posted September 18, 2005 Here we go again... Part 3:Efteling De Efteling - we`ve heard so many things about this park. Some people and international rankings even say its the most beautiful park in the world. So our interest was so big to see this park. First there coasters (4 credits): Bobaan (an Intamin bobsleigh ride- kind of interesting), Pegasus (an Intamin Woodie, to short to be a great woodie), Python (a Vekoma coaster, absolutely the worst coaster on our trip) and last but not least VogelRok (an enclosed Vekoma coaster, kind of Space Mountain Paris coaster type, but a bit too short. A little longer and some effects than this one could be a real good coaster). So the coasters are not there reason of beeing this famous. So what is it? It`s real simple to say: It`s there love for details when it comes to themeing. Efteling started as a storytelling land for the little ones and grown up without forgetting landscaping and themeing.Some of there rides are so damm charming, like Fata Morgana (kind of Pirates of the Car. Darkride), Carneval Festival ( It`s a small world kind of ride without water - even better themeing and more funny) and the absolut superb Droomvlucht (Dreamflight). This Darkride is one of a kind, but I don`t want to say to much about it. It`s voted one of the best non coaster rides worldwide, and now we know why. So did we like Efteling? Yes and No. It`s such a charming and lovely little park, but for us it`s a bit overrated. There`s so much to do for the little ones, but for adults there are not to many attractions to do. If this park will get two or three more highlights for adults it will relegate to the first class parks in Europe, like Disney, EuropaPark, Port Aventura etc. Now it`s just a lovely, little park with a overrated reputation. the old storybook part of Efteling ??? brilliant themed machines Lucky man put your waste inside his mouth - great idea awful ride; save your ears! new park - new maps Welcome!
captain Posted September 18, 2005 Author Posted September 18, 2005 Part 0: Something different on our journey Our "home" where we started our tours during the week was the dutch Center Park Kempervennen (near the belgium boarder, about one and half hours from every park). A nice appartment with two sleeping rooms, kitchen, living room and 3 baths nestled in peaceful nature. The centerpark chain delivers some nice possibilities for short trip vacations. All bungalows are in quiet nature settings, in the middle of every centerpark is there so called Market Dome and Aqua Dome. You have various dinning and entertainment options in those market domes, which are build like a large botanical garden inside a glass building, with exotic birds,palms and flowers. The Aqua Dome is near the Market Dome, and is a tropical paradise with swimming, snorkeling and sliding options. So this Center Park was only our overnight camp, but for one day we wanted to take opportunity from therer offer. On this one day we began with a little tennis match, followed by some quick hours in the Aqua Dome. Than we went to the mini golf course, which was incredible bad (15 tries for one hole?). After that we gave our bodies the energy back with a dinner at Forsters Australian Restaurant. And in the late evening we decided to do some bowling - man what a day. beautiful landscaped Market Dome the deepest slides can`t stop the brightest smiles travelling on a wet tube the Commander is happy- 1 pound of grilled meat - Yummy! Monsieur - what would you like to breakfast...? Captain`s little snorkel trip
Ghost Posted September 20, 2005 Posted September 20, 2005 great reports... short but to the point with the info we want to hear... I still think Efteling is a very nice park. If you ever make it for a winter Efteling... very nice. Droomvlucht is one of my favorite Dark Rides Walibi Belgium I was surprised. I do not like the park so much and I am always surprised about the good write up from first time visitors. Sure, they now have one of the best dark rides and a good woodie but that's it. (then again, you cannot argue about personal taste)
captain Posted September 20, 2005 Author Posted September 20, 2005 @ghost Thanks - I`ll try to keep it short because I`ll think everyone wants to see photos and don`t want to read too much. I can imagine that Efetling will be lovely with a romantic winter setting. So now I go on with the next parts: Part4: Walibi World Today we visited Walibi World, settled inmid a flat, flat area about 70 Km (45 miles) from Amsterdam. The former Six Flags Holland park used to call itself "coaster capital of europe" - what is kind of bizzare because parks like Blackpool (12), Alton Towers (9), the Wiener Prater (9) and even the EuropaPark (8) are owning more coasters than this dutch park. But hey, I don`t want to take them there illusions. So Walibi World has 7 coasters: Xpress (Vekoma`s LSM Launch coaster, a outdoor clon of the indoor Rock`n Roll Coaster in Disneyland Paris,just not in such a good shape and thatfor not really smooth), Wok's Waanzin (Zierer kiddie coaster), Robin Hood (Vekoma`s woodie gets bonus points for the leather seats, which are very comfortable), La Via Volta (Vekoma Boomerang just like in many parks), Flying Dutchman Gold Mine (standard Mouse from Mack, the track colour is not matching the themed area around this ride), El Condor (one of the roughest Inverted rides from Vekoma,but who cares because it was the first inverted coaster from Vekoma worldwide) and last but not least Goliath (Intamins Megacoaster, designed from coastergod Werner Stengel, it`s absolutely the no.2 coaster in europe, just Holidayparks Expedition GeForce has a higher fun level. A lot of Airtime, smooth like ice, good seating comfort, long track, and plenty of fun - that`s some of the plus points Goliath has to offer). Walibi World is not really good themed, okay it`s more like they have no theming at all. The only part who is really themed is the kid`s land. Near the Kid`s land, is the new attraction for 2005: Splash battle, manufactured by italians Zamperla. This ride makes you so damn soaked, that you will never get dry by days (okay hours). You cruise through rain showers and more wet elements while you try to target the other riders on the boats or the nearby watching people, who also try to hit you. A real nice layout paired with a real good idea - so this is great fun - Really? No, it`s not. It doesn`t work in our mild climate zone, only younger kids will love it. I would love to see this ride system in parks where you`ll allways love to get real, real soaked. Maybe it can work in Dubai? We`ll see who is going to buy this ride in the future. The other things the park has to offer are more the standards: a rapid ride, log flume, Mad House and some flat rides. At the end this park is good for every coasterlover who like to enjoy some good coasters and of course Goliath. All of you who like well themed parks, fantasy, entertainment for everyone and good food will hate this park. We like both and so this park was just a nice visit - nothing more and nothing less. Coming Up: short impressions of Amsterdam, Drievliet and Movie Park Germany Vekoma`s LSM Xpress Coaster - the Rock`n Roller Coaster double is just okay, but not as nice as his disney twin more Goliath... Intamin`s Hypercoaster Goliath - very smooth, unbelievable airtime, one of the best coasters worldwide (nr. 2 in europe) Walibi`s own mascots... Zierer`s Kiddie coaster Wok`s Waanzin - guess who`s riding this coaster...? Nice Walibi Kiddie-Area even more Splash Battle Alex trying to hit some of the boats Zamperla`s Splash Battle Welcome to Walibi World
captain Posted September 20, 2005 Author Posted September 20, 2005 Part 4: Short Impressions af Amsterdam "German tourist crashed into cyclist" - a news topic that could happen in Amsterdam every day Now for the cultural part of our little eurotour we decided to stay the weekend in Amsterdam. Our hotel was in the middle of the city so our car sleeped for some days in a parking lot (omg - 34 Euros a night!). The moment you step on Amsterdam`s streets you are kindly reminded that this city is for cyclists - so beware of their rules (there are parking lots with 4 levels only for bycyles!). In Amsterdam we did a lot of shopping (great spot for it, but the stores are closing as early as 6 pm) and of course a shipping cruise through Amsterdams waterways (called "Grachten"). Lovely, romantic and very laid back. Of course one evening we decided to stroll through the red light district. I wanna know what all you american guys will think about this. But hey we`re from munich, and even for us it was a bit to offensive. During our Amsterdam stay we decided to visit one more park and do some more relaxing on the north sea.... Amsterdam`s famous Red Light District (hey americans - what you say about this?) innercity shopping snapshot onboard the dutch love pancakes in all kind of sorts - even Alex loves them Cruising through the waterways Canal Boat Tour Downtown Amsterdam
pvcoasterguy Posted September 20, 2005 Posted September 20, 2005 Great TR's! That whitewater rapids mat thingy looks pretty fun! (The one in the market dome.) It looks pretty good; how is it?
captain Posted September 20, 2005 Author Posted September 20, 2005 Hi, all the slides are in the aqua dome, which is the centerparcs heart for water enthusiasts. Swimming, snorkeling and of course sliding. The one you see on the picture is a wild water ride. Its build like a wild waterride where you slide like a raft on the colorado river, but the stones are just plastic and don`t hit you to hard. Your raft is just your body, and you slide through caves, smaller slides and of course the whitewater parts. It takes some minutes from the begin to the end. Really funny (sorry it`s so damn hard to describe what its like to ride this slide/rapid thing). Centerparcs overall is good fun for families, because the Aqua Dome is free of charge if you stay in the bungalows. Also there are plenty of activities which you can do while you`re there. If someone is interested check out the homepage: www.centerparcs.com You`ll find some photos of the different Aqua Domes and Market Domes at each park. But don`t get me wrong. Those Aqua Domes are not that Typhoon Lagoon or Hurricane Harbor style of waterparks. There are more laid back, just two or three smaller slides. It`s all indoor and swimming, relaxing and the tropical feeling while indoor is the main reason to visit such a "themed" swimming area. So it was really good for our base while touring in some belgium/dutch parks.
captain Posted September 20, 2005 Author Posted September 20, 2005 Okay, before I began with the second last part: Drivliet I`ll want to say sorry for some mistakes in my TR`s. As a german guy I`m not a native speaking american person, and so I choose some wrong words. Writing those TR`s in the night is not helping either. So sorry for that Part6: Drievliet After One Day without any park visit, we decided to do a little sidetrip to visit Drievliet, one hour away from Amsterdam, in Den Haag (by the way the capital of the netherlands). This park was built on flat small land, which is so small that you can walk from one end to another in about ten minutes. But this park offered some nice attractions, well worth to spend 2-3 hours. The credit guys can collect 4 points. All 4 coaster are from german factories: two Maurer Söhne rides (Twistrix - a spinning kiddie coaster and Extreme - a grown up spinning machine, really nice) and two Mack rides (the powered 2005 Dynamite Express and the Kopermijn mouse). One additional log flume and some flat rides completed the park attractions. So overall a nice park to invest two hours, but it`s not really worth to do a own trip to this park. After getting some amusement we decided to visit the near north sea beaches and choose those lovely city of Zandvoort. Well worth a visit if you`ve enough time to relax on the beach and get some good seafood. after Drievliet we relaxed on the north sea beach of Zandvoort Maurer Söhne`s Xtreme - nice spinning coaster - it´s fun! A Park`s Overview the Andi`s having fun mirror,mirror on the wall... some water flume (without even getting wet) Maurer Söhne`s Kopermijn Train - normal mouse like everywhere entrance way Drievliet`s strange entrance
captain Posted September 20, 2005 Author Posted September 20, 2005 Now I`m coming to an end of this TR. I hope you liked all the pictures and TR`s. If you want to say good or bad things about this TR - any critic is good for development. IF you`ll liked it you can also leave your comments in our guestbook (use www.coasterfriends.com), because lot of our coasterfriends members are to lazy to read everything in this topic So thanks for your patience Andy Part7: Movie Park, Germany The former Warner Bros. Movie World is in its first season under new name and has renamed and rethemed most of their attractions. The park has still his old probems: massive teenagers and idiots are strolling around in groups and making it hard to keep the park in good shape. But the park is adding new problems to his old problems: A real, real lack of Service. Any evidences? The park opens at 10 am, but many of the attractions open whenever they want without any signs. A lot of the buildings (food courts, snack shops, merchandise shops etc.) stay closed the whole day. The stuff is very unfriendly and without any enthusiasm. Five coasters are at the Movie Park and all are absolut average: Bandit (rough and middlelong Woodie), Cop Car Chase (quiet boring themed Intamin Looping Coaster), FX (Vekoma`s typical average Inverted), Mad Manor (a Mack Moue) and Rocket Rider Rollercoaster (Kiddie Vekoma). The new Ice Age Adventure ("it`s a small world" kind of water ride) is really boring, no interesting music or theming. Every attraction seems to be a bit worser than the last years. Overall this park leave`s us real sad, because it used to be an nice one but now it`s more likely a park without any flair, any love for details and any goals. We`ll really hope that one day starparks will sell this park to another group that maybe will focus on Movie Parks problems and will invest in some alternative plans to keep the spirit up again. at the end of our tour: Belli and Scrat said good-bye... you`re right: Scrat from ice Age you know this guy? Mainstreet Mystery River - real nice and long rapid ride - but you don`t get wet, that`s a pitty for this ride Vekoma`s 270 m Kiddie Rocket Rider Rollercoaster Mack`s Mad Manor Wild Mouse lot of people are strolling through the streets Vekoma`s FX - the next average Inverted the typical picture - 80 % of all shops / merch stations were closed entrance Movie Park
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