Monorail

The storks of Cigoland

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Cigoland

The Zoo and Amusement Park Cigoland was founded in 1974 by the Willmann family and has remained in family ownership ever since, although both the zoo and the amusement park have only developed over time. After all, the park began as a small inn around the family’s existing farm, which gradually developed into a tourist destination throughout the region. The stork is of particular importance for the park, which was named after it. Although Alsace has always been known for its great number of storks, this species was threatened in its existence, which is why nature parks and breeding programmes were created in the early 1970s. Today, the park still successfully breeds white storks, but once released, they are happy to return and enrich the park and the region.

Les mondes Extrêmes

When you enter Cigoland, you will find an electric horse-riding track and a circus on the right-hand side. However, there is not much to see in this part of the park, apart from two larger enclosures. If you then follow the path towards the spacious inn, you will suddenly see a much more compact park layout. In addition to several carousels, bumper boats and playgrounds, there is the rotating theatre show Les mondes Extrêmes, during which, accompanied by numerous effects, one travels through the four different climate zones of our world.

Cigopanoramique

This is followed by a larger animal area, where several breeds of domestic animals are presented in their enclosures. Right in the middle of it is the Cigopanoramique ride, a flying wheel made by Metallbau Emmeln, from which you could have an excellent view of Cigoland if you weren’t to go crazy in the giant teacup wheel. As always, this is a magnificent ride, which presents itself excellently in the park and is absolutely tailor-made for the young family audience of Cigoland.

Monorail La Cigogne

Speaking of family audiences, anyone who has always wanted to know how children are conceived in Alsace should get on the Monorail La Cigogne. On the 10 minute tour you will learn all kinds of things about the stork and of course it is the bird itself that brings the children – but only if everything has been prepared for the future child. Accordingly, the Alsace-Frenchman is very well-behaved and can speak three languages without any problems, if only all French guests at nearby Europa Park were like that…

Les vieux Tacots and King Kong

In the rear part of Cigoland there are several aviaries for breeding white storks, and there is also a slightly African-influenced area at the edge of the park. In addition to the spacious vintage car ride Les vieux Tacots, which circles a royal crane enclosure, the King Kong ride is the more exciting model of the modern HUSS ride of the same name. Here a row of seats is lifted by the giant ape King Kong, whereupon you have a wonderful view of the park before the ape takes pity on you and lets you down again. There is no grim face or shaking at all, but unfortunately the rotation around its own axis does not work anymore, so that the ride cannot offer a 360° panoramic view. Nevertheless, the experience is quite special in every respect and therefore even has a certain re-ride factor, which you might wish for in Bremen.

Train de la Mine

Also a big repeat ride factor is the small Soquet roller coaster Train de la Mine, where you can easily get a large number of rides. After all, you should be active when you want to get off the train. After one or two rides in a row you are asked if you want to stay seated, which you always do through motionlessness, especially in the back and front part of the train.

After a short right-hand bend out of the station, you immediately climb up the lift hill. At the top you stay for a while on a short straight line at a lofty height, before you descend in a steep right turn or are pulled down splendidly especially in the rear part of the train. The following valley is passed through with a lot of pressure, just before you shoot up a rather high hill. Up here, at least in the front part of the train, you make an unexpectedly rough change of direction, which throws you around wonderfully and immediately releases you into a downward helix. At a decent speed you cross the next valley and approach another hill. This is followed by a really fast and absolutely magnificent right-hand curve. After the constant up and down a further valley follows, whereupon after a conspicuously inclined curve the station and thus the brake is reached.

The Train de la Mine offers a surprisingly wild roller coaster ride for all ages. The layout leaves nothing to be desired for such a compact track and can really convince especially with the first downhill gradient and the magnificent finale. The ride characteristics are typically Soquet simply outstanding, even though, depending on the choice of seats, sometimes quite surprising, which is why we always like to stay seated.

Pictures Cigoland

Conclusion Cigoland

Cigoland is a friendly animal and leisure park, which is particularly convincing because of the animals that give it its name. Especially during springtime it is very exciting to watch the animals building their nests, especially as it is quite funny where they get their materials from. Although the number of rides is quite small, they are very well balanced, so you can have a lot of fun here with smaller children.

 

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Cigoland

Hooray, I’m in the movie

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Movieland Park

The Movieland Park, founded in 2003, is the latest project of the Amicabile family, who already laid the foundation stone for today’s Canevaworld Resort in 1965 with a dance club. The resort now consists of the water park Caneva Aquapark, the Disko Night Festival, the dinner show Medieval Times and the Rock Star Restaurant, as well as the theme park.

After having bought the tickets at the central ticket offices at the water park, we follow the path along the high street in order to get to the actual forecourt of the film park. Until the previous season you entered the park through the big studio gate, now two buses serve as the new entrance portal of the Movieland Park.

Tomb Raider Machine

As a result, there is now a separate entrance to the Tomb Raider Machine, a Windshear by Zamperla, which is generously staged with water, fire, fog effects and some drama. Basically five different ride programs can be driven here, which are randomly determined by a selection disk, as long as the Ride-Op does not brake the disk before and then adjusts it to a mission. Depending on the selected mission, the duration, intensity and effects vary. The show of the system is more exciting than the ride itself, which is a bit jerky.

Horror House

By walking through the old entrance portal, you find yourself right on the Main Street of the park, in whose corner house there is something gloomy or better said in whose cellar there is something pitch dark hidden. Since its opening, the Horror House offers the park guests a year-round scare haunt, thus a non-temporary cabinet of horrors with actors, similar to the Krüeger Hotel in the Spanish theme park Parc d’atraccions Tibidabo in Barcelona. The queue line sets the mood of the attraction, which gains momentum in the completely bloodstained lift.

Released directly into the darkness you follow the red lights of the surveillance cameras through absolutely dark corridors until you slowly but surely get used to the darkness. From time to time we now pass through larger scenes, all of which have a reference to horror film classics and have been elaborately designed. I especially liked the cold room scene with the body bags, which first blocked the way through movement and then showed their full effect through the use of a stroboscope and Freddy Krüeger from the Nightmare on Elm Street movies. Fortunately a group of two people caught up with us in the last room in front of the stairs leading up. They took their way with the camera light of their smartphone and thus took away the atmosphere. At the end, Michael Myers from the Halloween movies waited with a chainsaw for us. Worried that it will continue as long up here as it did in the basement, we found the exit to the attraction.

The Horror House is a very atmospheric and beautifully designed haunt with an amazingly long lead time. The 600 seconds given by Movieland Park itself can only be reached if you are guided through the corridors with your hands on the shoulder of the person in front. It took two of us a little longer to find our way in the pitch dark corridors. The actors do their job very well, even though you can almost always guess what will happen right away. Compared to the similar Krüeger Hotel I like the staging and the story line in the Parc d’atraccions Tibidabo a little bit better, yet here you have a truly outstanding attraction that you definitely shouldn’t miss.

Addams House

However, it should be clearly pointed out that a visit under the age of 14 is not permitted. But also that is not a problem, as there is at least another access down to the cellar in the Addams House. Here, you pass through some rooms and corridors of the big horror haunt and get brilliant entertainment by Zombie-Hitler. Alone this moment is so delightfully abstruse that you inevitably have to love the park. After a short time, but with a really wide grin on your face, you leave the attraction. Understandably, the access to the Horror House is closed during the Addams House playtime.

Overdrive

On the back of Studio 1 a live set is currently located, on which the film Overdrive, generously advertised in the park, is recorded. In principle, this is a small stunt show disguised as a film recording, in which some park visitors are also involved. Some stunts will be shown, then the footage will be cut and at the end the film will end up on YouTube or the park’s website. Two takes per day are recorded, but the times were not advertised, so we both missed them.

The Illusionist

But we were able to watch the magic show The Illusionist, which is roughly based on the film Prestige. The show shows some well known magic tricks, which are accompanied by all kinds of effects. Unfortunately, I couldn’t follow the story very well, as we were a bit late for the show. Nevertheless, the staging is quite well done and the theatre itself is impressive.

Terminator 2 – 5D

Right next door you will find Terminator 2 – 5D, an Interactive Theatre, where you shoot with pistols at a screen, but also at plastic figures. The terminator animatronics are convincing, as well as the numerous additional effects. Unfortunately, you can’t see much of the screen from the side. The game is fun and certainly worth playing, even though the game is hard to beat and therefore ends with Game Over before you reach the end.

U-571

Passing the Fazenda di Zorro or the remaining entrances of the Rodeo Grill Restaurant (which was decoupled from the park in 2012 and was supposed to entertain visitors after the opening hours of the two parks (and during lunchtime in the Movieland Park), however after two years of operation it was sold and finally renamed to Ristoburger Zero21), our way heads towards the submarine simulator U-571.

In a submarine bunker we first wait for more recruits to be allowed to enter some time later by our commanding officer. He informs us, while a staggering sailor is joking with a bottle full of rum behind him. During this show the Allies suddenly attack and several bombs fall into the harbour basin. We have to flee, but all roads are blocked and so we approach the submarine of the model U-571 at a rapid pace, climb down, hurry through the underwater vessel and take a seat in a chamber while the boat is submerging.

Our drunken comrade now tries to save us both and the submarine and tells me to open and close some valves in it; meanwhile we dive further down, but something is leaking. Full of haste I now try to comply to the specifications and getting loaded with water every now and then, while the rest of the recruits are shaken a little during our dive. At one point, one of the valves is gone and the amount of water can hardly be stopped. However, like a miracle, we manage to surface without being discovered by the Allies.

The U-571 is a spectacular attraction with a breathtaking pre-show and outstanding actors who really put a lot of effort into staging this attraction. Unfortunately, there is not much to see of the replica of the submarine in scale 1:1, as you run through the boat rather quickly. The actual simulator is just an old movie rocket without a movie, shaky benches and a brilliant, yet extremely oppressive atmosphere. If you are sitting in the front left of the boat, you have absolutely no chance to avoid the water, so that you get drenched on a similar level as jumping into the neighbouring Lake Garda.

Troncosaurus

If your clothes are still dry, take a ride on the Troncosaurus log flume, which looked more like a multi-storey car park than a splashy tree trunk ride down two drops before the redesign of the dinosaur area at the bottom of the park. Nowadays, the ride looks just as good as the rest of the area, which is now an ideal children’s area with matching sound.

After leaving the station, you head towards the first lift hill in a wide right turn. When arriving at the top, the track turns around below a later section of the track, whereby the entrance and exit run almost next to each other. Thereafter, the first descent of the log flume follows, whereby the transition into the lower canal is quite abrupt and makes for very good splash. After that you find yourself in another long right-hand turn, which leads parallel to the first lift hill into the second ascent. At the top, you follow the same route as on the lower floor. Instead of taking the second drop, you head straight on to the other side of the lift, where you cross a left-hand bend and slowly but surely approach the second drop. The run-out section is not quite as wet as at the small slope earlier on. A further left turn is then taken before approaching the station.

Troncosaurus is a very special log flume made by L&T Systems, which not only accommodates as much water as possible in as little space as possible, but also makes good use of the applied technology and is as energy-saving as possible, e.g. by using only one water circuit. The ride itself is quite nice and the wetness level is quite respectable, especially since water is constantly dripping into the boat even beyond the two shooting runs.

BC-10 Airlines

Next door, the BC-10 Airlines boat swing is swinging upwards, though the original swing of the former Looping Starship Aerovarvet in the Swedish leisure park Liseberg was significantly higher. When the looping madness of the 80s started to subside, Liseberg rebuilt the Looping Starship by removing the counter weight and the shoulder harnesses. Later, it disappeared from the landscape for several years before Movieland Park took pity on it and bought and redesigned the ride. In its current form, the boat swing entertains passengers in three different cruising programmes, although there is no clear difference. Unfortunately, the ship always brakes a little as soon as it has reached the maximum swing. The tight lap bars and the ride circle are reducing the fun slightly.

Brontojet

Also rescued from disappearance was the Schwarzkopf City Jet Brontojet, which had previously entertained its passengers for several years in the English amusement park Lightwater Valley and was briefly operated by the Bemboom family in Loudoun Castle and then stored. In 2010, Brontojet was opened as the second roller coaster of Movieland Park.

After taking a seat in the comfortable train, a short track section leads us straight to the spiral lift of the ride, which supplies the driving motors of the two cars with power by a conductor rail and thus continuously transports us upwards. At the top, we can enjoy the view of Lake Garda for a short time before we head towards the ground. With full power we cross the first valley, where after we rise again. Just below the first descent, we now drive around the spiral lift in a gentle left turn, before we throw ourselves back into a steep turn towards the ground. Following a turn near the ground, the trail continues several metres upwards and descends as quickly as possible in an oval downhill helix, carried out in the finest Bavarian curve style. Right after a very abrupt transition from an inclined curve into a straight line, which is certainly not laid out according to the heart line, you immediately stop at the powerful brake of the course.

The Brontojet is a truly intense roller coaster with, aside from the transition to the brake, absolutely great ride characteristics. For me it was the second City Jet ride after Nigloland’s great Bobsleigh coaster. Here, the ride was also very convincing, even though the design of the ride is far more minimalistic. The Brontojet was my 400th roller coaster in Europe.

Bront-o-Ring and Octopus

Not quite as spectacular is the Bront-o-Ring, a small powered children’s roller coaster with a triangular layout, whose train is supplied with power via a cable in the middle of the ride. Here you turn round after round for a longer time interval, until you are happy to get off again. Opposite is Octopus, a stylish polyp ride by Soriani & Moser, which offered a long and joyful ride.

Back to the Back Stage

With Back to the Back Stage you will find a rather unusual monorail where you can take a look behind the scenes of the amusement park. For this reason you should only visit the ride after visiting all the main attractions. The monorail stops at several stations with some displays, where Doc Brown gives some insights into the individual attractions in short movies, before he is shocked by the catastrophes of Magma 2.1 and wants to travel back into the future. As a result – at least from the story’s point of view – at the end of the ride, we actually travelled one day into the future.

Kitt Super Jet

From the monorail you get a good insight into the wild action of the Kitt Super Jet boat drivers. Inspired by the still popular series Knight Rider (Supercar in Italian), the Foundation for Law and Constitution has commissioned a manhunt. However, not in Kitt, as that would be a catastrophe in terms of capacity, but in Super Jet, the equivalent on water.

After Michael Knight has personally prepared us for the mission in perfect Italian, the boat is lowered and leaves its harbour in reverse. The 600 hp engines start soon after and the boat accelerates in an incredible way. With full throttle we now turn lap by lap over the basin area of the neighbouring stunt show while avoiding some targets that have been lowered in the meantime. Occasionally the driver brakes spontaneously, turns a pirouette and accelerates at the same rate. Then, the boat disappears into a shed, which turns out to be an ambush. Under fire we leave the building shortly before it collapses and speed over the water surface once more, triggering some additional water effects. Shortly afterwards, the boat returns to its parking bay in the safe harbour of the Foundation.

Kitt Super Jet is probably the most breathtaking water attraction in Europe and definitely one of the attractions you should have experienced in your life. The integration of the series Knight Rider fits somehow perfectly, which is further underlined by the appearance of the original German superhero David Hasselhoff as a somewhat aged Michael Knight in the short pre-show. The ride offers a lot of speed, action and adrenaline and yet something for everyone. Therefore, you inevitably have to take your hat off to Movieland Park, which proved with Kitt Super Jet that Canevaworld Resort is the better choice for a successful theme park day at Lake Garda.

John Rambo Stunt Show

Shortly after 5 pm the gates to the John Rambo Stunt Show opened and the remaining guests could fill about half of the huge show arena. Shortly afterwards an old comrade of John Rambo and some visitors were captured by terrorists. John Rambo hurries to free his colleague, but is discovered quite fast. It begins an action sequence with motorcycles and quads, at the end of which Rambo has to take a good beating. In the meantime his comrade has freed himself and together they establish some order. A female soldier working undercover joins him, only to be caught in an ambush shortly afterwards. Meanwhile the hostages (the captured visitors) are brought to the main stage and can experience the spectacle up close. As the only person not captured, Rambo tries to free everyone in a one-man army sequence. He first frees his colleague and opens the escape routes, whereupon an action-packed show on the water takes place, in which also the remaining visitors gets quite wet. After most of the enemy forces have been defeated and the hostages have been brought to the front stage by motorboat, there is a little love story between Rambo and the soldier, who is fatally wounded by the only remaining adversary. Rambo then pulls out his bow, fires an arrow at the oil barrels on the opposite side and triggers an explosion that sets the enemy on fire.

Even though the story is a bit lengthy at times, the John Rambo Stunt Show is a show absolutely worth seeing. The show is fortunately does not use any slapstick, like its boring car stunt show counterparts often found in amusement parks around the world. Beside the well choreographed fighting performances there are also some surprises, which are well staged. The big cast does its job very well, which is why you shouldn’t miss out on the show.

Magma 2.1

Another highlight follows with Magma 2.1, a ride similar to the Studio Tram Tour from the Walt Disney Studios Park near Paris, only with spectacular special effects, motivated drivers and lots of action.

After the car has left the station, a short turn follows at the rear end of the Hollywood Action Tower, then the truck mercilessly plunges down a steep embankment, lifting the passengers neatly out of their seats. Passing the back of the stunt show, we now enter an obstacle course with several delightful mechanical gimmicks. First, we cross a small water basin above which a tanker truck empties itself, which in theory can be very wet. After that, we cross an oversized seesaw and in the next moment we are dried a little by cold air blowers. With a decent speed we drive around a small building, into which we enter shortly afterwards. Inside there is a small laboratory, which is now destroyed due to some earthquakes. The truck is shaken and there are some fire and light effects. A siren sounds and we leave the building as soon as possible. Outside it is burning everywhere and the landscape is mostly destroyed, to all misfortune the road breaks under us and we land quite surprisingly in water. By forced measures, we drive through another water basin where there is a water effect directed at the passengers. Likewise, the truck drives a little in reverse until it can drive up the embankment in another attempt. Once again at full throttle we pass the same road along the stunt show as at the beginning of the ride and arrive shortly after at the station, where the driver is usually bid farewell with some applause.

Magma 2.1 is a genuinely funny and effect overloaded attraction that unfortunately cannot be found elsewhere in Europe, even though in the English Chessington World of Adventure on Zufari you can at least guess the potential behind such an attraction. The drivers on Magma are merciless and the built-in mechanical effects are totally amazing, which is why you have to get a ride or two when you are at Movieland Park.

Hollywood Action Tower

You should also get a ride on the Hollywood Action Tower, a first generation free fall from Intamin. It was built in the 80s, before you could establish space-saving free fall towers with magnetic brake systems in amusement parks in the mid 90s. Before the system moved to Movieland Park in 2006, it stood until 2001 as Drop of Doom in the Galaxyland Amusement Park of the Canadian West Edmonton Mall, before it was replaced by a double shot of about the same height made by S&S.

After taking a seat in the car and closing the over-the-shoulder harness, the car sets itself in motion and first moves a few meters backwards into the elevator shaft. The nacelle couples into the shaft at the back and is immediately transported up the tower. When it reaches the top, the car is pushed forward a little to the sound of the Twilight Zone soundtrack and couples into the free fall shaft. Under a fog effect the letters of the Hollywood Tower logo break in and we fall into the depth. The first meters of it we approach the ground in a straight line, but then the falling distance bends in a quarter circle, consequently we find ourselves lying on our backs rather fast and continue to move before the mechanical brakes stops us noticeably. A dog grabs us and transports us over a turnout one level down, where we return to our starting position and are immediately brought to the station.

The Hollywood Action Tower is the only one of its kind in Europe and one of the few remaining rides of its kind in the world. For this reason alone, the trip to Movieland Park is worthwhile. The freefall experience is just an awesome experience – althrough, also a wacky one as well, which is why we joined the queue quite often.

Police Academy

As you could expect by the Police Academy, which has its own simulators for the driver training of the new recruits, also features a quite bizarre ride experience. The film shown here is quite good and, compared to other simulations, fortunately doesn’t use cheap computer generated animations instead of real film material.

Our driving doesn’t seem to be that great, which is why Lieutenant Harris interrupts the ride. Through a trick he is lured out of the room, whereby Mahoney and his clique take over the simulators and let us dance the duck dance first. After the return of Lieutenant Harris the original film is continued and brought to an end. All in all, this results in a really extraordinary ride that stands out from the crowd and thus offers a refreshingly different experience that you should not miss.

Diabolik Invertigo

Past the small Monza track Route 66 our way leads through the entrance portal to the forecourt of the Movieland Park, from where two bridges lead us to our next destination, the Diabolik Invertigo by Vekoma, which previously was Two-Face: The flip side at Six Flags America from 1999 – 2007. Even though the dismantling was handled rather carelessly at that time, the ride looks like new today and has been given an onboard sound and a continuous storyline by the Italian cartoonists A.M. Ricci and M. Ricci, as well as the lyricist Mario Gomboli based on the original comic Diabolik by the sisters Angela and Luciana Guissani.

The course of the ride is similar to that of a boomerang built by the same manufacturer; i.e. after the lift, the station is passed through, whereupon, in a Cobra Roll, you are turned upside down twice before seeing the world upside down for a third time in a simple loop, before you are taken up to the second lift, in order to experience the whole game again in the opposite direction. Nevertheless, there are some minor differences between an Invertigo and the standard Boomerang, e.g. the train is located underneath the rail and has a completely different seating arrangement, where you can even face each other, and the used technology is a bit different.

Like the Tornado of the former Danish theme park Sommerland Syd – now Triops in the French theme park Bagatelle – the ride comfort of the Diabolik Invertigo is extremely good. The ride is smooth! Due to this, I enjoyed the ride very much and could have done it over and over again. Of course, the excellent comic design of the ride contributes to this and the onboard sound was also a welcome surprise.

Pictures Movieland Park

Conclusion Movieland Park

But actually the whole Movieland Park was a big surprise, as such a park is hard to find. Beside its terrific main attractions and the rather negligible flat rides, the park offers a lot of entertainment at every corner, so you can spend a whole day at the park with only a few repetitions. As soon as you leave the Movieland Park, you are permitted to walk over the red carpet, applauded by all the actors that you had the chance to see during the day. Although it’s incredibly kitschy, it’s the kitsch that finally made Movieland Park my new favorite among all European theme parks.

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Il Viaggio dei due Runner Day 3 / Movieland Park

A lot of TNT for small (joy) explosions

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Parque de Atracciones de Madrid

Not far from the Batán metro station, the Puerta Batán is a side entrance to the Parque de Atracciones de Madrid, the Spanish capital’s inner-city theme park. In contrast to other urban theme parks, such as the Copenhagen amusement park Tivoli Gardens or the Parque de Atracciones de Zaragoza, the Tivoli principle, where you only pay a small entrance fee and pay for the rides in addition, is not applied, so that the Parque de Atracciones de Madrid functions as a theme park in the classical sense.

Nickelodeon Land

If you enter the park via the side entrance you will find yourself at the top of the Nickelodeon Land, a theme area that can be found in a similar form in the English Pleasure Beach Blackpool or the German sister park Movie Park Germany. Here too, existing rides were redesigned using licences from the well-known Viacom children’s channel Nickelodeon, and supplemented with a children’s driving school and additional artwork. What previously seemed to be a bit too much of a jumbled up children’s land now shows a consistently colourful mix, which is also very well done.

Padrinos Voladores

Especially the small roller coaster Turbulencia shows its full potential as Padrinos Voladores designed after the children’s series Fairly Oddparents. The layout features a few hairpin bends without any major difference in height; however, this makes the swing of the vehicles during the ride much more pronounced and thus also the riding pleasure. The Padrinos Voladores therefore offer a really great ride for smaller children, but can also be enjoyed by adults.

Vagones Locos

The Vagones Locos, on the other hand, are in the Naturaleza themed area, although the squeaky-coloured design makes the ride should be part of the Nickelodeon Land. This is the standard model of the Family Gravity Coaster of the Italian manufacturer Zamperla. Using a chain lift, you can reach the starting point for the winding descent relatively quickly. This is followed by a short ascent, whereupon a downward right helix and the return to the station takes place in a slightly Bavarian style.

Naturaleza

Telesaurio and Tiovivo

The Naturaleza theme area is by far the most beautiful area in the Parque de Atracciones de Madrid and, in addition to the larger attractions, is home to Telesaurio, a fully functional telecombat by Zamperla with lateral rotation, and Tiovivo, an old horse carousel as well as a 4D cinema.

TNT Tren de la Mina

However, the actual main attraction of the area is likely to be the family roller coaster TNT Tren de la Mina, which opened in 2012. As I had not followed the construction I did not know where exactly the German interpretation of a mine train should be located within the park and was therefore very surprised to find it perfectly integrated between the children’s area Nickelodeon Land and the Spillwater Los Fiordos. I was all the more surprised to find that a large part of the ride uses a large portion of the water ride’s queue, which had hardly been used previously.

As soon as the train is finally cleared, it leaves the station and immediately goes through a left turn on the way to the lift hill. In the beginning it is still moving up quite fast and loses speed very quickly and crawls slowly over the top of the lift. After a short curvy ride the train picks up speed again before it heads towards the abyss just below the hilltop of the lift. Still far away from the ground the train shoots up again and turns in a horseshoe element, similar to the Youngstar Coaster of Mack Rides, whereupon an upward-moving swivel adds up. In a steep curve below the first helix the train seeks contact with the ground level for the first time, but the stay is only short, because an upward helix leading to the left is entered immediately. This is followed by a small drop with a subsequent camelback through a grotesquely shaped environment. In a right-hand bend, contact with the ground level is re-established, followed by some increasingly tighter curve changes, whereupon the brake section is reached immediately and shortly thereafter the station.

Gerstlauer has created a very neat family roller coaster with TNT Tren de la Mina, which gets a little lost in the fast-moving part of the layout. The strength of the roller coaster lies in its beginning and middle part, which is surprisingly close to the competing product from Mack Rides, only the end spoils the general ride pleasure, as well as the general handling of the ride – which is why TNT Tren de la Mina is not the kind of roller coaster I would go for if I had to wait longer. But for in between, this ride is more than perfect.

Los Fiordos

Formerly passing lush greenery that covered an entire show stage, the boat of the Spillwaters Los Fiordos chugged through the canal until the lift was climbed parallel to the park’s border. The aforementioned stage of the Parque de Atracciones de Madrid fell victim to the construction of the family roller coaster TNT Tren de la Mina, as well as the vegetation, which is why you can now ride below the roller coaster through a rather bare landscape, but with good views. After climbing up the rocky mountain, after a short bend to the right, the only downhill run of the ride follows. Once you reach the bottom, you will immediately come into contact with the water, whereupon, after a short 180° turn and a wide left turn, you will start your return journey towards the station. To my own surprise, the degree of wetness did not correspond to that of a normal log flume, as I had experienced on my last trip four years ago, but to that of the passage through a wall of water, which resulted from the direct reflection of the water at the bridge. Soaking wet and quite satisfied we left the ride, which I would like to describe as the wettest ride of this kind in Spain.

Vértigo

The dispatch of the Wild Mouse Vértigo is an outrage! Actually, there would be nothing, absolutely nothing to complain about with this stylish mouse featuring the well-known layout and absolutely great handling characteristics, if only instead of 10-15 minutes you wouldn’t have to invest a good hour of your valuable time for a ride. Due to the lack of separation between the boarding and deboarding areas, all cars are loaded simultaneously and then sent on their way one by one. The new passengers are only allowed into the station after all the cars have returned and been unloaded – a total of 16 people. This procedure reduces the capacity of the ride immensely, so that one always longs for a normally operated Wild Mouse, such as the other half of this former double ride, which is still located in the Belgian amusement park Bobbejaanland.

Los Rápidos

Los Rápidos is a truly special rafting ride in the Parque de Atracciones de Madrid, as it is the only ride of its kind in Europe by O.D. Hopkins. With it the Naturaleza area was founded in 1996, which can be seen in the consistent and beautiful design of the ride. The level of wetness is still elevated due to the rather wild end of the ride, unfortunately during our visit we did not see the metre-high fountain, which regularly rained down on the passing boats.

Maquinismo

Top Spin, La Maquina and La Lanzadera

In the Maquinismo themed area, three cream cakes are waiting to be taken right in the entrance area, because here the crème de la crème of the Spanish flat rides are gathered together, all of them of course beautifully designed. We start off with the Top Spin from HUSS, which has a similar ride programme as the Aqua Spin ride from the German amusement park Heide Park, but which turns into a totally wild swing at the end of the ride. Right next door, the Frisbee La Maquina, also from HUSS, is making its rounds. Thanks to the great ride programme, you should take a ride or two on this outstanding attraction. Last but not least, the Intamin Freefall La Lanzadera offers a great view over the Casa de Campo and Madrid and a quite intense fall with good airtime at a comparably low altitude.

Abismo

The access to the roller coaster Abismo – so far the only XT 450 ride by the manufacturer Maurer – is slightly elevated. The roller coaster can be described relatively simply as a 300 meter extended Sky Wheel ride from the German amusement park Skyline Park. The start of the layout is identical, as well as the length of the cars, so even with a manageable crowd there are always long waiting times. However, this is always the case even on empty days, because the roller coaster only runs as soon as the train is fully loaded.

After the unfortunately somewhat time-consuming clearance, the train starts moving and is immediately transported upwards in a vertical position. A special feature of the Humpty Bump Lift is that the train is turned upside down at the top of the lift, creating an extremely queasy feeling at a height of about 46m, which is briefly interrupted by the subsequent roll at a lofty height. Now, one races towards the abyss in the true sense of the name of the ride. With a little more than 100km/h the train shoots past the station and passes a valley full of pressure before the lift is surrounded in a steep curve. The following drop is initiated with a strong cross slope, which leads you far above the waiting area. This is followed by a classic camelback, which, at least in theory, lifts the passengers out of their seats. Still far above the heads of the passers-by, another valley follows before a 127° steep Immelmann Turn introduces another turn in the layout. On a straight line the speed for the following finale is adjusted, because instead of the classic transition to the brakes, you now shoot through the station and up the vertical tower once more. Relatively high up and thus without great energy loss the train is stopped and hooked into the chain, whereupon it is quickly driven back to the station.

I do not like Abismo. Actually, this should be enough to sum it up, because I simply don’t enjoy riding this roller coaster very much. The ride characteristics are profound, it rattles like crazy. During my last visit, I’ve searched for the airtime of the ride and now I’ll give it up for good. The ride could be very good, as Daniel, who was sitting to my left, had experienced during the same ride, but for that the restraint system would have to be upgraded a lot.

Tarántula

Practically speaking, the entrance of the Tarántula spinning coaster is located directly opposite the exit of the Abismo Sky Loop. Despite single cars, the ride offers the highest capacity of the whole park, probably because of the separate entrance and exit areas. At least the queue is moving pleasantly fast, which makes the waiting time fly by compared to all the other rides at Parque de Atracciones de Madrid.

Shortly after you have taken a seat in one of the four seated chaises, the ride starts with a left turn towards the rather large lift hill. At a height of more than 25m, the gondola begins to rotate, so that the first slightly twisty descent can be made with a slight turning motion. This is followed by a generously designed turn, which slightly resembles an Immelmann Turn. Now the rotation of the gondola can hardly be stopped, which is also due to the rather steep and winding ascent into the first block brake. You pass this brake quite fast, whereupon you are torn into the depth by another curve. This leads into a generously designed bend with up and down movements until the second block brake is reached at an airy height. This releases you into an incline, which immediately leads into an Immelmann Turn, similar to the one from Dragons Fury at the English amusement park Chessington World of Adventures. A steep curve follows, which after a change of direction leads into the third block brake. A rapid zigzag course determines the course to the next block brake.This is followed by a left and a right turn before reaching the end of the ride.

Tarántula is a really good spinning coaster with a fantastic layout, although unfortunately the track is not as outstanding as the two English representatives of this type. However, the spin on the ride in the Parque de Atracciones de Madrid is pronounced and therefore almost automatically provides a great overall experience. Furthermore, the design of the ride is excellent, even if it is only very minimalistic, especially as it forms a unit with the dark ride La Cueva de las Tarántulas below the roller coaster. Unfortunately, this interactive dark ride is only a shadow of its former self, because apart from darkness you can hardly see anything.

El Aserradero, Tifon, Rotor and Sillas Voladores

Besides the rather long log flume El Aserradero by the manufacturer Zamperla featuring two shots and a tunnel at the end of which a waterfall awaits you that only switches off at the right moment from time to time, the Maquinismo themed area also features a Disk’o called Tifon, the wave swinger Sillas Voladores and the HUSS Condor Rotor, from which you have a wonderful view on the roller coaster Tornado below.

Tornado

Since 1999 the Intamin Suspended Looping Coaster Tornado is located in a dead-end street without equal. The ride, which used to be painted in lemon yellow and lemon green, has been completely painted in black for several years now. The layout of the ride is generally quite wide and free of any special features, but these can be found in the supporting structure of the ride, especially the supports of the two loops.

After climbing up the access ramp to the station and clearing the station, the long train can finally be loaded. After the employees have checked it off, it leaves the station in a slight right turn and shortly after climbs up the lift hill. After reaching the starting height of 30m, the train goes over a small straight line for a few meters and then turns left with full effort. With 80 km/h the train shoots through the valley into the first loop, which is passed quite forcefully. In a wide upright right turn the train takes momentum again to pass the second loop. This is also followed by a right-hand bend in the valley, but this time a classic corkscrew is waiting for you, which you pass through with a lot of momentum. In the following left-hand bend you take up some altitude again, which is immediately reduced in a downward helix after a change of direction. Below the lift the last change of direction into the bend before the brakes follows.

Tornado lives up to its SLC name, although the manufacturer is different from the often spurned Vekoma rides. The layout of Tornado is simply boring and doesn’t offer much on too much space except for the three inversions. Although the contact with the restraint is minimal, the vibrations of this ride can be felt up to the last meter, which is partly due to the too bulky trains. In addition there is a relatively lengthy dispatching process, where one wonders how the Spaniards intend to operate the ride with two trains at all, and whether the second train is even available. Especially if you want to take pictures from outside you should take a lot of time into account, especially on quieter days when hardly any guests enters this cul-de-sac.

Tranquilidad

Zeppelin, La Jungla and The Walking Dead Experience

Almost as quiet as the area around Tornado is the theme area Tranquilidad, although admittedly the bear tends to tap-dance over here. This area is mainly home to quieter rides such as the Zeppelin monorail or the raft ride La Jungla, which is particularly impressive because of its old charm. But also a simulator or the Star Flyer can be found here. Friends of good horror mazes got their money’s worth with El Viejo Caserón, which was replaced this year by The Walking Dead Experience, whereby the jumbled up scenes fell victim to a consistent leitmotif and thus the charm of the building, which has existed since 1989, was somewhat affected.

Fantasia

With Fantasia, however, this theme area offers a really nicely designed dark ride based on the model of Disney’s It’s a small World. The boat trip through our oh so happy and small world starts here in space, because it shows the view of extraterrestrials on this planet. Past small scenes, which are equipped with really cute puppets, you will go through the different countries of our world, accompanied by a kitschy soundtrack, which you will hardly notice. This is also the biggest criticism of the otherwise very popular ride, because apart from the rather low capacity, the ride is simply not kitschy enough. You only have to adjust the music and the lighting of the scenes a little bit and you would have one of the best dark rides ever. In its current state, however, the ravages of time seem to have taken their toll on the ride.

Pictures Parque de Atracciones de Madrid

Conclusion Parque de Atracciones de Madrid

The Parque de Atracciones de Madrid is a good park with a charm all of its own, which was certainly much more pronounced in the days of the Tivoli principle, i.e. until 2011. The park offers many beautiful corners, but also unfortunately many unattractive and unused areas, especially in the theme area Tranquilidad. Despite this, the park seems to be following the right strategy, as the Nickelodeon Land and Naturaleza themed areas are truly impressive since the last update. The Parque de Atracciones de Madrid itself offers a nice portfolio of rides, but it doesn’t invite me to stay there for long. At least I would not say no to another visit in the late afternoon until the evening hours during the next visit of the city of Madrid.

 

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Parque de Atracciones de Madrid