Pinfari

A visit to Botton’s Pleasure Beach

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The small amusement park Botton’s Pleasure Beach directly on the beach of Skegness offers a small selection of selected rides as well as the typical English mixture of amusement arcades, fast food and midway games.  

In addition to the typical English flat rides, the Pleasure Beach impresses with its two swings, Pirate and Freak Out, as well as four roller coasters. The smallest of these are called Big Apple and Runaway Train.

Big Apple and Runaway Train

The Big Apple family roller coaster has been in the park since 1987 and is a classic Big Apple from the Pinfari company, who designed the Italian long-running coaster in the 1970s with a pretty apple. The ride with its waves in the upper section and the rapid descent is still fun today, although adults are reluctant to squeeze into the cars.

The ride on the Runaway Train, on the other hand, is not quite as exciting. The ride, built by Meridian Ltd, was designed around its only ride element. After the ascent, the train makes a circuit of the station before the helical descent follows. As on the Big Apple, you pass through the layout several times.

Rockin Roller

The Rockin Roller is located on the roof of the Riverboat Arcade. The layout of the small spinning coaster from Fabbri offers a number of tight curves that send the cars into a leisurely spin. In between, the whole thing is loosened up a bit by smaller drops. The ultra-compact ride fits perfectly on the available floor space and is a flagship of the amusement park due to its exposed layout.

Queen Bee

The Queen Bee family roller coaster is also located on the roof of an arcade. The ride on the small suspended coaster is very similar to that of a Big Apple, except that there is no track crossing and instead of the small waves, there is a dip to the side. The ride, built by Pinfari, is a curiosity in itself and that alone makes it worth visiting Botton’s Pleasure Beach.

Pictures Botton’s Pleasure Beach

 

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Botton's Pleasure Beach

The many novelties of the Wiener Prater

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Hochschaubahn

During my last visits to the Wiener Prater, the world-famous Hochschaubahn was closed each time. This time, however, I planned my visit much earlier so that I could take a ride on the classic Scenic Railway. The ride, which is still traditionally controlled by a brakeman who rides along with the train, impresses with its gradients and the quite distinctive curves. It is the most family-friendly of all scenic railways, but a ride on this 70-year-old roller coaster is a must for every theme park and roller coaster enthusiast.

Rollerball

Another novelty for me is the Rollerball. This utterly imposing roller coaster from RES is an extremely fun family roller coaster with one small problem: it’s a one-trick pony. The roller coaster, which runs vertically, convinces with its rocking moments initiated by the bizarre drops – but that’s about it. The very family-friendly ride is very enjoyable for a single ride, but the very repetitive course of the track does not awaken the desire to ride it again straight away. In addition, the ride is simply not accepted by the visitors and therefore you never know whether it is running or not.

King Size Turbo Booster

Also new to me is the King Size Turbo Booster – the second iteration of Funtime’s Vomitron, which is very popular in the Prater. However, instead of just doing its flips straight on a circle path, the King Size Turbo Booster takes it up a notch. The seats are now all separate from each other and can each rotate around their own axis. The gondola carrier itself also rotates and is driven by a motor. The superimposition of all the rotational movements creates an extremely fast ride in which you can experience all kinds of crazy moments. Interestingly, the ride is still quite stomach-friendly, although it doesn’t look like it from the outside.  

Gesengte Sau

The biggest novelty of the past years is the roller coaster Die G’gengte Sau. This is a bobsled coaster from Gerstlauer, but here it is primarily built up high and takes an absolutely wild route back to the station.

The start is made by classic hairpin bends, as you would find them on a Wild Mouse.  After a total of three, we race down a big drop. Just past the Black Mamba, the path leads us back up a little and immediately into two more hairpin bends. Straight away we are pulled down a steep bend. After another valley, we climb a small straight section before leaning further and further to the right and plunging towards the ground one more time. After another climb, we race through a block brake and into another hairpin. Once again narrowly missing the Black Mamba, we go down the biggest drop of the ride. On the other side of the ride, the facade of the Funhouse Funball awaits us, which we also narrowly miss. Three tight turns follow, which lead us to the other side of the ride. We then repeat the whole thing in a small steep curve and several bunny hops. For the finale, a downward curve and several swerves to the right and left await us before we find ourselves in the brake and the absolutely brilliant roller coaster comes to an end.

The Gesengte Sau is an outstanding novelty and one of the best bobsled coasters from Gerstlauer. The extremely compact ride convinces with its multitude of drops and breathtaking curves.

Bilder Wiener Prater

 

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Wiener Prater

Off to Jumanji

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My last visit to Gardaland was a few years ago. At that time, the Kung Fu Panda Academy themed area was still under construction. Apart from numerous smaller changes, the opening of the Legoland Water Park, which was built in the middle of Gardaland for whatever reason, and the Peppa Pig World toddler area right at the entrance to the amusement park, the Jumanji the Adventure dark ride is the most important innovation of the past few years. 

Kung Fu Panda Academy

In the small themed area Kung Fu Panda Academy, everything revolves around the popular Dreamworks IP about the dragon warrior Po. As the area is very limited, apart from some gastronomy and a redesigned tea cup carousel, you will only find the small spinning coaster Kung Fu Panda Master, which takes up most of the space.

Kung Fu Panda Master

The Kung Fu Panda Master is a power mouse from the Italian manufacturer Fabbri. The small roller coaster offers several tight curves that put the car into a rather leisurely spin. In between, this is loosened up a little by smaller drops. But all in all, that’s about it. The ultra-compact installation fits perfectly into the available space, but not at all into the amusement park. Apart from the design of the gondolas, which looks more like a fun fair than an amusement park, the ride lacks capacity. Those who like to queue for up to two hours at an attraction, while the crowds at the large attractions in the park are rather small, are welcome to take a ride. The rest either queue up right at the opening of the ride or forego a ride.

Jumanji The Adventure

The Jumanji The Adventure dark ride replaces Ramses: Il risveglio. The large façade of the ride still reminds us in parts of the old Pinfari classic, but inside everything is new. The ride is based on the new Jumanji trilogy and thus not on the book and the associated board game. After a short pre-show, it becomes clear: we have to save Jumanji by putting the heart of Jumanji in its rightful place. 

Accompanied by Nigel Billingsley, we set off on a dangerous mission. After we have taken a seat in the 6-person jeep, the journey begins. A mandrill immediately steals the jewel from us, so we follow the animal. Nigel, however, loses his first life in the action. On our chase we come across a hippo and a snake, whereupon we almost have a crash. Shortly afterwards we meet Nigel again. At the gorge with the hanging bridges the mandrill awakens a stone giant and loses the jewel. Of course we jump right after it, secure the jewel and lose our first life. Our path then leads us through a stone cave where we meet the stone giant once more. But we lose our second life in a huge spider’s web. Finally arriving at the temple we manage to give the jewel to Nigel. Despite the attack of the stone giant, he manages to put it in its rightful place, whereupon the spell is broken and our journey ends.

Jumanji The Adventure is an extremely solid dark ride. The large sets and the skilful integration of the media content speak for themselves. The ride is extremely dynamic and has a few successful surprises. However, the clearly visible ceiling of the hall is slightly annoying, as is the seemingly reduced capacity at the moment, which always results in long waiting times. 

Pictures Gardaland

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Gardaland