Tag: IMAScore

The Studio Tour at Movie Park Germany

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Studio Tour

For more than 30 years now, Bottrop-Kirchhellen has stood for Hollywood made in Germany. The first local studio was Bavaria Film, which wanted to offer a look behind the scenes with the Bavaria Filmpark. Only a few years later Warner Bros. came to the Ruhr area and with it a best off of the popular theme parks of the Village Roadshow (Sea World, Warner Bros. Movie World) on the Gold Coast in Australia. In addition, several sound stages were built that visitors could visit during the Film Studio Tour. In the beginning, these were actually used for film and TV productions and today serve mainly as storage space for the park.

To tie in with the old days, Movie Park Germany is now also offering a Studio Tour. However, this one is set in the fictional MPG Studios, which are mainly known for their B-movies by director Steven Thrillberg. We are accompanied on our tour by assistant Andy and the animated clapperboard S.A.M., which is strongly reminiscent of the Microsoft Office Assistant of the late 90s (and unfortunately is also animated in the same way). The story was created by IMAmotion, who have already created media content for the water ride Excalibur – Secrets of the Dark Forest and have been working with the park for a long time with their soundtracks. The attraction’s hardware, meanwhile, comes from Liechtenstein roller coaster specialists Intamin Amusement Rides. The multi-dimensional coaster features an entertaining ride that is perfectly geared towards the park’s family audience.

After a short drive through the archive, S.A.M. takes us straight up to the first set. The quiet-looking living room immediately finds itself in the middle of a storm. As the roof is torn away, we are accelerated by friction wheels. We then drive backwards along a short stretch of track before we find ourselves in the next scene. Steven Thrillberg has chosen us as extras on the set, and we now travel through the set of a large American city, where we have a race with a sports car. After a bend and a small climb, the track leads us out of the hall, where we then cross the forecourt of MPG Studios. A few swerves later we enter the studio again, where the most visually impressive set of the studio tour awaits us after a short while. Passing King Kong, we unfortunately race right into the final brake accompanied by the local film orchestra.

The Studio Tour is a really nice family coaster with a great attention to detail. The three main scenes are not overloaded, which makes the ride very coherent overall. The additional details along the way that bear witness to the past 25 years of Movie Park Germany are a nice Easter Egg for every fan of the theme park.  

Horrorwood Studios Version

For Halloween, there is an adult version of the media content available in the evening, where the story about the fictional Horrorwood Studios is taken up. This version is quite nice as a seasonal overlay, but comes across as a little half-hearted. A ride on this version of the Studio Tour is a can, but not a must.

Bilder Movie Park Germany

 

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Movie Park Germany

Star Trek – Operation Enterprise

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The novelties of the last years

Movie Park Germany has always been one of my favourite parks in Germany, but I haven’t been to the park for the last three years. During this time, however, a lot has changed: The Intamin Rapids Ride Mystery River became Excalibur – Secret of the Dark Forest, the new roller coaster Star Trek – Operation Enterprise was opened and the dark ride Alien Encounter was redesigned to Area 51 – Top Secret.

Area 51 – Top Secret

The latter novelty was also the reason why I delayed my visit more and more, because a visit to Movie Park Germany without a ride through the volcano is just not the same. Instead of driving through an island in the Bermuda Triangle, we now go through a flooded mine in the middle of the Nevada desert. Where before there was a clearly defined arc of tension, there is now only a trivial and far-fetched story based on the scenes of the original story. Of course, aliens are more likely to be associated with Area 51 than with the Bermuda Triangle, but water travel in the desert just doesn’t make sense – even if it’s Groom Lake Air Force Base (Groom Lake is a dry salt lake).

But if you can overlook the story, Area 51 – Top Secret is the HD version of an aging dark ride and that alone is simply wonderful. The ride finally shows its best side again and convinces with its numerous effects. Although little or nothing has changed in the course and the staging inside the ride, the lovingly audio-visual refreshment shows its effect. In this respect, thank you Movie Park Germany for the preservation of this ride!

Excalibur – Secret of the Dark Forest

While the Alien Encounter previously still had the story of the original version from the Australian amusement park Sea World Gold Coast, the Mystery River looked quite different after the license was cancelled. The ride was just a shadow of its former self and, except for its ride hardware, it was nothing more than construction foam. IMAscore and IMAmotion then breathed new life into the old ride and so Mystery River became Excalibur – Secret of the Dark Forest. Again, the theme is a bit generic, but the ride itself was definitely upgraded. The queue is now really well done and puts you in the right mood for the ride. It has also been enhanced with new figures, even if the focus here is more on the rapid ride through the current channel and less on telling a story.

Star Trek – Operation Enterprise

Things are different with Star Trek – Operation Enterprise, where the overall experience takes up the original idea of the film park and thus tells a rather round story. For this purpose, the former Marienhof was converted into the Federation Plaza and the once existing – but hardly noticed by the visitors – Film Museum was cleared out to accommodate the queue including the replica of the bridge of the Starship Enterprise. The external station can then be reached via a narrow corridor.

After you have taken a seat on the train, the journey can begin immediately. But first of all you are pushed over a transfer track onto the actual track.  Since this track section has no LSM modules, you are pushed forward very gently before you enter the launch section and accelerate slowly. After this, we climb the first element about halfway before we turn around and accelerate much faster. At the back of the transfer track building we shoot up the Twisted Halfpipe, a slightly twisted vertical section of track. Here, too, we change direction and race through the launch section a third time. With 90 km/h we race up the Top Hat and are immediately torn out of our seats. After a powerful valley we climb an Immelmann and see the world upside down for the first time. This is immediately followed by a heartline roll, which changes into another fall. After a jagged bend above the transfer track building we speed through the Borg Cube and immediately start the second part of our rescue mission. Extremely close to the ground we are now going over several smaller hills and then through a crisp left turn. Very smoothly this then changes into the last inversion figure of the ride, a Zero-G Roll. Directly after that our mission reaches its end. After the braking section there is only a short right turn before we find ourselves back in the station of the ride.

Star Trek – Operation Enterprise is a really nice roller coaster by Mack Rides. The ride through the compact layout can show some really nice elements, all of which are ridden with a good pacing. It may not be the most powerful roller coaster and the triple launch is a nice feature at best, but the overall package is quite impressive. Star Trek – Operation Enterprise is at least a very family-friendly launch coaster and fits perfectly into the park’s portfolio in this respect.

Pictures Movie Park Germany

Closing Words

What I personally dislike, however, is the new theme area around the roller coaster. The Federation Plaza looks naked and doesn’t look as inviting as the rest of the park. Here, one could and should have gotten out more.

Nevertheless, all novelties of the past years have been very successful and let you look into the future of Movie Park Germany with a joyful view – even if I can hardly imagine the new design of the Vekoma SLC with the henceforth extremely unwieldy name Lucky Luke – The Ride: Die Daltons brechen aus. At least you can be curious and that’s a good start.

 

What is your opinion about the last three novelties at Movie Park Germany? How do you like Excalibur – Secret of the Dark Forest, Star Trek – Operation Enterprise and Area 51 – Top Secret? Just write it here below the report in the comment field or visit our social media channels:

 

          

Movie Park Germany

Choose your own fury

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Preface

My last visit to Bobbejaanland was ages ago. During that time, many things changed. Some of them were small things, like the name change of the roller coaster Dizz to Naga Bay in 2017 to better fit the theme of the immersive tunnel Forbidden Caves next door. An interesting choice when considering that Forbidden Caves already became obsolete shortly after its opening in 2015 – with this years novelty Fury and its theme area Land of Legends, Naga Bay serves as a connection between the two areas, which is just fine. In the meantime Bobbejaanland sold their HUSS Fly Away to a small french theme park, teamed up with Samsung VR to offer with Mount Mara a new and exiting ride on the roller coaster Revolution – which apart of the low resolution does a fantastic job to the old ride – and the wind energy turbine next to Bobbejaanland was removed.

Land of Legends

The Land of Legends truly sounds more legendary as it is. The theme area consist of an unappealing long queue line for the roller coaster Typhoon – which got a new paint job –, a new queue line for the HUSS Giant Frisbee Slegdehammer – whose ride has been significantly enhanced by the sight of a novelty suddenly appearing underneath –, a water playground and the roller coaster Fury. Apart of Fury, which has a never seen before feature on a roller coaster, nothing stands out. In my opinion, the Land of Legends looks cheap and plastic. Of course we have the obligatory music by IMAsore, like all the other European theme parks.

Fury

Fury itself is a reasonably large ride with some exiting and interesting elements, which can be ridden forwards or backwards. The ride gives you a choice if you want so. If you really need to ride Fury forwards, you also have the choice to wait slightly longer in line and use the queue to the left in the station. If you want to be surprised by the choice of all the other people in the train and want to take part in a small poll, keep to the right. After boarding feel free to push whichever button you like and enjoy the turntable of destiny shortly after leaving the station.

Turned into position, the ride starts with its first launch in direction of the Top Hat. It then passes the same launch track in reverse, whereupon the Scorpion Tail Jr. element follows. This is basically a slightly overbanked vertical slope, where the train loses momentum whilst the riders hang upside down for a moment. After the third launch the train passes over the Top Hat with a very small pinch of airtime and suddenly drops down in a twisty motion. At full speed, the train climbs up a giant corkscrew, where the exit of the element ressembles a Banana Roll. You basically leave the element with a change in direction. Over a hill, the train then plunges down into the entrance of a very forceful loop. After the looping, the train enters the final valley. Similar to the beginning of the ride, the train changes speed in three stages. In the first one, we climb the second Scorpion Tail Jr. element and change direction. With reduced speed we now travel across the braking track and climb the exit of the loop for some meters. When entering the braking track for the third time, the train stops on the adjacent turntable. Back in position, the train enters the station and the ride comes to a finish.

Fury is definitely a nice Gerstlauer Infinity Coaster. It fits well into the ride portfolio of Bobbejaanland and complements it. The ride itself is very family-friendly, although it features a rather intense loop at the end of the ride. The backwards option is well received and offers an exiting ride for the thrill seekers out there. For everybody else, the forward option is a permanently available one, which is a good thing for all those who are not sure (or willing) to ride a roller coaster backwards. Although Fury is not the most exiting coaster in Europe, it is a nice one to give it a try when nearby.

Pictures

 

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Bobbejaanland