Photo TR: Canobie Coaster's World Adventures

[Canobie CoasterWhy do I still have a donkey title???]

The other bizarre thing is that it starts spinning before the drop. Usually these mice don't spin until the hairpin turns on the second level.

[Canobie CoasterWhy do I still have a donkey title???]

Heide Park

Pop quiz- what ride do you think I rode first at Heide Park?

A) Colossos
B) Desert Race because Colossos was closed
C) Something else because all the Intamins were closed

If you picked C, you’d be correct!

However, this was sort of a trick question. Heide Park lets guests into the park an hour early. They stage you in the entry plaza and since Nostalgiekarussell is in this area, they have it open.

As far as carousels go, this one was a bit funky. It was a small double-decker with some odd vehicles like spinning tea cups and swings. However, this was one of those carousels that sadly doesn’t play music. 5 out of 10

If riding the carousel for an hour isn't your thing, you can admire the architecture. Heide is a really underrated park for its looks.

It was a cold and rainy weekday. In America, a fast pass would be unnecessary. In fact, the bigger concern would be whether or not the park even opens. But Europe is a different animal, so I got the Express Butler and it was worth every penny.

Heide Park’s system works through your smartphone. You sign into this website and can reserve one ride at a time. When it’s your turn to ride, you get a QR code. You also have the option to buy an instant ride if the return time isn’t to your liking.

If getting on now isn't good enough for you, you can pay extra for instant access lol

I smiled when I saw Limit cost less than every other ride. It's like they know it hurts.

When the park officially opened most people flocked to Colossos. Can you blame them? The coaster looks absolutely massive and dominates the park’s skyline. Plus it had been closed for almost 2.5 years.

In a move that made me chuckle, they had the balls to spin the ride’s closure as part of the ride’s theme. Only Merlin could turn their lack of maintenance into a thematic element.

Everyone is being educated that the ride closure was all part of the ride's theming.

Colossos starts like El Toro. You have an epic first drop with some powerful ejector air and two camelbacks with some major sustained ejector air. Now the air on the first drop and second camelback isn’t quite at the levels of El Toro, but the first camelback is. You then rip through a turnaround and over a speed hill with a hint of floater air.

Instead of going into the Rolling Thunder hill, Colossos decides to do its own thing. Colossos goes into this boring and forceless helix. I think the ride would be better without this since it kills the pacing and bleeds off a ton of speed.

That leads into the finale- 3 bunny hills. I was under the impression these hills would give the crazy airtime of Balder. Sadly, they do not. They do give some floater though and that Wicker Man statue is stunning.

So while Colossos has one of the best starts of any coaster, the second half lets up. But it’s still a blast and the refurbishment made it smooth as glass. This is as smooth as opening year El Toro. 9 out of 10

The first 2/3 look very much like El Toro.

While the drop isn't as steep, it's still awesome.

The finale has airtime. It just isn't Intamin levels of airtime.

Feed the monster. And then shoot out his bum.

If you don't feed him, he gets pissed.

I intended to hit Desert Race next, but Intamin accelerators and rain don’t mix. So I sought refuge in Ghostbusters 5D, the park's screen-based shooter. This one had an element true to the film that made it quite tricky. On this one, you don’t just shoot the ghosts. You need to hold your blaster on them for a few seconds to catch them.

The rest of the ride didn’t really have any tie-ins to the events of the films. I was stunned the iconic Stay Puft Marshmallow Man was nowhere to be found. That being said, the ride was still enjoyable. 7 out of 10

This Ghostbusters fan was excited to ride.

I ain't afraid of no ghosts.

Ok, maybe I'm a little terrified of Slimer's butt. Does poop come out or slime?

I decided to hover around Desert Race since the day's weather would make that one a challenge to ride. So I killed time riding Indy-Blitz. But even by kiddie coaster standards, this one wasn't all that great. 2 out of 10

This isn't racist, right?

The rain stopped again, so I made a beeline to Desert Race and got back-to-back rides. Even though this is a smaller accelerator coaster, the launch still packed a mighty wallop and gave me that stomach drop sensation.

The rest of the ride consists of a series of S-hills with great pops of ejector air. And because of its compactness, you really feel the speed. More so if you’re lucky enough to get the front. 8 out of 10

The true desert race is Formula Rossa, but this is fun too.

If you've been on Rita, you'll be familiar with Desert Race.

For as long as I’ve known about Heide Park, I’ve always been intrigued by their towering slides of death. Hyping up a slide is never a good idea and let’s just say they failed to live up to expectations.

As I discovered at the City Museum, cargo shorts and slides do not mix. Along with being slow, I felt every single connection. On the bright side, the views of the park were amazing. 3 out of 10

As slides, the Slides of Death were disappointments.

But the views were stunning!

Big Loop is one of the park’s most photogenic coasters as it’s situated on the water. And thankfully it rides well too. It has some nice air on the drop, forceful loops, quick corkscrews, and no headbanging. 6 out of 10

Heide Park doesn't falsely advertise. The Big Loop has loops.

It also walks on water.

Krake is one of those coasters that looks better than it rides. This is a true one trick pony. The vertical drop into the shop and subsequent splashdown are breathtaking to watch. Just be careful you don’t get hit by the wave. It isn’t worth the photo.

Krake’s drop had some great air, but it does nothing else. The Immelmann and camelback have zero force to them. 7 out of 10

Krake is a very picturesque ride.

Just don't try to get this shot unless you want to get soaked. Whoops.

Flug der Damonen was a great wing coaster. This one started with one of those awesome wingover drops where you get some nice hangtime into heavy Gs at the bottom. You then rip over a speed hill with better airtime than most B&M hypers.

Per usual, the Immelmann did nothing for me. I’m just not a fan of this inversion. But the following zero-G roll and demonic knot were loaded with hangtime. I was also surprised by this funky wave turn/turnaround thing before the brake run.

Flug der Damonen was great. I think it may be my favorite wing coaster after Thunderbird and Fenix. This one was odd in that the back was more floaty and the front was more whippy. 8 out of 10

This speed hill was seriously awesome.

Here's the world-famous, one-of-a-kind demonic knot!

Here's the not one-of-a-kind zero-G roll.

I felt like I was back at SFNE since Heide Park also had a drop tower called Scream. Except this one isn’t a subpar S&S tower. Rather, this one is a sizable Intamin gyro drop situated on a hill with a great drop. 8 out of 10

Apparently this used to be an observation tower, which is odd because the park has an observation tower on the complete opposite side of the park. I'm happy they upgraded this tower!

I have a confession to make. I am not a fan of Mack bobsleds. They vibrate way too much. And this is from someone who found the Mount Olympus wooden coasters perfectly fine. My ride in the front row of Bobbahn felt like a shopping cart rolling down a cobblestone hill.

In a moment of stupidity I decided to give it another shot. It was probably because of the layout. When I saw the short lift, I didn’t think Bobahn would be particularly long. Much to my surprise, it rips down a hill and actually has a second lift to return to the station.

And I learned an important lesson. Lean forward! I did this and the vibration disappeared. In retrospect, it made sense. I do that ride position all the time on rough woodies. I just didn’t think to do it on a steel coaster. 6 out of 10

Screw the Jamaican bobsled team. I'm rooting for the Transylvanians!

I had put it off long enough. It was now time to risk a concussion on Limit. And while this SLC wasn’t the worst, it was pretty darn bad. Every time I ride one of these, I’m extremely grateful SFNE spent the extra cash to put the new trains on their SLC. 2 out of 10

Limit will test the limit of your skull.

The last credit (depending on your perspective) was Grottenblitz, one of those Mack powered coasters that are all the rage in Europe. This one was absolutely forceless, but it had a surprise indoor section. 4 out of 10

Heide Park is quite underrated in the landscaping department.

One of the oddest rides at the park was Drachengrotte, a How to Train Your Dragon themed boat ride. The outdoor section excels at landscaping. The indoor section...exists.

I applaud the park for trying, but the execution was a bit flawed. For example, there’s a point where you hear a dragon roar. So naturally you turn around and look. But instead of seeing a figure, you just see a giant box fan with a speaker next to it. The few figures they had did look good though. 5 out of 10

Oddly the outdoor scenes looked better than the dark ride part.

Since the sun was now making an appearance, I figured I might as well get wet again on the flume. If you could make the most average flume possible, that is Wildwasserbahn. 6 out of 10

Huss land has been ravaged. When you ride the observation tower, you can see all the empty pads. But fortunately, the rare Magic survived. Basically it’s an inverted break dance.

While it wasn’t as fast as a standard breakdance, the funky riding position was a novelty and it mixed in some tight spins with good Gs and drawn out spins with good whip. 7 out of 10

The last time I saw one of these was at MarineLand. So of course it was closed.

I finished the night with an hour marathon on Colossos. I was optimistic it would be faster, but the finale was just as slow as it was earlier. Maybe it was the cooler weather, but it always seems to be like that in Europe. For those who rode the original Colossos, did the finale used to have stronger airtime?

Colossos is definitely behind El Toro and Balder, but it’s still a very good wooden coaster and a worthy star attraction. I think I have it 15th out of the almost 150 wooden coasters I’ve ridden.

This was an accident in Google Photos, but I sort of like how it turned out.

Heide Park was arguably my favorite park of my Europe trip. It was a gorgeous park with an excellent ride lineup and a pinch of theming. Originally I was going to visit Heide Park in 2017, but I postponed my visit until Colossos reopened. While the park would have had plenty to keep me occupied, I’m glad I waited.

[gardyloo!Which came first the turtle or the donkey?]

Spot on review of Heide Park! I enjoyed it very much too. Great landscaping and good to great operations! Colossos is probably the worst of the intamin pre-fabs but still amazing! I rode it on a cold day in april and preferred the front as I did experience some (mild) ejector on those last bunny hills. The new theming was also very welcome, the friends I was with actually found it to be the best part of the ride.

I actually found flug of der damonen to be one of the worst wing coasters I have ridden. Except for the first speed hill, the ride is slow and forceless and has a pretty bad rattle to it in the back. Though I'm not a fan of most wing coasters in general.

I'd put Heide Park just a notch above Hansa Park, while Hansa's main coaster is better than anything Heide park's got to offer, the ride line up of Heide Park is one of the strongest in all of europe.

[bert425Why do I still have a donkey title???]

I'm so envious of all your overseas park visits.. tho can't be too green with envy, as I DID just get back from Japan

the Heide Park update is fantastic - thanks so much for sharing.

of course what caught my eye was among your 1st pics:



it looks like the same model I got to ride at Yokohama CosmoWorld!
with the upper level being fairly small, and the options to ride including teacups, swings, and bouncing horses.

how funny that I just saw my 1st ever Carousel of this type, and then you put up a report with one too.

loved it.

[Canobie CoasterWhy do I still have a donkey title???]

^ Thanks! Japan is a pretty awesome place. I miss that country, but especially Tokyo Disneyland.

I definitely loved all the variety on the carousel. And I honestly probably would have missed it had Heide Park not opened it an hour before everything else.

Spot on review of Heide Park! I enjoyed it very much too. Great landscaping and good to great operations! Colossos is probably the worst of the intamin pre-fabs but still amazing! I rode it on a cold day in april and preferred the front as I did experience some (mild) ejector on those last bunny hills. The new theming was also very welcome, the friends I was with actually found it to be the best part of the ride.

I actually found flug of der damonen to be one of the worst wing coasters I have ridden. Except for the first speed hill, the ride is slow and forceless and has a pretty bad rattle to it in the back. Though I'm not a fan of most wing coasters in general.

I'd put Heide Park just a notch above Hansa Park, while Hansa's main coaster is better than anything Heide park's got to offer, the ride line up of Heide Park is one of the strongest in all of europe.

Colossos was without a doubt a back row ride for me much like El Toro. While the first half didn't have the same sensation of speed as the front, I found the airtime stronger from start to finish.

Out of curiosity, did you ride Flug der Damonen on the wing seat? I've found most wing coasters have a bounce to them if you're on the outside seat, but I don't notice it on the inside seat.

I agree Heide is slightly better than Hansa, although it's a toss-up which park I'd visit if I only had one day since Karnan is just that good.

[gardyloo!Which came first the turtle or the donkey?]

Colossos was without a doubt a back row ride for me much like El Toro. While the first half didn't have the same sensation of speed as the front, I found the airtime stronger from start to finish.

Out of curiosity, did you ride Flug der Damonen on the wing seat? I've found most wing coasters have a bounce to them if you're on the outside seat, but I don't notice it on the inside seat.

I agree Heide is slightly better than Hansa, although it's a toss-up which park I'd visit if I only had one day since Karnan is just that good.

I have yet to ride El Toro, but definitely will next year as I will move to NYC. I often enjoy the backseat more due to the higher intensity but do prefer the front if the ride has large hills with strong ejector (more abrupt), I'll just have to wait and ride the heck out of El Toro next year.

As for Flug der Damonen, I did ride it on the outer seats, but the shuffeling/rattle was really bad. Gave me a mild head ache, and I've never experienced that on a B&M before, including their wing coasters. Wing coasters in general aren't really my favorite type of rides anyways, but they're crowd pleasers like most B&M's.

[jedimaster1227Delicious & Refreshing]

Heide Park has always impressed me from afar with its lineup of attractions and refurbed Colossus looks awesome with all of the updates! It does still astound me found few Intamin pre-fab wooden coasters there are out there.

Thanks for sharing another great report!

[Canobie CoasterWhy do I still have a donkey title???]

Colossos was without a doubt a back row ride for me much like El Toro. While the first half didn't have the same sensation of speed as the front, I found the airtime stronger from start to finish.

Out of curiosity, did you ride Flug der Damonen on the wing seat? I've found most wing coasters have a bounce to them if you're on the outside seat, but I don't notice it on the inside seat.

I agree Heide is slightly better than Hansa, although it's a toss-up which park I'd visit if I only had one day since Karnan is just that good.

I have yet to ride El Toro, but definitely will next year as I will move to NYC. I often enjoy the backseat more due to the higher intensity but do prefer the front if the ride has large hills with strong ejector (more abrupt), I'll just have to wait and ride the heck out of El Toro next year.

As for Flug der Damonen, I did ride it on the outer seats, but the shuffeling/rattle was really bad. Gave me a mild head ache, and I've never experienced that on a B&M before, including their wing coasters. Wing coasters in general aren't really my favorite type of rides anyways, but they're crowd pleasers like most B&M's.

You're in for a treat with El Toro. I'd recommend trying a wing coaster on the inside next time if the bounciness gives you a headache.

Heide Park has always impressed me from afar with its lineup of attractions and refurbed Colossus looks awesome with all of the updates! It does still astound me found few Intamin pre-fab wooden coasters there are out there.

Thanks for sharing another great report!

I think it's interesting to know how much these pre-fab woodies end up costing in the long-run. Colossos and El Toro both cost upwards of $20 million, which matches a large scale steel coaster. Heide just spent $12 million to retrack it, but it's hard to say how much maintenance they did over the years. I know Six Flags Great Adventure has been replacing track sections of El Toro each year.

They're undeniably amazing rides with some wicked airtime.

[PKI JizzmanJizzy jizz jizz jizz jizz]

Echoing Adam this park has a really alluring line up and the Ghostbusters dark ride is icing the cake. The Colossus re-theme looks great! Glad to hear it's running so well after all the work they put into it. Wing coasters aren't my thing but damn, this one just looks badass. Really scrunched in there with some unique elements.

[Sluggo77I know more about donkeys than women!]

Awesome report! I can’t agree with you enough on what the new trains and restraints have done to make SFNE’s SLC a fun ride.