Enterprise

A wooden flash

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Fun Spot America Orlando

Unlike its sister park in Kissimmee, the park in Orlando is gated and a security check is performed at both entrances. Tickets for the rides and attractions can be bought within the park. Like Fun Spot America Kissimmee, there is an evening wristband option, which I used during my visit.

Sea Serpent

The smallest roller coaster in the park is Sea Serpent. The ride by E&F Miler Industries is in the small kiddie ride section of the park and offers an oval layout, which is refined by many waves. The ride is enjoyable and a lot of fun for the youngest park guest.

Freedom Flyer

The Freedom Flyer on the other hand is a ride which satisfy basically everyone. Once we board the suspended family coaster, the ride starts with a short curve towards the lift hill. At the top we immediately fall in a wide left turn towards the ground. Far above the paths, we then climb up again in a similar way. A straight hilltop follows. With momentum, we now pass through a short dip, whereupon a labyrinth of narrow helices follows. Alternating right and left helices, we get faster and faster before we rush into the station at top speed. There we are gently slowed down and then come to a stop.

The Freedom Flyer is a top-class ride. The layout is fun, especially the young park guests. As the first big roller coaster I can hardly imagine a better ride. The pacing and the ride characteristics of this modern family roller coaster classic are very convincing.

White Lightning

Fun Spot Orlando’s star attraction is the GCI wooden coaster White Lightning. The ride runs along the Northern and Western boundary of park and serves as a nice background to most of the rides.

In a short dip we leave the station, whereupon the lift hill of the ride is climbed. Once the maximum height of 22m reached, we immediately plunge down the curvy first drop. Close to the ground, we are now swerving from one side of the ride to the other in a wild s-curve manoeuvre. This is followed by a double-up element with a double-down element ensuing. Back on the ground level we immediately shoot up into a turnaround where the banking of the track increases steadily before we fall to the ground. Rushing over hill and dale the track is now running parallel with the already experienced one.

After two high hills follows a slightly twisted S-curve hill, which flows into a small double-down. We now whiz over a very, very small hump before we are pushed to the right side of the train in a small curve. This is followed quickly by another very flat hill, before approaching in a short left-right corner combination the break run of the ride. 

Well, how should I judge the roller coaster?! After my first rides with Heidi – The ride at Plopsaland De Panne, which has a very similar layout, I was truly underwhelmed, but White Lightning has proven me wrong. This ride is fantastic! It is an overall very well paced coaster which is just fun to do one lap after the other.

Go-Kart Tracks

If you are looking to spend a bit of time on a go-kart track, Fun Spot got you covered. The four tracks named Commander, Quad Helix, Trasher and Conquest are pure fun. While the Trasher is a rapid track close to the ground, the other three are all multi-level tracks, featuring a bunch of helices, hills, steep drops, and tight curves. As the tracks are overlaying each other, you can hardly follow the layouts, which makes a ride on all of them a very challenging activity.

Miscellaneous

Fun Spot America Orlando offers a very solid selection of classic American flat rides, as well as some more exclusive rides, as the Enterprise or a star flyer variant featuring a new kind of flying sensation. As its sister park in nearby Kissimmee, the park also features a large Sky Coaster, which is also one of the largest of its kind.

Together with Gatorland – the alligator capital of the world –, Fun Spot America Orlando features Gator Spot – a small zoo housing Florida’s famous reptiles. Although it’s just a small attraction at Fun Spot, it is one you should not miss.

Pictures Fun Spot America Orlando

Conclusion Fun Spot America Orlando

Orlando’s Fun Spot America is a very solid amusement park, which offers a nice alternative to the picture-perfect theme parks by Universal and Disney. You don’t need to spend a lot of time (or money) to have a good time at the park.

What is your opinion about the Fun Spot America in Orlando?  Just write it in the comment field below the report!

Click here to get to the overview page of Fun Spot America Orlando.

Fun Spot America Orlando

Scenic Fun on the Scenic Railway

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Luna Park Melbourne

One of the smallest amusement parks, an enthusiast might encounter during his travels is the Luna Park Melbourne in St.Kilda. The historic theme park is sitting on a triangular spot of land with no space to expand anywhere. The amusement park heavily influenced by Luna Park on Coney Island in New York opened its gates in 1912. Its star attraction is the Scenic Railway, which runs along the outskirts of the park and gives it a beautiful aesthetics. Within the courtyard of the wooden coaster, all other attractions are placed.

When you enter the park through its beautiful yet creepy entrance portal, you directly encounter one of the park’s mayor attractions. The Luna Park Carousel was built in 1913 by Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters and features 68 horses and chariots. Each horse is unique and has a name.

Right next to it you can find a HUSS Enterprise, a Meisho built boat swing, as well as the Spider by the Eyerly Aircraft Company. This old-style flat ride has one of the creepiest decorations to be found on the eccentric designed by artist and children’s book author, Leigh Hobbs.

Power Surge

Past the park’s Ferris-Wheel, we quickly encounter a Power Surge by Zamperla. Although these rides are quite common on fair grounds in Australia and in the US, I’ve never encounter one of these attractions in person. I was surprised by its smooth and thrilling ride experience.

Scare Mazes

During our visit to Luna Park Melbourne, the park had hold two scare mazes. Extreme Phobia was located on the top level of the old Dodgems building, which nowadays is home to the Luna Palace room and Haunted Fairytales was located on the top floor of the Stardust room. Both haunted houses were upcharge and a rather expensive experience. My friend Aris went through Extreme Phobia yet did not found it particularly scary nor worth the money.

Ghost Train

An attraction I would have wished to be at least a little bit scary was the traditional Ghost Train by the Pretzel Amusement Ride Company from 1934. The short ride in the small trains featured for the most part just dark corridors with static paintings, some black light effects and just a handful of animatronics. Given that the ride featured the longest line in the park, I was not at all impressed.

Speedy Beetle

The novelty of this year was the small spinning coaster Speedy Beetle by SBF Visa, which just replaced the aging Silly Serpent family coaster. Surprisingly, it was the first spinning coaster of this type, I have come along. The small Figure-8 coaster can be found nearly everywhere around the globe and provides an excellent spinning ride for smaller guests.

Pharaoh’s Curse

The second big thrill ride of Luna Park Melbourne is the Kamikaze Pharaoh’s Curse by Fabbri. Unlike other Kamikaze rides by the company this one is much closer to the Original Sky Flyer by Vekoma and Mondial featuring just a comfy lap bar for the thrilling inverting ride. As good as this ride is, it looks like being in a terrible condition.

Scenic Railway

Something you cannot say about the Scenic Railway, which seems to be overall well kept. During my visit, it was the oldest operational roller coaster as Leap-the-Dips at Lakemont Park in Pennsylvania was currently in restoration. However, the ride is famous to be the oldest continuously operating roller coaster.

The ride on the Scenic Railway begins with a small S-Bend into the cable lift. After climbing the (for a coaster of that age surprisingly straight) lift, we pass a curve above the iconic entrance of Luna Park Melbourne. A large drop follows. After another scenic curve at lofty heights, we now descend close to the ground level and enter a camelback covered by a tunnel. With best views onto Port Phillip Bay, we take another turn. Shortly thereafter, the second round in the triangular layout of the ride starts. First, we take a large drop behind the station building of the Scenic Railway, before we take another S-Bend in order to continue our journey in the courtyard of the ride. Now we take a series of airtime hills and a tunnel while following the layout of the previously experienced track. While doing so, the train loses a lot of momentum and nearly crawls towards the station in the last curve.

The Scenic Railway is a historically significant roller coaster. Unfortunately, it is also the weakest scenic railway, I had the chance to try so far. It seems that the brakemen are using the brakes a bit too much and that the ride therefore becomes so gentle. Nevertheless, I am quite sure if you have a well experienced brakeman, you can have a blast of a time on the Scenic Railway.  It is a nice coaster with a fun layout and therefore worth to keep it running as long as possible. Just don’t miss it when you are visiting Melbourne.

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Conclusion

Luna Park Melbourne is not a park I recommend visiting other for their iconic Scenic Railway. The park is expensive and there is a lack of attractions. Overall, it seems that the Luna Park Melbourne had its best years far behind. Everything is just a bit worn off and for a park of its size that does not give the best image you could have.

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Click here for the next report of the Hell Yeah, Schabelteah! Tour

Hell Yeah, Schnabelteah Day 6 to 8 / Luna Park Melbourne

Following the gold rush to Slagharen

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Gold Rush at Attractiepark Slagharen

After the rumour that the looping star Thunder Loop would soon be dismantled had persisted for several years, the ride in Slagharen actually came to an end towards the end of last year. But don’t worry about the old lady, who has been turning the world of visitors to the Attractiepark upside down since 1979, as she is now once again owned by the Bemboom family – so a return to one amusement park or another cannot be entirely ruled out. This year, the Gold Rush roller coaster, a compact roller coaster with triple launch and closed circuit by the manufacturer Gerstlauer takes its place.

But can the roller coaster worthily follow in the footsteps of the roller coaster that was the first looping roller coaster for generations of Dutch and border-crossing Germans? I admit that this question is a bit too far-fetched, but nostalgia cannot be replaced so quickly. In fact, Slagharen is now home to an unparalleled gem; a state of affairs that was not so difficult to achieve compared to the previous status quo. However, the perfect integration of the ride, which visually benefits the left-hand side of the park and makes it look quite smooth, does not reveal anything about the ride itself.

It begins with a very shallow launch from a standing position towards the top hat, which is consequently climbed to a rather low level. With the speed now built up, the launch distance is passed backwards once more, but this time with a much more intense acceleration. With a broad smile on your face you shoot the dive loop up at the rear end of the acceleration section, turn there in a slight overhead position and take a third run-up. After reaching the top speed of 90 km/h you dare to climb the top hat once more, which you can now do easily. While the entrance to the element bends to the right, you leave it in a straight downhill run. With a good push you cross the following valley and immediately turn around in a high banked steep turn, whereupon the station is crossed on a camelback. Far above the heads of the future passengers, the train performs another steep curve manoeuvre, which releases you parallel to the station. The train then gains height for a last time before it dives into the dive loop towards the end of the ride and quickly returns to its starting position.

The new Gold Rush roller coaster offers a solid ride for young and old and therefore fits perfectly into the Attractiepark Slagharen. Although it is newer and follows a trend with the triple launch, it offers about the same ride pleasure as its predecessor – so they did everything right.

Pictures Attractiepark Slagharen

 

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Attractiepark Slagharen