Intamin

The charm of the old amusement park

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Bakken

The amusement park Bakken or Dyrehavsbakken is located at Jægersborg Dyrehave on the outskirts of the Danish capital Copenhagen. Similar to Vienna’s Wurstelprater, the amusement park, which is divided into plots and fed by various showmen, makes up only a very small area of the actual park grounds, which mainly function as a wildlife park and thus had its origins as a hunting ground. Historically speaking, the amusement park opened in 1583 is relevant as it is the oldest amusement park in the world. The easiest way to reach the amusement park is by taking the suburban train line C from Copenhagen Central Station to the terminal station Klampenborg, followed by a 10 minute walk.

Once arrived at the park, if you visit Bakken not only because of the numerous rustic restaurants and bars, you should buy a wristband. Most of the times, this is read out by a handheld device but also by stationary scanning stations and allows one 10 rides on each of the numerous attractions in Bakken.

Mine Train Ulven

If you have walked from Klampenborg Station the first attraction you will come across is the Intamin Minetrain called Mine Train Ulven. After the train has left the station with a full jolt due to the friction wheels, which are probably controlled by a trapezoidal trajectory of speed, a small drop is made to enter the lift. Once at the top, the track disappears in front of you and an incredibly steep first drop follows. Just as fast as it’s going down here, the steep curve goes up again and a left leading downward helix is attached. A little more leisurely we go through a constantly tapering Bavarian curve until we pass the station. A right turn above the first track meters leads the train into a downward helix below the lift hill. Parallel to the lift you pass two smaller hills before you enter the last downhill helix after a 270° turn. This is followed by the entry into the brake and the return to the station.

Mine Train Ulven surprises with its very strong start, but gets a little lost in the middle part of the layout until it goes into the fast end of the ride. As one of the few layouts of this kind from the manufacturer, the layout convinces above all by the comparatively intensive riding style, only the curves could have been a little more pronounced and less optimized.

Crazy Theatre

Next to a 5D cinema, or rather exactly above it, there is the Crazy Theatre, an interactive theatre of the manufacturer Alterface in which the film Desperados is shown. Here you sit on a mechanical horse, which moves back and forth, and aim a pistol at various targets. At first, smaller practice scenes are shown, followed by a longer film scene. The interaction of the individual components is quite fun and can convince by the good quality of the film.

Spøgelsestoget

A few metres further on is the ghost train Spøgelsestoget. This is a quite old ghost train. As the inside of the ride is pitch dark, the ride is quite tense. The effects are all shown to their best advantage – also the newer ones fit very well into the ambience – and frighten you several times with bravura. So Spøgelsestoget is a real highlight in Bakken and therefore should not be missed by anyone.

Polyppen and Vikingeskibet Dragen

Less cramped than most other rides in Bakken are the Schwarzkopf Monster Polyppen, which offered a good and balanced ride, and the boat swing Vikingeskibet Dragen made by Zierer. Here you sit, as on the Kalbfleisch-Boat Swings, back to back or in opposite rows to each other, but in comparison you have much more play to the bars and therefore a more exciting ride. Interestingly, the ship is not driven from below but at the side of the saber.

Racing

Since the 80’s the roller coaster Racing is located in Bakken, a Zierer Flitzer, which was previously on the road under the Bremen showman Robrahn at the German fairs during the early 70’s. With its age of 44 years it is the second oldest roller coaster in Bakken and is mostly still in its original condition.

After the obligatory lift ride, you make a series of right-hand bends that are continuously rejuvenating and always ascending and descending in the style of Bavarian curves, until shortly afterwards a major fall occurs and you pass the station at ground level. A bigger right turn leads you into the rear part of the layout and after a narrow turn you make the first change of direction. This is immediately repeated after a downward helix and the last right turn follows.

It is very interesting how much the original gondolas influence the ride, as although the installation is identical in construction to High Explosive of the showman Vorlop, the high gondola walls of the mine cars take a big part of the fun. At least, the little speedsters make the ride very funny, which is why I had the most rides here during my visit.

Taarn Gyset

The Taarn Gyset is a Double Shot Tower from S&S located in Bakken, which is characterized by its low height and the nevertheless extraordinarily pronounced airtime, triggered by the second shot down. The ride is quite funny, but sadly also a rather short one.

Vilde Mus

The Vilde Mus roller coaster, which will open in 2012, is, as the name suggests, the newer standard model of the Wild Mouse from Mack Rides. Although there was no actual rush, many children preferred to claim an entire car for themselves, which artificially created the longest queue in the park. Interestingly, the ride itself resembles much older rides like the remaining side of the Speedy Bob from the Belgian Bobbejaanland.

Hurlumhej

With Hurlumhej there is a little treasure in Bakken that is really worth experiencing. In the history of the origin of the complex, obviously, a lot of Hansen Rum was drunk, that is why a giant bottle adorns the front of this amazing walkthrough. In the interior, one then comes across to a perfect symbiosis of the Crooked House and a Fun House, whereby the elements of the Crooked House are more distinctly present. Due to the more than elaborate arrangement in the style of an old ship, one actually gets a little seasick and therefore leaves the amusement complex by staggering a little. If each walkthrough would be like Hurlumhej, then every installation would be worth a visit, as such a perfectly arranged scenerey is something one unfortunately does not find very often. Even bigger installations as the Hotel Tartüff of the theme park Phantasialand do not surprise as much as this one, especially as one really does not oftenly come across to a crooked house nowadays.

Extreme

After I already had the pleasure to do a Speed Flip in the Funland Amusement Park on Hayling Island I was very curious to see how the Moser Rides product would show up here. In contrast to the traveling ride in England, Extreme has a very strange ride program where you basically go full throttle at the beginning of the ride and then slowly reduce the speed until the end. In addition to the modest ride cycle, which does not show the potential of this machine, the ride also offers very minimal restraints onky, which are unfortunately a bit too uncomfortable.

Mariehønen

In a small alley leading to the amusement park’s car park is Mariehønen, a small Tivoli ride from the manufacturer Zierer. The ride on the smallest roller coaster in Bakken is a very solid one, but becomes noteworthy by a break on the lift hill after the second round, as this is where you take a little stop to wave to the outside visitors. After the children have now waved extensively, the friction wheels start to work under full load, which doesn’t sound very nice with regard to the engines, and you now complete the last laps.

Vandrutschebanen

The Vandrutschebanen log flume is an interesting ride with a surprisingly long course with two downhill runs. The entry takes place on a small turntable whereupon the boat is released into the channel. On the way to the lift you spend some time in the current canal before you quickly go up. During the following shot run, which leads to about half of the starting height, one is already well moistened. Now one spends some time bobbing criss-cross through the layout just before it goes down quite fast on a long straight line and after another curve the second lift hill follows. At the top of the hill you will find the narrowest curve ever built into a log flume which could not be ridden without additional equipment. Compared to a Mack Rides installation, where two turntables would be used, the boats of this Reverchon whitewater ride are pushed through the curve by a lateral driver using a turntable. The boat will corner like crazy at the canal before it is pushed into the second shot. When you reach the bottom you will be completely soaked by the spray. If you are not laughed at by a little boy, who is doing a lap on the Svanebanen – a monorail above the water ride – it is a wonderfully refreshing fun in Bakken.

Safari

The Safari interactive dark ride is small, but very attractive. Armed with pistols and in small jeeps, the tour takes you through Bakken’s green hell, past numerous animatronics on two levels. Although you don’t trigger any effects and only try to get the highest possible score, the ride is very nicely arranged.

Rutschebanen

Not quite as old as the roller coaster of the same name from the nearby amusement park Tivoli Gardens, the Rutschebanen presents itself to its passengers at only 83 years of age. The technology and trains, on the other hand, are much younger and were purchased during the modernization, which also made the accompanying brake service personnel redundant. The Dutch company KumbaK did its best to maintain an authentic ride feeling without taking too much care of the wooden structure. They installed brake modules on the track where the brakeman would probably have braked, although I doubt that the train would have sneaked into the station like that. The trains are now similar to the wooden coaster Stampida from the Spanish Port Aventura, but consist of cars for two people each.

After the train has left the station, the route takes a left turn towards the cable lift. Here the train hooks up and is therefore carried up the wonderfully sloping and crooked lift hill very quickly. Once arrived at the top, one can enjoy the view in a small turn until it immediately goes down. Only at a nice speed one drives through the valley and quickly climbs up the other half of the lift. Up here, one passes another turn at a leisurely pace, but then the train rushes over a double shot. With clearly pronounced forces, one completes the following valley. A camelback follows before one makes the next turn at a higher level. Now parallel to the station you repeat the same game again, on the following meters you are not allowed to turn right according to the signs and disappear into the tunnel of a woman. Here you go down once more and over another hill before returning to the station.

Rutschebanen has an absolutely great layout, but unfortunately the wrong trains or better said the wrong restraints for this. Unlike Stampida, where I find the trains quite good, the restraints over here do not sit on the pelvis, but on the stomach. Due to the double shots, the bar is so unpleasantly tightened that one wishes the old trains back. Whereby the ride is actually exactly like Grand National from Pleasure Beach Blackpool, thus quite compatible for a wooden roller coaster of this age.

Tornado

The rotating gondola roller coaster Tornado, however, is not very well tolerated by people with balance problems. For all the others, a ride on the roller coaster  in Bakken might be enough to cause some really serious problems in the first place, because the true madness from the house of Intamin is not infamous for nothing.

It is not for nothing that the ride begins with the advice to press your head against the headrest, because after a curve the car enters the lift slightly turning. Due to the sudden acceleration, the rotation becomes more pronounced before the chain reaches an insane speed on the straight lift top. With full force you are now thrown down the first steep curve, mostly underlaid with a loud crackling of the passengers. Turning wildly, one now completes a harmless turn on the hall floor and leaves the hall in an upward curve. Next, a horseshoe-shaped curve combination and a jagged S-curve combination is completed relatively quickly before the descent gets steep and fast once more. Below the hall ceiling you pass a block brake without a noticeable reduction of speed, after which it goes downhill again in a steep curve. Since there have been enough harmless changes of direction so far, the following one is done much more abruptly, but in return the following curve is not as tight. A last steep turn initiates the return to the station and beats everyone up again with full force. Shortly afterwards the brakes are reached and you can finally take a deep breath.

Tornado is by far the most intense roller coaster in Europe or better said in the whole world, because what you experience here reminds you of bodily harm, it’s even more fun to get your nose broken by a stranger in the Hamburg S-Bahn, because you only notice it afterwards. But Tornado could be a quite good roller coaster, if you had left out the steep turns or if the average speed of the layout hadn’t been set so high from the beginning by the insane lift hill. I spent a total of two rides on this ride and that’s enough for me for the next years, as Tornado is simply the craziest roller coaster I’ve ever ridden so far in my life.

Sky Roller

Also crazy, but in a positive sense, is the Gerstlauer Sky Roller, where you can interactively influence the ride by adjusting the position of the wings on the seats. As often seen on similar machines of the manufacturer, you have to show the audience what you can get out of the machine or in other words how to adjust the wings to create a rollover. In contrast to the Götterflug from the amusement park Belantis you are unfortunately not supported by the wind during the ride and therefore you have a more even ride which does not automatically make the world appear in circles. A positive aspect of the Sky Roller is the much better capacity compared to the supposedly more exciting Sky Fly. Also, the first revision of the ride is now much more sophisticated and technically simpler, but this means that the gondolas no longer run completely over each other.

Pictures Bakken

Conclusion Bakken

The amusement park Bakken is, as also the Prater in Vienna, a great place to have some hours of good fun. Due to the low international share of visitors, the public is much more pleasant than in the Tivoli and generally enjoys themselves away from the rides in the park’s countless restaurants and bars, creating a thoroughly pleasant atmosphere on the grounds.

 

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Bakken

Rémy’s totally crazy adventure in Paris

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Walt Disney Studios Park

I make no secret of the fact that I always liked the Walt Disney Studios Park more than the amusement park next door. After all, the park appeals to a much more adult audience, and moreover it offers a wonderful leitmotif with the theme of movies. Now it is unfortunate that movie parks all over Europe usually do not act as such and at best only attract attention with cartoon characters, but here in Paris this would be much more difficult. Of course there are some exceptions, but most of them are not theme parks or are located in Italy. Nevertheless the Walt Disney Studios Park manages to create a homage to the film and thus manages to entertain you wonderfully.

Although my last visit was almost five years ago and not much had changed in that time, it seemed to me that the park had doubled in size. On the one hand, this is due to the well-known extensions, like the Toy Story themed area, which was still under construction at that time, and the small themed area around the Pixar film Ratatouille, but also because nothing was closed this time.

Due to Rémy and his family, the Walt Disney Studios Park is admittedly much more frequented, so that not much remains of the once countless rides on the Rock n Roller Coaster, as well as visits to the Hollywood Tower Hotel. Provided you don’t want to miss any of the other sights in this park. The word sight fits much better than just the word attraction, after all it is not only the rides, as in most other amusement parks in Europe, but especially the shows that you should not miss, at least as a first-time visitor. And it can’t hurt as an already knowledgeable park visitor to watch one or the other show again to refresh his own image.

Moteurs… Action! Stunt Show Spectacular

While I was less satisfied with the stunt show with the much too long name Moteurs… Action! Stunt Show Spectacular at the last visit, it could entertain me much better now. Although the in-between scene with Lightning McQueen and the bad guy with the “very” secret weapon as an odd gap-filler is not much more exciting than Herbie.  On the other hand, the other stunts were more than enjoyable, especially since they were not underlaid with the usual embarrassing story like in most other parks.

Studios Tram Tour

The Studios Tram Tour next door may not be a real show, but what happens during the first stopover is really worth seeing and interesting at the same time. Already at the entrance to the Disaster Canyon one notices the huge pumps that transport the required amount of water. What follows now is first and foremost very impressive, at least from a technical point of view, because the cars are shaken a little to and fro over movable floor plates, a hell of a lot of fire breaks out, which is then extinguished with significantly more water. This is certainly not a cheap pleasure, but unfortunately it is the only highlight of the tour, because after that we go all the way back past the props of rather unknown films. On the way to the other turning point you drive along the set of Reign of Fire and are entertained again with a little fire. If the film had been successful, the scene would certainly have been much more impressive, since it is better known. This is followed by the way back to the station.

The Studio Tram Tour is clearly too short as a studio tour of the Walt Disney Studios Park. Unfortunately, the film sets and props you pass by are mostly not worth mentioning and only Catastrophe Canyon is convincing. Fortunately the actual tour seems to be much longer than the now demolished original of the Hollywood Studios in Orlando.

Viewed from a distance, the tour offers another gimmick, because the backdrop including the Hollywood lettering looks impressively large. In fact, the structure consists of several smaller individual fragments, which only create the necessary depth due to the spatial separation from each other.

Armageddon – les effets speciaux

Armageddon – les effets speciaux is just as tricky, because what would a blockbuster movie be without its special effects? In principle probably too boring for most cinema-goers, which is why here you get to know a little about the history of its creation, until you then interactively participate in the pre-show or enjoy it as others do. Another film with one of the main actors of the film later, yes this show is very long, you finally get into the main show. A few insignificant effects later, finally a lot of fire shoots out of the middle of the room and the visitors can leave the show warmed up.

Cinémagique

After the homage to the special effects, we go straight to the homage to the film par excellence, namely Cinémagique, where the enemy of every cinema-goer suddenly finds himself in the film, crossing one genre after another. The film sequences shown in the process generate a rather long list of references and will certainly look very familiar to many visitors. The interplay between theatre and cinema also enhances the show and makes the simple story all the more entertaining.

Animagique

The black light show Animagique in the studio next door could actually be just as entertainingm if the show would at least focus on the Disney classics. Instead, a very child-friendly show, starring Donald Duck, is offered, which, thanks to the catchy melodies, the constant clapping of the audience and the necessary dark lighting, is more likely to put you to sleep than entertain you. A characteristic I have so far only ascribed to Europa Park, but there the shows are usually rather bad than good, Animagique admittedly has at least a few interesting scenes and an interesting concept. By the way, even more annoying than the song of the same name at the end of the show is the sound effects just before the show, which is why you should enter the building just before the show.

The Art of Disney Animation

At The Art of Disney Animation you get to know a little bit about the steps of creating an animated film. After a small preshow, in which a successful cut together of the different Disney and Pixar films is shown, you get into the main show where Mushu, the dragon from the Mulan films, takes the leading role. Through headphones you can now listen to the show in your own language, which results in Otto as the dubbing voice in the German version, or the best Frikandel joke ever in Dutch. Although this show always has the insipid aftertaste of a promotional event, at least the trailer of the current film of the Disney Animation Studios is always shown, I like the show very much.

Stitch live!

Stitch live! is similar, even though this type of interactive show outside the Dungeons by Merlin Entertainment is far too rare in Europe. Even though the show is designed for children, it provides the right amount of flat humour, especially for older viewers. The joy you feel when a person of the innocent group you have brought along is the victim of the show, before they take you instead, is just as satisfying as the proper portion of shame when only the staff makes a fool of themselves. It’s just a pity that Movie Magic hasn’t been available at Movie Park Germany for several years now.

Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster avec Aerosmith

Friends of good music and good roller coasters will find what they are looking for in the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster avec Aerosmith as the laser and music supported ride through the tangle of tracks within the sound stages of halls 8 and 9 is more than successful. After visiting the Tour de Force Records, you will be welcomed by the US rock band Aerosmith, after which you will wait a few minutes parallel to the launch track until you can finally get into the limousine.

Depending on the train, the experience on this roller coaster is always different. For each train, not only the lighting effects change throughout the ride, but also the associated soundtrack. Provided there is no emergency stop because someone thinks it’s great to record a shaky video of the ride with a selfiestick. Then you have a wonderful sound for the first seconds before you stand on the same spot for minutes and finally the ride takes place without sound and synchronised light show. I also didn’t find it funny when my life went in slow motion for a short moment, as a camera flew only a few centimetres past my head during the roll overs on in on the Vampire roller coaster in Walibi Belgium. Sure, it was a headchopper par excellence, but one you can do without, as well as the shaky onrides of various self-horny social media victims.

The Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster is and will remain an all-round successful roller coaster, which I still have trouble to let go of my list of favourites. However, the ride is very much dependent on its music, because despite the more comfortable trains, the indoor ride loses its fun as soon as it doesn’t sound, while the outdoor ride Xpress from the Dutch amusement park Walibi Holland always shows itself as a solid roller coaster and in the meantime, combined with the additional title Platform 13, additional effects can be seen as soon as you enter the queue.

Tower of Terror

The Hollywood Tower Hotel is undoubtedly the most famous Disney hotel, at least among amusement park enthusiasts and those who want to become one. Although the story of the Tower of Terror is told every time as an episode of the Twilight Zone in the hotel’s own library, many connoisseurs of the hotel are unaware that “Disney’s Tower of Terror” is also an entertaining film about the events of the evening in question.

After leaving the library, you will find yourself in the engine room, where the three service lifts are located, as the actual guest lift has understandably been out of service since that night. Once in the lift, the events of that time seem to be repeated. From the starting position the guest carrier moves backwards and is coupled with the lift technology. Once set in motion, the lift rises a few metres and stops in front of a mirror that makes you disappear. One floor down, you meet the passengers of the lift accident of yesteryear, they disappear, the corridor becomes dark and shortly afterwards you see them crash again before you crash yourself. Although you should know it, this rather small drop is always very surprising.  Much quicker than before, you now climb up to get some fresh air and enjoy the view before you hit the ground again. The same play continues a little bit more powerfully, before it goes up again to the top for the final fall.

The Tower of Terror is certainly the most elaborate vertical dark ride of our time, especially since it is not a pure freefall tower compared to the ABC Rides Towers of the Dungeons or meanwhile also other Merlin Entertainment attractions, but still offers the same forces. The ride itself is outstanding, even if the last drop always falls out of the pattern. Only the storyline with the Twilight Zone is annoying during repeat rides.

Crush’s Coaster

Comparably annoying is the waiting time on Crush’s Coaster, which is now a little slower due to the addition of a single rider line without any real benefit. Here you should ask yourself before the ride, if you’re riding alone, if you want to spend most of the waiting time in the fresh air or inside the always very warm and stuffy hall. Although the idea of a single rider line on a spinning coaster is not wrong, it shows that almost all people willing to ride are mostly two or four persons and therefore the single rider line moves forward very slowly, while you are always moving in the normal queue. Of course there is an exception, namely in the English amusement park Alton Towers in the rain, because for some strange reason the cars are loaded with only three people.

The ride is similar to a ride of the spinning racer during the evening hours, only that with this ride the rotation is already released after the lift and the track has been extended by a few meters. On this section, before the already known layout, you leave the building after a small lift for a short time in order to do a small darkride part in the interior. Although the ride is quite good it is not worth waiting more than an hour for it, especially since the Walt Disney Studios Park now offers a lot more.

Toy Story Playland

For example the Toy Story Playland with its music express Slinky Dog Zigzag Spin that offers an even more duller driving programme than the Flipper VolPaiute from the Spanish amusement park Port Aventura that is known to do its rounds in maintenance mode, the not very nice to look at Parachute Tower Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop, and the Intamin Half Pipe RC Racer.

RC Racer

Although there are not too many similarities, the RC Racer can at best be described as an oversized boat swing with a terrible capacity. Although there weren’t really many people in the queue, one waits here for half an eternity, hardly imagining what it would look like in the main season with a full waiting area. And yet the ride offers nothing exciting at all, because as soon as it has started to be a little bit of fun, it ends again. Well, this is similar to Halve Maen from the Dutch amusement park Efteling, but that ride is at least an oversized boat swing of enormous capacity.

Ratatouille L’Aventure Totalement Toquée de Remy

While the Toy Story Playland is not particularly conspicuous for its rides, the area that has been available since last year is all the more attractive because we are in Paris, the city of love and above all of rats. Even if Paris is not the cleanest city, it is mainly about the rat Rémy and his family, known from the Pixar movie Ratatouille. Although it sounds like rat and patootie, it is a more than successful animated film and with Ratatouille L’Aventure Totalement Toquée de Remy it has been given a worthy dark ride.

Due to time constraints we always used the Single Rider Line, because if we had to wait beyond the 75 minutes in the normal queue, we probably could have made only one single ride. On the other hand, the rows of seats for three people each have created ideal conditions for single riders, because even if this waiting area would be full, you would never be able to wait here for more than 20 minutes.

The ride

The station is located on the roofs of Paris and we are allowed to play rats. But before I act as a critic, in the sense of Anton Ego, there is a summary of the trip. After the cars have left their starting position, it seems as if they are driving around randomly. Shortly after that, however, they all drive along a narrower corridor. On the roof of the Gusteau’s, Rémy is pondering the current evening menu in his own restaurant and, oh, what a miracle, it will probably be ratatouille – a simple peasant dish served to critic Anton Ego just before the restaurant had to close.

Rémy crashes through the skylight and we slide along happily. A short tour through the kitchen of the restaurant follows, where the young cook Linguini, who actually should be a chef, helps us to escape unrecognised. The path now leads us through the pantry of the restaurant where Emile, Rémy’s brother, once again fills his stomach with grapes. Linguini is also able to successfully cover up the renewed route through the kitchen, before we are discovered in the restaurant’s dining room by Chef Skinner. Although Linguini helps us to escape quickly, Maître Skinner is always on our heels, but before he can grab us by the hand he prefers to reach into a mouse trap. We finally get to the kitchen of the restaurant La Ratatouille, which is the model for the restaurant Chez Rémy. After a small champagne shower we reach the other rats, whereupon we arrive at the final stop of our journey.

Conclusion Ratatouille L’Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy

Despite the admittedly very loose adaptation of the film, Ratatouille L’Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy is an extremely successful dark ride, where even after the tenth ride you would always find new details. The dynamic of the ride is as exciting as the picture, which is very sharp from all sides and which, depending on the position in front of the screens, always looks different and therefore reveals new details. Just as interesting is the point in time when you see a scene, because this way you see either a little prelude or a little postlude. It is also a significant difference if you are sitting in the first or second row of each car, because the perception of the individual scenes can differ enormously, only in the scene with the champagne cork it is an advantage if you sit in the front row, because this effect is very surprising.

So you shouldn’t miss Rémy’s totally crazy adventure, and it’s also the reason why you should definitely spend your visit to Disneyland Resort Paris in the Walt Disney Studios Park, because nowhere else in Europe you will be as well entertained on a dark ride as here.

Pictures Walt Disney Studios Park

Conclusion Walt Disney Studios Park

The Walt Disney Studios Park can convince a little bit more than the park already did because of its new perspective, mainly created by Rémy and his family. It would be nice to see if the park will be extended in the next years, so a visit to San Fransokyo in the near future would be an event I would be looking forward to years before.

 

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Walt Disney Studios Park

Casey Jr. – Le petit Train du Cirque

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Disneyland Park

Some years have passed since my last visit to Disneyland Park. During Easter 2010 we could do a lot of runs on all rides but the smallest roller coaster Casey Jr. – Le petit Train du Cirque was not available. This time in February, the roller coaster was open, but the biggest roller coaster of the park was not. When we arrived at Disneyland Park, we went down the fully renovated Main Street which was not quite as busy this time and then turned to the right at the Central Plaza towards the future. Unfortunately, the most beautiful area of the park is currently almost half closed off, which resulted not only in a lot of scaffolding, but also in the closure of the indoor roller coaster Space Mountain.

While the visionary car ride Autopia was dominated by a rather long queue, the waiting time in the remaining area was almost zero. Thus one could quickly travel to Endor using the airline Star Tours or prevent the villain Zorg from stealing the valuable energy sources with the help of Buzz Lightyear.

Captain EO

New to me was the legendary – but quite antigue – Michael Jackson 3D film Captain EO, which is being shown since the 2010 season in recognition of the artist’s death in June 2009. It replaced the only marginally younger film Honey – I Shrunk the Audience, on which the design of the theatre was based. Although the film was one of the most expensive productions at that time, it did not aged well. The story of a clumsy gang of losers in space who, with a little music and dance, liberated a whole planet from a borg-like society is just as trashy as the spongy 3D effects of that time. Even if Honey – I shrunk the audience didn’t look any better regarding the image quality of the film, it did entertain me a little bit more.

It is interesting to note that in the now 23-year-old history of Disneyland Park, only two 3D films have been shown in alternation, although Disney always attracts attention with successful short films.

It’s a Small World

In the themed area next door, the happiest cruise through our world was waiting to be completed with a catchy tune. In this sense: “It’s a small world after all, It’s a small world after all, It’s a small world after all, It’s a small, small world”.

The small, always peaceful, world trip It’s a Small World shows an ideal world from the children’s perspective. Especially in relation to Paris – which was still under the highest warning level at the time of the visit – a state of affairs that one quickly wishes for, even if this is very unlikely.

Le Pays des Contes de Fées

In the immediate proximity, but clearly belonging to Fantasyland, there is another boat trip with Le Pays des Contes de Fées. Here, one passes some fairy tale scenes, but their miniatures do not really stand out and/or their respective fairy tales are sometimes not so common in order to clearly recognize them.

Casey Jr. – Le petit Train du Cirque

A little bit above this attraction runs the track of the small circus train Casey Jr., known from the Disney movie Dumbo, which in contrast to the original version from Anaheim functions here as a roller coaster. At the beginning Casey Jr. breathes “I think I can”, but shows his true strength relatively fast and accelerates over the flat track. Especially in the back of the train, the inconspicuous track layout of Casey Jr. – Le petit Train du Cirque comes as a big surprise, especially if you do it backwards, while sitting in the back row.

With Casey Jr. – Le petit Train du Cirque the only Vekoma Powered Coaster can convince all along and not only because of the airtime that is rarely seen on this type of coaster. The possibility to ride a roller coaster both forwards and backwards is always a big plus and should be available more often, even if it’s only the last row.

Alice in Wonderland

Not quite as psychedelic as in Blackpool Pleasure Beach is the influence of Alice in Wonderland in Disneyland Park. With the extremely clumsy Mad Hatters Tea Cups and the stylish Labyrinth, it’s not so easy to resist a drug trip par excellence and the cuckoo waltz.

Disney Dreams

The rest of Fantasyland is based on classic Disney movies with three smaller dark rides, a compressed air carousel and a classic horse carousel, and can score points for the Disneyland Park’s landmark, especially at night. During the 20-minute long show Disney Dreams, this serves as a projection screen for the sequences, which are accompanied by fireworks, music, laser and fire effects. The only disturbing factor during the show are the children who are always taken onto the shoulders of the parents without consideration for other people. It’s amazing how timed this play takes place and how few alternatives you have. Camera-loving children are certainly an advantage if you want to take good pictures of the show.

Indiana Jones et Le Temple du Péril

In Adventureland, little has changed since my last visit – at least visually. At first sight, you simply cannot spot a difference in the completely renovated Temple of Fear. Also the ride itself hadn’t changed at Indiana Jones et Le Temple du Péril, although the loop was completely replaced.  Just the train seems to be much more comfortable than before.

Since we could not afford a binge with the Pirates of the Caribbean anyway, we looked for cheaper alternatives. Since the pizza in Colonel Hathi’s Pizza Outpost seemed to be too small, we looked for something edible in Frontierland and found it in the Cowboy Cookout Barbeque not far from Big Thunder Mountain.

Big Thunder Mountain

Before the coaster closes for more than a year, we had to spend some time at this coaster as Big Thunder Mountain is without doubt one of the best of its kind, although with the newly acquired constitution of the Colorado Adventure mine train roller coaster from Phantasialand it has gotten much harder to keep on the throne.

Phantom Manor

The old abandoned manor house on the edge of Frontierland will not lose its morbid character so quickly. Welcomed by extremely elegant ladies, we descend one floor into the realm of the dead. Seated in the doom buggies, accompanied by eerily beautiful music, we set off on a journey of discovery through the cursed estate of Phantom Manor and its history.

Pictures Disneyland Park

Closing Words

In contrast to previous visits – which I always made at Easter – February proved to be the ideal time for a visit to Disney, as the waiting times at most rides were less than 20 minutes at Disneyland Park, only Big Thunder Mountain, Casey Jr., Autopia and Peter Pan had longer waiting times, but even these were always within reasonable limits. Of course, some rides were closed due to refurbishment. A few laps on Space Mountain would have made the visit purely awesome.

 

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Disneyland Park