Flying Theatre

On Expedition Everest

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Disney’s Animal Kingdom, the park famous for its entrance sign meme, is one of the more visual stunning theme parks in Orlando. Opened in 1998, the park focuses on a limited number of wildlife experiences, an elaborated selection of rides and outstanding shows.

Tree of Life and It’s Tough to be a Bug!

Once you entered the park through the Oasis, you will find yourself in front of the Tree of Life, a large artificial Baobab tree featuring all kinds of animals modelled into its trunk and branches. The Tree of Life is also home to a theatre showing It’s Tough to be a Bug, a 9-minute-long 3D film starring the characters of A Bug’s Life. Interestingly, the attraction premiered first. Like the animated feature film, the attraction nowadays is a bit dated. In its heydays, the attraction was a visual stunning experience featuring top of the notch animatronics and never to be seen animations. The edutainment aspect of the movie makes it interesting, yet partly boring. The big musical finale is nice to see.

In the evening, the Tree of Life awakes. It then becomes an impressive backdrop of a projection mapping show showing various animals, which the guest might have encountered on their day at Disney´s Animal Kingdom. Unlike other evening spectacles, Tree of Life Awakening is not based on a Disney IP.

Pandora – The World of Avatar

Pandora – The World of Avatar might be the most ambitious themed area so far ever created in a theme park. The area features a bunch of floating rocks and a vegetation never to be found in a place before. It’s just astonishing! The overall theme fits in perfectly with the trilogy of movies, where two still needs to be published. It was a weird IP choice back in the days, as the first movie just had an impact due to its 3D effects in a time when 3D movies where actually popular.  

Avatar Flight of Passage

The main attraction of Pandora – The World of Avatar is the flight simulator Avatar Flight of Passage: An attraction unlike anything else. Where most flying theatres just simulate a flight using a machine of some sorts, Avatar Flight of Passage simulates the flight on a living being. Storywise, the guests are experiencing a flight on a banshee – a keystone species for the planet Pandora – using their avatars. The flight sequence itself is fast paced and full of surprises. Additional effects increase the immersion.

During the flight, I was sensory overloaded and just wanted to leave the attraction. The simulated breathing of the banshee is a nice feature for sure, yet a very unpleasant one for me. I understand, why many people love this attraction, as the quality of the attraction is top notch, and the overall experience is great; it was just a little bit too much for me. I might give the ride another chance in the future, but if the waiting time is high, I will for sure give it a miss.     

Na’vi River Journey

The dark ride Na’vi River Journey is the second ride in the realm of Pandora – The World of Avatar. The ride itself is a rather calm, but very impressive one. The boat ride guides us through a series of caves and into a bioluminescent rainforest – which is quite impressive. The main draw of the ride is the Na’vi Shaman of Songs – probably the most interesting animatronic figure by Disney so far. Na’vi River Journey for sure is a dark ride, which you should not miss when visiting Walt Disney World.

Africa

The African themed section of the park is probably the most immersive one. The port village of Harambe serves as the starting point for the Kilimanjaro Safaris and is home to the Festival of the Lion King show.

Festival of the Lion King

One of the biggest attractions in the Africa section of Disney’s Animal Kingdom is the Festival of the Lion King. The show features a central stage visible from all sides. Here, various actors sing, dance and perform circus acts. During the show, floats featuring puppets of Pumbaa, Simba and other animals are driving into the arena. The meerkat Timon is the only character of the Lion King, who plays along on the main stage.

Festival of the Lion King is a great variety show offering a colourful experience for all park guests. The floats are a great idea to bring Simba and Pumbaa to the action, the singing and dancing is just fine, and the circus acts are an impressive sight. I just expected the show to be a bit closer to the musical and was therefore a bit surprised. It’s a very fine show, don’t get me wrong, yet it could be even better.

Kilimanjaro Safaris

The guided Safari Kilimanjaro Safaris is the highlight at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. During the 18-minute (or longer) expedition, we explore the Harambe Wildlife Reserve, home to 34 species. As we drive through the 110 hectares of picturesque open plains, shady woodlands and rocky wetlands, an expert guide tells us all sorts of fascinating facts about the African wildlife and helps us to identify the animals. Due to the nature of this attraction, it is not easy to spot all animals, which is why the Kilimanjaro Safaris is best to be experiences multiple times.

Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail

Just after you exit Kilimanjaro Safaris, you immediately find yourself on the Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail. This trail is probably one of the highlights at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, as you can take a glimpse on some African animals, e.g., your favourite meerkat and warthog.

Wildness Express Train

I don’t fully understand the reason why the Wildness Express Train is still in operation today. The train ride leads you to Rafiki’s Planet Watch and back. It is the only mode of transport available to this area of the park. Here you can inform yourself a little bit about conservation, learn to draw some characters and/or visit a small-scale petting zoo. For a normal day visit at the park, there is no real reason to visit this corner of the park and therefore no reason to take the train.

Asia

The Asian themed section of Disney’s Animal Kingdom is dominated by the artificial Himalayas of the Expedition Everest roller coaster and many temples. The area has a great atmosphere and is home to two of the parks main attractions.

Feathered Friends in Flight!

Feathered Friends in Flight! is probably the most impressive bird show I’ve seen outside of the one at Parc LePal in France. It starts with a very fun running gag before the edutainment part of the show takes over. During the show, you learn a lot about the different birds and their behaviour.

Kali River Rapids

Unfortunately, I could not test the large scale Intamin rapids ride Kali River Rapids during my visit, as the ride was currently scheduled for maintenance. The atmospheric immersion of the ride speaks for itself, and I really wanted to experience the large drop during the ride for myself.

Maharajah Jungle Trek

The trail Maharajah Jungle Trek focuses on the presentation of Asian animals. Next to the graceful Asian tigers, you can find gibbons, Komodo dragons and many more species in a very immersive area of the park.

Expedition Everest

When the roller coaster Expedition Everest was built, it was the most expensive roller coaster ever created – a fact many websites are still stating even after all these years. Truth is, the ride is pretty impressive with its massive mountain structure, its steel bridge lift hill and the large drop going down the mountain.

The ride on Expedition Everests starts with a small lift hill after a right-hand curve directing towards the artificial Himalaya. A wide left-hand bend, we now move over hill and dale before approaching the main lift hill. Once on top of the mountain, we follow the path through a hole till we encounter a dead end at the other side. Without having any other chance, we now travel backwards. After passing a switch track element, we then run through a curve in pitch darkness. After an encounter with the Yeti, our journey continues straight forwards. With momentum, we now take the large drop out of the mountain. Close to the ground we then pass through a left turn before we climb upwards and continue our way through the mountain for another time. On the other side of the mountain, we then race though a tapering helix before entering the mountain once more. Here, we have another encounter with the Yeti. Shortly after, we reach the brakes, and our wild ride soon comes to an end.

Expedition Everest is probably the most impressive of all roller coasters at Walt Disney World. The scale of the coaster itself speaks for itself. The large drop and the tapering helix are my highlight of the ride. You cannot do anything wrong with a ride on Expedition Everest, especially when the waiting times are low.  

Disney KiteTails

I love a good musical and of course the updated version of the Finding Nemo musical should not open before summer 2022. In the meantime, Disney’s Animal Kingdom presented Disney KiteTails, which of course was suspended due to high winds on the day of my visit.  

DinoLand U.S.A.

DinoLand U.S.A. is often criticked as Walt Disney World’s less ambitious themed area. The main areal of the land resembles a typical fun fair with a bunch of gaming booths and seemingly transportable rides. As always in Disney parks, a Telecombat style of ride shall not be missing, which in this case is the Tricera Top Spin. The area used to be home to the two Primeval Whirl roller coasters, which have not yet found a replacement.

DINOSAUR

The main attraction of DinoLand U.S.A. is the dark ride DINOSAUR. This Intamin enhanced motion vehicle ride is one of the best dark rides in existence. To fit the theme with the long-forgotten Disney movie Dinosaur, we are in a time travel rescue mission. Our goal is to bring an Iguanadon to our present time before a fatal meteor will hit earth. On our way, we encounter many other dinosaurs and some aggressive ones as well.

DINOSAUR is a very impressive dark ride. The use of the enhanced motion vehicles makes our ride a rather wild one. In combination with the immersive surroundings and impressive animatronics, DINOSAUR for sure is a ride which should not be missed. 

Pictures Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Conclusion Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Disney’s Animal Kingdom is indeed a very immersive theme park. The atmosphere at the different sections of the park is just great. Unfortunately, the park lacks a bit in its number of attractions. During my visit, many of the park’s signature attractions could not be experienced, as they were either currently upgraded, under maintenance or just got suspended. The park could easily benefit by focusing a bit more on the animal exhibits such as similar parks in Europe do. The attractions on their own are a good reason to visit the park, yet currently there is something missing. 

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Disney's Animal Kingdom

Red Force Alert

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Ferrari Land

After the Caribe Aquatic Park in 2002, Port Aventura Resort expanded once again in 2017 with the Ferrari Land theme park. In the tradition of many European second gate parks, the offer here was also very limited at the beginning. The addition of a children’s area the following year significantly expanded the range of attractions for families.  

Red Force

The park’s main attraction is the Red Force launch coaster by Intamin. The 112-metre-high roller coaster towers over the Port Aventura Resort and thus captivates everyone in its immediate vicinity and, unfortunately, draws them into its queue. Shortly before the attraction went into operation, the queue was already completely full and stretched over the course of the day to below the top hat of the ride, which corresponded to a waiting time of over three hours.

I myself was only in the official queue and therefore had to spend about an hour in it. As soon as I took my seat in the twelve-passenger train, the ride started. Once out of the station, the train starts to accelerate and it becomes increasingly uncomfortable. The train then climbs up the Top Hat with a brute force and immediately descends again, but without the spiral during the descent of the two preceeding Accelerator Coasters, Top Thrill Dragster and Kingda Ka. At full speed, you soon hit the brakes and after a short uphill section, you come to a stop again.

Red Force is a very short, but damn good roller coaster. Here, as the speed increases, you notice the forces acting on the train before it reaches a height of 112 m, which is extremely impressive, especially in comparison to the Shambhala roller coaster – currently the third-highest roller coaster in Europe with a height of 76 m. The descent and the final rush of speed also provide sufficient endorphins so that you leave the ride extremely happy. Regrettably, however, at this point another ride on the roller coaster was out of the question, unless you buy the expensive Express Pass for Ferrari Land, which gives you one-time access to the 4 ½ main attractions.

Junior Red Force

As impressive as the Red Force roller coaster is, the Race Coaster Junior Red Force from the SBF Visa Group is not. The ride in the small roller coaster offers basically nothing apart from a tapering downward spiral and a brute upward curve. Sure, the setting of the children’s coaster in the inner courtyard of the much larger Red Force is very nice, but that’s about it.

Miscellaneous

As it was getting increasingly crowded, I didn’t test any other attraction in Ferrari Land apart from the two roller coasters. The Flying Theatre Flying Dreams and the Racing Legends simulator ride would have been of particular interest here. In addition to a handful of children’s rides, the very nice-looking car ride Maranello Grand Race and the two S&S towers of the Thrill Towers (one Space Shot and one Turbo Drop) complete the contemplative offer.

Pictures Ferrari Land

Conclusion Ferrari Land

Ferrari Land is not a theme park where you would spend more than one or two hours, but you have to in high summer thanks to the low capacity of the rides. Overall, the entire amusement park is more like a themed area of the amusement park next door, which offers an extremely immersive experience in this respect. But as a stand-alone theme park, the park simply lacks what it has to offer.

Sure, Red Force is good and the Flying Theatre and the simulator are probably very nice, but that’s about it. The Ferrari theme is also extremely specific, which will certainly appeal to one or two visitors to the Costa Dorada, but unlike Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi, you’re not standing right next to a race track here. It will be interesting to see how the park develops.

 

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Ferrari Land

Batavia is burning – and you want to go there?

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Preface

Who would have thought that Batavia would actually burn down one day? Two years after the disaster at Europa Park, we were determined not to miss the new iteration of the Piraten in Batavia dark ride, as well as some of the other novelties of the last three years.

The Novelties of Europa Park

Voletarium

The Voletarium in the entrance area of the park marks the beginning of our little tour. The ride is the first project under the guise of the Adventure Club of Europe, a fictional adventurer’s club that brings together the innovations of recent years and is intended to be a trademark of Europa Park. As with the new Rulantica water park, this is taken ad absurdum by various novels, making it difficult to follow the plot.

However, to cut a long story short, the Voletarium is a flying theatre made by Brogent Technologies. The flight simulator offers a breathtaking but very family-friendly flight over Europe. However, not all the transitions between the different scenes are successful or logical, so the film is a little weak compared to the really well done film of Fuji Airlines in Japan’s Fuji-Q Highland or that of Sky Voyager in Australia’s Dreamworld.

Nevertheless, the location of the Voletarium improves the front section of the park. Overall, the ride is coherent and ideal as an in-between ride.

Jim Knopf – Reise durch Lummerland

It’s the same with Jim Knopf – Reise durch Lummerland. In true Europa Park style, another licence has been integrated into the park – this time one that is mainly known in German-speaking countries. The children’s locomotive Old’99, which previously had a circus theme, was redesigned for this purpose. It’s old decoration has found a new home in a small pavilion of the neighbouring Marionetten-Bootsfahrt. You can now travel through Lummerland with Emma, the locomotive from Michael Ende’s book, which is a great experience, especially for younger children.

Snorri Touren

It’s a similar story with the hugely popular Snorri Touren dark ride, which was installed in the basement of the Scandinavian themed area when it was rebuilt. On this tour, Snorri – the mascot of the Rulantica water park – leads us through the legendary water world just outside the gates of Rust. The ride gets a lot of things right, thanks to its vibrant design and largely successful media integration – only the short slide sequence, in which the car hits a moving platform, is reminiscent of early PlayStation 2 titles in its spongy graphics, which detracts from the otherwise cohesive overall impression.

Madame Freudenreich

Although you can somehow forgive Snorri, you can’t forgive Madame Freudenreich – after all, the Energy Universe was once the most coherent dark ride in the whole park. Now it is a shadow of its former self, an attraction to be avoided at all costs. Younger children might still enjoy the Alsatian Gugelhupf Dinosaur Mash, but I can’t imagine anyone else being able to put up with this nonsense.

Eurosat CanCan Coaster

It’s a good thing the Green Fairy moved in right above it. Since its redesign, the Eurosat CanCan Coaster indoor roller coaster has been taking us on a sensory high. Driven by absinthe and the familiar sounds of In A Second Orbit, we climb up the drum lift in the familiar way before the Galop Infernal kicks in and we find ourselves on what is essentially a brand new coaster.

Like a cancan, we swing through the turns. Past huge black light backdrops, we race through the dome at an ever increasing speed and are even lifted out of our seats at times. The fact that the experience is absolutely smooth makes the ride all the better.

Eurosat has always been a good indoor coaster. A bit rough on the ride, but quite entertaining. The Eurosat CanCan Coaster on the other hand is one of the best roller coasters in Europe. Perfectly balanced, atmospheric and with great show value. Everything about this ride is perfect.

Eurosat Coastiality

But that only applies to the CanCan Coaster. There is also the Eurosat Coastiality. While one of them has been able to reach new heights thanks to its collaboration with the Moulin Rouge Variety Theatre, the other is betting on a VR experience based on Luc Besson’s Valerian – City of a Thousand Planets.

In principle, I think VR coasters are fun, and Europa Park has already shown what can be squeezed out of a rollercoaster with the Alpenexpress Enzian. Despite the outdated graphics, the first film was an unparalleled revelation. After that, many parks jumped on the VR bandwagon and there seemed to be no stopping them. Fortunately, the trend disappeared as quickly as it came, so it’s a little surprising that Europa Park is the only park in the world that continues to promote the technology. However, thanks to the resort’s own attraction, Yullbe, this is no longer actively happening in the parks.

Eurosat Coastiality is, at least in theory, a very passable upcharge attraction that, thanks to a separate station, has little or no impact on the capacity of the Eurosat CanCan Coaster, eliminating one of the main criticisms of VR coasters. However, the ride is tiring and the outdated graphics make it less than impressive. The show value of the coaster is completely lost, which is why there is no incentive to repeat the ride.

Piraten in Batavia

The Piraten in Batavia dark ride, which has been completely revamped thanks to the new construction, offers plenty of reasons to go on a ride. What used to be a lengthy rip-off of Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean is now much more independent, thanks to a consistent storyline around the adventurer Bartholomeus van Robbemond and his otter Jopie. The Pirates of Batavia ride is thoroughly entertaining and has a high overall show value, which is why it is not to be missed.

Pictures Europa Park

Closing Words

As you can see, Europa Park has been on a remodelling spree over the past few years. Some of the projects were long overdue, and some of the park’s attractions would actually like to see some changes. Not every upgrade is a success and not every licence is a plus for the park, but in general the Mack family’s drive is positive. They are trying to present a world-class theme park to an ever-increasing number of visitors, but unfortunately they often forget that great attractions do not need additional media integration.

 

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Click here for the overview page of Europa Park

Europa Park