Animal Park | Themeparkblogger

A Sik ride experience

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Since my first visit to Flamingo Land in early 2013, a lot of rides have been added to the line-up. Two of the major additions (Hero and Twistosaurus) covered in this review were actually in construction back then. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the 10 inversion coaster Sik was being installed. With restrictions being now a thing of the past, the ride was finally able to open for the 2022 season.

Twistosaurus

Twistosaurus is an off-the-shelf junior twister coaster from Zamperla and comes without much theming. However, it fits in well with the Dino Stone Park theme area. The ride itself is a nice little family coaster with some hairpin turns and a helix that makes the cars spin. The whole experience is relatively stomach-friendly and great fun for the whole family.

Sik

For all friends of Colossus at Thorpe Park living in the North of the country, there is finally a very similar experience available in Yorkshire. Although it is the first installation of the roller coaster, Sik is actually a rather old ride. The ride was set to open at the Brazilian theme park Hopi Hari in 2012, but never installed due to financial situation of the park and a rather strange leasing deal. The ride moved basically from parking lot to parking lot and after a short stay at the Movie Animation Park Studios in Malaysia the ride was finally being bought by the Gibb family.

What makes the experience rather unique is the ride’s history and the extended degree of freedom due to the restraint system in use. Compared to Colossus, the layout features a different first drop, yet the remaining course consisting of a loop, a nice airtime bump into a tunnel, a cobra roll, two corkscrews and a total of five heartline rolls (four of them are straight in a row) is pretty much the same.

Although it is a new ride in Flamingo Land, you get quite a shake on this roller coaster. Compared to Colossus, which offers a good ride apart from the first three inversions, or Altair at Cinecittà World in Rome, which has the same layout and train design, Sik is not the smooth experience you might expect. The ride is still fun, but it could also be much better if it ran a little smoother.

Hero

Another coaster model which is infamous for its ride experience is the Zamperla Volare. This small scale flying coaster puts you into a cage and squeezes you like the filling of sandwich before sending you through a multilevel layout on a very tight footprint. While doing that, the ride offers a bunch of very cool heartline rolls and some seriously tight hairpin curves. It is no big news, that most roller coaster enthusiasts actually dislike this coaster model. Personally, I think a Zamperla Volare is actually lot of fun and a surprisingly smooth ride experience. There is nothing wrong with this model and especially not with Hero. It’s a good ride.

Pictures Flamingo Land

Conclusion Flamingo Land

The Flamingo Land still is a rather unique animal and theme park. With the recent changes, the park now appears a lot more coherent. The 2022 addition Sik fits in nicely and has a nice style to it. Especially Sik’s station has a great flair and the train with the dark coloured Union Jack has something very special.

What is your opinion about Twistosaurus, Hero and Sik? Just write it in the comment field below the report or visit our social media channels:

TKathke October 8, 2022 April 25, 2023 Flamingo Land

A funky bumper car and a jousting tournament

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On my last visit to Heroldsbach, I was faced with closed gates at the Erlebnispark Schloss Thurn; in the low season, the amusement park is sometimes only open during the week. This time, however, a visit fell on a quiet Sunday within the high season.

Fledermauszentrum

Before we even get close to the castle that gives it its name and can pay our entrance fee, we are already in front of the first attraction. In the bat centre we can learn a lot about the animals in a fun way.

Schloss Thurn

The theme park originated in 1975 in the castle garden of the moated castle of Thurn. The origin of today’s Baroque castle complex was a fortified residential tower surrounded by several moats, which can be traced back to the year 1422. In 1747, the Bamberg cathedral chaplain Lothar Franz Horneck von Weinheim acquired the estate and began to convert the former knight’s castle into a Baroque pleasure palace.

The area around the castle mainly invites you to dangle your soul, and you can also explore the water around the moated castle with rowing boats and pedal boats.

Westernstadt

The first ride on our way to the western town is the small interactive water ride Piratenflotte. Along the way we also find numerous adventure trails for the younger park visitors before we then come across the Monzabahn vintage cars and shortly afterwards a fort.

The western town inside extends over a main street and a large square with a western show. The main restaurant of the theme park is also located in the saloon. However, the culinary offer is not quite adapted to the ambience, which is a bit of a pity.

Steampunk VR-Scooter

The main attraction in the Western Town is the Steampunk VR scooter. This bumper car is unique in the world because it is the only one with virtual reality (VR), which is a thoroughly immersive experience. A film is shown where you end up fighting a robot spider and where the ride floor suddenly curves. The quality of this trumps the VR attractions of most amusement parks and makes for an absolutely coherent overall concept.

To be honest, I’m surprised why the VR trend was mostly used on large roller coasters and thus went under again after a very short time, when it’s precisely the implementation on standard rides that offers a much better experience. Bumper cars in amusement parks always have the charm of a fairground and don’t really fit into the big themed worlds of today, but with the right idea you can definitely upgrade the classic ride principle, be it the former Space Race in Hansa Park or with the VR experience here. I only hope that in the future more parks will invest as courageously as Erlebnispark Schloss Thurn.

Wildwasserbahn

Behind the Western Town is the entrance to the park’s log flume. The ride, built by Reverchon, also has a rather classic appearance at the Erlebnispark Schloss Thurn, although the waiting area is quite unusual. The ride offers a total of two drops, with the smaller one offering an additional wave. The degree of wetness of both drops is within reasonable limits.

Magisches Tal

In addition to the Knappenschule electric horse track, the chain flyer Kettenflieger, the family free-fall tower Ritterschlag and the boat swing Schaukelschiff Fledermausflug, park guests in the Magic Valley mainly romp around the tournament square, where the knights’ tournament takes place.

Ritterturnier

Quite unusually in a theme park, you can experience a real jousting tournament at Erlebnispark Schloss Thurn. Two teams face each other in a jousting match. This is an exciting competition between good and evil. Despite the very simple story, the acting is extremely convincing and the games and the fight choreographies with sword and shield are breathtaking.

VR-Achterbahn

The VR roller coaster is a classic family roller coaster made by Zierer. The roller coaster, which is about 9 m high, offers a 220 m long, winding layout that is ridden through twice in a row.

Animal park and playgrounds

On the other side of the park there is a large playground and several smaller rides, such as the two Butterfly roller coasters, the carousel Schwanenkarussell and the Wasserbob dinghy slide. To get there, however, we have to pass through the beautifully landscaped game park. This is best done on foot or by taking a ride on the Westerbahn train ride or the monorail Schwebebahn.

Pictures Erlebnispark Schloss Thurn

Conclusion Erlebnispark Schloss Thurn

I really liked Schloss Thurn. The steampunk VR-scooter and the knights’ tournament are two highlights that you can’t even find in the big theme parks around the world. So a visit is definitely recommended, especially for families with smaller children.

What do you think about the Erlebnispark Schloss Thurn? Just write it in the comment field below the report or visit our social media channels:

TKathke July 19, 2022 March 16, 2023 Erlebnispark Schloss Thurn

The mountain coaster at Steinwasen Park

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Since my last visit to Steinwasen Park, not much has happened in the park itself. In 2014, an Alpine Coaster from the Wiegand company opened in the park. In the meantime, the Schwarzwaldpark was acquired and converted into Tatzmania Löffingen.

Coasterbahn

Parallel to the chairlift, we climb the lift of the coaster. At the top, we slowly pick up speed over a few waves and curves before we enter the first helix. After a few bends, the second helix awaits us. Now much faster, we can have a race with the two luge tracks for a while. But even this is only short-lived, as we immediately turn off to the left. Far above an animal enclosure, we make our way to another helix. This is followed by a fairly straight path with only one wave, which leads us to the finale of the ride. This also takes place through a helix.

The Coasterbahn is a very gentle alpine coaster with a pleasant length. The ride basically offers no real highlight; with the exception of a few waves, there are only helices and a few leisurely curves, but that’s about it. As a starter ride before the nearby Hasenhorncoaster in Todtnau, the ride is certainly not a bad choice.