Dark Ride

Benidorm in a different light

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Terra Mítica

The Terra Mítica theme park is located on a hillside above the city of Benidorm on the Coasta Blanca. This amusement park, which is now eleven years old, once bore the subtitle “a Paramount Park”, which was the result of the management of the park in the first years, until the group decided to sell its shares to the Valencia region.

Cataratas del Nilo

After paying your entrance fee, you enter the mythological world through an ancient Egyptian gate and find yourself right next to a lake, around which you will find several thematically related buildings, as well as various statues and a monolith. There are not many rides in this area, so you will find a lookout tower, whose gondola once found its use in the Lüneburg Heath, the children’s log flume Akuatiti and a boat ride, as well as the log flume Cataratas del Nilo from Mack Rides.

The latter ride is rather untypical for a log flume, as the first downhill run is also the big shot. The second descent leads backwards back to the same level as the station, which is located at about half the height of the first slope. The boats appear in the form of an elaborately designed sacrophate, but the rest of the ride is less involved in the theme.

Following the path further up, you will find three entrances to various water basins. In the upper one there are a few benches, in the basin below there are some water cannons and in the lowest basin, best to be seen from the rides La Colera de Akiles, there is the deepest basin where some water toys are available. With the temperatures that prevail during the season, a very useful addition to the offer, so be sure to pack bathing clothes. Furthermore, there are always some possibilities to cool down along the paths.

Laberinto del Minotauro

Further up, you will come across the first major highlight of the Terra Mítica theme park, the Laberinto del Minotauro, an interactive dark ride from the Sally company with individual chaises, as used in Walibi Belgium. The ride itself offers a few metres of route full of elaborate animatronics and scenic images that make your mouth water. Although the interactive aspect unfortunately didn’t work properly, this ride is clearly the best Sally dark ride in Europe and a must ride for every amusement park fan.

Synkope

Another highlight in the Greek themed area is the Mondial Revolution Synkope, which can do much more than a HUSS Giant Frisbee. Although the ride time is quite short, it is much more intense, which is also due to the faster rotation of the gondola. The monotonous turning in only one direction is unfortunately also present on this ride.

Titanide

The suspended looping coaster Titanide used to be called Tizona and was located at the other end of the Terra Mítica theme park in the Iberia theme area, which now only has a show stage and two beautiful bumper cars. Due to the land sales, which have lifted the park out of debt, some restructuring in Terra Mítica also followed, which in the case of the SLC was quite positive. This is now less out of the way and was wonderfully integrated into the Greek theme, and the ride now has an inner courtyard, which is quite positive for one or the other photo opportunity. The ride itself is good for a roller coaster of this type, but could be upgraded immensely by the new train generation.

La Furia de Triton

For the water enthusiasts in us there is the spillwater La Furia de Triton from Intamin, which has two slopes of 10 and 17m. The design of the ride has been successful and if the timing is right, it is the wettest ride in Spain, otherwise the degree of wetness is on the same level as the Cataratas Salvajes from Parque Warner, although the boats displace the water to the side rather than up. If the timing is correct, one boat must be immersed in the pool while the second boat is on a quarter of the lift, the water that manages to hit the gaps between the decoration now floods the boat to be carried on the lift in its entirety.

Templo de Kinetos

If you have always wanted to test a Maxi Motion Seat Simulator from Intamin, you can do so at Templo de Kinetos. The single rows for four people moving have quite a high degree of movement and the film they moved to this year was outstanding, albeit absolute trash. In that sense absolutely recommendable.

Los Icarus und Alucinakis

Next to the wave swinger Los Icarus, which offered a pretty good ride with a beautiful view and a pleasant breeze, is the children’s hybrid roller coaster Alucinakis in Terra Mítica. After the great downward helix first drop, the rest of the track is only oval, but since the ride produced by Zamperla is quite fast, the whole thing is even fun.

Magnus Colossus

After leaving the Greek area, one finds oneself in a Roman fort. Here you can see the big roller coaster of the Terra Mítica amusement park, which can be seen from far away. To get to it, however, you have to climb a few metres, as Magnus Colossus is located at the highest point of the park. The ride, built by the Roller Coaster Corporation of America (RCCA), takes you up one more level and then down again with a double drop. This is followed by a few turns and slopes and there is also airtime until you are released into the brakes after the Big Helix. The ride itself is not bad at all, only the trains are anything but suitable for a wooden roller coaster. The upper body swings back and forth in the last row between bar and backrest in such a way that the whole thing, although you hold on to the provided bar, is not as funny anymore. In terms of ride quality Parque Warners Coaster Express is better, but the ride in Benidorm has the better layout.

Inferno

Passing a few children’s rides, we descend to the entrance of the Intamin ZacSpins Inferno, only to climb the mountain again immediately afterwards. After you have taken a seat in one of the two groups of seats, the ride is already going uphill. What follows is a fun and crisp but short ride, in which you can make your rollover on the last hill or before, depending on the load. Basically the smaller Zac Spin rides are the second part of the bigger brother, but here not braked to death. Concerning the turnovers, I think it could be much more intensive, however for most people the ride is probably good enough the way it is.

El Vuelo del Fenix

Next to the Circo Maximo, another show theatre, is El Vuelo del Fenix, a beautiful Giant Drop by the company Intamin with three tracks and a height of 54m. This tower is in a kind of dead end since the connection between Rome and Iberia was lost. The Spaniards themselves, however, do not seem to be averse to the free fall, as there were longer waiting times here, mainly due to only one open lane.

La Colera de Akiles

If you follow the path now downhill, you will enter the Las Islas themed area. Here you will find not only another show theatre on one level, but also the carousel Mythos and a Mondial Supernova called La Colera de Akiles. The latter ride is the first of its kind I have come across and I have to say I am thrilled. The ride programme is quite well done for a park, only the swing could be a bit higher.

Rapidos de Argos

Furthermore, there are two rafting rides in close proximity to each other, while the Intamin ride is intended to get you wet, the Hafema ride called La Rescate de Ulises functions as a dark ride, which unfortunately was closed at the time of the visit. The Rapidos de Argos, on the other hand, ran without any problems and can wet you quite well, which was mainly due to the continuous waves sloshing into the boat. The concrete channel, as with the park’s spillwater, shines in a strong shade of blue, which reduces the visual impact of the rafting, which in itself is quite beautiful.

Pictures Terra Mítica

Conclusion Terra Mítica

In general, Terra Mítica looks like new paint everywhere, everything is well maintained and clean. Except for the lack of interaction during the interactive dark ride, everything is in more than good condition, the atmosphere in the park is top notch, the dispatch is surprisingly fast and at every corner there are opportunities to cool off, which by the way could not hurt a certain park in Salou. If you are ever in the vicinity, you should definitely visit this park, the airport of Alicante is not far away.

 

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Terra Mítica

A few hours on the unmagical island

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Isla Mágica

Located in the centre of the city of Seville, on a large part of the former 1992 World Exposition site, is the Isla Mágica theme park. This park, existing since 1997, offers a few rides, but a lot of shows, food stalls and a lot of vegetation combined with many thematic elements.

The first impression you get in this park is quite positive, but this changes relatively quickly when you take a closer look at the park’s manageable rides portfolio.

The park itself is built around a lake, on which there are two attractions, a boat ride and a self-built splash battle, probably one of the newer rides in the park. Similarly cheap is the boat swing, which was apparently lovelessly smacked onto the lake.

Anaconda

The first big attraction you will come across is the log flume Anaconda from Mack Rides. It has three shots of not exactly low altitude and has been wonderfully integrated with the park area and the waiting areas of the log flume. The wetness level seemed to be quite dry from the outside, we unfortunately did without a ride at the beginning of the day, a few hours later we stood here for half an eternity.

Tren de Potosi

A few metres further on you will find the park’s first roller coaster, the Tren de Potosi. This roller coaster of the company C&S is quite close to a Big Apple, but has a downward helix after the, here at least, funny hills. The ride itself is a lot of fun and is not only an enrichment for the small kids.

Llamas

It takes quite a long walk until you reach the next attraction, the more disappointed you are that the Llamas are only allowed to be ridden by children, after all, this ride is quite original for an electronic horse track.

Iguazú

Right next to it, you will find Iguazú, a spillwater of Intamin, which makes very good use of its surroundings, but does absolutely nothing at all. From the water, which the boat (by the way the same construction as already known from the Parque de Atracciones de Madrid) diverts to the side, you will only get drops inside the boat.

Jaguar

Located in a dead-end street you can ride the second roller coaster of the park. The ride, named Jaguar, has not only a surprisingly open area below the roller coaster, but also the latest generation of trains by Vekoma. Although the ride is absolutely no good and the bonus helix just deserves the label “nice”, the train is simply ingenious. It is not only absolutely comfortable, but can also keep its head from all side blows thanks to the new brackets. The waistcoats themselves are a little more comfortable than on the MK1200 trains, as used for example in Gardaland and Walibi Holland. At least the trains are a worthwhile investment for any reasonable park, only here in Isla Mágica they are a complete waste.

Capitán Balas

Passing the tea cups, we go to some ugly concrete buildings that date back to 1992. In the basement of one of the buildings is the pirate darkride Capitán Balas. This is an interactive ride by Mack, which can also be found in a similar form in the Avonturenpark Hellendoorn. The scenes themselves are beautiful and detailed, moreover, you can get your inmates wet at the right moment, unfortunately only yourself at the wrong moment.

Rapidos del Orinoco

Back out of this concrete complex, where there are also two cinemas, we now enter an area where the vegetation seems to have taken over. Here you will find the Rapidos del Orinoco, the last major attraction of the park and one of the most beautiful rapid rides in Europe. The beauty of the park is not necessarily wet, as is often the case in Europe, despite the waterfalls that are still sticking out into the boat. The curve around the wave flyer is particularly worth mentioning.

El Desafío and Ciklón

Apart from a children’s land, a merry-go-round and the Power Tower El Desafío by Maurer Söhne – which has different programmes running at different times, but even in the most intensive version can do less than the prototype in Hansa-Park -, as well as the beautiful Giant Disk’o Ciklón by Zamperla, there is basically nothing left here. The only, more or less, traditional dark ride of the park has been replaced by a Maze that costs 5€ entrance fee and is probably not worth the extra charge, even if you get a voucher at the park entrance.

Pictures Isla Mágica

Conclusion Isla Mágica

For those who love a theme park for its shows and theming, Isla Mágica is certainly a really good and successful park. For all the other park guests the offer of the park is simply too low and the price compared to the other Spanish parks is simply too high, even though you don’t even have to pay the full entrance fee until the age of 25. In my ranking of the worst amusement parks Jaderpark was knocked from its throne, because I don’t want to go here a second time voluntarily.

 

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Isla Mágica

Climbing mountains in Fort Fun Abenteuerland

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Preface

After the Sternrodler was tested, we went past the actual highlight of the trip, the Bruchhausen Stones, towards the village of Wasserfall to visit the local amusement park. The Fort Fun Abenteuerland was founded from the western city Fort Fun City and can still show this leading theme today, but also the ski lift and the two former summer toboggan runs led to the success of the park at that time.

After I informed the cashier about the 50% discount of the Movie Park Germany annual ticket, we went into the park. David was luckier than me concerning the staff, so that his first impression about the customer friendliness and motivation of the staff was still positive.

Tour of the park

Devil’s Mine

This should not change even at the first attraction visited, the Vekoma roller coaster Devil’s Mine. But first you have to pass the much too long, but worth seeing queue, even if it’s too dark in the first part. The ride itself is surprising and very fun due to the two airtime moments after the hills with the friction wheels. Unfortunately we could not make another ride in the afternoon because the ride had a defect.

Crazy Washhouse and Mystery Warehouse

Other attractions on the really beautiful top level of the amusement park Fort Fun Abenteuerland include a wave swinger, the Funhouse Crazy Washhouse, which lost all its charm due to empty rooms and offering just some mirrors, a Nauta Bussink Ferris wheel and the ghost train Mystery Warehouse. The latter ride was quite amusing and even thematically convincing due to individually placed theming elements.

Rio Grande

Probably the best themeing can be found at the small rafting ride Rio Grande from Bear Rides, which can score with its original cacti. Even if you look at the age of the ride and how wet it is, the ride is still one of the better rapid rivers.

Dark Raver

The path now led us further and further downhill and so directly to the next highlight in the Fort Fun Abenteuerland, the Indoor Round-Up Dark Raver. Even though the building is rather strange from the outside, the ride was really successful. The light effects and the music give the old Fähtz ride another live.

The show stage and the climbing structure next door don’t look very nice, even though the idea was not bad. We didn’t watch the show itself, because it seemed to be over by the time we arrived. Furthermore there is plenty of space for attractions on this level of the park, but the use of this area is rather sparse. Considering how many top-class rides have left the park in the course of time, I wonder why they did not find their place here, as attractions are generally missing in this park.

Trapper Slider

Our way leads us to the highlight par excellence of the amusement park Fort Fun Abenteuerland with a ride that changed my world view on alpine coasters in general, the Trapper Slider. The slogan “Feel the thrill – Rock the hill” basically says it all, because what the ride offers is outstanding. After a little longer time in the lift you reach the top of the lifthill and after a small 270° downhill helix the ride starts. After a very short time you reach your cruising speed of about 50 km/h and you are sent over elements that would virtually pull you out of your seat if the seatbelt was not so tight. The centrifugal brake has to work quite hard in the curves, provided there is no lurker in front of you. After a good 1300 m the ride is over and the only thing you can think of is the word brilliant.

Wildwasserbahn

Those who need something leisurely after the ride can get into the chair lift next door or go downhill for a few metres and take the Wildwasserbahn. This early log flume, from the cooperation of the manufacturers Mack and Arrow, has a considerable track length and a great setting. As with the log flume in Thorpe Park, England, there is a mixture of different styles, which unfortunately is not really convincing here. The degree of wetness of the ride was quite high, because the two passengers got really soaked.

Tomahawk

Next to a ship swing from the manufacturer Huss you can admire an exotic in the park: a Shake R5 from Mondial. The ride was long and balanced, but there were no rollovers. If you know the Commander von Hanstein or if you have done a round in Schäfer’s Shake & Roll, you will be a bit disappointed here, but if you know how awful sometimes the rides on Vorlops Shaker are, you will find the ride good. For a medium sized park the Tomahawk is a good investment.

Speed Snake

The roller coaster Speed Snake, a Vekoma Whirlind, was formerly known as the whirlwind. Since the original Arrow chaises unfortunately became too old, as in Heide-Park, a new train had to be brought in. This one is a first generation Vekoma train from the Prater in Vienna. If you have any bad suspicions now you will be disappointed, as it is usually the case with the Dutch manufacturer, because the train offers the same seating comfort as the old Arrow trains and this even with legroom in the second row. The ride itself is surprisingly intense in the corkscrews, as I previously only knew the identical specimen in the Zoo Safari- und Hollywoodpark Stukenbrock with an empty train, I was a bit surprised, and will pass through without any significant jerking or even hitting. The theming does not enhance the ride, but it is nicely placed and easy to look at, and the successful train does its best to do so.

Marienkäferbahn

Where the Fort Fun Abenteuerland on the top level could still create a harmonious picture, the design decreased more and more, which at first sight is not really disturbing, because the gardeners do a good job here. But there is a place in the park that really belongs to the worst what you can see in a park. The whole thing is declared as a children’s land and can be seen next to some cheap rides of Italian origin, the Zierer dragon train, which has been unused for some years, with an ugly blue facade and a Tivoli large. The Marienkäferbahn scores with its location in the middle of a forest, and the ride also offers a decent amount of speed – which is not always the case on such a roller coaster ride.

Beverly Hills Drive

At the lowest point of the park you will again find a well-designed attraction. The Monza track, known as Beverly Hills Drive, offers a long driving distance and a design that can be found in a similar form at Disney.  In any case, the ride is a ray of hope for the rather weak lowest part of the park.

Fun Xpress

Because we missed the Fun Xpress we went back up the mountain by foot. As the gastronomy in the lowest area of the park was more busy with itself than with the customers, we went to the gastronomy at the log flume. The offer here is decent, but also a bit expensive. After a while the staff noticed me and I ordered a portion of Pommes Spezial. The taste was great and I was satisfied.

Pictures Fort Fun Abenteuerland

 

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Fort Fun Abenteuerland