How to Train Your Dragon

Merlin and DreamWorks

The studio DreamWorks, which is mainly characterised by animated films, is an important partner of the Merlin Entertainments Group. In addition to their own studios Tour Shrek’s Adventure in London’s County Hall, they license theme areas in the group’s theme parks. While this had already been the case for some time in the Africa section in Chessington – World of Adventures with Madagascar, until recently the focus in Heide Park and Gardaland was on a show for the third part of the series. With the Kung Fu Panda Academy for Gardaland and Drachenzähmen – Die Insel for Heide Park, Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon have now also been given their own consistent theme area.

Both areas were placed in already existing areas of the park, whereby the old stock was sensibly integrated or replaced. In the case of Heide Park, the work for Drachenzähmen – Die Insel was concentrated on the corner around the two leisurely water rides Kanalfahrt and Märchenfahrt, which were mostly unnoticed by visitors. While the Kanalfahrt was being redesigned, the space freed up by the Märchenfahrt was used to place two rides. Opposite the monorail station, a Zamperla flight carousel was also built.

Drachenzähmen – Die Insel

The first impression of the, quite generously laid out, area Drachenzähmen – Die Insel is extremely positive, even if it looks partly very bare. With the redesigned Red Baron Grobians Wolkenspringer and the Flying Fish Raffnuss & Taffnuss Wasserflieger, two very nice rides are offered, which surely had more passengers in the first season at this place than the Märchenfahrt in all the time before. Hicks Himmelstürmer also enjoys great popularity, but besides the uncomfortable seating position, it has a limited view due to additional nets.

Drachengrotte

The presumed main attraction is the boat ride Drachengrotte, where you are first forced to take part in the obligatory photo shooting. A procedure that is well known from the other parks and attractions of the group, but which cannot be skipped here. Such a nonsense; Merlin you notice it yourself, right? It may be that your photo contractor instructs his staff in this respect, but that was rude! The whole thing was just a waste of paper, as you can imagine when someone is travelling alone, right?

Afterwards my mood was already bad, but at least it didn’t take too long until the next boat. With this one we first go through a miniature version of an abandoned and halfway destroyed Viking village before we enter the forbidden caves. Shortly before that you change back into a normal sized perspective, otherwise the signposts only make limited sense. Instead of the former collection of cultic ancient animatronics, the bend below the powered roller coaster Grottenblitz leads you past some sculptures and a video projection. The right side of the bend is hardly used in this respect anymore. Thereupon the ride ends again.

Well, some things were better back then. But hey, you’ve got a great license, with a third part to follow soon, so you’ll have plenty of time to make a decent dark ride out of it, and while you’re working at it you might as well include the Grottenblitz. This year virtual reality, abbreviated VR, was on everyone’s lips and unlike the competitor Six Flags you can do it better from the beginning. You have already gained experience at Galactica in Alton Towers, so why not on the roller coaster next door? A fast ride on the back of Toothless would be suitable, don’t you think? Especially since a little movie of your partner might be in a different league than the competition and a redesign of the ride is not necessary (in fact you only have to turn off the lights in the cave).

Pictures Heide Park

 


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Demonic flights through the Lüneburg Heath

Flug der Dämonen

Preface

When Heide Park decided to close its second log flume, which suffered more and more from various failures, in favour of a big novelty two years later, the cry of regular park visitors was big, because the senseless bumbling around on the higher level of the ride was considered by many as a thematic highlight in the park. The only thing that will be missed is the final shot and the wave that might hit the boat towards the end of the ride, as well as the miners and Saxon card players. The discontinuation of the Wildwasser II, however, created an unfavourable scenario for the attractions that were on the mountain, because there was no reason to climb it at all, or rather hardly any reason to do so. This circumstance has now been compensated for by the Flug der Dämonen (Flight of the Demons) and improved by using the lower entrance of the former water ride, so that you no longer have to climb the mountain completely just to descend it again entirely. By using the old queue it was also possible to establish the first real English style queue in the Heide Park. Just like in the amusement parks of the same group on the island it takes a while until you have left it behind and have to decide between the two sides of the wing coaster.

This choice does not tend to be easy, but it becomes unnecessary once both sides have been tested. The spacious station has room for quite a lot of people, but is only entered by counted groups, so that there is hardly any free choice of seats. This is also the first interesting novelty of the ride, as the luggage rack is quite well solved and works better than any other kind of storage.

The Ride

Flug der Dämonen begins with a slight right turn, after which the steep lifthill is quickly completed. Now follows the meanwhile for this type of roller coaster proven way to start the descent, whereupon you plunge headfirst into the abyss. At some places you are accelerated in a very interesting way, which creates a thrilling ride feeling. As a result, in the valley, there is a lot of pressure in the seat. Then, the west-like and very tight restraining system prevents the rider from enjoying any negative forces on the following hill. After passing under the cleverly placed shop at the exit of the ride, one passes through an element that was already used for the Krake, but which is more interesting to ride through here, although the riding position, at least at the outer places of the trains, is similar to the Krake. Another powerful valley later, one is turned upside down with revolutionary thoughts, because the role, possibly known from the Eurostar roller coaster, is hit here. A little more leisurely, the car now makes a turn along the station of the bobsleigh run to send the passenger carrier back down to the abyss. With higher speed one approaches the next inversions of the ride, which optically resemble a pretzel at an angle. Here you are turned around your own axis relatively quickly and then in a steeper curve you have to fight your way up again to explore the Heide Park upside down again. After another valley the train makes an almost too steep bavarian curve to transition into the brakes, where you can enjoy the view of the station and the gyro drop Scream for a while.

Conclusion Flug der Dämonen

Unlike The Swarm, the Flug der Dämonen is a roller coaster that you can ride on both sides without worrying about too much difference in quality of the ride, although in my opinion the right side of the train is better. Also, you won’t need to ride backwards for the next few years to make the ride more exciting, because The Flight of the Demons is an extremely solid and great steel roller coaster. Of course, you won’t notice any of the advertised close calls, but this shouldn’t really surprise anyone, because also at Thorpe Park this only happened after the installation of the billboard, which really enhanced the ride. Despite this background, the new roller coaster of the Lueneburg Heath doesn’t really need this, as the ride convinced all along the line.

Pictures Heide Park 2008-2014

 


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Pre-Opening with obstructions and Krake lebt!

Preface

Where the REWE Family Days took place last year, this year it should be a little more exclusive, at least for the annual ticket holders of Heide Park. Thanks to an action of the radio station FFN where their listeners could come to the park for only 25€, a Shitstorm was ignited by the fans, whereby an ERT of 3 hours at the Krake and the maze Krake lebt! was initiated to keep the fans happy.

First of all, this ERT would not have been necessary and so it turned out that the two attractions were comparatively full between 10 – 13 o’clock, while the rest of the park was as if extinct. As there were only annual ticket holders in the park, the queues for renewal or (re)application were the longest during the day, especially after closing time.

Heide park and its kraken

The fully themed Krake roller coaster

After the gate was opened shortly before 10 o’clock, most fans ran to the object they had missed so longingly the previous year, the Kraken’s Mouth. A few minutes later Hauke and I were able to take a closer look at it, after all we wanted to profit from the ERT, which as mentioned above turned out to be unnecessary. After a ride in the third row, where we didn’t really notice the octopus mouth, we planned to ride in the first row. The experience in the first row is now massively clouded by the visible. Where last year there was a clear view and you could develop a certain feeling of height, today you stare at an ugly mouth.

Also from the outside the mouth looks completely out of place and so it would have been better if it had never been attached. However, one must admit that Heide Park has managed to get rid of all its critics during the winter break. In the various forums it was quite a funny picture to suddenly hear even the biggest critics saying how great it is that Heide park has created something so fast and so good. The shipwreck on the other hand is well done and equipped with all kinds of details, also the tentacles that try to pull it into the depths look very good. Unfortunately the ship is not flooded by the water fountains, also the clearance gauge is much too generous, so that no head chopper effect could be created.

Krake lebt!

The follow-up story of the Krake is told at Krake lebt!, the first all-year-round maze in Germany. In a relatively large group you are taken to the chamber of horrors and are allowed to be scanned to prove your “deep vision”. The data recorded during the process can be viewed later, if you don’t just walk past it. In the following pre-show room you will be well prepared for the story, after which you should take a closer look at the wreck of the sunken ship. The fact that the crew went a little bit crazy during the process serves as an ideal model for what follows.

After leaving the dive capsule, you will find yourself in a room that should look familiar to every dungeon visitor, the Labyrinth of the Forgotten. Depending on how much buffer you need for the opening act you can spend some time here, but the effect is better than in the dungeons in Hamburg, London or other cities. Shortly afterwards you are picked up and basically feel like in a mini dungeon, which would have been quite original, but no, you are in a Maze. In the following rooms the actors try to be somehow creepy, but banging on pots and giving you a nasty look is not enough. There was only one person who was halfway convincing and brought the mania of the crew closer. It would have been better if the people would have said more, would have portrayed their roles and their fate better and would have described the fate of the group as relatively hopeless.

The rooms in Krake lebt! are quite neat, but in total a bit too darkly lit, or as in the case of the second queue room (room consisting of simple zigzags) simply not lit at all. So it doesn’t help much if you are told that you can orientate yourself at the left wall. Especially worth mentioning and to be positively emphasized is the room in which one is confronted with the octopus and is well humidified. You can also marvel at what the Maze has made of you. In contrast to other Mazes you are not chased out with a chain saw, which is quite appropriate.

The way the Maze Krake lebt! is currently operated in Soltau is absolutely ridiculous, just like in the Italian Gardaland or the English Thorpe Park. The potential of stringing together confusing corridors is not exploited and it would be better to really make a kind of mini dungeon out of it and thus at least increase the entertainment value considerably, even if the creepy factor, which is currently not available anyway, would probably suffer. Since it was basically the first day for the crew, things can still change for the better, but I advise everyone to visit the Maze, if at all, only when the queue is relatively empty. I myself will give the Maze another chance towards the end of the season with the hope that things have changed a bit.

 

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