Water Coaster

An O.D. Hopkins Wonderland

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Wonderland Amusement Park

I would never have dreamed that the Wonderland Amusement Park would become my first amusement park in the USA. Few amusement park enthusiasts are familiar with it, but it is still of great importance to the industry. The former water ride specialist O.D. Hopkins was able to present his first ride here and with the Texas Tornado there is also a roller coaster from the same company in the park, which for many years even belonged to the best roller coasters in the United States. Accordingly, the park is actually a must-do, but unfortunately the city of Amarillo is off the beaten track.

Full of anticipation for the opening of the theme park in the evening I left the Palo Duro Canyon State Park in the late afternoon only to stand in front of closed gates. Fortunately, I wasn’t the only one there and more and more people are joining me. In fact, I was only a little lost in the opening hours, which is why I had to wait here for half an hour.

Even before the cash desks are occupied, the staff already start their work at the gate by serving all those who have obtained their tickets in advance. You can also buy tickets from them. I waited a little (as I didn’t want to wait close in a closed off area till the gates would open) and bought my ticket from a charming, albeit toothless old lady.

The park itself consists basically only of a Midway, where the rides are arranged to the right and left. At both ends of the way the park spreads out a little and forms with the corner around the chain plane Fiesta Swing almost an enclave. Basically, the Wonderland Amsuement Park is a classic Luna Park.

Accordingly, the entrance fee to the amusement park is quite low. The rides can be paid by the use of tickets or you can buy a wristband for unlimited rides. But here in the park there are two different variants, namely the WOW Pass and the Coca-Cola Ultimate WOW Pass, which includes mini golf, the free fall tower Drop of Fear, the roller coaster Texas Tornado and one ride on the dark ride Fantastic Journey.

As I would notice later, this wristband system is an absolute nonsense. Although I have noticed in the research for the report that I could have played minigolf for free, the surcharge is hardly worth it if you can already see from the outside that one of the main attractions would not be in operations on the day of visit.

Rainbow

Therefore, I was in search of a better mood. Practically, there’s a ride that creates a great smile without any effort: a HUSS Rainbow. I always liked this ride, when it was still in my home park. At every visit to the Heide Park, I rode it at least twenty times. After an incident at the Swedish amusement park of Liseberg, most of the rides disappeared in Europe. The Rainbow of the German Showman Klinkerfuß and the one at Serengeti Park have been preserved for some time, but since four years none of these can be found in Germany. Fortunately, the Rainbow of Serengeti Park can now be found in the Polish amusmement park Legendia.

Here in Wonderland Amusement Park the ride has been running since 1999. Unfortunately it looks a little bit run down. The ride is still a lot of fun. Due to the unnecessary seat dividers and the use of belts, the charming sliding from one side to the other one within the two-seater is no more.  Only the generous gondola decoration made in Germany reminds us of the former ease of the ride.

Scrambler

Things look much better with the all American classics, which were really in good shape, e.g. the Eli Bridge Scrambler named Scrambler. Compared to the English version of this true RCT classic, the ride in the American original is even more rustic. Who needs modern hydraulic bars when the ride itself is purely mechanical and all movements are controlled by only one motor? You can also just have a door, which you secure with a pin. Sure, the handling takes significantly longer, but who cares? It’s still the original design, like the ones in your grandparents time. Overall, the Scrambler is a great ride!

Cyclone

Our next stop on our park tour is the wild mouse Cyclone. But don’t panic, Cyclone is not a wild mouse of the 90s. The company Mack Rides was at the time of construction still completely new in roller coaster manufacturing and the Maurer AG knew nothing about their BHS takeover. Instead, this steel mouse comes from Miler Manufacturing. It was built in 1960 and since 1968 you can ride the ride here in Wonderland Amusement Park.

As soon as we have taken a seat in the car, the journey starts immediately. With outstretched legs we quickly climb the lift of the ride. After reaching the top, we immediately take the first corner, whereupon a few longer straights and wide curves are added for us to get used to. In a series of tight hairpin curves, we are pressed four times into the side wall of the car.

With momentum we enter a tight bend, which also drops slightly in the middle. After that we hit the big drop of the course in a double-down. With a lot of drive we then go to the second level of the roller coaster. After a very funny turn we are taking another straight in a sloped position. This is followed by the double ascent and descent, known from many Wild Mice, which is also visually impressive due to its location just slightly above the park’s log flume. In the front area of the course we now cross the station in another sloped straight. Two more ascents and descents await us. Thereby, we get dangerously close to the just route above us, which is a brilliant moment as we are also experiencing some airtime. Our excursion to the third level of the mouse is only of short duration. After a short left turn we immediately turn ourselves into a helix that also heralds the end of the ride. In a longer straight, the brakes are reducing the speed of the car till we reach the exit position of the ride.

The Wild Mouse coaster Cyclone is a true representative of an unfortunately much too rare roller coaster species. The American steel mouse comes astonishingly close to its wooden siblings and simply inspires with its many slopes and strange curve manoeuvres. Strangely, that there aren’t any helices being build in modern Wild Mice apart of the Bobsled Coasters by Gerstlauer…

Big Splash Log Flume

Right next to the steel mouse is the Big Splash Log Flume, which is a true budget version of the very popular Arrow logflume rides. A drop, a few curves and a very small footprint were the cornerstones for the most exciting career in the entertainment industry. O.D. Hopkins, who had previously only manufactured and marketed chairlifts, soaked the world.

The ride on the Big Splash Log Flume is relatively dry. Nevertheless, it is definitely a highlight not to be missed.

Fantastic Journey

If you are a fan of dark rides, don’t miss out a ride on the Fantastic Journey. The self-construction by the park founder Paul Roads is characterised by a multitude of great design elements and ideas, some of which have been adopted by friendly park operators from their ghost trains. The heart and soul of the park owner is truly noticeable. The numerous black light scenes, the strobo-aluminium foil room with Alien or the colliding bus at the end of the ride are just a few examples of the adventures waiting within the ride. Sadly, you can only ride the ride once with the more expensive wristband…

Mouse Trap

The big Pinfari roller coaster Mouse Trap has also been in Wonderland Amusement Park for some time and makes a very good overall impression. The ride on the big Zyclone with a front length of 64m thrills its guests by a multiplicity of slopes and helices, whereby the very high and quite slow middle part of the ride, as well as the very high end of the ride, are a little atypical. However, the ride in the tripartite trains is a lot of fun.

Tilt-a-Whirl

Right next door you can drive a true American classic, a Tilt-a-Whirl. The US version of the waltzer is characterised by its rotating seating shells and distinctive valleys, which get the wagons going and put a big smile on the cheeks of the passengers.

Rattlesnake River Raft Ride

Opposite the Mouse Trap roller coaster is the access to the Rattlesnake River Raft Ride, an O.D. Hopkins rafting ride. As with the logflume, this is the manufacturer’s prototype. To my own surprise the trip started as soon as I took a seat in the round boat as there are no belts and other safety features. The trip through the canal offers some rapids and splashing elements. But you don’t have to worry about the ride through the waterfall, here in the Wonderland Park there is only a garden sprinkler. Overall, the ride is quite interesting and worth a visit.

Pipeline Plunge and Thunder Jet Racers

Equally interesting is the American version of the dinghy slide. The Water Coaster (funnily enough a trademark of WhiteWater) Pipeline Plunge offers a very refreshing (and very wet) ride through numerous curves and turns. In addition to that, you’ll also be racing down over a few jumps. Be sure to try it out! If you are also a fan of water trips from O.D. Hopkins, there is no way around this ride.

One ride that I would have liked to try out is the almost inconspicuous looking Thunder Jet Racers (also from O.D. Hopkins). This dinghy slide offers a race on two tracks located side by side over a straight line on the ground. The dinghy are accelerated by a strong stream of water. Unluckily, this ride is for younger park guests only.

Fiesta Swing and Drop of Fear

Behind the Thunder Jet Racers there is a small park area offering the Chance Yo-Yo Fiesta Swing, a small baloon ride and one of the entrances to the free fall tower Drop of Fear. The former travelling free fall tower offers a total height of 200 ft and therefore a fantastic view at the region. None of the four lanes were in operation that day and it didn’t look like it would change in the near future. As the Drop of Fear is one of the few rides covered by the more expensive wristband this was very disappointing. I also wanted to try this rare Moser Rides free fall tower for a long time…Nevertheless, there is still hope as the ultramodern lighting system on the tower is quite new. Funnily enough, you can use the tower to display greetings and birthday wishes for a small fee.

Pirate, Himalaya and the Texas Intimidator

Friends of good rides are well served in the rear corner of the amusement park. The HUSS Pirate, the Reverchon Himalaya or the Moser Flipping Action Arm Texas Intimidator are all worth a try. The Texas Intimidator offers a beautiful and thrilling rollover ride on a minimalistic footprint and therefore should not be missed.

Hornet

The Hornet roller coaster also has a very small footprint. This Vekoma MK-700 roller coaster can look back on a proud past as it was the first of its kind. In 1988 it saw the light of day on Boblo Island near Detroit, where it was covered by a hall. After the closure of the amusement park, the ride moved to the amusement park Six Flags Astro World near Houston, where the ride was named Mayan Mindbender. After this amusement park had to be closed as well, the ride found its new home in the Wonderland Amusement Park, where it was not enclosed again.

That move actually suits the ride quite well, as the layout resembles that of a Zierer Flitzer, which you can normally find outdoors. The differences in the layout are actually rather small; the Vekoma variant has a more pronounced urge to go up- and downhill, which is especially apparent in the middle part of the ride (where the Flitzer just speeds through the curves). Thus, after climbing the lift hill, we are directly drawn into a Bavarian curve that tapers off and that at some point merges into the big drop of the layout. With a lot of momentum we pass the station before we make our way through the rear part of the ride. Shortly afterwards we change direction and race towards the ground again. Here we quickly change direction for another time, whereupon the brakes are coming closer and closer.

The Hornet roller coaster is a great family coaster, but it is a bit weaker in comparison to the much older Flitzer. Unfortunately, the Vekoma ride is a little inert due to its long train and the up- and downhill leading curves. Friends of light lateral Hangtime will definitely have their fun, as the actual target group (young kids) already does.

Spin-o-Saurus

Probably this will be also the case with the small SBF Visa roller coaster, which is currently being built behind the roller coaster Hornet. The Compact Spinning Coaster Spin-o-Saurus was purchased from a park in Florida. Unfortunately I couldn’t test this ride for you – like the HUSS Airboat, which was lying around in parts right next to it.

Shoot the Chute

As a fan of the O.D. Hopkins water rides – who would have guessed it – a ride on the Shoot the Chute had to be done. The splashing boats are just one of my favourite rides and therefore I looked forward to apply the push method learned in Japan once again.

Since I was the only passenger the ride could start immediately after free choice of place. With a total height of only 40ft the ride belongs to the rather smaller representatives of its kind. But that does not mean that it is not just as wet. Also the generated wave is just as stunning. Simply, a great ride!

Since the ride ran in two-boat operation, the second boat had to be sent off first before I could get off the ride. After saying goodbye to the operator, I made myself  on the way to the bridge to take a picture of the plunging down boat and head into security shortly after. So far so good, but Wonderland is just mean and puts a zigzag barrier in your way. In short: I was drenched.

I wonder why no other amusement park came up with the idea. The way the bridge was built, almost every former passenger will get drenched a second time. Soaking wet, without any photo and absolutely happy I spend my time at Wonderland Amusement Park until closure. Since my hotel for the evening was based in Wichita Falls, I had to change in my car. A hotel in Amarillo would have been a good choice. Thanks, Hopkins 😀 .

Texas Tornado

The biggest highlight in the park is the double looping roller coaster Texas Tornado, which can absolutely inspire with its differently constructed inversions. As so often in this theme park this roller coaster comes from O.D. Hopkins. This makes it one of only seven roller coasters ever built by the manufacturer. Of course the prototype is the one in Wonderland Amusement Park. But the train comes from PTC, which normally only build trains for wooden roller coasters – so what should go wrong?

In the test phase, where the original Hopkins trains were still used, things actually went wrong. First the train didn’t manage the Double-Up element after the first looping, whereupon the exit of it was moved some feet in the height. After this change, the train didn’t made it through the second looping, whereupon the second loop was massively reduced in size. The actual appearance of the two consecutive loops, however, was to be retained, which is why both loops now look the way they do today: they are pretty wacky.

Before we go on the ride, a short hint for all those who want to venture the ride at some point: Fat people will not fit in the coaster. Even I had the pleasure to fix my safety belt with an extension, even though I never had any problems with the usual used belt lengths on any other roller coaster. Also you only gain a few inches with the belt extension. During the second ride I managed to close the buckle without the extension. I gave up the first try after I have already changed the seat (they all are very tight).

In addition there is another rather big problem, as the first ride on every roller coaster in the park has to be done fully occupied. Since not everyone in the park has the more expensive wristband, you can sometimes wait a very long time for your ride. All attempts of animation didn’t help, which is why the visit only pays off on a day when there is a lot more going on in the park.

If, however, a journey is made, it starts immediately with a left turn out of the station. The chain lift brings you up to a height of 80ft, whereupon we dive down to the ground. With full speed we pass a long straight, in which a small bend was built in. Shortly afterwards we see the world go upside down for the first time and expose ourselves to very high G-forces at the same moment. With full force it pulls us into the looping, over the apex and into the elevated exit of it – what a great fun. In a Double-Up element you gain a little height, but unfortunately no airtime is offered. In a steep turn we pass under the Shoot the Chutes and once again experience very high G’s. After a hill the second looping follows and with it another acquaintance with the strong forces of the ride. Shortly afterwards we dive into a tunnel. Here we drive with full speed over another bend, before we head back to daylight and cross the park’s rafting ride Rattlesnake River Raft Ride in a longer straight. Shortly afterwards the ride ends at the station.

The Texas Tornado is a bomb of a roller coaster that you should definitely have experienced. The coaster offers a great ride and nearly endless pressure. Beyond that, the ride just looks stunning in its white-red-blue colouring. Basically, it’s no wonder that the roller coaster was one of the best of its kind in 1985 and still has some fans today. The double looping was on everyone’s lips back then and Hopkins planned a flawless ride that still stands out today.

Pictures Wonderland Amusement Park

Conclusion Wonderland Amusement Park

Wonderland Amusement Park is a good family-owned regional theme park with the charm of an old Luna Park. Although not much has been added over the years, the park offers a variety of really good amusement rides. The close friendship with the water ride specialist O.D. Hopkins led to a very large collection of water rides, all of which can convince. Also Wonderland Amusement Parks offers a lot of prototypes, which makes the park even more special. For me the park has been on my bucket list for a long time and I am happy to have visited it.

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Texas Round-Up Day 1 / Wonderland Amusement Park

Alpina Blitz and Donjon de l’Extrême

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Nigloland

The last time I visited the Gélis family theme park, the Sky Fly Air Meeting was just one day old and caused quite a stir and enthusiasm among the park visitors. I also remember the huge bruises on my shoulders – but that’s nothing compared to the experiences of the User Bends on onride.de. Well, Jan and I were going wild on the ride at the time; my record was 96 rollovers at one time. In the meantime, many sister installations have been set up, some of them are even heavily throttled. The market seems to be saturated, but should one still look forward to a ride at the Air Meeting? Hell yeah, you should! And with that I welcome you to the fourth day of the Tron-Tron-Trône Tour. Once again we are in Nigloland and we have some novelties in front of us. The most striking and probably best known of these is the roller coaster Alpina-Blitz. Furthermore we drop down from a height of 100m on the freefall tower Donjon de l’Extrême and have a look at the construction sites of Les Zabeilles and Eden Palais, as well as the remains of the roller coaster Bobsleigh. Sounds good, n’est-ce pas?

Niglo Show

But before we look at something new, let’s first take a look at something old. Everybody who has visited Nigloland knows that the park has some very charming dark rides, and the numerous wonderfully presented rides also come to mind – but have any of you ever seen the Niglo Show? Well, I thought so.

Since 1992, the fifth season of the amusement park, this elaborate animatronics show exists in Nigloland. Based on the Country Bear Jamboree of selected Disney Parks, the park mascot Niglo presents a kind of hit parade. The show drifts quite quickly into a very comical and slightly strange direction with the appearance of Hans and Frieda from Bavaria. Marvellous! After about 15 minutes the show is over again. Combined with the cult status in Nigloland and the fact that it is the only show of this kind in France, it is really worth seeing.

Also worth seeing is the western area where the theatre is located. But you already know that. So, after a lap on the Gold Mine Train, as well as the log flume Rivière Canadienne and the Disk’o Coaster Grizzli, it’ s time to move on. After a few metres we reach a castle complex, in whose courtyard are the two free fall towers Donjon de l’Extrême and Tour des Petits Fantômes.

Donjon de l’Extrême

The entrances to the queues of both attractions are located on one side of the castle gates. So come in, be amazed, turn around and then line up accordingly. The queues then follow the course of the castle walls before they end at a turnstile. Theoretically, you are now let into an area where you can store your bags; always in groups, of course. This way both rides can have a very high capacity. On the day of the visit only one employee had the pleasure of operating both rides alternately and when there was a sufficient number of people waiting. Therefore the waiting time was quite long. Understandably, of course, as the Ride-Op in question also has to supervise the rides. So it took me almost 10 minutes until I sat in the gondola of the big freefall tower for the first time. The really well made film with safety instructions and storyline could shorten the waiting time a little.

The almost 100m high tower Dongon de l’Extrême offers its passengers a drop pleasure from 92m height. This makes it higher than the Gyro Drop Tower Scream from the Heide Park near Soltau, which also causes me a slight vertigo of height. Somehow it’s funny, if at a certain point you can say that the tower is now higher than the tower in the Lueneburg Heath. But most probably it is only the power of habit that makes you sit up and take notice as soon as things change. So far this has only happened to me with three towers, but this is not an indication of the quality of the subsequent fall. After all, and you have to admit this to the new restraint system of the Funtime towers, the feeling is enhanced by the freedom of your shoulders.

The free fall on Donjon de l’Extrême fits in perfectly with that of other rides from the manufacturer. That makes for a good mood. The fairly free seating position supports the ride overall, but is not a must-have compared to conventional restraint systems. What bothers me personally is that you let the gondola carrier rotate too fast, so you can see the whole of Nigloland for two laps in total. Somehow I miss the suspense. All in all, the Donjon de l’Extrême is an excellent freefall tower in a beautiful setting with a really good fall experience that you always enjoy getting back into.

All in all, everything has been done right. In principle, a review of the Tour de Petits Fantômes, the Zierer family freefall tower right next door, would now also take place. However, the waiting time was too long for me, especially since at a later point in time there was much more traffic than before at the Donjon de l’Extrême and the waiting time was much longer. But I was standing in line. At some point, however, the waiting time became too long for me, so I preferred to queue at the nearby Manoir Hanté, the magnificent self-built ghost train with carousel feeling. Huiiiiii!

Alpina Blitz

Now we come to the biggest roller coaster of Nigloland, the Mack Rides Mega Coaster Alpina Blitz. When in 2009 the current manager Rudolphe Gélis took a ride on the at that time still new Ferris wheel with his uncle and his father, they noticed a very large green area, on which ideally a large roller coaster could be placed. In the idea finding phase everything was still open. A water coaster was still as conceivable as a spinning coaster or a wooden roller coaster similar to Tripsdrill’s Mammut. But then came Piraten. The layout of the compact Mega Lite Coaster from Djurs Sommerland convinced the Gélis family right away, but the train did not suit the family. They rather wanted seats like the Bluefire roller coaster instead of camping chair-like seats with lap bars. Intamin was convinced of their generation of trains, and as a consequence they contacted the manufacturer Mack Rides.

Once you have taken a place in the comfortable seats, you are ready to go. Via chain lift you are now quickly transported to a height of 33m. As soon as you reach the top, you’ll be thrown into the valley, where you’ll be loaded with 4.3G for several seconds in a curve close to the ground. At the same time the bar is pushed down very far. As a result, the passenger is now pressed between the bar and the seat, which unfortunately does not benefit the following elements at all.

With pleasure you shoot up a hill, on the top of which you immediately change direction. At great speed you pass another valley before a classic Airtime hill follows. Normally it is a moment of complete joy, but on the Alpina Blitz you experience an unparalleled torture. After all, the train tries to throw you off quite powerfully – but it’s no fun without a little bit of space between you and the restraint. In the following curve close to the ground you can take a short break before a series of turns follows. Compared to the Mega Lite roller coasters these are a bit more moderate, which is very much in line with the general ride comfort (due to the closed position of the bars). After another curve close to the ground three classic bunny hops follow each other. At least in theory, these are also very funny. The end of the Alpina Blitz is a beautiful left turn with a Bayernkurve-style upward swing before reaching the braking distance.

The obligatory comparison of the two Mega Coaster variations is easy for me: Intamin wins. In this respect there is actually no room for great discussions, Kawasemi and the later Pirate are the better roller coasters. Of course it would be wrong to talk the Alpina Blitz smaller than it is. The ride can do a lot, but the restraint should be able to withstand the load of the first turn. I also don’t think that this is the norm for this ride, but at the start of this year’s season it was the same on every seat. So I left the ride after just a few laps and preferred to sit in the Spatiale Experience, the park’s magnificent indoor roller coaster, for continuous riding.

Bilder Nigloland

Fazit Nigloland

The Nigloland can continue to convince. The park is pleasant and offers an extraordinarily well coordinated portfolio. Even if I cannot enthuse about the roller coaster Alpina Blitz, the park offers enough other attractions where I like to do this without having to exaggerate. I’ll take a closer look at this year’s new attractions on my next visit, until then I’ll be curious to see what else Nigloland has to offer.

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Nigloland / Tron-Tron-Trône Day 4

The legacy of Dinocittà

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The History of Cinecittà World

The history of Rome as a film location dates back to 1937, when the film city Cinecittà was founded. Equipped with what were then the most modern studios in Europe, a backlot and a copy studio, around 300 films were produced by 1943. Bombed by the Allies and looted by the Nazis, the film production was moved to Venice. After the end of the war, Cinecittà served as a DP camp for two years before the film production site was returned to its original purpose. In the 1950s the Cinecittà Studios experienced a golden age, probably also due to the film funding of the Italian state, and served as the film location for important Hollywood films such as Ben-Hur.

Due to constantly increasing demand and limited studio capacities, the producer Dino de Laurentiis founded Dinocittà, at that time the largest film studio in the world, also in the south of the Italian capital. The studio mainly produced historic and monumental films such as Barabbas (Italy 1961, Richard Fleischer), Waterloo (Italy/USSR 1969, Sergei Bondarchuk) and John Huston’s mammoth work La Bibbia (Italy 1966). However, due to the reduction of subsidies at the beginning of the 1970s, the film studio was not able to survive for long, and so in 1973 the land was sold to the Italian state. From then on Dino de Laurentiis produced in the United States and the Dinocittà remained unused; although not forgotten. Plans in the early 2000s to run the studios under the name Roma Studios were quickly discarded and Cinecittà Holding took over the site.

Originally planned for 2012, the movie park Cinecittà World opened its doors for the first time in the summer of 2014. Unpaid bills and a lack of visitors, despite the surprisingly low target of 1.5 million visitors, quickly left the park in a negative light. Short-notice cancellations of seasonal events and the planned winter opening quickly gave rise to doubts as to whether the park would ever open again. However, after restructuring over the winter months, the park opened punctually at Easter.

Tour of the park

Through an elaborately designed entrance portal, one enters the park directly into Cinecittà Street, the park’s main street, inspired by New York of the 1920s. Although the set is only of generic design, i.e. not based on any film, this area has a lot of charm as long as it does not look like a ghost town due to a lack of visitors. The design is generally of a very high quality and equipped with all kinds of details, so that the first and last impression of the park is inevitably a positive one.

Aktium

To the left of Main Street the set extends around Aktium, an elaborately designed Super Splash from Mack Rides. It is supposed to depict the naval battle at Actium, in which Octavian, the later Emperor Augustus, asserted himself against Marcus Antonius and the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra VII, thus securing sole rule in the Roman Empire. As violent as the battle was, the area around the ride is just as impressive and once again you can see that the Cinecittà World is a place where quality is the name of the game.

After you have left the spacious queue behind you, the journey can start right away. Without much foreplay, you go directly up the first lift hill, where you approach the first slope in a rough curve. Similar to various larger Spillwateranter installations, this runs directly down into the water without any great gimmicks. One turn later, the boat climbs up again and also makes a rough left turn. Where the ride showed itself to be quite untypical for this type of roller coaster the true character is revealed in the second shot. With a lot of momentum you pass a valley and take off on the adjacent hill before you get in contact with the water. After a little sailing through the canal you soon reach the station and are bid farewell by the staff to thunderous applause.

Aktium is a nice spillwater replacement, but it shows the limits of this roller coaster and reveals the reason why almost all other rides of this type use turntables instead of curves for the turning manoeuvres. Apart from the angular curves the ride runs without any other problems, although the level of wetness could have been a bit higher.

Studio 1

Across the Piazza Dino de Laurentiis with all its fountains and fountains we now enter Studio 1, where a magic show took place. Except for the time-consuming mind-reading number (which was only presented in Italian), the show was very professionally staged, but unfortunately not as worth seeing as the comparable show at Movieland Park.

Altair CCW-0204

Directly behind it is Altair CCW-0204, a roller coaster that many people are probably already familiar with from the English amusement park Thorpe Park near London. Unlike the former record-breaker, however, the ride takes passengers up to the starting height of 33m a little faster and without a failure-prone chain lift. After an exciting start, the passengers are then thrown through the rollover elements in trains without shoulder restraints. A massive spaceship serves as an oversized station building, in which mankind returns to earth after more than four millennia and has to ask the question who is the alien, the creatures that developed here, or we who left them in the 22nd century?

While the background story of Altair offers plenty of room for philosophical discussions, the train, whose restraint system is very similar to that of the Divertical water rollercoaster at Mirabilandia, ascends the lift hill directly. At the top, you pass the top of the hill quite leisurely and immediately drop down to the ground. With a high speed and a high pressure you go through a steep left turn before you shoot up the first inversion, a loop. This is traversed with the usual intensity, followed by a small hill with some airtime. In the valley below, the Cobra Roll is initiated, which is crossed just as confidently. After three rollovers, the half time of the ride is rung in with two corkscrews.  After another left turn above the first downhill run, the quadruple heartline roll in the back of the ride is initiated. Because of the freer sitting position, you can complete this with a slight lateral overhang and thus the feeling of always being able to fall out. The train then passes through a last left turn and then the final inversion, a right leading heartline roll towards the brakes. In contrast to Colossus in Thorpe Park, this roll is a bit disappointing, as it is identical to the previous rolls and therefore offers no more surprises.

Altair is a great roller coaster with excellent ride characteristics and a significantly improved seating position compared to the original. However, Colossus also has its strengths, which are mainly reflected in the grandiose final roll and the better integration into the terrain; it is simply more photogenic, although Altair is by no means photo-shy either. The modified first drop is a great experience and the lack of vibrations in looping and the subsequent cobra roll, as well as the absence of a queue to our visit point, make the ride a guarantee for repeat rides.

Erawan

Through the pretty western town of Ennio’s Creek, named after Ennio Morricone, the composer of numerous Italo western scores, where a scary walkthrough is to educate during the season, and past Studios 3,4 and 5 (with a 4D cinema in Studio 4 and a children’s playground in Studio 3), we head towards the most impressive ride in Cinecittà World, the Erawan Freefall Tower. This visual treat includes four lanes, two of which offer pure falling pleasure while standing, while the other two lanes entertain their passengers while seated. All gondolas are tilted forward before the fall, which generally ensures a great and outstanding ride experience. But even apart from the special features Erawan is a magnificent tower. The pure fall reaches similar qualities as Apocalypse from the English amusement park Drayton Manor, which is in my opinion the best freefall tower in Europe. The only difference is that you are one experience poorer due to the absence of the hilarious standing gondola with corridor. Erawan is undoubtedly the best designed giant drop far and wide and also offers a great ride that you should not miss.

Darkmare

Just a few metres from Erawan is the entrance to Darkmare, the family rollercoaster of Cinecittà World featuring a very dark story. Thematically one takes up Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, which was to be filmed in the 50s in Studio Hall 2. However, there were numerous strange accidents and finally a fire, whereupon the shooting was stopped and nothing happened afterwards.

After years of standstill we venture into the hall and experience a wild ride through hell, which begins with a short descent in a right turn, into the lift hill of the lift. You pass a mirror, which is admittedly a really great effect. Passing numerous, artistically valuable projections, all of which make Van Helsing’s Factory from Movie Park Germany look old, you quickly reach the ceiling of the hall, whereupon the train immediately plunges to the ground in a steep left-hand bend. Regardless of losses, the first valley is crossed with outstanding intensity, whereupon the train soon gains altitude. After a curve change, the train passes through a narrow downward helix and winds its way to the other end of the hall in a zigzag curve combination. After a short ascent you reach the freefall segment, where a demon now shows itself and puts its wings around us. Shortly afterwards we are already one level lower and leave the segment very quickly. Now follows a narrow left turn, which is immediately joined by the final turn to the right. Shortly afterwards we reach the station and are once again bid an enthusiastic farewell.

Darkmare is really, really, really damn good! In contrast to the prototype Th13teen of the English amusement park Alton Towers, the ride has no funny backward part after the drop segment, but the rest of the track is much better. In addition, the general design of the ride in its dark comic style is really outstanding and the projections are just perfect. The large and demonically well darkened hall makes the compact ride look three times as big as it actually is and extends the ride in equal measure. The free fall is also quite ok, but can be a bit too much for first-time riders, after all the ride is not lacking in power anyways. But you shouldn’t take such a gloomy view, because Darkmare is definitely the best roller coaster of the park and one of the best roller coasters in the country; so it’s a great ride with a very high repetition urge.

Aquila IV

Opposite Teatro 2 is the submarine Aquila IV, which was used in a German submarine film and a music video by the band Bon Jovi. Of course it is not Das Boot, because it is still located in the Bavaria Filmstadt not far from Munich, but the U-900 from the film of the same name with Atze Schröder in the leading role. Admittedly, the scenery builders did a good job, but we couldn’t explain to ourselves what the meaningless tour was supposed to be in Italian. Without language skills you should avoid Aquila IV and even with language skills you really shouldn’t expect too much, especially since the waiting time is very long. On the other hand, a visit in a real submarine is really recommendable; we at least wished to return to the U-571 of Movieland Studios.

SpacExpress

In addition to the SpacExpress, an immersive tunnel of Simworx, which however was not yet in operation at the time of our visit, the children’s kart track Velocità Luce and the entrance to the children’s land Sognolabio are also located in this area. This area is very colourful and offers some nice rides for children made in Italy, as well as a very annoying soundtrack and a nice splash battle.

Pictures Cinecittà World

Conclusion Cinecittà World

Cinecittà World is a good amusement park that has made quality its top priority; here neither the design nor the rides are of inferior quality. Unfortunately, sometimes the quantity is still missing, because you can only manage a whole day in the park if you actually watch every single show, eat comfortably in one of the restaurants and take multiple rides. The Movieland Park shows how it’s done, but at the Cinecittà World their own professionalism still stands in the way. In no other Italian park you could meet as much staff as here, neither in the shows nor in the attractions. Although this creates a good image, it is known to be somewhat more expensive than the one-person operation of the Mirabilandia. In addition, Cinecittà World is based on something you know and which is also used in numerous film parks or film studios with guided tours, but it is questionable whether they are on the right track; because sometimes they only show larger generic sets without any actual film reference with suitably embedded attractions. A larger reference to own productions would therefore be advisable, but one does not necessarily have to give up the intended concept. I’m curious how the Cinecittà World will develop in the next few years, because the park has potential and already offers a lot of quality; a condition that one would wish for other parks around Rome.

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Cinecittà World / Il Viaggio dei due Runner Day 5