EndlessWire
Mega Poster
Brace yourselves for a long post...also, apologies for the hazy quality of the photos - my phone camera is abysmal.
This month, after saving for almost two years, I went out on my second big Interrail trip. For those of you who don't know, an Interrail ticket is basically a reasonably priced ticket valid on basically all the trains in Europe for a certain amount of time. I spent just under 3 weeks travelling around 12 different countries by myself, which was just amazing (Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Czechia, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Italy, France, Monaco and Spain if you're interested). As it takes quite a bit of time and cash for me to do visit parks overseas (flying out to parks isn't really viable for me), I wanted to make the most of being in Europe and visit a few parks while I was out there, so here's what I made of them!
Liseberg
...or not. I was on the train from Oslo to Gothenberg when I realised that Liseberg wasn't going to be open on Wed 2nd May as I was hoping. It had been open on Tuesday 1st (Labor Day), which I found unusual - it seems as though they'd opened for Labor Day and given the staff the following day off in lieu. THis was a rather massive pain as I'd been really looking forward to it, especially riding Balder and Helix. A bit of frantic rescheduling on the train meant that instead, I ended up in...
Tivoli Gardens, Wed 02/05/18
Alright, this wasn't a like-for-like replacement as I had been planning on popping down to Tivoli anyway. In the end, I just brought it forwards by a day. Three hours or so on the early train got me there by about 11am. I found the unlimited ride wristband pretty expensive for what you get, but the park is pleasant, nicely quaint with a light charming tackiness too. The aquarium was a nice, calming oasis, and I thought the Chinese section was particularly well themed. Well, aside from selling sushi - that staple of Chinese food - from the Chinese Pagoda.
Rutschebanen
This was the real reason I was here - I figured it'd be a fun credit to grab, my first side-friction and brakeman coaster and a nice way to beat Blackpool's Big Dipper as my personal oldest. What was also rather cool was riding it at this point in history - with Leap The Dips out of order, it's currently the second oldest operating coaster in the world, and the oldest in the northern hemisphere. The first surprise was stepping into the car - I knew it was a side friction, but didn't expect the car to rock to the side because of my weight! As it started, I was very impressed by a couple of things - firstly by the speed of its odd cable lift hill and secondly by the force and airtime you get from it - far from being a mere curiosity, this thing actually packs a little punch with exciting speed, spots of airtime and impressive laterals. I also think I caught the brakeman's 10th anniversary too - would account for his silly hat and shirt. I like the mountain and interior designs - reminds me a little of Blackpool's River Caves. I found this charming, re-ridable and genuinely fun, especially in the back seat which gives great acceleration over the tops of the drops.
Daemonen
The more visually impressive of the two was my second favourite. Once I found my way into the slightly unclear queueline, it's still a pretty decent ride, though, and one of the best small-scale loopers I've done, as well as my first non-diving B&M floorless. I especially liked the high meanders before the first proper drop, and the final zero-G roll was impressively forceful too. Short queues all day meant I got on both plenty of times and almost always front or back row (front row on a floorless does add a fair bit). I did one ride with VR which I don't normally get along with but actually rather enjoyed on this, partially due to the definite narrative it had and partially because it made me forget about the final inversion which felt great because of it. It's not going to trouble my top 20, but a good fun ride nevertheless.
Odinsexpressen
I count this as a credit and was surprised to find it here, as all the attention is naturally drawn towards the other two. Again, I found it surprisingly zippy and the three circuits we got on the cycle was nicely generous. Only rode it once, didn't feel the need to go back, but it was pleasant and enjoyable.
It was a fun couple of hours to spend in Copenhagen, but I didn't feel the need to stay too much longer. Short queues and good operations meant I could whore the coasters to my heart's content, and my heart was satisfied by about 3pm. With plenty more to do and see in the city, I decided to leave then with the possibility of returning at night (16 taps of beer and mead at Mikkeller ultimately kept me from doing that), with the wristband price the only sticking point for me.
Europa-Park, Fri 04/05/18
The real replacement for Liseberg was a trip to Europa Park. This was a park I'd hoped to go to on my first Interrail trip back in 2016 but hadn't been able to reach due to there not being any hostels nearby. It felt wonderful to finally arrive after so long, and I was really impressed by the friendly feeling of the park, impressive theming (which I don't normally care that much about) and stong selection of often quirky coasters. Also, by my way of counting, the third coaster I'd ride here would be my 50th credit, so I planned on making it a good one!
Blue Fire
First ride of the day was Blue Fire - I felt like a launcher would be a good, cathartic way to really feel like I'd arrived. Single Rider queue really helped here, and I was on within about 5 minutes. I'd wanted to try a Mack launcher before riding Icon in the summer to see what to expect, and I immediately fell in love with the trains - so much freedom but also completely secure (with neat little touches like the rider cam and heartbeat monitor). I tend to take my glasses off on the more forceful rides to be safe, so I didn't get the full glory of the pre-launch room, but I did enjoy the atmosphere, and the launch was among the more enjoyable ones I've experienced - just enough force but not a cricket back to the stomach like some Intamins can be. The ride wasn't the most intense or craziest, but it was absolutely, unerringly fun. Inversions with a lap bar were a novelty to me and felt really cool (especially that final barrel roll), and the twisted horseshoe roll, proximity to the rockwork and Wodan all made for a really cool experience. I ended up riding that a LOT.
Atlantica Supersplash
Coaster #49 for me was the sort of water ride it's almost impossible to enjoy in the UK. Big impressive splash which cools you down and dries you out rather than annoying you all day, nice theming and walk-on for an individual too. Good fun.
Silver Star
For a bunch of reasons I won't get into on here, my #1 coaster before this trip was the Big One at Blackpool, which also happened to hold my personal tallest record. For my 50th coaster, I thought it'd be fitting to finally break that height record for the first time in about 15 years, so I headed over to the opposite end of the park towards Silver Star. I've known the name for ages, but it was only on entering the queue line that the reason for it came apparent, thanks to the extremely prominent Mercedes sponsorship. Was rather cool to spot a 2013 Mercedes F1 car and a Safety Car in the queue, too (though I found it a relief that it wasn't a 2012 Schumacher-era car, or I would've gazed at it for years and never got on the ride). After the ultra-efficient Blue Fire queue, the melee in SS's station took me by surprise, though I confess I do prefer this way of operating - assigned seating is efficient but causes too much aggro. Rode in the middle of the train (my first B&M Hyper), and was...sort of underwhelmed. The sound screen on the first drop removes a bit of the exhilaration of being up so high, and while there were decent pops of airtime throughout, the car park setting was a bit drab and the whole thing seemed a little uninspired and non-descript. It was a fun ride and one I went back to a couple of times, but (and I know I might get lynched saying this on a coaster forum), I came off it definitely preferring Blackpool's Arrow to this B&M.
Poseidon
Now it was Kooky Mack Time. First up was Poseidon, far and away the best water coaster I've yet done. Very cool theming, just the right amount of wetness, fun to watch from outside and quick operations, the only problem I had was finding the entrance. Lots of fun.
Matterhorn Express
This was an odd one. On the face of it, a simple albeit well-themed wild mouse (I say well-themed, some of the dead-eyed animatronics in the queue line were straight out of a Stephen King book), but that odd elevator lift was something else - I wasn't expecting the tilt! What I found even more impressive was, upon getting off and watching from the station, that the tilt is actually a functional part of the ride, allowing the next gondola to squeeze through the space ready for the next two cars. Ingenious.
Schweizer Bobbhan
I do like a good bobsled coaster, and this was one of the best I've done. Interesting layout (especially including an actual drop!), the ride was only slightly dampened by the longest queue of the day.
After this, I headed back towards Poseidon for a lunch of Calamari and Erdinger, before deciding to ride the coaster I'd been saving up:
Wodan
I loved Wodan. I'm not one for theming, but the whole build up to the ride is great. The sound it makes is fierce and intimidating, and no more so than in its excellent station fly-through. It's my first GCI and therefore my first time in a Millennium Flyer too, and I see why people rave about those trains. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but by the time we were going up the lift hill, I'd figured out it was going to be turbulent - even the pre-lift section was quick! The way it picks up speed after leaving the lift before the drop was great, and the first drop itself was mega - diving to below ground level at such a speed was wonderful, putting it up there as one of my top 5 first drops. There's very little airtime on this thing, but that doesn't matter - it's forceful and powerful all the way through, never relenting, never a flat piece of track, never feeling in control. I love that the trains let you really feel the wooden character, too - that feeling of the floor and seats twisting very slightly just like old woodie cars do was pretty cool. Got onto this six times, including my final ride of the day (where the single rider queue was closed and I got the change to walk through the main queue and see the really cool theming in there). A definite top-10 for me.
Euro-Mir
The last ride I ticked off was Euro-Mir. I'm normally sceptical of spinners, they're not my thing, but I knew this was a non-random spinner and felt it might be different. I still didn't enjoy it much. The spiral lift and zig-zagging at the top was really fun, but I didn't enjoy the coaster section much - I guess spinners aren't for me. Very cool and unusual, though.
Overall, I rather loved Europa. I don't normally need theming to make a park for me, but Europa kind of nailed it. I was so sad to hear of the fire this weekend, and hope they can recover as quickly and painlessly as possible.
High points:
-Very scenic park
-Wodan and Blue Fire into my top 10
-Atlantica and Poseidon are very enjoyable water rides, in a climate that suits them
-No dull areas, there's always something to look at
Low points:
-Silver Star ultimately underwhelming for me
-Somewhat brusque staff on Blue Fire
-Assigned seating prevails through most of the park
(I quite like the net framing on those...)
(I'm in the purple t shirt)
PortAventura/Ferrari Land, Mon 14/05/18
Fast-forwarding a couple of weeks now to the end of my trip. I'd reached Barcelona, the last city on the trip the previous day and used the last day of my Interrail pass to get to and from PortAventura. I was looking forward to a lot here, and managed to get there early for the opening. The park overall has a real Mediterranean feel, with fun theming throughout. It was a Monday, though, and a fair few things (mainly food outlets) were closed, which was a shame, and there are parts (especially around China) that seem a bit empty and barren. Also, as I'm sure many others have mentioned, charging extra to access Ferrari Place is a little cheeky, especially as there's only one thing worth doing there. That's only nitpicking, though - the selection of rides is excellent throughout the park (parkS, I suppose), and that's the most important thing for me. So, without further ado:
Shambhala
I had the idea in my head that, as it took me fifteen years to break my height record, it might be fun to beat it twice in one day, so as soon as the park opened, I fast-walked as quickly as I could in the direction of Shambhala. Despite taking a slightly wrong turn and being caught up, I was in time for the front row on the first train of the day! We had to wait a good half hour for the ride to open, but I got chatting in the queue line, tried to hide my coaster nerdiness and failed, and the time went by quickly. After Silver Star, I wasn't expecting much from Shambhala, but I had a feeling it would be better as I climbed into my seat - the cool seating configuration hinted at something greater. And my god, it was. A swift lift hill which slows up nicely as you reach the summit, giving great hangtime before the first drop was wonderful, but it's what follows that really does the business. Amazing floater airtime over the second hill, the artful way the Gs build, lessen and build again on that 8-shaped turnaround and the incredible fast-and-shallow airtime hill that follows was absolutely stunning. Water splash was fun, and even when it slowed down, it never seemed to run out of steam - it didn't skimp on juicy airtime hills and meaty drops at any point. I was hugely impressed, and went back plenty of times during the day. Front seat of the first train was special, the back row however is truly incredible. I went away from the park with this as my new #1 coaster.
Red Force
After Shambhala, I saw Red Force working and decided to head over to tick it off just in case it decided to spite me. The only Intamin top-hat coaster I'd done thus far was Stealth, and I've always wanted to do one bigger and meatier. No matter what way you look at it, Red Force is a world-class coaster in terms of its stats - sure, it's not KK or TTD, but it's the closest we've got in Europe and takes its European records by a huge margin. The tallest building in Leeds where I live is almost exactly the same height at Red Force, which became obvious standing at the bottom of it. It was also rather amazing to see a coaster car going at a truly ludicrous 112mph. The tension really built and I couldn't wait. Sadly though, I had to - the ride had a little bit of downtime and the queue grew to 50mins. I decided to stick it out - this was one of the coasters I was most excited to ride and one of the reasons I'd travelled there and the only reason I'd paid to get into Ferrari Bit. Somewhat oddly, the single rider queue starts a good way into the main queue line, which meant you either had to wait until you reached the entrance or awkwardly climb over barriers and through some people to reach it. I felt uncomfortable about that idea until I saw about 5 seperate single riders with no qualms about it whatsoever, so I did that. From there, the queue only took about 10-15 mins.
I'm in two minds about the station - I liked the secluded feel it has, the fact that there's only you and your trainload with the staff in there gives it a nice, personal feel. However, at the same time, it does sap some of the terror that had been building up because suddenly you can no longer see that enormous red Intadick sticking up almost 370ft above you. I hopped in, handed over my bag and glasses and pulled down the Mack-style restraints (I loved these trains, as it happens), and as you crawl out of the station, that's when the terror returns with a vengeance. In your head, you start to think "so I'm about to drop over 350ft vertically with only a lapbar, AND reach 112mph. I wonder what 112mph feels liiiii,,,", and then you find out. The launch was great - more gradual than Stealth but more inexorable, more powerful and more frightening as it just never, ever ends. It's like Wonka's great glass elevator, trying to go as quickly as possible to break through. Big Gs as you climb, exhilaration as you twist, airtime as you crest the top hat and glorious terror and excitement as you drop. The early 90' twist on the drop really helps, I think - it gives a 'pure' sensation of falling straight down. All too soon, the brakes kick in and you're rising up that odd bunny hop thing it's got and wheeling back into the station. It's one hell of a sensation, one of the best 'sensation coasters' I've done, but overall not as enjoyable as Shambhala.
Stampida
Stampida was next and was fairly good fun. It was nowhere near as rough as I'd been led to expect and gave a good, thrilling ride on both sides. The little tunnel trick is clever and neat, and the operations were decent leading to a short queue. The only problem was that the red lift hill was a lot quicker than the blue side, and as such, red had such a huge advantage that it never really felt like racing at all.
El Diablo
Rather odd to hop on a family coaster that has the same lap bar and grab rail as the Big One, but it was good fun apart from that, and a nice respite from all the madness. Surprisingly quick in places, but it never really got going before it hit yet another damn lift hill. Good, but could do better.
Dragon Khan
The famous Dragon Khan, one of the most famous coasters in Europe and the one that tends to stay in the minds of most GP when they visit PA. For me, it was much of a muchness - good fun, no doubt, but there was nothing to really mark it out. It felt a bit like a diverting but sort of hollow chain of inversions in a way that I oddly didn't get with the Smiler. Good forces in places, but it just left me a little cold. The queue was long, there was no single-rider queue and Shambhala was next door, so I didn't revisit this. Twas fine, that's all.
Furius Baco
One of the strangest themes I've yet come across, I was bracing myself for a beating on this which never came. I must have a high roughness tolerance! Odd to find wing trains you can climb over! I actually thought this was a very fun little ride - POVs didn't fill me with much confidence, so I was very pleasantly surprised. The launch was meaty and powerful, and launching into a drop is a great idea as you get a little bounch of airtime. Flying through those canyons gives a nice, visceral feeling, the inversion is nicely drawn out and the turn over the water, shile not as good as Swarm's, is still fun. Only problems I could find are that you can't see most of it, and it's over all too quickly, but I have to say I rather liked this.
Tutukti Splash
The wettest ride I've ever done. Absolutely silly - even the small drop utterly drenches you. Happily, it's Spain, so again you can dry off pretty quickly. Got wet climbing the lift before the main drop too, courtesy of another boat splashing down next to us. The 'volcano' was sadly rather revolting, with a peppering of chewing gum on the ceiling, but that wasn't the main problem I had with this. The main problem is that I'm fairly convinced it poisoned me - I hadn't eaten or drunk anything odd that day but did get some water in my mouth, and the next day...well, I'm sure you can imagine.
Tomahawk
Looked this up on RCDB just before boarding and fell in love with the name "Mini-llennium Flyers". Ostensibly a kiddie coaster, I've been on bigger rides with less punch than this! Especially powerful lateral forces, this really takes you by surprise! Really enjoyed this unexpected little gem.
That would have been it, but a fun thing happened right at the end of the day which is worth writing down. I'd decided to do Shambhala as my last ride, but heartbreakingly the single rider queue was full of people who didn't seem to get the point of it - groups of fives and sixes all getting split up. Sadly, it made the queue about as long as the main one. I stuck it out though and had a lovely final ride right in the middle of the train. The park was really quiet by now, and I was standing by the water splash feeling all zenned out and ruminating on it all. I heard someone call "excuse me" from behind me, turned around and saw a member of staff. I presumed it was the "clear off, we're closed now" sort of call, but she was pointing at me directly and beckoning me over, so I went up thinking I'd maybe left something in the station. But she said "you, you go up?" - turns out they needed a couple of people to fill up the final train of the day! I'd been polite and said "thank you very much" to her and her colleagues as I got off, so maybe they remembered me - either way, being polite is good! I ran up to the station and joined a couple of others joining from the exit ramp - when we got to the station, those already in the train waiting to go greeted us with applause! And just when I thought things couldn't get any better, I spotted a vacant seat in the very back row. It was unexpected and almost trancendental. Front row of the first train of the day and back row of the last - that was special.
Good points:
-Shambhala becomes my new #1, Red Force into the top 10, Furius Baco into the top 20
-Two extremely memorable and special rides on Shambhala
-First time over 300ft and 100mph
-Mostly good staff
-Good operations and quick queues
-Great proximity to train station
Low points
-Lack of food outlets open
-The Tutukti issues
-Some confusing queue lines (Khan, Shambhala, Red Force)
-Ferrari Area is not a seperate park. It just isn't.
Overall, I had a ball on the trip. Obviously I did way more than just rollercoasters (visited some amazing cities, saw some unbelievable scenery), but each of the parks I went to was pretty great in their own little way. I probably enjoyed the atmosphere at Europa but the rides at PA. It's been great to finally tick off some new and exciting ride types on this trip, and it's caused a dramatic redrawing of my top coasters. I had loads of fun, and hope to get some more under my belt as soon as I can!
This month, after saving for almost two years, I went out on my second big Interrail trip. For those of you who don't know, an Interrail ticket is basically a reasonably priced ticket valid on basically all the trains in Europe for a certain amount of time. I spent just under 3 weeks travelling around 12 different countries by myself, which was just amazing (Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Czechia, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Italy, France, Monaco and Spain if you're interested). As it takes quite a bit of time and cash for me to do visit parks overseas (flying out to parks isn't really viable for me), I wanted to make the most of being in Europe and visit a few parks while I was out there, so here's what I made of them!
Liseberg
...or not. I was on the train from Oslo to Gothenberg when I realised that Liseberg wasn't going to be open on Wed 2nd May as I was hoping. It had been open on Tuesday 1st (Labor Day), which I found unusual - it seems as though they'd opened for Labor Day and given the staff the following day off in lieu. THis was a rather massive pain as I'd been really looking forward to it, especially riding Balder and Helix. A bit of frantic rescheduling on the train meant that instead, I ended up in...
Tivoli Gardens, Wed 02/05/18
Alright, this wasn't a like-for-like replacement as I had been planning on popping down to Tivoli anyway. In the end, I just brought it forwards by a day. Three hours or so on the early train got me there by about 11am. I found the unlimited ride wristband pretty expensive for what you get, but the park is pleasant, nicely quaint with a light charming tackiness too. The aquarium was a nice, calming oasis, and I thought the Chinese section was particularly well themed. Well, aside from selling sushi - that staple of Chinese food - from the Chinese Pagoda.
Rutschebanen
This was the real reason I was here - I figured it'd be a fun credit to grab, my first side-friction and brakeman coaster and a nice way to beat Blackpool's Big Dipper as my personal oldest. What was also rather cool was riding it at this point in history - with Leap The Dips out of order, it's currently the second oldest operating coaster in the world, and the oldest in the northern hemisphere. The first surprise was stepping into the car - I knew it was a side friction, but didn't expect the car to rock to the side because of my weight! As it started, I was very impressed by a couple of things - firstly by the speed of its odd cable lift hill and secondly by the force and airtime you get from it - far from being a mere curiosity, this thing actually packs a little punch with exciting speed, spots of airtime and impressive laterals. I also think I caught the brakeman's 10th anniversary too - would account for his silly hat and shirt. I like the mountain and interior designs - reminds me a little of Blackpool's River Caves. I found this charming, re-ridable and genuinely fun, especially in the back seat which gives great acceleration over the tops of the drops.
Daemonen
The more visually impressive of the two was my second favourite. Once I found my way into the slightly unclear queueline, it's still a pretty decent ride, though, and one of the best small-scale loopers I've done, as well as my first non-diving B&M floorless. I especially liked the high meanders before the first proper drop, and the final zero-G roll was impressively forceful too. Short queues all day meant I got on both plenty of times and almost always front or back row (front row on a floorless does add a fair bit). I did one ride with VR which I don't normally get along with but actually rather enjoyed on this, partially due to the definite narrative it had and partially because it made me forget about the final inversion which felt great because of it. It's not going to trouble my top 20, but a good fun ride nevertheless.
Odinsexpressen
I count this as a credit and was surprised to find it here, as all the attention is naturally drawn towards the other two. Again, I found it surprisingly zippy and the three circuits we got on the cycle was nicely generous. Only rode it once, didn't feel the need to go back, but it was pleasant and enjoyable.
It was a fun couple of hours to spend in Copenhagen, but I didn't feel the need to stay too much longer. Short queues and good operations meant I could whore the coasters to my heart's content, and my heart was satisfied by about 3pm. With plenty more to do and see in the city, I decided to leave then with the possibility of returning at night (16 taps of beer and mead at Mikkeller ultimately kept me from doing that), with the wristband price the only sticking point for me.
Europa-Park, Fri 04/05/18
The real replacement for Liseberg was a trip to Europa Park. This was a park I'd hoped to go to on my first Interrail trip back in 2016 but hadn't been able to reach due to there not being any hostels nearby. It felt wonderful to finally arrive after so long, and I was really impressed by the friendly feeling of the park, impressive theming (which I don't normally care that much about) and stong selection of often quirky coasters. Also, by my way of counting, the third coaster I'd ride here would be my 50th credit, so I planned on making it a good one!
Blue Fire
First ride of the day was Blue Fire - I felt like a launcher would be a good, cathartic way to really feel like I'd arrived. Single Rider queue really helped here, and I was on within about 5 minutes. I'd wanted to try a Mack launcher before riding Icon in the summer to see what to expect, and I immediately fell in love with the trains - so much freedom but also completely secure (with neat little touches like the rider cam and heartbeat monitor). I tend to take my glasses off on the more forceful rides to be safe, so I didn't get the full glory of the pre-launch room, but I did enjoy the atmosphere, and the launch was among the more enjoyable ones I've experienced - just enough force but not a cricket back to the stomach like some Intamins can be. The ride wasn't the most intense or craziest, but it was absolutely, unerringly fun. Inversions with a lap bar were a novelty to me and felt really cool (especially that final barrel roll), and the twisted horseshoe roll, proximity to the rockwork and Wodan all made for a really cool experience. I ended up riding that a LOT.
Atlantica Supersplash
Coaster #49 for me was the sort of water ride it's almost impossible to enjoy in the UK. Big impressive splash which cools you down and dries you out rather than annoying you all day, nice theming and walk-on for an individual too. Good fun.
Silver Star
For a bunch of reasons I won't get into on here, my #1 coaster before this trip was the Big One at Blackpool, which also happened to hold my personal tallest record. For my 50th coaster, I thought it'd be fitting to finally break that height record for the first time in about 15 years, so I headed over to the opposite end of the park towards Silver Star. I've known the name for ages, but it was only on entering the queue line that the reason for it came apparent, thanks to the extremely prominent Mercedes sponsorship. Was rather cool to spot a 2013 Mercedes F1 car and a Safety Car in the queue, too (though I found it a relief that it wasn't a 2012 Schumacher-era car, or I would've gazed at it for years and never got on the ride). After the ultra-efficient Blue Fire queue, the melee in SS's station took me by surprise, though I confess I do prefer this way of operating - assigned seating is efficient but causes too much aggro. Rode in the middle of the train (my first B&M Hyper), and was...sort of underwhelmed. The sound screen on the first drop removes a bit of the exhilaration of being up so high, and while there were decent pops of airtime throughout, the car park setting was a bit drab and the whole thing seemed a little uninspired and non-descript. It was a fun ride and one I went back to a couple of times, but (and I know I might get lynched saying this on a coaster forum), I came off it definitely preferring Blackpool's Arrow to this B&M.
Poseidon
Now it was Kooky Mack Time. First up was Poseidon, far and away the best water coaster I've yet done. Very cool theming, just the right amount of wetness, fun to watch from outside and quick operations, the only problem I had was finding the entrance. Lots of fun.
Matterhorn Express
This was an odd one. On the face of it, a simple albeit well-themed wild mouse (I say well-themed, some of the dead-eyed animatronics in the queue line were straight out of a Stephen King book), but that odd elevator lift was something else - I wasn't expecting the tilt! What I found even more impressive was, upon getting off and watching from the station, that the tilt is actually a functional part of the ride, allowing the next gondola to squeeze through the space ready for the next two cars. Ingenious.
Schweizer Bobbhan
I do like a good bobsled coaster, and this was one of the best I've done. Interesting layout (especially including an actual drop!), the ride was only slightly dampened by the longest queue of the day.
After this, I headed back towards Poseidon for a lunch of Calamari and Erdinger, before deciding to ride the coaster I'd been saving up:
Wodan
I loved Wodan. I'm not one for theming, but the whole build up to the ride is great. The sound it makes is fierce and intimidating, and no more so than in its excellent station fly-through. It's my first GCI and therefore my first time in a Millennium Flyer too, and I see why people rave about those trains. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but by the time we were going up the lift hill, I'd figured out it was going to be turbulent - even the pre-lift section was quick! The way it picks up speed after leaving the lift before the drop was great, and the first drop itself was mega - diving to below ground level at such a speed was wonderful, putting it up there as one of my top 5 first drops. There's very little airtime on this thing, but that doesn't matter - it's forceful and powerful all the way through, never relenting, never a flat piece of track, never feeling in control. I love that the trains let you really feel the wooden character, too - that feeling of the floor and seats twisting very slightly just like old woodie cars do was pretty cool. Got onto this six times, including my final ride of the day (where the single rider queue was closed and I got the change to walk through the main queue and see the really cool theming in there). A definite top-10 for me.
Euro-Mir
The last ride I ticked off was Euro-Mir. I'm normally sceptical of spinners, they're not my thing, but I knew this was a non-random spinner and felt it might be different. I still didn't enjoy it much. The spiral lift and zig-zagging at the top was really fun, but I didn't enjoy the coaster section much - I guess spinners aren't for me. Very cool and unusual, though.
Overall, I rather loved Europa. I don't normally need theming to make a park for me, but Europa kind of nailed it. I was so sad to hear of the fire this weekend, and hope they can recover as quickly and painlessly as possible.
High points:
-Very scenic park
-Wodan and Blue Fire into my top 10
-Atlantica and Poseidon are very enjoyable water rides, in a climate that suits them
-No dull areas, there's always something to look at
Low points:
-Silver Star ultimately underwhelming for me
-Somewhat brusque staff on Blue Fire
-Assigned seating prevails through most of the park
(I quite like the net framing on those...)
(I'm in the purple t shirt)
PortAventura/Ferrari Land, Mon 14/05/18
Fast-forwarding a couple of weeks now to the end of my trip. I'd reached Barcelona, the last city on the trip the previous day and used the last day of my Interrail pass to get to and from PortAventura. I was looking forward to a lot here, and managed to get there early for the opening. The park overall has a real Mediterranean feel, with fun theming throughout. It was a Monday, though, and a fair few things (mainly food outlets) were closed, which was a shame, and there are parts (especially around China) that seem a bit empty and barren. Also, as I'm sure many others have mentioned, charging extra to access Ferrari Place is a little cheeky, especially as there's only one thing worth doing there. That's only nitpicking, though - the selection of rides is excellent throughout the park (parkS, I suppose), and that's the most important thing for me. So, without further ado:
Shambhala
I had the idea in my head that, as it took me fifteen years to break my height record, it might be fun to beat it twice in one day, so as soon as the park opened, I fast-walked as quickly as I could in the direction of Shambhala. Despite taking a slightly wrong turn and being caught up, I was in time for the front row on the first train of the day! We had to wait a good half hour for the ride to open, but I got chatting in the queue line, tried to hide my coaster nerdiness and failed, and the time went by quickly. After Silver Star, I wasn't expecting much from Shambhala, but I had a feeling it would be better as I climbed into my seat - the cool seating configuration hinted at something greater. And my god, it was. A swift lift hill which slows up nicely as you reach the summit, giving great hangtime before the first drop was wonderful, but it's what follows that really does the business. Amazing floater airtime over the second hill, the artful way the Gs build, lessen and build again on that 8-shaped turnaround and the incredible fast-and-shallow airtime hill that follows was absolutely stunning. Water splash was fun, and even when it slowed down, it never seemed to run out of steam - it didn't skimp on juicy airtime hills and meaty drops at any point. I was hugely impressed, and went back plenty of times during the day. Front seat of the first train was special, the back row however is truly incredible. I went away from the park with this as my new #1 coaster.
Red Force
After Shambhala, I saw Red Force working and decided to head over to tick it off just in case it decided to spite me. The only Intamin top-hat coaster I'd done thus far was Stealth, and I've always wanted to do one bigger and meatier. No matter what way you look at it, Red Force is a world-class coaster in terms of its stats - sure, it's not KK or TTD, but it's the closest we've got in Europe and takes its European records by a huge margin. The tallest building in Leeds where I live is almost exactly the same height at Red Force, which became obvious standing at the bottom of it. It was also rather amazing to see a coaster car going at a truly ludicrous 112mph. The tension really built and I couldn't wait. Sadly though, I had to - the ride had a little bit of downtime and the queue grew to 50mins. I decided to stick it out - this was one of the coasters I was most excited to ride and one of the reasons I'd travelled there and the only reason I'd paid to get into Ferrari Bit. Somewhat oddly, the single rider queue starts a good way into the main queue line, which meant you either had to wait until you reached the entrance or awkwardly climb over barriers and through some people to reach it. I felt uncomfortable about that idea until I saw about 5 seperate single riders with no qualms about it whatsoever, so I did that. From there, the queue only took about 10-15 mins.
I'm in two minds about the station - I liked the secluded feel it has, the fact that there's only you and your trainload with the staff in there gives it a nice, personal feel. However, at the same time, it does sap some of the terror that had been building up because suddenly you can no longer see that enormous red Intadick sticking up almost 370ft above you. I hopped in, handed over my bag and glasses and pulled down the Mack-style restraints (I loved these trains, as it happens), and as you crawl out of the station, that's when the terror returns with a vengeance. In your head, you start to think "so I'm about to drop over 350ft vertically with only a lapbar, AND reach 112mph. I wonder what 112mph feels liiiii,,,", and then you find out. The launch was great - more gradual than Stealth but more inexorable, more powerful and more frightening as it just never, ever ends. It's like Wonka's great glass elevator, trying to go as quickly as possible to break through. Big Gs as you climb, exhilaration as you twist, airtime as you crest the top hat and glorious terror and excitement as you drop. The early 90' twist on the drop really helps, I think - it gives a 'pure' sensation of falling straight down. All too soon, the brakes kick in and you're rising up that odd bunny hop thing it's got and wheeling back into the station. It's one hell of a sensation, one of the best 'sensation coasters' I've done, but overall not as enjoyable as Shambhala.
Stampida
Stampida was next and was fairly good fun. It was nowhere near as rough as I'd been led to expect and gave a good, thrilling ride on both sides. The little tunnel trick is clever and neat, and the operations were decent leading to a short queue. The only problem was that the red lift hill was a lot quicker than the blue side, and as such, red had such a huge advantage that it never really felt like racing at all.
El Diablo
Rather odd to hop on a family coaster that has the same lap bar and grab rail as the Big One, but it was good fun apart from that, and a nice respite from all the madness. Surprisingly quick in places, but it never really got going before it hit yet another damn lift hill. Good, but could do better.
Dragon Khan
The famous Dragon Khan, one of the most famous coasters in Europe and the one that tends to stay in the minds of most GP when they visit PA. For me, it was much of a muchness - good fun, no doubt, but there was nothing to really mark it out. It felt a bit like a diverting but sort of hollow chain of inversions in a way that I oddly didn't get with the Smiler. Good forces in places, but it just left me a little cold. The queue was long, there was no single-rider queue and Shambhala was next door, so I didn't revisit this. Twas fine, that's all.
Furius Baco
One of the strangest themes I've yet come across, I was bracing myself for a beating on this which never came. I must have a high roughness tolerance! Odd to find wing trains you can climb over! I actually thought this was a very fun little ride - POVs didn't fill me with much confidence, so I was very pleasantly surprised. The launch was meaty and powerful, and launching into a drop is a great idea as you get a little bounch of airtime. Flying through those canyons gives a nice, visceral feeling, the inversion is nicely drawn out and the turn over the water, shile not as good as Swarm's, is still fun. Only problems I could find are that you can't see most of it, and it's over all too quickly, but I have to say I rather liked this.
Tutukti Splash
The wettest ride I've ever done. Absolutely silly - even the small drop utterly drenches you. Happily, it's Spain, so again you can dry off pretty quickly. Got wet climbing the lift before the main drop too, courtesy of another boat splashing down next to us. The 'volcano' was sadly rather revolting, with a peppering of chewing gum on the ceiling, but that wasn't the main problem I had with this. The main problem is that I'm fairly convinced it poisoned me - I hadn't eaten or drunk anything odd that day but did get some water in my mouth, and the next day...well, I'm sure you can imagine.
Tomahawk
Looked this up on RCDB just before boarding and fell in love with the name "Mini-llennium Flyers". Ostensibly a kiddie coaster, I've been on bigger rides with less punch than this! Especially powerful lateral forces, this really takes you by surprise! Really enjoyed this unexpected little gem.
That would have been it, but a fun thing happened right at the end of the day which is worth writing down. I'd decided to do Shambhala as my last ride, but heartbreakingly the single rider queue was full of people who didn't seem to get the point of it - groups of fives and sixes all getting split up. Sadly, it made the queue about as long as the main one. I stuck it out though and had a lovely final ride right in the middle of the train. The park was really quiet by now, and I was standing by the water splash feeling all zenned out and ruminating on it all. I heard someone call "excuse me" from behind me, turned around and saw a member of staff. I presumed it was the "clear off, we're closed now" sort of call, but she was pointing at me directly and beckoning me over, so I went up thinking I'd maybe left something in the station. But she said "you, you go up?" - turns out they needed a couple of people to fill up the final train of the day! I'd been polite and said "thank you very much" to her and her colleagues as I got off, so maybe they remembered me - either way, being polite is good! I ran up to the station and joined a couple of others joining from the exit ramp - when we got to the station, those already in the train waiting to go greeted us with applause! And just when I thought things couldn't get any better, I spotted a vacant seat in the very back row. It was unexpected and almost trancendental. Front row of the first train of the day and back row of the last - that was special.
Good points:
-Shambhala becomes my new #1, Red Force into the top 10, Furius Baco into the top 20
-Two extremely memorable and special rides on Shambhala
-First time over 300ft and 100mph
-Mostly good staff
-Good operations and quick queues
-Great proximity to train station
Low points
-Lack of food outlets open
-The Tutukti issues
-Some confusing queue lines (Khan, Shambhala, Red Force)
-Ferrari Area is not a seperate park. It just isn't.
Overall, I had a ball on the trip. Obviously I did way more than just rollercoasters (visited some amazing cities, saw some unbelievable scenery), but each of the parks I went to was pretty great in their own little way. I probably enjoyed the atmosphere at Europa but the rides at PA. It's been great to finally tick off some new and exciting ride types on this trip, and it's caused a dramatic redrawing of my top coasters. I had loads of fun, and hope to get some more under my belt as soon as I can!
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