Vekoma

Le King et la Foire du Trône

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Preface

Originally it was not planned to visit the Foire du Trône on a Thursday. However, as the French train company SNCF was supposed to go on strike the next day and it was therefore unclear whether and how often the Paris regional train RER would run to and from Torcy, I simply moved the planned visit to the French capital one day forward. Since it should remain dry until the evening, my first destination on this day was the Bois de Vincennes and with it a visit to the Foire du Trône.

Foire du Trône

The funfair officially opens at 12 o’clock. When I entered the square an hour later, there was naturally not much going on. Here and there there were some groups of visitors, but there was no trace of the showmen. Sometimes you didn’t even find them during the whole day. Good, in the evening it should rain. This might be reason enough for a French showman to stay away from work, but it casts an unnecessary shadow on this big event. Imagine such behaviour at a large funfair in Germany, at some point nobody would ever go there again.

Without being able to leave a great deal of money on the Foire du Trône, I was nevertheless happy to have some rides on rides that I had already had on my to-do list for some time. Only the main reason for the visit – a ride on the infamous Le King roller coaster – was to take longer. The start was made by the Jet Star roller coaster of the showman Montalétang.

Jet Star

This chic little darling from Schwarzkopf spent years in Holly Park, France, before it finally closed its doors in 2014. Prior to that, the Jet Star had stood for 24 years as Cortina Bob under the showman Steindl in Vienna’s Prater, before he ordered the Megablitz from Vekoma. In fact, the ride is the first Jet Star produced in Münsterhausen.

The ride begins with a short right-hand bend, which is immediately followed by the ride’s lift. At a height of 13m, we then pass through a rather wide bend, with the words Jet and Star on our left, briefly interrupted by the Olympic Rings on our right. With momentum we now rush down the first slope and it’ s steep! The bob-like sitting position does its best and thus provides the first moment of surprise of the ride. We whiz through the valley at full speed and immediately throw ourselves into the steep curve close to the ground, which revolutionised the roller coaster world at that time. Just below the lift hill we finish our ride and immediately start a longer ascent. Now on the second level we follow the track before the first gradient, before we say goodbye to the right and enter a Bayernkurve via a small gradient. Over hill and dale we now turn left along the front of the ride. In the following valley there is a short change of direction, whereupon we go through the back of the ride a third time. After a short left bend, we fall to the ground once more, whereupon we ride for a very long time through a right bend close to the ground, which tapers to an upward helix towards the end. This is followed by a short dip and an equally short ascent before the final downward helix awaits us. With momentum we then reach the brakes, which bring us to an unexpectedly gentle stop.

After having already tested two of the later City Jet rides, I was very excited about a ride in an original Jet Star and was very positively surprised. The ride on the meanwhile 50 year old roller coaster is simply a lot of fun due to its racy curves and the straight drop at the beginning of the ride. The ride characteristics are still indisputably great, a real Schwarzkopf roller coaster. It’s just a pity that you can’t find a roller coaster of this series on German fairs since a very long time. I would have liked to ride it much earlier. Accordingly, I would like to thank Mr. Montalétang, who recognised the gap of the Jet Star of showman Lapère at the Foire du Trône, which moved to Babyland-Amiland, and was able to close it seamlessly. A really cool move.

La Pomme and 1001 Pattes

On the way to the Jet Star, the worm of the Big Apple La Pomme of the Pouget Groupe was already smiling his way through the course, while his colleague 1001 Pattes of the showman Perc was still wrapped up in the children’s corner on the other side of the Foire du Trône. Interestingly, one worm stopped running after the other one finally revealed himself to the public in the late afternoon. Strange, but still CC+2; it’s fine with me.

Crazy Mouse

The prototype of the Reverchon spinning coaster shows itself to its potential passengers as new. The roller coaster Crazy Mouse of the showman family Degoussée not only looks good, but also performs well during the ride. As usual from the manufacturer, the second part of the ride resembles a wild merry-go-round, which becomes more and more intense in the hairpin curves. So far, so good. While after the last curve the brakes are already waiting for the passengers, the prototype goes one better: There is a bonus dip! Although this is also the end of the ride, it’s definitely a cool gimmick.

Infernal Toboggan

Another ride that started early was the roller coaster Infernal Toboggan by the showman Lapère/Roopers. This SDC Galaxy, which was built for the Belgian showman Bufkens sometime in the 80s, has been in the hands of the showman family Lapère since 1997. The ride through the compact layout with its tight support structure and seemingly endless helices scores above all through a tunnel that covers the complete second exit including the ascent. A nice ride, even though the coaster itself has seen better times.

Moonraker

In the same series, another SDC classic started up in the afternoon. After having already tested a Centrox of the same manufacturer or at least a Spanish copy at a Spanish funfair, I was now very excited about the ride on a Galactica/Moonraker – because the basic ride sequence of both rides differs from each other only in one important detail. Basically, both rides are a slightly more modern round-up, which is ridden in a sitting position and is equipped with shoulder restraints. The rotation of the gondola can therefore be variably controlled; but in general the ride is quite fast and powerful. The maximum inclination of the boom is similar to that of an Enterprise, so the ride is quite steep. The difference between both carousels is an additional function in the ride. While the nacelle of the Centrox can be moved into the horizontal position via hydraulics, the whole centre boom of the Moonraker can rotate 360°. However, this is done at a moderate speed and not against the direction of rotation of the disc, which is why there is no luffing effect similar to that of a hully gully. A third version of this ride was intended to combine the two functions, but was never built.

Although I was the only passenger during the second trip of the day, the ride on the Moonraker was really successful. The ride and the staging of it speak for themselves. The additional rotation of the boom is a welcome addition to the grandiose, albeit somewhat monotonous, pressure spectacle. It is nice that even today a showman takes the time to keep an 80s classic alive.

Le King

Le King, la montagne russe 100% français, was built by Soquet, like many other fairground coasters in the country. Most of these were looping coasters that eventually found their way abroad. Le King is different. The layout of the roller coaster, built in 1995, is very similar to the Alpina Bahn, but also sets many own accents. The intricate layout with its many steep curves promises an exciting ride, which is also advertised on countless screens. As a roller coaster fan you are of course aware of the ride’s style. It is not without reason that it is considered one of the most terrible Adrealin rides in the country, after all the shoulder bar contact is supposed to be guaranteed as high as the share of French components. And yet the train is extremely comfortable. You sit very freely. The shoulder restraint gives you a lot of leeway to the right and left; contact with it seems to be rather distant. But then the journey begins.

After a short S-bend along the sidetrack we are constantly pushed up a ramp towards the lift hill at the back of the ride. This brings us up to the starting height of 26m. After a short pre-drop we fall down a steep curve without great expectations. This is a very decent ride, but the further we go towards the valley, the more the train is inclined. In fact, we can see the approaching disaster mercilessly coming up. The moment the train starts the next ascent, we get wiped out. The following ascent with an integrated change of direction, on the other hand, is again going quite well. Arriving on the next hilltop, we have a short moment to somehow cling to the stirrup, because the next steep curve is already waiting for us. Once again we drive through the following valley with a much too high cross slope, whereupon the contact with the stirrup is established. Over a longer ramp we reach the first block brake of the ride.

Past the King logo we are pulled down once more in a curve. Here one of the worst parts of the layout awaits us. After a proper clamp, it goes up again rapidly. Following a short dip we rush down another curve against our will. Fortunately, the slope in the valleys is now a little less steep, but a series of wild curve manoeuvres awaits us now. Over several hills with integrated turns we now ride criss-cross through the ride before we dive into a tunnel. Through several containers we now go at full speed over smaller ascents, as well as a left/right turn, before we come back to daylight. After another right turn we reach the braking section of the ride and soon the station.

Le King is actually a very passable and funny roller coaster, if it weren’t for these terrible valleys. Without the constant contact with the shoulder restraints, the roller coaster would be extremely entertaining. The ride itself is quite smooth and the layout with its many curves, funny dips and the extremely fast tunnel finale is a bit strange, but not bad at all. Basically, it’s what you would expect from an oversized Soquet roller coaster. The strokes on the other hand don’t really fit to it and make you forget about any repetitive rides. Quel dommage.

Pictures Foire du Trône

Conclusion Foire du Trône

That’s it from the Foire du Trône. As mentioned at the beginning I could not ride very much on this visit. At some point I didn’t see any reason to want to ride anything anymore, although at that time the Mondial Power Maxx swings up, as well as the HUSS Pirate directly on the main row. Shortly after one of the two tagadas opened its daily business, I left the Foire du Trône.

In general, I found the Parisian funfair to be very unorganised. There is no round trip, in many places there are several rows parallel to each other. I would recommend a visit only in the late evening or at the weekend, otherwise you will find yourself in front of closed rides. Why the rides start around noon was not clear to me.

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Île-de-France / Tron-Tron-Trône Day 5 to 8

Fun for the whole Family

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Parc des Combes

If the track gauges of some model railroaders become too large, then a theme park can also be created as a result. That’s roughly how the history of the Parc des Combes can be summed up. In 1985, the model railway enthusiasts from Le Creusot and the local politician, and later president of the NPO Chemin de Fer Touristique des Combes, Serge Chevalier decided to revive the old track of the Chemin de Fer des Crouillottes..

Originally, the line was used to transport slag from the blast furnaces of the Usines Schneider to the Plateau de la Combe for disposal. However, it was already shut down and dismantled in the 1950s. Now the line had to be re-laid. The tracks, rails and sleepers were taken from the Creusot-Loire – a recently bankrupt steel company. Five years later, the first 2.5 km section was opened from Parc des Combes station down to the Combe Denis. The current 5.2 km circuit of the Train des Combes was completed five years later. A station was also built in the centre of Le Creusot, not far from the SNCF station. This was accompanied by the construction of the third section, which was completed in 1999. Since then, during the French summer holidays, it has been possible to travel by the Train des Deux Vallées over a distance of 10 km from the city centre up to the amusement park. In addition, on selected days in July there is the possibility to travel by steam train.

In 1996 the construction of a summer toboggan run from the Wiegand company took place. The success of the Luge d’été laid the foundation for the park’s current orientation. In 2003 the Déval’Train, a family roller coaster from the Dutch manufacturer Vekoma, followed. The subsequent years are characterised by smaller novelties, before the Alpine Coaster 2007 set new standards in visitor numbers. In 2011 Vekoma presented the Family Boomerang, a new development, which made the Parc des Combes famous nationwide. In 2013 the interactive roll-over ride L’Escadrille, also a new development from Technical Park, followed. The French must have liked this, otherwise the next step for a park of this size is hardly explainable, because in 2017 a Flying Fury moved into the park with Canad’R. This is one of only two rides worldwide! Vraiment magnifique!

Before we dare to climb up the mountain to the self steering propeller, we have to get the Pass Partout, the all-you-can-ride whistband of the park. Of course, there would also be the possibility to buy single tickets, but this is only worth it if you have come to the Parc des Combes for up to four rides and are not interested in the Train Touristique. Of course you can also buy a special ticket for the train ride if you are not interested in the theme park. The actual entrance is free.

Alpine Coaster

Passing the station of the Combes, which includes the park’s restaurant and a number of smaller children’s rides, we make our way to the two toboggan runs. We join the queue on the left and are immediately the first passenger of the day of the Alpine Coaster.

During the ascent we have an excellent view of the upcoming attractions, especially the Canad’R. At the top we steadily increase our speed in several small zigzag curves. In the following serpentine curves we cross several smaller waves, which make us lift up a little bit out of our seats. Shortly afterwards we race towards a helix. With now pronounced speed, we race through a long left turn and soon over a beautiful jump. Unfortunately the short and enjoyable ride ends after another right turn.

Luge d’été

But before we get right back into the Alpine Coaster, we dedicate ourselves to the Luge d’été. Parallel to the ride we just tested, we climb the lift hill, but then turn right at a slightly lower altitude. After another right turn, we quickly increase our speed over a steeper gradient. A left turn and a small zigzag passage follow at high speed, before we see ourselves in a right turn with a pronounced cross slope. Now several left and right turns follow in quick succession, which can also throw you off track. After a jump and another right turn the ride ends.

It is difficult to say which of the two rides is the better one. I personally enjoyed both of them very much. Since none of the French visitors even had the idea to brake early, both rides were experienced at full speed. In general, however, the Luge d’été seemed to be more popular with the visitors.

Déval’Train

Via stairs we now reach the station of the roller coaster Déval’Train. The ride on the classic roller skater layout with a length of 207m is particularly convincing because of its embedding in the surroundings and the high degree of theming. Of course, this ride features several laps, so that the little ones get their money’s worth.

Boomerang

The Boomerang roller coaster is a little more exciting and faster. However, it is only available for groups of 6 people or more, so I had to wait here for some time for my ride. Especially in the low season you should not be too early at the Parc des Combes, because it takes some time until a sufficient number of people find their way up the mountain. But you will have the Canad’R all to yourself as soon as it opens. One way or another, at some point the time had come, and since only a few people got off after the ride, it was possible to take one lap after the other.

The ride itself begins with the ascent of the reverse lift hill. Once in the starting position, you are stopped briefly while the friction wheels are pushed apart. Now the track is free and you race straight down the just climbed track. You cross the station at 60 km/h and then shoot into an uphill left turn. Now you race through a valley, before an upward helix leading over hill and dale joins up. The train loses its momentum on the undulating spike that follows, whereupon it reverses direction and passes the track backwards. The train then comes to a halt again in the station.

Family Boomerangs are definitely a great roller coaster type. Therefore it is even better that the Parc des Combes has recognised this with the English amusement park Drayton Manor before all others. Although the original layout with its undulating course does not offer a distinct speed profile, this does not detract from the fun of riding. It is even better when you can do several laps at once.

L’Escadrille

The next attraction on our mountain ascent is the aerobat L’Escadrille. After the success of the Gerstlauer Sky Roller and the Sky Fly from the same company, the Italian manufacturer Technical Park has come up with its own interpretation of an interactive roll-over roundabout. Insofar it is nothing unusual, as it is good manners to adopt successful concepts from other manufacturers. Instead of a direct copy, however, the focus was on an intensified development of the well-known paratrooper ride.

Although I knew in advance that the ride is not really exhilarating, one should always be open-minded about new rides. So first of all the positive: The gondolas are comfortable and the wings also fit well in the hand. But now the negative: Whether you move the wings or not does not change the ride. This means that permanent rollovers are impossible right from the start, and whether you like it or not, at some point everyone will go head over heels through the pit. Hourra…

In general, the concept of a modified paratrooper is not wrong. But the ride on the aerobat is simply no fun. From my point of view, the ride is just too steep to take advantage of the interactivity of the ride. That’s a pity, because the concept itself has potential.

Woodside 66

Well, in that case you’d better get into a modified Apollo 2000. With the Woodside 66, a sidecar from Technical Park has been in the park since this year. The swing of the interactive compressed-air ride can be controlled by the throttle twist grip on the motorbike, at least until the air runs out at some point. But after a few laps on the ground, the wild or not so wild rocking can start all over again. A really great ride, which has quickly gained popularity in the amusement park industry.

Something that unfortunately did not benefit the last ride on our exploratory tour through the Parc des Combes. Although very popular with fans, the Flying Fury is still in the shadows, probably due to its low capacity and technical complexity. But all this has not stopped the Parc des Combes from putting the ride on a mountain where everyone can see it from afar. You wouldn’t believe how high the 37m high ride can seem when you look down a mountain during the ride.

Canad’R

Due to the interactive nature of the ride on Canad’R it is difficult to reproduce the ride in detail. However, it looks something like this: ” So, I now have the joystick in my hand, how does it go forward? Okay, now I’m going in circles. What happens if I move this control to the side? Aha, now I turn over to the side. Next I pull the joystick towards me, aha, the propeller is now moving clockwise. Well, then it can start”. After this short period of getting used to it, everything is ready to get down to business. Friends of very strong accelerations can also start a turbo phase, in which the plane switches to automatic for a short time, then straightens out and accelerates with 5G. Depending on which direction you hold the stick, this happens either forwards or backwards. You have to be very careful not to expose yourself to a Grey Out or even a Black Out – apart from that the ride is quite nice.

So much so, in fact, that I tried out the wildest driving manoeuvres several laps at a time. Sometimes you can lose your orientation quite a bit during the ride, but no matter if you are upside down and turning sideways through the station area or do laps with permanent side rollovers, I only had the most extreme ride when the ride had a fault shortly after the start and then went to zero position. Interestingly, the boom then drove at snail’s pace and counter-clockwise for a complete lap before reaching the entry position. In the beginning it was very relaxing, but at the latest with the hangtime part and the fabulous view at a height of over 30m it became quite frightening. Luckily you can trust Italian technology, but the ride was closed for a while after that.

Later on I was able to do some more laps on Canad’R, but after my sixth ride I broke it down. Shortly after the ride started, nothing more happened and I could wait – at least halfway comfortable – for a good 15 minutes to be released from the ride. In the late afternoon the ride started again, but then I had to leave again for my next destination.

Pictures Parc des Combes

Conclusion Parc des Combes

Parc des Combes is a very pleasant small theme park with a rather interesting portfolio. Hardly any other park of this size offers so many – for the country – unique rides. If the park continues to develop in this direction, you will have to go to Le Creusot all the time. The Parc des Combes is already a must-see for every lover of really good rides. Moreover, the park can be perfectly combined with Le Pal, a park that you must experience one way or another. If you are also a friend of narrow-gauge railways, you will definitely have fun here.

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Parc des Combes / Tron-Tron-Trône Day 3

WAA!!! Walibi à la française

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History of Walibi Rhône-Alpes

À chacun son WAA!! While I’m looking for the book by Dominique Fallon to entertain you with some lively facts about the entry of Avenirland in France, you can already be amused about the great phonetic cry from Walibi Rhône-Alpes. Eddy Meeùs, founder of the Belgian amusement park Walibi and exclusive distributor of waterskiing facilities in Belgium, was offered a share in the French amusement park Avenirland near Les Avenières in 1981. This rather small amusement park near Lyon offered since 1979 a small collection of rides from Mack and Soquet in a – not necessarily matching the name – western setting. Meeùs and a French amusement ride manufacturer first took over 40% of the shares, before they each owned 50% just two years later.  Differences of opinion between the two parties led to Meeùs holding all the shares by the end of 1985.

1986 saw the opening of Aqualibi, the first water park in the group. Although there were already plans to build a swimming pool in Wavre in 1975, these were never realised due to a lack of funds. Ten years later Dominique Fallon visited the Duinrell amusement park with its brand new Tikibad, and the idea for the Aqualibi water park was born in Belgium. Eddy Meeùs himself could only be convinced of the idea in January 1986. After that, everything actually happened very quickly. Both Aqualibis opened in a tight time frame, although the French water park would only be open during the summer months due to its location and therefore was rather sparse compared to the Belgian Aqualibi – which at the time was the status quo for water parks in Belgium.

Two years later the park received its first large roller coaster, the Boomerang.  However, the lack of visitors almost meant the end for the amusement park. The park had an image problem and Dominique Fallon had the solution. The Walibi brand was known throughout France through extensive advertising on the Luxembourg radio station RTL – although the advertising was always aimed at the Francophone Belgians – and the new rapid river, the Radja River, was on everyone’s lips. So Avenirland was to get its own Radja River, and the park was to be renamed Walibi Rhône-Alpes. Within one year the number of visitors increased from 250000 to 450000.

The 1990s were characterised by the rapid growth of the Walibi Group, while Walibi Rhône-Alpes stagnated somewhat in terms of visitor numbers. In 1997, a large part of the group was sold to Premier Parks (with the exception of the two Brussels attractions Mini Europe and Océade which were henceforth managed by Thierry Meeùs). During the Six Flags era, the number of visitors stabilised again at 400,000. This was followed in 2004 by the takeover by Star Parks, a chain of theme parks created by Palamon Capital Partners. In 2006, it was sold to Grévin & Cie, the current theme park division of Compagnie des Alpes.

From then on, Paris had the say and the first action was the massive expansion of the Aqualibi water park. It also received a new name with L’île aux Pirates. In 2011, the park’s biggest innovation followed, when the cuddly kangaroo was given its own universe and was then given a much more modern appearance. As a result, the water park also regained its original name. Large parts of Walibi Rhône-Alpes were redesigned and were now based on the leitmotif around the two fictional bands WAB and The SkunX. Even if the overall reorientation was only short-lived, it was groundbreaking.

Nowadays, the decision-making power on the orientation of the amusement park is no longer exclusively in Paris, which allows the individual parks to develop according to their own needs. The fact that a new attraction has been offered every year in Rhône-Alpes for the past seven years is a very interesting development. Not every park is able to perfectly adapt its novelties to the themed area in question.

Tour of the park

Dock n Roll and Hurricane

So it is hardly surprising that I was absolutely thrilled by the park right after entering the newly created entrance area. Walibi Rhône-Alpes is downright stylish, which is also due to the newly created Festival City themed area with its Rockin’ Tug Dock n Roll and Vertical Swing Hurricane, as well as the park’s 4D cinema. Unfortunately, the chain flyer was still under construction at the time of the visit; I liked the design idea with the multitude of fans very much.

Bamba

For dramaturgical reasons, we are now moving counter-clockwise through Walibi Rhône-Alpes. We will soon come across the original principal area of the park, the actual western town. Nowadays, this area is of course very colourful to match the look of Morvan’s, L’Hermenier’s and Wuyes’ comic strip. The area boasts a wide variety of restaurants and family rides, including a merry-go-round, a vintage car ride and a bumper car, as well as two faster rides. The first of these is the Mack Rides Calypso Bamba, which offered a solid, albeit monotonous, ride and, at almost 40 years of age, is still able to thrill the family crowd.

Skunx Tower

The main attraction in this area is the Skunx Tower, which at the time was placed in the park by Premier Parks as the Totem Infernal. This 57m high launch freefall tower from S&S Power does what a freefall tower from the company in the Space Shot programme does and takes you to the top of the park with a good dose of speed. Once there, however, something happens that you would never expect and you are transported to the shoulder restraints. Airtime olé! Needless to say that you get out of the ride with a big grin on your face and if the queue at such a tower wasn’t always so long, you’d get back on board in no time. A great tower that you should not miss!

Aqualibi

Following the paths, we cross the tracks of the park railway and have a look at the water park Aqualibi from the outside. It was not in operation at that time of the year and also the interesting looking slide Coursaire was located on a site next to the water park. Actually I always wanted to go to Walibi Rhône-Alpes to test the park and the water park, but now I was a bit too early. But that doesn’t matter, because the water park will be massively extended in the near future in order to entertain the guests as an independent water park just like in Wavre. I am very interested in the tube slide with the constantly narrowing curve diameter.

Bambooz River

Directly opposite the entrance to the pool is the modern log flume Bambooz River by Interlink and Soquet. Built in 2012, this ride was the first new attraction since the rebranding. The ride stands around relatively naked in the area, but is impressively adorned by larger steel sculptures. The ride features two shots of different heights, with the smaller one also featuring a double downhill run. Both are wet. In fact, the Bambooz River can really soak you, which is great and desirable. Unfortunately, however, you are not allowed to do any of the water rides in the French CDA parks on your own, which is why I only left it at one ride, which seems strange, especially on the next ride on our park tour.

Tam Tam Aventure

We are now embarking on a French classic, the Tam Tam Tour or Tam Tam Aventure, as the eternally long boat trip is called after its transformation. As I know the ride from Walibi Aquitaine – today’s Walibi Sud-Ouest – I was very curious to see whether the ride would drive you crazy with the monotonous croaking of countless frogs. It turned out differently. Very much so, in fact.

Since I was not allowed to go alone in the boat, but was the only one far and wide at visiting time, I was allowed to wait a little bit for other passengers. It was a good thing that within a few minutes a big crowd of girls passed by at a bachelor party. There was singing, trumpeting and of course drumming, after all there are drums built into the boats especially for that purpose. Actually, you are supposed to drum in the appropriate rhythm to the built-in film scenes – but nobody really does that. The trip itself has a great visual impact, the scenes are really creative and funny. The narrator is also highly ironic. This is really a lot of fun and gives the old boat trip a right to exist.

Coccinelle

Speaking of the right to exist, let’s now move on to the Coccinelle. Since 1992, this classic ladybird coaster in its largest version has been entertaining park guests from Walibi Rhône-Alpes. As always, the roller coaster with the layout of a side-by-side double eight knew how to convince, but unfortunately the track was only used for a single lap. This is of course a bit of a pity, after all these rides are predestined for a multiple lap operation.

Mini Ferme and Les plongeurs de l’extrême

I spent an unexpectedly long time at the Mini Ferme, a small domestic animal zoo. It is vividly designed and yet surprisingly spacious. It’s amazing how many French family parks have such an area, the Mini Ferme here in Walibi Rhône-Alpes is one of the most beautiful examples and is especially suitable for families with small children to spend the time or at least to use the time until the next wet side story. Les plongeurs de l’extrême offer a great and absolutely worth seeing Acapulco Cliff Diver Show.

Gold River

Let’s now turn to the Radja River rapid river, which has belonged to the Explorer Adventure theme area since the construction of the MonORrail – at least parts of which run above it – and has been called Gold River ever since. In contrast to the original from Belgium, the Radja River is a Soquet product with eight seats per boat. However, the trip through the rapids is quite leisurely and without a major highlight.

On the other hand, I was quite taken with the monorail running above it. This monorail, also made by Soquet, scores with unusual insights into the park’s Vekoma Boomerang, as well as with a terrific smoothness. A truly great ride.

Le Galion

Past the park’s large amphitheatre, which is only used in the summer months, the attraction now moves more and more towards the Timber wooden roller coaster! But before that, we dedicate ourselves to Le Galion, after all we are in France. This HUSS swing ship would not be worth mentioning if the seats were not separated by seat dividers, so that even small children can ride on each seat absolutely safely. As these seat dividers were never used on a Pirat, I was quite astonished.

Timber!

“It’s going down, I’m yelling timber! You better move, you better dance”. Someone must have liked the song by Pitbull quite a bit, because the exclamation Timber! was certainly not known to any Frenchman before. So it’s all the nicer to have a Montagne russe en bois with lots of timbres in the park. The manufacturer of this beauty is the American Gravity Group, the founders of which were previously responsible for numerous works by Custom Coaster International, or CCI for short. For some time now, the company has been building mainly smaller wooden roller coasters, which makes them especially interesting for small to medium-sized amusement parks. So it’s no wonder that Walibi Rhône-Alpes took up the business back then.

The wild ride in the short trains starts quite quickly with the ascent of the only 17m high lift hill. After a tight turning curve, the train rushes down mercilessly over the far too narrow hilltop, accompanied by appropriate music. With plenty of airtime we complete the first drop of the ride as well as the following hill, which is quite close to the ground. After a short bend to the left we wind our way up over three tops, once in one direction and then inclined in the other direction, and are torn out of our seats every time. In a right-hand bend close to the ground we approach the park boundary, shoot over a very flat hill once more and turn around. Below the third hilltop we now perform a wild and airy turning manoeuvre. Just after that we make another turn and fly over a hill shortly after. A series of smaller hills follows immediately after a right turn, whereby the speed is reduced a little in a trim brake. Before you know it you reach the braking distance of the ride and the short and wild ride comes to an end.

Timber! is an extraordinarily great roller coaster, which has been fantastically staged and scores with its extremely powerful ride. If you compare the ride of the roller coaster with the wooden roller coasters of the manufacturer GCI which are better known in this country, Gravity Group’s ride here is quite a statement. Unfortunately there is one small detail on the ride that spoils the fun a bit and that are the trains! Timberliners may be justified, especially since they allow smaller children to ride safely. But what on earth are the blinkers on the sides of the train for? I’ll let the manufacturer get away with the stupid construction of the stirrups, because they are actually only clumsy, but the blinkers are very restrictive. You just don’t sit comfortably. Nevertheless, a good ride – but not my highlight because of the trains used.

Woodstock Express

Passing the Zamperla Barnyard Volt-O-Vent we are now heading for the Wild Mouse Woodstock Express. This Italian mouse coaster construction from the house of Zamperla offers a similar ride pleasure as the rides from L&T Systems, but with a small, but extremely fine difference right at the beginning of the ride. While the other mice escort their passengers in a right-hand bend into the lift hill of the ride, the Zamperla Mouse shoots out of the station on a short gradient before the lift makes a big noise. As I already knew this behaviour from Walibi Sud-Ouest, I was accordingly riding by and supported myself from the backrest until the moment in question. This was followed by an absolutely butter-soft ride, for which I was always happy to get in line.

EqWalizer

Passing the boat slide Surf Music, we now go to the last roller coaster of the park and my personal favourite: the Vekoma Boomerang EqWalizer. Now you might ask yourself, why of all things a Boomerang should be better than a crazy and extremely powerful wooden roller coaster. The answer is simple: The train.

Vekoma Boomerangs are per se extremely funny roller coasters, which can easily convince on both forward and reverse ride through cobra roll and looping; as long as they ride well and at least that is what they are good for in Europe. Of course there are better roller coasters, but when a Boomerang suddenly comes along without shoulder restraints, you have to be in a pretty good position to compete against such a ride. The unusually high level of freedom on the Sunkid trains is a great benefit for the ride and makes you hungry for repeat rides. And here in the park you don’t have to pay 5€ every time like on the Vienna Prater.  However, I also have some minor points of criticism regarding the EqWalizer, which at least partly concern the ride, but do not diminish its quality. For example, getting into the second row of seats in a car is an extremely tight procedure, which could certainly be optimised with a slightly different lap bar shape. Altogether a great coaster!

Pictures Walibi Rhône-Alpes

Conclusion Walibi Rhône-Alpes

Walibi Rhône-Alpes was – as the last remaining Walibi Park – on my bucket list for quite some time now and fortunately, thanks to the upcoming novelties, it has been back on the list for quite some time. The park has a great charm and convinces with its really coherent overall concept. The park also has a very pleasant audience, which further strengthens the family park character. It was also nice to meet the bachelor party troop again and again, who really thanked me every time for the ride with them on Tam Tam Aventure. In any case, I couldn’t have imagined a better start for my roller coaster trip, although the Yukon Quad roller coaster celebrated its premiere in Le Pal on the same day, but we’ll look at it in the next review.

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Click here for the next report of the Tron-Tron-Trône Tour

Tron-Tron-Trône Day 1 / Walibi Rhône-Alpes