viking86 Posted February 26, 2006 Share Posted February 26, 2006 Okay so last summer I went on a trip through Hungary, Austria and Italy with the European Coaster Club and I thought it was about time I posted a trip report. Hopefully you have all forgotten Don's trip report from this trip so mine will seem more interesting Day 1: Started the day by meeting up with the group at Heathrow for the flight to Budapest. Met up with the rest of the group at the hotel there and went to Vidampark. It was a park with a nice setting in the middle of the city. Its not excactly what I would call a quality park, but we still had alot of fun. The main rides there are Hullámvasút, a wooden coaster from 1922, and Looping Star, a *surprise* Schwarzkopf Looping Star from 1981. Vidampark is the ride's third home. Okay, onto the pictures. Please get off! Pictures from Wiener Prater are coming one of the next days! One of the larger drops on Hullámvasút. After doing most of the rides we went back to Hullámvasút. As you can see, it was really busy after our ERS ...and a powered coaster. The picture is taken from the scariest ferris wheel EVER! a top spin.... Among the other rides in the park was a log flume.. Happy ECC members returns from their ride. And it was VERY fast!!! Look at that beauty! For a 24 year old coaster, it was running REALLY well! It felt like it was brand new. This ride was awesome! Very smooth, but it also had some great laterals. Ahhh Looping Star! I was really looking forward to this as it would be my first Schwarzkopf looping coaster. I was not dissappointed. Credit whores in the last cars on the kiddie coaster. After our ride we got to see the original drawings from the early 1920's. There were plenty of people with cameras on the trip. Headchoppers!! The ride was rather bouncy, but still fun. This beatiful ride was built in 1922. Hullámvasút was the first coaster of the day. Heres the group waiting to go to Vidampark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubaidave Posted February 26, 2006 Share Posted February 26, 2006 This is fantastic, I am planning a Europe trip for April so this is really helping me out. thanks for the pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterguy618 Posted February 26, 2006 Share Posted February 26, 2006 Great Photos! I also have to say, I think Hullámvasút looks like a mini balder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ing king Posted February 26, 2006 Share Posted February 26, 2006 Talking about the ferris-wheel in vidampark i have to say that this really was the scariest i have ever been on. And also the logflume was one of the strangest ones i have been on - disgusting dirty water, but a funny jump over a ramp after the big drop. looking forward to your photos of my homepark ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Fan Posted February 26, 2006 Share Posted February 26, 2006 ahahah you had to wait in lines when you went! When I was at the park in 04 there was like me and maybe 4 other people.. I dont even have photos of rides going because there were so few people! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeezus Juice Posted February 26, 2006 Share Posted February 26, 2006 OMG, you actually rode that ferris wheel? The one with plastic lawn furniture for seats? You're one brave Norwegian! That park was pretty fun. Between the bumpercar disco, the 'hand you a pistol' game, and the fact that they had way more darkrides then any small city park should, this made a very fun first stop. Although, for being so close to Austria, that pretzle I bought across the street from the park was wrong! Yuck, it was all dry and crappy. Can't wait for Prater! -Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Fan Posted February 26, 2006 Share Posted February 26, 2006 OMG, you actually rode that ferris wheel? The one with plastic lawn furniture for seats? You're one brave Norwegian!-Don LOL! I also rode it.. And the guy "working it" walked away when I was on it! I just jump'd off after it went around once and the ride was still going! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking86 Posted February 26, 2006 Author Share Posted February 26, 2006 Day 2: I just have to say that Wiener Prater is a fantastic place. This is not your standard amusement park. Theres no park entrance, and you have to buy individual tickets for all the rides, which are all owned by different people. Its more like a giant fair with large rollercoasters and dark rides. There is also a very unique combination of modern thrill rides and old classic rides in this park. It was probably the most expensive park on the trip, but it was definately worth it! Okay, onto the pictures... The feeling you get when youre all the way up there with only some tiny chains holding your small plastic chair cannot be described. It simply has to be experienced. I loved this ride and I would be surprised if we dont see many more of these. Ahhh Starflyer. Probably my favorite ride in the park. I must admit I was slightly nervous on my first ride though. The park also had a Wild Mouse coaster. It was quite fun, except the evil brakes at the end. The park also had a ton of dark rides. Heres one of them. More awesome pictures of Prater from the wheel. Looking down from the top. Notice that there are no think steel beams holding the wheel, just many thin cables. OMG! Some of the cabins had tables and chairs in them. I guess you could hire those and have dinner in them. Vienna from the wheel. Heres the view from the top. Prater is one fantastic looking park. Look at all the colours!!! Going up... Time to ride "The Wheel" Interesting colour combinations... It was an alright ride. A little rough, but not bad. Super 8-Bahn was a fairly large Pinfari non-looping coaster. They look 'slightly' concerned, and they have every reason to do so. It wasnt nearly as bad as this one though. Luckily my anti-headbanging technique worked very well. Im not sure if I wanna ride one of the rough ones if thats the case. Someone claimed that this boomerang was one of the better ones... My first Vekoma Boomerang is also the only one with a tunnel. Megablitz was the best coaster in the park. It was built by Vekoma in 94, but it was smooth and the helixes were very powerfull! ...with real horses!!! I dont think there was a single member on the trip who didnt feel sorry for them. Then it was the Wiener Ponny-Carousel... This was a nice little scenic railway from the 1950's. Our next stop was Hochschaubahn. No matter where you went you could always see "The Wheel" which we called it. I belive it was built in 1895. ECC members crossing the tracks. We also got a backstage tour of the service area. It takes you through a park and into the woods. We started the day with the Prater Adventure Tour which takes you on several of the rides in the park. The group I was in started on the train ride. Usually they run their diesel engines because the steam engines are so expensive to run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeezus Juice Posted February 26, 2006 Share Posted February 26, 2006 Wow Yng, your pictures are much better than mine! That really was one of the better Boomerangs, if you can believe it. The tunnel is actually really cool, probably the best part of the ride. Starflyer still scared the crap out of me though. If only the chair seemed less completely flimsy and totally about to fall apart I would've found time to enjoy myself! Can't wait for the next pictures! -Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shockwave Posted February 26, 2006 Share Posted February 26, 2006 Wow, those are some fantastic pictures of those two parks! They still look very classic even with all the modern elements incorporated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carnage Posted February 26, 2006 Share Posted February 26, 2006 Just looking at starflyer makes me scared for my life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ing king Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 The best thing about starflyer in the first days was, that there was ONE seat which could spin. On my first ride my girlfriend took this one by chance and during our whole ride i tried to spin my chair like she did ... unfortunately that one was just probably just for testing. Even the ride-operators didn't know anything more about it. I think starflyer would be even more fun with the seats to be spinnable. Glad you had fun in Prater. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking86 Posted February 28, 2006 Author Share Posted February 28, 2006 Day 3: After spending several hours on a boiling hot bus I must admit that I was quite dissappointed when we arrived at the park, and Im sure I wasnt the only one as the park looked extremely small from the outside. It didnt last long though. Already before entering the park we were greeted with free drinks, and the day continued with a nice typical austrian meal. Once inside the gate we found a very cute park with several nicely themed family rides and one PSYCHO PAX-Coaster. This is easily the most insane coaster Ive ever ridden! Good positive G-forces, slammer laterals and ejector airtime far more intense than the airtime on Balder. I rode it almost 40 times that day and I never got bored on it. Its probably in my top 3 list and thats not bad for a coaster the size of a family coaster. I cant think of a single coaster where the name "Wild Train" would fit better. To fully understand how insane this coaster is, I reccomend checking out the onride video on http://granat.es.lth.se/~olofsrnm/nyrc/rchq.php?page=movies&id=1060 as words cannot describe how awesome it. In the video you can actually see our buses as the train is heading down the first drop Okay, heres the pics: I'll end this update with a 'hairtime' picture of Wild Train. I actually rode this coaster almost 40 times that day and I was never bored. I want one in my backyard. We even got ERS on the bumper cars before we left the park. Wooooooooosh!!! I cant think of a single coaster where the name "Wild Train" would fit better. Everyone loves the psycho airtime on the "Made in Russia"-coaster. After the park closed we got ERS on Wild Train. The park manager came and yelled "Are you rrrrreeeeeEEEAAAAADY??" before every train left the station. He was awesome! Heres Olof, doing slightly better than Don in his Wiener Prater video Phil and Andy having fun on the trampolines. Weeeee! Alot of fun were had on the slides. Slides are always fun! Especially those with airtime. Don and Phil can tell you all about that! The main street. In the background you can see the mega-large ferris wheel. The one-legged duck is watching his kids ...with elephants that tries to get you wet! ...and a jungle cruise... Among the other rides there was a pirate ship... The park was surprisingly nice for being out in the nowhere in Austria. More PAX-goodness... ...and gives the riders in the front seat some INSANE lateral G-forces as the train enters this turn!!! After the turn around the cute castle the train heads down another psycho drop... Then its time for the people in the front seats to experience some insane ejector air as the train flys over this hill. After the helix it goes down this psycho drop, giving crazy ejector air for those in the backseat. The ride starts with a nice twisting drop giving some good positive G-forces at the bottom. This is followed by an airtime hill and a very intense helix. Look at the awesome supports! "Sorry Greg, its too late to get off" Greg, Phil and Nina looks a bit concerned. I was concerned too, just look at the turn into the station!!! A few of us decided to head directly for Wild train next. After a free drink outside the gate we continued the day with a group meal. Heres the group waiting to enter the park. The park didnt look like much from the outside. Luckily we were wrong! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Nagel Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 Well I had been wondering for a while if this ride ran as screwed up (in a good way) as it looks. PAX is crazy there rides just don't look right. Also could you tell me was there much movement in the track and supports in area where is passes under the lift and that first helix, it just looks like it must. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking86 Posted February 28, 2006 Author Share Posted February 28, 2006 Yes, the track did move quite alot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smells_like_team_disney Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 Wow, that Wild Train looks absolutely INSANE! Would love to see one installed here in the States. As for the Starflyer, I don't know about that one. I'd have to wait and see until there's one physically in front of me before deciding whether to ride it or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 Wild Train looks amazing! I would love to see that over here in Playland, somewhere. Better looking than a Rollerskater, IMhO. And probably fits in the same space of... too, hmm? Yes, I wouldn't mind having one of those weaving in and around my back yard, too, heh heh. Thanks for sharing the pix. They're great, the pix of all the parks you visited in this TR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trustkill22 Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 I saw that coaster in one of the threads on this site and some one said the exact same thing you did about "Wild Train". Looks like your having a good time. It shows that small parks have suprises. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeezus Juice Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 That park is the best place ever! An awesome coaster, trampolines, and a ball pit!!!! Everything I need to have a great day at a park!! Yeah, Yngve's not kidding about that slide. That thing does not play!! After a few practice running jump starts I was able to actually bottom out off of the last drop! I know that more of us are taking Europe trips now. Strasswalchen and Prater make for a great 2 park trip. Add in some awesome alpine coasters and Austria makes for a great Germany add-on!! Please go! I promised Erich, the park owner that I'd tell all of my friends to visit his park! It was seriously one of the highlights on the trip! Can't wait to see more pictures man! Be sure to find some embarassing ones of me! -Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking86 Posted March 3, 2006 Author Share Posted March 3, 2006 Yeah that place was awesome! Does anyone know any free video editing software that allows you to rotate video clips? Or does anyone wanna do it for me? I shot quite a few video clips of the slides with my camera but theyre all sideways Oh and heres the only pic I found with you in Don. I have a few with Monica in though Yngve "Alpine coasters coming soon" Oestbye Find the Don... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yeah 7 Posted March 3, 2006 Share Posted March 3, 2006 Don looks like hes counting the nails in the wood Nice photos Yngve, I want to go back to those parks... do you have a video of Don, Olof or me on the slide??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking86 Posted March 3, 2006 Author Share Posted March 3, 2006 I have video clips of all of you. You and Don arent getting that much air in my video clips, but Olof is flying off the slide and landing at the bottom of the slide. Its a miracly no one got hurt that day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tömmioh Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 Nice TR. Those Austrian parks look good, and the Wildtrain..wow, and it's supports look strange, but quite cool. Can't wait for some alpine coaster photos! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking86 Posted March 4, 2006 Author Share Posted March 4, 2006 Day 4: This day we went into the Austrian Alps to ride some crazy alpine coasters. The first one was the longest, 3500 meters long and with a height difference of over 500 meters. Very good, smooth ride with insane lateral G-forces through the turns. Very scary when theres only a seatbelt holding you in the car. The other one was a surprise! This one was totally different. It was running on a single pipe. Not quite as long or fast as the other one, but way steeper and a bit rougher. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking. I'll end this update with a picture from the top of the crazy single-pipe alpine coaster. The mountains were once again stunning! The picture is a bit blurry, but you get the idea of what the cars looks like. We didnt have much time thereso I only got a few pics. Heres the other alpine coaster. Not as long or fast as the other one, but WAY steeper. You cant see it in my pictures, but the height of the bridge was insane. Another awesome mountain picture... On the way to the next alpine coaster we stopped by the second tallest bridge in Europe. Were all alive! Time to say goodbye to Imster Bergbahn. The laterals through the turns (I think there were 60-70 of them) were insane. It started to rain a little bit before our last ride. It went so fast I thought I was going to die (okay maybe not, but it was still scary) The humid air made the ride even faster. Its the "magical levitating alpine coaster car" We made it to the bottom, my fingers were freezing and were on the way up to the top again ECC-members getting ready to ride. Check out the wet back on the right side of the picture. Thats from the skilift we took to the top. Okay so here we are 2100 meters above sea level and the top of that mountain is all the way up there in the sky. It looked even more amazing to see for real. 15 minutes after we started we are on the top. First rider of the day! Check out that amazing view! Going up... Me and Phil on the way up. Still a long way to the top and its already starting to get colder... Here we go into the woods. Okay, here we go. Look at the helix storage for the cars. There was one on the top aswell to keep capacity up. Looking up at the worlds longest alpine coaster. You couldnt see much from the bottom. There was a lift just for the alpine coaster cars. Here you can see the car about to disengage the track. Kids having fun while waiting for the alpine coaster to open. Heres the awesome view from our hotel room in Innsbruck early in the morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shockwave Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 Wow, those Alpine coasters look insane! Because the wheels are locked onto the track, can you actually get away with minimal/no braking all the way down on a clear run? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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