Family Coaster

An afternoon in Thale

Preface

Since my father wanted to be picked up from the Magdeburg airport, about 30 km away from the state capital, in Cochstedt, I was drawn to the east of the republic, of course with a little stopover. On the access road to the city of Thale I had some doubts if the whole thing was such a good idea, but the closer I came to the cable cars, the better I felt. Arrived at the Seilbahnen Thale Erlebniswelt, I immediately went on a discovery tour through the park that is divided into four areas. The fun park 1 with chair lift and a quite attractive high ropes course, the cable car with miniature golf under the first support, the witches’ dance square with theatre, animal park and Alpine Coaster, as well as a little aside the fun park 2.

A tour through the Seilbahnen Thale Erlebniswelt

Hexenbesen

The latter area contains the only flying coaster in Germany, a trampoline and a few bumper boats and is rather small. The Hexenbesen is only permitted up to a weight of 65kg, which is why I was a bit worried about getting stuck during my ride. The ride itself is not very fast and is like a wacky worm except for the different riding postion. Only the accelerator shortly before the end of the ride is quite funny. The degree of freedom in the tube is, as soon as you manage to crawl in it, quite big.

Harzbob

With a combi-ticket in hand, the gondola lift took us up high. But don’t worry, for people with fear of heights there is the possibility to come by car to the witches’ dance square. After a few meters of walking I already took a seat in the Harzbob, the Alpine Coaster of the Seilbahnen Thale Erlebniswelt. Unfortunately, the ride was a bit slow and the track needed time to get up to speed, so despite the very friendly staff, the Harzbob doesn’t finish far up. The Harzbob is roughly comparable to the Weserberglandbob in Bodenwerder.

Funpark 1

Back in the valley I was drawn to the last roller coaster of the Seilbahnen Thale Erlebniswelt. It is located in Funpark 1 and is a genuine butterfly made by Heege. The ride was very quiet and luckily not as short as the one in the Tierpark Nadermann. Also here I had to invest one Euro.

Before I left the city, I went up to the chairlift for one last ride. There is a fairy tale pavilion at the top, but as it costs money and the last ride of the day was getting closer and closer, I decided to go back down and walk through Thale instead.

 

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Seilbahnen Thale Erlebniswelt

Climbing mountains in Fort Fun Abenteuerland

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Preface

After the Sternrodler was tested, we went past the actual highlight of the trip, the Bruchhausen Stones, towards the village of Wasserfall to visit the local amusement park. The Fort Fun Abenteuerland was founded from the western city Fort Fun City and can still show this leading theme today, but also the ski lift and the two former summer toboggan runs led to the success of the park at that time.

After I informed the cashier about the 50% discount of the Movie Park Germany annual ticket, we went into the park. David was luckier than me concerning the staff, so that his first impression about the customer friendliness and motivation of the staff was still positive.

Tour of the park

Devil’s Mine

This should not change even at the first attraction visited, the Vekoma roller coaster Devil’s Mine. But first you have to pass the much too long, but worth seeing queue, even if it’s too dark in the first part. The ride itself is surprising and very fun due to the two airtime moments after the hills with the friction wheels. Unfortunately we could not make another ride in the afternoon because the ride had a defect.

Crazy Washhouse and Mystery Warehouse

Other attractions on the really beautiful top level of the amusement park Fort Fun Abenteuerland include a wave swinger, the Funhouse Crazy Washhouse, which lost all its charm due to empty rooms and offering just some mirrors, a Nauta Bussink Ferris wheel and the ghost train Mystery Warehouse. The latter ride was quite amusing and even thematically convincing due to individually placed theming elements.

Rio Grande

Probably the best themeing can be found at the small rafting ride Rio Grande from Bear Rides, which can score with its original cacti. Even if you look at the age of the ride and how wet it is, the ride is still one of the better rapid rivers.

Dark Raver

The path now led us further and further downhill and so directly to the next highlight in the Fort Fun Abenteuerland, the Indoor Round-Up Dark Raver. Even though the building is rather strange from the outside, the ride was really successful. The light effects and the music give the old Fähtz ride another live.

The show stage and the climbing structure next door don’t look very nice, even though the idea was not bad. We didn’t watch the show itself, because it seemed to be over by the time we arrived. Furthermore there is plenty of space for attractions on this level of the park, but the use of this area is rather sparse. Considering how many top-class rides have left the park in the course of time, I wonder why they did not find their place here, as attractions are generally missing in this park.

Trapper Slider

Our way leads us to the highlight par excellence of the amusement park Fort Fun Abenteuerland with a ride that changed my world view on alpine coasters in general, the Trapper Slider. The slogan “Feel the thrill – Rock the hill” basically says it all, because what the ride offers is outstanding. After a little longer time in the lift you reach the top of the lifthill and after a small 270° downhill helix the ride starts. After a very short time you reach your cruising speed of about 50 km/h and you are sent over elements that would virtually pull you out of your seat if the seatbelt was not so tight. The centrifugal brake has to work quite hard in the curves, provided there is no lurker in front of you. After a good 1300 m the ride is over and the only thing you can think of is the word brilliant.

Wildwasserbahn

Those who need something leisurely after the ride can get into the chair lift next door or go downhill for a few metres and take the Wildwasserbahn. This early log flume, from the cooperation of the manufacturers Mack and Arrow, has a considerable track length and a great setting. As with the log flume in Thorpe Park, England, there is a mixture of different styles, which unfortunately is not really convincing here. The degree of wetness of the ride was quite high, because the two passengers got really soaked.

Tomahawk

Next to a ship swing from the manufacturer Huss you can admire an exotic in the park: a Shake R5 from Mondial. The ride was long and balanced, but there were no rollovers. If you know the Commander von Hanstein or if you have done a round in Schäfer’s Shake & Roll, you will be a bit disappointed here, but if you know how awful sometimes the rides on Vorlops Shaker are, you will find the ride good. For a medium sized park the Tomahawk is a good investment.

Speed Snake

The roller coaster Speed Snake, a Vekoma Whirlind, was formerly known as the whirlwind. Since the original Arrow chaises unfortunately became too old, as in Heide-Park, a new train had to be brought in. This one is a first generation Vekoma train from the Prater in Vienna. If you have any bad suspicions now you will be disappointed, as it is usually the case with the Dutch manufacturer, because the train offers the same seating comfort as the old Arrow trains and this even with legroom in the second row. The ride itself is surprisingly intense in the corkscrews, as I previously only knew the identical specimen in the Zoo Safari- und Hollywoodpark Stukenbrock with an empty train, I was a bit surprised, and will pass through without any significant jerking or even hitting. The theming does not enhance the ride, but it is nicely placed and easy to look at, and the successful train does its best to do so.

Marienkäferbahn

Where the Fort Fun Abenteuerland on the top level could still create a harmonious picture, the design decreased more and more, which at first sight is not really disturbing, because the gardeners do a good job here. But there is a place in the park that really belongs to the worst what you can see in a park. The whole thing is declared as a children’s land and can be seen next to some cheap rides of Italian origin, the Zierer dragon train, which has been unused for some years, with an ugly blue facade and a Tivoli large. The Marienkäferbahn scores with its location in the middle of a forest, and the ride also offers a decent amount of speed – which is not always the case on such a roller coaster ride.

Beverly Hills Drive

At the lowest point of the park you will again find a well-designed attraction. The Monza track, known as Beverly Hills Drive, offers a long driving distance and a design that can be found in a similar form at Disney.  In any case, the ride is a ray of hope for the rather weak lowest part of the park.

Fun Xpress

Because we missed the Fun Xpress we went back up the mountain by foot. As the gastronomy in the lowest area of the park was more busy with itself than with the customers, we went to the gastronomy at the log flume. The offer here is decent, but also a bit expensive. After a while the staff noticed me and I ordered a portion of Pommes Spezial. The taste was great and I was satisfied.

Pictures Fort Fun Abenteuerland

 

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Fort Fun Abenteuerland

Some hours in Potts Park Minden

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Potts Park

A park which I wanted to pay a visit for some time was Potts Park in Minden. After all the park lures with a prototype and a beautifully designed park landscape. The park can give this impression, at least if you look at the front part of the park, which comes in the charming industrial look of the last century. Here you can find, besides the unfortunately halfway broken and much too small velodrome, some rides from the house of Heege, which were very nicely designed.

Potzi-Mobile

Other rides from the same company have unfortunately been a little worse off, because the beautiful and really intense airtime machines Potzi-Mobile are located in the middle of a small go-kart track and on the other side there is an ugly water roundel.

Turbo-Drachen

Right next to it you will find the highlight par excellence in the park, the abc rides prototype Turbo-Drachen, which was built two years ago. The ride in this self steerable kite is very smooth and the cars swing out well to the side. However, the capacity is not the best, which is absolutely sufficient for a park of this size; so you are only a few minutes away from the check-in before the flying adventure can begin. For Potts Park at least, the Turbo-Drachen was a very worthwhile and also praiseworthy investment, because after all, they put a prototype in the park. From the actual ride you can compare it to a Bobkartbahn, even though the rides built by Wiegand are usually a bit faster.

Potts Blitz

The second roller coaster of the park is a Zierer Force Two, one of the bigger rides of the manufacturer and has been equipped with an unusual train and unique name. Luckily, the Potts Blitz is a bit older and can therefore score with more comfort than the new rides of the South German roller coaster manufacturer.

Pedal Track and the Slide Paradise

A few meters further on, there is a pedal track hanging under the rail, which unfortunately is only a simple oval, but offers a very interesting ride. In the middle of the ride there is the park’s aging slide paradise that offers some interesting slides but is simply not very nice to look at.

Faule Sau and Swins Gallop

If one continues to follow the path, one comes to some piggishness. The dark ride Faule Sau is a nicely designed, but unfortunately in some places very bald theme ride and in the Swins Gallop you could certainly have some races against each other, if the children and their parents would understand and use the ride system.

Giant Apartment and Science Centre

Potts Park also provides for education, because here you can see a giant apartment next to a badly lit and rather boring looking science centre. Where the science center is very far away from the Phaeno in Wolfsburg or the Universum in Bremen, the apartment is quite interestingly staged and can promote understanding between parents and child.

Pottwal

By the way, the park has also thought of the water enthusiasts in us and so, besides the inflatable boat slide, which is obligatory for small and medium sized parks, you can also try the log flume Pottwal from Bear Rides, which alone can convince with its beautiful and very originally designed boats.

Pictures Potts Park

Conclusion Potts Park

Unfortunately, I was probably a little too much blinded by the pictures of previous reports, so that I unfortunately left the park faster than planned. For a family from the region Potts Park is very worthwhile thanks to the cheap family annual ticket and also for the bidding the entrance fee is justified. The staff was mostly very friendly and also the park guests mostly knew how to behave – so it was a very pleasant visit that one could gladly repeat.

 

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Potts Park