Dragon

A longer stopover at the Freizeitpark Lochmühle

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Preface

The previous day was not particularly successful, with an 850 km drive from Vienna, via Munich to a job interview at a company that had not contacted me again despite an agreement, and a visit to the Auto- und Technikmuseum in Sinsheim, whose Heege product range was already shut down 15 minutes before closing time, going to Weiterstadt. To make the 500 km distance back to Hamburg a little more interesting, a visit to Hesse’s most famous amusement park, the Freizeitpark Lochmühle, was planned.

Freizeitpark Lochmühle

The Ponyhof, which emerged in the 1970s from an agricultural business with a grain mill, has developed over time as well as the constantly growing number of playground equipment into a more than well-known amusement park in the Frankfurt area. The main target group of the park are without question families with smaller children, but also barbecue-loving adults are served accordingly by the large number of barbecue huts.

In addition to numerous play facilities for children or their adult counterparts, there are also some rides to try out. Directly at the entrance, behind a small replica of the Altweibermühle (old women’s mill) of the Erlebnispark Tripsdrill near Heilbronn, you will find two Heege Butterfly pendulum rides, from which you have a good view of the valley. Also on this level is the entrance to the generously designed monorail Helikopterbahn and the three Sky-Dive rides that lead across the lake.

Eichhörnchenbahn

Past a tractor ride and numerous animal enclosures, the path leads slowly down to the valley, where the Eichhörnchenbahn (squirrel coaster) – the park’s big roller coaster – is located. The ride, built in 1992, is a somewhat older example of a Force One from Zierer, which is characterized by a common bar, which is a positive feature compared to newer examples, especially regarding the ride comfort.

In addition to the beautifully designed Robinson Wellenfahrt flat ride from the same company, there are also two Luna Loops on this level in addition to a mat slide, the Entenkarussell and the Blütenwirbel from Metallbau Emmeln, as well as the two comet swings Schinderhannesschaukel in stagecoach design, which deliver immensely pronounced airtime.

Through an underpass below the access road you will reach an area with several trampolines, a larger café and a larger electric mule track Eselreitbahn. Those who prefer to ride real animals can do a circuit on one of the park’s ponies for a small fee. The exit of the park is also from this path.

Pictures Freizeitpark Lochmühle

Conclusion Freizeitpark Lochmühle

The Freizeitpark Lochmühle is a nice little amusement park, which is characterised by its numerous play and barbecue facilities, similar to the Erlebnispark Steinau close to Steinau an der Straße. However, due to the smaller number of play activities and the strange layout of the park, the amusement park does not seem quite as charming.

 

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Freizeitpark Lochmühle

The acclimatisation garden

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Jardin d’Acclimatation

Acclimatisation means the adaptation of living beings to changing climatic conditions. In order to research the subject, the Jardin Zoologique d’Acclimatation was founded on the edge of the Bois de Boulogne, the city’ s famous forest. Opened by Emperor Napoleon III in 1860, the zoological garden soon became more popular, so that even after major losses due to the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, visitors quickly flocked back to the park. With the opening of a small narrow-gauge railway, which still today connects the station Porte Maillot with the park, and other attractions, the Jardin d’Acclimatation developed into one of the city’s cultural centres. This direction was encouraged by renewed losses, starting with the First World War, and by general competition.

Today, the Jardin d’Acclimatation offers a beautiful garden, the Village aux Manèges, numerous playgrounds, various sports facilities, a puppet theatre, as well as animal enclosures. Apart from a large aviary and an interesting fallow deer enclosure, the Petite Ferme Normande is largely based on domestic breeds of farm animals, which is of great educational value, especially with regard to the city.

Tacot Express

The Village aux Manèges has two roller coasters as well as various children’s rides, a wave swinger, a Saltamontes with shoulder restraints and a cogs ride. The Tacot Express, a powered roller coaster from Soquet, is located directly on the square with the other rides. The ride starts with a curve, then goes up and down hills. After a right turn, the ride continues with some small hills and then a left turn to reach the highlight of the ride. With absurd rabiatism, the gradient into the tunnel follows, which is similarly surprising as the first drop of the Feuerdrache from Legoland Deutschland. With the speed now clearly present, another bend takes us in the direction of the station, just before the second round follows.

The Tacot Express seems to be a small, manageable ride, but it is full of surprises. In comparison to the more well-known rides of this type, for example the Blauer Enzian by Mack Rides, it trumps all along the line due to its compact design.

Papillon d’Alice

Almost opposite, the cars of the only Reverchon Junior Spinning Coaster are spinning themselves around in the Jardin d’Acclimatation. Papillon d’Alice is the name of this unusual ride and it is as unusual in appearance.  After a small curve, you climb the lift hill and pass a go-kart track. Above a building you make a small hairpin bend before passing a small dip. Continuing at a lofty height, you now drive along parallel to the station, before the rotation of the car is released after another 90° bend. Unfortunately, this is not as pronounced as with the bigger cousins of the same manufacturer, but for a small children’s roller coaster it is quite understandable. Two more long straight lines follow, until the biggest drop of the ride takes place after a block brake. Two directly connected hairpin bends lead into another smaller dip before it comes to the final dip on the way back to the station.

Although the roller coaster doesn’t look particularly spectacular or have any other exciting attributes, this little spinning coaster is first class. For a small children’s roller coaster there are at least far more duller layouts without any twisting effect, so that Papillon d’Alice can be seen as quite a cute ride for in between.

Dragon

A little bit away from the hustle and bustle, at the Jardin de Séoul, there is another roller coaster from Soquet: the Dragon. After a right turn you climb up the first friction wheel lift and another turn later the first drop of the ride takes place, at the end of which the next friction wheel lift is already waiting. Now you pass a left turn and drive through a tree, before, not surprisingly, another friction wheel lift comes up. The following drop is only used to build up the necessary speed for the next curve and therefore pushes you straight into it without paying any attention on your body. Clearly surprised you pass the station in order to make another lap.

Although the dragon is by far not as ingeniously absurd as the vintage car express in the front part of the Jardin d’Acclimatation, this ride is also quite convincing. The curve, which has been reworked after the construction, is just as strange as the very compact layout with the tree and its three lift hills.

Pictures Jardin d’Acclimatation

Conclusion Jardin d’Acclimatation

The Jardin d’Acclimatation is a great little leisure park in the most metaphorical sense, because no place seems to care as much about leisure as the garden does. Although there are some rides, these generally do not define the park and only make up a small part of the time spent here. The cultural offer of the park is relatively large and can entertain a family with children in connection with the animal enclosures and playgrounds throughout the year in a good and inexpensive way, because apart from the low entrance fee, you only pay a small price for every ride. Moreover, the prices of the gastronomy are also much more appropriate than generally in Paris, although you are not so far away from the actual tourist destinations.

 

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Jardin d'Acclimatation

A visit to Legoland Windsor

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Legoland Windsor

After Alton Towers, Legoland Windsor is the most popular Merlin Entertainments Group theme park in the UK, so expect long queues. Its location on a hill overlooking Windsor Castle in the distance gives the park a remarkable appeal.

From the top of the hill, several paths wind their way down, with slides similar to those at Tolk Show. The most interesting way to descend, or rather conquer, the hill is to take the Hill Train funicular railway, from where you have a great view of the Vikings River Splash rafting ride.

Vikings River Splash

Due to the canal, this ride is certainly not a beauty, but the view from the lower levels of the park is something special, as rafting boats floating many metres above you is not an everyday sight. The ride also seemed to be very wet, which even in England is a miracle on a ride like this.

Jolly Rocker

If you follow the path down from the rafting, you will pass a maze and Zierer Kontiki to reach the park’s pirate themed area, where an old acquaintance from Germany’s Heide-Park makes his swings. In addition to the HUSS Pirate Jolly Rocker, there is a teacup ride, a log flume and the Pirate Falls Dynamite Drench. There are also plenty of play areas for the little ones.

Knight’s Quest and Dragon’s Apprentice

If you’re looking for Adrealin, at least a little bit, you’ll find it in Knight’s Kingdom, where you’ll find the two coasters Dragon and Dragon’s Apprentice next to the rather popular torture machine Knight’s Quest, a rather uncomfortable Old Train by Mack Rides. While the latter is a nice children’s coaster with a downward helix and slight turns, the Dragon is a rather strange and interesting family coaster. Like many other rides at Legoland Windsor, both coasters were built by the English company WGH Transportation.

Dragon

The Dragon is a little reminiscent of Lightwater Valley’s legendary coaster The Ultimate, but without the height or length of the ride. The Dragon starts with a dark section, similar to the other Dragon coasters at Legoland. Towards the end of the ride, the Dragon heads towards the lift hill without a steep drop or launch. The lift hill is not very quiet due to the metal plates on the catwalk and the track is unnecessarily twisty. The first drop is followed by a figure of eight until you pass under the first lifthill on a second curvy lift and gain some more height. With the collected energy, you now pass through a tunnel and complete another figure of eight. The braking section consists of friction wheels, which have been installed on another curvy hill.

While the Billund Dragon has a fast course and a strong acceleration after the dark ride part, which is reminiscent of a launch, and the Legoland Germany Dragon has a comparatively large size and a rather abrupt first descent, the Windsor Dragon has nothing special to offer. Although the ride is suitable for children and is quite fun because of the sudden turns, the Dragon offers a more or less uneventful ride, often interrupted by lift hills.

Laser Raiders

If you follow the paths, the Egyptian themed area Kingdom of the Pharaohs offers another highlight in the form of the Laser Raiders, for which you are welcome to queue a little longer. As much as I would have liked to test the ride from Sally, the time I had left in the park went by very quickly. Due to the general traffic in London that day, as well as the big rush at Legoland Windsor, I was only able to visit the two roller coasters, Miniland, the Hill Train and the new 4D film.

The unique rides of Legoland Windsor

In addition to the usual Legoland repertoire, Legoland Windsor has a number of special features. For example, you can drive a real excavator in the Digger Challenge, move or turn your helicopter up and down on a stick at Duplo Valley Airport, slide down a twisting track in a dinghy on the Raft River Racer, pass by well-animated Lego models on the Fairytale Brook fairytale ride or take a ride in small submarines through a Sealife Centre in Atlantis Submarine Voyage.

Miniland

While the kids get wet in the Duplo water area, the adults can check out the Lego models in Miniland. This is quite nice and has models from the UK, France and the Netherlands. Star Wars models are not to be found in this part of the park, but fortunately they have their own display near the entrance.

Legends of Chima 4D

The park’s 4-D cinema is showing an agent film as well as a film exclusively about Lego’s new product series The Legends of Chima. As Lego have already shown how to animate properly with their series, I was quite curious to see this film, even though I didn’t know much about the subject matter and a Ninjago film would have been more appealing. The animation was very clean and the 3D effect was actually as clear as I have ever seen it in any other cinema. The other effects were all well adapted to the film, so it is definitely worth seeing, as long as you can cope with large amounts of water and are not necessarily averse to the animation genre.

Conclusion Legoland Windsor

Legoland Windsor is a park that really surprised me. Due to its location in a valley, the park offers unusual views and still knows how to make use of them. Everything seems to be in harmony, even if it is a bit more densely built than other comparable parks. Smaller children up to a certain age have plenty of opportunities to let off steam, which is generously accepted.

 

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Legoland Windsor