Europa Park | Voltron | Mack Rides Stryker Coaster | 2024

[Trax]

So, a Bit of an update:
I‘d say that at least 4 trains ride quite good, and 3 are still rough (that’s a guess, I haven’t counted). The rough ones are about as rough as the smoothest trains were on the outer seats in May.
They also started to sand down some parts of the track, which helps with the ride experience as well. However, as of now, there are only a few and short stretches which have been sanded, so it doesn’t do much overall yet.

Good to see (and feel) that work is still being done.

 

[FogZog]

They also started to sand down some parts of the track, which helps with the ride experience as well. However, as of now, there are only a few and short stretches which have been sanded, so it doesn’t do much overall yet.

Good to see (and feel) that work is still being done.

Wait they can sound down coaster tracks? How have I never heard of this? Been a thoosie since conception…. Does that not mess with the structure or anything?

 

[Dar]

Grinding the rails at the joints is fairly common after installation, helps smooth the transition from section to section, so I don't think it will an issue here either!

 

[CrashCoaster]

What's surprising me is that they didn't sand the rails down before the coaster started testing. Unless this is just extra sanding?

 

[Trax]

It is extra sanding, I will try to take a photo.

Edit:




No clue why it is sideways, though.

 

[CrashCoaster]

Wow sanding on the actual track rails and not on the joints? Interesting, would've thought Mack's track manufacturing would be been good enough.

EDIT: Fixed it for you.

 

[VonRolland]

Wow sanding on the actual track rails and not on the joints? Interesting, would've thought Mack's track manufacturing would be been good enough.

EDIT: Fixed it for you.
View attachment 33793

that photo is a joint tho

 

[jpw251]

that photo is a joint tho

I prefer the smokable ones.

 

[I'veGotFourB&MsInMyGarden]

It's great to hear that Voltron's roughness is being tamed. That gives me hope that Hyperia may get some work over the off season to get it running like it was on opening day. Every time I've visited it's just seemed slightly more rattly than it was the previous time.

 

[Dimmu1979]

I rode Voltron various times this weekend and to my great surprise it was never as rough as I expected reading previous experiences; And just for info I was always in a wing seat (to leave my girlfriend in the internal ones)
It was just forceful, reeeeally forceful!

 

[Trax]

I wouldn’t bet on it. I imagine that Europa is spending quite a bit of money on the ride, and Merlin is known to be very stingy. I mean, they didn’t even pay for a full Hyper coaster.

 

[VonRolland]

It's great to hear that Voltron's roughness is being tamed. That gives me hope that Hyperia may get some work over the off season to get it running like it was on opening day. Every time I've visited it's just seemed slightly more rattly than it was the previous time.

Hyperia will be lucky to receive a jet wash in the next 10 years never mind some track work, for goodness sake they somehow managed to break the fibre glass rear panels on both trains and can't be arsed to fix it so far

 

[DelPiero]

Rode it twice last weekend. First ride was middle seat front row and it was glass smooth, lots of airtime, hangtime wasn't too bad, an incredible ride.
2nd ride was back right, night and day experience, horrendous rattle all the way round, hangtime was disgusting, but... the airtime was absolutely glorious.

Will definitely go back during a quieter period for more re-rides and hope they've sorted out the rattling issues.

"The room" is incredible. And as an overall package is one of the best creds in europe.

 

[Tonkso]

Great, now I need to shift my rankings again to accommodate what is either my new number one or number two.

 

[Tonkso]

Honest review time:

So, we planned a pretty good trip, we flew out Wednesday evening to Baden-Baden, worked from our hotel in Ringsheim on Thursday (with a lunchtime visit to Ettenheim, which is gorgeous by the way) and visited Rulantica for the first time in the evening. Same again on Friday with Traumatica. Both involved us starting super early to fit our work days in but this was absolutely worth it, and on those days I someone managed to do over my hours, which is nice.

Saturday and Sunday were spent entirely in the park. Our first time since 2019 (before Rulantica opened!) and it was awesome to see the changes and openings. Snorri's Touren was fun, Pirates is... better than Pirates of the Caribbean (sorry, Disney), and the other little changes and rethemes, post-fire and otherwise are net benefits to the park.

But Voltron.

Voltron is perfect.

Theming: Flawless. It works, the little 'surprise' in the indoor queue is really cool and drew applause from the queue every time we experienced it. The outdoor section looks amazing with Europa's signature attention to detail, the plaza is a pleasant place too be and the water feature is a really nice touch.

Operations: Our queues never stopped moving. Long queues don't feel long if you're constantly on the go. Great operations and a conveyor station really make a difference, with the team giving Silver Star's legendary status a run for their money.

Ride experience: There's no deadspot. In many places it feels like the best parts of The Smiler, but packed with launches and exceptional airtime and hangtime. That double up into the bell tower got me every time. Even the turntable which you'd expect to break the pacing is done in a way which builds suspense, just by good use of theming and audio.

There are only a handful of rides out there that I consider perfect, in that I can't think of any way to make them better. Nemesis, Shambhala, FLY, Kondaa, VelociCoaster... and now this.