Van Helsing’s Factory Speciaal

Movie Park Germany – Van Helsing’s Factory

The official opening

Shortly before 10 am I reached the park and immediately set off for the roller coaster. Since David, Thomas, and a few other people had the same idea, it didn’t take long until shortly after 11 am when park manager Wouter Dekkers came out of the hall and started the show.

The park put on a stunt show to match the story of the new roller coaster before the factory keys were handed over to Wouter Dekkers. Van Helsing, who has recently recorded increased vampire activity in Germany, is quite happy to have built his factory in the park to produce his ultimate vampire slaughter cars. But since Dracula’s army is not waiting, he takes us into one of the cars for the ride.

The ride

After Van Helsing asks you to choose a weapon in a short sequence, you are already on the chain lift. Through a small roof hatch we learn that it is full moon outside and not a second later the first vampire appears. This is followed by the for a Bobsled Coaster so charismatic curve descent. This is followed by the probably most intense hairpin curves you can imagine in complete darkness. To top it all off, small drops were introduced in between.

After this insane first part, we are already on the second lift. Animatronics come from the side and a huge vampire is already waiting for us. A helix follows and some pretty daring turns, similar to what you are used to from Gerstlauer lately. Shortly afterwards we enter the final brakes of the roller coaster with a surprising amount of speed.

Conclusion

In conclusion, when looking at Van Helsing’s Factory, it has to be said that Movie Park Germany has finally done everything right. The theming of the ride is a masterpiece, as is the roller coaster produced by Gerstlauer. The ride is simply fun and despite its comparatively low height and speed it is quite fast and intense.

 

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Feel the Dizz at Bobbejaanland

Preface

On Easter David and I went to the funny country of Belgium (Bobbejaanland) to test the novelty Dizz. As the experience always predict, new rides get fairly crowded within the first year of operation. Therefore, we headed straight to the new roller coaster. Unluckily, the ride itself would open sometime later. So we headed to (R)evolution for our first ride of the day.

Tour of the park

(R)evolution

(R)evolution is the wet dream of all left-hand curve fetishists and of course many roller coaster fans. This Dutch-made masterpiece not only boasts the longest roller coaster train in the world, but also offers a special visual experience during the lift hill climb. In addition, the ride enjoys a certain cult which is of course absolutely justified.

Dizz

Shortly after the ride, we queued up a few minutes before the opening at the roller coaster Dizz. It was not very long and a small crowd already formed right behind us. After a few test rides it was ready to go. The coaster has a clear potential, but it does not exploit it at the moment. Reducing the speed in the brake segments to nearly a standstill annoys tremendously and the takes away any pace. The spin during the ride is barely noticeable, as well as the theme of the ride. The queue line and the station are nicely done, the rest of the ride looks like it had to be placed somewhere.

El Rio

After work, we dedicated ourselves to the pleasure of Bobbejaanland. Unfortunately, we got a bad day on El Rio as the inglorious wave after the whirlpool section of the ride, was not there anymore. Since we left the ride surprisingly dry, we now headed to the indoor log flume Indiana River.

Oki Doki

We rode everything that came in our way, like the one-sided wild mouse Speedy Bob, which unfortunately was no longer wild – even the brakes were no longer as extreme as during my last visit in 2008 – , to the Desperado pedal monorail, to one of the most ingenious family roller coasters ever build: Oki Doki. Even the music express of the park did not remain untested, only the Vekoma Suspended Coaster had to wait a bit, after all, the waiting times for this ride was slightly too long for us.

Indiana River

Indiana River was able to live up to its reputation as a very, very, very wet log flume. The ride is just consistently soaking its passengers, even through the declines are not very steep nor high. The theme of the ride is also very impressive, especially when you consider the tight budget Bobbejaanland had back in the days.

Bob Express

In contrast to Indiana River there is the outdoor log flume of Bobbejaanland. The ride is very suitable for everybody, who wants to ride a water ride and get off the ride even drier than entering. The ride somehow interacts with the powered coaster Bob Express, which was somehow planlessly build onto the lake. The powered coaster offers a great ride with a small prise of airtime in the back of the train.

Don’t miss out the comfy chairs of the park’s 4D cinema. During this year they are showing a well animated movie with well used additional effects. The storyline of the movie is the only downfall of this overall great experience.

Typhoon

The big surprise of the day then hit us on Typhoon. I do not know what the Belgians did with this layout and how far Gerstlauer was involved, but the result is fantastic. The coaster now runs absolutely smooth, whether in the back or in the front row. It only jerks a little bit in the two helices at the end of the ride, but that’s negligible. The newly installed reduction brakes on the 97 ° drop are not noticeable and thus the valley and the loop are still a very intense experience – just as it should be.

Fly Away and Sledgehammer

Now to the small HUSS corner of Bobbejaanland, where the Fly Away – which is often referred by amusement park enthusiasts as a torture machine or a waffle iron – and the Giant Frisbee are located. The Fly Away is still just awesome and delivers a one of a kind flying sensation on the Enterprise style ride. The Giant Frisbee Sledgehammer on the other hand doesn’t hold up to the high ride standard of the Classic Frisbee. The ride is indeed a giant and therefore offers a fast paced ride cycle, which sadly isn’t as forceful as you would expect. Nevermind, it is a very thrilling ride for everybody who is afraid of heights.

King Kong

Next to the roller coaster (R)evolution you can find one of the latest HUSS creations, the almighty King Kong. A ride that looks like a B-movie and rides like a bad docu-soap on TV. I don’t know what the Bremen-based manufacturer had thought about when engineering this ride, but it must have been something greater. The only highlight of the rather tame ride was a Dutch boy who complained about the bad breath of the giant monkey – one of the many special effects of this ride, which actually looks quite stunning from the outside, but reveals itself as a very family-friendly ride when riding.

Banana Battle

Below the (R)evolution you can find the probably sickest of all Splash Battle ever built. As in the Lüneburg Heath you have to turn the effects on (instead of off) to get wet. In addition, the pumps on the Banana Battle have a very wide range which is why you can often reward the other passengers with the cool wet. In this Splash Battle you only need a single lap to get completely soaked and that’s a great achievement.

Dream Catcher

As the last ride in this park I would like to write about the Dream Catcher, who unfortunately belongs to a dying roller coaster type. Suspended Coasters are fantastic family coasters, although the Vekoma build ride can not convince me as much as the Arrow version from the Chessington World of Adventures nearby London. The theme of the ride is very nice and even features a water fountain which turns itself off when the train is approaching.

Pictures

 


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A day in the colourful sugar world

Preface

Today was an early awakening, because Hauke had to be picked up to take the ferry from Puttgarden to Rødby. Unfortunately, the first ship departed before our nose. Thus they loaded the next ship with us first (luckily, the ferries here go every half hour). Arrived on the other side we went without any plan which exit leads to the park onto the motorway; a fatal circumstance, as most of the places of interest in Denmark are only announced shortly before reaching them and on the motorways, most of the times, only the first village of the surroundings is mentioned. But then a call from Hauke was enough and in the last moment we could take the right exit. The way led us into BonBon-Land, where we immediately noticed on the parking lot that it is a busy day today.

Tour of BonBon-Land

Logically, the same picture then emerged at the cash registers. But as we already bought our tickets online, things went fast here in comparison. From the outside you could already see the novelty of the year 2010 and inside we noticed that Sammy’s great adventure was shown in the 4D cinema. A positive thing was that everything was distributed relatively evenly in the park. At the beginning of the day it was sufficient to ride not yet at full capacity, but in the afternoon all available equipment was put onto the tracks.

Albatrossen

We started with the Albatrossen, a Zamperla Disk’o. In contrast to the Disk’o Coasters, the ride here is much more fun thanks to the pressure-packed ride. Also the change of direction was excellent to avoid a too monotonous spinning around.

Vildsvinet

Next door, the Eurofighter prototype Vildswinet did its laps. Unexpectedly gently, it raced down the course like a wild boar. Particularly noteworthy is the steep curve that followed the drop with a 97° gradient and ended in a loop. However, the course loses a little tension after the following block brake, so this part only complements the layout, but does not emphasize it again. The design of the ride is not only suitable for the Danish racer, it is simply convincing.

Svend Svingsarm

After a short examination of the queue, the novelty Svend Svingsarm was given a try. Since I only know the HUSS version of the big swings, I honestly didn’t expect anything, but what happened here deserves just one word: Ingenious! If you sit between two rests, you have enormous airtime. The swing-out reaches a very big radius and the gondola changes during the ride the speed of rotation and the direction of travel. Finally, a Zamperla device that is worth to be copied as often as possible. But the handling is too slow for one person and the ride is not themed according to the BonBon-Land standard.

Viktor Vandorm

For Hauke a new roller coaster was waiting for him and for me the longest Tivoli coaster from Zierer I ever rode. After you start unusually high at Viktor Vandorm you build up a lot of speed with the funny first drop. After that you have a part that looks like a splashdown from the outside. Long straights and curves follow until you are back in the station and start a second round. The capacity is of all expectations instead of a man-eater beneath all hell, so it’s not surprising to find the second longest queue here. The design seems strange, as one unfortunately notices that the layout must have stood somewhere else in the past; in this case in Panorama Park, Germany.

Rejen and Bæver Rafting

Near the Tivoli with the strange layout and partly above it there is the dinghy slide Rejen equipped with a photo system. A few meters away you can find the rapids ride of BonBon-Land. The Bæver Rafting has a beautiful, rough layout with, compared to other European rapid rides, a high degree of humidity. The design of the ride is well done and very convincing.

Hundeprutten

Since a waiting time of more than half an hour is clearly too much for Sammy’s big adventure, the nearby Hundeprutten roller coaster was examined more closely. The track layout is similar to a Zierer Force One, but the ride was elaborately clad and imaginatively designed. The fart gag when the train passes by is completely in keeping with the Danish humour and the eponymous candy.

Klaptorsken

Unfortunately, the entire Heege rides of the BonBon-Land and also the windshield wipers style ride are no longer available, but you still can find some remnants. Further away is the ship swing Klaptorsken, built by Metallbau Emmeln, which showed a very solid ride.

Hankatten

The last roller coaster we looked forward to was the Gerstlauer Spinning Coaster Hankatten, which doesn’t come close to the spinning coaster deity Dragon’s Fury by the manufacturer of Maurer Söhne, but will still remain in my memory as a more amusing example. The inward facing seating position is what makes this coaster built by Gerstlauer different from the other manufacturers. The track itself is fast and has some helices and funny drops, but lacks an Immelmann turn to make the track perfect. The design of the ride is well done, even if it is mostly just the remains of the design of the former HUSS Condor. Furthermore, the sound effects are in a class of their own.

Cobratarnet

Also worth mentioning is the Fabbri drop tower Cobratarnet due to the forceful drop and suprising launch downwards. The ride at Cobratarnet is very soft during the deceleration, hence a very good tower for the park’s audience. Luckily you don’t have to wait an eternity at the top of the ride like you do at the Zoo-, Safari- and Hollywoodpark Stukenbrock.

Søløven

The sealion also wanted to be ridden by us. This is a theme ride through the various continents of our world. As kitschy and convincing as the design is, there is unfortunately something missing that most kitschy world travel attractions contain, a catchy song. So the Søløven turns out quite pleasing, however, it could be even better.

Miscellaneous

There is also a small white-water ride with a canal-rat theme with an unfortunately dry ride, an excellent wave swinger with a turtle look and much more. The portfolio of the park is well chosen and the design of the rides is very convincing. It is a pity that the clearance is too slow in some places and the limited queues are a little too short, so that you inevitably block the way for other passers-by.

Pictures BonBon-Land

Conclusion BonBon-Land

The BonBon-Land is a very bizarre amusement park, which can certainly be a lot of fun at a lower crowd. The capacities are limited, there are gaps of old rides everywhere and somehow everything seems to have been placed a little bit without a concept; which again fits very well to the actual design of the park – because BonBon-Land is just like the portfolio of the confectioner next door, who also founded the park.

 

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