A day in Walygator Parc

Preface

On Easter Monday David and I originally wanted to go to Phantasialand, however, the park hadn’t yet closed its Maus au Chocolat competition and the entrance fee of 37€ wasn’t worth it in regard of the expected crowds. Therefore we searched for alternatives and somehow we settled on the idea to visit France to see the Monster of Walygator Parc in action.

Walygator Parc

Once arrived at the park we had to go to the ticket offices. This took some time, as the park unfortunately only has a small number of these. At the entrance most of the people waited on the the left side of the entrance. With our walk directly to the other side, we saved a lot of time.

The park, formerly known as Walibi Lorraine/Stroumpf, has been run by a French showman for some years now, which is why a lot of novelties moved to the park area, but also a lot of trashy rides has gone into the park. Thus, the park has a certain charm that is worth discovering.

Anaconda

The rides portfolio is quite respectable, you can find some classic rides as well as the worst wooden coaster in the world – at least if you believe this year’s Wood Coaster Poll. We went into the coaster with the lowest expectations, after all we were all familiar with Efteling’s former wooden coaster Pegasus and were positively surprised. Anaconda is just fun, even if you don’t have much speed on the hills. The descents are even better. The ride doesn’t beat you up nor rattles, yet it was described by some coaster fans as a massive physical injury…

Family Coaster

Since we are all interested in roller coasters, we drove the most gentle of all Wacky Worms soon after. We managed to create a good atmosphere on the Family Coaster, which probably caused confusion for some passers-by.

Waly Twister

Thereupon, we wanted to continue our journey towards the monster and therefore took a ride on the Waly Twister with us. Unfortunately, as with almost all flatrides in the park, it was operated on a budget. In the meantime we observed how the Monster had to be evacuated.

Waly Coaster

Instead of waiting, we decided to take a closer look at the rest of Walygator Parc. Thus we went to the Vekoma Hurricane Waly Coaster, which also was surprisingly good. Moreover, it was nice to sit in an Arrow train again, which unfortunately are getting rarer and rarer.

One more surprise came to us in the theatre of this section, where we watched a magic show. In three languages they presented a mix of magic and comedy on a stage that could convince solely because of its lighting technology. The magician, apparently having a dog fetish, presented many tricks that worked according to the same scheme, but this was well covered by her immense bust size.

Terror House

The next highlight of the park was the Terror House. I must confess that I am not a fan of such attractions and have no idea what Halloween is all about. But as the other guys wanted to take a walk through the Maze by all means, I couldn’t say no after all. A positive note is that you were sent in small groups of 8 people through the Maze, which led to a slightly longer waiting time.

Before you were allowed to enter the Maze one floor lower, you had to conquer the real terror: the Funhouse. You were sent through narrow corridors with various bizarre funhouse elements and numbers on the wall, which might also be found in Bobbejaanland. The only thing missing here would have been some clowns and the creep would be perfect.

On the lower floor there are some interesting rooms and effects, especially the butchery scene at the beginning has already given a girl in our group the rest. Instead of cheering her up, however, her boyfriend told her how funny the whole thing was and how much fun he had with it. Dulled as you are by some horror movies I found the rest very nicely done and quite amusing. The walk through the rooms of the maze took quite some time and showed off the park’s overall quality of doing stuff nice, when on a budget.

Rafting

In the immediate neighbourhood of the horror maze you will find the park’s rapid ride, which tells you the story of Odysseus and his ten-year odyssey. As only eight boats were in use on Rafting and the loading system is more than strange, we had to wait some “trains” until it was our turn. The rafting itself is really impressive and has a wonderful wetness level, as you can get pretty wet by the waterfalls.

Rivière Sauvage

In order to be able to really get soaked in Walygator Parc, there is also a wonderfully designed Soquet log flume Rivière Sauvage in Walygator Parc. In contrast to the one at Walibi Sud Ouest (formerly Walibi Aquitaine), there is even an outflow in the boat and the ride comfort is much better. The degree of wetness is quite good for just one drop.

Monster

As the main reason for our visit was still missing we lined up at the Monster. We were already in the station and had to wait only one more lap for our journey in the front row, however, the train braked A little bit too strongly and the whole ride went down. It took about an hour until they were ready to start a test run, but even there the train braked too hard. As we wanted to go at least once we had to wait. Since the ride operators for the day were dismissed at some point, our hope for a ride fell apart and we left the park.

Pictures Walygator Parc

Closing Words

Nevertheless, the day was not a disappointment, as we got to know a nice French theme park. Especially the design in the front area of the park can even blow you away and the shows are even recommendable. The rides of the park are great, even if the HUSS Topple Tower always stands still. Walygator Parc has a good mix of roller coasters and the world’ s worst wooden roller coaster, which is truly worth a ride.

When the Wild Mouse roller coaster arrives in the park next year, Walygator Parc will see me surely again. And I will start my day on the Monster, as I would love to ride this roller coaster at some point.

 

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A day of disappointments

Erlebnispark Tripsdrill

The oldest and probably most beautiful amusement park in Germany, the Erlebnispark Tripsdrill, is situated between picturesque vineyards near the city of Cleebronn. The connection to wine is omnipresent in the park, as is the superstition of rejuvenating yourself with a bath. The Altweibermühle Tripsdrill has been in existence since 1929 and welcomes a good 600,000 park guests annually in its amusement and animal park.

In the front part of the park there are some rail-guided rides, all of which were built in the probably longest version possible, as well as some very special attractions. For example, there are also some ABC rides in the park, which are all rather leisurely, but at least can convince by their design. The soapbox race is especially worth mentioning, although the system is quite strange.

Rasender Tausendfüßler

The first roller coaster of the park can be heard very well from far away, as it is a large Tivoli Coaster made by Zierer. The design of the Rasender Tausendfüßler is pretty nice and the ride itself is very distinctive, although you don’t often get the chance to touch the lawn.

Gugelhupf-Gaudi-Tour

In addition to a Zierer Berg und Talbahn with a shoe look and a wave swinger from the same company, there is also a Gerstlauer Waltz Gugelhupf-Gaudi-Tour with gondolas designed like a Gugelhupf cake. As the ride was one of the reasons to visit the park, I was even more disappointed that this ride is simply to be defined as disgrace. The ride simply doesn’t do much at all; the potential of the ride is not even used to 5%. This is a pity, because the predecessor model of the 70s from the Schwarzkopf factory in Münsterhausen was simply ingenious.

Waschzuber Rafting

On the way towards the rear part of the amusement park you will find the Hafema rafting ride Waschzuber Rafting featuring a washtub theme. While the queue represents exhibits of various epochs of washing, one can get moistened in the boats with a lot of luck.  Unfortunately, this rather early installation does without the typical whirlpool with downhill run.

Mammut

Similarly shallow is the wooden roller coaster of the park, which is unfortunately rated by the fans of the park as very good, although it lacks almost all typical signs of a wooden roller coaster. The layout is actually quite nice, not very high, not very fast and without high forces, which suits the target audience quite well. Mammut is a middle-class family roller coaster and not a wooden roller coaster in the real sense, as the trains made by Gerstlauer are very much reduce the shocks and therefore the out of controle feeling. The roller coaster itself is better than the former wooden roller coaster from the Dutch Efteling, but that’s not very hard, either. At least, it is a wooden roller coaster and that’s actually a good thing. The time will surely enhance the ride.

G’sengte Sau

Right next door the G’sengte Sau, a Bobsled Coaster from Gerstlauer, shows a powerful performance. The manufacturer from Münsterhausen shows defines how a Wild Mouse style ride has to be and offers some forceful twist and turns. The result is one of the funniest roller coasters in Germany, which has found a nice home in the Rauhe Klinge castle with the neighboring log flume.  Besides the great camelbacks towards the end of the ride, the Wetten Dass…? sign as one of the highlights during the ride.

Badewannen-Fahrt zum Jungbrunnen

If you thirst for bare breasts you should go into the neighbouring log flume Badewannen-Fahrt zum Jungbrunnen. The fountain of youth shows its effect, just like the backward drop for some unknowing passengers. The course itself is one of the bigger and newer log flumes in Germany, but still offers a good amount of moisture, not including the small splash zone in the queue.

Pictures Erlebnispark Tripsdrill

Conclusion Erlebnispark Tripsdrill

The total package Erlebnispark Tripsdrill can be enjoyed every now and then. The park itself is a pity, but the Erlebnispark Tripsdrill gives away a lot of potential with its rides. The gastronomy is to be seen as deficient, which has a good price, but does not provide the necessary service.

 

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