Tag: Zamperla

Unusual perspectives in a strange park

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Flamingo Land

The Flamingo Land Zoo and Amusement Park in Yorkshire, England is one of the most interesting amusement parks in the United Kingdom. It has long been on the must-do list of many amusement park enthusiasts with its main attractions, most notably the suspended looping coaster Kumali, but is the amusement park the most interesting part of the park?

In fact, Flamingo Land is a very strange park with a really bizarre charm. Its choice of attractions in the past has always been interesting, among others there were rides like the infamous Flight Trainer by Intamin, a Waikiki Wave by Vekoma or the transportable Shuttle Loop by Schwarzkopf. Since then, the rides have always changed, but the atmosphere of Flamingo Land has always remained the same.

Dino Stone Park

Now, however, it seems to have been recognized that this approach was not always the best one, so they have now started to expand their theme areas and make them more compact. The newly built Dino Stone Park, which was still under construction at the time of the visit, is definitely a step in the right direction. Here you can find two of this year’s three novelties, of which the Magic Bikes by Zamperla have already opened. The Junior Twister Coaster Twistosaurus, made by the same manufacturer, was not yet built. However, it was intended to extend the range of children’s coasters in the park in a logical way.

Splash Battle

In the neighbouring Splosh! theme area, the focus is entirely on the wet element and the theme of flying. The main attraction in this area is the Splash Battle from Preston & Barbieri, which can also be found in the Dutch theme park Walibi Holland and the French park Walibi Sud Ouest. As always, the cannons are more or less useless as they don’t work. If you didn’t get wet enough by all the water effects, the huge water playground right next door can help.

Flip Flop

If you are looking for a way to dry out, the best place to do so is definitely the Fabbri Top Swing Flip Flop. Even though it hardly differs externally from similar installations from various other manufacturers, the ride is definitely something special. With an incredible acceleration the gondola swings up and tries to catapult its passengers out of their seats in the best possible way. You won’t find so much airtime anywhere else, which is why one or two rides are absolutely inevitable for every amusement park enthusiast!

Zooom

Dry spun you can now board three flying machines, of which the blue painted Zooom stands out the most, because it blocks the view of the truly beautiful Sky Flyer. The ride characteristics of this roller coaster are certainly not good and unfortunately reflect the competence of the manufacturer Zamperla in the manufacture of children’s roller coasters. The swing during the ride is not worth mentioning, which is why the ride is not convincing compared to Turbulencia of the Parque de Atracciones de Madrid. The rather ugly appearance of this layout is not a benefit for the whole thing and a ride duration of 4 laps is even less.

Sky Flyer

On the other hand, the trip on the Sky Flyer could actually take a little longer, as the former ride from the Drayton Manor Theme Park in Tamworth is definitely worth it. The ride itself is great fun and offers a really balanced ride sequence.

The Lost Kingdom themed area in Flamingo Land can be considered the most interesting theme area of the park, as it leads over to the zoo and features two roller coasters, Mumbo Jumbo and Kumali, as well as the Lost River Ride.

Kumali

Since the construction of Kumali at the latest, the eyes are directed towards Yorkshire, because this Suspended Looping Coaster by Vekoma was only the second installation of this type with a different layout within Europe, apart from the two installations located in Isla Magica in Spain and Gardaland in Italy featuring a bonus helix to the otherwise standard layout.

The ride on Kumali begins with the climbing of the lifthill, whereupon a downward sloping curve initiates the first descent of the ride. Where this part of the track is still quite close to a standard SLC, everything following is different. After a longer curve, the first ascent follows immediately and at the same time the first inversion of the layout, a loop. This loop is then run through in exactly the way it should be, i.e. with a good amount of pressure and at high speed. After its curvy exit a Cobra Roll follows, which is quite nice to ride. Shortly thereafter you are thrown around in a ZeroG roll in a very interesting way, whereupon a steep turn follows, which leads you into the braking section of the layout.

Kumali is an interesting roller coaster whose ride comfort leaves little room for complaints. So, it rides quite well, but to be honest the ride is not very exciting. Due to the rather rare rides on the day of visit, the ride might not have shown its full potential, which is why even the standard layout is more convincing to me, as long as the ride performs as good as for example Infusion at Pleasure Beach Blackpool.

Mumbo Jumbo

The neighboring roller coaster Mumbo Jumbo is literally a bit strange. Climbing the steep and fast lift, it goes much too fast into a curve combination without any cross slope. Shortly after that, it changes into a rather steep 112° drop, which set a world record until the 1° steeper El Loco Coaster from Fraispertuis City opened. This drop, as impressive as the facts may sound, is disappointing all along the line. As soon as the drop is initiated, it is already over. The sensation it gives is not comparable to that of a Gerstlauer Eurofighter, all of which show more pronounced forces and come out much higher. With a small sideways turn the ride continues immediately up to the first block brake.

A curve follows, which should be used in many roller coasters, as the outwardly sloping track section is quite impressive on wooden coasters made by GCI as well as on this one. Unfortunately, this part of the track is quickly over and a seemingly conventional curve follows which gets more and more sloped towards the end and turns into an upside-down section. The hangtime feeling is very distinct and you are more than happy to fall towards the ground in a half loop shortly after, where you reach the lowest point of the ride for the first time. However, the ride is not over yet and a further ascent with a hardly regulating block brake follows. This is followed by the last traditional curve, which ends in a downhill heartlineroll – actually the most interesting element of the ride. A trivial U-turn in the form of an Immelmann turn follows, whereupon the ride soon ends.

Although the ride looks interesting from the outside and is undoubtedly interesting from the inside, this type of coaster is not what many people praise it for. Compared to its predecessor, the Screaming Squirrels, the El Loco series by S&S is hitting the nerve of the time and has been established quite a few times, but in my opinion the ride itself could be a little crazier or wilder. There were no repeat rides worth mentioning – but this was also due to the long waiting time thanks to the single car operation.

Lost River Ride

With warm temperatures, which were really not available on the day of the visit, the Lost River Ride is certainly one of the most interesting rides of the Flamingo Land theme park. Like the Zambezi boat ride at the Erlebnis-Zoo Hannover or the Jungle Mission in the Belgian Bellewaerde Park, the ride passes some enclosures, yet offers a longer stop in the block brake at the very generous savannah, where you might even see a giraffe running after an ostrich.

Shortly after that the boat climbs up by cable lift, which is quite unusual. After a rather boring straight line in a building – where I was actually surprised not to drive through an aviary – the big drop follows, which is quite striking from the outside. Although I have ridden every spillwater – or Shoot the Chutes – that I have come across, it has never happened to me to get completely soaked on one side and then again on the other side shortly afterwards.

The Zoo

Dripping wet it is now time to go to the zoo area of the amusement park, which I can really recommend to everybody. All animals have a lot of space here, also the visibility of the enclosures is mostly only possible from above or by passing them in a boat, for example the lions’ enclosure within the Lost River Ride. Days before I thought the enclosures in Bellewaerde Park were bigger than all the ones I had seen so far, but I was taught better. If a friend of the amusement park culture would not always be drawn to the other areas, one could easily spend the whole day here. On the other hand, a cable car and the Peoplemoover, a monorail with a cow train, connect the two ends of the park.

Mischief Mansion

The Muddy Duck Farm, like the Children’s Planet area, are two smaller areas in Flamingo Land that are dedicated primarily to younger children. They are the only ones who can have fun on the Go Gator, or enjoy the original and beautifully designed theme ride Mischief Mansion, and the accompanying interactive walkthrough Little Monsters Exploratorium.

Cliff Hanger

In the beautifully designed Seaside Adventure themed area, on the other side of Flamingo Land theme park, you can take a ride on the S&S Combo Tower Cliff Hanger in addition to several children’s rides. Since I only had the honour to ride some space shots, which were rather meagre, my expectations for the ride on the Cliff Hanger were really low; the abnormally pronounced airtime at the shot up as well as at the shot down could convince me of the opposite pretty fast. An absolutely ingenious tower!

The last themed area of the park and the area around the entrance is called Metropolis. The area around the Launched Coaster Velocity is quite uniformly designed, but there is still enough demand for one or two makeovers in the rest of the area. So the area with the bicycle track, the baloon race and the small children’s roller coaster Runaway Train is really not a beauty.

Hero

In order to upgrade the rear area Metropolis a little bit, the Volare Hero has been chosen as the third novelty this year. It remains to be seen whether it was the right decision to trade in the mouse from Maurer Söhne. In England the planned system is at least a novelty, which may well cause a stir.

Velocity

The last roller coaster and at the same time the best of the Flamingo Land amusement park is the motorcycle roller coaster Velocity by Vekoma, which outshines the prototype from the Dutch theme park Toverland in fact every point with ease. The ride characteristics of this ride are simply outstanding. The launch pulls neatly and the following curves are ridden with just the right amount of speed, resulting in quite pronounced forces, which are also noticeable on the hill towards the end of the ride even in the negative range.

Whoever has ridden Velocity must actually be surprised that there are still very few motorbike coasters out there. The riding characteristics of the English model are sublime in every respect, and the ride through the winding track is rather nice, so that one could only wish to find a copy of this design more often in Europe.

Pictures Flamingo Land

Conclusion Flamingo Land

The Flamingo Land is a great animal and leisure park. Unfortunately the park tends to not present its numerous and actually good rides very well. One can only hope that in the future a good presentation will be part of the amusement park’s standard – in some places the park is already surprisingly well presented. With the park’s spacious zoo you have at least one good reason to visit the park, which is greatly rounded off by the amusement park visit.

 

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Flamingo Land

Revolution in the vertical reality of the Pleasure Beach Blackpool

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Preface

If one imagines the most filthy place in Britain, it is definitely Blackpool. However, this place at the Irish Sea is also very charming and offers with its Pleasure Beach a real pearl of entertainment culture. It was my second visit to this city, which I actually wanted to avoid. Nevertheless, the call for a revolutionary roller coaster, which was being refurbished on my first visit, drew me here. Back then, the town itself was also a bit busier and more tolerable due to some French tourists. Blackpool will surely show its real charm during the main season or the illuminations in autumn.

Visiting the Pleasure Beach

Thrill-o-Matic

Another reason for visiting was Thrill-o-Matic, the redesigned dark ride from Arrow Dynamics, which previously operated as Gold Mine. The main protagonists of the ride are the characters Wallace & Gromit, who are very well known in England and whose short films are also popular in Germany, but the spin-off series Shaun the Sheep is much more popular.

The ride is quite interesting, especially as the layout is rather unusual. In keeping with the title, you’ll go up and downhill past scenes from the films. The design of these is exceptionally original and the effects are all well tuned, so that one can definitely call the ride one of the best dark rides out there – if one would know a little bit about the movies in advance. This is the only real shortcoming of the theme ride, as if you are not familiar with the Wallace & Gromit universe, you can’t actually understand the ride itself.

Revolution

The second novelty for me was the only shuttle coaster by Arrow Dynamics on European soil. While listening to a revolutionary soundtrack, I went up the stairs to the station of the Launched Loop to find an open station with an empty four-car train. Since the station is no longer sponsored by the Scottish national drink Irn Bru, the structure shines in a noble grey-white colour scheme, on which a dark red train makes its way.

The ride on Revolution begins quite bizarrely, as the launch feels like being pushed a little faster in a shopping cart. Nevertheless, what happens afterwards can hardly be described in words. On the hilltop down to the valley, one is pulled into the harness in such a strong way that it cannot be more extreme. A slight lift-off, as it was said in old reviews of the park, is strongly understated. Arrived in the valley and with his butt back in the car, the looping follows directly. With a lot of pressure, we see the world upside down for the first time. After that the train shots up towards the second hilltop, which also throws you back into the shoulder restraints. What comes now is nothing unusual for a shuttle coaster, but if you recall the experience in your mind, you might get a little bit awestruck. For this thought process you even have a lot of time until the inevitable happens and the launch kicks off the game in reverse.

The Revolution at Pleasure Beach Blackpool is not only interesting because of its incomparable support structure, but also because of its ride, which even shows a shuttle loop from Schwarzkopf where it’s going to go. Although the launch is not as strong as with Schwarzkopf’s installations, the ride has one attribute that clearly stands out, namely airtime. Such a distinctive form of airtime is rarely found and is usually only present in the back rows of a train, as it is the case with Nessie at Hansa-Park. Here, however, you inevitably experience it everywhere in the train, whereby the first car is preferably affected. Revolution is therefore a roller coaster rarely found, which is why you should experience it while it’ s still present. The extensive revisions of the layout give hope for a truly long lifetime.

Infusion

But not only the Revolution is equipped with more powerful forces than one would expect, but also the Suspended Looping Coaster Infusion, which, like the Big One, invites to a ride in the vertical reality. Compared to other installations of this type, the ride feels 20 km/h too fast. The inversions are therefore all passed through quickly, which mainly affects the successive inline twists towards the end of the ride, as they drag you along quite nicely.

If every Vekoma SLC would ride the same way, the difference to various Batman roller coasters of the manufacturer Bollinger and Mabillard would only be marginal. The water effects, as well as the general ride comfort are arguments that – together with the stunning roll overs – invite you to one or more rides in the vertical reality.

Grand National

The Möbius Roller Coaster Grand National, which in theory offers a great and action packed ride due its out- & back layout, as well as the always given racing feeling on both tracks enjoys special appreciation by many fans. In fact, the nasty doubledowns and the numerous camelbacks are crucial to experience really interesting airtime, once the ride warmed up. On the days of my visits, a take-off was hardly possible. Furthermore, the bar always closed so modestly that every of the following metres seemed like a flogging.

No friendship has developed between me and the ride. As sorry as I am to have to put myself against the opinions of my friends, I prefer another wooden roller coaster within the park even if their voices cry out over and over again that Grand National is the one that shows a lot of airtime and therefore should be regarded as the best wooden roller coaster out there. This classic wooden roller coaster, which should still be considered cute in its size, really surprised me during this visit. Even though I still think, that the trains were hardly made for roller coasters, especially since they all drift off in the curves quite alarmingly. The general smoothness of the ride is a lot better than what I remember. On each of the hills a distinctive lift-off was given, the curves rode well and the strange rocking of last year’s rides didn’t happen. I stick to the Big Dipper!

Big Dipper

This classic wooden roller coaster, which should still be considered cute in its size, really surprised me during this visit. Even though I still think, that the trains were hardly made for roller coasters, especially since they all drift off in the curves quite alarmingly. The general smoothness of the ride is a lot better than what I remember. On each of the hills a distinctive lift-off was given, the curves rode well and the strange rocking of last year’s rides didn’t happen.

Steeplechase

As the Steeplechase coaster was fitted with new brakes during the visit, it was not possible to ride on any of the tracks. The quite unique roller coaster by Arrow Dynamics is always worth a ride, especially since I was not allowed to ride on either the green or the yellow tracks during my last visit.

Big One

Even at the Big One you stood in front of a closed entry during the first hours of operation. Fortunately, in the later course of the day, the entry was opened as advertised. As it is often the case in rides that open later, the crowds of visitors went all at one to the ride and actually filled up the queues in the station, which meant that the last two cars had to be opened. After the first rush was driven away, everybody that came to the station was allowed to walk through and had a theoretically free choice of seats.

Unfortunately, the Big One doesn’t have a very good status in the fan community of roller coaster lovers, often there is talk of bodily harm and other inconsistencies. However, the Big One isn’t bad at all, even if it’s not necessarily a good experience when riding it in the last row. The front rows on the other hand all offer an exciting and fun ride.

Compared to other taller roller coasters, rarely seen in Europe, the highest, fastest, steepest and longest roller coaster in the vertical reality provides a very strong sense of speed. The first drop is hard to put into words, the following hill is airtimeless but nice, the turnaround is fast and the hills in front of the block brake are interesting to ride. This is followed by the aforementioned brake and a curvy part until the final brake is reached.

The Big One is a roller coaster that can’t and shouldn’t be compared to the big rides of Bollinger and Mabillard, as a boring up and down ride like Silverstar at Europa Park is not offered here. Instead, the Hyper Coaster from the American company Arrow provides a very fast and above all long roller coaster ride, which – if you don’t have prejudices against exactly this manufacturer can surprise and please you very much.

Nickelodeon Land

The Nickelodeon Land was very busy during the visit due to some primary school classes, which were present in all the Blackpool attractions that day. Most of them spent running from the exit of the amusing children’s coaster Blue Flyer to the entrance of what the supervisor, of course, had to endure.

Nickelodeon Streak

The same pattern could be seen at the Nickelodeon Streak, the orange wooden roller coaster of Pleasure Beach, where you are lifted out of your seat a few times. Here the longest wooden roller coaster trains of the park make their rounds and the feeling of the train drifting away is most pronounced.

Splash Bash

The Twist & Splash ride Splash Bash from Mack Rides, which was broken down on the last visit, was actually open on the day of the visit, but was not very popular. It was interesting to see the system in motion and to let the very slow rotations have their effect. Should this ride be busy at some point, it is certainly fun to get into the water battle, but with only 2-3 passengers it is not easy to get wet at all.

Valhalla

On the other hand, there is an ease of getting really, really, really wet on the white water dark ride Valhalla. You could make it easy and buy a rain poncho, in order to protect yourself somehow or just lock your valuables in a locker, in order to experience the ride as unprotected as possible.

The boat trip begins quite harmlessly. From the outside, one enters a hall in a very relaxed way, where even the waterfall at the beginning is senselessly switched off during the passage. A lift follows, after which the actual trip to Valhalla begins. The ride up to the turntable is accompanied by epic music, fog and mythological creatures. Backwards you go down a drop, which will moisten you a little bit. This is followed by a ride through a cold chamber. Fortunately, the ride through this impressive room doesn’t last forever, as the second and immediately wettest shot ride is waiting for you. Reasonably wet, almost soaked, we pass through a water tunnel, which of course reaches right into the boat. This effect was not known to me during my last visit and thus I was also a little surprised about it. Shortly after that, a water cannon is shot that releases a good amount of water on one.

Of course, Valhalla would not be Valhalla if the journey was already over after this; in fact, it is just starting. After passing the second lifthill things are more or less overturning. The scenes are getting more and more action and the water effects are getting meaner and meaner. As an example we have to mention a swinging axe or even a hammer in front of the rolling tree trunk, which simply throws a complete bath tub load, probably even more, onto the passengers from above. No later than here you are 100% soaking wet. A little later, a double drop follows as the last shot, whereby one is drenched once more. But this is hardly due to the descent itself, but due to the water effect that is waiting for you at the end. Luckily, the Pleasure Beach knows that the riders of Valhalla might be slightly more wet, as “You will get wet! You may get soaked!” is indeed the warning for the ride. The impact of the ride is similar to a jump into the Irish Sea, whereupon one is warmed up from the side by some fire effects. However, the Pleasure Beach don’t want to dry the riders under any circumstances, which is why there is still a water effect waiting for you.

The water ride Valhalla is basically way to wet for me; at least for a typical british day in spring. It was indeed a quite sunny day, but the clothes would surely not have dried during the opening hours, which is why I rode the ride at the end of my stay. Valhalla itself is a very impressive ride and should never be missed during a visit to the Pleasure Beach.

Flying Machines

After you have conquered Valhalla you should not make the mistake of visiting the Flying Machines nearby. This ride is long, fast and the wind is cold. A ride on the classic Derby Racer is more advisable in this case. The three older dark rides of the Pleasure Beach Alice in Wonderland, River Caves and Ghost Train should not be ignored during your try to get dry.

Avalanche

If the ice room from Valhalla was not yet icy enough for you, you can throw yourself into the ice channel of the Avalanche roller coaster. Where previously the Swiss bobsleigh run of Heide Park was always in my favour, the fast and at the same time intense ride from Blackpool could convince a little more. Since the bobsleigh run only operated one train, I had to wait in a long queue of 3 trains.

Wild Mouse

The best roller coaster at Pleasure Beach is the wooden roller coaster Wild Mouse, which is much wilder than the steel mice, which can be found at any German fun fair or several theme parks. Secured only by a seatbelt you can experience wonderful airtime and very abrupt curves, which you drive through at full throttle, as the speed is only regulated towards the end of the ride. Those who complain about steel wild mice that are supposedly too brute should rather avoid this ride, but those who love Wild Mouse roller coasters are best served with this wooden masterpiece.

Conclusion Pleasure Beach

The Pleasure Beach is a great amusement park with a charm all of its own, where you can easily spend a whole day. However, I still doubt whether one should tackle a second one at all. Nevertheless, there is a lot to experience and/or re-experience here, so that a visit is always worthwhile.

 

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Blackpool Pleasure Beach

The Zufari Adventure

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Changes in Chessington World of Adventures

After Chessington World of Adventures had increasingly cared for its animals in recent years and expanded the zoo area, they invested this year, in addition to the constant improvements to the amusement park, in a ride and immediately in new enclosures for African animals. In fact Chessington is more beautiful than ever before, because the Flying Dumbos, which moved last year, is now in a matching paintwork. A further five million pounds is currently being invested in further improvements to the park’s appearance, which is why the Dragon Falls log flume, the Powered Coaster Runaway Train and some of the paths are currently closed to visitors. The start of this movement is Zufari.

Zufari

The big novelty this year is Zufari, an installation where you are guided in a spacious off-road vehicle, with a capacity of 30 people + driver, to an off-road track with some surprises, where you can observe some animals. Theoretically you can compare the installation with the beginning of the Jungle Safari from the Serengeti Park in Hodenhagen, before you go into the jungle and sarcasm takes over.

Zufari offers everything you would expect from a safari based attraction. After you have completed or skipped the obligatory photo shoot in the queue, you wait for the entrance to a preshow room, which actually only serves to distract the children a little from the waiting time, because the actual film is soon played. Afterwards a monkey appears on the screen, which was already visible in the movie. This monkey interacts with the audience, like for example in Stitch live! from the Walt Disney Studios in Paris. Unfortunately, the comments here are all harmless and the animation is not that good, but the children liked it.

After boarding the truck, the very jerky and funny ride starts. As soon as the vegetation here is fully developed, this part will surely give you a much greater sense of adventure than the ride has been so far. Along a non-equipped flamingo enclosure we now pass the giraffe enclosure, where strange signs have been put up on the hall, all of which warn against passing through a cave.

With a little wit and some forward and backward driving the actual safari starts now. You can see giraffes, zebras and rhinos, which will surely be seen in the big enclosure next door, which will further enhance the hotel stay at the park.

Since a path is blocked, we’re going into the cave after all. What you can expect in the cave itself is especially pleasing for the left side of the car. As known, Chessington enhances some attractions by a huge amount of water. The fact that children are only allowed to occupy the middle seats has now been cleared up, as well as why the floor was so wet when entering the car. A waterfall at the end of the cave is the reason why the cars still drip when entering the loading station is the only effect that was self-evident from the beginning.

For the water-loving English, the finale certainly rounds off the Ride into Africa, but even the German doesn’t have to worry about too much contact with water, as it is only slightly higher than the grand finale of the dark ride Bubble Works and by no means as soaking wet as the wave swinger Monkey Swinger – where the drenching fountains were unfortunately not used on the day of the visit – or the Top Spin Rameses Revenge.

 

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Chessington - World of Adventures