Category: Netherlands

Entering the adventure park

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Avonturenpark Hellendoorn

Originally I had planned to visit the Avonturenpark Hellendoorn during my first proper theme park tour in 2009, but the park was not open at Easter. Even on later trips to the Netherlands, the amusement park was only characterised by much shorter opening hours and constant days off. So it was definitely time to visit the park on a weekend in the middle of the season.

Wild Waterval

A little underdressed compared to the weather, after all, various weather reports predicted sunshine and pleasant temperatures instead of very fresh climatic conditions with permanent drizzle and other kinds of rain, I went straight into the park after the obligatory ticket purchase. Past the monorail, the path leads straight to the first highlight of the Avonturenpark Hellendoorn: The Mack log flume Wild Waterval.

As one of the first log flumes of the manufacturer, this ride still has a functional double loading station. Placed in a dugout, the ride leads purposefully in a long curve and past the station towards the first lift hill. On the now higher level, you can bob along wonderfully before you rush through the channel in a surprisingly wild way. In a shallower current you approach the second lift, which takes you up to the maximum ride height of 12m, whereupon the only shot of the ride follows. Well moistened, one completes the remaining meters of the ride, which can be described as a really good log flume.

Tornado

Already in sight of the log flume is the Tornado, a roller coaster of the same name from Vekoma, of which three rides were built. This is a modification of the whirlwind model, which was very popular in the early 80’s. Apart from minor changes, mainly the first corkscrew was replaced by a loop.

After you have boarded the quite spacious train, the first generation of the manufacturer, in the curved station, after a short curve you can complete the quite steep ascent in the lift. At the top you can enjoy the view only for a short time before you go down in a long right turn. This is followed by a wonderful powerful looping just before the second inversion figure is reached in a comparatively hardly inclined curve. With a proper transverse inclination it goes overhead in the corkscrew a second time, after which another curve along the first gradient is completed. On a diagonal through the ride, the braking process takes place before the ride enters the station at a leisurely pace. Unfortunately, a second round was spared despite a minimal number of visitors.

I had previously heard and read many negative things about the ride, but I am very surprised how well the ride is maintained by Avonturenpark Hellendoorn. Not only was the appearance more than alright, but the prophesied ride characteristics turned out to be simply wrong, there was absolutely no sign of a nasty blow during the barely inclined turn above the station and the rest of the track was also running perfectly, so that in the end I was even slightly disappointed to have to get off after only one lap, despite the aforementioned lack of demand.

Sungai Kalimantan

Funnily enough, half of the amusement park has already been explored by now. Thus, we went straight to the second corner of Avonturenpark Hellendoorn. Along the way there is a large part of the Sungai Kalimantan, a rafting ride from Bear Rides with some special features. At the beginning the queue goes through a beautiful designed area before it goes along the unsightly elevated concrete gutter towards the ugly double loading station.

The ride starts along the queue with a few bends before we immediately enter the big wave pool. Here the waves are relatively tame, but it’s a nice feature that can be seen from outside. The next is a hairpin bend, a thoroughly strange and for a rafting course thoroughly untypical track element, which is also not very interesting from a technical point of view. Passing waterfalls and lush vegetation the route leads into a completely foggy and illuminated tunnel. Afterwards you can admire the unaesthetic supports from below. A subsequent lift ride takes you back to the station.

Donderstenen

After the descent from the station of Sungai Kalimantan, you will find yourself directly in front of the Donderstenen, a Force Two roller coaster by the manufacturer Zierer, which you can find in Potts Park or the Tier- und Freizeitpark Thüle. Basically it is a very solid roller coaster, but unfortunately the ride is not very exhilarating. The visual design here at Avonturenpark Hellendoorn is quite original, but unfortunately the aesthetics are easily ruined by the surrounding attractions.

Discovery Club

At the bottom of a dead end street, the Discovery Club is an interactive dark ride in the cellar of an old mansion, which in former times could probably be entered through the main entrance. For several years now, however, the pre-show of the ride is skipped and you enter the house through a side entrance with a turnstile. The cellar can then be reached by stairs or a lift. In the station the round carriages are waiting for you, which are also used by Capitán Balas in the Spanish amusement park Isla Magica. The ride leads past countless movable interiors and is very nicely designed. Unfortunately, the interactivity with the other players like in Capitán Balas is not possible, because water-spouting effects cannot be triggered.

Rioolrat

Apparently below the Bellas Snackbar is a very special roller coaster by Vekoma, at least as far as its design is concerned. The outer appearance and a large part of the queue of the Rioolrat reminds of the roller coaster Raptor Attack of the English amusement park Lightwater Valley, only in small and not so impressive. After the descent the way leads quickly towards the station, where the channel rat is already waiting for you.

After a small bend to the right, you will immediately enter the lift of the ride. At the top there is only a very shallow gradient before you go up and down towards the ground in a wide right helix in the manner of a Bayernkurve. After a short left-hand bend and a straight line, the track leads out into daylight in another right-hand bend before entering the building again and immediately hitting the brakes. As with the Donderstenen, a second lap follows.

The Rioolrat is a thoroughly nice ride, whose layout is very reminiscent of a Zierer Flitzer. Compared to similar rides, the repetition factor of the ride is surprisingly low, which is due to the comparatively long waiting time.

More rides and the Aquaventura Slidepark

Visually, the long boat ride Jungle Monster, the small Top Spin Montezuma’s Revenge, the Enterprise Tarantula Magica and the Dino Sky Pedalo monorail, as well as the Aquaventura Slidepark form a visual unit. However, the rides and water slides in this area did not open until 12 o’clock. This is a pity, because I would have liked to test at least one of the HUSS rides, but the lack of rides and the rather mediocre portfolio of the park made it very difficult to continue the visit as long.

Pictures Avonturenpark Hellendoorn

Conclusion Avonturenpark Hellendoorn

Avonturenpark Hellendoorn is a nice little park, but the entrance fee is a little too high. The design is partly quite nice, but mostly the complete opposite, although the condition of the rides is generally very good. However, I can do without another visit in the next years.
 

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Avonturenpark Hellendoorn

A spooky evening in Toverland

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Preface

After we left the Fort Fun Abenteuerland around noon we went on our way to Sevenum, but not without a visit of the Sternrodler and, due to the changed route through North Rhine-Westphalia, the Alpine Coaster at the Alpincenter Bottrop. In the meantime we were almost one hour off schedule, but luckily Toverland decided to bring forward their first Halloween weekend, which allowed us to visit the park for 5 hours and some rides on DesTroy.

Toverland

Unfortunately, this created a great unknown to me in relation to Toverland, because the park had waiting times outside the Bobkart Woudracer. Instead of the usual “We stay at Troy from 12 o’clock until the end of the park” this meant a waiting time of about 5-10 minutes between each ride on the wooden roller coaster, which fascinates me every time anew.

DesTroy

It would be wrong to say that DesTroy is the best wooden roller coaster in Europe, but it is absolutely right to say that the ride is convincing in any weather conditions. No matter if it’s almost summerly Easter temperatures, coldest winter weather or now rainy autumn weather, the ride just makes you feel good and you can stay troy. Night rides on DesTroy are also highly recommended, because even though the ride is phenomenally well lit on Halloween, outside of any measurable competition, you won’t notice a thing during the ride. It’s different at the Alton Towers amusement park where the night rides on the roller coasters feel like daylight, thanks to the flood lights.

Djengu River

Just as well lit as DesTroy is the certainly really stylish Magical Vallei theme area, whose splendour could only be guessed at in the evening hours and which can also be seen in the stations of the large-scale attractions. The Hafema rafting course Djengu River runs past two children’s rides and a lake with a fountain show. This is the newest ride of its kind so far, which unfortunately, similar to the ride in the Erlebnispark Tripsdrill, does without any highlights during the ride and sends the boats through the canal relatively fast.

Even though I find it very welcome to see Hafema alive again, it’s a pity that they didn’t use working gimmicks. On the one hand the milder route is explained by the target audience of the park. On the other hand the standard of comparable rides in the Benelux countries is much higher.

Dwervelwind

When the French amusement park Le Pal presented the first Mack Spinning Coaster of the latest generation, the mere sight of the layout made you want to go to this corner of France and test the ride there. Unfortunately, a roller coaster of the same layout opened a year later with the Dwervelwind, giving priority to Toverland due to its proximity.

Although the ride was launched last season, it now shines in all its glory after work on the surrounding themed area has been completed. It seems that all eyes are drawn in its direction, which is not only due to the sweeping curves.

After the train has left the station and climbed up the lift, a small curve in the airy height follows and the wild ride can begin. The ride continues smoothly down the valley where you are pushed into the train and then change the direction of the tracks in a high Immelmann Turn. Once again at ground level the train goes straight up again to make its turns in a wonderful sloping position. After a downhill left turn you do a short zigzag curve combination and then another curve in the shape of an 8. This turns into a few smaller detours, which at the same time mark the end of the funny, fast, not at all powerless, but unfortunately too short ride.

The ride on the Dwervelwind is a great pleasure, which can only be increased by sitting opposite each other in the cars and trying to interact with each other during the ride. The comparison with the existing Mack’s counterpart in Rust is, not surprisingly, in favour of the newer ride. However, the ride lags a little behind the outstanding spinning coasters Sonic Spinball and Dragon’s Fury from Maurer Söhne, which are especially trumped by the often represented distinct rotation of the cars. Nevertheless, the ride has one fundamental advantage, namely capacity, which means that waiting times here will probably never be too long, and one or the other repeat ride is guaranteed.

Conclusion Toverland

Toverland has developed very well over the years and often shows what a theme park has to be like nowadays. This can be seen not only in the excellent quality and choice of attractions, but also in the way they organise their events. Along with the extended opening hours for Halloween and the outstanding lighting of the wooden roller coaster Troy, themed figures, numerous artistry and bloody much fog went into the event, so that one was wonderfully entertained on the paths and in the halls. Unlike other events of the same kind, no one even tried to lure monsters by means of horror mazes, even though theoretically there is a natural maze in which you could scare yourself. Thus, the focus was on the scarezones, where much more importance was attached to the charisma of the actors than to the targeted frightening, unless you were coming straight from Djengu River towards DesTroy.

Shortly before Toverland closed its doors for the evening, all participants gathered in front of the entrance to say goodbye to the crowds of visitors. One would think that this would be the best way to end an all-round successful event. During the following traffic jam to get back down from the car park a specific entertainment of the waiting people would have been a good idea.

 

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Toverland

Small Changes, Big Improvements

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Walibi Holland

Two years ago Walibi World underwent a makeover and since then Walibi Holland embodies the leitmotif of music with his two fictional bands The Skunx and Wab. A lot has changed, which makes the already very sympathetic park even more interesting. The Compagnie des Alpes has invested a lot, as well as in the other three Walibi branded parks under their management.

El Condor

Representing this development the best in Walibi Holland do the roller coasters Xpress and El Condor, which have been upgraded since my last visit. While the launch coaster got a new painting and the addition of some lightning effects and music during the launch sequence, El Condor got a complete adjustment of the track.

In both cases, the result speaks for itself. In case of the Suspended Looping Coaster Prototype it is quite surprising. El Condor was notorious for its jerking and some existing blows – which could even been noticed on pieces of straight track. After the retracking, even the biggest mimosas should be able to ride it all over again. The pace of the ride is now higher and the ride became incredible funny.

 

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Walibi Holland