Climbing mountains in Fort Fun Abenteuerland

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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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 thoroughly positive start to the season on Krake

The Kraken

Right to the start of the season, we lined up directly at the new roller coaster Krake. First we had to wait until something moved at all. After a certain time both trains in use were sent on the ride and the audience in the queue was very speechless of what was offered. Shortly before 10am the baggage claim opened, as one is used to from the English Merlin parks and so we didn’t have to queue up to the gates for long. Somewhat negatively is to be noted the division of the rows, since there is no separate queue, the crowds of visitors are slightly jammed.

As for the ride on the Krake, I can only say that it is very surprising. The layout is stunning and the airtime is terrific. The Immelmann can be considered as a good ride element (after all, this one is better than the ones on rides like Saw – the Ride and Anubis), the following airtime hill has wonderful floating airtime, even the curve is taken at a wonderful speed. The drop itself is of course the highlight for the outside spectators as well as for the passengers of the ride, thanks to the chain brake.

Less important from the actual ride is the splash of the roller coaster Krake. While the coaster silently completes its course, one doesn’t notice anything of the water fountains. But for the soaker among us there is a wonderful splash zone near the entrance of the roller coaster Big Loop.

 

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