Oktoberfest 2025

[Doppel Looping]

I have made it to Oktoberfest this year .

My friend mike is meeting me tomorrow to start an achterbahn und bier trip.

 

i started a week earlier and went to the drinktec convention and we will spend some time in munich before heading out to freiburg for europa park, mannheim for holiday park, home of expedition geforce, stuttgart for tripsdrill and the cannstatter wasen fest before returning to munich to finish off.

I saw part of the opening parade  lots of horse drawn bierwagons and brass bands.

I have confirmed that olympia looping is still one of the most awesome things on the planet  i got on the third train and it was great  

You must stay hydrated and the paulaner hefeweizen booth nearby offers a nice view. 
 

alpina bahn was running well too. It is my first time trying the new trains. I got a middle seat for some mild airtime. There are no headrests and at the bottom of the first drop there is a janky little curve that will keep chiropractors in business. 
 

Anybody else here, feel free to reach out. It is hot today at 30C but an awesome time. Maybe some night rides would be good. 
 

i was last here in 2014 and rode olympia looping 15 times. My goal itls to do 20 this year. Tickets are 14 euro bit still less than the airfare and more legroom than lufthansa. 

[Doppel Looping]

Monday was cooler and rainy so we went to the deutsches museum. Really cool. 

Then a little refreshment at the hofbrau haus where we met new friends  

 

Then off to the weisen  

It was misty foggy  and agreat atmosphere for some night rides  

 

And then finished off with an upside down beer to review olympia looping. 
 

not sure how to make this right side up: maybe turn phone upside down. 
we are going there today and will check our the oide wiesen the old oktoberfest. 

[Doppel Looping]

Also lots of neat flat rides with cool lighting  

The mist made them glow

[Doppel Looping]

Tuesday it was overcast and cool so we welt to the old Oktoberfest section:

they started the display in 2010 for the 200th anniversary of oktoberfest and it was popular so they kept doing it. 
They had this fun spinny one  it had a brass band in the booth later on  

Would you eat at the badass imbiß?

Some nice tractors

 

a nice pipe organ

 

And organ grinders with animatronic monkeys. 

and who would turn down the chance for a fahrt ins paradise   (12 year old boy humour still going)

it was really cool, it had this steering wheel that the operator turned to change the speed  he also had a saxaphone and would pick it up and play some of the songs . He did moon river for us.

surprise: side view  you can really see how they crammed all of that track in there. Spoiler alert: big fanboy!

 

as it turned out we were lucky that tuesday was family day and they only charged 9.5 euro rather than 14 for olympia looping  helped me get to 11 rides so far. Aiming for 20… 

 

most of the other rides had discounts as well  

 

so it only made sense to ride the double wild maus. So good. 
 

ttoday we took the train to ringsheim via freiburg. It was a bit rainy but we walked around the old town. 
it turns out we could have taken the regional train down from mannheim rather than up from freiburg but i was happy to visit again. 
 

We are staying at the holiday inn ringsheim it is near the train station (more like whistle stop) and they have Rothaus pils, a local black forrest beer i love. 
 

i was able to visit the brewery with my friends the week earlier. 
 

They name their logo Birgitte which is a play on words for beer getter  

Was able to do a little hotel sink laundry as we prepare to visit europa park tomorrow. 

[Doppel Looping]

We went to europa park for day one of two here. 

we started the day with the can can coastter, formerly eurosat, they refurbished it in 2017 and rethemed it as the moulin rouge in belle epoch Paris.  The queue line themeing is great with the occasional nod to eurosat. Most importantly it rides great. It has a spiral lift hill with a rotating center column that pulls the train up the hill. It has parisian scenes and an eiffel tower as you get to the top. The trains have onboard audio synched to the ride that keeps pace. Scenery lights up as you go by including a winking moon from jules verne. Not too scary but really fun.

 

Rode silverstreak, a b&m with great airtime. It had been mercedes themed and now is monacco grand prix themed. Not sure if it was suppodes to be a poke in the eye but they had a vintage Daimler owned by prince Ranier of Monaco. 

I have heard tpr sing the praises of the aquatrax and had to take the opportunity to try the one in the greece area here. Since it was drizzling and we were already a bit wet, why not. It was fun and exceeded expectations  (which had been set low)

Voltron was new last year and was awesome. We enjoyed the electricity themed queue line in the rain which felt disconcerting. 

Amazing themeing and ride with a statue of Nicholai keeping watch. 

pirates of batavia , having been restored from an elecrrical fire (on a water ride) was great. The queue line had some great stuff including the requisite topless mermaids. 

We tried out the food loop restaurant. You order your food and it gets sent out along coaster tracks including loops and helixes. The kitchen and bar send food up to a central dispatch area who distribute it to the correct table. There are special holders for drinks and food in pots down stainless steel tracks to circular tables. Each seat has a number and you get your food delivered by the food loop. Pretty fun and the food was good too. I had chicken breast on spätzle which was delicious.

We finished the day in the rulantica waterpark with the ride and slide package. The indoor/ outdoor swimup bar came in handy and their wave pool is one of the most intense i have been to. It has a really bizarre lazy river that goes through caverns below the indoor waterpark with crazy themeing. They let you go around as much as you like and we finished the day with 4 more laps. 
 

it is not well explained but you can take a shuttle from the hotel in the spanish section to rulantica for free. You can take the large monorail from the front gate there. 

[Nrthwnd]

^ I've seen so much reported about that 'Coaster Restaurant'.  All of it great, I read.

Great that you got to "give it a whirl". 

[Doppel Looping]

They give you a swipe card when you go in the restaurant. Everytime you order food or drink you swipe it. You take it to the cash to pay on the way out. If someone does not use the card and orders on someone else's they still have to check out with their unused card.  
 

there were a few people who just walked in to join a group without getting a card so when they went to leave they had no card to swipe. They had no way to prove they didn’t order anything. 

[Doppel Looping]

Today was our second day at europa park. You could probably do most of it in one day but there is so much detail in all of the theming and areas that it is nice to have a second day. It also allows you to go back to some of your favourites. 
It was so foggy and hazy when we got there   That silverstar’s lift hill was hidden.

the two things that stood out for me were the obsession in themeing, architecture and plants they have and how they pack so much in to a small space with rides folding on top of one another like hershey does but even more. 
 

one of my favourites was the swiss themed wild mouse where the queue walks through a barnyard with animals and chicken sounds. The train crashes through the barn on one of the dips. 

Some rides are hidden into the buildings to the point you don't realize they are there. 
Near the can can coaster there is a curio shop which when you walk through which turns out to be a ride that takes you through a bunch of colourful dinosaurs. 

It was really bizzare  but fun. 
 

They have a larger blauer enzian powered coaster with a station that was amazing. It is woven together with an old school log flume. 
 

they had several water rides including one of the most aggressive white water rides i have seen. 

We had a great two days at Europa park and cant wait to come back  

 

We have taken the train to Mannheim and will see holiday park, now Plopsaland deutschland home of expedition ge-force tomorrow.

 

[Doppel Looping]

Woke up this morning in mannheim and took the s- bahn and bus to holiday park, aka plopsaland deutschland. 
 

It is a quaint little park with a lot of attractions aimed at kids.

Expedition ge- force is however an exception and a very forceful younger brother to millennium force. That is why we visited. 

We got there an hour after opening and saw the monster in all it’s glory… and an apologetic ride op explaining that it was down and they were working to get it running again. Something about zoltar messing with g-force seemed to be the problem.

Not going to lie, we were a bit disappointed but decided to explore the rest of the park and hope they get it going.

  They had a really neat log flume with three hills, a backwards drop and a spectacular double down finale.

And an apologetic ride op.

They had one of those gerstlauer flying things like ninja turtles at mall of america. This one themed to airplanes with a p51 mustang model as scenery, so i thought i would try it, but as i got 2 cycles from the front, the previous riders did not come down and stayed 20 feet in the air.

Moving along we went to try the premier skyflier in the background. We werent really looking forward to it since we had both passed up the chance to ride one at bgw a while back. The prospect of hanging in mid air and rolling back was unsettling  but we had to ride something.

It was a walk on and worked properly. Not sure i would ever deliberately ride one again but now we know.

They had a zierer wellenflug without the upper canopy and just the frame which was neat to see. They are also putting the finishing touches on a new gerstlauer junior coaster with some neat trick elements. It looked really good.

 Checking out just beyond it looked like Baywatch: the ride. There are 9 rescue boats in a circle which go around and when you turn the steering wheel it swings out. It was pretty fun.

Had a beer break and then made our way back to see how progress was on ge- force

The flume was running as we walked by so we rode it and only got a bit wet. It was really good with some fun themeing along the way.

We could hear and see the train running on ge-force so we made our way over to try it. It was awesome, much more forceful than millennium with strongly banked curves and ejector airtime hills in between a-la skyrush.

we met lots of excited new friends in line and everyone was stoked that it was running again  

They only have one train on the track but it was about right for the crowd they had there. Apparently there is another but it was not on the transfer track.

The whole park was in the middle of a forrest and it felt like a terrain coaster between all of the trees. As you climbed the lift hill you could see all of the track laid out beside you.

It ends off with some intense ejector bunny hills and then into the magnetic final brakes. It was worth the trip to the park to ride it.

We took a lunch break for some schnitzel and beer which were both really good and inexpensive. 
Rode a smurfs vs voldamort dark ride which was weird but fun after lunch.

 

The rest of the afternoon we spent marathoning expedition ge-force. It was awesome.

 

Tomorrow we go to stuttgart for the canstatter wassen which is their answer to okroberfest and then tripsdrill erlebnispark. 

[Nrthwnd]

<sighs> I sure miss G-Force. A wonderful coaster. Great TR of Holiday Park.

TPR Europe Tour ~ 2008 ~ "The First Drop"

[Doppel Looping]

Awesome pic. 
the first drop is crazy with a little twist in it to change direction. In the back it really whips you around if you aren't expecting it. 

[Doppel Looping]

Today we took the train to stuttgart en route to Tripsdrill tomorrow. When i was planning things out i discovered they were having their Canstäter Wasen festival, a smaller cousin to Oktoberfest and thought it would be neat to go. 
 

Without knowing what to expect we were impressed and had a great time. It is smaller and more manageable than Munich but had a nice vibe to it.
 

 

The local breweries run smaller tents here with horses and wagons with beer barrels. 
 

One of the traditions is the fruit tower, though it seemed to have more vegetables than fruit. 

We found a suspended mouse coaster which was a nice ride. As well as the Mondial air wolf. Canadas Wonderland has a similar model called Soaring Timbers but Airwolf has a much more aggressive program to the point that you can see the tower shake side to side.

 

They had some nice themed food stalls on the midway. 

And then we turned a corner and saw this:

The rock and roller coaster, a Schwarzkopf Wildcat. 
 

i have not seen or rode one in a long time and wasn't sure i ever would. 
 

we rode it a couple of times and it was great. It was remarkably smooth and fluid for one of the earliest steel coasters, Ca.~1967. Ran like a charm. The drops and helixes were really good with nice transitions. Worth the visit just to see and ride it. 

If you are ever going to oktoberfest, try to check this out, and while you are at it head to Tripsdrill, where we are going tomorrow.

 

 

[Nrthwnd]

The suspended dark ride! I remember some one else posting a shot of it, during their tour of Europe. And that looks like a really interesting version of a Mouse Coaster. And the Rock & Roll Coaster looks great, too. And it looks like a less freak-out time, with smaller crowds, etc. Enjoy Tripsdrill!

[Doppel Looping]

Today we went to Tripsdrill erlebnispark. 

After a mildly challenging parcours of u-bahn, s-bahn, regional bahn and 2 busses, we made it. The German transportation system is well coordinated and so when you get off one leg of the trip, the next is waiting for you shortly afterwards.

The park is a love letter to swabian culture, celebrating the quirks and eccentricities. They are nestled in a valley surrounded with vineyards and winemakers which they showcase the history of.
 

 

 

As you enter the park you are greeted by a maypole ride where cars are hung from the pole and move up and down as it spins.

We began our day with 2 rollercoasters added just in time for the pandemic.

 

Hals uber kopf or head over heels is a new generation Vekoma suspended coaster (gold track). It fortunately bears absolutely no resemblance to the classic SLC headbangers we all know and love to avoid. 

I have heard that new generation Vekomas are really good and this confirms it. It had really nice pacing and a snappy layout of helixes, heartline rolls, swooping curves and inversions. The transitions were smooth and effortless making it a very reridable family coaster…. Which we did all day.

Interwoven with it is Volldampf, roughly full steam ahead, a family steam train themed shuttle coaster (red track). The steam engine front car even has smoke coming out of the stack while in the station. It is pulled backwards up the launch hill and then released to come back through the station and past a bunch of twists and turns and burst through the roof of hals uber kopf before returning backwards to the station.

Nearby they had a new ride themed to a coal car which at first glance looks like a top spin, but it swings you around and up and down without dumping you upside down and leaving you hanging watching the change fall our of your pockets. 
 

On the other side of the park they had a nice log flume, i guess loosely themed to roman baths complete with bathtub shaped boats  but with a swabian castle exterior.

Maybe trying to explain its contradictions is unhelpful, but it was really fun nonetheless.

Sharing much of the structure is G’sengte sau- crazy pig coaster, a Gerstlauer wild mouse (pig) ride that was really good. It had a few of the standard flat 180 degree turns but also many swooping banked drops. The track on its own was great but its interactions with terrain and castle made it awesome. Easily on of the best of its type i have ridden. I thought i would like it but loved it instead.

 

Next to it was Mamut, a gerstlauer wooden coaster. We were looking forward to this and were disappointed by how rough it was when we rode mid train.  We came back later to ride the middle seat of the last car and it was much better but still not great.

Wanted to like it but can’t.

 

Around the corner was Karacho a gerstlauer infinity coaster. It looks really cool with a lim launch, lots of loops, non inverting and regular and helixes and curves. I am a big fan of Fahrenheit and enjoyed Voltron the tesla coaster but didn't like this one.

It started off poorly with a jojo roll a la hydra ar dorney, a slow corkscrew inversion that has you upside down, falling into your restraints. Then an awkward klunky drop into the launch.

 

it seemed that every time there was a transition between elements or the top of the non inverting loop, it had a jarring bump. It was really irritating and it took away from my enjoyment of this ride. I had hoped to ride it many times but i just went the one time.

 

It did make a nice mark on rhe horizon with the vineyards in the hills behind it.

Nearby was a fun ride that was a cross between a huss swing around and a jumbo the elephant ride  with motorcycles and side cars. When you turned the throttle it made a motor sound and the bike swung out and up.

They also had a really nice tivoli coaster themed to a millipede that banked and dropped through the trees and flowers. It was fun.

For me it was an interesting contrast between the midway rides with their spectacular lighting packages at the wassen and oktoberfest and the ones here. They were more subdued and relaxing as opposed to something striving to get your attention. Tripsdrill is a really nice park with traditional displays celebrating local culture and old familiar rides coupled with new expansions that broaden the park’s appeal.

It is  a very different experience but fun in it’s own way.

 

 

[bert425]

the naked grannies on that flume scarred me. . . LOL. . .it was SO unexpected!

agree completely about Mamut. . it's wanting to be good. . but just "missing" something.

[Nrthwnd]

I remember riding Mamut in it's first years of operation. And coming off of it, I felt ....meh. Nothing significant about this coaster. IMhO.

I much preferred the Mouse to Mamut. ~ TPR Europe Tour ~ 2008

[Doppel Looping]

Yeah, as you go through the flume underneath there is a scene with a roman bath with a bunch of naked grannies splashing around. There are a bunch of younger models, maybe transformed by the fountain that were too anatomically correct and risqué, so they have been given shawls to cover up. I can only imagine.  

[Doppel Looping]

We returned to munich today after our road trip and went to the ratskeller gasthaus under city hall for dinner.

The food was delicious as was the upside down beer and reasonably priced. Lowenbrau fest beer gefählt mir gut.

Despite the light rain we went back out to the wiesen. Supprisingly many people were there with umbrellas making rhe best of it.

Got another ride on olympia looping. The rain makes it run really smooth but when it pelts you in the face you really know you are a die hard coaster nerd. (I have been through worse, pelted with sleet on behemoth in the late season, so this was easy in comparison)

When it rains hard, the logical thing is to find a nice dry tent.

No sweet caroline for this crowd, we got to hear german versions of bon jovi, the cranberries and oasis.

After a long travel day that beer felt good.

What would have been a rained out night was saved by thousands of people determined to have a good time, and willing to cough up 15.80 eur per liter to do so  

 

 

[Doppel Looping]

Today was the last day of our trip. We have seen a lot, rode a lot of coasters, drank a lot of beer and ate a lot of good food. Pretty much what we set out to do. 
 

We started the day right with a proper Bavarian weißwurst frühstück (breakfast) at the Schneider brauerei restaurant near Marienpmatz. 



it is white veal sausage with sweet mustard and a pretzel, washed down with a weizenbier. In this case they had a special festbier version which was really good. 

 

As we were finishing up we noticed that it started to get very busy in the restaurant. I mentioned to the waitress that we picked a good time to get there early before it got busy and she told us that octoberfest was shut down for the day because of a bomb threat. They said they would try to have it open at 5:00 pm at the earliest.   Oops…The shame is, it was the nicest sunniest day all week to be closed on.

 

We had planned to spend the day walking around town anyway but hoped it would open again as promised. 
We took a tram tour around and ended up at the lowenbrau keller.

It was a beautiful building from the outside but we didn't see the inside because it was full of people who would have otherwise been in the tents at the Wiesen.

While taking a break at the hotel we heard it confirmed that the fest was reopening at 5:30pm so we came back for a final visit.

 

We took the u bahn to Poccistraße and came in the south end by the oide wiesen.

We caught a nice view of olympia looping from behind with the sun setting.

We took some last rides on Alpina bahn, and the double wild mouse.

When offered the chance to have a 1/2 meter sausage we couldn’t possibly refuse.

 

Took a ride on the beer carrousel because it looked like fun and it not the kind of thing you see back home. 
 

From there we went to the riesenrad where they didn’t offer us a beer. We got some nice nightime views of the park all lit up. Really cool up there.

We went back to olympia looping and took 4 final rides. Buying the tickets i was thinking I was maybe being a bit obsessive.

As i took my last rides I thought it was exactly the right way to finish this journey. I finished off in my favourite seat in the middle of the train, thinking, damn i love this coaster.

Thanks for everyone who followed along and reacted to and commented.

 

[PeggedSole]

Loved reading your trip reports.  Thanks for taking the time to post everything!  I've been to Germany (and Munich) during "off-seasons".  Dang, I NEED to get to Oktoberfest, etc!