Stumbling into America

While the flight from Hamburg via London to Washington Dulles was nothing out of the ordinary, the journey there was surprisingly stressful. Arriving at Washington Dulles, I was faced with a four-hour queue at immigration due to staff shortages. As important as labour strikes are, this was a bad joke, especially as the queue was reasonable in size and would have been a matter of minutes in normal operation.

Awake for far too long, I grabbed my luggage and headed for the next big queue at the car rental counter. Four people in front of me meant another hour in line at Avis/Budget. Finally served, I made probably my biggest mistake yet by agreeing to the upsell they offered. With the car now costing twice as much, a large part of my budget was gone.

Luckily my hotel was just around the corner.

After checking in, I tried to sort out my travel sim problem with AT&T. My old work phone was a Huawei, and due to manufacturer restrictions, I was unable to activate the SIM. It all worked out after customer service put me on a plan, but it took them a full day to find a solution.

Another fun activity that evening was finding a solution for my two-month deposit for my new apartment in Switzerland. I suggested taking out an insurance policy and luckily the landlords agreed. All the things you suddenly have to deal with when you start a new life working for a roller coaster manufacturer in Liechtenstein.

Click here for the next report of the Stumbled Runner tour. 

 

 

The Studio Tour at Movie Park Germany

Studio Tour

For more than 30 years now, Bottrop-Kirchhellen has stood for Hollywood made in Germany. The first local studio was Bavaria Film, which wanted to offer a look behind the scenes with the Bavaria Filmpark. Only a few years later Warner Bros. came to the Ruhr area and with it a best off of the popular theme parks of the Village Roadshow (Sea World, Warner Bros. Movie World) on the Gold Coast in Australia. In addition, several sound stages were built that visitors could visit during the Film Studio Tour. In the beginning, these were actually used for film and TV productions and today serve mainly as storage space for the park.

To tie in with the old days, Movie Park Germany is now also offering a Studio Tour. However, this one is set in the fictional MPG Studios, which are mainly known for their B-movies by director Steven Thrillberg. We are accompanied on our tour by assistant Andy and the animated clapperboard S.A.M., which is strongly reminiscent of the Microsoft Office Assistant of the late 90s (and unfortunately is also animated in the same way). The story was created by IMAmotion, who have already created media content for the water ride Excalibur – Secrets of the Dark Forest and have been working with the park for a long time with their soundtracks. The attraction’s hardware, meanwhile, comes from Liechtenstein roller coaster specialists Intamin Amusement Rides. The multi-dimensional coaster features an entertaining ride that is perfectly geared towards the park’s family audience.

After a short drive through the archive, S.A.M. takes us straight up to the first set. The quiet-looking living room immediately finds itself in the middle of a storm. As the roof is torn away, we are accelerated by friction wheels. We then drive backwards along a short stretch of track before we find ourselves in the next scene. Steven Thrillberg has chosen us as extras on the set, and we now travel through the set of a large American city, where we have a race with a sports car. After a bend and a small climb, the track leads us out of the hall, where we then cross the forecourt of MPG Studios. A few swerves later we enter the studio again, where the most visually impressive set of the studio tour awaits us after a short while. Passing King Kong, we unfortunately race right into the final brake accompanied by the local film orchestra.

The Studio Tour is a really nice family coaster with a great attention to detail. The three main scenes are not overloaded, which makes the ride very coherent overall. The additional details along the way that bear witness to the past 25 years of Movie Park Germany are a nice Easter Egg for every fan of the theme park.  

Horrorwood Studios Version

For Halloween, there is an adult version of the media content available in the evening, where the story about the fictional Horrorwood Studios is taken up. This version is quite nice as a seasonal overlay, but comes across as a little half-hearted. A ride on this version of the Studio Tour is a can, but not a must.

Bilder Movie Park Germany

 


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Gorg del Salt, Ermita Santissim Crist

The hike nearby Planes is a rather gentle one. It starts by following the Barranco de la Encantada starting with the Gorg del Salt, a small but nicely located lake. After following the canyon for quite a while, we can take some breathtaking views onto the valley, before the path leads us onto well paved dirt roads. From here on the hike is very easy. After reaching Planes, we take the serpentines up the mountain to get to the Ermita Santissim Crist. Exhausted, we take a longer break and enjoy the view on top of the mountain before going down the easy way on very gentle roads. After a while, we reach our starting point