TPR's EPIC Oktoberfest Trip Report!

I'm not sure I'd compare it to Visionland since that park never was trying to be a "themed" park, but it certainly reminded me of the lesser "themed" parks in China where they had spent a minimal amount of money on theming, and would seem even less on the rides.

 

From a distance the park looked great, but up close you were all "Oh, wow...I slept with her? Sheesh!"

 

Maybe they should rename it "Beer Goggles World."

Any park with a GCI that looks as fun as El Toro AND a Flitzer with a wonderfully absurd amount of theming is a must-visit park for damn sure.

 

Has anyone ever seen a themed Flitzer anywhere else? Most curious.

 

Edit:

 

Wait, never mind, answered my own dumb question: the Silver Mine used to be the Rioolrat at Avonturenpark Hellendoorn, with rat-shaped cars, etc. Hat tip to the ever-awesome RCDB.

Great last part of the TR.

 

Thanks for the updates

And our Oktoberfest 2010 trip continues...

 

Skyline Park was our next stop during our Oktoberfest 2010 trip. I had kind of mixed feelings about this park. It featured a lot of the really cool "small park" rides and do-it-yourself attractions found at other family parks, but kind of lacked a lot of the charm that other small German parks had.

 

Upon arrival we were given this somewhat confusing schedule and told that most of the rides would be operated at different times. This resulted in a bit of "waiting around for a ride op" for stuff to open.

 

The Schwarzkopf Wildcat was open.å

 

It was just "ok"

 

It made Joe happy.

 

Larry ride sign.

 

This coaster has probably seen better days.

 

Yup, there it is...in all it's glory.

 

The park had all these wide open areas of empty that you had to navigate from ride to ride. They were actually pretty long walks, and having to deal with the bizarre layout of the park and the ride operating schedule make it kind of a difficult place to get around.

 

Sky Wheel was OPEN!

 

Weren't these rides under some kind of manufacturer re-call or something? Oh well...it was OPEN!!! Yay!

 

The ride was kind of bizarre in that it really didn't do much.

 

Up the vertical lift...

 

Then around the loop...sometimes once...sometimes twice, if you were lucky.

 

TWISTY!!!

 

Here is a little POV video of Sky Wheel for you...

 

"I like this ride...in my mouth."

 

All around the park were tons of random playground rides.

 

We called this the "Globe of death."

 

It was awesome that they had all the swings, slides, and playground stuff.

 

Mmmm....fresh crepes!

 

This ride, which looked just like the deadly Spinning Batman from China...was AWESOME!

 

Those spinning cars spun....A CRAP LOAD!

 

Watch this video!

 

"Maybe I shouldn't have had all that beer last night."

 

"I think my poop just went flying that way!"å

 

And now for the most whorish part of the day...

 

THE BUTTERFLY COASTER! (And yes, KidTums loves them!)

 

 

Skyline Park has two of them back to back. So if you're REALLY sad and pathetic, you can get two credits. (And no, Elissa and I do not count them!)

 

KidTums might though!

 

Skyline Express was one of those "double Bayern Curve" flat rides.

 

Awesome ride! But not a credit.

 

There was certainly an "industrial" feel to the park, with the control panels of many rides being in these shipping containers!

 

In fact, one of the rides was hard to tell if it was under construction or if it was done!

 

"I've driving a truck with my high heels on!"

 

This ride was actually REALLY cool!

 

And now...for the highlight of the day...the "never in America" attraction that is a TPR favorite - the Nautic Jet Boat Jump!

 

Many of you might have seen these in other TPR updates. The concept is simple - you go up the back spike....

 

and JUMP!!!

 

SKLOOSH!!!! Right into malaria lake!

 

Big Mike gives it a try...

 

BIG SKLOOSH!!!

 

Joe is in a trance.

 

"I just passed another kidney stone!"

 

"My tattoos will protect me!"

 

Did we mention there are TWO of them...and they are dueling??!?!? AWESOME!!!

 

"Meet in the middle and kiss!"

 

DOUBLE SKLOOSH!

 

Big Mike and Fran compete in the "XXL" category.

 

Seriously awesome ride! I really hope someday a version of this can make it to America!

 

And now we present you with "TPR Does The Nautic Jet" Video!

 

My FAVORITE photo of the entire trip!

 

On our way to Legoland...we've decided that this is what all German towns look like...all exactly the same!

 

Our next stop was Legoland Germany! (Or Legoland Deutschland!) Elissa and I have always been really big fans of the Legoland parks, and while this version in Germany was not our favorite of the chain, I felt it offered quite a few great rides, and some that were a little more unique to this park.

 

KidTums ditches us for the Lego family!

 

Mini Land was RIGHT at the front of the park, and probably a bit smaller looking than at other Legoland parks.

 

Many familiar looking rides here.

 

Time for the first credit of the day!

 

Yup, this looked very familiar.

 

Germany's version of Project X was almost identical to the version in San Diego.

 

And for those two little to ride...

 

The adults had fun!

 

Germany's version of Aquazone was even less "Dan-Friendly!"

 

In addition to the water bombs there were also water jets than you could control!

 

And the water bombs on this ride had an interesting twist...yes, you could control them from off the ride to get the riders wet, but the water explosion was also big enough to soak the person pressing the button! So you either had to share the pain of also getting wet, or RUN!!!

 

"Hey world! Check me out! I'm driving my Lego car!"

 

The Lego character on the left is too fat to ride Forbidden Journey!

 

The Germany version of the Robocoaster let you pick what level of insanity you wanted, and then you got to choose the elements of the program for your ride.

 

We of course chose "69!"

 

Like the one in Denmark, this version is the awesome indoor, 10-Kuka arm ride!

 

NICE BEAVER!

 

"I'm a bear and I'm on top of this ride...how did I get here?"

 

Enter the castle...NOW!!!!

 

Germany's version of The Dragon coaster was the best ever! The layout seemed a lot bigger and there was even a "surprise drop" in the dark ride section! (We see you Piers in the back row! Sheesh!)

 

The Dragon station. Exciting, no?

 

When I was a kid I always built drunken monk Lego characters.

 

Hey look! It's my mom and dad!

 

The dark ride section of Feuerdrache was really well done!

 

And the coaster part was probably the best of all "The Dragons" I've been on! And here's even a video to prove it!

 

 

Oooh! Sexy layout!

 

And for the smaller kids there is the Drachenjagd coaster or "Dragon Hunt!"

 

Yo Mr. Dragon...wassup?

 

"I still haven't found the dragon yet!"

 

Oooh...maybe we should have read this BEFORE we entered the park!

 

Artsy!

 

Yay! Legoland Tower! I love that you can get a birds eye view of the park.

 

Hi, we are in the tower.

 

Yay! Two dragon coasters!

 

Here you can see how mini land is a lot smaller, and kind of flatter than at other Legoland parks.

 

The log flume and splash battle areas were awesome!

 

KidTums demonstrates how to floss with pasta.

 

Grrrr!

 

Oh, no! What is chainsaw bunny going to tear down now?

 

"I can hold up this sign with my finger!"

 

Ooh, dark dank cave!

 

AAAHHHHHGGGG!!!! WALL OF WATER!!!!

 

"Please get off my head."

 

The flume ride was really amazing!

 

And it had Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors?!?!?

 

SKLOOSH!

 

Doing the Afari Tour dance.

 

"We're going to hunt some gazelle!"

 

First up were the elephants...

 

...there's the gazelle! Shoot them!!!

 

We found the mole.

 

Splash battle area.

 

Someone likes the Rockin' Tug!

 

Oh, goody...another SeaLife!

 

This Sealife has machines from the movie Aliens.

 

Tunnel of Fish.

 

Looks like the Piranhas got to this dude.

 

We found Nemo.

 

"No! DON'T EAT US!!!"

 

Mini-Land! It's really mini!

 

KidTums presses all of our buttons.

 

Is there a Lego BeetleBen banging a Lego whore?

 

Lego peeps.

 

Hooray! Bremen fair!

 

"I'll have a Pasta Bake, please."

 

This place looks oddly familiar.

 

Who needs going to the real place when you can just go to Legoland?

 

Group sex going on in here.

 

Ouch!

 

MUST. PRESS. BUTTONS!

 

They could only afford half of an A380.

 

"It's ok, buddy...don't worry...at least you have all your skin."

 

I want to go to all those places!

 

Yeah! Legoland train!

 

Don't we all look excited?

 

Driving school is always a popular attraction for the kids at Legoland.

 

This version gets so busy that it's actually an upcharge and you have to make a reservation for it!

 

Creepy sheepy.

 

Yay! The Lego factory tour!

 

Did you know that Legos are actually made by Lego people?

 

This is the machine coverts plutonium into Legos.

 

Stamp!

 

This machine makes yellow.

 

Oh noooooes!

 

"Do you think I should eat the red or the yellow Legos?"

 

Hooray! They gave us a free brick!

 

KidTums loves that there are tons of rides here for her.

 

"I'm going to keep paddling so that mutated beast behind me doesn't get me."

 

SHARKTUMS!!!

 

Skipper School.

 

KidTums drives!

 

Size DOES matter, Joey!

 

Line jumpers!!!

 

On the way out of the park, they gave us a box of surprises...what could it be?

 

Apparently, they were some sort of bacon, pumpkin and cheese....NOODLES?!?!?

 

"I walked out of the park, and they gave me noodles...this actually happened!"

 

"I don't care what it is...all I know is that I got free stuff!!!"

 

Thank you Legoland for the fun day and the NOODLES!!!!

 

Goodbye Legoland! See you again soon!

 

And now...post your comments!

 

--Robb

Edited June 22, 2020 by SharkTums

That's great that Skyline's x-car was open, I thought you guys would miss that one. I guess word never reached the park about the recall.

Sky Wheel looks ... interesting. Dragon Coaster looked way cool.

Love the pics..that boat jump ride is nuts.

Great trip report. Amazing to see how fast Kristen is growing!

I can't imagine why Elissa didn't ride the spinning batman with Robb, Joe, and Joey. She is the No Fun Girl!

 

Is there a Lego BeetleBen banging a Lego whore?

 

This seriously almost killed me. I'm still laughing.

 

dt

Fantastic update. Looks like a lot of fun

I want to point out that in that video of KT on the Butterfly she had been fast asleep roughly 30 seconds before being strapped in! It was the earliest she woke up all week (thank you jet lag!) the lure of the Butterfly got her going!

 

Later in the day (and the day before as well) she was doing them all hands up and crazy!

 

EDIT:

 

Just updated KT's count...

230 Parks

25 Countries

104 Jeff Johnson Credits

78 Real Credits

Edited September 28, 2010 by SharkTums

aww poor KT and jet lag. Jet lag stinks.

 

But it looked like she was still having fun on the butterfly, for having just woken up.

 

And look at her credit count, So many parks, and countries.

 

 

Nicole

Screw the rides! I want me some of that pasta. Barilla is my favorite & that flavor sounds delicious!

^To be fair, the picture showed that stuff as a serving suggestion. The actual pasta itself was some sort of carrot and squash type pasta.

^ EEW that sounds disgusting!

 

Legoland looks like a pretty good sized park, and it looks like a lot of fun.

 

And wow, Kristen has a lot more credits than I do,lol.

This is my new favorite picture of KidTums:

 

 

She absolutely LOVED the Butterfly coasters! Just such a shame we'll never had anything like that in the USA.

 

--Robb

^She looks so grown up in that picture. I had to look twice to make sure that was her!

 

I want to point out that in that video of KT on the Butterfly she had been fast asleep roughly 30 seconds before being strapped in!

 

So that would explain why her voice sounded that way.

Great report. It looks like you guys are having a great trip, no real duds it seems beyond Belantis and Sky Wheel. I can't wait until I can scrounge together a couple thousand bucks...

Loved this TR...especially the "stuff happens" pastry. My sides still hurt from seeing that one

 

I was gonna make a "no fun girl " comment with Elissa and the spinning coaster, but someone beat me to it. Kudos to you, Meteornotes.

 

Sorry to make yet another comparison, but seeing KT on the butterfly reminded me of when my sister was that age, and we went to Kennywood. She decided she wanted to ride the Jack Rabbit, and my parents took her on. By the end she was crying...because the ride was over!

 

So nice to see what looks like another coaster kid in the making.

Great TR Robb!

 

What an amazing trip, absolutely mind-blowing. I’ve been back in the U.S. for over 48 hours now, and I still haven’t quite recovered from it all.

 

So many highlights… getting into the Hacker tent with my German friends, our TPR nite in the Löwenbräu tent, riding Olympia Looping in the rain on our last nite (INSANE!!), Neuschwanstein, Alpine slides, El Toro, so much delicious German food and beer, drunken bus rides, Weißbier gardens, dark rides, Alpina Bahn, Höllenblitz, Sky Rider, Wild Train, our private tour of Dracula’s castle, all the breathtaking scenery in the Alps…

 

Germany has long been one of my favorite countries, and this trip only made me love it more. Oktoberfest is truly a unique event that must be experienced to be understood - words and pictures just don’t do it justice. I will definitely go back and do it again (hopefully with more money next time, so I can afford some nice Lederhosen!)

 

Thanks Robb and Elissa for such an awesome adventure!

 

“Ein Prosit, ein Prosit, der Gemütlichkeit!”

Thanks again everyone for letting me hang out and get to know you all, (or see you again). The bachelor party went over very well the next day, however, I spilled my first beer literally INTO my lederhosen and fried my new HTC Desire I've been drying it for a few days now and am scared to turn it back on.

Here you can see the aftermath : ( It was a FULL beer. Look how much is left. The rest of it went into my pants, pocket, and phone.

Damn...I need to get to Germany and do all this crazy stuff!

 

PS The pasta you got was carrot-pumpkin.

^ Yes, I already posted that.

 

The actual pasta itself was some sort of carrot and squash type pasta.

Edited September 29, 2010 by SharkTums

I just got back from the Oktoberfest, last time I went there was 20+ years ago and I did not really planing on going while in Germany but this Tripreport kinda wet my appetite

 

Of course it helped that my cousins company had a table and we got free beer coupons(two each, which last about an hour)

So I went via train from Frankfurt to Munich, a quick 3 1/2 hour ride, once there I just followed the people towards the "Wiesn"

 

The Oktoberfest sure is something, you can not put into words or pictures(I barely took any). It is somehow German crazyness with controlled mayem.

Let me explain this, you can not get a beer unless you sit on a table. Basically you have to sit(or stand on the table) to drink,lol. You can not buy alkohol outside the beertends, but you could bring your own to the fair if you want to(legal in Germany to drink in public once you pass the age of 16)

 

Most amazing feeling is though to walk into one of these tents at 11.30am(on a Monday) and it is packed with 12.000+ people, the music does not even start before noon(It's a tradition aka law) but if you dont have a reservation, you would hardly find a seat. And yes, everyone of these people will have a 32 oz beer in front of them. AND there are about 14-15 Beertends with the same amount of people there right at that moment. Simply Amazing!

 

Couple of notes, I dissagree with Robb(only slightly) that Oktoberfest ís to touristy. Of course it is, but at the same time I think it depends on what beertend you go to. Löwenbräu is the only beer Americans would know off, so of course you would have U.S.and English tourists there, other tends are different though. I met a lot of locals who were surprisingly friendly. There is a myth that Bavariens dont like people who are, well, not bavarien, but that was not the case.

Good times indeed!

 

ANYHOW

-Robb, you mentioned that it will be 5-6 years before another Oktoberfest Trip. Hope it will be sooner as I will sign up for it right now

-I saw the "Shocker" dark ride half drunk and Piers Voice saying "SHOCKER", in my head, very scary

-How come no "Rockit" love so far?, this is one flatride I will never do. No matter how many beers I had

-Kidtums is adorable

-Maybe next time mix the Octoberfest with the Stuttgart Fair which is only 1 1/2 hour trainride from Munich and less touristy but almost as big as the Octoberfest, happening at the same time(new credits!!)

 

 

Edit for a Rocket Video(skip to 42 sec to know why I would never get on this ride!

 

Let me explain this, you can not get a beer unless you sit on a table. Basically you have to sit(or stand on the table) to drink,lol. You can not buy alkohol outside the beertends, but you could bring your own to the fair if you want to(legal in Germany to drink in public once you pass the age of 16)

I just want to make one small correction. While you cannot bring the liter mugs of beer out of the beer tents, there are plenty of other stands to get beer around Oktoberfest. You do not have to be at a table in a tent to get beer.

 

You are not allowed to walk around the fair with beer for safety reasons, but there were plenty of "Biergartens" all over the fair where we would stop, have a beer (or seven) and then continue on.

 

There were also those "beer carousels" that I pictured in one of our updates.

 

Also, at many of the beer tents they also had outdoor bier gartens where you could get a liter of beer and hang out as long as you were inside the boundaries of their area. On the weekends, even those outside areas were difficult to get into, but on the Tuesday night, for example, we had no problem in the outside portion of one of the beer tents to just walk up, get a beer, and hang out while we drank.

 

But yes, if you want to be inside one of the tests for all the festivities and to drink beer, then you either need to have made a reservation to get a table, stand in a very very long line to wait for a spot to open up (which doesn't happen that often), or go on one of the slower evenings.

 

--Robb

Edited September 29, 2010 by robbalvey