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Photo trip report from Heide-Park, June 1st 2021

We had a long hiatius from theme parks as Germany was completely shut down in the amusement sector from October 2020 to May/June 2021.
As we heard that the state of Lower Saxony was opening up a bit we took our kids, booked a hotel and went to Hannover. After having three great days in Hannover, at the Steinhuder Meer and visiting friends we used our last day for Heide-Park.
We've been there in 2017, when we had no kids and just started riding coasters. So this time, with two litte kids, our focus was mostly on the kiddie rides and on Colossus, which was closed for renovation four years ago. We would have done more coasters, but sadly express pass, baby switch and single rider lanes were closed due to their COVID protocol. But all in all the park was in a good shape, extremely better then in 2017. Merlin has done some good work here. But to be honest, the coasters could use some mmore love. Krake was more down then open, had a more then 60 minute wait when open because it ran only two trains. Flug der Dämonen ran one train all day with a 90 minute queue in the middle of the day. Same goes for Desert Race.

From our view, attendance was perfect and the weather was legit, with a lot of sun and no rain. We came into the park right at opening and headed straight to Colossus to get this thing done. It was our first new coaster since Tripsdrill in August 2020 and the first really big new thing since Walygator Parc two years earlier. As you can imagine, we were a little bit nervous. Even without express pass and single rider lane I waited just 20 minutes for a front row ride, Sarah the same directly afterwards. After that, we went to the Peppa Pig Land to satisfy our little ones. The area was really pretty and both liked all the rides a lot. Same goes for the How to Train Your Dragon area with the exception that both kids were too small to ride some rides. After more than two hours there, we decided to walk back to Colossus and the slide tower, where Paul deperately wanted to challenge himself. On this way we stopped at Grottenblitz, the powered coaster, where Paul was allowed to ride. So he cleared off his second coaster in his life - not bad for a three year old in a pandemic in Germany! After two laps, one with Sarah and one with me each, we checked the app and saw that there was almost no line at Colossus, so Sarah did a second front row ride while the kids and me made a rest at the parks lake watching coasters and ducks befor we switched and Sarah went sliding with Paul while I did a back row ride.
As the park was closing around 5:30 p.m., we didn't have much time left, so we went on a walk up the hill with the big rides looking for an evening snack. While eating a truly good pizza, we decided that we adults were almost done for the day. As all major rides had more than a 60 minute wait for each one of us, we decided to go on Flug der Dämonen as our last big ride. I went first on the back right outer seat while Sarah waited with the kids and afterwards we switched and while Sarah rode I went back to the two kids areas to do some rides with them.


All in all it was a very satisfying day. It was our first thing we did after an eight month long lockdown in Germany where you could do almost nothing. For the most time, there was no dining option in your home city, only takeaway or delivery. While we were at Heide Park these rules still applied to our home city. Our kids were so happy and even Sarah shared some tears during the day because she was so relieved.

Ride reviews:
Colossus: It was our first time on any Intamin woodie. For me, it was one of the best coaster experiences I've ever had. We had already awesome airtime in the front in the morning - but after a long, sunny day the airtime in the last row was incredible! And it was butter smooth in all speeds and all rows. We had much bumpier and shakier rides on steel coasters in the last years. We also loved the layout and the wooden fire figure at the end was just more then a scenery object. In total, it's now one of our top wooden coasters and even one of our all time favourites. It reminded us much of a wooden mixture of Expedition GeForce and Millennium Force. And this is just great.
Pappas Ballonfahrt: A slow ballon tower ride with a nice view over the kids area. Even one year old Emma enjoyed it. Worth a ride if your kids like it!
Schorschs Dino-Abenteuer: A dinosaur ride. It's the same system as the Flip ride at Holiday-Park, if you know that. But different to Holiday-Park, Emma was not allowed to ride it. Pretty dumb, but it is as it is. The ride is nice, long and funny. Paul likes it!
Peppas Bootsfahrt: A circular boat ride for pre school kids. Paul loves those rides. You even have some sound interaction.
Opa Pigs Zugfahrt: A slow train ride for the whole family with animatronics and sound. Pretty slow, but enjoyable. Huge hit with Peppa Pig Fans.
Grobians Wolkenspringer: The same ride as Holiday-Parks Red Baron. Pretty nice, Paul loves those rides where you can do something manually like going up or down. Pretty nicely themed!
Drachengrotte: Maybe the biggest surprise in the kiddie areas! It's for all ages and starts slow, but then you enter a cave where the dragons live. You get covered in fog and the dragons roar. It's pretty challenging for small kids. Paul got frightened, but his little sister was pretty amused!
Grottenblitz: Pauls second real coaster (okay: powered coaster)! It had no line, so Paul took Sarah for the first lap. He did it with hands up - we were so proud! In the dark indoor part, he got a bit frightened. But when they met with Emma and me again, he insisted to go back on the ride once more with me!
Western-Riesenrad: It's basically a cowboy themed kiddie ferris wheel. It was okay. One and done. Even the kids didn't like it.
Flug der Dämonen: It was the second "adult only" thing we rode for ourselves - and it was a good choice. After a roughly 40 minute wait I took the last row, right side, outside seat. My favourite place on this beast. And what can I say? The ride was even better then I remembered! No bouncing, fast pace, great inversions! Only bummer was, that there was only one train. I think, a second train would have decreased the waiting time a lot and we could have done more rides. But this one ride was truly amazing. I'm happy we chose this as our last ride! Sarah took the same row, but the inner seat for better comfort and was also amazed.


Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed our trip report. Here are some photos of our tour:

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Hannover City Hall

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Steinhuder Meer

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Colossos queue line

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Colossos station

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I can hear this photo

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Mmmmh, humans!

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The dragons in the circle go up and down, up and down, up and down...

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Happy waffle photo

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Captain Paul

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Peppa Pig Land was really good themed

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Sarah and Paul: Car three, row two!

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Mandatory Krake splash pic

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I'm a real fan of the demonic knot element!

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COVID correct queue lines

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One of the best park and coaster views I know...

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... can you count all the coasters?

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Goose family

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Soon he will be allowed to ride!

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that "Covid" queue line would concern me even more.. . the plastic panels will keep any particles within - by preventing the wind from blowing things outta there. .. 

all I can think is "hot box". . even without a roof on it :)

nice pics, thanks for sharing!

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I'm glad you thought the park was running a bit better. We were there in the more early days of Merlin taking over and not super impressed. Love the park though so hoping to check it out again soon.  Also, I can't believe how big the kids are getting! Look what no TR's during a pandemic will do!!!

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7 hours ago, bert425 said:

that "Covid" queue line would concern me even more.. . the plastic panels will keep any particles within - by preventing the wind from blowing things outta there. .. 

all I can think is "hot box". . even without a roof on it :)

nice pics, thanks for sharing!

I thought the very same. We don't like such ideas. But German laws require them. And yes, teperature inside was hot. :D
At Colossus, the wind was able to go through, because all shields were in line. But at Flug der Dämonen you see, that at the end of the alleys were other shields perpendicularly placed what prevented any air circulation. Just dumb.

 

1 hour ago, SharkTums said:

I'm glad you thought the park was running a bit better. We were there in the more early days of Merlin taking over and not super impressed. Love the park though so hoping to check it out again soon.  Also, I can't believe how big the kids are getting! Look what no TR's during a pandemic will do!!!

Well, it was not comparable to, let's say, Tripsdrill. But it was way better then in 2017. Then, we had to search an open food place or an open toilet. And the park was more crowded than now. It was dirty and just ugly. Now, things got painted. We saw no litter anywhere. Food stalls were open all over the place. But this may be because of their COVID protocol. It was the first theme or amusement park to reopen in Germany and they sued their way to do so. So they had to everything right to maintain their right.
What hasn't changed were the multiple downtimes and the bad operations on their big rides. With the exception of Colossus, every major rides ja multiple or long downtimes (what didn't affect us, because we did mostly kiddie things). Desert Race started around noon, Krake around 1 p.m., Big Loop was stuck at the lift hill one hour before park closing. Krake was running two trains, Flug der Dämonen and Desert Race only one. So automatically, lines got long. And the park was open just from 10 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. with line closing at 5 p.m. on a hot, sunny holiday day. Again, this didn't affect us much, because our kids were tired then. But for thrillseekers, it's just not great. 
So I'm really happy, that our goals were different so we had a great day! :D
But, again and important: I was way better then in 2017! When they get their operations fixed and use their coasters to the max, it would be a superb park!

Yes, kids are growing fast.. I'm glad you noticed! :)
Emma started walking free in Holiday-Park two weeks ago (trip report coming..) after training with her walking cart since cristmas (!). At our last park trip to tripsdrill in August, she didn't even crawl.. 😳

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Photo trip report from Holiday-Park, July 9th 2021

When Holiday Park opened its gates after the COVID break from October 2020 to June 2021 (eight months closure) only 2,500 people were allowed in the park and masks were mandatory on every single square inch in the park, no matter how close you were to others or where you were. After this was lifted to "masks in waiting lines, on rides and indoor areas only" we spontaneously made our first trip of the season to explore the new Wickie Land (Vicke Viking in english) and do some coaster rides.
On our drive to the park we (Sarah, me, the kids and my neice Nicole) had to conquer two heavy rain showers, but when we hit the park the sky was cloudy but dry. We got a parking space in one of the first rows. A first insight how crowds would be that day: non existing. So after processing Pauls first season card (as he jumped the 85 centimeter barrier) our first way led us to Expedition GeForce. We had the longest wait for any ride of the day: two trains for the front row. We did switch positions a lot as the third adult was playing with the kids on the nearby playground. After around half an hour, we had three to four rides each - awesome! So after that, we went directly to the new Wickie Land. It was way above out expections! It was bright, shiny, colourful and well done! It consists of a Zamperla Disk'O Coaster, a Splash Battle and a very big playground. There are also some food stalls, but due to weather and COVID restrictions, they were all closed. In addition, the existing log flume with the walkways and food stalls also belongs to this new area now. First Sarah and Nicole went with Paul onto the Splash Battle which is a lot of fun. Afterwards, Paul joined Emma and me on the playground as Disk'Os are nothing for me while Sarah and Nicole wanted to go on their maiden ride on the major attraction in Wickie Land. After a minor breakdown (they stayed in line) they got their ride and were excited. The ride is themed as a viking war shield which flies over one of the main entrances of the new area. The playground I went to with the kids was also pretty nice and huge. It will be a real crowd pleaser for families with younger kids once things are getting back to normal.
As the kids haven't ridden that much now, a run to Maja Land was neccessary! To our surprise, there were also no lines or people - a perfect day for riding a lot of things! So we did our usual tour: Flip, Bienchenwirbel and the frog ride. Paul loves those rides and wanted to do them with each of us three, so he really had a lot of rides afterwards. As he (finally!) hit 90 centimeters, there were some additional rides which he could do alone (and was very proud to do so): The ladybugs, the boat ride and the spinning barrels. Emma enjoyed the flip ride, but didn't like the frogs. She obviously had some issues with the jumping. For the other things she will have to grow a bit more.
After this tour, the kids were done, so we decided to walk to the back of the park, do Sky Scream and stop somewhere for a snack. The walkway between the log flume and the stadium was closed off. This is because the swinging ship (the best one I knew!) and the Mack "Peter Pan" ship ride were closed for good and removed and the stadium is closed due to COVID restrictions. So the only way to get to the lake is via Sky Scream. We went there and Paul did a lap on the boat ride (he really is into every kind of boat ride at the moment) when a cold, heavy wind was coming up. As we were done here, we wanted to look for a meal in the Sky Scream are when suddenly the thunderstorm hit out of nowhere. We literally ran with the kids in our handcart unter a parasol where we had to hide for more than half an hour while it was pouring. The kids were so tired, they did their nap now and when it cleared off, we quickly did a lap on Sky Scream as soon as it ran again. Been done here went to the Airshow area where the balloons, the Red Baron and the Sky Fly waited for our regular visit before Sarah and Nicole made a second visit to the Disk'O and did their first ride on the newly themed rafting ride while the kids and I did a lot of laps on the carousel.
As it was around 90 minutes to park closing time and the kids were mostly done for the day, we stopped at the Free Fall Tower for one ride and returned to the GeForce playground where we ended our day the same way we started it: binge riding GeForce! No, the park was almost completely emptied out and there were times when nobody was in line for GeForce. Literally nobody on a warm friday evening. So this was a very good end of an enjoyful visit to Holiday-Park!

Ride reviews:
Expedition GeForce: There's nothing new here. It still runs like hell giving some intense airtime in the first half and making a ton of funf in the second. Still one of the best coaster experiences. We are really happy that it still makes so much fun for us while other rides we do regularly (Silver Star, Sky Scream) are getting a bit boring. Today, the second train wasn't missing due to the low crowds. On the only left running train, you see diffent styled seats and lap bars in some rows. So the hope for a return of the second train is fading away more. This increases if you look under the storage bay. Bummer. Last year I somehow hoped, after 20 years a new set of trains would be an option. On our rides at the end of the day, he haven't had any lines to wait, so we have ridden it in almost every available row this time. We are still on the point the the front (right) gives the best view and the back (left) the craziest airtime. It was somehow crazy that on a warm, sunny friday evening there were only about 30 people that wanted to ride GeForce. But it cannot be the coasters fault. Thinking four years back, it ran so bad. Now it's running like hell.
Splash Battle: This will be a huge hit if the COVID restrictions will be lifted some day and you will just be able to have a boat full of freaks and kids fighting another one! Now, only one party is allowed at a boat at once, even if they are only two people. So you have to run from A to B if you want to battle right. Paul had a lot of fun anyway. During the ride, there are also some targets you may hit. I don't want to spoiler what happens if you succeed.
Die große Welle: The Disk'O Coaster is themed to a viking war shield waving over the ocean. Even if I don't like those rides, it is a perfect fit for the park and themeing is done very nicely (as is the whole new park area).
Maja Land: Really nothing new here, so I put it under one point. All the rides were operating, though, which is impressive. Still don't understand the height restrictions.
Fischerboote: The boats near the lake. Good choice for the smaller ones.
Sky Scream: Well, as I said above: It's getting boring. It's running great and still smooth, but it just lost it's excitement for me. The funniest part is the third launch an the heartline roll. But only it's lap bars only. When I saw the TPR video in the days of Tempesto with the comfort collars I thought that they kill the last exciting thing about this ride (fr mo, personally!).
Balloon Race: Crowds were so low that they waited for the ride to be full until they started a cycle. Pro side: Ride time was longer because the ride cycle was doubled. Still a funny ride Paul loves. Emma was a bit umcomfy.
Red Baron: Emma didn't want to ride, but Paul loves this one, so he did two laps. Great ride.
Sky Fly: I opted out so Sarah and Nicole could ride. I waited with the kids.
Dino Splash: Sarah and Nicole reported a great ride and went severly wet! Mission accomplished! Also, the new dinosaur animatronics are great an fitting really good.
Carousel: A classic, but beloved by all kids!
Free Fall Tower: Only Sarah and me did one drop. It was Sarah's first ride on the park side of the tower and she was very happy about that and the great view of the new Dino Splash and Wickie Land. I still like the simpleness of this ride.


Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed our trip report. Here are some photos of our tour:

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This is how close to the entrance we were able to park. And we even arrived after park opening.

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A warm welcome after nine month not being to the park!

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It was truly cloudy, but also warm. Rain was not predicted, but...

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I love the photo opportunity from the playground. An I love this look, which never gets old.

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If you look closely at the forbidden objects, you can imagine how old this sign and this coaster already is.

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Can you imagine such a line at a warm summer friday at Cedar Point's Millennium Force?

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No line at all! Not only this time. The most people waiting simultaneously with us were twelve.

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The abandoned storage bay. RIP, train 2. 

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The first look you get on the all-new Wickie Land! Very beautiful!

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This is one of the three main entrances.

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The Splash Battle with the oncoming Graf boat. On the right edge, you see one of the hittable targets. I highly encourage you to hit these. All of these.

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Funny thing with German COVID restrictions: Only on party at a time on the Splash Battle boat is allowed. But at the Disk'O you'll sit directly next to your random stranger, even if the line is so short that some seats are empty.

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This is the all new playground. It's beautiful und for kids of all ages between 1 and 99.

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Can I leave them there?

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You can see a warning of the oncoming storm here we didn't notice.

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Playground picture with Splash Battle station in the background.

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Rough water, rough dinosaur, great themed ride!

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If you have ridden this ride once, the sound ("Yupp-Hey") will stick with you for a long time.

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Paul and Nicole were the only ones riding this. I honestly don't know why.

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This is a real funny little ride! Paul loved it.

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Boat ride + Paul = Happyness.

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When I made this shot, I wanted to show you how lucky we were with weather and crowds.

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Roll, roll, roll your boat - gently down the stream - ...

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This is what happened ten minutes later. As you see, the tables are completely wet. What you don't see: They are fully covered by a parasol.

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Paul and Emma did the only right thing: Filling up their powers while we hugged the parasol pole.

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But as soon as the rain had gone, the ay and the weather completely changed to a beautiful afternoon.

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Again: No one in the rides, no one in the queue.

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On moments like this I realize that this park hat truly beautiful corners to chill and watch the rides.

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Quality time.

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Thanks for reading this far! Close coaster shot for you! Hands up! Ride on!

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1 hour ago, bert425 said:

didn't realize they had so many similar "get in a boat" rides. . LOL. . .but looks like y'all had a fantastic time.

Indeed we did! And yes! :D I realized it myself while writing the text. Along with the dismantled and the adult one, there are even two more!

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Photo trip report from Phantasialand, August 16th-18th 2021

During our nationwide lockdown we started making plans for our first big trip since Emma was born in March 2020. As we wanted to check out F.L.Y. for a long time, we looked for a price worthy package at Phantasialand and found one. After booking two nights for two adjacent rooms for seven people in total with park view and balcony, breakfast, parking and park entrance at all three days, we were down to 75 Euros per person per day - a great value since park entry only was regularly 59,50 Euros at the same days!
We booked for August in hope for great weather, but hat only around 20 °C (70 °F) and showers of rain throughout the three days. But in the end, it didn't matter. With Sarah, me and the kids, my brother and his kids completed our gang. We chose this constellation so that one group can always ride the big ones while the others did some rides with the kids. With three days to go, we had a lot of time and no desired ride had to be left out. To tell you some general facts about the park: COVID was still a big thing in Germany, so masks were required in all indoor areas as well as in all rides and queues. Also, baby switch, line skipping systems, choosing of rows (including front line rows) in coasters and single rider lines were not available at all coasters and attractions. Some rides were completely closed, as Hollywood Tour, for example.

When we arrived on monday morning, we were very pleased how nice hotel Matamba looks from the outside. There was a big queue for check-in, around 15 parties were before us. At first, I have to admit that we were a bit annoyed how long it took them to check everyone in, but when we waited our time, about one hour, we knew why! Check-In was awesome, no open questions afterwards, tables booked for breakfasts and the african dinner on tuesday and completely ready for three exhausting park days! So we stored our luggage, threw over the rain clothes and headed to the park. Out of the Matamba garden, you get spilled right into the middle of the park directly to Black Mamba's loop.
Nicole and me directly ran to get in line at F.L.Y. while the others went to Wuze Town with the kids. When we arrived in the Berlin section and I saw the portal to Rookburgh for the first time in real, I was baffled. It looked better and bigger than in every picture I have seen so far! Inside the tunnel, it even got better. I have to say, that I stopped following the construction progress after F.L.Y. went full circuit because I didn't want to spoiler myself in any way, so everything I saw was pretty new for me. Hearing this, you can imagine how my face expression was when we stepped out the tunnel and stood right in the middle of Rookburgh! This place is the most immersive theme park area I have ever been so far (no Disney or Universal yet)! The tunnel is like a time machine to the 1920s. Everything is themed so well. Not only the shops, even the litter picking park employees were completely in character - awesome! We directly got in line for F.L.Y. which had a minor breakdown that occured several times a day. After 15 minutes they opened the gate again and we walked through more than half of the line. For those who don't want to be spoilered, I wont do any description of queue and ride here; you'll find it down by the ride reviews. But when the seats turned and we went onto the launch track, heaven broke loose! We were completely dry because of the completely roofed queue, but outside it was pouring and we were front row! This was one of the most crazy coaster experiences I ever had! We were not able to open our eyes more than a little bit and were completely drenched after our ride! And F.L.Y. is really intense. Imagine riding Maverick without seeing anything or eyes closed.
So we met the others ond switched the rides. Paul and Emma had done all the rides in Wuze Town, so we went to Maus au Chocolat. I sat down with Emma, who took a nap, and waited for Paul and Nicole. Afterwards, we went down the Berlin raod to the kiddie rides down there. It's a very beautiful area, we enjoyed it a lot! After a second F.L.Y. lap, we went to the hotel to get our rooms and some dry clothes, take a shower and prepare for our evening dinner. As we had not booked anything for our first night, we planned on going into the city of Brühl. We found a very nice italian restaurant online, Grissini! It's definitely a hit and I really want to suggest it for anyone going to Phantasialand! The owner was very nice and they went above and beyond to give us an awesome time on a regular monday evening with us as the only guests. Food was great! After dinner, we went back to the hotel and sat down at the bar for beer, cards and whiskey - which was just another great decision on this trip!

Our second day started with a big breakfast in the african restaurant and a new plan for the park: As we were the first ones to be at Black Mamba, I took the kids so that the other four could get a quick ride which took us only about 15 minutes total. After that, we went to the other, yet untouched, half of the park and started with a couple of laps on Colorado Express, or - by far - favourite mine train! Luckily, I had two back row rides - by far the best seats - and one front row ride. After that, we split up again for riding F.L.Y. another time and do a lot of kiddie rides. I used the moment that the others were riding F.L.Y. and the kids were tired and took a nap in the handcart and just sat down in the middle of Rookburgh and watched everything around me. It was a great time and I cannot tell if I sat there for 20 minutes or two hours. The truth will be in the middle, but time just flew by watching this place and this coaster!
As it started raining again and the kids were in desperate need of a real nap, Sarah went with the kids for a hotel break while Nicole and me conquered Taron and got it off our to do list. After waiting for one hour we had an airtime filled, great back row ride. After not having ridden it for five years I honestly forgot how good this ride can be! Now we went back to the hotel, picked up the napping crew and went for a second park run. At first, the water rides were our target, as we had the opportunity to take some rain clothes with us and weather prediction showed drizzles anyway. So we went to Chiapas and River Quest. Man, I really forgot how good those two rides are! Chiapas is by far the best log flume out there! So long, so nicely themed! Really good and without any line due to weather! Great music on the ride. And River Quest is still as drenching as it ever was! I wish one of those would be at Holiday-Park! Drenched as we were, we decided to go to the other side of the park again. Of course, F.L.Y. was one of our targets as the line was down to 30 minutes because of the weather. It even struck again when we were directly in the station waiting for out train. Afterwards all of us went on a trip to Wuze Town where we did some laps on the Winja's and went on our very first ride with the Tittle Tattle Tree in the middle of Wuze Town. We were particularly surprised how funny this little ride is. You even get a little bit floater air!
On our way to the hotel Sarah and me took our chance for two last minute rides on Black Mamba which were great!
Back in the hotel we prepared for the main event of the day: the african dinner in the hotel restaurant! We honestly please everybody sleeping at hotel Matamba to book some tables and do this! You get a lot of authentic african food as well as european classics. Some meats as ostrich and zebra and fishs are even freshly grilled by the chefs as you see it in mongolian restaurants! This went on to be a great evening and a delicious meal. Needless to say that the evening ended again in the bar, this time cocktails were on the list!

Having done all we really wanted to do, we went for a lazy and relaxing third park day. We started it right after park opening with Taron which was again a great experience. After this we strolled through the park and ended up at our favourite places: Berlin with Rookburgh and F.L.Y.. We were lucky, as everyone got a rainless front row ride what was a perfect ending of riding the big ones for that trip! The other groups went on Maus Au Chocolat with Paul. The last things we did were riding all the things Paul wanted to ride in Wuze town, picking up some merchandise and go home.

All in all we had a great trip. Three days were the perfect duration for a party with two kids. We would have ridden a lot more and spent a fortune more if baby switch and fast lane would have been available. Phantasialand regulars will know that lines are always present on the major attractions, no matter what day of the year it is. Yes, we skipped a lot of rides just because lines were too long for what it was, for example Crazy Bats, Talocan or Raik. So we had to choose what was most important for us - and this was by far Rookburgh and riding the things our kids were allowed on. Being based in an on site hotel was essential for our trip. The fact, that the hotel, the restaurant, the bar and all of the employees were so great was an additional benefit.
I will shout it out once more: Go to Phantasialand! Sleep there! Get immersed by this park!


Ride reviews:
F.L.Y.: Warning! For all people who think like me and don't want to know much about queue and ride: STOP READING NOW! For all the others: This is the most awesome roller coaster experience (read: from area over look, queue until the actual ride) I've ever had! I don't know how often I've ridden it in the three days, but I know for sure I would have ridden it twice as much if Fast Lane and/or row choosing would have been available! The queue is one of the most perfect queues out there in the coaster world. You don't wait in stupid zigzags (Hi, Taron). You start right under the first launch and go one big round through Rookburgh. The complete queue is covered, so neither rain nor sun is an issue. A full queue means roughly one hour of wait. During the queue there are many references about flying like blueprints from actual planes and airships to the office of an engineer. After making the circle you go underground. What looks like an subway station becomes a waiting hall of an airport with all the things you know. Big (fake) advertisements, security checks, boarding, ... . Of course, everything is themed to the 1910s and 1920s. About five minutes before boarding you reach the main hall of the airport where massive projectors play a video of how the security measurements before your flight are enforced. When entering the boarding area, you are given a silicon wristband which gives you the opportunity to use a locker. You don't have to use a locker, but you are obliged to wear the wristband. Without wristband, you cannot leave the landing station after your flight. When you pass the lockers, you have to put everything you have in your pockets in the locker, including phone, keys and wallet. After the lockers you have to go through a metal detector. If you "forgot" something in your pockets, you will have to go back to the lockers and queue again. So you would lose roughly five minutes. On the pro side: The lockers are at the end of the queue line, so you have your phone with you for the majority of the wait time. If you pass the detector, you are ready for boarding. As most of you have already seen, you are going to sit down like a normal chair and get your vests on. The vests are very comfortable. It's like the GateKeeper vests without the tightening, so basically it feels like lap bars only, which is crazy for a flying coaster. From this point on, everything goes fast: The train starts and you're looking to the outside, passing some fake advertisements. The train ascends and speeds up and without a beep the track twists, your seats turn and you are in the flying position looking outside and seeing the sky again fort the first time in 30 minutes! And as all of this now wasn't good enough, the real highlight is yet to come! The launch is not very fast, but due to the nature of the flying position it feels really intense. If you have a front row saet, you don't know where to look first as you twist and turn through Rookburgh! I feels like you are on Harrys broom after it has been to a meth party. The inversions are very tight and the near misses just awesome. You even have some real great airtime moments, which are better in the back. The last three curves before the booster launch are so much fun. Then you are boosted up through the hotel and the even better second half begins. For me, there is not one very good moment on the ride. Every second, every inch is awesome. It's a complete experience, from launch to brake. After exiting the ride, you are back to your lockers and use your wristband to exit through a different subway station.
All in all I had two front row rides, but the first one in torrential rain doesn't count because we weren't able to see anything. The back row, which we had also, provides the best air, but the booster launch fails a bit because acceleration fades already before you even are on the upstairs part of the boost. I've ridden it in almost every row. I don't think there is a really bad row. I think row one has the best visuals and one of the middle rows provides the best overall experience.
Winja's: Due to the COVID restrictions you had to queue outside. You weren't able to choose your side (Fear or Force) or even seat. So I only got a ride on Force which was pretty good, a lot better then I remembered. But I stays as it was: spinning coasters and backwards driving aren't my thing.
Taron: The last time we rode it we only had one ride in the back of the train which was mediocre. This was five years ago. When we went to Phantasialand later, we skipped it because of that. But his time, things were different! On our first ride i felt airtime in the very last row I didn't feel any time before! Forces were great! So I highly advertised a second ride and Sarah, who was also sceptical, also mentioned how awesome it ran! Such a shame you weren't able to choose your row. For a guaranteed front row ride, I would have waited one hour for a third time.
Black Mamba: As we weren't able to choose rows we were spilled in the middle of the train. Usually I only choose front rows on B&M inverted coasters, but this time I really enjoyed the middle rows. It was running great. I just love this short but intense and punchy ride. There is not a single bad moment on the whole trip through the jungle. Heavily recommended for binge riding!
Colorado Adventure: This is just the best Mine Train! The three lift hills with the three following sections offer three rides in on trip. The dark middle section is just plain fun. I love having fun with the people on the Chiapas lift hills. And the last section ist great. The best airtime is definitely found in the back row. But I also had a front row ride and that also was fun. I really look forward for Paul being tall enough to ride it!
Chiapas: It's just the best log flume that ever wet my panties. The first minutes floating through this amazing themed artificial south american palace is umcomparable to every other log flume I've seen so far. the drops will make you wet early. But the last drop under that bridge, the upwards shoot and the airtime before the final drenching is just crazy! 
River Quest: Every ten meters in the queue line you'll read: You will get wet! You will get drenched! And the sings aren't lying. If you like that to happen and you want to go on a unique raft: This is your place to go! Starting with the elevator and the first drop, this ride is just amazing and unique!
Maus Au Chocolat: As Paul was tall enough to ride it and smart enough to aim and shoot, this was our number one go to ride if others were riding bigger things! I just love the story. It's a lot of fun and the details in the rooms are great. Make sure to stop her for a cream battle against the mice!
Tittle Tattle Tree: It's basically a tamer kids power tower. Tied up on steel ropes you get shot under the roof of Wuze Town, get some air time up here and speed down again. This happens a lot of times. When the other set of ride cabins is being loaded, you get a rest on the very top and can see the Winja's from a very unusual perspective. It's a great ride without any age restriction!
Kiddie Rides at Wuze Town: Paul did them all and didn't get enough. The "Fröhliche Bienchenjagd" was his favourite, followed by "Wolkes Luftpost" and "Würmling Express". "Der lustige Papagei" was also good. It's a nice variety off different rides, so the shyer kids, like Emma, will find also enough to ride. In addition, there are also some playgrounds.
Kiddie Rides at Berlin: Directly at the main entrance are the big carousel, a kids ferris wheel and a plane ride called "Bolles Flugschule". Paul was allowed riding alon on all of them which was great, because so one could look after Emma while he rode. Together with the nearby Wuze Town you see quickly why we spent most of our time at this side of the park.

 

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed our trip report. Here are some photos of our tour:

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This is the portal to a whole new world. Be ready to get stunned once you enter.

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After passing the time tunnel, this is you view. I was really speechless.

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Just look at these details in this one picture

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I love how all the workers are set into the area.

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Picture from the beginning of the queue line. The building in the background is Hotel Charles Lindbergh.

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This is the booster launch right through the hotel.

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This is the beginning of the underground queue. The empty queue on the left side is the closed front row queue.

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Again: Look at the details!

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I took this picture to show you the effort they made. This is the very end of the overflow queue. Rarely anybody will see this ever as I did. But it's still detailed to the max.

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I really enjoyed sitting right here with the kids and watching the people in the trains.

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#nofilter

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What a beautiful mess of twists and turns and track and supports!

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Here you see the pre security check area and the films that explain you the securits checks and measurements. You're getting your wristbands ...

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... put everything inside the lockers ...

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... and will be blamed if you forgot something. They really enforced the "go back to the beginning" rule.

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After the film, you get your wristbands here. The green dots are the lockers. No photos can be taken after here.

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This gem you can only see from the queue line. It is an actual, functioning cherry picker that war painted rusty so it can remain in the area without disturbin the optics! Awesome, Phantasialand!

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Taron. Another beautiful mess of track.

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One picture for the track nerds.

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The weather we had made Taron look a lot better than it normally does!

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Never noticed these "lamps" in the overflow queue.

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I just love thispicture. Airtime, Hairtime, Stormtime and Funtime in one picture.

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I've never been to this photo spot before.

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You get some great views of the wohle track.

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But you'll never get the whole coaster in one shot.

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Interesting to see how intertwined Mamba is. You don't have that feeling when riding.

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Of course, we've also ridden Colorado Adventure. Love the setting.

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Speaking of setting: This is perfection!

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Warning: You will get wet if you stand here for a longer time!

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This rare picture of the Winja's is taken from the Tittle Tattle Tree in the middle of Wuze Town.

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And this is the Tittle Tattle Tree!

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The Maus Au Chocolat queue is one of the most lovely ones ever created.

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Themed so well and authentic.

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The main entrance with the kiddie ferris wheel.

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Big park, big nap! This is why we use the handcart for parks.

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The grand carousel at the main entrance. Unfortunately, the upper section was closed because of the COVID protocol.

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Paul insisted on riding the horses solo.

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Emma and me opted for the carriage and a snack.

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The picture speaks for itself. The brown thing is actually F.L.Y. track. We were sitting less than two meters away fron the train.

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One of the warning signs at River Quests. So true. Funny thing is that all of that can happen in one raft! Some people may be drenched while others will ask them how that could happen.

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Frog shot of Sarah and Paul.

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The hotel queue at check in.

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Main lobby.

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Our daily out of bed morning view.

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The parents bed.

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Bathroom with walk in shower.

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The kids bedroom, designed as a tent. Directly annexed by Paul.

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Night shot from the outside.

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Hotel garden at night from our room.

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The bar. My place.

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The african restaurant during breakfast.

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The hotel garden. You can reserve these tables for dinner.

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The lagoon with Paul bravely conquering the bridge on his own.

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The balconys are our rooms. Photo taken out of the garden.

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Loop shot.

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This is the hallway to the restaurant. It's designed as a childrens playground.

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We wanted to go to the bar. Emma was already wasted. She took a nap. We took some other things. Great evening for everyone!

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Restaurant Grissini in Brühl city center. Highly recommended!

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Dessert is always the end of something good! :) This was the homemade tiramisu at Grissini!

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^ what a beautiful park!    I never realized how "claustrophobic" it all is. . . and I don't necessarily mean that in a bad way.  The track is all piled right on top of each other.

I gotta add this to the list of parks I'd love to one day see in person!

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Great detailed report, thank you!

I have to say though, I'm nearly at the end of giving parks a pass at weird operations in this Covid world. I get it, I do. I'm vaccinated, I wear my mask so much, but I am not okay with some rules like no baby swapping or fast pass? An hour to check in at the hotel? Winjas line outside yet Maus au Chocolat was allowed indoor queue?  I hope all of this is fixed by the time we get back there...and I'm hoping that will be soon!

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13 hours ago, SharkTums said:

Great detailed report, thank you!

I have to say though, I'm nearly at the end of giving parks a pass at weird operations in this Covid world. I get it, I do. I'm vaccinated, I wear my mask so much, but I am not okay with some rules like no baby swapping or fast pass? An hour to check in at the hotel? Winjas line outside yet Maus au Chocolat was allowed indoor queue?  I hope all of this is fixed by the time we get back there...and I'm hoping that will be soon!

I got you so much. We're fed up with this §hit. I really don't know why a closed front line queue prevents COVID from spreading?!?

But, to get on Phantasialands side a litte: Most of thes rules are enforce germanwide. Baby switch, single rider lines and Fast Lane weren't an option ant any park we've been since March 2020 (Holiday park since 2021). Front line queue was only available at Heide Park (not at all coasters) and Expedition GeForce.

The pity for "our" parks is: We would have spent lots of money for some perks if they would have been available and would have visited definitaly more parks (hey Tripsdrill, Europa Park, Walibi Holland, ...) if rules were more logical. 

Just think about the following: We are allowed with up to 70,000 people in a stadium (Dortmund) without masks and distance, but the above mentioned perks in Phantasialand IN THE SAME STATE (Northrhine Westphalia) are not possible at the same time. WHAT?
And again; These rules are not set by the park because they are dumb. It's the regional health bureaus that set them up. I can say that with full faith becaus I work for my local community college where we have to enforce ridiculous rules while in our local stadium up to 25,000 people can behave like normal.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 10/2/2021 at 11:48 PM, SharkTums said:

^It's almost encouraging to hear that Germany has many messed up rules that don't make sense as we do! Especially with the sports stuff. Like you said, hopefully this gets better soon!

Baby switch and fast passes are now back and the queue of winjas is now back indoors again. Masks and keeping a distance of 1,5m in queues are the only measures in the Park.

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  • 8 months later...

Photo trip report from Erse Park, October 3rd 2021

After a long time in the pipeline, I finally completed this trip report!
We were in the Hannover region, visiting friends, when we thought of hitting some park. As Heide Park would have been too much for us - and we thought of seeing a new park anyway - our friend brought us to Erse Park.
To WHAT, you may think? Yes, it isn't even in the TPR park directory - but it has a roller coaster and a boat jump.

At the end of the day, we were so glad that we did hit this gem!
In Erse Park, most of the rides don't have any operators! You start them yourself with hitting a button or buzzer, pulling a rope or else! This is awesome, as our kids, 1.5 and 3.5 years then, could ride whatever they wanted. In most of the rides, they were able to climb the rides and start them themselves. Only the bigger rides, as the boat ride, the raft or the coaster, had operators.

We started our day at the caveman exhibit:
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After that, we hit the monorail, which gives you a ride through the whole park so you can get a look what you want to do:
PXL_20211003_103605351.thumb.jpg.0397371b91dc49c81cd7fdbafb1e3bcd.jpg PXL_20211003_103849645.thumb.jpg.d9475745d7869d6e1da64817c245f979.jpgPXL_20211003_103818963.thumb.jpg.3b8e53e6ff0559d49e167b8b344f8dfd.jpg  PXL_20211003_104029254.thumb.jpg.14ae1d64df4e5128685364167791f803.jpg  

Directly at the exit of the monorail, you find the boat ride with sharks and dinosours. As you know, PAul loves boats, so this was a huge hit:
PXL_20211003_104227398.thumb.jpg.870e96ec7117bb795ffd0dfcc774240f.jpgPXL_20211003_104529161.thumb.jpg.eddc63b13f298d3a26f39dff0dad57be.jpg PXL_20211003_104540892.thumb.jpg.76fe94b5e5eeda67abe7dc222227debb.jpg PXL_20211003_104739074.thumb.jpg.ec4d16a616e95d07ba64fc329dfba942.jpg PXL_20211003_104918000.thumb.jpg.4f30ef0ba1b4bcee6d689f9bf70dd43c.jpg PXL_20211003_102955982.thumb.jpg.33e41ad18e90dfb94b12455408681807.jpg

Next ride were the tractors, which you started, powered and steered by yourself:
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In the middle of the park is a fun fair section, where you can ride some smaller things:
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Just at that time, the parks steam engine started it's tour, which we joined:
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The next ride on our trip were the powered bobsleds. It was my first time on a powered one - and it was awesome!
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After our ice cream break we passed a mirror cabinet:
PXL_20211003_124924450.thumb.jpg.d5fd9aaefb949e81e03ef211e067607d.jpg PXL_20211003_125517714.thumb.jpg.6d005495c7d60851fbed1fb24d71c3a2.jpg

And finally came to the raft ride. That was a lot more fun then expected!
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At the far end of the park was the horde ride. This is a real hit with the kids, as they can enter and start the ride themselves, so Paul was cought by that one for quite some time:
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Meanwhile, Emma found her happy place on a forklift (that you also operated by yourself):
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After I rode the boat jump ride for the first time (awesome!), Paul tried a electric zip line. You had to seat your kid an hit a button. Then the seat below the wire was elevated and speeded to the far pole and came back. Paul rode about ten times - happy!

  PXL_20211003_141044571.thumb.jpg.310369efc4b903d6d4a43a74f57ffc69.jpg

The we tried the coaster. It was quite bumpy, so Paul was done after one ride. Too bad.
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Shortly after and right before closing time, we found the Flintstone Cars! They were selfoperated and a lot of fun, as they had asymmetrical axles.
PXL_20211003_142949182.thumb.jpg.72a4956029d5934a0a5b47c8be612290.jpg 

All in all, it was a great day a so much better then we expected! This park is a real hit and everyone should give it a shot!


Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed our trip report!

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  • 1 year later...

Dear followers,

we had a rough patch in our lives since our last post.

At first, we bought a house which was pretty cool, but cost us a lot of time that was missing for going to parks and also a lot of money to do the same.

We only had one really cool trip to Tripsdrill in June 2022 where we were able to meet a lot of you folks during your TPR tour. We weren't able to post a report yet, but I will post some photos in the next post.

Secondly we've lost my father early in 2023. Due to these circumstances, going to parks wasn't our top priority in the last year. As a result, we also weren't in the mood to be participating a lot over here on the forums. I'm sorry for that. Espacially for not keeping in touch with the awesome girls and guys we learned to know last June. But it was very sad feeling for us to talk about the things we do not have a serious possibility to participate in.

But right now today, that changed. After reading the news over the parks annoucing their 2024 hotnesses, our interest in theme parks came back! Today, we made the decision that the grieving period is over and we need to focus on our mental health - and a very important point for us is travelling. So we just booked a ten day trip to Gothenburg where we will sleep in Lisebergs all new Grand Curiosa Hotel! And this time, a trip report is coming for sure! :)

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my condolences on your loss. . and may his memories always be a blessing.

 

as to Liesberg's Grand Curiosa Hotel?   having just stayed there ~6 weeks ago (with TPR :) ). . you are going to LOVE it!
make sure to do the slide from 2nd floor to the lobby. . it's great!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Photo dump from Tripsdrill (with metting with the TPR Europe Trip) in June 2022!

As promised, here are some random photos of our Tripsdrill trip. We slept in their Cottage Cars, had one (rainy) day in the animal park and two days in the park where we also met with the TPR Europe Trip.

 

Cottage:
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Animal Park:
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Amusement Park:
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