Luge

Monte Coaster (2015)

On the outskirts of the town of Hirschau is Monte Kaolino, a 120m high dump of kaolin-containing quartz sand, which was created from kaolin mining nearby. On the southern slope of the slag heap there has been a recreational area since the 1950s, which today offers a camping site, a swimming pool, a sand ski slope, the Alpine Coaster Monte Coaster and numerous smaller attractions.

When talking about the first drop par excellence on a roller coaster, the first descent of the Expedition GeForce from the Holiday Park certainly and relatively spontaneously comes to mind, but if you think of an extraordinary drop on an Alpine Coaster, you can hardly talk about the right drop at the beginning of most rides, unless you know the Monte Coaster.

Hardly climbed up the steep slope it goes directly down the steep curve and into some jumps. Under the now existing maximum speed we immediately go into the following helix and after some detours into the small forest. The ride is a bit more leisurely now, but the jumps don’t stop and after a few meters of distance there is another steep turn, similar to the first downhill of this ride. With a clearly existing gradient, the ride continues at full throttle to the end of the ride, which is crowned with a jump, where you have to brake, but don’t want to.

The Monte Coaster is without a question brilliant, but unfortunately it gets the short end of the stick compared to some of the larger rides like the Hasenhorn Coaster or the Trapper Slider from the German theme park Fort Fun Abenteuerland. The only thing missing here are some meters of track, because the rest, which the sand built exotic among the Alpine Coasters delivers, is first class and definitely worth a visit.

 

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Bavaria

Where the Franks luge

Sommerrodelbahnen Pottenstein

On the way to a job interview in Munich, Vienna is somehow on the way from Hamburg. Actually, it is not even close. I just don’t like to miss a good opportunity to plan a road trip through Bavaria and Austria.

After a seven-hour drive, the trip was supposed to start at the Greuther Keller around noon, but the facility doesn’t open until late afternoon within the week. The amusement park Schloss Thurn also preferred not to open at all on this day, so that the first tour stop was at the Sommerrodelbahnen Pottenstein – a Wiegand Erlebnisberg.

Frankenbob

Blinded by the impressive view of the runs, Jan and I immediately pulled out our purse and bought a ticket for three departures each. Since the Alpine Coaster Frankenbob had priority for us and nobody was standing in line here, the first ride was on this course. The view from the lift to the luge Frankenrodel and the upcoming meters of the Alpine Coaster are very good, but after a few meters on the downhill chute you notice very clearly that the speed is missing. After some turns and a fantastic view of the surroundings, the highlight of the ride is approaching, a section with several jumps. Thereupon, some curves will follow but this time in interaction with the luge Frankenrodel until a roundabout finally appears at the end of the ride.

The track itself is very neat from the view and in theory also because of the built in elements, but unfortunately lots of riding fun may not come up here.

Frankenrodel

Practically you can start your next ride immediately after the ride via a path in the station of the Sommerrodelbahnen Pottenstein. This time, however, the choice fell on the untested luge. Parallel to the lift ride of the Alpine Coaster, we climb up the mountain and shortly afterwards, following a right turn, we descend again. The sled picks up speed much faster, even though the swing tends towards zero during the first curves. Two jumps later this problem is solved and the sled descends the mountain with an appropriate cornering behaviour. After several undercrossings of the lift and some interactions with the Alpine Coaster, the end of the course follows.

Contrary to the ride next door, the speed on the luge track is always perfect. Due to the tighter curve radii and the Jumps the ride seems more dynamic, making it by far the stronger track for us.

Bilder Sommerrodelbahnen Pottenstein

 

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Erlebnisfelsen Pottenstein

About truly small roller coasters in Steinau

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Erlebnispark Steinau

Above the Brothers Grimm town of Steinau an der Straße is the small but fine Erlebnispark Steinau. The park has a rustic charm and consists mainly of barbecue huts, spacious playgrounds, some animal enclosures – in which many domestic breeds of farm animals can be found – and some rides; most of them of course from Heege.

Erlis Seifenkiste

This year the park was in the media more than ever, as the park features a new roller coaster by the manufacturer Gerstlauer. The Kiddy Racer Erlis Seifenkiste is for small kids only, as an adult person will hardly fit into the ride. For the target group of the park, the coaster is of course a useful addition, for everyone else a nice facility for the little ones.

Sommerrodelbahn

Next door is the Sommerrodelbahn, the main attraction of the park, which cleverly makes its way down through the other rides. Theoretically, it could also be a really good luge if there were no children riding alone, who think they have to hold on to the upright lever instead of pushing it down a little. Consequently, thanks to the low or even non-existent speed, one is afraid of falling over due to the bobsleigh’s lateral inclination. Significantly faster, the bobsled climbed back up the mountain. A second run sadly seems to have been a waste of time.

Butterfly and Kometenschaukel

Fortunately, there are some interactive play options and the entire Heege product catalogue at the top of the park. One of the rides that can only be operated by several people is the Butterfly, which can usually be operated by yourself, so I had to ask a family that was lucky enough to be nearby if they could push the button. The ride feeling is well proven, but by far not as exciting and ingenious as the strongly pronounced airtime of the park’s comet swing Kometenschaukel.

Wegebahn

With the extremely professional and informative railway Wegebahn, whose quality of the announcement can easily keep up with larger parks – the only difference is that highlights such as the Nautic Jet are mentioned during the ride, you can explore the lower part of the park without having to climb the mountain again and learn a lot about the special features of the park, which is now 20 years old.

You really have to give the park credit for being very creative in places, where some other parks should take a leaf out of their book, for example the park offers a water playground where you can play water plumber with pipes just waiting to be laid. But the park can also offer nicely arranged and bigger rides, thus one finds a cycling track, a small flat tide and a wave swinger by Zierer, which all ride themselves neatly.

Pictures Erlebnispark Steinau

Conclusion Erlebnispark Steinau

The Erlebnispark Steinau surprised me alot, as it is very similar to the Tolk-Schau in Schleswig-Holstein, only without the dinosaurs and a little more professional, although a little bit smaller. Here you can spend some time without getting bored and if you have something to barbecue, you can stay much longer. At least East Hesse’s biggest amusement park is definitely worth a visit, despite the strange-looking title.

 

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Erlebnispark Steinau