Suspended Looping Coaster

A few hours on the unmagical island

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Isla Mágica

Located in the centre of the city of Seville, on a large part of the former 1992 World Exposition site, is the Isla Mágica theme park. This park, existing since 1997, offers a few rides, but a lot of shows, food stalls and a lot of vegetation combined with many thematic elements.

The first impression you get in this park is quite positive, but this changes relatively quickly when you take a closer look at the park’s manageable rides portfolio.

The park itself is built around a lake, on which there are two attractions, a boat ride and a self-built splash battle, probably one of the newer rides in the park. Similarly cheap is the boat swing, which was apparently lovelessly smacked onto the lake.

Anaconda

The first big attraction you will come across is the log flume Anaconda from Mack Rides. It has three shots of not exactly low altitude and has been wonderfully integrated with the park area and the waiting areas of the log flume. The wetness level seemed to be quite dry from the outside, we unfortunately did without a ride at the beginning of the day, a few hours later we stood here for half an eternity.

Tren de Potosi

A few metres further on you will find the park’s first roller coaster, the Tren de Potosi. This roller coaster of the company C&S is quite close to a Big Apple, but has a downward helix after the, here at least, funny hills. The ride itself is a lot of fun and is not only an enrichment for the small kids.

Llamas

It takes quite a long walk until you reach the next attraction, the more disappointed you are that the Llamas are only allowed to be ridden by children, after all, this ride is quite original for an electronic horse track.

Iguazú

Right next to it, you will find Iguazú, a spillwater of Intamin, which makes very good use of its surroundings, but does absolutely nothing at all. From the water, which the boat (by the way the same construction as already known from the Parque de Atracciones de Madrid) diverts to the side, you will only get drops inside the boat.

Jaguar

Located in a dead-end street you can ride the second roller coaster of the park. The ride, named Jaguar, has not only a surprisingly open area below the roller coaster, but also the latest generation of trains by Vekoma. Although the ride is absolutely no good and the bonus helix just deserves the label “nice”, the train is simply ingenious. It is not only absolutely comfortable, but can also keep its head from all side blows thanks to the new brackets. The waistcoats themselves are a little more comfortable than on the MK1200 trains, as used for example in Gardaland and Walibi Holland. At least the trains are a worthwhile investment for any reasonable park, only here in Isla Mágica they are a complete waste.

Capitán Balas

Passing the tea cups, we go to some ugly concrete buildings that date back to 1992. In the basement of one of the buildings is the pirate darkride Capitán Balas. This is an interactive ride by Mack, which can also be found in a similar form in the Avonturenpark Hellendoorn. The scenes themselves are beautiful and detailed, moreover, you can get your inmates wet at the right moment, unfortunately only yourself at the wrong moment.

Rapidos del Orinoco

Back out of this concrete complex, where there are also two cinemas, we now enter an area where the vegetation seems to have taken over. Here you will find the Rapidos del Orinoco, the last major attraction of the park and one of the most beautiful rapid rides in Europe. The beauty of the park is not necessarily wet, as is often the case in Europe, despite the waterfalls that are still sticking out into the boat. The curve around the wave flyer is particularly worth mentioning.

El Desafío and Ciklón

Apart from a children’s land, a merry-go-round and the Power Tower El Desafío by Maurer Söhne – which has different programmes running at different times, but even in the most intensive version can do less than the prototype in Hansa-Park -, as well as the beautiful Giant Disk’o Ciklón by Zamperla, there is basically nothing left here. The only, more or less, traditional dark ride of the park has been replaced by a Maze that costs 5€ entrance fee and is probably not worth the extra charge, even if you get a voucher at the park entrance.

Pictures Isla Mágica

Conclusion Isla Mágica

For those who love a theme park for its shows and theming, Isla Mágica is certainly a really good and successful park. For all the other park guests the offer of the park is simply too low and the price compared to the other Spanish parks is simply too high, even though you don’t even have to pay the full entrance fee until the age of 25. In my ranking of the worst amusement parks Jaderpark was knocked from its throne, because I don’t want to go here a second time voluntarily.

 

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Isla Mágica

A day in Madrid’s amusement park

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Parque de Atracciones de Madrid

Located in the heart of Casa de Campo, the largest public park in Madrid, next to Madrid Zoo is the Parque de Atracciones de Madrid, the city’s amusement park. Since 1969, it has attracted crowds of visitors to the site of the group of shares now known as Parques Reunidos. Where the Tivoli principle used to apply in the past, today there is a one-off entrance fee to pay. Annual ticket holders of several Parques Reunidos parks can go directly to the entrance. Once in the park you now have the choice of three routes: Turn left into the area called Maquinismo with the roller coaster Abismo, straight on to Gran Avenida or turn right into the area called Naturaleza.

La Lanzadera

As the Maurer Söhne roller coaster Abismo was already attracting us from far away, we turned left for the time being. Passing a very nice and elaborately designed, but broken Top Spin we went straight into the first attraction we came across, the Intamin Giant Drop La Lanzadera. This rather small tower pulls quite neatly and is very convincing compared to larger European rides.

Abismo

The urge for a certain roller coaster of German manufacture became stronger and stronger, but for that an abyss must be conquered – the Abismo. The XT 450 ride manufactured by Maurer Söhne is characterised by the fact that the SkyLoop is followed by a few more metres of track. From the outside, the ride looks quite impressive and the added elements look quite promising, but that’ s not the way Abismo wanted to ride. After a good first part, there were some rough descents and – thanks to unfavourably closed bars – no airtime at all. The braking, however, was surprisingly gentle, which has caused me some concern since the SkyWheel of Skyline Park. Thanks to the higher intensity and the fun backwards part, the SkyWheel convinces me much more than its extended version.

Tarantula

Practically speaking, the entrance of one of the rides is located directly at the exit of the other, at least in the case of Tarantula and Abismo. Unfortunately this roller coaster had a small defect at the beginning of the day, but luckily it was still running. Here you may invest some minutes in the queue, but it moved quite fast. After taking a seat in the single chaises we went up the fast, but very loud and well audible lift. Some downhill runs and curves in airy heights follow until you enter the funny second part of the ride. Here the course is very intensive and the car spins very fast. Compared to Dragons Fury from the English Chessington World of Adventures, the Spanish Spider definitely gets the short end of the stick, but nevertheless it stays high up in the ranking.

El Aserradero

Right next to it and Abismo runs the Zamperla log flume El Aserradero through the Parque de Atracciones de Madrid. The steep lifts are very hard to get used to, as you can hardly hold on to them, at least at the front of the boat. After the tunnel at the end of the ride you might get a good shower through the waterfall, which either turns off in time or simply turns on above the heads of the passengers or even stays on from the beginning.

Tyfon

Where once a HUSS Enterprise and a swing boat used to stand, there is now a Zamperla Disk’O called Tyfon. Unfortunately, the placement of the ride was not really thought out, so there is a lot of open space around the ride and it seems that something is missing here.

Rotor

A few meters further on you will find a HUSS Condor called Rotor. The clearance took what felt like an eternity and before you could enjoy the view in the air you first had to overcome the treetops in the upper third of the flight altitude. This unfortunately causes the ride to lose some of its charisma.

Tornado

A bit off the beaten track, in a dead end street, is the Intamin Suspended Looping Coaster Tornado. The layout is unusually long for an inverted coaster of this height and occupies much of the area around it. The ride in the rather long train turns out to be slightly rough and not really exciting, only the corkscrew may be mentioned as the highlight of the ride. From the outside the ride is a forest of pillars without equal, especially the loops deserve special recognition.

Sillas Voladoras and La Cueva de las Tarantulas

If you climb the way out of the cul-de-sac, you can take a lap on the wave swinger Sillas Voladoras, and if the crowd is too big, you can even queue for a single seat. Beneath the spinning coaster Tarantula is La Cueva de las Tarantulas, an interactive dark ride through a mine filled with spiders. The ride itself is well designed and the one or other effect is quite frightening. The ride system itself seems to be a bit older and so the ride has a certain nostalgic charm.

La Maquina

The last attraction in this area is the HUSS Frisbee La Maquina, which not only catches the eye with its outstanding design, but also offers one of the most intense and balanced riding programs. Rarely is a park version better than the traveling specimens of the same type, and so La Maquina can be seen as the showpiece of a HUSS Frisbee.

Los Rapidos

As the weather made cooling off a reasonable option, Los Rapidos was considered in the Naturaleza area. This ride, built by O.D Hopkins, is something different, since in Europe you will usually only find rides by Intamin. The level of wetness of the ride in the Parque de Atracciones de Madrid is given, at least if the big fountain really gets you, otherwise there are still some water jets towards the end which protrude directly into the boat. The cave in the middle of the ride looks a bit bare, otherwise this rafting ride is definitely one of the more beautiful and wetter ones in Europe.

Vértigo

You can ride an old famous one from the Bobbejaanland in a much more beautiful design. However, if you think of the gap left by the left side in the Belgian amusement park with a rather critical look. Vértigo’s greatest weakness is in its dispatching, where all four cars are loaded at the same time, instead of the more fluid loading of other mice. Thanks to this, there were unnecessarily long breaks and very long queues. The journey itself is no longer as brute as it was in Lichtaart at the time – a pity for the great braking.

Los Fiordos

The second water attraction in this area is the Spillwater Los Fiordos, which offers a slightly longer route compared to other spillwater installations. The reason for this is that the park boundary of the Parque de Atracciones de Madrid is virtually next door. After you have taken a seat in the boats and the bars have been closed, you are ready to go. After a bend, one climbs up the lift, whereupon, after a 90° bend, one gets closer and closer to the water pool. Unfortunately the boat itself only displaces the water to the side and not to the front as in the Spillwater Cataratas Salvajes in Parque Warner, which is why you get out here relatively dry (about the same degree of wetness as a good log flume) and even on the bridge you don’t get wet at all.

Vagones Locos and Turbulencia

In the children’s area you will find two children’s roller coasters. To our great amazement we could get on both roller coasters straightaway. While the Vagones Locos beat you up wonderfully, the small suspended coaster Turbulencia could convince with its high swing and was even a lot of fun.

Zeppelin

Remarkable in this area is the park railway, which was built in an unusual way just above the heads of the park guests. Apart from that, the area also offers a lot for the very young guests. In the last area of the park, called Tranquilidad, you can find the Zeppelin Monorail with which you can get a good impression of the park, the old and rather ugly Ferris wheel, as well as an ugly and broken swing boat. The dark ride Fantasia, a copy of Disney’s It’s a small world, was unfortunately closed, there was a waiting time of one hour for the star flyer and the Maze El Viejo Caseron, established since 1989, charged 5€ admission.

La Jungla

The boat trip La Jungla can score with its ancient animatronics, which are all known from various other rides and even the sound effects of well-known German rides can be found here. The ride itself is quite long, passes through some African scenes until you drive through Asia and is all in all quite trashy, but quite nice.

Pictures Parque de Atracciones des Madrid

Closing Words

Through the Gran Avenida, where there is only one motion simulator, we went down to the park exit. The Parque de Atracciones de Madrid itself has its own charm, but also some unattractive or just empty corners. The roller coasters are, except for Tarantula, all middle class and only a few of them can really convince, e.g. Abismo or Tornado.  Nevertheless you should definitely plan a visit.

 

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Parque de Atracciones de Madrid

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