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A visit to Taunus Wunderland

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Taunus Wunderland

Taunus Wunderland in Schlangenbad near Wiesbaden is a medium-sized family amusement park. The park was opened in 1966 by the Maxeiner family as a fairy tale forest and petting zoo. The first attractions moved into the park in 1998, when the showman Otto Barth took over the park.

Quite quickly after the takeover by the Barth family, one of the family’s Wild Mouse roller coasters found its way into the park. In 2001, the construction of the large log flume by Mack Rides followed. Starting in 2016, the small amusement park was restructured into a proper theme park. The themed areas of Opa Alfreds Dinotal, Rosis Zuckerwatteland and Onkel Bernds Bauernhof are all quite successful and have a very different charm than the loosely placed fairground rides before.

Wilde Maus

The main attraction of the Rosis Zuckerwatteland themed area is the Wilde Maus family roller coaster, which towers over all the other attractions due to its hillside location and thus offers a great view of the surroundings. The ride itself is a classic of German funfairs and is thus a guarantee for a good time.

Traubenrutsche

At the rear end of the park is the entrance to the Grape Slide. The log flume from Mack Rides scores with its high shot at the end of the ride. Before that, the boat bobs a few meters through the canal and turns a lap around the lift before it is sounded. Once at the top, two turntables and a very short backward passage in between await the guest. This is followed by the final plunge into the cool water, whereupon the ride comes to an end.

Kuhddel-Muuuhddel

The entrance to the small roller coaster Kuhddel-Muuuhddel is located slightly below the log flume Traubenrutsche. The spinning coaster from SBF Visa turns several laps through the short layout, which can be very entertaining due to the rotation of the gondola, which is very easy to spin depending on the load.

Miscellaneous

Other highlights in the park are the small break dance from SBF Visa, a tube slide and the small free fall tower Knall und Fall by abc rides. Currently, a new themed area is being constructed directly by the entrance, where, among other things, a Mondial Top Scan, a true thrill machine, will move into the park. Likewise, the Galaxie Express from the former Space Center Bremen will finally find a new home in Taunus Wunderland.

Pictures Taunus Wunderland

Conclusion Taunus Wunderland

The Taunus Wunderland surprised me a little. The themed areas are all really nicely designed and have a pleasant flair. The future expansions of the amusement park already make me want more, so I’ll be happy to stop by.

What is your opinion about the theme park Taunus Wunderland? Just write it here below the report in the comment field or visit our social media channels:

TKathke June 24, 2023 November 1, 2023 Taunus Wunderland

Setting off for Mythica

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In recent years, Legoland Germany, like no other Merlin Entertainments park, has seen some great additions to its offering. The park finally became a full day destination. Since my last visit in October 2015, the park added the themed area Lego Ninjago World, two new rides to the Land der Pharaonen area and added a new B&M wing coaster to its line-up, as part of the Lego Mythica themed area.

Lego Ninjago World

Lego Ninjago World is so far the biggest extension Legoland Deutschland ever experienced. The themed area is based on the popular Lego Ninjago brand, famous for its well made TV show Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu. Back in 2017, it was the most expensive expansion of the park to date. The area offered a unique interactive dark ride experience that you could only experience at Legoland parks.

Lego Ninjago The Ride

Lego Ninjago The Ride is the first interactive dark ride where the passengers are using their hands only to target. The ride system is using an array of sensors to catch the movement of the hand. Depending mainly on the height of your hands and the angle to the sensor, your hand movement input is interpreted and a colour dot appears on the sensor so that you know where you are actually aiming. The whole process is not that intuitive and so confused hand waving actually is a good way to score quite a lot of points. The movements can be refined on the many screens the riders pass-by or stop right in front for a longer film sequence.

Overall, Lego Ninjago The ride is a very solid dark ride. Sure, the technology is not as sophisticated as the Web Slingers at Disneyland Paris, but for a worlds first, this ride system is actually quite alright.

Lloyd’s Spinjitsu Spinner

The newest addition to the Lego Ninjago World is Lloyd’s Spinjitsu Spinner, a Sunkid Loopster. This ride basically takes the old Luna Loop concept by Heege to a new level and is one of the hidden gems at the park. As you control the rotation of your ride vehicle, you can have a rather gentle ride, a ride full of backflips or you could try to take the whole ride in an upside-down position; albeit this is not that easy, as the ride vehicle will rotate back into its starting position after a while and you have to adjust the rotation quite often.

Land der Pharaonen

The Land der Pharaonen themed area was once created to house the interactive dark ride The Temple as its standalone attraction right next to the entrance to the Legoland Feriendorf resort. In 2019, the area was expanded with the interactive rides Pyramiden Rallye and Wüsten X-kursion.

Pyramiden Rallye

The Pyramiden Rallye is one of the classic rides from Metallbau Emmeln that you would like to see more often in family theme parks around the globe. The interactive ride is a nice work out for the whole family trying to extinguish fire in a pyramid located in the middle of the desert. While the story of this ride does not make a lot of sense, it still is one of the nicest additions we saw in Legoland Deutschland in recent years.

Wüsten X-kursion

The Wüsten X-kursion by RES is an interesting tower ride: the passengers can control the rotation of the gondolas, as well as their ride height by pulling a rope inside the gondola. Overall, rides can have a nice gentle observation ride towering the Land der Pharaonen section of the park and get a nice view onto the new themed area Lego Mythica right next door.

Lego Mythica

Lego Mythica is the newest area at Legoland Deutschland. It is based on the Legoland own IP. Its centrepiece is the Maximus roller coaster by B&M. The two family drop tower Fire & Ice Tower by Zierer and a small playground supplement the area. Lego Mythica is the most expensive expansion so far for the theme park.

Maximus – Der Flug des Wächters

When thinking about a roller coaster at Legoland, nobody ever would come up with the idea of creating a B&M wing coaster featuring two inversions, but somehow this project came true with Maximus – Der Flug des Wächters. The statics of the ride speak for a very family friendly ride, which we now want to have a closer look onto.

After we have finally left the extremely trivial queue behind us, the ride can already begin. Following a left-hand bend, we immediately reach the lift of the ride. Having reached the top of the lift hill at 17 m, we immediately drop down towards the ground. In an upward helix we experience a little pressure before flying over a small hill. In the following valley we experience the highest forces of the ride, before going straight into the first inversion of the ride. After the corkscrew, we continue our way to the left, before we change direction in order to prepare for the grand finale of the ride: a roll above the entrance portal. Shortly thereafter, we find ourselves in the brake section of the ride.

Maximus – Der Flug des Wächters is a fine ride for what it is: a nice family ride and the first one to feature an inversion for many of the park guests. The ride on the left side of the tracks is the overall better ride experience, while the right side offers a more pronounce ride through the first helix.

What is your opinion about the recent novelties and the B&M wing coaster Maximus – der Flug des Wächters? Just write them in the comment field below the report or in our social media channels:

TKathke March 25, 2023 March 25, 2023 Legoland Deutschland

A funky bumper car and a jousting tournament

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On my last visit to Heroldsbach, I was faced with closed gates at the Erlebnispark Schloss Thurn; in the low season, the amusement park is sometimes only open during the week. This time, however, a visit fell on a quiet Sunday within the high season.

Fledermauszentrum

Before we even get close to the castle that gives it its name and can pay our entrance fee, we are already in front of the first attraction. In the bat centre we can learn a lot about the animals in a fun way.

Schloss Thurn

The theme park originated in 1975 in the castle garden of the moated castle of Thurn. The origin of today’s Baroque castle complex was a fortified residential tower surrounded by several moats, which can be traced back to the year 1422. In 1747, the Bamberg cathedral chaplain Lothar Franz Horneck von Weinheim acquired the estate and began to convert the former knight’s castle into a Baroque pleasure palace.

The area around the castle mainly invites you to dangle your soul, and you can also explore the water around the moated castle with rowing boats and pedal boats.

Westernstadt

The first ride on our way to the western town is the small interactive water ride Piratenflotte. Along the way we also find numerous adventure trails for the younger park visitors before we then come across the Monzabahn vintage cars and shortly afterwards a fort.

The western town inside extends over a main street and a large square with a western show. The main restaurant of the theme park is also located in the saloon. However, the culinary offer is not quite adapted to the ambience, which is a bit of a pity.

Steampunk VR-Scooter

The main attraction in the Western Town is the Steampunk VR scooter. This bumper car is unique in the world because it is the only one with virtual reality (VR), which is a thoroughly immersive experience. A film is shown where you end up fighting a robot spider and where the ride floor suddenly curves. The quality of this trumps the VR attractions of most amusement parks and makes for an absolutely coherent overall concept.

To be honest, I’m surprised why the VR trend was mostly used on large roller coasters and thus went under again after a very short time, when it’s precisely the implementation on standard rides that offers a much better experience. Bumper cars in amusement parks always have the charm of a fairground and don’t really fit into the big themed worlds of today, but with the right idea you can definitely upgrade the classic ride principle, be it the former Space Race in Hansa Park or with the VR experience here. I only hope that in the future more parks will invest as courageously as Erlebnispark Schloss Thurn.

Wildwasserbahn

Behind the Western Town is the entrance to the park’s log flume. The ride, built by Reverchon, also has a rather classic appearance at the Erlebnispark Schloss Thurn, although the waiting area is quite unusual. The ride offers a total of two drops, with the smaller one offering an additional wave. The degree of wetness of both drops is within reasonable limits.

Magisches Tal

In addition to the Knappenschule electric horse track, the chain flyer Kettenflieger, the family free-fall tower Ritterschlag and the boat swing Schaukelschiff Fledermausflug, park guests in the Magic Valley mainly romp around the tournament square, where the knights’ tournament takes place.

Ritterturnier

Quite unusually in a theme park, you can experience a real jousting tournament at Erlebnispark Schloss Thurn. Two teams face each other in a jousting match. This is an exciting competition between good and evil. Despite the very simple story, the acting is extremely convincing and the games and the fight choreographies with sword and shield are breathtaking.

VR-Achterbahn

The VR roller coaster is a classic family roller coaster made by Zierer. The roller coaster, which is about 9 m high, offers a 220 m long, winding layout that is ridden through twice in a row.

Animal park and playgrounds

On the other side of the park there is a large playground and several smaller rides, such as the two Butterfly roller coasters, the carousel Schwanenkarussell and the Wasserbob dinghy slide. To get there, however, we have to pass through the beautifully landscaped game park. This is best done on foot or by taking a ride on the Westerbahn train ride or the monorail Schwebebahn.

Pictures Erlebnispark Schloss Thurn

Conclusion Erlebnispark Schloss Thurn

I really liked Schloss Thurn. The steampunk VR-scooter and the knights’ tournament are two highlights that you can’t even find in the big theme parks around the world. So a visit is definitely recommended, especially for families with smaller children.

What do you think about the Erlebnispark Schloss Thurn? Just write it in the comment field below the report or visit our social media channels:

TKathke July 19, 2022 March 16, 2023 Erlebnispark Schloss Thurn