Tag: B&M

Pre-Opening with obstructions and Krake lebt!

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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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Heide Park

The Home of Woody Woodpecker

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Port Aventura

At the edge of the 4* high-rise Salou, not far from the city of Tarragona and about 100 km from the Catalan capital Barcelona, is the Port Aventura theme park, founded by the English Tussauds Group, which has since been taken over by the parent company Blackstone and therefore operated under the Universal brand. Today the park is 100% owned by the Spanish bank La Caixa.

Furius Baco

When you enter Port Aventura through the official park entrance you will find yourself in the Mediterranean themed area, which is beautifully situated by a lake. Over the lake, the newest roller coaster of the park, Furius Baco, makes its last turn and is looking pretty good. Also the winery, which serves as a station, fits very well into this area. But don’t look at the ride from the position of a passenger.

After you have overcome the queue full of litter, you are divided into a row, whereupon you ask yourself the quite justified question of the seating position, because whether right or left, inside or outside, all seats have their own “driving pleasure” to offer. Shortly afterwards the train starts moving and a pre-show is shown. At the right moment the wonderfully intense launch follows, which is all the more beautiful thanks to the slightly different seating position. After the ascending launch track follows a valley and therefore a lot of airtime on the top of the hill over which you are currently riding. What comes now is absolutely brilliant on the left inner seat in the first row, but on all other seats it is an ordeal of varying proportions. The curves up to the roller are e.g. on the right outer seat with enormous blows, which has nothing in common with the word vibration anymore. The roll is great on all seats and the final curve fortunately follows a large radius and is bearable for the outer seats.

After leaving the station, you arrive at a shop where you can buy wines in style. The ride itself is either absolute rubbish or really ingenious, in between there are basically no other possibilities. The inner left seat is highly recommended, preferably in the first row.

Sea Odyssea

Apart from one station of the park railway and the Intamin Guided Boat Tour, there is not much else to find in this area. Similarly equipped is the highly praised Polynesia area, where you can ride the HUSS Kon-Tiki Wave swing boat and the Sea Odyssea simulator and the Intamin Spillwater Tutuki Splash. The area itself is reminiscent of a large part of the Isla Magica theme park in Seville, beautiful to the eye, but nothing more.

Tutuki Splash

Tutuki Splash, a ride that is often described as very wet, unfortunately turned out to be dry and so the only place to get wet was the area where the water guns at the side of the path were located. Particularly worth mentioning in a negative sense is the chewing gum tunnel before the first drop, which not only looks disgusting but also perfectly reflects the visitors’ level, despite an entrance fee of more than 40€. Considering all points one of the weakest spillwater installations in Europe.

Tami Tami

Formerly part of Polynesia, the Vekoma roller skater Tami Tami now belongs to the children’s area Sesamo Aventura. This area is basically well done and has a good number of suitable rides, which are accordingly well received. The roller coaster itself only makes one lap, which is due to its capacity.

Dragon Khan

Since Sesamo Aventura is a dead end, we will go through Polynesia and take the circular route to the most beautiful themed area of Port Aventura. Passing a Zierer mountain and valley railway in the proven dragon look, beautifully designed tea cups from Mack Rides and a, albeit somewhat hidden, Zamperla Baloon Race, the route continues up the slope to visit the dragon enthroned on the mountain. Dragon Khan is a colossus that cannot be overlooked and has a wonderful layout.

Maybe it was because of the high expectations I had since Parque Warner’s Superman, the really well thought out layout or the general opinion of the ride, but I didn’t think that such a roller coaster could be beaten by the Intamin Wing Rider of the same park.

The ride with its eight inversions could be so good, if the ride would not jerk uncomfortably without interruption. Here the ride comfort equals the driving pleasure. Next door, by the way, a Zierer wave swinger is doing his rounds and luckily it offered a good ride.

El Diablo

Walking down the mountain along the circular route, you will run directly towards the El Diablo Arrow Mine Train. The riding characteristics of this hybrid 0surpass those of the two big steel roller coasters by far and especially the first and the last part of the course is a lot of fun. The nickname “Lifthill the ride” is apt but not disturbing at all. Compared to other European mine trains El Diablo is surprisingly different.

Hurakan Condor

The Giant Drop Hurakan Condor is often mentioned as another highlight of Port Aventura. The drop height of nearly 86m is quite impressive and the view from up there is quite nice, but the actual drop is disappointing. Where the smaller Giant Drops are still intense and Gyro Drop Towers automatically fall more intense due to their larger mass, the fall on Hurakan Condor was rather lax. Also at this ride the behaviour of the guests was again very negative, because they simply spat on the floor of the station.

Templo del Fuego

Not far from the Musik Express Yucatan is the entrance to the Templo del Fuego, a special effects show with a clumsy archaeologist who triggers one curse after another, making the show visitors feel warm and comfortable. The effects are all good and some are quite surprising. In the main room the effects follow one after the other, so it is worth to see the show more often.

Serpiente Emplumada

Shortly before leaving the area, a Schwarzkopf fan should watch out, because otherwise he will miss one of the last built rides of the manufacturer. The ride on a Schwarzkopf sombrero is like a mixture of HUSS Take Off and a polyp, unfortunately the ride is quickly monotonous. Nevertheless, the Serpiente Emplumada is the best ride in Port Aventura and should definitely be honoured with a ride.

Tomahawk

In the western area opposite the HUSS Flipper VolPaiute, which obviously had an absolutely lame ride programme, is the wooden coaster Tomahawk. Unfortunately, the queue moves very slowly on this ride, which is partly due to the fact that only one adult per row fits into the PTC cars. So while you can listen to the wonderful sounds of Vultrix, the coolest animatronic figure ever built, you are defencelessly exposed to the sun. The ride itself is quite funny, offers enough speed and power. It is very well suited for the intended target group and a wonderful entry roller coaster for the amusement park fan of tomorrow.

Stampida

Around Tomahawk, in places also above and below the ride, both tracks of the roller coaster Stampida are running. To get to the station you have to walk through a few metres of queueline, which luckily is very shady here before choosing a side. The waiting area of the blue side is better visible, so that the red side is emptier in the morning. After you have been directed to your seat you can start your journey in the quite comfortable KumbaK trains.

What follows is a wooden roller coaster as it should be and that twice next to each other. The track is long, the speed is high and the racing aspect is very successful. The red side is crawling around a bit before the helix with the encounter of the other train, which happens on the blue side only afterwards, but there with a much higher speed. The numerous gradients are a dream made of wood and the Out of Contol feeling is high. The one or other curve might be a little less brute, but this aspect doesn’t make the track worse than it is. Despite the often and completely trivial criticism of the KumbaK trains, it is damn good.

Silver River Flume

In addition to a carousel, a bumper car and a Break Dance, there are two water attractions in this area. The first ride you will come across is the Silver River Flume log flume offering a very strange course whose highlight is the last drop. The level of wetness is not more than mediocre and the handling is a bit slow, even though there were quite a lot of boats on the way and they tried to fill all the boats properly. Unfortunately also here some things are glued with chewing gum…

Grand Canyon Rapids

The second water attraction in this area is the Grand Canyon Rapids, an Intamin rapids ride with an artificial rock look. Unfortunately, the degree of wetness is only the European standard, i.e. it simply does not exist, which is why the ride was simply not convincing despite all the optics.

Pictures Port Aventura

Conclusion Port Aventura

Port Aventura unfortunately only leaves a picture that can neither make the park look bad nor outstandingly good. The rides themselves are not bad. The biggest point of criticism is that the park was the only dirty one in Spain. Nearly everything is scribbled here, something that shouldn’t be on roller coasters trains. Everything is covered with chewing gum in the most inappropriate places and the litter on the paths and in the queues just shouldn’t be there. Port Aventura also has a big problem with its visitors who often don’t know how to behave or couldn’t follow even the simplest instructions of the staff. Furthermore, Port Aventura is the only park that does not pay attention to the fact that the upper part of the body is covered at all rides and in the park itself, which leads to very unpleasant insights.

 

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Port Aventura

A roller coaster ride in Phantasialand

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Phantasialand

Due to a competition with a low participation for the attraction Maus au Chocolat, which had not been opened yet, Phantasialand gave away several tickets for this year’s season. Since the time of my last visit in 2009 a lot has changed, for example the old Schwarzkopf dark ride Gondelbahn has been demolished. In addition, many new children’s rides from Zamperla have moved into the park, the neighbours have found a reason to complain – about the whisper-quiet water attraction Wakobato – and an extension is still far in the stars because of some environmental activists.

The first impression from the old entrance, which now only serves the shuttle guests, is quite nice, even though Main Street used to look nicer. The now present space looks quite strange at Phantasialand and the construction sites don’t fit into the ambience. A similar situation exists with the huge passage from Berlin to the fantasy area.

Fröhliche Bienenjagd

As one of the newer attractions, the Fröhliche Bienenjagd (Happy Bee Hunting) in particular was a good investment. From the outside, the ride can be quite inconspicuous, but this perception changes during the ride at a stroke when the car first dashes over the small hill. The corners of the mouth distort and a wide grin appears.

Hollywood Tour

The off-the beaten track located dark ride Hollywood Tour should separate itself from the old-fashioned theme, which is hardly recognisable during the ride. However, the ride is still more exciting than Pirates in Batavia at Europa-Park, where you can take a nap for 2/3 of the 20 mins journey. Still, there is so much more potential in this ride that can be used; a look at the current state of the ride is too much of an effort and should be avoided by any means.

Temple of the Nighthawk

One floor above the Hollywood Tour you will find the Vekoma roller coaster Temple of the Nighthawk. Unfortunately this roller coaster could hardly reproduce its once fast past ride. If you ride through the pitch dark with its constant changes of right and left curves at a snail’s pace, you can definitely do without the ride despite its outstanding length. Efteling’s Vogel Rok shows how intense comparable rides can be.

Winja’s Fear and Winja’s Force

Next door you have the choice between two mediocre spinning coasters, one of which is rather bad and the other simply better in almost every respect. Of course we are talking about Winja’s Fear and Winja’s Force. If you have to queue here for more than 30 minutes, only a ride on Winja’s Fear is worthwhile, as the layout tends to approach the top-class spinning coasters Dragon’s Fury and Crush’s Coaster due to its choice of elements. Only the special elements make the rides on both tracks an experience that you should – if still unknown – experience.

Race for Atlantis

If you walk up the hill, the first thing you encounter is the simulator Race for Atlantis, the highlight of which is the safety rap of the preshow if you are guided into one of the cabins at all, as the staff often forget the passengers. The simulation itself isn’t very worth mentioning, which is a shame, as the way the movie is shown has a lot of potential.

Talocan

The HUSS Suspended Top Spin Talocan is quite stylish from the outside, but always has the problem that more people watch than ride and therefore stand gawping in your way. The ride itself is balanced, intense and can score with its rollover series, which fortunately are longer than with an older Top Spin. You get the better – and also more stomach-friendly – ride on the spectator-directed side, as the wall doesn’t constantly rob you of your orientation.

Stonewash Creek and Wildwash Creek

If you enjoy the water, you can use two water playgrounds, the multi-storey rafting ride River Quest, as well as the two log flumes Stonewash Creek and Wildwash Creek. The left side of both rides has a much too short outlet, while the other side can be surprisingly wet. However, both rides are very in need of restoration and thus it wouldn’t be really surprising to see both rides soon levelled to the ground.

River Quest

With a little luck, the Hafema raft ride can make you more wet than the two log flumes together. However, if you are really lucky it can happen that you get soaked down to your underpants. But if you are damn very lucky, it can also happen that you are temporarily flooded with so much water that the other passengers in the boat cannot even see you for a short time. Amazingly, the shoes stayed dry, so there was no danger of catching blisters or other unfavourable stuff.

Mystery Castle

In order to get dry again, a trip on the nearby freefall tower can be taken. Unfortunately, the ride which is located in a high masonry does not offer, what it should offer. Basically, Mystery Castle is just a very loud elevator in a building. There is a lack of forces which prevents the ride of being as awesome as other Intamin installations worldwide.

Silbermine and Geisterrikscha

The Silbermine and Geisterrikscha dark rides were unfortunately not worth mentioning this time, although the Silvermine had no reputation to defend, as the ride is generally considered to be boring and, above all, lengthy. In the case of the Geisterrikscha, some of the scenes were literally made worse. If you don’t want to renew the entire ride, you should make sure that the charm of the ride is not damaged by your actions.

Feng Ju Palace

In the Feng Ju Palace – the Vekoma Mad House from Phantasialand – nothing wanted to run as it should. The projection towards the end of the ride missed the intended surface and was shown on the still spinning drum. At the end of the actual ride, this mistake caused the doors to be in a rather awkward position. After some time the drum was brought back to its starting position and the doors opened.

Black Mamba

It remains a mystery how the newspaper Bild titled the roller coaster Black Mamba as a crash-coaster, as the death of the person last Saturday was not caused by an accident, but by the carelessness of the victim. Despite all attempts to experience a crash by ourselves, the Black Mamba offered the solid ride for which it is well known. Since remaining seated in spite of empty seats is still not allowed and the queue is simply too long for such undertakings, we did not make many rides.

Colorado Adventure

One or two rounds – this time with remaining seated – were instead taken on the park’s showpiece roller coaster, the Colorado Adventure. The right side of the train became compulsory for friends of water sports, as it was not spared by the waterfall of the third lift. The strangely banked curves and the generally high speed make the ride one of the best of its kind, even though the back cushion is still not very comfortable.

Tikal

This year, in addition to a good and, above all, fast wave swinger made by Zierer, which also offers a wonderfully refreshing ride, two children’s free-fall towers from the same house were able to move into Phantasialand. Even if the size is deceptive, both towers of Tikal, as well as almost all children’s rides in Phantasialand, are very convincing. The ride is very surprising and unlike elsewhere it is very dynamic.

Conclusion Phantasialand

Phantasialand is a recommendable amusement park if you either have too much money or just won a card somewhere. Unfortunately, most rides are not worth mentioning anymore. It is also astonishing that several construction sites exist until the high season. Thus, there is unfortunately the hint that there are also other amusement parks in the vicinity of the city of Cologne that do a lot better than the park in Brühl. Phantasialand currently invests a lot, so the future remains open.

 

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Phantasialand