Merlin Entertainments

Preface

Because of a wonderful cheap flight to London (with all fees 16€ for there and back) via Lübeck, I thought it would be time to visit Thorpe Park during the Fright Night event. Soon some more people were found who wanted to do this for a long time and so we could set off.

As with every proper tour, something had to happen and our Stefan, who practically defies all danger, had a small fracture five days before departure. In short: We were only two of us now and our luxury plane from Ryanair took off on schedule. Many thanks to Merlin Entertainments, who refunded our money at Madame Tussauds and sent us a ticket for the next season at Thorpe Park.

After we took the coach from London Stansted to Liverpool Street Station and made our way from there to Waterloo Station, we were already on the train to Staines, where we took the shuttle bus to the park at about 9 am. Quickly we picked up the prepaid Bloody Horrible tickets (Thorpe Park and London Dungeon) and we were ready to go.

Tour of the park

Colossus

The first ride of the day was Colossus. The ride is quite comfortable, but the one or other encounter of head and shoulder restraints in the first two inversion figures could not be avoided. I personally would consider the corkscrews and the last Heartlineroll as the highlight of the course, because the ride feeling of these two is much better than the rest of the course. Colossus is also very photogenic and due to its location wonderfully laid out.

Logger’s Leap

Roller coaster #2 was to become the nearby Eurofighter. Since it was supposed to open a little bit late, we decided to take a ride on the log flume Logger’s Leap. The ride has a pleasant level of wetness, whereas the drop in the dark is quite nasty and soaks you a bit. The double drop that follows later is not so wet, but offers a nice portion of airtime.

Slammer

For dry spinning we went to the nearby Sky Swat Slammer. S&S really did something massive with this machine. The ride is intense and very fun (I would not market this thing as a family ride).

Nemesis Inferno

This was followed by Nemesis Inferno, which alone is very convincing because of the part in front of the lift. But if the queue is empty, you have to zigzag a few times to get to the station (with Tidal Wave the longest queue to be crossed during the day). The ride is quite amusing from my point of view, which is why the ride became the first B&M Coaster that I enjoyed.

Stealth

St.Jimmy now saw the roller coaster of his desire, which is why we immediately set off in the direction of Stealth. Quickly we handed in our luggage and off we went. The launch was nice and the top hat afterwards too. Especially in the front part of the train it is very convincing. The descent is awesome, only the hill that follows is not very pleasant.

Tidal Wave

Since the weather was oddly good and therefore T-shirt weather prevailed, the Spillwater Tidal Wave had to be ridden as well (although it should be done in all weather conditions). The ride itself was great and with Slammer, X:\No Way Out and the new Coaster for the year 2012 the only reason for me to visit the park again.

X:\No Way Out

Let us now come to one of the highlights in the park: X:\No Way Out. You only hear mostly bad things about the ride, but it deserves the appreciation of some fans who enjoy the special. The ride is perfect in what it does, which is why I am so enthusiastic about it. All in all one of the best indoor coasters I ever had the pleasure to ride. Many thanks to Vekoma for this ride.

Saw – The Ride

Since meanwhile also Saw – The Ride ran, we joined the line. The queue was moving quite fast, so it didn’t take us long to get to the station. Again we had to hand in our bags and take a seat in one of the two trains, which are loaded at the same time.

We could experience our first ride in the first row and were immediately taken with the dark ride part. The first drop is pretty intense and the roll after the block brake has a nasty little extra, but I won’t tell you more. The outdoor part can be described very well by one word: fast. Not only does the lift run at top speed, but the car is also just racing down the track. On block brakes no consideration is taken into account, so that one experiences partly extremely positive and negative forces without braking.

Flying Fish

We almost forgot the Powered Coaster Flying Fish, but we still didn’t want to miss this roller coaster. I haven’t ridden the standard model from Mack Rides for a very long time, which made me very happy. Nevertheless I think that there is something missing at the coaster. A tunnel at the end would make the ride much more interesting, but the 4 laps are a lot of fun even without a tunnel. The beautifully designed train does its best for that.

Rush

Let us now come to the S&S Screamin’ Swing Rush. Praised by many we wanted to test this ride of course. It’s fun for a few seconds, but in general the ride is much too short and the rocking motion is not that special.

Samurai

Between Saw and Colossus there is the Mondial Top Scan Samurai. After many years, it was nice to see a Top Scan once again in person. The ride was okay, at least it was better than the rides on the other flat rides in the park.

Detonator

Very close to Nemesis Inferno is the Fabbri Tower Detonator. Like its 40m high brothers (to be found in Attractiepark Slagharen, BonBon-Land, …) this tower offers airtime in masses. The Humpty Dumpty rhyme before the fall is a really nice feature for Halloween.

The waiting times were generally between 0 and 20 minutes during the day. In the meantime it was also necessary to wait 50 minutes for Nemesis Inferno. Because of the Fright Nights, Thorpe Park was open until 8 pm, so some reruns could be done in the dark; after all, most of the English were waiting over 60 minutes for the Mazes.

Pictures Thorpe Park

What is your opinion about Thorpe Park? Just write it in the comment field below the report or visit our social media channels:

Legoland Deutschland

If you leave the motorway in the direction of Legoland Deutschland in the Bavarian town of Günzburg, you are immediately confronted with Lego on a large scale. Here you don’t spill, but rather make bricks and blocks, and that in the most figurative sense of all. Legoland Deutschland, which opened in 2002, is already the second Legoland on German soil, after Legoland Sierksdorf, today’s Hansa Park, was not necessarily blessed with success in the mid-1970s due to its proximity to the original Legoland in Billund.

Power Builder

Located directly in the entrance area, the Lego City, a special experience awaits the visitors on the Power Builder. Several robots from the Augsburg company Kuka, equipped with a passenger carrier, are standing around in a hall. The ride is more or less exciting depending on the intensity level (level 1 – 5) and can be either roll-over or non-roll-over depending on the age of the passengers. There is also a possibility to program the ride, but I doubt if the extrapolated sum of the different possibilities is true.

Feuerdrache

Shaken, you can now continue your tour in the direction of the local knights’ area. In the central castle lives a dragon, which now and then strays into the kitchen to eat something. The partly funny, but very simply knitted story belongs to the Feuerdrache (fire dragon), a big Force Coaster from Zierer with a nice dark ride section, which has a rather nasty drop at the end, especially in the back rows. The actual roller coaster part is driven through quite fast and can be a real test of courage for the little visitors.

Drachenjagd

Next door is the Drachenjagd (dragon hunt), a roller coaster from the nearby manufacturer Gerstlauer for the very young guests of the park, which has a very surprising first gradient, as the passengers are simply pulled to the right. But don’t worry, children are only allowed to sit on the left side of the train. The ride itself is small, but it’s fast and beautifully designed. Especially the little dragon on the roof, which is haunted by fire from time to time, is very well done.

Raupenritt

Pure evil awaits you on the mountain and valley railway Raupenritt, an Old Train from the Mack company. The ride itself would be rock solid, especially since it does not only turn forwards but also backwards, in combination with design elements of the company Lego however an almost merciless torture machine is created – at least for the adults. Children enjoy even such a ride without limits.

Dschungel X-Pedition

To relax a bit I went on the log flume Dschungel X-Pedition, a Reverse Boat Ride made by Intamin. The ride is designed as an expedition and consists of two shots, the first of which is done backwards, passing dinosaurs and threatening plants. The general degree of wetness is quite manageable, so that a ride for somewhat larger children is certainly as much fun as for the water-shy parents.

Captain Nick’s Piratenschlacht

Almost next door is the pirate area of Legoland Deutschland, where young pirates can go to the Piratenschule (pirate school) on a Rockin’ Tug and then compete in Captain Nick’s Piratenschlacht. This is the prototype of the popular Splash Battle by Mack, which has a layout that is too far stretched in some places, which is why you unfortunately don’t meet your opponents that often and the degree of wetness is accordingly limited.

Sea Life Atlantis

Relatively new at the time of the visit was the Sea Life Atlantis, an aquarium with design elements of the sunken city of Atlantis. After watching a well animated Lego short film in German and English the gates to the lost city open. Unfortunately you are out as fast as you came in, which is typical for all Sea Life aquariums of the Merlin Entertainments Group.

Project X – Teststrecke

Close to the 4D cinema, where a larger selection of worth seeing Lego style animation films is shown, you will find the two water rondel Wellenreiter, the somewhat odd-looking cup ride with the inventive name Techno Schleuder, and the Wild Mouse roller coaster Project X – Teststrecke. Like the Matterhornblitz at Europa Park, this one has a slightly different layout, with the emphasis on the shots rather than the hairpin bends.

Miniland

The other attractions of the park, which are mostly suitable for children, have all been wonderfully staged, but the highlight of every Legoland is, as is well known, the Miniland, which is beautifully laid out in the middle of Legoland Germany. It is quite big and can show a lot of European motives besides numerous German buildings.

Pictures Legoland Deutschland

Conclusion Legoland Deutschland

Legoland Deutschland is an extremely harmonious amusement park, which is well worth a visit, especially with younger children. Although adult visitors also get their money’s worth, one would have to ask oneself if the high prices still justify a visit. In connection with one or the other offer, one can visit the park without having to worry.

What is your opinion about the theme park Legoland Deutschland? Just write it in the comment field below the report or visit our social media channels:

A day at Thorpe Park