Tag: Dark Ride

A day in the world of adventure

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Chessington World of Adventures

The day after Whit Monday we took the train to Chessington South and from there about 1km walk to the amusement park Chessington World of Adventures – a theme park of Merlin Entertainments.  There we immediately came across a wonderfully empty animal and amusement park. On our day of visit, all rides did two laps in a row, which was quite astonishing, especially with the roller coasters.

Dragon’s Fury

Passing tigers and lions, which were still moderately active in the early morning, we went to the first object of desire, the spinning coaster Dragon’s Fury. This ride, built by Maurer Söhne, is relatively easy to describe, as it is simply ingenious. The first drop ends in a crazy S-curve combo, which leads into an Immelmann turn. Some turns and helices follow which then change into another weirdness, namely the second quite flat lifthill which gives you the necessary potential energy to complete the rest of the rather bizarre layout.

Dragon’s Fury is by far the best spinning coaster in the world, which is no easy feat with rides like Sonic Spinball from Alton Towers or Tarantula from the Spanish Parque de Atracciones de Madrid. The ride itself usually has a very good gondola rotation, which further enhances the great ride layout.

Wild Asia

Right next door, the newly designed Wild Asia theme area lured us straight into Asia. The former Beanoland, which was dedicated to an English comic series, was redesigned for the 2010 season and now presents itself to visitors with two new features.

Monkey Swinger

In addition to a bumper car, a playhouse and a crazy bus from Zamperla, the area also boasts a very remarkable installation: A wave swinger made by Zierer. Normally to be found in almost every amusement park, Chessington World of Adventure manages to make the Monkey Swinger something very special by using water fountains. In contrast to the installation at Phantasialand, the fountains at the Monkey Swinger are not only an impressive decoration but also serve as an ice cold refreshment. Here at the latest, one becomes aware that the English are not really averse to water. Thus, it is not surprising that one rushes through the water fountains a dozen times during the ride. Thereby, the outer seats where one already gets soaking wet are still the driest seats.

Kobra

To get dry again you can go to the body dryer or sit in the new Kobra ride, a Zamperla Disk’o Coaster. The ride itself unfortunately looks much more imposing from the outside than it is from the inside. Nevertheless a ride on the Kobra is still a nice one for in between.

Lorikeet Lagoon

The second novelty in this area is the Lorikeet Lagoon, an attraction that can now be found more and more often in zoological gardens, such as Erlebnis-Zoo Hannover or Weltvogelpark Walsrode. It is a walk-in aviary where lorikeets make their rounds and you can buy food for these birds for little money.  Thanks to the nature of this parrot species it is possible to get into quite funny situations, at least as long as you have some nectar left to attract them.

Dragon Falls

In the Chinese themed area Mystic East you can find the log flume ride Dragon Falls next to the Ferris wheel Peeking Heights, from which you can theoretically see as far as Thorpe Park. This ride is wonderfully designed but offers only a very slight level of wetness and a rather bizarre layout.

Rameses Revenge

To the joyful surprise of the staff we went for a ride on the Top Spin Rameses Revenge. As the first guests of the day we were not only surprised by the fountains of the ride, but also by the good German language skills of the staff, who appropriately called the machine a Waschmaschine.

Tomb Blaster

In the same themed area there is the interactive dark ride Tomb Blaster, an attraction from Sally that is well worth seeing. Here, a long train takes you through numerous breathtaking backdrops. Due to the yawning emptiness in the park and the resulting longer breaks in the block areas, one could accumulate a bunch of points, but the ride also lacked some momentum.

Rattlesnake

Somewhat hidden and lying in a pit like the Top Spin, the wagons of the Rattlesnake – a Wild Mouse from Maurer Söhne – do their rounds. The waiting area in the middle of the layout alone deserves some attention, but this is even more trumped by the ride. In contrast to the Crazy Mine at the German theme park Hansa Park, the original ambience has so far been maintained and not enhanced by functional extensions.

Runaway Train

Somewhat offside you can find the Powered Coaster Runaway Train – a Blauer Enzian modell of Mack Rides. This standard model has been perfectly suited for Chessington World of Adventures, which you can already notice when passing through the queue that has somehow been put into the ride. The coaster itself is also much more harmonious than the sister ride Flying Fish from Thorpe Park, which is barely 15 miles away. The nice staff provides a great atmosphere as well.

Hocus Pocus Hall and Sea Life Centre

An interesting attraction is the passage through the Hocus Pocus Hall, where you can see some effects with special glasses. Another interesting walkthrough is the Sea Life Centre, which unfortunately has an ugly tent look from the outside. But in the interior, the aquarium is very convincing. The big variety of species and the elaborate design provide a high entertainment value. Thanks to the very low number of visitors it was finally possible to have a closer look at the fish.

BubbleWorks

In the Transylvanian themed area Transylvania you will find the probably most beautiful Burger King in the world as well as a very individual dark ride around the topic squeaking ducks. The tour through the bubble factory BubbleWorks turns out to be quite amusing and can show one of the most impressive finales, because here you literally go for a bath. You won’t get wet, but the water jets you drive through are very impressive.

Vampire

The last roller coaster of the park is from Arrow Dynamics and is a true suspended coaster. This rare type of roller coaster can be found mainly in America and unfortunately the very few examples are getting rarer and rarer with time. In this respect it’s good to know that there is also a ride of this kind in Europe. The still quite new trains made by Vekoma at least give hope for a long future.

The ride on Vampire starts quite amusing with some curve combinations where you already swing a bit to the side. Shortly after that you will go up the second lift hill, after which you complete the part of the ride that can be seen from the outside. Passing the row of houses at the Burger King you quickly get into the treetops where you continue swinging a little to and fro. The highlight of the ride follows shortly afterwards, when one swings out quite intensively after a big drop while leaving a tunnel. Unfortunately, one lands in the braking section shortly thereafter, where one swings out a little before returning to the station.

Vampire is a very surprising roller coaster whose ride comfort increases noticeably for those who wear glasses as soon as you take them off. Although Vampire is not the highest or even the fastest roller coaster – which is mainly due to the local conditions at the park – Arrow Dynamics managed to put an extremely amusing ride into the park, which is definitely unparalleled at least in Europe.

Black Buccaneer

Right next to it, in a quite interesting location, one can admire the ship swing of the park, which, as all the other bigger rides, was put into a pit. Bizarrely, the entrance to Black Buccaneer is in a quite illogical position, so you can invest some time before you find it. After one completes the impressive way back down to the ship swing one is rewarded with a great ride with a quite large swing-out.

Pictures Chessington World of Adventures

Conclusion about our first ever visit

Chessington World of Adventures is one of the most interesting animal and theme parks in Europe and can boast first-class rides, beautifully designed themed areas and a really good zoo area. If you are close to London and are spoilt for choice between the three theme parks Chessington World of Adventures, Legoland Windsor or the practically neighbouring Thorpe Park, the park in Chessington should definitely be paid attention to – it is worth it.

 

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Chessington - World of Adventures

Visiting Mickey Mouse

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Disneyland Park

Having arrived in Disneyland Park, it feels as if you have been transported back a few decades, since you are now in an American main street at the beginning of the twentieth century. Oldtimers and carriages are waiting for their guests and also the park railway has its main station here. There are also some shops and most of the parade route runs along this path, which is fairly long and leads to the entrances of the remaining four themed areas.

In addition to the tramway we also tested the park railway in this area. It runs along the edge of the park and belongs to one of the more crowded Disneyland Park rides, where you can queue for up to an hour. As we got a good opportunity we didn’t have to wait. The 40 minute round trip is definitely worthwhile.

Fantasyland

If you walk down Disneyland Park’s main street, you are walking towards the landmark of the Fantasyland. The castle, inside which you can see the story of Sleeping Beauty, is not as big as it seems from some angles.

If you cross the castle, you find yourself on a place with a horse carousel – where it was quite difficult to climb the horses –, as well as the two dark rides Pinocchio and Snow White. The second one reminds of a very trippy ghost train, while the journey of Pinocchio was wonderfully staged and belongs to one of the best dark rides of the continent.

Nearby are the Dumbo carousel and the teacups. Two lanes which can show an incredibly long queue quite fast. An influence on the rotation of the teacups is unfortunately hardly possible, but the ride remains a wonderful attraction to avoid a very heavy downpour.

The labyrinth next door shares the same theme as the tea cups. Like Alice in Wonderland, you pass through this somewhat bizarre labyrinth, whose exit is unfortunately quite easy to find.

Peter Pan’s Flight

You can also find the most popular attraction of the park in this area. It is Peter Pan’s Flight, a dark ride with too few scenes and a very bizarre ride system. If you are planning a ride, you should get a Fastpass-Ticket, as this is the weakest ride in the whole park and the capacity is simply too low.

It’s a small World

A little off the beaten track, but always present, lies the wonderful dark ride It’s a small World. Remarkable and somehow strange is the number of boats which give this ride an enormous capacity and very short waiting times. The happiest cruise of the planet should therefore not be missed, even if the music is one of the greatest catchy tunes in the world.

Adventureland

Pirates of the Caribbean

If you follow the paths of the Fantasyland, you will find the entrance to another dark ride in Adventureland. Even the queue is a feast for the eyes, which is rarely trumped. Of course we are talking about the Pirates of the Caribbean, a dark ride using the same boats as in It’s a small World, which leads to a fantastically high capacity among other things. The music is a catchy tune that gets you in the mood for binge drinking. The only point of criticism is the way too loud chain at the lift, but this can be overcome during such a great ride.

The area itself is beautiful, but also unfortunately somewhat underpopulated by rides. Therefore we visited the temple of fear. A very beautifully themed queue prepares one for the following experience. In the station of the roller coaster, we get into the wagons in which we take the route.

Indiana Jones et le Temple du Péril

During the curves of the Indiana Jones et le Temple du Péril you often get to know the shoulder restraints when you are sitting in the front car. The rest of the track is as great it should be: Intense with a touch of airtime in front of every block brake, which is great for blowing mouse ears into the air. From the outside this Indiana Jones ride also looks very attractive and should be ridden in any case, even if it gives some people a different picture of the manufacturer Intamin.

In addition, you can find a long suspension bridge, some caves and Robinson Cruseo’s tree house – a walktrough where you can queue a little longer –, in this area of Disneyland Park.

Frontierland

Big Thunder Mountain

If you follow the circuit of Disneyland Park, you will at some point enter the Wild West with its landmark the Big Thunder Mountain. The size is trivial, but the ride is as loud as a thunder roll. The Big Thunder Mountain offers a station for normal visitors and fast passers. For this reason it can take quite a long time until the next train appears on your side. The ride itself doesn’t offer many daring curves, but a lot of beautiful straights, strange lifts and cool tunnels. Everything is rounded off by the harmonious and always present theme, which makes the ride together with Colorado Adventure of Phantasialand and El Diablo of Port Aventura one of the best mine trains in Europe.

An attraction that goes around the island and over the first and last tunnel of the roller coaster Big Thunder Mountain is the three-storey steamer. It is recommended to look in the direction of the Big Thunder Mountain, as the surrounding area is beautiful but offers little variety.

Phantom Manor

From the steamer you can see an old manor house. It looks deserted, just like the garden you have to pass through to approach this house. In the house itself one is greeted by strange figures who are able to speak languages that no Frenchman or Englishman would describe as grammatically correct. They send you into a room that turns out to be an elevator with nice pictures on the wall. After you have left this part of Phantom Manor behind, you enter a corridor, which you have to walk along in order to take a seat in your doom buggy. The ride is harmonious and offers a continuous storyline. A scary beautiful melody accompanies you to the cemetery, where it is briefly replaced by the Grimm Grinning Ghosts and you finally come to the end of the ride which is clearly one of the best dark rides out there.

Discoveryland

The final theme of Disneyland Park is Discoveryland, which is largely based on the work of the French writer Jules Verne. As a contrast to this, Star Wars is here too – something that really doesn’t fit in here.

Space Mountain

The Space Mountain hall is a visual feast for the eyes. On its second mission you fly to the supernova and back again. The Columbiad cannon shoots the train towards space and a completely mad route is taken. The cars are similar to those of the Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster, comfortable and well padded. The launch is noticeable, although not particularly intense due to the location. Inside the building some curves and inversions appear where you wouldn’t expect them. The ride characteristics range from very good to well, depending on the time you get on the ride and how loaded the train is at that time. In any case this is an experience not to be missed, especially as this concept coaster is still unique.

Star Tours

One of the older attractions of this area is Star Tours. A beautiful large-capacity simulator where, starting from an intergalactic airport, you can experience a tourist flight through space. Of course with an inexperienced pilot, who brings you into very risky situations. This simulator is just a cult classic.

Honey, I shrunk the Audience

In the cinema next door you can watch the movie Honey, I shrunk the Audience, a very old 3D movie with some predictable effects. A negative aspect is the poor quality of the image, which takes some time to get used to. Even the cinema itself is not the best due to its flooring, as you can quickly fall if you don’t pay attention.

Autopia

Also to be found in this area is the multi-lane car ride Autopia, which can be controlled very poorly from my point of view. Perhaps it was also due to the fact that I had to drive on the right lane and thus had the steering wheel on the right. However, it could also be simply due to the fact that I am used to drive other things. However, it is a ride worth driving.

Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast

The last major attraction of Disneyland Park is the interactive dark ride Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast by Mack Rides. In this highly recommended attraction you travel to planet Z to put a stop to the evil Zurg and bring back the energy sources (in the form of batteries) and score some points. Thanks to the rather unfavourable capacity due to all the intermediate stops, a fast pass is definitely recommendable here.

In addition to the submarine attraction, which was closed at the time of the visit, and the mostly crowded ride next door, there is also a musical show theatre in this area, which unfortunately did not host any shows due to the low season and instead showed some cartoon classics.

Pictures Disneyland Park

 

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Disneyland Park

A great weekend at Europa-Park

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My first visit to Europa Park

Blue Fire Megacoaster

Since the roller coaster Blue Fire was new this year and first launched coaster in the south of Germany, the ride was targeted right at the beginning. This approach was absolutely justified, because where the queue at Blue Fire in the morning was only about 20 minutes, it was much longer in the afternoon. Somehow everybody wanted to drive Blue Fire.

After you have taken a seat in the very comfortable trains of the roller coaster Blue Fire you pass through a small nonsensical dark ride part to be fired with all kinds of effects at a snail’s pace. This is followed by a very modest turnaround, which, like the following element of a looping, is driven through much too slowly. The steep turn before the ascent to the block brake can be seen as the highlight of the track, as long as you don’t come to a stop in the block brake. At the right speed, the following corkscrews are a lot of fun, but unfortunately, you don’t get to enjoy it very often. The absolute outrage, which is unfortunately called the highlight of a roller coaster par excellence by the fans, is the alleged and completely miscalculated Heartlineroll towards the end of the ride on Blue Fire.

Blue Fire is by far one of the most boring roller coasters par excellence, absolutely nothing is right here and one can only hope that the company Mack Rides will recognize and use the potential of the following rides. Where the first part of the ride is much too slow, the second part on Blue Fire is unfortunately much too fast, so that at the end a powerless, boring and bad roller coaster is waiting for its guests, who, due to a lack of experience with inversions and launches, think that the ride is superior.

To wake up from the deep sleep the coffee house in the immediate vicinity of the track was tested. The coffee served there is pretty damn good and therefore the real highlight of the Icelandic themed area.

Atlantika Supersplash

After leaving Iceland in the direction of Portugal, you will find yourself in front of the impressive structure of the Atlantika Supersplash. Unfortunately the ride, as well as other rides of this type, can’t do anything, but there is a soak zone to get at least a little bit wet. The nonsensical backwards part during the ride can be supplemented by an even more nonsensical 540° turn on the first turntable, as long as the capacity is not fully utilized.

Tiroler Wildwasserbahn

To get really wet you have to make a pilgrimage to the Tiroler Wildwasserbahn, which does its age credit. Specially at this ride you can see how much Europa Park is trying to take care of its rides, as this log flume looks like new and rides like new, a thing that is unfortunately not the case in other parks. The degree of wetness is outstanding and the cave you ride through is just great.

Alpenexpress Enzian

The Alpenexpress Enzian also makes its rounds through the same cave and, like its slightly longer brother from the Soltau Heide Park, is quite convincing. But not only the Powered Coaster shows clear parallels to Soltau, you can also find a larger version of the Seerestaurant in the Heide, as well as some smaller attractions that are more or less the same.

Fjord Rafting

The Fjord Rafting also looks like a small version of the Mountain Rafting, but unfortunately the ride itself is not really exciting or even wet. The rapids, the waterfalls and the wave pool are particularly mild here. The design is nice, but you can tell the age of the Intamin ride.

Besides the HUSS Pirate in the immediate vicinity, there are not many rides from other manufacturers in the park. Besides the Zierer Wellenflug in Austria and the Zamperla attractions in the English themed area, the Chance C.P. Huntigton train there is only the Intamin Gyro Tower in the French themed area, and the biggest European roller coaster by the manufacturer B&M so far.

Silver Star

The Silver Star is the epitome of a parking lot roller coaster and makes perfect use of this fact with a suitable theming. The out & back design of the layout looks breathtaking due to the height, but rides relatively harmless. While in the first row you only get an unpleasant breeze during the ride, in the back row you experience some nice floating airtime at its best. Unfortunately, the ride has the worst queue since the invention of the queue, which is why queuing in the summer time with a waiting time of more than 20 minutes is definitely not worthwhile.

Eurosat

Not far from the steel giant is the dark roller coaster Eurosat, one of the best roller coasters of the park. Although the curves are sometimes quite borderline in complete darkness and the brakes are adjusted very strongly, but you wait no matter how long the queue is, at most 30 minutes, because it moves steadily forward.

Universum der Energien

Beneath the ride is one of the better attempts to copy the universe of energies at Disney. Even if the ride is only noticed by very few park guests or even found, this dark ride is definitely the most coherent one in the whole park. The theme of the dinosaurs is a bit out of fashion, but should be back on everyone’s lips by the time the fourth Jurassic Park part is released.

Schweizer Bobbahn

The Swiss themed area features the prototype of Mack’s bobsleigh run, which has nothing to offer except an attractive design. The Schweizer Bobbahn is one of the most harmless and unfortunately also boring rides of this kind. Unfortunately, one usually meets the fullest queue here, as the capacity is not very exhilarating.

Matterhorn Blitz

Similarly boring is the second roller coaster of this area, the Wild Mouse with an extended layout and an elevator instead of a lift. The Matterhorn Blitz became my 100th roller coaster and unfortunately the ride and the longest queue in the whole park was not worth it. The extended mice basically lack everything that makes the more compact and better standard mice.

Jungfrau Gletscherflieger

Probably the best attraction in this area is the Jungfrau Gletscherflieger, a ride that is very reminiscent of a Zierer hang-glider flight, but with the ground under your feet. Unfortunately, this very fast ride never managed to be widely distributed.

Fluch der Kasandra

In the Greek themed area there is a witches’ swing, which for once was not built by the Vekoma company. Unfortunately, the Fluch der Kasandra doesn’t offer a storyline and apart from the main room nothing else but a nice atmospheric music. The additional effect of the pop massage is something new at first, but absolutely unnecessary.

Poseidon

The nearby water roller coaster Poseidon shows how to ride a water roller coaster, because here you can even get wet with a little luck, if you are unlucky this happens even before the ride while waiting underneath the Trojan horse. Although the curvy roller coaster part offers some funny strokes, this does not make the ride worse.

Pegasus

Below the water roller coaster is the most airtime-rich and at the same time most family-friendly roller coaster of the whole park. Named after the winged horse, the Pegasus roller coaster offers a curvy track, which is completed at a decent speed and is perfectly tailored to the young audience.

Euro-Mir

In the Russian themed area you can visit the Russian space station Mir. Much faster, if not less exciting, is the neighbouring Euro-Mir. While you climb up the harmonious lift, you will hear one of the best soundtracks ever. Once arrived at the top, one turns a few curves around the mirror towers while the gondola is continuously turning. Before the first descent, the gondolas lock themselves so that one rides the following part either forward or backwards until one turns the gondolas by 180° on the hill. The following curvy part of the roller coaster is very intensive and remains so with the continuously decreasing radii. As it is also the case of the roller coaster Eurosat, the braking is very strong, but if one is lucky to drive backwards into the brakes, it is not that bad.

Schneeflöckchen Schlittenfahrt

Somewhat hidden is the Schneeflöckchen Schlittenfahrt, a beautiful and harmonious dark ride with dolls and probably the most cult car in the form of sledges with benches, which is why the nickname of the attraction is Bench the Ride.

Piraten in Batavia

In the Netherlands you can visit the Piraten in Batavia. Like so many others, this dark ride tries to orientate itself on Disney’s Pirates of the Caraibbean. Unfortunately, the ride does not manage to do this at all and is one of the worst and most boring dark rides for me. The much too long ride is not only a waste of time without equal, but also an ideal attraction to make someone fall asleep.

Magia

The Variety Show in the Italian themed area was similarly successful at the time of the visit. I did not notice much of the show called Magia, but the clown at the beginning of the show was quite original.

Geisterschloss

In the immediate vicinity are the dark rides Ciao Bambini and the Geisterschloss, both attractions are more or less copies of well-known Disney attractions. While Ciao Bambini was not tested by me, the completely trivial ghost train enjoyed a visit from time to time, because the Geisterschloss is not so bad after all.

In the Spanish themed area, there are two other smaller attractions, among them a sea storm ride with a decent program that most of the times, one can simply get on without waiting time. Moreover, there are some show arenas spread all over the park. Among others, the ice skating show is recommendable, whereby the actual highlight is basically each time the clown before the respective show.

Pictures Europa Park

Closing Words Europa Park

In contrast to Heide-Park, the Edeka Day at Europa Park is a particularly recommendable day. Apart from free samples at every corner, you can also enjoy numerous other activities. Strangely enough, that day was also much emptier than the day before and also open longer. If you still have enough time in the evening, you can watch the latest movies in the in-house 4D cinema, mostly in 2D, but with suitable effects.

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Europa Park