Efteling, Walibi, Heide, Phantasia, Plopsa trip

[CookieCoasters]

In this European trip that I am still currently on, I will be visiting five theme parks which and I will post a report on each of them. These are the parks I am visiting

1. Efteling
2. Walibi Holland
3. Heide Park
4. Phantasialand
5. Plopsaland De Panne


Efteling

My first park of the trip was Efetling which I have not been too in 10 years and I was only 4 on my last visit so I did not remember anything about the park which means that this was basically a new park for me. I thought the park was really impressive with the attention to detail with fairy tale theming which I am sure the children
adored. I would not say any of the rides are extreme or hardcore but that's what I would expect from a family park. However, for what the rides tend to lack in intensity, some made up in theming and general fun factor. My 3 favourite rides in the park were Joris en de Draak, Vogel Rok and The Flying Dutchman. Overall I think
this park is great although quite busy. Park Rating: 9/10


Now for the rides:

Bob: I have previously ridden 3 mack bobsleighs and I have too say I detested all of them because of vibration they make that really spoils the ride for me. However, this is an Intamin bob so I came with an open mind and I was actually pleasantly surprised. It's not thrilling, but it is fun and I actually enjoyed the ride. It is my favourite bobsleigh but it is not hard to win that award for me. Coaster Rating: 6.5/10


Piranha: A nicely themed rapids ride where you will probably get wet but not soaked. The ride is a decent length with the start and ending being dull but the middle section being quite eventful. An average rapids but they are always fun. Water Ride Rating: C


Vliegende Hollander (The Flying Dutchman): This is the only coaster in the world made by KumbaK and I was pretty impressed with the overall experience. The theming is incredible, especially in the station and I like how the boats sink low in the water. I thought the dark ride portion was great but the actual coaster section was just okay and a just a little rough. The final splash only sprays you a little but you get quite wet in the dark ride section. Coaster Rating: 7/10, Water Ride Rating: B


Joris en de Draak: A racing and duelling GCI woodie. I wasn't sure what too expect from this woodie as some people said it was more of a family coaster, but it totally delivered. Really fast paced, with some nice air and laterals. Both sides were great, water had an awesome lateral after the triple up, but fire seemed to have a little more air. Both front and back were really good but the back had a slight edge for me. It's just a really fun ride and I loved it. Coaster Rating: 9/10


Vogel Rok: I really wasn't sure what too expect with this coaster in comparison too other dark coasters. I thought the ride was great, really smooth and it actually felt quite fast and forceful. It's a little lacking in theming on the ride though it is fun in the pitch black. Efficiency was Europa Park style on this ride which made the queue much shorter which most of the rides in Efteling lacked which made the queues long. My favourite dark coaster and one of my favourite Vekomas. Coaster Rating: 8/10


Fata Morgana: My Mom wanted to ride this so I went on. It's an Arabian nights themed dark boat ride. The theming was really good but obviously I found it a little boring compared to a coaster.


Python: This Vekoma Looper is the same as Magic Mountain at Gardaland which I rode earlier in the summer and they both have the new Vekoma restraints. The ride is still very jerky even though the new restraints cut out the head banging and the layout is boring. Plus I am not a fan of the restraints as they push hard on your shoulders. Coaster Rating: 5/10


Droomvlucht: Apologies if the name is spelt wrong and I think it translates into Dream Flight. The ride is great for families and seemed pretty popular as it is one of Eftelings classic rides. I think it has very cute theming and would imagine children would be mesmerised with it.


I hope you enjoyed reading my Efteling report. Walibi Holland will be coming soon.

 

[TilenB]

I hope I'll be chosen for school exchange with the Netherlands next year
They've gone to Efteling this year!

 

[CookieCoasters]

Walibi Holland

Like Efteling this was a park that i have not been to since i was very young and i have very few memories of it so i was interested to see what it was like, especially after hearing mixed reviews on it. I was pleasantly surprised with the park because there was lovely landscaping and some nice theming in most areas in the park. Obviously my main reason for coming to the park was for Goliath which definitely did not disappoint and the park was pretty quiet which meant more re-riding. My 3 favourite rides in the park were Goliath, Crazy River and El Rio Grande. The negatives about the park were that the coasters were average to bad with the exception of Goliath, the park was hard to navigate and some areas of the park looked a little tacky. Overall it was a nice park that as a former six flags it seemed to have an extra layer of theming than the others. Park Rating: 8/10


Now for the rides:


Xpress: This ride was open before the parks official opening time which was a huge plus as my got my rides on it early. It is basically an outdoor Rock n Rollercoaster and i have too say it is better indoors because there is theming and darkness which hides part of the fact that layout is pretty average. It was a little jerky but still smooth for a vekoma. Coaster Rating: 6.5/10


Goliath: This was the most anticipated ride in the park by far and as prior to riding it, Expedition GeForce was my favourite coaster, with them both being Intamin Mega coasters i knew i was going to love it. The ride had incredible airtime and super smoothness all the way round and although it didn't have the signature twisting drop that EGF has, it made up for it in other ways. I managed to ride it 15 times because of the short queues and the two train operation and it took me all 15 rides to decide on this being my favourite coaster. The reasons it edges out EGF is because the middle section was better and the final bunny hills had stronger airtime. Coaster Rating: 10/10


El Condor: The first ever SLC!!! I was not looking forward to this ride as being the oldest SLC i was sure it was going to be rough. Well i got what i expected from this rubbish ride, very jerky and not fun. Surprisingly not too much head banging but that might be because i had my head braced against the headrest. Coaster Rating: 4/10


Crazy River: This is a barrel themed log flume much like Devils Barrels at Holiday Park which i thought was pretty good. The layout was great with a good backwards drop to start, then, a small forwards drop and ending with a great double drop but there was something special about this log flume. When i was in the queue i saw a few riders riding backwards, and this was on the forward sections which resulted in you riding backwards down the double drop which was so much fun and quite thrilling, its great that the ride ops let you do that. Water Ride Rating: A


Speed of Sound: This was my third boomerang, and my first one with the new Vekoma restraints. I thought the other two boomerangs i rode were average but not terrible. The new restraints cut out the head banging which was good and the ride felt quite forceful plus the themed tunnel and onboard sound system was a nice touch. Coaster Rating: 6.5/10


Robin Hood: I was interested to ride this as one of my few memories of this park were my brother and sister sneaking me on the ride when i wasn't actually tall enough, so technically this was my first woodie. My first ride was taken in the middle of the back car and it was actually pretty good, a bit rough, but some good airtime. My second ride was taken in the back of the front car and that ride was awful , so rough and it bounced up and down on the track all the way round. I would recommend you sit in the middle of a car for a better ride. Coaster Rating: 6.5/10


El Rio Grande: This was the ride i had the most memories from last time as it had a very unique boat design and i remember it being really boring. I decided to have a ride on it just to see what it was like and i think that it was much better than i remembered as it seemed very eventful and the shower/waterfall got you pretty wet. I liked how the boats sank quite deeply into the water which meant the water just kept splashing about everywhere in the boat. Better than your average rapids. Water Ride Rating: B


Thank you for reading my report on Walibi Holland and the Heide park one will be coming soon!

 

[peep]

Interesting trip reports so far. Is Efteling ever not busy? How did you get wet on the indoor section on Vliegende Hollander? I don't remember getting wet at all on it apart from the splash outside.

I can't believe Xpress is actually open now. Damn, means I actually have to go back there (Speed of sound was also still being re-themed when I went). Urgh.

Intrigued about how you'll find the other parks.

 

[CookieCoasters]

Heide Park

This was technically my first new park on the trip and definitely my most anticipated one of the whole trip. I think it is a really nice park with decent theming in some areas and some lovely landscaping in others. I really like the setting around the lake, even the too white vekomas don't spoil it. The park has 8 coasters of which only 3 of them are decent, 2 are targeted for young children and families, but i think the other 3 are a waste space, and they should of got rid of them to build the new ride, not the log flume which i was a bit sad to have not got a chance to ride. My 3 favourite rides in the park were Colossos, Krake and Scream which were the 3 rides that attracted me to the park in the first place and they did not disappoint. I also liked the idea of having all the huss rides in one area and that area i think had the best theming in the park. The negatives about the park would be that it was hard to navigate mainly because it had no signs, the park is a bit plain in some areas and now Wildwasserbahn 2 has gone they need to add an above average water ride. Overall i enjoyed the park and i would recommend that you spend 2 days on your first visit as there is quite alot to do and the best rides i found very re-ridable. Park Rating: 9/10

Coasters:


Big Loop: This was another Vekoma double loop, double corkscrew model and as it was my third one of the summer i was getting a bit bored of them. Unlike the other 2 i had ridden, this one did not have the new Vekoma restraints so i was expecting the worst. It wasn't that bad as it was only a little rough, but it is still a boring layout. Coaster Rating: 5/10


Colossos: This was the ride in the park i was most looking forward to and it did have potential to be my favourite woodie. However, I was a little apprehensive as i had heard a few people say it had gotten rougher in the last couple of years. I thought the ride was awesome, amazing airtime and a really great first drop. It was a bit rough in in areas which was a shame, mainly in the helix and the bunny hills at the end is where i found it most rough. I thought the valleys between the large hills were actually pretty smooth. I thought the middle of a car was the best place to sit as it was smoother than a row above the wheels. The middle of the front car was my favourite seat as it was smoother than the back and had the best airtime. The roughness was definitely tolerable and it did not stop me riding it several times. Coaster Rating: 9.5/10


Desert Race: This is basically the same as Rita so i was not particularly excited about riding, but it is one of the better coasters in the park. The launch i thought was weaker than Rita's but it was slightly smoother which is probably down to age. It does have some good airtime, but i do not think the layout is very interesting, or particularly thrilling. Probably in the middle somewhere compared to intamin launch coasters that i have ridden. Coaster Rating: 7.5/10


Grottenblitz: I actually enjoyed this powered mine train from mack and even though the layout is quite short, i thought the enclosed bit had some thrills plus it felt a bit faster than other powered coasters. The lap bars were pretty awkward for some reason though and i had to sit in an odd position. Not as good as the one at Alton, but probably on par with Europas. Coaster Rating: 5/10


Indyblitz: Probably one of the smallest coasters i have ridden in ages and while i am still this age i can get away with it without it looking too weird. Just a kiddy coaster. Coaster Rating: 2/10


Krake: I knew this was going to be a really good coaster but i did not how much i was going to like it as the drop is smaller and not as domineering as Sheikra or Oblivion's. I ended up thinking it was better than expected, the drop has really good airtime and oddly as you are coming out of immelmann you got airtime and over the camel back you got airtime which was a big plus. I also liked how you could sit in any row and have a great ride. The tunnel does have as gooder effect on the drop as Oblivion though. Overall its a great ride IMO better than Oblivion, but not as good as Sheikra, but more airtime than both. Coaster Rating: 8.5/10


Limit: Another old SLC. As you could imagine i wasn't looking forward to this ride, but i did not think it would be as bad as the one at Walibi. It was worse!!! Not only was it really jerky, there was a lot of head banging (more than the Walibi one) and it was just no fun at all. I do not understand why people would queue to ride for pleasure, but the worst is still to come. Coaster Rating: 3/10


Schweizer Bobbahn: Before reading this review you must understand that i hate mack bobsleighs, and i find that most people like them, so if you have enjoyed others you will probably like this one. This is my worst coaster ever!!! I hate all of these contraptions but this one was by far the worst. I hate the way it vibrates and bounces on the tracks for the whole ride and i was just praying for it to be over the entire ride. Few rides give me a headache this gave me the worst. Coaster Rating: 1/10


Water Rides


Mountain Rafting: A rapids ride in quite a nice location, that seemed to look quite long form the queue line and it oddly had lots of bubbles in it. I have been on quite a lot of rapids ride and i have to say this is one of the worst. It is very dull as all the waves are small and the water barely gets near to coming into the boats. The only bit where you might get a little wet is going through the waterfall. Not the best rapids for a very hot day. Water Ride Rating: D


Wildwasserbahn 1: Really just your typical average log flume with one small drop and one larger drop. The smaller drop was a spill way which i for some reason prefer to a normal splashdown. Not an amazing log flume, though i did ride quite alot as it was hot, more fun the rapids and wetter. i would have rather they got rid of this log flume than the other one, as the other one looked more unique and this was just your typical log flume. Water Ride Rating: C


Flat Rides:


Aqua Spin: An average top spin that is not well named as you do not get wet, as you are only teased by the fountains. They are still one of my favourite types of flat ride though. Flat Ride Rating: Good


Breakdance: I have not ridden one of these in quite a while, and i don't know if this one was just particularly good, but they were better than i remembered and really fun. Flat Ride Rating: Good


El Sol: This is an Enterprise ride and i can't think of the last time i rode one, probably Alton's one about 5 years ago. They are good to start with, but they do get boring and tedious after a while. Flat Ride Rating: Okay


Huracan: i do not know the model name for this huss ride, but it is the one where you are in a big circular cage in your own compartment and it spins and spins until you're stuck to back of your compartment then it tilts at 45 degrees. Anyway i enjoyed it. Flat Ride Rating: Good


La Ola: A really nicely themed chairswing ride. I tend to not ride them as i find them a bit boring and this one reminded why i think that. Flat Ride Rating: Okay


Lady Moon: This is basically a less intense break dance ride where the circular floor the cars stand on is tilted steeply. I find these slightly more thrilling than the breakdances. Flat Ride Rating: Good


Magic: I would describe this ride as an inverted breakdance which is slightly less intense and not as thrilling. It also seemed to run on a short cycle. Flat Ride Rating: Okay


Scream: One of the rides i was most looking forward to on my visit, as it is one of only a few gyro drop towers in the world, and i thought the one Liseberg was great. Intamin gyro's have a different feeling to Intamin Giant drops i think, as they seem a little less intense, but i felt like i was out of my seat for longer on the drop, than on most drop towers. This is up there with the likes of Atmosfear and Hurakan Condor for my favourite drop towers. Flat Ride Rating: Great


Thank you for reading my long report on Heide Park. A short review on the Port Royal Hotel and Phantasialand will be coming soon.

 

[CookieCoasters]

Hotel Port Royal Review

Introduction

As you probably know the Hotel Port Royal is the Heide Park Hotel. It is a Caribbean themed hotel that has extensive pirate theming that spreads along the the whole hotel. It is located right next to the park and has its own entrance that's leads into the pirate themed area of the park (where Krake is). The hotel has a Buffet, a restaurant and a bar area. It also has a theatre area where there are many different types of shows.

Service

The service was okay, nothing special, but nothing terrible. As me and my family speak next to no German it was sometimes hard for the people who found it hard to speak English to communicate with us. They seemed they were trying to help us though which was good. The service in the resteraunt was slow and there was definitely a lack of staff but they were friendly.

Bedrooms

The bedrooms were your typical theme park hotel bedrooms with a double bed and a bunk bed and neither of which were very comfy which caused us to find it hard to sleep. I loved the bathroom though, with the decent shower in the barrel, the rock themed sink and wooden plank toilet i thought was great theming and very quirky. Like Europa Park's bedrooms there was no air conditioning which means the rooms can get stuffy in hot weather. The internet access was good and quite fast.

Food

We never ate at the Buffet at night so i can't tell what that was like. For my family the resteraunt food had mixed reviews as the meal i had for 2 nights, the turkey steak with potato wedges i really enjoyed but my Mum and Dad did not think there meals were very good at all. The breakfast buffet selection was average and actually quite small especially compared to Europa Park's massive selection. I did not have much for breakfast because i don't get hungry that early in the morning but my parents thought the food was okay.

Important Information

• The Express Butler Q-bots can be bought in the hotel at a small booth near the reception from 9am to 11am, but the can be also bought near the park entrance or a small kiosk near Colossos.
  The hotel entrance opens at 10am as do the rides even though the websites park hours say 9am.
  The actual park entrance opens at 9am but they do not let people out of the entrance area until 10am
  In the Summer i would recommend you bring a fan in case its hot and they do not supply them. (This was something my family regretted).
  If you do not like the food at the hotel, Hamburg is about a 40 minute drive.

Overall

I really like the theming and the little quirky details of this hotel. The only thing that bothered me about this hotel was the uncomfortable beds which was significant for me. The main benefit of this hotel is that it is onsite, and that was really the only benefit. (No early ride time :cry: ). However, it is a great place to stay if you have younger children as there is lots of stuff for them to enjoy like clubs and shows. Hotel Rating: 4 star

 

[CookieCoasters]

Phantasialand

I had been to this theme park last year for the first time for 2 days, but i thought it was great so i decided to re-visit it this year. I have to say, even with the log flumes gone which i enjoyed last year, the park and rides were better then i remembered. The park has really great theming everywhere, and i still think Black Mamba is the best themed coaster in the world. It is quite a small park in terms of size and number of thrilling rides, but what it lacks in quantity of rides it by far makes up for in quality of rides. I can't choose a simple 3 favourites, because there are so many great rides, so my top 5 rides in the park were: Black Mamba, River Quest, Winjas, Talocan and Colorado Adventure. Even though this was my only park on the trip i had done recently, it was probably the park enjoyed the most and i did not get bored at all. The park was really quiet and most rides were nearly walk on apart from the Winjas, and it seemed to get quieter through the day. I can't really find any negatives about this park as it is just totally awesome. I am really looking forward to the new water ride next year as i am water ride lover, and the ride is definitely a good reason to come back next year. If the new water ride is really good it could tip the balance and make this my favourite park. Park Rating: 9.5/10

now for the rides:


Mystery Castle: I love the atmosphere of this ride, as well as the fact it is enclosed and everybody is facing each throughout the ride. The real negative is that for me it kind of fails of a drop tower as the drop is not fast or intense and if the rides wants to succeed on just relatively gentle bouncing it needs to be much longer. I'll except it is unique and is still fun to ride, but Tower of Terror is way better. Flat Ride Rating: Good


River Quest: This is the most thrilling rapids ever!! This is the only rapids i would put into the thrill catergory, it has three drops plus a whirlpool and an elevator lift. This is my favourite rapids ride in europe and my second favourite in the world and the only place it falls down is that it has everything a normal rapids does not have, but lacks something that normal rapids rides do have, and that is actual rapids. Despite that, i love the drops and if you are going backwards you are going drenched. Water Ride Rating: A


Winjas Fear & Force: One of the most unique rides in the world. I love the way it is placed in the building, as it interacts with lots of theming and other rides. The ride has a number of unique features in the fact it is the worlds only dueling spinning coaster, it has a very fast elevator lift to start, one part on both tracks where the car is stopped and turned over into another part of track and a bit after the break run where the track drops slightly which made me laugh. Fear is the better of the 2 IMO, but they are both great. Coaster Rating: 9/10


Black Mamba: I remember really liking this invert last time, but my taste in inverts has changed since then as i have found how much i loved being whipped round inversions so i was interested to ride it again with a different view. It totally delivered!!! The ride is intense all the way round with some great inversion whipping, escpecially in the corkscrews and interactions with terrain. I also think the twisted section at the end was great and the first drop was pretty awesome (not as good as Katun or OzIris's drop, but still good). It is not quite as intense as Nemesis, but nearly and it broke my top 10. Coaster Rating: 9.5/10


Colorado Adventure: Best mine train in the world by far!! Mine Trains are usually targeted to families, as is this one, but there is a whole other insane thrilling side to this ride. First of all you must ride the back car, if not you have missed out, I'm sure the front is good but i have never bothered with it, as the back has such insane airtime. Every time you are pulled over a hill you fly out of your seat which i love, and the best bit is when you have just left the top of the second lift and you are about to go into a tunnel and suddenly, you are just pulled with so much force out of your seat which is so awesome. Nearly cracks my top 20. Coaster Rating: 9/10


Maus au Chocolat: I am really not a dark ride fan, apart from Valhalla (because that's a water ride), but i had heard such rave reviews about this one and i do enjoy some of the ones in Florida, so i thought i would give it a go. I really enjoyed it, and i thought the effects were great, the trains and shooter guns had awesome theming, plus the ride was really long. Defenitely the best shooting dark ride i have ridden.


Temple of the Nighthawk: This is a really nice, long family coaster in the dark. It reminded me of a milder version of Vogel Rok, but that is not surprising as they are both the Vekoma indoor models. The main negative about the ride is that it has no effects or theming whatsoever on the ride however, it is fun riding in complete darkness as it adds a level of thrill and unpredictability to the ride. Coaster Rating: 6/10


Talocan: Yet another best for Phantasialand, best Top Spin in the world. Everything is better on this top spin than on any other. Not only is the theming the best, but the restraints don't jam you in like most, plus the ride cycle seemed to go on for much longer than most. I also liked the vehicle being floorless as that added an extra layer of freedom and excitement. Love how disorientated you get after the excessive flipping as well. This flat ride will go up there with my favourite non drop tower flat rides with the likes of Samurai at Thorpe and Upswinget at Liseberg. Flat Ride Rating: Great

thanks for reading my Phantasialand report. My final park report on Plopsaland De Panne will be coming soon.

 

[CookieCoasters]

Plopsaland De Panne:

This was an add-on to the trip that i had convinced my parents to take me too so i could get my 200th coaster. When we got too the park i was surprised to see so many people there as it was a rather wet and cold morning. The park did seem to get more crowded as the sun came out but the queues stayed the same apart from the log flume. The reason i came was mainly for Anubis and to get some credits and i achieved that with multiple re-rides on Anubis and the log flume in about 5 hours which i thought was good. Spring Flyer was shut because of the wind which was a shame because it was going to be my first star flyer. My favourite rides at the park were Anubis and Log Flume (Airtime Flume). As a family park i would say it is on a par with Chessington and to be honest i don't know which one is better. The park had some nice theming around the entrance area and Anubis's queue line was extensively themed. Overall it is a nice park, probably my least favourite on the trip, but that was expected. Park Rating: 7/10

now for the rides


Vleermuis: This was my first batflyer. I have to say i was not impressed, as i really thought they could have not picked a more dull layout for the ride. It was basically 4 turns with some straight sections in between. On the plus side the lift was cool and i guess having you flying over the pathway was interesting. I could not be bothered to get the other credit as the queue moved so slow. Coaster Rating: 4/10


Draak: I do quite like powered coasters in an odd sort of way. They are still boring in comparison to big coasters, but i do prefer them to chain lift family coasters. This is not my favourite powered coaster, but it is one of the better ones and it seemed quite long however, that was probably because it seemed to go really slow in some places.Still probably my second favourite coaster in the park. Coaster Rating: 5/10


Los Boomstrammetjes (Airtime Flume): This was an unexpected surprise at the park. As someone who actually takes log flumes quite seriously i thought this looked liked an average log flume with the little perk of having double drop finale. The double drop was great in the fact you really floated out of your seat, more so than other double drops and that drop made this average flume into an above average flume. As i cannot pronounce the extremely long name i refer to it as 'Airtime Flume.' Water Ride Rating: B


Anubis: I deliberately did not ride this first as i was keeping it for my 200th coaster. It was a good coaster and definitely the parks star attraction and it was great that it had some of the shortest queues in the park. The launch was really good and quite powerful though noticeably rough in all rows, but rougher towards the back of the car. The rest of the ride was pretty much butter smooth (unlike Saw) and there was a few moments of good airtime. I rode in all the rows and the problem i had with the back and middle rows was that the restraints seemed really tighten after the launch and as a result i did not get too enjoy the airtime. On the front row though this did not seem to happen which was good. Overall it is a great addition to the park and would be even better with lap bars. Coaster Rating: 8/10


SuperSplash: This ride was in away very short but in another way really long. The coaster section included a drop and an airtimeless speed hill which was very short, but then you seemed to just travel along a slow moving channel of water for like 5 minutes which was very boring. The best part of the ride was probably the rotating lift which was quite cool. Coaster Rating: 5/10, Water Ride Rating: D


Rollerskater: This ride had a very typical and uncreative name but had some odd theming in terms of the short tunnel being a washing machine and whereas i thought that was quite quirky i did not understand its connection to the theme and it all seemed random. The coaster was just your normal rollerskater, plus i had to wait 30 minutes for it because they were sending the trains round twice :evil:. Coaster Rating: 3.5/10


Dongo's Race: These Tivoli models always make me laugh because the trains are so long that even when the front of the the train has passed the top of the lift the back of the train has not made it onto the bottom which is good if you can get a seat near the back because you get pulled over the hills. I do think these rides are good family coasters, but the seats are just so uncomfortable. Coaster Rating: 4.5/10


thank you for reading my Plopsaland report and i hope you enjoyed reading all of my other reports.