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The Best, The Wurst and The Gersts - A Week in Germany

Next up was Phantasialand!

On our journey to the park, we were kindly reminded by a fellow road user where we were going, you know, in case we had forgotten!

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I covered a more in depth look at what I thought of F.L.Y and Rookburgh in my review video but in a nutshell, it's smooth, comfortable (for me anyway), has airtime (!) and really nails the flying sensation. It's not intense or crazy but is a really fun ride that will appeal to a wide audience. The Rookburgh area is really nice and maintains the high level Phantasialand theming that we now expect form the park. We commented that we would have perhaps liked more in the area, such as a merchandise shop (not sure this is Phantasialand's style but I think people would the buy merch) or some food stands or something. Once the hotel is open to normal guests (I assume it will be eventually) this will probably change.

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Other things of note from the rest of the park:

Taron was as fab as before and has confirmed it's place at the number 1 spot (it had been 2.5 years since I had last ridden it I believe!) so I was a little worried it may not compare to some of the rides I had done since, but I needn't have been worried! I finally did Mystery Castle which is fab. It's quite something when you get to the top and all you can see below are walls descending into a black abyss! River quest was fab and we stayed relatively dry. I had forgotten about just how many drops there are on that ride! Talocan, what a beauty. I can't go to Phantasialand and not ride this amazing flat ride! Chiapas soaked us, which nobody was expecting. Firstly we got wet feet from all the water sloshing about at the bottom of the boat and then somehow we got a tidal wave backsplash after the main drop!

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Toasty roasty

It was pretty busy that day and so we didn't get quite as many rerides as we would have liked (read, many, many) but we managed two rides on both F.L.Y and Taron and a range of other rides. This wasn't too much of an issue as everyone had been before so nobody had cred anxiety. We had the focaccia for lunch which was nice and something I'd not had at the park before. I also beat everyone at Maus au Chocolat!

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Black Mamba was as intense as always and I can never decide whether it's better than Nemesis or not. Still not sure years on. All in all we had a fab day and it was certainly pretty surreal finally getting on F.L.Y!

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Serena said:
@SilverArrow "we stayed relatively dry" after River Quest...speak for yourself! I was absolutely soaked haha! There's always one person on River Quest who basically gets the entire waterfall in their lap ?
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Haha I did wonder when I typed it whether that was just me or whether I had imagined it completely. I took it as an improvement on my experience at Heide Park. ?Chiapas got me (and everyone else) shortly after anyway!
 
With sincere apologies for crashing the thread...

I've just remembered that I actually recorded my on-ride reaction to the dark ride at Holiday Park

We went on it without any clue as to what it was and I just clicked "record". Our faces.

(For those that are sensitive to such things, a polite warning that this comes in at about 'jalfrezi' on the 'spicy language' scale.)

 
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Up next is Movie Park!

I think quite a lot has been said about this day already and this was (like all of the parks) not my first visit, so I'll summarise the notable bits. Since my last visit I have got into Star Trek so everything on this ride made a lot more sense then on my last visit where I just vaguely recognised things. It was both engaging and energising.

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I'm not going to lie, top of my list of things to do for the day was to ride Excalibur. I had last ridden it as Mystery River and loved it (and it's odd nod to it's past Neverending Story IP) and so I was super keen to see whether they had kept the magic with the retheme. Turns out, they had! We all loved it so much that we ran around for a second go! It's hard to pinpoint the exact reason why this ride is so fab, is it the indoor station and indoor ride areas, the way the outdoor areas are enclosed in theming so that the fantasy illusion isn't broken, is it the models and theming itself? It's all of it. It just works so well and it just feels like a nostalgic trip to another world. What a fab ride. You can see why it has it's own fab club!

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Chainedbanana and I happily sat off both Bandit and MP Express for obvious reasons. Those riding soon understood why.

Then we had the fab behind the scenes stuff with the park, which was really great fun. You could tell that they really cared about the visitor experience and the new dark ride coaster sounds (and looks) really promising!

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Watch this space!

We then did a combo of mazes we had booked and ones we hadn't and gave our reviews for each after. The park had changed various aspects of the mazes to keep them covid safe but they were still really enjoyable and for a moment you could forget about what a year 2020 had been and just enjoy a fun, halloween experience! (I mean this had happened multiple times during the trip but I wasn't expecting to do a scaremaze this year at all!) I liked how they had incorporated actors into their queueline policing. Surprisingly enough people weren't breaking the rules when they had monsters growling at them to stay separated! ? We got to have a sneak preview of the new laser gun maze, and as Serena mentioned earlier, this was really fab and something completely different! I particularly liked the Chupacabra maze, as it was something different and as I hadn't done the dinosaur attraction whose queueline it uses, the theming had quite the impact!

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This park really comes alive after dark and the scare actors roaming the streets were all individually detailed characters that were fun to interact with. At one point a ghostly 40/50s movie star collared me with her umbrella or cane like thing and the spaghetti finger lady also came in for a closer look at the group, particularly Serena! You don't always remember specific street actors so this was a testament to their efforts and skill! Coop and I did the top spin in the rain (it has been raining all day) which I thought was both hilarious and also good fun. They seem to run this one on quite a good, possibly manual setting which is nice. It's one of the better ones still going. I don't think we got quite as good of a cycle as the group before us though. It looked good at night too, along with the rest of the park!

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Nice!

We didn't get on Area 51 as it closed early and we were so distracted by other fun things that that didn't matter because we had a fab day regardless! Obviously we have to come back next year to see the new ride anyway! Movie Park's halloween event once again, did not disappoint!
 
Ok next up is Tripsdrill, and as usual I'd just add some random things to what everyone else has said!

So Hals-uber-kopf. I liked it, it's definitely the next generation on from the SFC. Kinda wish Paultons had one of these instead of FotP. It's really smooth, some nice pop of airtime (again, like F.L.Y this was a surprise for this type of coaster) and has some really floaty inversions where you glide through which were fun. I wouldn't say it was very forceful apart from the last inversion and the corner in the trench before it. Personally I still prefer Karacho to it because I like the launch and positive forces on that but it's a pretty close call between them. It's a lot better than Mammut but that shouldn't be a surprise! Volldampf is a nice little shuttle that interacts nicely with Hals-uber-kopf, The area looks like it's going to be fab once it's all finished. Both coasters really fit the Tripsdrill vibe. We also met some goats in the new area which was fun!

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The other main notable highlight of my day was the cheesy spaetzle that I had in the restaurant. I keep randomly thinking about how nice it was.

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Yay for cheese!

Oh and and of course there was THAT drop tower. It must be one of the weirdest rides ever. It definitely compensates for it's low height! We were so bemused by it we went back to do it again later in the day on the other side. It was just as terrifying the second time (if you know, you know)! ? Mammut was slightly better than I remember it, but still pretty bad. My highlight of the ride was the really squishy seats. ? The log flume was as weird as usual, now that I know more of what it's about it's a bit more creepy. Perhaps they should add some men into that notorious scene? (Not even sure where to start with the well which is another question mark in the park!) The actual log flume ride is fun though, along with G'sente Sau, the gerst bob and also the rapids. The park is a weird mash up of country park for older people and theme park with loads of flat rides themed to different farm or artisan crafts. I didn't do the animal park so can't comment on that but it looked like something interesting for a future visit. We collected the free giant shotglasses from the wine museum but sadly the wine cellar was closed (likely due to the current situation) so no cheap wine. Fear not though, as there was gluhwein elsewhere! A free merch glass is nothing to complain about though so that was a cool little addition. The gerst sky-fly here is really pretty. Got quite a couple of spins on it. I also did the windmill slide which I didn't even know existed! We also tried some other weird flats which was also amusing as well as some were quite bizarre.

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Here I am almost falling into an abyss, accompanied by the aforementioned gluhwein!

Overall it was a nice, chilled out day in a very autumnal setting with a nice +2.
 
Now for the final instalment, Holiday Park!

Expedition GeForce was as good as always. I think it only briefly entered my top 10 when I first rode is 3 years ago (or perhaps didn't at all) and it always lingers just a bit further back in my top 20/30 but it's a great coaster and a fine example of what intamin do best. Despite the operations being quite slow (not just for covid) we managed a pleasing number of rerides.

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I finally got on Sky Scream (last time I visited I put it off and then it broke down) so that was satisfying. We didn't get any scares in the queueline (I am thinking there perhaps should be some normally?) but the theming was cool anyway. We caught an aborted launch just before we got on, apparently due to someone taking their mask off, which was interesting to see. Fair play to the ops! As far as off the shelf rides with small footprints go I think these are some of the best rides out there. This one is especially good as it doesn't have the comfort collars.

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Other things of note: The water ski show was, as expected, not on, which obviously is for good reasons but I enjoyed it last time so I'd recommend it to anyone who goes when it's running as these shows are few and far between these days and it was good fun. The drop tower was fab. I'd definitely recommend picking the side facing egf for some great coaster views! I was expecting the drop to be really gut-wrenching but it delivered floaty airtime from top to bottom that went on for days! I think that may have been the longest airtime I've possibly ever had!? Not bad!

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It's pretty high!

The sky fly was the better than the Tripsdrill one for spins and I got quite a number of good spins on it. The torture ride was....well the torture ride! I think others have explained that pretty well! I don't really remember much about even seeing the rapids on my last visit but the recent retheme to a sort of steampunk dinosaur adventure theme is really cool and the ride was good fun! They seem to compliment EGF well and you get nice views of the other from each ride.

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The indoor area is well-themed and the new cred is something a bit different with the dark indoor section lit up with stars and the snow theme. There's also a nice vintage carousel in the courtyard outside by the restaurant which was pretty. The food I had was nice too. The new wikieland obviously looks very similar to the one at plopsa but it should be a nice addition to the park. The log flume that is already wikie themed is really fun with the backwards section.

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I noticed that this hadn't been posted on the thread so it's got to come out again.

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That hairtime onride photo!

So that concludes my day-by-day trip reports of the trip. It was lovely to get out and do some more foreign creds in what has been such an upside down year! It was especially nice to do more new for 2020 credits (having also done Wakala a few months ago) and to go and experience Rookburgh and F.L.Y with fellow cfers! It was a fab trip!
 
Over a month has gone by since we did this wonderful trip and now with lockdown in place I find myself lost in reflecting even more on those amazing memories. I haven’t done a TR like some of the others as I really feel like @Serena , @Coop and @SilverArrow did a great job of summing up all my thoughts and I didn’t really have a lot to add. One discussion I did have with Serena before we parted ways and returned back to normality though was the idea of ranking all our ridden coasters on the trip. So here I am, dragging this TR back to life kicking and screaming with a list and some extra thoughts! I did also do my own little solo jaunt to Toverland, Walibi Holland and Slagharen before meeting up with the others in Germany, so this list will feature coasters from that part of the trip too.

1. Untamed

My love for this ride is no secret. It was my number 2 before this trip and after at least 10 rides including the last 4 on the 2nd to back row without leaving my seat, I simply had to slide it up to number 1. I wouldn’t change a single thing about this ride.

2. Schwur Des Karnan
3. Fluch von Novgorod
4. Taron
5. Expedition GeForce

These 4 were an absolute bastard to place. Very much interchangeable and easily the best coasters Germany has to offer (that I have ridden). All of them are outstanding with maybe EGF being more in 5th place than the others. I do also think that by the time I was on my 9th day of theme parking in a row, I had become a little numb to the elements, which can’t have helped EGF. So if anything, 5th place after all that is pretty damn good going!

6. Fenix

Fenix really holds a special place in my heart after this trip. After an exceptionally difficult year; 5 coaster trips that have been booked, emotionally invested in and cancelled; finally getting onto a high-quality coaster outside of the UK just felt incredible. Walking through Port Laguna to Avalon with this beautiful blue beast looming overhead had my eyes watering up at the prospect of what I was about to ride. The sense of relief and happiness was just immense. So yeah, the rose-tinted glasses were firmly on and that has probably boosted its ranking a bit; but underwhelming rides on Troy confirmed that it wasn't just the glasses influencing my opinion. I basically had it to myself all day and consistently getting back and front row rides throughout was simply fantastic. It's definitely gone up in my estimation and the memories of riding this coaster as my first of the trip will remain for a very long time.

7. Black Mamba
8. Goliath
9. Nessie

The first probably slightly more controversial pick, but holy **** the airtime you get with those restraints is bonkers. It’s RMC strength, but with a full foot of room to fly upwards. Definitely could kill. Exactly what I want in a coaster.

10. Krake
11. Lost Gravity
12. Goldrush

A nice surprise this one. I expected good things, but those expectations were definitely surpassed. Solid hangtime, airtime and launches, all in a lovely Geurstlaur shaped package. I think this will be my favourite swing launch coaster until I get on some of the more mental Intamin ones, but for now, it's hard to fault it for what it is.

13. Hals-über-Kopf
14. Star Trek: Operation Enterprise
15. F.L.Y

As much as I really enjoyed F.L.Ying around Rookburgh (I know, I know), if this coaster was in a car park (à la Scream) it wouldn’t be one that I'd rush to re-ride. That being said, it could still quite easily be the best coaster in many parks.

16. Troy

Troy, Troy, Troy... What are we going to do with you? Previously a mainstay of my top 10, this GCI just was not delivering in the way I wanted on this visit to Toverland. No matter how many times I rode, the relentless out of control feeling I'd gotten used too with this coaster was just not there. Still a good coaster, just a big shame it wasn’t running well on this day.

17. Colossus

My thoughts here will mirror exactly what the others have said, the first run of hills is great. Feels very B&M hyper-y. Lots of nice floater. The rest of the ride though pretty much might as well not be there, with barely any airtime hills actually delivering. This is easily the best example of a coaster looking better offride than it is onride that I can think of and I think rightfully earns its place on this list.

18. Desert Race

Coaster number 150 for me! Yay!

19. Van Helsing's Factory
20. Sky Scream

Previous visits to Holiday Park would have seen this coaster rank higher, but I was really not feeling it this time. A combination of factors including being knackered, anxiety at the prospect of going home to all the uncertainty once again and probably some dehydration just led this to being a really nauseating experience. Where others were keen to re-ride, the nausea stayed with me for some time after and it wasn’t something I wanted to repeat.

21. Maximus Blitz Bahn

I think this one is a weird one to have to place amongst the other coasters, but CoasterCount lists it as a cred so on it goes. It was definitely home to one of the more memorable moments on my solo trip. I queued for about 20 mins to get on and was pretty excited to give it another go, but alas, no joy was to be had. The person in front of me in the queue was an elderly lady and given that this is a ride where you select your own speed, my scepticism that she wouldn’t be fast was confirmed almost immediately. As soon as I got around the first corner I was greeted by the sight of her sitting there and not touching the accelerator… *sigh*. What commenced was a good 5 minutes of me staring deadpan daggers into every camera along the ride track, I was not amused.

I thought that was the end for me and the best part of 30 minutes wasted, but then I was reminded that I was not just at any theme park, I was at a theme park that gives a ****! The ride op clearly saw my disappointed glare and took pity. He came up to me at the end of the ride and asked if I wanted to stay on so I could ride it properly! You’re not in (insert merlin park location) anymore Dorothy! They then waited for all the cars in front to finish the course so that I could bomb it. Whilst that was happening I was chatting to the same ride op and he had a tattoo of The Smiler logo on his arm. This made me a very happy goon and reminded me once again why I love this place so much.

22. Xpress Platform 13
23. Dwervelwind

Like walking into Port Laguna towards Fenix, this was another pretty emotional moment for me. Going up the lifthill in the last car facing backwards, the classic Dwervelwind music and overlooking the beautiful Toverland skyline was just another one of those moments where I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to be on this trip. Watery eyes definitely commenced. The rest of the ride is solid, but that moment alone cements its place above bigger contenders.

24. Bobbahn
25. Flug De Dämonen
26. Karacho
27. Schlange von Midgard
28. Big Loop

With the exception of Schlange (which does it's job perfectly) the 5 above all feel like they're all missing something to give it that extra oomph. Flug and Karacho could definitely be smoother and take their elements a little faster. Bobbahn and Big Loop are both really good for the models that they are, but the lack of variety forced by the model design does hinder them from going further up the list. Bobbahn takes the edge though, I was in a very happy place on Bobbahn.

29. G'sengte Sau
30. Crazy Mine
31. Ghost Chasers
32. Mine Train
33. Volldampf
34. Mammut
35. Royal Scotsman
36. Tabalugas Achterbahn
37. Kleine Zar
38. Indy-Blitz
39. Backyardigans: Mission to Mars
40. Jimmy Neutron's Atomic Flyer

With this next set of coasters, we very much enter the 'meh' category. I didn't actively dislike any of them and it was nice to get on some wild mouse coasters again, but the desire for re-rides was nonexistent where time was better spent elsewhere. Plenty of one-and-done's in that list.

41. Limit
42. Bandit
43. MP Xpress

We finish with the coasters that I did actively dislike and to be honest this was all anticipated. Limit was the better of the two SLC's, being the smoothest one that i've had the misfortune to experience. Bandit was helped significantly by getting a front row ride. I really dread to think how it would have been further back in the train as you can literally feel the wheel gaps and bracing for the elements was near impossible. I was mainly just glad that I survived it without sustaining injury by the time that we pulled into the break run. Lastly we have MP Xpress, which could not be saved by the fresh paint job and cool lighting package. It tried it's best to give me a concussion and I won't be giving it another chance again. Not a fan.

So there it is, all the coasters I rode on this trip, ranked. All-in-all it was a blast and i'm incredibly grateful that it all went ahead. The memories created on this one will stay with me for a long time and I hold them very dear to my heart. I could never underplay the value of those experiences. As much as my solo jaunt was good fun, I have to give a lot of thanks to @Serena, @Coop, @SilverArrow and @chainedbanana for being fantastic company and making the trip extra special. Indulging in all the goonery they provided was just what I needed. I miss every second of this trip and I'm unsure when the next trip will be now, but when it comes I really hope that I'll have some fellow CFers along for the ride.
 
Excellent stuff, Sir!
Untamed is certainly worthy of the top spot, an epic ride!,
Nice that Blitz Bahn guy let you have another go, how thoughtful - love the Dutch, me! And also, Smiler tattoos would appear to be a thing overseas - I met a ride op guy in Colorado, of all places, that had it tattooed on his collarbone (ouch!).
 
Howie said:
Excellent stuff, Sir!
Untamed is certainly worthy of the top spot, an epic ride!,
Nice that Blitz Bahn guy let you have another go, how thoughtful - love the Dutch, me! And also, Smiler tattoos would appear to be a thing overseas - I met a ride op guy in Colorado, of all places, that had it tattooed on his collarbone (ouch!).
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Glad you enjoyed it buddy! That wasn't at Glenwood Caverns was it?
 
Slamming Coastercore said:
Glad you enjoyed it buddy! That wasn't at Glenwood Caverns was it?
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Close - it was Cave of the Winds Mountain Park, where the Terror Dactyl canyon swing is. Guy operating it likened it to "Oblivion on a string", which got us talking about Alton Towers at which point he unveiled his Smiler tattoo. "Best ride ever!", he called it. ?‍♂️
 
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