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 we walked about 1km to Chessington World of Adventures – a Merlin Entertainments theme park. There we immediately came across a wonderfully deserted animal and theme park. On the day we visited, all the rides were doing two laps in a row, which was quite amazing, especially on the roller coasters.

Dragon’s Fury

Passing the tigers and lions, which were still moderately active in the early morning, we made our way to the first object of desire, the Dragon’s Fury spinning coaster. This ride, built by Maurer Söhne, is relatively easy to describe as it is simply brilliant. The first drop ends in a crazy S-curve combo that leads into an Immelmann turn. This is followed by a couple of turns and helices, which then lead into another weirdness, the second fairly flat lift hill, which gives you the 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 mean feat with rides like Sonic Spinball at Alton Towers or Tarantula at Spain’s Parque de Atracciones de Madrid. The ride itself usually has a very good spin, which adds to the great layout of the ride.

Wild Asia

Next door, the newly designed Wild Asia area took us straight to Asia. The former Beanoland, which was dedicated to an English comic series, has been revamped for the 2010 season and now welcomes visitors with two new features.

Monkey Swinger

As well as a bumper car, a playhouse and a crazy bus by Zamperla, the area also boasts a very remarkable installation: A Zierer Wave Swinger. Normally 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 ice-cold refreshment. This is where you realise that the English are not really averse to water. It is not surprising, then, that you will find yourself running through the water fountains at least a dozen times during the ride. The outer seats, where you are already soaking wet, are still the driest seats.

Kobra

To get dry you can go to the body dryer or take a ride on the new Kobra ride, a Zamperla Disk’o Coaster. Unfortunately, the ride itself looks much more impressive from the outside than it is from the inside. Nevertheless, a ride on the Kobra is still a nice in-between ride.

Lorikeet Lagoon

The second new feature is the Lorikeet Lagoon, an attraction that is becoming increasingly common in zoos such as Erlebnis-Zoo Hannover and Weltvogelpark Walsrode. This is a walk-in aviary where lorikeets do their rounds and you can buy food for these birds for a small fee. The nature of these parrots is such that you can get into some pretty funny situations, as long as you have some nectar to attract them.

Dragon Falls

In the Chinese themed area of Mystic East you will find the log flume ride Dragon Falls next to the Peeking Heights Ferris Wheel, from which you can theoretically see all the way to Thorpe Park. This ride is beautifully designed but has a very low water level and a rather bizarre layout.

Rameses Revenge

Much to the surprise of the staff, we took a ride on the Top Spin Rameses Revenge. As the first guests of the day, we were surprised not only by the ride’s fountains, but also by the staff’s knowledge of German, who appropriately referred to the machine as a ‘Waschmaschine’.

Tomb Blaster

In the same themed area is the interactive dark ride Tomb Blaster, an attraction by Sally that is well worth seeing. A long train takes you through a series of breathtaking backdrops. Due to the yawning emptiness of the park and the resulting long pauses in the block areas, you could score a lot of points, but the ride also lacked some momentum.

Rattlesnake

Somewhat hidden in a pit like Top Spin, the cars of Rattlesnake – a Wild Mouse by Maurer Söhne – make their rounds. The waiting area in the middle of the layout alone deserves some attention, but the ride trumps that. Unlike the Crazy Mine at Germany’s Hansa Park, the original ambience has been preserved and not enhanced by functional additions.

Runaway Train

Slightly off to the side is the Powered Coaster Runaway Train – a Blauer Enzian model from Mack Rides. This standard model is perfectly suited to Chessington World of Adventures, as you can see from the queue that has somehow been inserted into the ride. The coaster itself is also much more harmonious than its sister ride Flying Fish at Thorpe Park, which is barely 15 miles away. The friendly staff also contribute to the great atmosphere.

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 walk is through the Sea Life Centre, which unfortunately has an ugly tent look from the outside. Inside, however, the aquarium is very impressive. The large variety of species and the elaborate design make for a high entertainment value. Thanks to the very low number of visitors, it was finally possible to take a closer look at the fish.

BubbleWorks

The Transylvanian themed area is home to the world’s most beautiful Burger King and a very special dark ride about squeaky ducks. The tour of the BubbleWorks bubble factory is quite amusing and has one of the most impressive finales as you literally take a bath. You won’t get wet, but the water jets you pass through are impressive.

Vampire

The last roller coaster in the park is an Arrow Dynamics and is a true suspended coaster. This rare type of coaster is mainly found in America and unfortunately the very few examples are getting rarer and rarer with time. So it’s good to know that there is one in Europe. The new Vekoma trains at least give hope for a long future.

The ride on Vampire starts out quite amusing with some combinations of curves where you are already swinging a bit to the side. Shortly after that the ride climbs the second lift hill, which completes the visible part of the ride. Passing the row of houses by the Burger King, you quickly reach the treetops where you continue to swing back and forth. The highlight of the ride comes shortly after when you exit a tunnel and swing out hard after a big drop. Unfortunately, you end up in the brake section, where you swing out a bit before returning to the station.

Vampire is a very surprising coaster, and the ride comfort for those who wear glasses is noticeably improved as soon as you take them off. Although Vampire is neither the tallest nor the fastest roller coaster in the park – mainly due to the local constraints of the park – Arrow Dynamics have managed to give the park an extremely entertaining ride that is definitely unique, at least in Europe.

Black Buccaneer

Next to it, in a very interesting location, you can admire the park’s boat swing, which, like all the other big rides, is located in a pit. Bizarrely, the entrance to Black Buccaneer is in a rather illogical position, so you might need to spend some time looking for it. Once you have made the impressive descent to the ship swing, you will be rewarded with a great ride with a rather large swing out.

Pictures Chessington World of Adventures

Conclusion about our first ever visit

Chessington World of Adventures is one of the most exciting animal and theme parks in Europe, with top quality rides, beautifully designed themed areas and a really good zoo. If you are in the London area and have to choose between Chessington World of Adventures, Legoland Windsor and neighbouring Thorpe Park, Chessington World of Adventures is well worth a visit.

 

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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

As Blue Fire was new this year and the first roller coaster to open in Southern Germany, the ride was targeted right from the start. This approach was absolutely justified, because while the queue for Blue Fire was only about 20 minutes in the morning, it was much longer in the afternoon. Somehow everyone wanted to ride Blue Fire.

After taking your seat in the very comfortable trains of the Blue Fire roller coaster, you pass through a small, nonsensical dark ride section, where you are launched at a snail’s pace with all sorts of effects. This is followed by a very modest turn which, like the following element of a looping, is taken far too slowly. The steep turn before the climb up to the block brake can be seen as the highlight of the ride, as long as you don’t come to a stop in the block brake. The following corkscrew is a lot of fun at the right speed, but unfortunately you don’t get to enjoy it very often. The absolute outrage, which fans unfortunately call the highlight of a coaster par excellence, is the supposed and completely miscalculated heartline roll towards the end of the ride on Blue Fire.

Blue Fire is by far one of the most boring roller coasters around, nothing is right and one can only hope that Mack Rides will realise the potential of the following rides. Where the first part of the ride is far too slow, the second part on Blue Fire is unfortunately far too fast, leaving guests with a weak, boring and bad coaster that they will think is better due to their lack of experience with inversions and launches.

To wake up from this deep sleep, the café next to the ride was tested. The coffee served there is damn good and is the real highlight of the Icelandic themed area.

Atlantica Supersplash

After leaving Iceland and heading towards Portugal, you find yourself in front of the impressive structure of the Atlantica Supersplash. Unfortunately, like other rides of this type, it can’t do anything, but there’s a drench zone to get a little wet. The nonsensical backwards part of the ride can be complemented by an even more nonsensical 540° turn on the first turntable, as long as the capacity is not fully utilised.

Tiroler Wildwasserbahn

If you want to get really wet, make a pilgrimage to the Tiroler Wildwasserbahn, which lives up to its age. Especially on this ride you can see how much Europa Park takes care of its rides, as this log flume looks and rides like new, which is not the case in other parks. The level of wetness is excellent and the cave you go through is just great.

Alpenexpress Enzian

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

Fjord Rafting

Fjord rafting also looks like a small version of 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. The design is nice, but you can see the age of the Intamin ride.

Apart from the HUSS Pirate nearby, there are not many rides from other manufacturers in the park. Apart from the Zierer Wellenflug in Austria, the Zamperla attractions in the English themed area and 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 B&M.

Silver Star

Silver Star is the quintessential car park roller coaster and makes perfect use of this fact with a fitting theme. The layout’s out & back design looks breathtaking due to the height, but the ride is relatively harmless. While in the front row you only get an unpleasant breeze during the ride, in the back row you get some nice floating airtime at its best. Unfortunately, the ride has the worst queue since the invention of the queue, so a 20-minute wait in the summer is definitely not worth it.

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 Disney’s universe of energy. Even if very few people notice or even find it, this dark ride is definitely the most coherent one in the whole park. The dinosaur theme is a bit out of fashion, but should be back in fashion by the time the fourth Jurassic Park is released.

Schweizer Bobbahn

The Swiss themed area features the prototype of Mack’s bobsleigh run, which has nothing to offer other than an attractive design. The Swiss bobsleigh track is one of the most harmless and, unfortunately, boring rides of its kind. Unfortunately, the queue is usually the longest, as the capacity is not very exciting.

Matterhorn Blitz

Similarly boring is the second coaster in this area, the Wild Mouse with an extended layout and a lift instead of a lift. Matterhorn Blitz was my 100th roller coaster and unfortunately the ride and the longest queue in the whole park were not worth it. The extended Mice lack basically 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 beneath your feet. Unfortunately, this very fast ride has never been widely available.

Fluch der Kasandra

In the Greek themed area there is a witches’ swing, which for once was not built by Vekoma. Unfortunately, The Fluch der Kasandra has no story to tell, and apart from the main room, there’s nothing more than some nice atmospheric music. The additional effect of the pop massage is a novelty, but completely unnecessary.

Poseidon

The nearby Poseidon water rollercoaster is a good example of how a water rollercoaster should be ridden, as if you are lucky you will get wet, or if you are unlucky it will happen before the ride as you wait under the Trojan Horse. The twisting rollercoaster section has some interesting strokes, but nothing to spoil the ride.

Pegasus

Pegasus is the most airtime-rich and family-friendly rollercoaster in the park. Named after the winged horse, the coaster offers a twisting track that finishes at a decent speed, perfect for young audiences.

Euro-Mir

In the Russian themed area you can visit the Russian space station Mir. Much quicker, though no less exciting, is the neighbouring Euro-Mir. One of the best soundtracks of all time plays as you climb up the harmonious lift. Once at the top, you take a few turns around the Mir towers as the gondola spins. Before the first descent, the gondolas lock into place, so that the next part of the ride is either forwards or backwards, until the gondolas turn 180° on the hill. The following part of the coaster is very intense and remains so as the radii get smaller and smaller. As on the Eurosat roller coaster, the brakes are very strong, but if you are lucky enough to hit them backwards, it is not too bad.

Schneeflöckchen Schlittenfahrt

Tucked away is the Schneeflöckchen Schlittenfahrt, a beautiful and harmonious dark ride with puppets and probably the most iconic car in the form of a sleigh with benches, hence the attraction’s nickname, Bench the Ride.

Piraten in Batavia

In the Netherlands you can visit the Piraten in Batavia dark ride. Like so many others, this dark ride tries to be like Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean. Unfortunately, the ride does not succeed at all and for me it is one of the worst and most boring dark rides ever. Not only is it an unparalleled waste of time, but it is also the perfect attraction to put you to sleep.

Magia

The Variety Show in the Italian themed area was equally successful to put me into sleep at the time of my visit. I did not see much of the show called Magia, but the clown at the beginning of the show was quite original.

Geisterschloss

Nearby are the dark rides Ciao Bambini and Geisterschloss, both of which 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, as the Geisterschloss is not so bad after all.

In the Spanish themed area, there are two other smaller attractions, including a sea storm ride with a decent enough ride that you can usually just get on without having to wait. There are also a number of show arenas scattered around the park. The ice skating show is one of the best, although the clown before the show is always the highlight.

Pictures Europa Park

Closing Words Europa Park

In contrast to Heide-Park, Edeka Day at Europa Park is a very special day. Apart from free samples at every corner, there are many other activities. Strangely enough, this day was also much emptier than the day before and it was open longer. If you still have time in the evening, you can watch the latest films in the park’s own 4D cinema, which is mostly in 2D, but with the appropriate special effects.

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Click here for the overview page of Europa Park

Europa Park