S&S

There’s a monster in Maizières-lès-Metz

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Walygator Park

A year ago, during Easter, Thomas, Marcel, David and I went to Maizière-lès-Metz to visit the Walygator Parc. The weather was beautiful. The queues were well filled, basically a perfect day for a visit to the park, but unfortunately the reason for our visit – the B&M Inverted Coaster Monster – decided to stop working at that time. Since the park itself really wasn’t bad, our journey was worth it.

A year later, in the worst weather conditions of April, another attempt was made to get a ride on the former Expoland ride Orochi. We had a restful sleep and left the hotel slightly too early; we arrived at the parking lot an hour before the ticket booths were even opened. We had to wait for a while, but during this time the parking lot stayed more or less empty.

Monster

Just before the opening of the park, tests were carried out so that we could expect the park to eventually open. From experience we headed directly towards the roller coaster Monster, even if one or two rides on Anaconda would have made sense, as we first had to wait for 12 passengers in the station.

Gradually our co-passengers started to arrive and as we were the first ones, the first ride of the day took place in the front row on the sister ride of Cedar Points Raptor.

The ride in the first row is rather smooth, the forces in the looping, the quite high located Zero-G Roll and the Cobra Roll are hardly noticeable. Also the highly praised second part of the ride after leaving the former block area is comparatively harmless, as neither the corkscrews nor the helices at the end of the ride manage to build up enough pressure. In the back row the forces are way more pronounced. Where the first part of Monster can clearly convince, one is now pulled in the corkscrews and the helices at the end of the ride.

The monster itself is a good ride, but the layout is unfortunately not Batman La Fuga or as Jan would say it is not Nemesis. It doesn’t matter where the ride has been built, or how it is painted, as the ride itself is fun, it just lacks extremes. The forces themselves make the ride family-friendly, which is why it is a great addition to the park’s portfolio.

Südseewellen

After a round on Family Coaster, the park’s Wacky Worm, Jan went on to discover the park. Passing the former Smurf Village we went to the space area of the park, where the S&S Space Shot Dark Tower is still not completed this year, the Schwarzkopf Orbiter Südseewellen performed a decent, albeit quite monotonous and not too fast ride, and the Vekoma Hurricane Walycoaster waited for passengers.

Walycoaster

The Vekoma ride, which has been in the park since 1989, is one of the best Vekoma rides still running with an Arrow train. Although the latest generation of Vekoma trains can be regarded as truly ingenious, they simply cannot match the timeless design of Arrow. The ride is not bad at all and free of any rattles, but for time reasons we only did one ride.

Terror House

One of the park’s flagship attractions is the Terror House, a maze. Usually a long queue is formed relatively quickly at this ride, if there are other people in the area. However, the really creepy one is not the Maze that shines through some brilliant butcher’s rooms at the beginning of the arrangement of confusing corridors, but the Fun House that has to be completed before. The Terror House itself is quite big, the interior consists mostly of plain rooms with animatronics, there is also a frightener that tries harder than the lost pirate crew from the Lüneburger Heide.

Rafting

The park’s rapid river Rafting is located in the direct proximity of the maze. Built in 1989 by Soquet, this rafting ride is dedicated to the journey of Odysseus and has been superbly staged. Remarkably strange, as well as capacity reducing, is the handling of the boats, which are practically operated in a train system. A further curiosity are, similar to the log flume of the park, the different boats in use.

Tang’Or and Polyp

Passing the always broken HUSS Topple Tower Tang’Or and one of the children’s areas of the park, we reach the lake, where a very strange Schwarzkopf monster is located. Normally the excenter lifts after some time and creates the wave movement of the ride, but as this feature is currently broken you circle more or less fast at ground level. Luckily it’s not difficult to get a good spin on the ride, but the fun is reduced.

Riviére Sauvage

Passing the teacup, the wave swinger and the way too long and way too slow boat ride, you reach the log flume Riviére Sauvage. This ride, built by Soquet, is simplistic and features only a few bends and just one drop. Enough to get you perfectly soaked.

Anaconda

Located at the edge of the park is the wooden roller coaster Anaconda, which was once again voted the worst wooden roller coaster in the world. The coaster doesn’t offer airtime, crosses the tops quite slowly and needs extra weight on the Morgan-built trains, but it’s definitely not the worst wooden coaster in the world. As a wooden coaster, Anaconda delivers a solid ride. The speed, the height, as well as the out & back layout are actually pretty good and worth a ride.

Pictures Walygator Parc

Conclusion Walygator Parc

The Walygator Parc is not a bad amusement park, but also not a very good one. This year the expansion madness of the French showman brothers Claude & Didier Le Douarin continued and so they now present a new children’s land with rides bought by the fairground and simply put up. However, what became of the planned Wild Mouse is hard to say, also it is very likely that the park will not paint its Inverted Coaster for the time being.
 

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Walygator Grand Est

The Skunx sign X

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Walibi Holland

Since my last visit in 2009 a lot has been done within the park which is now known as Walibi Holland. The whole Walibi group got a makeover and offers a new leitmotiv theme. Also, the park’s boomerang roller coaster was reactivated.

If you enter Walibi Holland before 10 am you will not be entertained by the ingenious opening ceremony anymore. On the main stage in front of the giant wheel there is a small welcoming by Walibi and Co, where they made a small advertisement for their new show Rockstars: The Battle.

Enterprise

Since the crowd made their way to Speed ​​of Sound right from the start, we were drawn to the SLC prototype El Condor. However, the ride had some start-up problems, which is why we moved on to Goliath. We didn’t know that our first ride of the day would take place in a HUSS Enterprise, which was clearly seeking for passagers. An interesting feature of the ride is that the gondolas are from the former Walibi Belgium version and the rest of the ride is still original.

Space Shot

After the ride we went to the S&S Space Shot nearby, which now have a suitable background music since last season. Experience has shown that these towers break down very quickly. Later in the day there was a ride with an unintentionally long ride program, where the car rose a few feet up and then came back gently to the ground and then stood still for 15 minutes in total.

Goliath

After referring to Goliath in the last report from the park, I have to change my mind in this report. The ride is just fun and offers the strangest kind of airtime  I could experience so far on a roller coaster. Back in 2009 only Stengel Dive could me, as the train was only able to creep along the track. This year  however even the curves could push one into the seat. A big compliment goes to the probably most batty operator of the world, who not only wishes you a good trip, but also wishes you a nice trip during the departure of the train.

Robin Hood

Another highlight in my opinion is the wooden roller coaster Robin Hood, which convinced me right away two years ago. In terms of wooden roller coasters Vekoma has actually done everything right, it’s quite a wonder that there are only three ever build. Riding a wooden roller coaster over and over again at the end of the visit is always a wonderful activity to end a nice day properly.

Merlin’s Magic Castle

In Merlin’s Magic Castle – one of the most beautiful Mad houses by Vekoma – everything was great. In addition to the wonderful preshow, as well as the atmospheric music, one of the best main rooms of this ride type awaits you in here. Be sure to try!

Crazy River and Rattlesnake

In the western area of Walibi Holland you will find with Crazy River one of the best log flume courses in the world, which however was slightly to dry. Next to the VISA SBF Frisbee with a really bad ride program you can find the roller coaster, which was formerly known as Woks Waanzin: The Zierer Tivoli Medium named Rattlesnake. The ride uses the old waiting area of ​​the Flying Dutchman Gold Mine roller coaster, which is now based in the french amusement park Mer de Sable (nearby Paris).. The train with a new front and new tail adapt well in its new place.

Splash Battle

Of course a rafting and log flume are not enough for water soakers, so the park offers a splash battle battle. Typically for a Preston & Barbieri Splash Battle Ride most of the water canons in the boats are not working. But, the ride itself even gets you wetter if you can’t defend yourself and that’s actually a good thing.

Spinning Vibe

Just like two years ago, the HUSS Magic did not lift its arms on the day of visit. Strangely enough, this feature worked wonderfully at the start of the season. The ride was long and quite intense, as the ride was manually controlled.

Speed ​​of Sound

Now we come to the former Italian theme area of ​​Walibi Holland, where we find next to a wave swinger with tight clearance profile (the trees are pretty close), a talking well – which also likes to get the visitors wet –, the Boomerang roller coaster Speed ​​of Sound. The roller coaster was completely re-branded this year and fitted with a new train. The result is overwhelming. Although the ride is not the smoothest of its kind – this is still the Cobra in Walibi Belgium – the new restraining system completely prevents you from any slaps of any kind. However,  you have to get used to the tight-fitting vest.

The sound system of the Boomerang initially struggled with some difficulties and so not all segments of the song were played. But this was fixed after some time and so you could enjoy the whole song. In addition to the onboard sound you are confronted in the station with a earworm producing sound. The Compagnie des Alpes has done everything right with this ride and so we can only hope that other parks will follow soon after.

El Rio Grande

Since the rapid ride El Rio Grande was still being prepared for the season in April 2009, I was looking forward to my first trip on one of the only two Vekoma rapid rides ever produced. From all rapid rides ever build, this one offers the more accurate sensation of a truly white water rafting. With a bit of luck, you can even get wet.

El Condor

Let’s move on to Mexico, where you can ride the prototype of all suspended looping coasters from Vekoma in addition to a bumper car and a rather weak flat ride with sombrero hats. The techno sound has left the station and so you are sonicated with a soundtrack suitable for the area. The ride itself is good, though not necessarily meant for tender minds.

Rockstars: The Battle

Now we come to the show Rockstars: The Battle, which was dominated by Themepark.nl, as the Dutch forum had a meeting in Walibi Holland. Unfortunately the show was not that good, even though the Skunx performed well. In general, you have to say that the costumes give the wearers a large degree of freedom., they even could break-dance. After all these changes, I foresee a very bright future for Walibi and his brother Squad.

Pictures Walibi Holland

 

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Walibi Holland

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