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Europa Park | Voltron | Mack Rides Stryker Coaster | 2024

There is such a huge amount of tech crammed into the ride I'm a little worried about what it's reliability is going to be like in the future šŸ§

I know it's Europa and they're all over these things - but still, there is only so much they can control.
 
They will have known what they are getting into with this. It could help Mack to work out all the kinks of a complex ride and have solutions, improvements and suggestions ready for potential customers.
 
Theyā€™ve actually really impressed me and changed my mind entirely. This morning was a bit of a mess, but theyā€™ve handled things very well since then.

Yes itā€™s had issues all day so far, but boy oh boy are they quick at turning them around!!! That train stopped on the block launch was on the move again in less than 10 minutes.

We experienced a stoppage during our ride (on the brake run thankfully.) we were going again in less than 10 minutes.

Having issues is to be expected, itā€™s how efficiently you deal with those issues that makes the difference, and these guys work at lightning pace!!!
 
Europa Park seems like such a bucket list destination, with all those coasters, theming, and great operations. Really want to go some day, especially as Voltron looks ****ing insane. Looks a bit like Helix, only not.
 
Oh come on @Nicky Borrill you canā€™t say youā€™ve been on it without giving us those tasty first impressions, you big tease! šŸ‘€

(But seriously, enjoy your day! šŸ˜„)
Iā€™m halfway through queueing for our 2nd rideā€¦ Really want to avoid my usual trick of rating a coaster after one ride, and wait until Iā€™ve ridden it a few timesā€¦

But I will say thisā€¦ Itā€™s good, I just havenā€™t fully decided how good.

P.s we got front row!!!
 
Just watched a POV - that's the first time I've had a proper look at this thing and it looks utterly bat-****.

Glad to hear the chaos was shortlived, Nick - I'm rather jealous - hope this trip is showing you EP in its full glory :)
 
Well, I got on it 3 times in the end (as well as several other things, including the new mine train, due to a soft opening.) Iā€™ll briefly tell you my ā€˜INITIALā€™ thoughts in here rather than leave it for my trip reportā€¦

Firstly, the area, itā€™s great. Weā€™ve been spoilt lately with things like Rookburgh, Galaxyā€™s Edge and Pandora, so it obviously doesnā€™t stand up to areas like that at all, but it is very pretty, and has some incredible view points for the coaster. The problem for Voltron is that itā€™s theme is very similar to Rookburgh, so comparisons are difficult to avoid.

The queue line is great, trying to avoid spoilers here so Iā€™ll just say that I love the outdoor queueā€™s main theming element, as well as almost everything in ā€˜the room.ā€™ To borrow a phrase from another, much older and wiser goon who shall not be namedā€¦ ā€œWell this room gives Rookburgh a run for itā€™s money.ā€

The ride itself begins with something that was a little bit of fun, but again, without spoiling anything, looks more aggressive in videos than it feels in real life. A fun little addition, but absolutely a gimmick. The ā€˜beyond verticalā€™ launch is great, a bit punchier than your average mack launch, but with some hang time at the top. The rest of the layout reminds me of smiler massively, but much better in that there are other elements, and huge pops of airtime to break up the inversions. Those airtime moments can be very strong ejector btw, a bit surprising for a mack.

That turntable was a worry, and a valid worry I think, it breaks the ride up too much for me, and ruins the flow. The lights did absolutely nothing to improve it in the day. However at night, with the smoke on, the lights helped make it more interesting.

The coaster has some very intense sections. Particularly the helix / turn after the MCBR. If you fly straight over the MCBR (which you do not always do) then that turn is / can be grey-out intense!

I wouldnā€™t say the ride is rough as such, but it definitely has a rattle in some seats. My first ride in the wing seat had a very noticeable rattle, and a few jolts in the layout. However those in our group who sat on middle seats said it was smooth. We switched for the next two rides and I found them both fairly smooth, with only a very minimal ā€˜mack rattle,ā€™ whilst they now found the outside seats rough. I think thatā€™s enough to confirm for me that the outside seats are not nearly as smooth as the inner seats, which was pretty much to be expected.

There was word being passed around of 2 ā€˜rough trainsā€™ due to different configurations on them. I think they were 2 and 5 but canā€™t really remember. Whatever the train numbers were rumoured to be, we were lucky enough not to have ridden them. Thankfully!!!

Overall itā€™s a winner, a fantastic coaster and a great area. Itā€™s not top 5, and Iā€™m not sure itā€™s top 10, but it is brilliant. Weā€™ve just been spoiled for incredible coasters the last few years. And of course, 3 rides is not enough these days to make your mind up on a coaster, so I do reserve the right to change my mind!
 
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Hmm very mixed views onlineā€¦ ā€œrougher than a Gertslauerā€ is a pretty bleak first ride assessment from Theme Park Worldwide šŸ˜¬

Not sure if this will top Wodan or Silver Star for me due to the focus on inversions. Interested to ride but not too hypedā€¦
 
Hmm very mixed views onlineā€¦ ā€œrougher than a Gertslauerā€ is a pretty bleak first ride assessment from Theme Park Worldwide šŸ˜¬

Not sure if this will top Wodan or Silver Star for me due to the focus on inversions. Interested to ride but not too hypedā€¦
He definitely got one of the aforementioned rough trains first thing, as I spoke to him. Hopefully he had better luck later, and enjoyed his evening rides, but I guess weā€™ll have to wait to find out.
 
Theme Park Nerdwide is bitter because he was not invited to the preview.

I rode it and there is rattle on the exterior seat in the last row in SOME trains. Peoples saying itā€™s uncomfortable probably think every coaster should be glassy smooth like RMC.
But guess what all new coaster B&M Mack or Intamin have rattle weirdly.

And there is clearly no significant jolt on the layout, anybody saying that is a straight up liar.
I encourage yā€™all to actually rode Voltron, itā€™s by far the best Mack coaster. Easily better than Ride to the Hapiness. Still not quite close to the craziness of RMC but definitely match Intamin new gen airtime and intensity like Toutatis or Taron.
 
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Theme Park Nerdwide is bitter because he was not invited to the preview.

I rode it and there is rattle on the exterior seat in the last row in SOME trains. Peoples saying itā€™s uncomfortable probably think every coaster should be glassy smooth like RMC.
But guess what all new coaster B&M Mack or Intamin have rattle weirdly.
Not ridden Velocicoaster, Hagrids or the other new intamins then? They are glass smooth.

I agree with you though, they donā€™t ā€˜needā€™ to be glass smooth. And wing coasters will always be more rattly on the outer seats by their very nature. Any slight vibrations will be magnified in those seats. Think of it like holding a stick in your hand and rotating your wrist, which end of the stick moves most?

However, you might want to get your assumptions in check, Iā€™m of the understanding that TPW already had plans in Spain and flights booked for Voltron opening day when invites went out.
 
However, you might want to get your assumptions in check, Iā€™m of the understanding that TPW already had plans in Spain and flights booked for Voltron opening day when invites went out.
I thought this too. Don't get me wrong I'm not a mega fan of his, but I don't think he's bitter in this instance as you said!
Theme Park Nerdwide is bitter because he was not invited to the preview.
I just watched his video on Voltron and he enjoys his second ride much more and him and Charlotte are singing the coaster's and the area's praises.
 
Not ridden Velocicoaster, Hagrids or the other new intamins then? They are glass smooth.

I agree with you though, they donā€™t ā€˜needā€™ to be glass smooth. And wing coasters will always be more rattly on the outer seats by their very nature. Any slight vibrations will be magnified in those seats. Think of it like holding a stick in your hand and rotating your wrist, which end of the stick moves most?

However, you might want to get your assumptions in check, Iā€™m of the understanding that TPW already had plans in Spain and flights booked for Voltron opening day when invites went out.
Well Big Dipper opened the same year as Velocicoaster, despite that it is very rattlyā€¦ Both Intamin.
But like Voltron, thatā€™s a prototype so can I blame them ? Still unacceptable for new coaster but again Iā€™m not going on every ride excepting a glassy smooth RMC experience.

I think a lot of coaster fans became really entitled and such cry babies, searching for any lil shake to blow it out of proportion. These coaster are made for the average guest, who will never complain about a small rattle on the last turn of Nemessis Reborn.
Maybe some need to re-ride Euromir next to Voltron to understand what a rattly uncomfortable coaster is.

The rattle in Voltron CAN become significant on some exterior seat this is true. But saying itā€™s on all trains and on the whole layout to the point of having a headache is exagerrated.
I hope they fix this problem soon tho.

When itā€™s come to Theme Park Worldwide, He is the only one to spit on the management of the park which may not have been perfect but which cannot force people to act correctly. Especially since they dispersed the crowd and people just ran to the other entrance to the land or tried to find another access, even jostling the operators. The nerve is also ridiculous since he himself would run everywhere pushing people. He's part of the problem.
He does look bitter in that case.

It reminds me of Robb Alvey from Theme Park Review who murdered Oziris in Asterix because he had to queue for an hour like everyone else.
Again the entiltlementā€¦
 
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When itā€™s come to Theme Park Worldwide, He is the only one to spit on the management of the park which may not have been perfect but which cannot force people to act correctly. Especially since they dispersed the crowd and people just ran to the other entrance to the land or tried to find another access, even jostling the operators. The nerve is also ridiculous since he himself would run everywhere pushing people. He's part of the problem.
He does look bitter in that case.

It reminds me of Robb Alvey from Theme Park Review who murdered Oziris in Asterix because he had to queue for an hour like everyone else.
Again the entiltlementā€¦
Nice to see that somebody is making use of the text formatting options, I can see you're enjoying them.

Never thought I'd defend TPW to this degree, but holding thousands of guests back at one point, only to drop a rope and leave them to their own devices does seem a little reckless though, no?

Surely allowing people to gradually filter through into a large overflow queue would have been safer. I'm no expert in crowd flows etc but I would also be very scared in a crowd like that, if you've been a part of one, you know how frightening and dangerous they can be.

I do think comparing Shawn to Robb Alvey is a little ridiculous. I'm not saying his content is always fantastic but I do wonder if many people bash on him and Charlotte simply out of jealousy. I know I'm certainly a bit jealous, imagine being able to make a living visiting theme parks all over the world... Sounds pretty ideal to me.

Anyway I must say, except for the pacing issues, lack of onboard audio and the rattle, this does look fab and I'm so excited to hear more reviews and see how things look after a few months of operating. It definitely doesn't look to the same standard as PHL or other parks but it is very impressive, from what I've seen at least. RTH has a rattle and gave me a little headache but I'd still consider it to be my favourite coaster. Is anyone who has ridden both Voltron and RTH able to say how the rattle compares? Perhaps @Nicky Borrill?
 
For what itā€™s worth, Shawn confirmed in his second video that he spoke to a staff member and was told that there are apparently 2 ā€œbad trainsā€ at the moment, which have not yet had their full suspension fitted. This is causing the rougher ride experience, and the experience will be smoother in those trains when the full suspension is fitted.

Shawn also wasnā€™t the only one to say that the ride was rough on the outer seats; indeed, the review by @ChrisCoaster in this very thread described the ride as rough and headache-inducing. Shawn also liked his later rides a lot more and admitted that he probably got one of the ā€œbadā€ trains on his first ride. Shawn never once said that it was rough on ā€œall trainsā€.

It would seem that it is a bit of a lottery at the moment as to whether you get a ā€œgoodā€ or ā€œbadā€ train; those who loved it could have had a ā€œgoodā€ train, whereas those who found it a bit rough, such as @ChrisCoaster and Shawn on his first ride, could have had one of the two ā€œbadā€ trains.
 
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