Tag: Rapid River

A day at Legoland Billund

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Preface

Since my cousin has never been to Legoland before and his parents originally wanted to go there with him, but were unable to drive due to lack of time, I took up the challenge to drive to Billund and back to Hamburg in one day and do some coasters in Denmark at the same time. Driving on the A7 and the E45 is not very difficult, but you have to know your exit and then follow the signs to Billund. The journey by plane would be less complicated, as the airport is located right next to Legoland Billund.

Legoland Billund

After buying the ticket for my cousin, which was 34€, and showing my Merlin Annual Pass we went straight to the entrance to wait for admission. There were already bigger queues and it took some time to get into the park.

Monorail

After a short orientation in the park we confiscated the Monorail. The track is comparatively short and unfortunately you can’t see much of the park. At least we could discover our next destination, which found its place here under the park’s own hotel.

Atlantis by Sea Life

The Atlantis by Sea Life is, as in Legoland Deutschland, bloody short and basically not worth mentioning. Also my cousin, who owns an aquarium himself, was not very enthusiastic about it (but he found the giant crab quite impressive). But if you want to go to a Sea Life Centre in an amusement park you should have a look at the one in Chessington World of Adventures.

Mine Train and Lego Canoe

In the following we moved to the western part of the Legoland Billund, which exists since the 70s. This area offers beside the Miniland also the biggest charm. Here you will find, among other things, the impressive theme ride Mine Train, the beautifully designed white water ride Lego Canoe with its life-size and wonderfully staged animals, as well as the first roller coaster of the park, the Timber Ride.

Timber Ride

This is a Tivoli Small, built in 1978, which has been highly decorated. The ride is very entertaining, even if the track is very short. For a total of 19 years the Timber Ride was the only roller coaster in the park.

Dragen

The medieval area of Legoland Billund is also quite small, its only attraction being the Powered Coaster Dragen. Thanks to the dark ride at the beginning, the coaster features a multi-train system, which unfortunately eliminates the fast station passage. Nevertheless, the ride has managed to convince completely, the sudden speed boost with the following helix brings a broad grin to your face and also the rest of the ride is done quickly before you slowly enter the station again.

X-treme Racers

The third and most recent roller coaster is the extended Wild Mouse X-treme Racers by Mack Rides, which is oddly built with a large concrete wall (even if it was meant to be a noise barrier, the airport makes a lot more noise). Lego has managed to get the best out of the wall and has added some mirrors and figures. The ride on the ride itself is quite nice, but not exhilarating. The classic Wild Mouse layout is much more fun.

Vikings River Splash

For friends of the liquid element of H2O there is a splash battle in the pirate area, as well as a modern rapids river from the company Intamin. Unfortunately there was not enough action at the Splash Battle, so the ride ended dust-dry. There are also very few triggerable effects. The Intamin Rapids Ride Vikings River Splash turned out to be wetter, but abandoned the most common rafting elements and didn’t offer a really wet spot except for the last descent. It is also very predictable in which position you will descend the gradient at the end. The highlight of the ride are the singing stones, which made a quite fitting choice of title with “We will Rock You”.

Piratbåde

In this area you will find, besides the above-mentioned attractions, a Kontiki, a teacup railway, a Heege tower, as well as the worth seeing pirate boat trip Piratbåde. Passing some scenes we cross the lake before we dive into a real pirate’s cave and stay there for most of the really long trip. Here we meet pirate ships, sea monsters and finally a real pirate treasure with a treasure chest. A must-do for every amusement park and Lego fan.

Power Builder

Lego City is located at the rear of the park. Here you can find the great Power Builder – a ride where a gondola carrier is hurled through space by a Kuka robot – and an interactive fire brigade attraction, which is also available in the Ravensburger Spieleland. Since my cousin wanted to force me to do some sports, this ride was tested and found to be quite nice.

The Temple

In the park’s Adventure Land you will find the novelty for 2010: The Temple is an interactive theme ride from Mack Rides. Basically a nice ride, but unfortunately our car was controlled by the system. We have seen all the important scenes, but could not get points in a big sense.

Minibåde

In the front area of the park there are some Frog Hoppers, a Mack Rides Old Train, the park railway and the Minibåde. Here you can take a trip around the world with small boats. On the small cruise we pass numerous oversized Lego replicas of many famous sights. A wonderful fun, where especially children should have their pleasure – after all, you steer the boats yourself.

Miniland

In Billund, Miniland is not located in the centre of the park, but extends in the front area of the amusement park. Here you can find a lot of very impressive buildings, among others an oil platform, the Billund airport, or the Danish capital.

Pictures Legoland Billund

Conclusion Legoland Billund

Compared to Legoland Deutschland, Legoland Billund offers a lot more charm, but at times it seems like a wildly jumbled group, whereas Legoland Deutschland has larger and, above all, coherent theme areas. The park convinces by its cleanliness, its staff, as well as the well developed terrain. My cousin liked it in any case, because he hadn’t thought of the Lego buildings so enormously and still raves about his visit today.

 

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Legoland Billund

A day in the colourful sugar world

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Preface

Today was an early awakening, because Hauke had to be picked up to take the ferry from Puttgarden to Rødby. Unfortunately, the first ship departed before our nose. Thus they loaded the next ship with us first (luckily, the ferries here go every half hour). Arrived on the other side we went without any plan which exit leads to the park onto the motorway; a fatal circumstance, as most of the places of interest in Denmark are only announced shortly before reaching them and on the motorways, most of the times, only the first village of the surroundings is mentioned. But then a call from Hauke was enough and in the last moment we could take the right exit. The way led us into BonBon-Land, where we immediately noticed on the parking lot that it is a busy day today.

Tour of BonBon-Land

Logically, the same picture then emerged at the cash registers. But as we already bought our tickets online, things went fast here in comparison. From the outside you could already see the novelty of the year 2010 and inside we noticed that Sammy’s great adventure was shown in the 4D cinema. A positive thing was that everything was distributed relatively evenly in the park. At the beginning of the day it was sufficient to ride not yet at full capacity, but in the afternoon all available equipment was put onto the tracks.

Albatrossen

We started with the Albatrossen, a Zamperla Disk’o. In contrast to the Disk’o Coasters, the ride here is much more fun thanks to the pressure-packed ride. Also the change of direction was excellent to avoid a too monotonous spinning around.

Vildsvinet

Next door, the Eurofighter prototype Vildswinet did its laps. Unexpectedly gently, it raced down the course like a wild boar. Particularly noteworthy is the steep curve that followed the drop with a 97° gradient and ended in a loop. However, the course loses a little tension after the following block brake, so this part only complements the layout, but does not emphasize it again. The design of the ride is not only suitable for the Danish racer, it is simply convincing.

Svend Svingsarm

After a short examination of the queue, the novelty Svend Svingsarm was given a try. Since I only know the HUSS version of the big swings, I honestly didn’t expect anything, but what happened here deserves just one word: Ingenious! If you sit between two rests, you have enormous airtime. The swing-out reaches a very big radius and the gondola changes during the ride the speed of rotation and the direction of travel. Finally, a Zamperla device that is worth to be copied as often as possible. But the handling is too slow for one person and the ride is not themed according to the BonBon-Land standard.

Viktor Vandorm

For Hauke a new roller coaster was waiting for him and for me the longest Tivoli coaster from Zierer I ever rode. After you start unusually high at Viktor Vandorm you build up a lot of speed with the funny first drop. After that you have a part that looks like a splashdown from the outside. Long straights and curves follow until you are back in the station and start a second round. The capacity is of all expectations instead of a man-eater beneath all hell, so it’s not surprising to find the second longest queue here. The design seems strange, as one unfortunately notices that the layout must have stood somewhere else in the past; in this case in Panorama Park, Germany.

Rejen and Bæver Rafting

Near the Tivoli with the strange layout and partly above it there is the dinghy slide Rejen equipped with a photo system. A few meters away you can find the rapids ride of BonBon-Land. The Bæver Rafting has a beautiful, rough layout with, compared to other European rapid rides, a high degree of humidity. The design of the ride is well done and very convincing.

Hundeprutten

Since a waiting time of more than half an hour is clearly too much for Sammy’s big adventure, the nearby Hundeprutten roller coaster was examined more closely. The track layout is similar to a Zierer Force One, but the ride was elaborately clad and imaginatively designed. The fart gag when the train passes by is completely in keeping with the Danish humour and the eponymous candy.

Klaptorsken

Unfortunately, the entire Heege rides of the BonBon-Land and also the windshield wipers style ride are no longer available, but you still can find some remnants. Further away is the ship swing Klaptorsken, built by Metallbau Emmeln, which showed a very solid ride.

Hankatten

The last roller coaster we looked forward to was the Gerstlauer Spinning Coaster Hankatten, which doesn’t come close to the spinning coaster deity Dragon’s Fury by the manufacturer of Maurer Söhne, but will still remain in my memory as a more amusing example. The inward facing seating position is what makes this coaster built by Gerstlauer different from the other manufacturers. The track itself is fast and has some helices and funny drops, but lacks an Immelmann turn to make the track perfect. The design of the ride is well done, even if it is mostly just the remains of the design of the former HUSS Condor. Furthermore, the sound effects are in a class of their own.

Cobratarnet

Also worth mentioning is the Fabbri drop tower Cobratarnet due to the forceful drop and suprising launch downwards. The ride at Cobratarnet is very soft during the deceleration, hence a very good tower for the park’s audience. Luckily you don’t have to wait an eternity at the top of the ride like you do at the Zoo-, Safari- and Hollywoodpark Stukenbrock.

Søløven

The sealion also wanted to be ridden by us. This is a theme ride through the various continents of our world. As kitschy and convincing as the design is, there is unfortunately something missing that most kitschy world travel attractions contain, a catchy song. So the Søløven turns out quite pleasing, however, it could be even better.

Miscellaneous

There is also a small white-water ride with a canal-rat theme with an unfortunately dry ride, an excellent wave swinger with a turtle look and much more. The portfolio of the park is well chosen and the design of the rides is very convincing. It is a pity that the clearance is too slow in some places and the limited queues are a little too short, so that you inevitably block the way for other passers-by.

Pictures BonBon-Land

Conclusion BonBon-Land

The BonBon-Land is a very bizarre amusement park, which can certainly be a lot of fun at a lower crowd. The capacities are limited, there are gaps of old rides everywhere and somehow everything seems to have been placed a little bit without a concept; which again fits very well to the actual design of the park – because BonBon-Land is just like the portfolio of the confectioner next door, who also founded the park.

 

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BonBon-Land

A (half) day in Rasti-Land

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Rasti-Land

Not far from Hanover, Hildesheim and Hameln is the Rasti-Land amusement park, which has been in existence since 1973. The park is easy to reach via the main roads and the park fees do not empty your wallet as they are completely waived. After having passed the small tunnel at the entrance to the parking place, one drives once around the park to the park entrance. The first impression that one gets during this drive catches one’s eye in a positive way.

Monorail

Once one has paid the 19€ entrance fee, one finds oneself on the highest level of the park. The park railway (with a total of three stations) and the Mack Monorail await you here. Like the Tour de Fleurs in the Holidaypark, this ride is quite long and has several levels. Here, one also drives through a small dark ride section. The gondolas of the railway partly have a very nice painting.

Märchenfahrt

If you follow the paths to the left past some children’s attractions, you will find yourself on the Mack round boat trip Märchenfahrt. This one goes through the middle of the forest, past some statues. The design of the ride is quite impressive for such a park.

Gokarts

In the immediate vicinity you will find the go-kart tracks, which are mastered here either in single or two-seater. The track is basically an oval with some swings in it. Here one clearly notices that the park embeds its tracks into the terrain.

Koggenfahrt

Since the dinosaur theme area of the park opens at noon, the flat ride Koggenfahrt was tested. The forward ride was rather lame, but not the backward part. The ride is slightly elevated at the level of the surrounding curves of the tube slide next door. The ride also looks good from a design point of view.

Boots-Wasserrutschen

After you have climbed another mountain, you can grab a rubber dinghy and make your way down by either using the tube slides or the wave slides of the Boots-Wasserrutschen. These have a wide choice and are in better condition from the inside than they look from the outside. The disadvantage of the slide is the hill that has to be climbed again after the ride. Unfortunately, the neighbouring steep slides were out of order and it does not seem as if this will be changed in the near future.

Riesenschiffschaukel Santa Maria and Abenteuerfahrt durch die Piratenstadt

Other rides on the mountain are the giant Santa Maria ship swing from the manufacturer Metallbau Emmeln, as well as the dark ride Abenteuerfahrt durch die Piratenstadt, which are extremely convincing. On the dark ride you will not only meet the pirates but also numerous interesting effects and beautiful scenery.

Reifenrutschpiste

To make the descent easier you can use a slide to help you. Once you reach the bottom, you can go up the mountain again armed with a tire and then race down the tire slide track. If the synchronisation of the starting aids is right, you can have an exciting race. All in all we spent most of the time in the park right here – a great fun!

Wildwasserbahn

For the water enthusiasts among us there is a special kind of log flume in Rasti-Land. Most of the Wildwasserbahn was built in-house and only the boats come from the manufacturer Intamin. The course was perfectly integrated into the terrain like almost everything else in the park and can also soak you nicely.

Blizzard

The Blizzard bobkart track makes its way in places above the log flume. The track of the manufacturer Wiegand offers an extremely fast ride with a beautiful curve due to its high speed. However, you have to be able to drive at full throttle during the ride, because you can control the cars yourself.

Achterbahn

The pink painted roller coaster Achterbahn in Rasti-Land is clearly visible from far away. The ride was built by Dutch roller coaster manufacturer Vekoma and is one of the first Junior Coaster rides. The colour scheme takes some getting used to, but the ride is still incredibly photogenic, especially because of its placement.

Im Reich des T-Rex and Wasserschlacht

As it was now far after noon, we could visit the Hafema rafting ride Im Reich des T-Rex, as well as the Mack Roundboatblaster Wasserschlacht. The rafting ride is typical for Hafema and not too short, but the degree of wetness is limited (one does not get out completely soaked). The Wasserschlacht can be a good remedy for this. The round boats provide for an all-round wetness and for defencelessness, should the boat turn at the wrong moment. There is also the possibility to meet the guests of the rafting in some places.

Pictures Rasti-Land

Conclusion Rasti-Land

After a few hours we left the Rasti-Land, which we will remember with mixed feelings. In some places the park is really good, but in other places there is an urgent need for renewal. The staff should be better trained, if you wait for the right moment you can help yourself to drinks for free or go to the park. The waiting times are balanced everywhere, as the visitors are very well distributed.

 

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Rasti-Land