Rob Coasters
Rob Poster
Some of you may remember my first visit to Energylandia in December 2024, possibly one of my most miserable write-ups ever, full of woe and sadness and doom and death and destruction. However, returning with a friend in sunnier weather does wonders as I enjoyed my visit far more this time around.
I was with a friend who had not visited the park before, so this was an excellent opportunity to get his first reactions to all of the rides, and what else could we have started at than Hyperion, my #1 coaster at the time?
Oh it felt so good to get back on it. So, so, so good. Ascending the lift hill in the front row knowing that I was going to experience my favourite roller coaster in the world is an otherworldly feeling and the reason I do this. And oh it delivered so well. The sense of speed that Hyperion is simply second to none, my favourite sensation on any ride is sense of speed, and that is all that Hyperion is. Tearing through the atmosphere at breakneck pacing is what I live for, this is utterly deserving of its status as the roller coaster that stands unbeaten against almost five hundred others. Not to mention the incredible airtime and the mind-blowing first drop into that tunnel, Hyperion also knows how to start its assault on your senses in the best way possible and ends on a high note too.
The next two rides were the ones I forgot to take a photo of which were Energus, a medium-scale kid's roller coaster, and Frutti Loop, a glorious Wacky Worm - Frutti Loop was my friend's first ever Wacky Worm, and he declared it to be so small that he questioned even counting it as a credit!
The next one was new to me though, a ride that I didn't even see in 2024, #491 Happy Loops, a hilariously tiny spinning coaster which has been plaguing the coaster world for the past decade or so. They are insanely small, but a +1 to the count is a +1 to the count.
Up next was #492 Speed, the park's water coaster, and this was a huge disappointment of a ride. With the insane height that it has, you would expect this thing to at least be a step above a family coaster in terms of intensity, but all I felt towards this in its entirety was nothing short of complete indifference - this has genuinely got to be the biggest coaster with the least amount of forces. A ride that seemingly does absolutely everything in its power to intimidate the hell out of anyone who dares to even think about riding it, not even the vertical elevator lift did anything to install even a whiff of "oh no" into me. The layout beyond the lift is somewhat bland too, leaving me sitting and waiting until the ride plops into a splash with about 25% of the 'speed' that it initially gained down that massive drop because it spent most of the layout burning off momentum while 50ft in the air. What?
#493 Boomerang is one of the park's two (yes, two) family boomerang coasters, donning the figure eight layout and also a very confusing theme. I legitimately cannot figure out if it's themed to bats, vampires, or doner kebabs - I am wholeheartedly not joking. The quality of my best photo of this attraction kind of sent home what we thought about the ride itself.
Now it was time for a bit of reassociation. Starting with Dragon Roller Coaster who recently lost its RMF sponsorship (I think?), this retains its status as a good ride. Reminded me a lot of Fianna Force at Emerald Park which I wrote about in my previous report, this ride is basically that but without the inversions and honestly I'm all for it. The dive into the mouth of the dragon followed by a sweet overbank and a fun layout filled with the track having fun with itself, I do not mind the fact that these layouts have been popping up everywhere. The one that I rode at Farup Sommerland in Denmark is the original and while that one remains superior due to its location, I'm excited to ride more.
Continuing with Formula, I'm starting to adjust to these modern Vekoma roller coasters but it took a while to get us here. I was disappointed by the first example I rode, again at Denmark's Farup Sommerland, but the more of these I ride, the more I realise who exactly their audience is. They're not as intense as they look but that's okay, because at the end of the day they are still incredibly fun layouts; perhaps the elements being shaped to perfection is a good thing in this case. Moments of airtime are seen everywhere and tight fast low corners are abundant too with the occasional flick upside down, all started by a neat little launch through a tunnel. I had the wrong expectations when going into the first one, but I've realised what they shoot for now, and I'd love to get on even more with this newfound knowledge. While still a little short and less impressive than other rides in this park, this is still a good ride.
My friend wanted to hype himself up a little more for the upcoming elephant in the room, so we endured a queue for Frida that was far longer than it ever needed to be, and the disappointment on his face after the ride had finished was absolutely priceless. Immediately declaring it as one of the worst roller coasters he had ever been on, to say this junior coaster was not worth the wait would be an understatement! The fact that you cannot see the ride very well unless you go out of your way to look didn't exactly help either;
So the only solution to these newly sad faces was Zadra, by far my friend's most anticipated coaster of the weekend. Often hailed as one of the world's greatest roller coasters, consistently placing in the top 5 on ranking websites, I did make it fairly known that I preferred Hyperion by quite a substantial margin and to slightly lower his expectations in case this also ends up being somewhat of a letdown for him. You see, my issue with Zadra isn't the ride itself, but the reputation that it has as "undoubtedly one of the best on the planet", and I really wish I understood where anyone was coming from here because I do not get the hype. Zadra for me is simply a "very good roller coaster" and that's about it. A lot of the major elements right at the beginning hit well but in no way do they hit in a "it doesn't get better than this" way that people hold it up towards, and the best elements aren't until the very very end five seconds before the brakes. I will admit that the ride was running far better than it was in the winter, and some moments did hit far more, but still not quite up to the threshold that warrants me calling it one of the elites. My friend enjoyed it and said it lived up to the hype despite my woes, but stated that this and Hyperion were about equal with each other.
Next was #494 Abyssus, another new credit for both of us and the largest coaster that was closed for me in December of the year before. This ride is literally just 'Formula but bigger in every sense', but after a front-row ride we were a little torn on whether it was better. Despite being over double the length, Abyssus takes a lot of its elements a little slower than Formula might, and once again I'm fighting my Vekoma demons on if they maybe refined this ride a little too much. It still surpassed my admittedly very low expectations for it, but there was a bit of sitting and waiting here. We had a plan to tackle the ride in the back row the next day however, so hopefully opinions shift in a more positive direction tomorrow. For now we're wishing it took everything around 5mph faster.
Some more reassociation this time with Choco Chip Creek, we're starting to think that maybe the theming of this thing won't ever be finished with the cold hard steel skeletal structure of a would-be mountain still standing untouched as the train flies through it near the end. The whole thing didn't vibrate as violently this time around as it did in 2024, and I wish that this ride had some sort of finale to it, but otherwise it has the bones of a fairly respectable family coaster killed dead by budget cuts.
We had been putting this one off for a while, but it was finally time for our mandatory ride on Roller Coaster Mayan, but after a back row ride, we somehow declared this to be one of our favourite rides in the park! I don't know why, but with these types of suspended looping coasters, the back row tends to be smoother, and this was by far the smoothest ride I've ever had on one. When you don't have to worry about your head being rattled about like it owes money, this is a fantastic ride that I would gladly ride again! It's a shame now that these rides are marred by their poor tracking though, because the foundations of a good ride is clearly there, but perhaps they were all a little ahead of their time. It's the most intense ride in the park but also smooth, fun, and enjoyable.
It was getting close to the end of the day now, so we headed back to Zadra for a couple of additional laps, and it was once again running faster, but still not to the level of "world-class". It's crazy how different of an opinion you can have with someone who literally rides next to you as he was singing praises of it - and yeah, understandably so. I see the reasons why people think this is a world-beater, it just doesn't quite cater to my personal tastes as much as other attractions, I guess. While I'm the #1 defender of short rides, I actually do think this ride ends far too soon and could have gone for at least a few more elements and moments in order to make it truly stand out.
We ended our day by sprinting at top speed to Hyperion for that legendary transcension of a night ride in the front row, but we made the critical mistake of attempting to get two rides on it. Our plan was to shoot for back row, run back around at lightspeed, then queue-close the front, but due to everyone and their mother also wanting a night ride on this, the queue for it had gotten very long. And then I remembered why I don't ride this coaster in any row but the front - because after the back row ride, my love for the ride shattered into a million pieces at my feet, because it was awful. The sense of speed was entirely lost on me and the train felt like it was unceremoniously chugging along the track. The random elongated big hill right before the insanity of the ending twister section was a huge turn-off and the rest of it fell flat on its face, hitting the brake run with me thinking to myself "that was not good at all", even considering putting Zadra above it(!!!). It's fascinating how much I do not care for Hyperion if I do not ride in the front, so we decided to run it back and attempt for front, but it was too close to queue-close, and we were denied entry to the front row queue so we had to settle for either the second or third row. This was a large improvement, but still was not anywhere close to the feeling of the front. My friend agreed that Hyperion anywhere in rows 2-7 was also a huge letdown, understandably lengthening the gap between it and Zadra, but at least we know that we both prefer row 1, and next time one ride in the front is far supreme to two rides in, well, not there.
At least I am happy that Hyperion has a front row queue in the first place, meaning that I can ride my #1 coaster in Europe in my favourite row as many times as I want. Something that Alton Towers can't do. Take that, Staffordshire.
Tomorrow - again
I was with a friend who had not visited the park before, so this was an excellent opportunity to get his first reactions to all of the rides, and what else could we have started at than Hyperion, my #1 coaster at the time?
Oh it felt so good to get back on it. So, so, so good. Ascending the lift hill in the front row knowing that I was going to experience my favourite roller coaster in the world is an otherworldly feeling and the reason I do this. And oh it delivered so well. The sense of speed that Hyperion is simply second to none, my favourite sensation on any ride is sense of speed, and that is all that Hyperion is. Tearing through the atmosphere at breakneck pacing is what I live for, this is utterly deserving of its status as the roller coaster that stands unbeaten against almost five hundred others. Not to mention the incredible airtime and the mind-blowing first drop into that tunnel, Hyperion also knows how to start its assault on your senses in the best way possible and ends on a high note too.
The next two rides were the ones I forgot to take a photo of which were Energus, a medium-scale kid's roller coaster, and Frutti Loop, a glorious Wacky Worm - Frutti Loop was my friend's first ever Wacky Worm, and he declared it to be so small that he questioned even counting it as a credit!
The next one was new to me though, a ride that I didn't even see in 2024, #491 Happy Loops, a hilariously tiny spinning coaster which has been plaguing the coaster world for the past decade or so. They are insanely small, but a +1 to the count is a +1 to the count.
Up next was #492 Speed, the park's water coaster, and this was a huge disappointment of a ride. With the insane height that it has, you would expect this thing to at least be a step above a family coaster in terms of intensity, but all I felt towards this in its entirety was nothing short of complete indifference - this has genuinely got to be the biggest coaster with the least amount of forces. A ride that seemingly does absolutely everything in its power to intimidate the hell out of anyone who dares to even think about riding it, not even the vertical elevator lift did anything to install even a whiff of "oh no" into me. The layout beyond the lift is somewhat bland too, leaving me sitting and waiting until the ride plops into a splash with about 25% of the 'speed' that it initially gained down that massive drop because it spent most of the layout burning off momentum while 50ft in the air. What?
#493 Boomerang is one of the park's two (yes, two) family boomerang coasters, donning the figure eight layout and also a very confusing theme. I legitimately cannot figure out if it's themed to bats, vampires, or doner kebabs - I am wholeheartedly not joking. The quality of my best photo of this attraction kind of sent home what we thought about the ride itself.
Now it was time for a bit of reassociation. Starting with Dragon Roller Coaster who recently lost its RMF sponsorship (I think?), this retains its status as a good ride. Reminded me a lot of Fianna Force at Emerald Park which I wrote about in my previous report, this ride is basically that but without the inversions and honestly I'm all for it. The dive into the mouth of the dragon followed by a sweet overbank and a fun layout filled with the track having fun with itself, I do not mind the fact that these layouts have been popping up everywhere. The one that I rode at Farup Sommerland in Denmark is the original and while that one remains superior due to its location, I'm excited to ride more.
Continuing with Formula, I'm starting to adjust to these modern Vekoma roller coasters but it took a while to get us here. I was disappointed by the first example I rode, again at Denmark's Farup Sommerland, but the more of these I ride, the more I realise who exactly their audience is. They're not as intense as they look but that's okay, because at the end of the day they are still incredibly fun layouts; perhaps the elements being shaped to perfection is a good thing in this case. Moments of airtime are seen everywhere and tight fast low corners are abundant too with the occasional flick upside down, all started by a neat little launch through a tunnel. I had the wrong expectations when going into the first one, but I've realised what they shoot for now, and I'd love to get on even more with this newfound knowledge. While still a little short and less impressive than other rides in this park, this is still a good ride.
My friend wanted to hype himself up a little more for the upcoming elephant in the room, so we endured a queue for Frida that was far longer than it ever needed to be, and the disappointment on his face after the ride had finished was absolutely priceless. Immediately declaring it as one of the worst roller coasters he had ever been on, to say this junior coaster was not worth the wait would be an understatement! The fact that you cannot see the ride very well unless you go out of your way to look didn't exactly help either;
So the only solution to these newly sad faces was Zadra, by far my friend's most anticipated coaster of the weekend. Often hailed as one of the world's greatest roller coasters, consistently placing in the top 5 on ranking websites, I did make it fairly known that I preferred Hyperion by quite a substantial margin and to slightly lower his expectations in case this also ends up being somewhat of a letdown for him. You see, my issue with Zadra isn't the ride itself, but the reputation that it has as "undoubtedly one of the best on the planet", and I really wish I understood where anyone was coming from here because I do not get the hype. Zadra for me is simply a "very good roller coaster" and that's about it. A lot of the major elements right at the beginning hit well but in no way do they hit in a "it doesn't get better than this" way that people hold it up towards, and the best elements aren't until the very very end five seconds before the brakes. I will admit that the ride was running far better than it was in the winter, and some moments did hit far more, but still not quite up to the threshold that warrants me calling it one of the elites. My friend enjoyed it and said it lived up to the hype despite my woes, but stated that this and Hyperion were about equal with each other.
Next was #494 Abyssus, another new credit for both of us and the largest coaster that was closed for me in December of the year before. This ride is literally just 'Formula but bigger in every sense', but after a front-row ride we were a little torn on whether it was better. Despite being over double the length, Abyssus takes a lot of its elements a little slower than Formula might, and once again I'm fighting my Vekoma demons on if they maybe refined this ride a little too much. It still surpassed my admittedly very low expectations for it, but there was a bit of sitting and waiting here. We had a plan to tackle the ride in the back row the next day however, so hopefully opinions shift in a more positive direction tomorrow. For now we're wishing it took everything around 5mph faster.
Some more reassociation this time with Choco Chip Creek, we're starting to think that maybe the theming of this thing won't ever be finished with the cold hard steel skeletal structure of a would-be mountain still standing untouched as the train flies through it near the end. The whole thing didn't vibrate as violently this time around as it did in 2024, and I wish that this ride had some sort of finale to it, but otherwise it has the bones of a fairly respectable family coaster killed dead by budget cuts.
We had been putting this one off for a while, but it was finally time for our mandatory ride on Roller Coaster Mayan, but after a back row ride, we somehow declared this to be one of our favourite rides in the park! I don't know why, but with these types of suspended looping coasters, the back row tends to be smoother, and this was by far the smoothest ride I've ever had on one. When you don't have to worry about your head being rattled about like it owes money, this is a fantastic ride that I would gladly ride again! It's a shame now that these rides are marred by their poor tracking though, because the foundations of a good ride is clearly there, but perhaps they were all a little ahead of their time. It's the most intense ride in the park but also smooth, fun, and enjoyable.
It was getting close to the end of the day now, so we headed back to Zadra for a couple of additional laps, and it was once again running faster, but still not to the level of "world-class". It's crazy how different of an opinion you can have with someone who literally rides next to you as he was singing praises of it - and yeah, understandably so. I see the reasons why people think this is a world-beater, it just doesn't quite cater to my personal tastes as much as other attractions, I guess. While I'm the #1 defender of short rides, I actually do think this ride ends far too soon and could have gone for at least a few more elements and moments in order to make it truly stand out.
We ended our day by sprinting at top speed to Hyperion for that legendary transcension of a night ride in the front row, but we made the critical mistake of attempting to get two rides on it. Our plan was to shoot for back row, run back around at lightspeed, then queue-close the front, but due to everyone and their mother also wanting a night ride on this, the queue for it had gotten very long. And then I remembered why I don't ride this coaster in any row but the front - because after the back row ride, my love for the ride shattered into a million pieces at my feet, because it was awful. The sense of speed was entirely lost on me and the train felt like it was unceremoniously chugging along the track. The random elongated big hill right before the insanity of the ending twister section was a huge turn-off and the rest of it fell flat on its face, hitting the brake run with me thinking to myself "that was not good at all", even considering putting Zadra above it(!!!). It's fascinating how much I do not care for Hyperion if I do not ride in the front, so we decided to run it back and attempt for front, but it was too close to queue-close, and we were denied entry to the front row queue so we had to settle for either the second or third row. This was a large improvement, but still was not anywhere close to the feeling of the front. My friend agreed that Hyperion anywhere in rows 2-7 was also a huge letdown, understandably lengthening the gap between it and Zadra, but at least we know that we both prefer row 1, and next time one ride in the front is far supreme to two rides in, well, not there.
At least I am happy that Hyperion has a front row queue in the first place, meaning that I can ride my #1 coaster in Europe in my favourite row as many times as I want. Something that Alton Towers can't do. Take that, Staffordshire.
Tomorrow - again
