A day in the colourful sugar world

Preface

Today was an early awakening, because Hauke had to be picked up to take the ferry from Puttgarden to Rødby. Unfortunately, the first ship departed before our nose. Thus they loaded the next ship with us first (luckily, the ferries here go every half hour). Arrived on the other side we went without any plan which exit leads to the park onto the motorway; a fatal circumstance, as most of the places of interest in Denmark are only announced shortly before reaching them and on the motorways, most of the times, only the first village of the surroundings is mentioned. But then a call from Hauke was enough and in the last moment we could take the right exit. The way led us into BonBon-Land, where we immediately noticed on the parking lot that it is a busy day today.

Tour of BonBon-Land

Logically, the same picture then emerged at the cash registers. But as we already bought our tickets online, things went fast here in comparison. From the outside you could already see the novelty of the year 2010 and inside we noticed that Sammy’s great adventure was shown in the 4D cinema. A positive thing was that everything was distributed relatively evenly in the park. At the beginning of the day it was sufficient to ride not yet at full capacity, but in the afternoon all available equipment was put onto the tracks.

Albatrossen

We started with the Albatrossen, a Zamperla Disk’o. In contrast to the Disk’o Coasters, the ride here is much more fun thanks to the pressure-packed ride. Also the change of direction was excellent to avoid a too monotonous spinning around.

Vildsvinet

Next door, the Eurofighter prototype Vildswinet did its laps. Unexpectedly gently, it raced down the course like a wild boar. Particularly noteworthy is the steep curve that followed the drop with a 97° gradient and ended in a loop. However, the course loses a little tension after the following block brake, so this part only complements the layout, but does not emphasize it again. The design of the ride is not only suitable for the Danish racer, it is simply convincing.

Svend Svingsarm

After a short examination of the queue, the novelty Svend Svingsarm was given a try. Since I only know the HUSS version of the big swings, I honestly didn’t expect anything, but what happened here deserves just one word: Ingenious! If you sit between two rests, you have enormous airtime. The swing-out reaches a very big radius and the gondola changes during the ride the speed of rotation and the direction of travel. Finally, a Zamperla device that is worth to be copied as often as possible. But the handling is too slow for one person and the ride is not themed according to the BonBon-Land standard.

Viktor Vandorm

For Hauke a new roller coaster was waiting for him and for me the longest Tivoli coaster from Zierer I ever rode. After you start unusually high at Viktor Vandorm you build up a lot of speed with the funny first drop. After that you have a part that looks like a splashdown from the outside. Long straights and curves follow until you are back in the station and start a second round. The capacity is of all expectations instead of a man-eater beneath all hell, so it’s not surprising to find the second longest queue here. The design seems strange, as one unfortunately notices that the layout must have stood somewhere else in the past; in this case in Panorama Park, Germany.

Rejen and Bæver Rafting

Near the Tivoli with the strange layout and partly above it there is the dinghy slide Rejen equipped with a photo system. A few meters away you can find the rapids ride of BonBon-Land. The Bæver Rafting has a beautiful, rough layout with, compared to other European rapid rides, a high degree of humidity. The design of the ride is well done and very convincing.

Hundeprutten

Since a waiting time of more than half an hour is clearly too much for Sammy’s big adventure, the nearby Hundeprutten roller coaster was examined more closely. The track layout is similar to a Zierer Force One, but the ride was elaborately clad and imaginatively designed. The fart gag when the train passes by is completely in keeping with the Danish humour and the eponymous candy.

Klaptorsken

Unfortunately, the entire Heege rides of the BonBon-Land and also the windshield wipers style ride are no longer available, but you still can find some remnants. Further away is the ship swing Klaptorsken, built by Metallbau Emmeln, which showed a very solid ride.

Hankatten

The last roller coaster we looked forward to was the Gerstlauer Spinning Coaster Hankatten, which doesn’t come close to the spinning coaster deity Dragon’s Fury by the manufacturer of Maurer Söhne, but will still remain in my memory as a more amusing example. The inward facing seating position is what makes this coaster built by Gerstlauer different from the other manufacturers. The track itself is fast and has some helices and funny drops, but lacks an Immelmann turn to make the track perfect. The design of the ride is well done, even if it is mostly just the remains of the design of the former HUSS Condor. Furthermore, the sound effects are in a class of their own.

Cobratarnet

Also worth mentioning is the Fabbri drop tower Cobratarnet due to the forceful drop and suprising launch downwards. The ride at Cobratarnet is very soft during the deceleration, hence a very good tower for the park’s audience. Luckily you don’t have to wait an eternity at the top of the ride like you do at the Zoo-, Safari- and Hollywoodpark Stukenbrock.

Søløven

The sealion also wanted to be ridden by us. This is a theme ride through the various continents of our world. As kitschy and convincing as the design is, there is unfortunately something missing that most kitschy world travel attractions contain, a catchy song. So the Søløven turns out quite pleasing, however, it could be even better.

Miscellaneous

There is also a small white-water ride with a canal-rat theme with an unfortunately dry ride, an excellent wave swinger with a turtle look and much more. The portfolio of the park is well chosen and the design of the rides is very convincing. It is a pity that the clearance is too slow in some places and the limited queues are a little too short, so that you inevitably block the way for other passers-by.

Pictures BonBon-Land

Conclusion BonBon-Land

The BonBon-Land is a very bizarre amusement park, which can certainly be a lot of fun at a lower crowd. The capacities are limited, there are gaps of old rides everywhere and somehow everything seems to have been placed a little bit without a concept; which again fits very well to the actual design of the park – because BonBon-Land is just like the portfolio of the confectioner next door, who also founded the park.

 

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A day at Serengeti Park

Preface

After I spontaneously wanted to go to BonBon-Land with Stefan and Hauke and for various reasons it didn’t work out, the trip was postponed for a few days into the future and Hauke and myself went to the Serengeti of the Lüneburger Heide and visited the Serengeti-Park in Hodenhagen.

Serengeti-Park

The journey to Hodenhagen already pointed to a fuller day. The motorways were well frequented, the weather was not the worst and so it happened that we were stuck in a traffic jam for about half an hour. After we left the cash desks behind us and parked our car in the best location to the amusement park part, we visited the park part first, because the Serengetitour was still much too full for us. But there is also the possibility to drive with our own car through the safari.

Froschflitzer and Die! Wilde Maus

In terms of roller coasters, Serengeti Park has two rides. The first roller coaster of the park was the Tivoli Large Froschflitzer, which has an amazing number of pairs of friction wheels and generally rides a bit slower than other rides of this type. The second roller coaster is located in the Wasserland section of the amusement park and is the former fairground roller coaster Die! Wilde Maus from SBF Visa, known from the sister park Magic Park Verden. Although the ride is quite small, the small hills after the helix can make you smile in a flash.

The HUSS Corner

Almost all rides in this park were designed to match the theme and have a good to very good ride program. The portfolio of rides ranges from a Mack’s log flume to a small HUSS corner in the Wasserland, where you could ride a Break Dance, Top Spin, Enterprise, Condor, Pirat and even the prototype of a Rainbow. The ride on this ride was just brilliant and full of funny expressions of various powers, but unfortunately the ride, together with the Enterprise, moved to Sommerland Syd for the 2012 season.Sommerland Syd.

Calypso

Right next to the top spin you can find another rare ride: A Mack Calypso. As with the Top Spin next door, the Calypso is particularly convincing because of its long running time. Apart from that, the ride has unfortunately lost some of its paint, which is why a refurbishment of the ride would be desirable in order to keep it as long as possible.

Fledermausflug

Not very convincing was the Zierer kite flight Fledermausflug, whose ride time was clearly way too short. Furthermore, the speed of the ride was simply too slow.

Victoria Free Fall Tower

The Victoria Free Fall Tower, a SBF Visa Tower not far from the Kongo boat swing, clearly belongs in the row of absolutely ridiculous rides. The constant up and down can already tempt one to some highlights, but after some time, the course becomes a little bit too monotonous and the not very comfortable bar makes one want to get out of the ride.

The Safaris

Furthermore, the Serengeti Park offers some unusual rides, which clearly include the two safaris (Aqua and Jungle Safari). A little more serious and informative, but not necessarily witless, is the big safari, which can take 1 1/2 hours by bus. The bus stops at the petting enclosure and at the elephants.

Affenland

If you are interested in monkeys, a visit to the Affenland is highly recommended. Here you will find monkey enclosures where you can pet one or the other monkey if you want to and the monkey allows it. Unfortunately the ride is quite ugly in places, so that one or the other investment would be worthwhile.

Pictures Serengeti-Park

Conclusion Serengeti-Park

All in all, Serengeti Park is a beautiful family park, which has some very rare rides that one would not want to miss. For this reason the park is definitely worth a visit and besides the large amusement park in Soltau and the Weltvogelpark in Walsrode, it is a wonderful destination in the Lüneburg Heath.

 

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A round tour through the Harburg Mountains

Wildpark Schwarze Berge

Although the northern part of Germany can generally be described as very flat there are also mountains including some very steep ones. The Harburg Mountains just south of Hamburg just fall into this category. In fact, until some years ago you could find a ski slope with a functional lift for the enthusiastic Hanseatic people, who love to go skiing in their February school holidays. Also, if some mountain shots were required for the TV show Die Rettungsflieger, they were filmed here. Much better known among the Hamburg citizens and the inhabitants of the Lower Saxony district of Harburg however, is the wildlife park Wildpark Schwarze Berge which has been entertained the masses with its free-running pot-bellied pigs since its founding in 1969.

Most of the enclosures understandably include domestic deer species, but there are also a large number of domestic cat and otter species in the wildlife park. In addition to other four-legged and invertebrate animals, some birds of prey are represented. These have their own show in the Wildpark Schwarze Berge, which is very worth seeing, funny and informative at the same time.

In addition to a generously sized petting enclosure with all sorts of goats – which have traumatised and thrilled generations of children – the playground to the right of the park’s entrance area is the main attraction of all younger visitors. In addition to classic play equipment you will find many products of the company Heege, such as a Nautic Jet, a Luna Loop, a Sky Diver, and a Butterfly, which can serve as the first roller coaster for the little ones.

Pictures Wildpark Schwarze Berge

 


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