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Togo-Mania at Greenland

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Greenland

The Greenland Resort has been located in the middle of the Japanese coal-mining area since 1964. Once founded by the Mitsui Mining company as a subsidiary, the holiday resort has been repositioned again and again over the course of time and, after the Mitsui Group left, is now operated solely as Greenland (i.e. without the prefix Mitsui). In addition to the eponymous theme park, the resort consists of two hotels, a golf course, a bowling centre, a pachinko hall, several restaurants and the obligatory hot spring.

The gigantic Ferris wheel already catches everyone’s eye on the way in, but when the first roller coasters join them, it’s a picture that makes your mouth water. So we hurry up to the entrance to pay the entrance fee and the free pass at the cash desk. You then exchange the voucher for the Free Pass in Greenland for the corresponding wristband for permanent rides – alternatively, as in most Japanese theme parks, you can pay for the rides individually. Greenland is therefore a classic Tivoli park, but it has more parallels with the world’s oldest amusement park, the Bakken in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Milky Way

We start our tour counter-clockwise, but immediately turn away from the Grampus Jet and Ladybird Coaster, which are very busy in the morning, and walk at a brisk pace to a very special double attraction, which takes us on a lively trip through the Milky Way, either standing up or sitting down.

Early in the morning, we were spoilt for choice on Milky Way between the Altair stand-up coaster (the blue side) and the Vega sit-down variant (the pink track). However, as boarding for Vega was just starting, the first ride was to be on this ride. As soon as both trains have been dispatched, the journey can start immediately.

The first step is the classic chain lift to a starting height of 38m. At the top, there is a leisurely right turn before the madness takes over. Parallel to the stand-up track, you now shoot towards the abyss, which really gets you out of your seat. While Altair says goodbye to us in a right turn, we race over an airtime hill and immediately over a slightly inclined turn. But we don’t have to wait long for Altair, because the train is already coming towards us on the exit. After we have taken enough of a run-up, the train tries to throw us off on the next airtime hill without any consideration. But a highlight rarely comes alone and after Togo has already proven that they are the kings of negative forces here, the same applies in the positive direction. With proper pressure on the body, one now performs a downward helix to the lowest point of the layout. From there, a slightly inclined ramp leads back up to the station level, but not without being briefly lifted out of the seat once more. After the short duel, Altair joins us again and parallel to each other, there is a short left turn and a small hill before we reach the braking section and, after a short turn, the station.

If Vega already sounds so good, I’d best tell you what the rascal from Altair is up to, shall I?! All right, after we have moved towards the ground with only slight airtime and said goodbye to Vega, we now also pass a rather high airtime hill and take off in a familiar manner; however, the subsequent downward helix is just as delicious. With a lot of pressure on your feet, you leave the helix on a short ramp, which immediately turns into the turning curve just below the turning curve of Vega. Here, the train of the sister track comes towards us in a grandiose moment of pure (riding) joy. With much more pressure than Vega, we pass through the forest of supports of the turning curve before we are mercilessly transported into the shoulder restraints in the most insane airtime moment of all time. With what feels like 20 cm of free space, measured it could even be a little more, between the foot and the train floor, you fly over a tiny little hill before going up another hill. At the top, you have a short breather, but your head is rather in the process of correctly classifying what you have just experienced by taking a short left turn to end up parallel to the sister track again. The aforementioned left-hand bend follows, followed by a combination of small hills and block brakes, which comes along leisurely, but in the end can’t help but knock your socks off again.

In the end, what else is left but to fall mercilessly in love with Togo? Both Milky Way tracks are simply wonderful to ride. There are outstanding airtime moments, just as there are extremely punchy passages. On top of that, Vega’s train is also an oversized Bluetooth speaker – what more could a roller coaster fan want? Probably a buttery smooth ride and a non-existent waiting time? Don’t worry, the Greenland has thought of that too, although at least the second point was a bit of a downfall and later in the day we only had the Vega sit-down pearl at our disposal.

Danger in a Maze

Well, you know what I mean and so far we’ve only covered one ride, so let’s move on: The next attraction on our tour is the interactive maze Danger in a Maze, where you have to stop a bomb at the last second. The circuit is very straight forward, even if it means you have to wait a little longer at a door. The design of the ride is exactly the same on the inside as it is on the outside, making it an absolute must-do.

Splash

Also in this category, with outside temperatures well over 30°C and sultriness present, is the splashy water ride Splash. Now some people will think to themselves “hmmm, I know this generic name from somewhere” and they will be amazed that they have also seen the design of the ride before. One could even assume a common park friendship between the Dutch amusement park Duinrell and the Greenland, after all the ride, in both cases built by O.D. Hopkins, already opened there in 1992 and the Greenland followed suit a year later.

Unlike the day before and Duinrell in general, however, there was no possibility of taking a seat in a covered boat here, but the wise Japanese had thought of everything and so there is the possibility of borrowing a rain poncho for the duration of the ride. But if you think this will cost you money, you’re wrong at Greenland, where you can even let off steam with the free pass at the individual game stalls; the emphasis here is actually on the rental, because after the ride you hand the rain poncho back in so that it can be dried by the staff. As a spillwater fan and generally environmentally conscious person, you have no choice but to thankfully do without the poncho, even if Greenland (and I would wish this of all other amusement parks) cuts out the revenue from the sale of the full-body condoms. When you meet the future passengers after the ride, refreshed and extremely wet, you are rewarded by the irritated and at the same time enthusiastic looks of the Japanese and may even high-five some of them; a wonderful feeling.

Sphinx Coaster

Although the Greenland is a huge amusement park, the distances to the next attraction are usually not so excessively far, so we ventured a ride on the Sphinx Coaster with a slight touch of wetness. This family roller coaster is characterised above all by its marginally existing gradients, which already make a simple Big Apple look very steep. But while the worm coasters are quite tame, the Japanese flat coaster builds up quite a high speed towards the end, which is conveyed amazingly well especially by the flat descents.

Panorama Mountain

Past the water park, where interestingly almost all the slides are designed for an adult audience, the Skylift cable car takes you up to Panorama Mountain. All safety mechanisms on the gondola are dispensed with. Additional padding on the roller coasters? Sure! But cable cars with safety bars? We Europeans sometimes tend to exaggerate when it comes to safety.

On Panorama Mountain, in addition to the Horror Tower, which tells a local horror story but is not very scary on the way through the two floors, there is the Witch’s Flying Chair chain carousel and the mountain station of the Super Slider summer toboggan run. Interestingly, it seems that luges are not very common in Japan, which is why the staff are happy to explain in great detail how the bobsleds work to the waiting passengers. It’s just a shame when these passengers listen but don’t really understand how to accelerate in the end. So I was allowed to spend most of the descent behind a lurker, while Nicolas joined us only towards the end of the ride.

Dragon Mountain and Spin Mouse

Back in the valley, the trail leads us towards the Reverchon Spin Mouse. Along the way we pass the Karakuri Castle Maze and the station of the suspended monorail Sky Ship before entering the Dragon Mountain rapid river. This was built by Bear Rides and, due to the non-existent degree of wetness, can unfortunately only score points through its embedding in the landscape.

Well, let’s get into this beloved old friend from France, which someone from Parques Reunidos will please take a closer look at – but I’m anticipating something here, so I’ll just explain what I mean. On the Spin Mouse, all the wagons are loaded at the same time, but then sent out on the track at a fast pace. What in Spain, however, quickly leads to a waiting time beyond 90 minutes with a normal mouse (Vértigo in the Parque de Atracciones de Madrid), is quickly resolved within three to four cycles here. The real difference lies in the efficiency of the Japanese staff, not in the theoretical capacity of the ride, which is roughly the same in both cases. The ride was also extremely fast-paced and thus thoroughly entertaining.

Legend of Salamander

Passing the go-kart track, we are now drawn to the north entrance of Greenland, near which the interactive dark ride Legend of Salamander is located. Here, you shoot at worm-like creatures while generally completing a rectangular course. For us, this dark ride, built by Senyo, became the epitome of typical Japanese shooter themed rides, as the opponents are mostly the same and the record on such rides cannot be beaten without months of training.

Panic Jungle

The biggest advantage of a ride on Legend of Salamander, however, was the air conditioning, which saved us from the raging heat outside, because stupidly we had long since dried out again and the rapid river also didn’t help. It’s a good thing that there is an extremely inappropriately named log flume in Greenland, the Panic Jungle. So we got into the boats of Senyo, a manufacturer we now knew and loved.

After leaving the double station, you bob along leisurely towards the first lift hill. This takes you to the middle level, but no drop follows. Instead, you approach a hall and pass through a sparsely decorated corridor. Back in daylight, you bob past some animal sculptures, make a right turn, pass under the second lift hill and approach it in another right turn. This one is then considerably larger and leads you directly into the ride’s only shot. Wetted, but not particularly wet, you leave the run-out area and immediately tackle the way back to the station.

Haunted Shrine

Due to the lack of cooling, another dark ride was needed as soon as possible, so we entered the acoustically optimised Haunted Shrine. Equipped with headphones, the car takes you through some wonderfully designed scenery that charmingly reminds you of the Geister Rikscha from Phantasialand. Unfortunately, the Haunted Hospital creepy walkthrough right next door no longer exists. Instead, there is a hospital attraction based on an anime, but we did not test it.

Goku, Super Viking and Gyro Storm

However, we tested the numerous rides in this corner of the Greenland theme park. While the Star Flyer Goku offered the familiar Austrian lookout ride experience, the Super Viking ship swing offered solid ship swing ride fun with both sides cheering each other on. A completely different experience, on the one hand boring on the other absolutely insane and grandiose, was offered by the Gyro Storm by Togo.

But how does this conflict come about? I’ll have to go back a bit and give a basic description of the ride, but if you’ve already read this far, you’ll be interested. Okay, so the Gyro Storm in very simplified terms is a ride similar to the Enterprise, i.e. a centrifugal force-based somersault carousel, but it doesn’t go very fast. The gondolas swing freely, but can be locked at any time, and depending on which position you are in at that moment, the rest of the ride can be extremely fun. In the best case, this happens when you are at the highest point of the ride inside the wheel and thus first race through the station upside down for a few laps. At some point, the gondolas are released again and a wild swinging session ensues as the ride draws to a close.

Lift

You can then lean towards your own end on the Lift, because where the Sky Lift was already scary enough, this inconspicuous chairlift goes even further. As already mentioned, the Japanese like to dispense with unnecessary safety precautions, but where such precautions are already in place, they add a corresponding safety factor on top. Apparently nothing has ever happened on the lift, which is why they have even dispensed with side barriers. As a means of transport, the lift now leads us in the direction of Greenland’s largest roller coaster, so it is a real shortcut.

Sky Jet

On the other side, however, we first climb into the overlong, multi-level self-controlled diesel monorail Sky Jet before we turn away from the dinosaur ride next door for dramaturgical reasons. To be honest, we now make our way back along the attractions that you didn’t get to see through the lift.

Luxor Magic

The first attraction is the interactive fortune-telling attraction Luxor Magic, where you can find out all kinds of things about your future happiness in love, your career and, of course, your health by making a few decisions beforehand on your way through the burial chamber. The data is stored on a small plastic sword and evaluated towards the end. If everything has worked, you get your future printed out in a practical A4 format.

Crystal Maze and Ice World

Right next door is the old Crystal Maze mirror maze, which unfortunately only offered the tried and tested. More interesting, however, is Ice World, a concept we have already experienced at Kijima Kogen Park, that is much loved at temperatures well above 30°C. Although the temperature inside was only about -25°C, the walk through the nicely designed cold store was quite refreshing.

Small Java

In the spirit of Avenue-Q, according to which we are all a bit racist, we recommend a look at Small Java. Similar to the Cabane de Robinsons in Disneyland Park near Paris, there is a tree house here and all kinds of things are depicted. The main difference are the sculptures of the animals, as well as those of the indigenous people. Here at the latest, the bridge to Denmark was perfect, Greenland is the Bakken of Japan! Although the island of Java is not Africa by any stretch of the imagination, the attraction is similar to the racist African-themed ride in the former Sommerland Syd and thus actually to any of the old dark rides with an African theme in Denmark. Of course, the whole thing is again something to smile about rather than really meant maliciously; it’s just that it was a different time and nowadays it’s simply outdated.

Black Hole Coaster

Back at the starting point of our short detour, we are now confronted with the longest wait of the day, namely 30 minutes at the indoor roller coaster Black Hole Coaster. Thanks to the covered queue, however, the wait passes relatively quickly with pleasant temperatures and fitting European 90s sound.

Once you have boarded the Zamperla train of the Meisho roller coaster, the ride can begin immediately. On a shallow ramp, you slowly build up metres of height along the wall of the hall, which you then immediately descend in a fast-paced left-hand helix. In a long left-hand bend, you cross a light tunnel and again gain a few metres in altitude. A change of direction follows and immediately a downhill helix to the right. Another change of direction under strobe lights then leads to the outer area of the ride, which is, however, hidden by the elaborate façade. Here you then creep through an upward oval helix, which then turns into the final downward helix, whereupon the quite acceptable ride ends.

Ultra Twister Megaton

But an acceptable roller coaster is not a superior roller coaster. As we’ve already learned here at Greenland, every roller coaster from Togo is a superior roller coaster, but can the manufacturer’s third ride also back up this statement? Let’s find out at Ultra Twister Megaton.

As soon as you have stowed your things in the locker in the station, you first go to the actual entrance area of the roller coaster. There you board the slowly rolling backwards car and close the shoulder restraint. The ride operator then locks it in place and you approach the transfer element at the rear end of the track. As soon as the car is in position, the element is turned by 90° degrees, followed by the ascent in the vertical lift. Having reached a height of 30m, the car crosses a terribly narrow crest and immediately plunges down a wonderfully rapid 85° gradient towards the ground, so that an intense airtime sets in at every seat, but especially in the last row. The following valley is passed through with indescribable pressure, but the adventurous interplay of vertical acceleration is far from over, because this is followed by an airtime hill as it is written in the book. A heartline roll, which couldn’t be more beautiful, follows at an extremely high speed. Stirred and not shaken, you then take on a small incline before you reach the first braking section of the ride. But from here on, caution is advisable, because now you are slowly moving towards your doom. At some point the brake of the next transfer element will engage, but you don’t know when and at the worst possible moment you will hit your knee – which, funnily enough, can happen quickly in any row, so watch out!

After the transfer element has done its job, we are now released backwards into the lower level. Here you build up some speed before the second role takes place. As soon as you have reached the station level, you complete role no. 3 before you reach the second braking section and soon the station.

Although the second part now seems a bit uneventful, it’s great. In general, this roller coaster is great, terrific and insane at the same time. The ride experience is significantly different in each row, whereby the last row is simply the most convincing with its insane airtime in merciless interplay with the pronounced forces in the valleys; so try it, when you’re here! Another thing you should definitely try, however, is to spend at least 10 laps on the roller coaster. It’s fun and it’s exciting, not only for you but also for the Japanese staff. When you have completed a certain amount of time, you can look forward to a photo that will be published on the roller coaster’s website or used on Twitter. You can also immortalise yourself on a small wooden stick, which will then be hung up in the queue. You can imagine how we spent our time in Greenland, because we had enough of it and, above all, definitely never enough of the Ultra Twister. We weren’t the only ones, but we didn’t leave it at 10 rounds. Where do you think you’re going? No, we set the daily record, until at some point the staff didn’t want to let us ride any more, because of the photo session, of course. What a lovely evening.

Ferris Wheel Rainbow

After the outstanding roller coaster, we turn our attention to the outstanding Ferris Wheel. The Ferris Wheel Rainbow is not only the most stylish Ferris wheel I have ever seen in person, but also one of the most impressive steel constructions I have ever seen. However, we were a little surprised by the two queues, although we queued for the much shorter one and eventually got the normal gondolas.

Nio

At the foot of this giant, or one level lower, is one of the oldest roller coasters in Greenland, but one would automatically think it was much younger. We’re talking about the Suspended Looping Coaster Nio, which has already been in existence for 20 years on an open area right next to the big show stage. The ride then offers the familiar ride with good ride characteristics in the roll-over and the Sidewinder, but a little wobbling in the two in-line twists. All in all, a very passable SLC that you can get on more often.

Ladybird Coaster

Passing the Green Stadium, where Kamen Raider or another Japanese children’s series was just playing, we now turn to the two roller coasters that we had left out at the beginning. The small Ladybird Coaster convinces us with its outward banked curves, the generally nice powered coaster ride and its staff, who pointed out the big coasters to us.

Grampus Jet

One of these is the suspended coaster Grampus Jet, in true style with the original Arrow trains and thus in direct contrast with the roller coaster Dream Catcher from the Belgian amusement park Bobbejaanland, which, as is well known, uses more modern Vekoma trains. In fact, the ride differs significantly due to the larger mass.

For this purpose, we take a closer look at the route. After leaving the station and being led to the lift hill, we eventually reach the top level of the layout. Here we enjoy the view for a while before plunging into the depths for the first time. With surprising pressure, we now cross the first valley, whereupon we make a sweeping right turn. After a change of direction, we take a wide left turn in the best Bavarian curve manner, which narrows steadily towards the end. Alternately, we swing through a downhill helix to the right, to the left and to the right again, always taking a small incline in between. But where is the difference to Dream Catcher? So far, definitely in the intensity of the ride, also the swings are more pronounced so far. What the Belgian Dream Catcher can do better, however, is to release the passengers into the final brake, because the Grampus Jet is a little sluggish there. Without much swinging, the passengers reach the station at the same time and the great ride comes to an end.

Gao

Let’s move on to the last roller coaster of the Greenland theme park, the all-dominating dinosaur Gao. In typical jet-coaster style, this roller coaster serves the Japanese audience to perfection and also boasts what is probably the most imposing support structure of any roller coaster in the world: A real oversized framework dinosaur. So what are we waiting for? Off we go on the 4-minute adventure ride.

After strapping on your bar, like on the roller coaster The Ultimate from the English amusement park Lightwater Valley (although this is not the only similarity), we immediately climb steadily but slowly to the starting height of 40m. At the top, we take a slightly inclined turn and quickly pick up speed. A little too fast, probably, because a battery of friction wheels slows us down on the following straight. But that doesn’t matter, because the ramp down into the valley is much flatter than the previous lift hill, which gives us plenty of metres of track to create a breathtaking feeling of speed. In the valley that follows, the G forces are quite high. With momentum we pass the back of the dinosaur. We cross it carefully and almost as fast as the French Anaconda in the Walygator Parc crosses its hills. It’s good that we regain our momentum on the descent and that the next valley is no less hesitant. On the next hill we head for a left turn, whereupon we cross a large part of this part of the park at a lofty height. At some point we plunge towards the abyss in a right turn, once again enjoying the speed trajectory optimally designed by Meisho, before we rapidly take another turning curve at a lofty height. What follows now can hardly be described in words, but is amazingly similar to the second part of the insane roller coaster The Ultimate. Before that, however, a second friction wheel battery tries to slow us down a bit, but this doesn’t necessarily tame the next part. Instead, we now race towards the dinosaur. After a short left turn, we run parallel to the first drop. After a short hill, we even venture under the aforementioned drop extremely abruptly and with a lot of kinks. Another left turn immediately leads us parallel to the lift hill, whereupon one tyre battery after the other is reached shortly afterwards. In a wide right-hand bend we reach the final braking section and shortly afterwards the station.

Gao is great! Although the route is actually predictable to the point of being unpredictable, it still manages to surprise very often. The ride characteristics are okay, but the bar construction makes it a bit rougher than one would wish. But that doesn’t matter, because if there’s one thing that Meisho roller coasters do well, it’s conveying the speed of the ride, and once again that’s done amazingly well, which is why you’ll want to get on the dinosaur of Greenland again and again.

Pictures Greenland

Conclusion Greenland

So we have finally arrived at the résumé of the amusement park. It took quite a while, but I hope you can now imagine the size of this park. Greenland is not necessarily a beautiful amusement park, but it is a Japanese amusement park as it is written in the book and for that reason alone it is great, superb and worth a visit. There are three roller coasters that absolutely stand out, several very good rides and a bunch of other very good coasters. On top of that, the additional attractions are huge, so you won’t get bored here in a hurry, especially since there’s also the Togo Ultra Twister Challenge.

 

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Greenland / Titanic Max Day 2

A not so great visit

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Preface

After our day’s start in Fiabilandia we reached the car park of the amusement park Mirabilandia at late noon. Although our visiting day fell on Easter Sunday, the general rush of visitors was limited, but not the waiting times and the eagerness of the tourists/residents to jump the queue. Yes, it was not a pleasant visit to Mirabilandia, although the attractions are first class, but more about that later.

The History of Mirabilandia

We start the review with a look at the history of the amusement park, which opened in 1992. The park was founded as a project of a group of investors consisting of Situr-Finbrescia (46%), San Paolo Finance (44%) and Publitalia 80 (10%) who, with the simple formula “tourist resort + amusement park = cash cow”, completely failed in their exaggerated expectations and were unable to attract even a third of the two million visitors they had hoped for. As the operating company was on the verge of bankruptcy in 1996, they sold the park in late autumn of the year to the Löffelhardt-Casoli Group, a joint venture between Phantasialand co-founder Gottlieb Löffelhardt and Giancarlo Casoli, one of the owners of the former Italian amusement ride manufacturer S.D.C., who massively expanded the park in the following years. As a result, the number of visitors also grew to over 1.5 million. After a few years Löffelhardt withdrew from the business and Casoli took over the patronage, before Mirabilandia was sold to the Spanish group Parques Reunidos in 2006.

Tour of the park

After leaving the ticket offices behind, you enter the park over a bridge, similar to the English amusement park Thorpe Park near London. The skyline here is discreetly restrained, but with the perfectly placed Cobra Roll of the inverter Katun to the right of the bridge it is already very impressive. From here there is a path leading into the Far West Valley, which was still largely under construction, and the actual entrance area of Mirabilandia. This turns out to be a pirate’s nest full of details and accommodates some shops, where you can get fast passes, which were almost a necessary treat to be able to ride anything in this park.

To my own confusion, Mirabilandia had arbitrary opening and closing times of the rides, which meant that many attractions didn’t open until noon or even later, or closed much earlier. This in turn resulted in long waiting times throughout the park. On the one hand, I can understand that some smaller parks only gradually put their rides into operation or sometimes even open certain themed areas after a certain time, but I have never seen such a measure in a large amusement park before. It also explains why Gardaland, in return, advertises to close the queue of rides at the end of its opening hours.

Divertical

Passing the Pepsi Theatre, where, how could it be otherwise, a magic show is shown, and the musical stage in front of it, we head towards the Divertical water coaster, which already looks very striking from afar. By now at the latest, one becomes aware of how high the ride is and how wasteful it is with the space it has been placed on; however, this does not make the ride look aesthetic at all, which is mainly due to the sparingly placed decoration. On the other hand, the rear part of the ride adorns the insanely long access path to the completely out of place interactive dark ride Reset, which is quite positive and probably attracts more people than ever before to this corner of Mirabilandia.

After you have been asked to come up to the station and get into the speedboat, the trip on Divertical can start immediately. As the vertical lift of the ride is still a long way off, you bob a bit through the canal, which interestingly enough creates a good whitewater feeling. After all, the waves almost hit the boat again and again and make you jump away by the whirled up water drops. As soon as the lift is reached, you quickly rise to the starting height of 60m, whereby the curvature of the lift is interestingly hardly noticeable at all. As the view from up here is not very interesting, you are soon pushed over the top of the hill. On the following 45° slope you have enough time to notice how fast this ride actually is. The spray refreshes you and soon after you race through the first pool only to drive over a hill without slowing down. Here you take off a little bit before you throw yourself into a brisk curve. Hoping to slow down a little bit by the following block area, you drive through it without any braking effect and are then released into a right turn. A quick downward helix follows. However, it then goes over into a hill, which initiates the final shot of the ride. Well soaked, you are released back into the channel and reach the station shortly afterwards.

Contrary to my expectations, Divertical is a really awesome water coaster, which gives a feeling of speed like no other ride before. The ride is just fast, which I personally only noticed while crossing the first pool. Considering the starting height of the world’s largest water roller coaster, this is actually in the nature of the ride; at least I have rarely experienced such a speed rush. Moreover, the ride is made with a perfect finish, which means that the friction losses are not really significant, which in turn benefits the speed.

iSpeed

Also addressing the central theme of speed is the Blitz Coaster iSpeed from Intamin, a catapult launch coaster with LSM modules, which replaces the aging wooden coaster Sierra Tonante. The Spanish company’s first project was the self-titled “Il Rollercoaster #1”, a thoroughly fast roller coaster with a more than modest capacity.

Whilst at Divertical we had to queue for a short time, our less wasteful and self-horny lifestyle took revenge by not buying a fast pass. Now we were allowed to wait here for more than an hour in the desolate waiting area of the roller coaster, only to be constantly passed over by some brats of the thoroughly anti-social tourists of the Italian Adriatic. While in the other Italian parks nobody pushed in front of us and even let one of us pass by voluntarily to keep groups together, here it was simply a plague without equal. If you want to be reasonable in Mirabilandia, you better practice becoming a narcissist in advance by creating selfies en masse and treat yourself to a fast pass! In theory it’s not that expensive anyway, especially if you have bought an annual ticket for one of the other Parques Reunidos parks (e.g. Movie Park Germany, Attractiepark Slagharen, …) and didn’t pay any entrance fee anyway; at least you save yourself the wait with the disgustingly anti-social tourists, while in other parks you become a disgustingly anti-social tourist just by buying a fast pass.

But now let’s get to the ride description of the LSM roller coaster iSpeed, because as soon as you finally reach the stairs to the station it’s going quite fast. Once you sit down in the train and close the safety bars, the train is pushed forward slightly before the impulse is taken up and the train accelerates more and more. Now the train climbs up the top hat vertically before you cross it with a great view of the log flume Autosplash. Now you plunge vertically towards the ground, make a short turn to the right and pass the first valley with a lot of pressure. Parallel to the station you cross a hill, where you are lifted out of your seat. Another S-curve is now made with a lot of momentum, which merges into a tight right turn. On the following hill a leisurely turn follows, which releases you into a slight left turn above the station. All of a sudden a corkscrew is introduced, which throws you around with an incredible intensity. On a further hill you cross the launch track, whereupon you can take a deep breath again in the following steep turn. Rather leisurely the train shoots through a wide right turn, which shortly afterwards changes into the heartline roll, which can be seen from the outside. After another steep turn follows a short block brake. You leave it in an equally steep left turn, followed by a small hill and the final left turn towards the station.

Even though the initial acceleration of the launch is rather lax and hardly comparable to the manufacturer’s hydraulic and friction wheel drives, the ride offers a hodgepodge of exciting elements paired with really high pressure and speed. Especially the corkscrew, which can hardly be seen from the outside, simply surprised me during the ride and also the part of the track after the block brake, which always seemed insignificant on videos, has its moments and fits perfectly into the overall experience of the ride. The roller coaster itself, on the other hand, is unfortunately not as convincing as the actual ride itself, thanks to its lean design and low capacity.

Leprotto Express

Directly opposite, in the children’s land of Bimbopoli, you will find Mirabilandia’s next roller coaster, the Leprotto Express. This is a simple children’s roller coaster by the manufacturer L&T Systems, whose layout describes a simple figure eight in a constant alternation of up and down movements. Due to the crowd, the ride only went one lap.

Rexplorer

Via the island with the Acapulco cliff divers show you reach the Dinoland area, which was redesigned in 2014. Apart from the transformation of existing rides, e.g. the telecombat ride featuring an inclined ride or the popular children’s monorail, a money printing machine, I meaning a children’s driving school, and a Magic Bike by Zamperla also found their way into the themed area. But the most important destination for us was the oldest roller coaster of Mirabilandia, the Powered Coaster Rexplorer.

The journey begins with a wide bend to the left, followed by a leisurely climb past some artificial rocks. At the top, the train goes through a downward helix through the rock formation before climbing up a steeper straight. Now the train goes through a wide downward right-hand bend, passes under the track it has just passed and surrounds the first downward helix in a left-hand bend. With much more momentum you cross the station and complete another lap through the course.

Theoretically, the ride on the Rexplorer would have been quickly dealt with, because unlike many other rides at Mirabilandia, this ride has a slightly higher capacity by nature and the queue itself was manageable. However, Mirabilandia would not be Mirabilandia if they did not mess up this ride as well. The dispatching was a mess and was further protracted by the lack of numerical knowledge of the staff. After waiting until all passengers of the newly arrived train had left the station area, about half of the train was filled with Fast Pass people, but they all had to be counted and checked individually. Of course, the staff constantly miscounted, which was particularly noticeable after a change of staff. Only after each of the Fast Pass owners had taken their seat the normal waiting people were let in. The checking of the restraints and the ride itself, on the other hand, was quickly completed. However, the one-man operation at the ride almost always took 5 or more minutes during loading for one cycle.

El Dorado Falls and Gold Digger

As the construction work in Mirabilandia’s new themed area Far West Valley was still in full swing during the visit, the only remaining attractions in operation were the Spillwater El Dorado Falls of the water rides pioneer O.D. Hopkins – which, however, struggled with constant failures and did not make good form due to the one-boat operation – and the Wild Mouse Gold Digger, formerly known as Pakal. Since 50% of the cars were also equipped with Fast Passers, we unfortunately had enough time to experience every corner of the small, quite desolate, queue and thus invested almost an hour for the Italian-style Wild Mouse.

The ride is actually quite entertaining, because after you have made the hairpin bends in the upper level, seven in all, you go down one level, where a big drop is followed by another serpentine curve. This is also followed by a steeper gradient and a hairpin bend. As is well known, the two successive slopes are the most fun for wild mice and therefore we will not do without them here either. A last narrow bend and a small dip follow before you are led back to the station.

Katun

Through a spacious temple complex you can reach the Inverted Coaster Katun, which has been turning its passengers upside down several times since the millennium. With a height of 50m and a length of 1200m Katun has always been the largest ride of its kind in Europe and is fortunately scary enough to keep the waiting time low despite the one-train operation. Interestingly enough, the second train was actually sent on its way towards the end of the day, but probably only to finish on time.

The ride begins with a short left turn out of the station and into the ride’s lift. As soon as the train has reached its initial height, it turns to the left and at the same time makes a rather steep descent. You cross the first valley with a lot of pressure before you are turned upside down for the first time in the huge loop. Once back on ground level, the train shoots up again and turns on its own axis in a zero-g roll. To enable the ingenious placement of the Cobra Roll at the lake on the right side of the entrance, there are now a few meters of track missing, which were solved by a steep curve close to the ground and leading to the right. In the following inversion figure you shoot up half a loop, then turn to the side and do the same again in reverse order. Of course with extremely positive centrifugal forces, which should not be underestimated in the following valley. Also with a lot of pressure one turns a round in a wide upward helix at the end of which the block brake of the ride is reached. This is passed without any reduction of the momentary speed, which leads to an immediate plunge into the abyss. Almost straight ahead the first corkscrew is introduced, which whirls you with full force to the right into a tunnel. You then leave this tunnel into another corkscrew, but this time in the opposite direction. A short hill releases you into the final downward helix of the ride, whereupon the station is reached immediately.

Katun is a great Inverted Coaster of the bigger type, which plays many huge and well coordinated inversion figures in a layout worth experiencing, at a decent speed. The play of forces should not be underestimated yet it is still quite smooth compared to the smaller European versions of this roller coaster type.

Max Adventures Master Thai, Eurowheel and Hot Wheels Stunt Show

While waiting in the queue of the Katun roller coaster we could already observe that the neighbouring Max Adventures Master Thai roller coaster had a technical defect and was evacuated accordingly. Even one hour later there was no sign of a reopening of the ride, so we headed towards the prominent landmark of Mirabilandia. Also at the 90m high Eurowheel a long and tough queue was waiting for us. But we didn’t want to miss a ride on what used to be the highest Ferris wheel in Europe because we were so tired of waiting somewhere else. As expected, only half of the gondolas of the Ferris Wheel were equipped, which gave us plenty of time to take a closer look at the unconventional supporting structure of the Ferris Wheel. During the ride we could watch the Hot Wheels Stunt Show from above, the finale of which was the passage of a huge looping.

Pictures Mirabilandia

Closing Words

Also from above we could watch some test rides on Max Adventures Master Thai, so we immediately walked back to the ride, only to find the doors closed again. We still had half an hour left, so we decided to go on another ride on Katun. We couldn’t foresee that we wouldn’t be able to go on another ride after that, so we could only ride six of the seven roller coasters and the Ferris wheel. A disgrace beyond compare, which made the actually brilliant amusement park Mirabilandia the last flop. It is obvious why Gardaland is the most successful amusement park in Italy and why Parques Reunidos should reconsider their strategy.

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Il Viaggio dei due Runner Day 4 / Mirabilandia

Plenty of new things in the East

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Preface

The Freizeitpark Plohn, which originated from a trout farm with an attached restaurant in Plohn near Lengenfeld, had been on my must-do list for several years and was repeatedly considered in various excursion ideas before they were discarded. The decisive factor for this was the extremely positive reporting since the opening of the wooden roller coaster El Toro in 2009 and although Freizeitpark Plohn is hardly further away for me than Phantasialand in Brühl, I have never made it to the amusement park before.

After testing the local Allwetterbobbahn in nearby Eibenstock, I reached the parking lot at about 11 am and left it already half an hour later. I used this time in the queue in front of the only open cash desk before I was told that my bank card with PIN entry cannot be accepted here, but only one with signature. This is not my fault, it’ s the cash system of the park and therefore the park itself, I was told without even being told a reasonable alternative. In fact the not very friendly cashier basically meant that it was only me.

Extremely annoyed I drove to Lengenfeld to get some money at the local Sparkasse and then back to Plohn – after all there is a quite promising wooden roller coaster in the park and the way back would be 500 km long – where I had to stand in the queue again for another 30 minutes. Backed up by a deeply stupid comment I finally got into the Freizeitpark Plohn.

Freizeitpark Plohn

Fluch des Teutates

Thank God they are already working on a better entrance area at the Gaul village, hopefully with a better cash register system. In this area, next to the Drachenschaukel, a windshield wiper-like ride, which was not in operation, is the River Splash ride Fluch des Teutates by the manufacturer ABC Rides.

The trip in the round boats starts immediately with a slightly longer lift. At the top, you leave the lift in a right-hand bend and after a small straight section, a larger turn follows. Afterwards, relatively unusual for this type of ride, a small slope in lofty height under the lift hill follows. After another turn, but this time to the left, another slope follows immediately. Now, a downward helix on the right side of the slope takes up a lot of momentum. You leave this helix in a left-hand curve or rather in a left bend, which runs parallel to the lift for a short time, whereupon the final shot is initiated. This is followed by the return to the station.

The Fluch des Teutates is a nice ride, which can be put into a more than decent rotation with some weight shifting in the boat. But even without it, this was probably unintentionally possible for everyone without any problems at the beginning of the year due to a somewhat too rough paint on the deck. This was then sanded down and the ride was repainted with the correct paint, which is why the ride was out of order for a longer period of time this year.

Passing an animal enclosure, the trail now leads to the Plohnidorf, where a former carousel from the North German amusement park Heide Park, a dark ride and a roller coaster are located. The houses are decorated with jokes about the park’s own mascot and in numerous shop windows the pranks of Max and Moritz by the poet and illustrator Wilhelm Busch are told.

Plohseidon

The family roller coaster Plohseidon is a Force 190 of the manufacturer Zierer, which was built over a water basin and has an imaginative underwater design. Here the design was perfectly adapted to the slightly stretched layout.

The journey begins with a shallowly ascending straight, which soon leads into a left turn. A small swivel to the right and a small straight line later the friction wheels of the lift hill take you up. You leave the lift hill in a shallow steep curve to the left whereupon the maximum height difference of about 7.5m is reached. In an upward helix, you pick up again in altitude and immediately change direction. In a bavarian curve you now go downhill, followed by the return to the station.

The family roller coaster Plohseidon is a nice roller coaster with a surprisingly fast layout, but with quite modest ride characteristics. Well, the kids probably won’t even notice it, but the ride feels like a relatively old ride of the same type.

Plohnis Tauchfahrt

In the immediate vicinity is the small dark ride Plohnis Tauchfahrt. Similar to the former dark ride Ocean of Darkness of the Dutch amusement park Attractiepark Slagharen, you will pass through a colourful underwater world. The plastic design is supported by some well integrated screens, in which the park mascot appears among others.

El Toro

Through a passageway you reach the Westernstadt, the western area of Freizeitpark Plohn and immediately stand in front of the wooden roller coaster El Toro of the American manufacturer Great Coaster International. Along the rear turn of the roller coaster you can reach the entrance of the wooden roller coaster, also coming from the other side. After a small ramp you’re immediately inside the station and have more or less free choice of seats, because there wasn’t much action here despite the ride’s only train.

After the train is finally cleared, the lift chain takes you up to a height of about 25m. With a lot of momentum you make the first descent, which is quite straight before it turns into a steep curve. In the valley you go under the lift hill of the log flume for the first time and change direction immediately. An upward leading left turn follows, but changes its direction relatively quickly. Now a wide bend leads the train to the lowest point of the layout, but even here you only stay for a short time. Over a hill, the train passes again under the lift hill of the log flume and shortly after through a curve parallel to the first drop. Now several hills follow, all of which carry you slightly out of your seat. Past the station you make a small detour and then a turn. With full speed you go down again and take a picture of the ride. The following hill initiates a right turn close to the ground with two hills attached to it. A last curve leads the train up to the brakes and back to the station.

El Toro is a really good roller coaster with an absolutely brilliant start, but a rather mild end. Although the wild bull could already convince at noon, it showed its full potential only in the late afternoon when the coaster is in its run-in condition and this invites, similar to the never full station of the visiting day, to constant repetitive rides. But when the crowd of the station did not allow a simple shifting anymore I left the ride, because the way from the exit to the entrance was not worth it anymore. El Toro is not Troy from the Dutch amusement park Toverland, but at least it is a very good wooden roller coaster and an enrichment without equal for the previously hardly known amusement park.

Westerneisenbahn and Westernrodeo

In the main street of the themed area is the station of the Westerneisenbahn, a round trip through the Wild West past the rides of the area and below the wooden roller coaster. Interestingly, the ride passes the entrances of the Westernrodeo, a break dance of the manufacturer HUSS featuring a long and varied, albeit slow ride, and the roller coaster Silver Mine and blocks it.

Silver Mine

The Silver Mine is a Flitzer roller coaster made by Zierer, which is similar to the ride High Explosive which travels in this country under Vorlop. Started under a German showman in the 70s, it emigrated quite quickly to America, where it entertained its passengers in the Adventureland amusement park in its original design until 1990. In 1996, the ride presented itself as Rioolrat in a new look and with new cars at the Dutch amusement park Avonturenpark Hellendoorn. These cars in the form of a canal rat were also used on the mouse roller coaster of the Spielerei Rheda-Weidenbrück, but here they were still used in combination with the originals. The ride lost all of its fun in 2000 when it was equipped with mine cars and presented itself to the public. It’s a difference like day and night when you ride the minimalist racers or when you constantly bump into the high walled cars during the ride, as it is the case here.

Wildwasserbahn mit Geisterbahn

On the other side of the spacious course is the entrance to the log flume Wildwasserbahn mit Geisterbahn, although the Geisterbahn (ghost train) part probably only really shows up on Halloween. After leaving the station, the canal leads the boat through a small themed passage towards the first lift hill. Once you reach the top, the first shot of the ride takes place, which can be a little bit moistening. After a turn and a right bend you leave the plateau and curve a little bit in zigzag movements through the tree tops and over the second slope until after another right bend you reach the second lift. At a lofty height you make another turn whereupon you slowly but surely approach the big descent. Without much fuss it goes down the slope at the end of which the cool water is waiting for you. This is followed by the return trip to the station of this rather neat log flume.

Holzmichl-Villa and Crazy House

At the exit of the log flume there is interestingly enough a small bumper car and above it the Geistermühle (ghost mill), which has some vibrating plates, distorting mirrors and many bad jokes.  Above the log flume there is also a special attraction. Next to Germany’s largest tree house with the slide Wilde Sau, there is the Holzmichl-Villa and the Crazy House attached to it. Contrary to my previous presentation of Freizeitpark Plohn, the number of amusement elements is unfortunately quite manageable.

Miniwah und das Geheimnis von Gold Creek City

In a former riding and show hall, whose show was probably cancelled due to horrendous GEMA fees, the roller coaster Miniwah und das Geheimnis von Gold Creek City is located since this year. A good ten years after the last Powered Coaster of the manufacturer Mack went into operation in Europe, an equally impressive ride including a regular multimedia show and a spectator stage is presented here in an impressive setting.

Miniwah and the secret of Gold Creek City is a really good powered coaster. The general design is surprising, as well as the fast riding, in this very compact layout. Even the first, slowly driven round with its sightseeing like character is enough to find the ride good.

Raupe

As convincing and harmonious as the western city is, the oldtimer park on the other side of the path with its lake stage and smaller attractions for children is just as unattractive. This is also where the last roller coaster of Freizeitpark Plohn is located, the children’s roller coaster Raupe, a Big Apple made by SBF Visa featuring the well-tried layout.

Freefall im Urzeitdorf

Adjacent to this area is the fairytale forest with some hidden carousels and nicely designed fairytale scenes. If you follow the paths you will find yourself in Dinoland, the most remote part of the Freizeitpark Plohn. Here you will find, besides the Floßfahrt durch die Urzeit, the rather nicely operated Family Freefall Tower Freefall im Urzeitdorf of the manufacturer Zierer and a pedal boat rental.

Pictures Freizeitpark Plohn

Conclusion Freizeitpark Plohn

Freizeitpark Plohn is without question a good amusement park, it just lacks a little bit of professionalism. It’s a bit strange when you have hardly any food left in the park at shortly after 2 pm, no more coffee and cake at 4 pm and instead you are about to complete and concede the checkout. Beside the generally unmotivated and unfriendly staff, the experience at the cash desk joins in and creates a somewhat unsatisfying picture of the amusement park, which is generally very much praised – I am a customer and I am willing to spend money, so please take it and don’t constantly refer me back for avoidable mistakes.

 

What is your opinion about the amusement park Freizeitpark Plohn? Just write it in the comment field below the report or in our social media channels:

 

          

Freizeitpark Plohn