Tag: Family Coaster

Riding the Legend

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Arnolds Park

Coming into Arnolds Park is just stunning. After passing a camelback-like gate arch which even features an old coaster train on top, guest can park their car on the big parking lot opposite the Iowa Great Lakes Maritime Museum. From here, guest can take a walk on Lake St. towards the Queen II excursion boat passing a few nice restaurants and shops.

The amusement park is located to the left of Lake St. Here we enter the park at the turn around of the roller coaster The legend. At the back half of the park, guests can find most of the park’s major attractions, like a dodgem, a Scrambler, a Tilt-a-Whirl, a Round-Up and three classic rides by the Eyerly Aircraft Company.

Roll-o-Plane and Rock-o-Plane

One of the main reasons for visiting was to see a Roll-o-Plane in action. This compact ride, designed by Eyerly, would have been a blast if it had been open when I visited. The ride itself is an improvement on the Loop-o-Plane ride, where the gondolas take one loop after another; here, the gondolas can rock sideways and the cantilever is lifted during the ride, creating a unique Immelmann Turn-like ride sensation.

A little disappointed, I soon boarded the Rock-o-Plane, also by Eyerly. I had the chance to ride a similar ride at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, so I was eager to give the Ferris wheel-like ride a good rock. It took a while to get started, but I had a great time and ended up doing a few somersaults.

Octopus

The last ride in this great collection is the Octopus. Unlike the more common monster rides, there are only two gondolas per arm and the arm itself has no additional rotation. However, due to the design of the ride, there is always a pop of airtime at the top and the fast wave motion makes it easy for the cars to spin. A great ride!

Mad Mouse

Another great ride in the back of the park is the small family coaster Mad Mouse by the Allen Herschell Company, which unfortunately broke down a few minutes before I was able to try it. The compact design consists mainly of narrow hairpin bends and very gentle slopes.

Boji Falls Log Ride

The Boji Falls Log Ride is one of the park’s largest attractions. This very compact 1970 log flume ride by Arrow Dynamics was donated to the park in 1999 by the Morey family, owner of Morey’s Piers in Wildwood, New Jersey. In Wildwood, the ride was part of the defunct Dinosaur Beach.  

After climbing the lift, the boat bob through a bunch of turns at high altitude making its way to the other side. After a final turn, the riders are confronted with the only downhill chute and a nice splash soon after.

Long Lines Limited Train

Probably the sweetest attraction in the front section of the park is the Long Lines Limited Train. This small train ride gives you brilliant views onto the park’s wooden coaster, the small Kiddie Coaster and the park’s Ferris Wheel.

Legend

The ride on the small wooden coaster Legend starts with a dip out of the station. After the lift hill it goes straight into the first drop of the ride. This is done by a gentle curve to the left, which gives a nice lateral sensation. After an uphill, we make a turn to the left. Now we go down and race over a series of camelbacks, which offer some good airtime. After a turn to the right, we make our way parallel to the Okoboji Lake promenade, hitting a few more camelbacks on our way to the station. Soon after, our great ride on this nearly 100-year-old roller coaster comes to an end. The Legend is a great ride and a great reason to stop in Iowa.

Pictures Arnolds Park

Conclusion Arnolds Park

Little Arnolds Park is a hidden gem and not to be missed when travelling through Iowa. Not only is the location on Lake Okoboji stunning and absolutely beautiful, but the park also boasts a large selection of America’s finest rides. The Legend roller coaster is certainly a blast and the main reason for a visit.

 

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Arnolds Park / The great Mid-Western Road Trip Day 4 - 5

The FirleFranz of Bayern-Park

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Prelude

A lot has changed since my last visit to Bayern Park. Not only is the theme park now much more impressive with a large and beautiful entrance area, there are also three attractions that are well worth seeing. The biggest of these is of course the Voltrum freefall tower, which is over 100 metres high and is intended for the more daring. For the whole family, there is the Duell der Adler and the crazy FirleFranz family rollercoaster.

Duell der Adler

As soon as you enter the theme park, you come across the Duell der Adler. The Gerstlauer Sky Fly is a great family carousel where you can customise your own ride. By adjusting the position of the wings on the gondola, you can experience a rather calm ride or a wild ride with lots of somersaults. A counter counts these and enables a final comparison.

FirleFranz

I like the new style at Bayern-Park, which really comes into its own on the new FirleFranz family rollercoaster. The open-ended coaster, with the train going both forwards and backwards, is an interesting feature.

The ride itself begins with a gentle friction wheel start backwards out of the station, climbing about halfway up the spiral. We accelerate forward once more, then cross the switch and enter a turn. This then takes us up a hill, which we ride a bit slowly. The big drop is followed by a Bavarian bend. Another bend leads us into the second launch area, which would serve as an additional braking zone if the switch had not been set correctly. However, we accelerate and enter a helix after a short climb. After going through the switch a second time, we travel forward through the station to the end of the spiral, which is an interesting experience, especially in the front part of the train. Now the switch is set a second time and we travel backwards a little faster through the section we have just experienced. A great feeling and my highlight of the ride.

FirleFranz is a really good family coaster with a clever layout that makes the supposedly short track seem like a much longer ride. Even though the ride forward is a bit smoother, the fast ride backwards is all the more impressive. All in all, a really great family coaster from Gerstlauer.

Voltrum

The large Voltrum drop tower is my favourite of the three new features. It offers a fantastic view of the area and an equally fantastic drop. The theming of the ride gives it a very special feeling, something that only Scream at Heide Park has achieved in Europe so far. It feels elaborate and not like a temporary addition like many other theme parks. In short, a really great ride.

Pictures Bayern-Park

Conclusion Bayern-Park

Bayern-Park is making really good progress. I can’t wait to see which attractions will fill the vacant areas in the park. I was also very pleased that my biggest criticism from my last visit no longer seems to apply. The staff here were very friendly, especially the nice employee who directed guests to the right ticket office in the morning. That’s great and gave me a very positive impression overall.

 

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Bayern Park

A ride on Flotter Otto and Looping Alois

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Flotter Otto and Looping Alois

On my Easter trip this year, I used the afternoon entrance to Skyline Park to try out last year’s additions.

The larger of the two new rides still uses the station of the former Bob Racing attraction, but not the area around it. This is now largely unused and still gives an idea of the layout of the former bobkart track. The track of the new family coaster Flotter Otto runs parallel to the station building. At both ends you take a turn in a helix and that’s it. As many park visitors have commented, the ride is not a worthy replacement. However, it is a very good starter coaster for young children.

The second addition is the Looping Alois flat ride. Theoretically, you can control your flight, i.e. whether you go up, down and sideways. Unfortunately, the ride at Skyline Park is operated in automatic mode, which means that every passenger inevitably rolls over against their will. This is not unpleasant, but not very nice either. Without interactivity, the ride is simply not attractive to many visitors.

Pictures Skyline Park

Conclusion Skyline Park

Overall, the park makes a worse impression than on my last visit. Although there are more attractions, the paint is peeling in other places. This is particularly noticeable on the façade and some of the figures on the Geisterschlange dark ride, which are now simply weathered. The fisherman on Sky Rafting is also more off-putting than inviting, as are many of the decorations around the park. This is a shame as the park has a lot of potential.

 

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Skyline Park