Manuel G. - Reviews

Lech is an amazing coaster, that only narrowly misses the 5-star-category, mainly because of its duration. The theming of the ride and the station is well done and the trains are really comfortable, d...

Lech is an amazing coaster, that only narrowly misses the 5-star-category, mainly because of its duration. The theming of the ride and the station is well done and the trains are really comfortable, despite the relatively tight shoulder restraints. A fast lift carries you up to the first drop, which is one of my favourite drops ever. It's got that Expedition-Geforce-style twist, but is also so steep, that you are flung out of your seats and into the restraints like crazy. What follows is an excellently flowing mix of inversions and great airtime moments, tight corners and all of it in a very compact layout. This means pretty strong G-forces, but I personally did not find them to be stupidly extreme, as people often say. I have had no problem with re-rides, but some people in our group have reported the same kind of grey-outs other people talked about. A highlight moment of the ride is the station-fly-through, which is great fun for the people in the cue. Pacing in general is perfect and I would consider pacing an outstanding characteristic of the ride. If only it felt a bit longer and bigger, it would venture into the territory of the very best coasters I know.

The backwards row was what I did first and the twisty drop and the two loops you cannot see were fun! Rest of the ride was boring and facing forwards, the whole ride was less than mediocre. Harnesses ...

The backwards row was what I did first and the twisty drop and the two loops you cannot see were fun! Rest of the ride was boring and facing forwards, the whole ride was less than mediocre. Harnesses are horribly uncomfortable. Similar to the rest of the park, these old rides received a beautiful theming overhaul though (ride is not called Tornado anymore).

Oh Shit. Now that's some intense ride right there. The cue line in the castle is incredible, probably the best cue I've ever seen in a non-major-brand-park in Europe. Being chosen randomly for the row...

Oh Shit. Now that's some intense ride right there. The cue line in the castle is incredible, probably the best cue I've ever seen in a non-major-brand-park in Europe. Being chosen randomly for the rows adds to the excitement factor and I like it, though you should hope for front row! This is where the coaster packs the most punch after the drop. At first you are pulled up vertically into the tower, where a pre-show begins. Unfortunately, there is too much reverb to understand what is being said, which does take away from this part of the ride. You do the backwards drop (better than expected, but starting too soft for a real drop feeling) and then rise to the top and into the first drop. It is best experienced in the back, but isn't bad in the front either. Not my favourite drop, but very good for sure. You then shoot out into broad daylight getting some good Gs in the valley. As if that wasn't intense enough, we once had a ride where it had started to rain in the meantime and we were in pain because of the impact of the drops, which coincidentally was probably one of the most intense rides I have ever had. The heart-shaped element coming up next is great, the change of direction at the first peak being a violent highlight in the front left. The beginning of the low-to-the-ground-part that follows is my favourite part of the ride, it is stupidly intense. The one airtime hill in the layout also delivers. Unfortunately, the coaster slows down significantly in its final 300m or so, failing to give you that slamming-into-the-brakes kind-of euphoria. What follows is a very slow heartline roll in the dark (fun) and a surprising photo point, when you are basically already rolling back into the station. World-class ride with world-class theming and world-class intensity in its first two thirds. Ride is not supersmooth, but certainly fine. Amazing overall, the pre-show can get tiring when reriding.

Fantastic ride as a whole. Huge displays count the exact amount of people to be let into the station, very efficient. Could use a single rider line, though. Theming is meh, but doesn't detract too mu...

Fantastic ride as a whole. Huge displays count the exact amount of people to be let into the station, very efficient. Could use a single rider line, though. Theming is meh, but doesn't detract too much from the ride. The launch was probably the biggest disappointment of the actual ride - it is sudden, but rather mediocre and obviously LSM-ish. Going up the top hat is a wonderful mixture of sensations and the view from the top gives a great feeling of freedom, especially at night. The drop does not provide that stomach feeling, more a sensation of smooth falling and some airtime in the back. S-bend at the bottom is almost too fast to be noticed and is G-heavy. First airtime hill provides very strong ejector and is taken at an incredible speed. Change of direction after that is very whippy and is followed by a narrow curve with lots of positives. In general, all the overbanked curves that might look like wasted track or breather section on POVs are so full of Gs, that they don't feel like a waste at all, when you are actually riding. The combination of the twisted airtime hill and corkscrew afterwards is probably one of the best sequences of elements of all time. The corkscrew is mercilessly whippy. The last inversion is a totally different beast, it is taken at a speed that allows for fantastic hangtime. Exiting the MCBR is indeed a bit violent and the hill after that is mostly airless. Although I had the impression on POVs, this ride does not feel too short at all, it is a full coaster experience. As for the often critized OTSRs: They are indeed not ideal. I tend to ride with a lot of muscular tension to counteract forces and thus, for my first morning rides, I did not experience a single problem with the restraints at all, although I had heard the worst things about them. So I took another ride and this time intentionally let loose completely and et voila - brutal neckbanging. So obviously lap bars would be better. But I think it depends on your personal style of riding (and the dimensions of your body), if they kill the experience for you or do not present a single problem at all. Personally, I noticed just a bit of tension in my shoulders after a good amount of rides and did not feel detracted from the ride experience at all.

This is actually quite a bit of fun, but is the most unimpressive of the three major coasters here. The views in the front of Gothenburg and of course the vertical descent are great, the drop is surpr...

This is actually quite a bit of fun, but is the most unimpressive of the three major coasters here. The views in the front of Gothenburg and of course the vertical descent are great, the drop is surprisingly mild, though. Similar coasters in Europe (e.g. Krake) have made a better impression on me drop-wise. The track that follows flows well and is perfectly smooth, but does not evoke a desire for more re-rides. Maybe it is hard to describe what exactly made it feel mediocre, but I felt like it was. Still a quality line-up addition.

Absolutely amazing. This has so much going for it - the setting, the duration, the inversions (not many create this type of ride feeling)... And I do not get what people criticise about its intensity,...

Absolutely amazing. This has so much going for it - the setting, the duration, the inversions (not many create this type of ride feeling)... And I do not get what people criticise about its intensity, as it features both strong positives as well as sustained negatives very well in my opinion. There is also a very rapid sequence of intense elements somewhere before the second launch. Of course, as usual, it feels tame at the start of the day, so make sure to get a (night) ride after quite some hours of operation. The ride feels complete, has no dead spots and is a ton of fun. Basically only missing stronger launches, but if you think about it, there are not really needed. Great ride.

It took me exactly one thing to decide that this was a 5-star-category ride for me and that was - a front row ride. In my opinion it is a night and day difference between that and every other row. Th...

It took me exactly one thing to decide that this was a 5-star-category ride for me and that was - a front row ride. In my opinion it is a night and day difference between that and every other row. The theming of the ride is very well done and consistent. Even the circular gates at the beginning and the end of the ride, that may seem slightly strange at first, come alive during the night, when they are illuminated in a mysterious green. Also no single rider line here, but an efficient rider count system and, of course, a separate row for "prima fila". The ride starts off with a pretty much straight first drop. It is fun to get pulled into the drop in the back, but even more so in the front, when you have a clear view of the ground coming at you. The loop packs a good amount of Gs and the zero G roll is fairly whippy. The cobra roll is a highlight, being very snappy as well as packing an extraordinary amount of Gs in between the snaps. The MCBR is not nearly as annoying as I had thought beforehand and gives you that little bit more time to anticipate the following OK drop. The following corkscrews are seriously intense and another highlight of the ride, while the final helix once again pushes you strongly into your seat. I wouldn't say this is more intense than other inverts I have ridden, but it keeps a very high intensity throughout a very long layout. Frequent rerides can get tiring and you really feel the G-force deform your cheeks. I had previously thought, I wouldn't like the ride so much, because the layout is pretty formulaic and predictable and I didn't care too much for my rides in the middle rows, but the sensation of height, speed and force flying through the beautifully vegetated location with a clear view in the front made me cheesily clap on the break run. A front row night ride topped this off. I have a soft spot for those coasters that feel big and seem to fly out of the park only to magically return there all within a minute. Easily a world class coaster experience.

Beautifully rethemed, but this one's had its time. It is very rattly, the trains are uncomfortable and I do not think the ride experience is of any value in 2019 (as opposed to some other coasters tha...

Beautifully rethemed, but this one's had its time. It is very rattly, the trains are uncomfortable and I do not think the ride experience is of any value in 2019 (as opposed to some other coasters that are not much younger, so I don't just disregard it because of age). It is never as forceful as you would want it to be and the pacing is never as good as you want it to be. One and done.

Fantastic second major coaster at Hansa-Park. Comfortable seats and in the first row you got almost nothing in front of you. Pre-show is nice with some animatronics and glass holograms, but I do have ...

Fantastic second major coaster at Hansa-Park. Comfortable seats and in the first row you got almost nothing in front of you. Pre-show is nice with some animatronics and glass holograms, but I do have to say I expected a little bit more. This is made up for by the amazing launch after that. You take a little dip into the dark and then - still in the dark - you are just slammed into your seats. Pretty intense. Airtime hill is great, the major knot element is alright, but could have been better (i.e. a little less sluggish/slow). Final Inversion is fun. Best part follows now in the dark, though. A vertical lift hill and then an amazing steeper-than-vertical drop followed by a fast section of track in complete darkness. That's some serious ending. Great coaster, great theming, could be a little less rattly, though, it is quite noticeable here.

I do not want to sound too harsh, but I am only able to review this from my own standpoint and not trying to think about what the target audience might feel about it. That being said, I found it extre...

I do not want to sound too harsh, but I am only able to review this from my own standpoint and not trying to think about what the target audience might feel about it. That being said, I found it extremely short, uninspired and I truly did not care for it at all. Only beautiful effect was the smoke coming out of the front of the train. Very underwhelmed even going in with family coaster expectations. Ride is smooth, though - new Vekoma track seems to be fine.

The best mine train I know, featuring a very long layout separated into three parts by two lift hills. Theming is wonderful, but, ironically, where the coaster really shines is the middle part in the ...

The best mine train I know, featuring a very long layout separated into three parts by two lift hills. Theming is wonderful, but, ironically, where the coaster really shines is the middle part in the dark. Here it is being surprisingly intense, a feeling enhanced by the loose lap bars. It is still only good and not amazing to me, because I find the layout a bit repetitive. Still a quality ride for sure.

This was so much fun. The short little movie is witty and takes every little detail of the ride into account (it uses the roughness of certain parts to its advantage for example). I especially like so...

This was so much fun. The short little movie is witty and takes every little detail of the ride into account (it uses the roughness of certain parts to its advantage for example). I especially like some movements in the film, that do not resemble the track layout, but feel like they make perfect sense. Everything is synchronized extremely well and the glasses are set up easily. I only wish the resolution - albeit high in this case - would be even higher, as I still feel there is room for improvement there. Ending is a funny surprise...

Probably the best smaller-scale B&M invert in the world. The theming is world-class, with an incredible amount of fantastic near misses. While I generally would prefer a larger-scale invert like Katun...

Probably the best smaller-scale B&M invert in the world. The theming is world-class, with an incredible amount of fantastic near misses. While I generally would prefer a larger-scale invert like Katun, for an invert of this size I think it is perfect. The layout to me does not feature a particular highlight, but flows very well and is consistently extremely forceful. Slamming into the pitch black indoor brake run is another fantastic effect. Best experienced in the front row, though the drop is fantastic for its size in the back.

First of all this is a visually most stunning coaster. The whole area of Klugheim is expertly themed and the coaster is extremely well integrated. The new seats are comfortable and leave nothing to be...

First of all this is a visually most stunning coaster. The whole area of Klugheim is expertly themed and the coaster is extremely well integrated. The new seats are comfortable and leave nothing to be desired. The first launch has great sound design, but is not one of my favorites intensity-wise - it is merely good fun. The entire rest of the layout though is action-packed and consistently intense in just the right way. First half already feels way fast and features two amazing moments of airtime, the better one being a twisted airtime hill. Having a second launch and thus being able to increase the speed throughout the ride is a fantastic idea and adds to the sense of euphoria you feel. It leads you to the highest point of the ride, followed by the best element - another very violent twisted airtime hill. The trim brake before the last hill is too strong but might be necessary to reduce the forces in the final narrow curve. Duration of the ride is fantastic and you instantly feel that this is a highest quality ride. Very minor shortcomings (trim, some parts without interesting Elements,...) prevent it from receiving a perfect score.

Absolutely amazing and a league above anything else in the park. Layout is witty from start to finish (beginning with the banked curve out of the station) and the coaster is basically just playing rod...

Absolutely amazing and a league above anything else in the park. Layout is witty from start to finish (beginning with the banked curve out of the station) and the coaster is basically just playing rodeo with you for a minute, except it is unsuccessful at throwing you off because you are tied to the quite narrow seats by the means of comfortable restraints. The high frequency of intense elements over such a long duration is something I have not seen before and is stupidly good. Front row is amazing for the views and the airtime, back row is far more disorienting and the many headchopper moments work better there. Not sure which is better. Highlight elements: the first airtime hill combination after the 270° stall, establishing the fact that this coaster does not play nice, and the 140° stall, where the track seems to melt away under the train, but very soon reappears mysteriously. How this is rated less thrilling than other coasters in the park on the park's homepage is beyond me - it is quite demanding and the airtime is massive and plenty. The ride is glossy smooth. I was laughing hysterically on the brake run and some other, but not so many other coasters can do that. Basically a 5-star-coaster that only loses half a point, because the theming and overall appearance did please but not amaze me.

Hm. Difficult to rate this one. Let's start with the first encounter. You walk onto this plaza and you see the Sky-Rocket-II-structure towering in red - the station being decorated in a haunted-house-...

Hm. Difficult to rate this one. Let's start with the first encounter. You walk onto this plaza and you see the Sky-Rocket-II-structure towering in red - the station being decorated in a haunted-house-style, though. The theming around it is weird, not creating a spooky atmosphere at all and not being coherent. For example, the area around it features wrecked cars and a stretch limousine. Secondly, you kind of don't know what to expect in the cue line. It warns you about scary displays, that you mustn't enter under the age of 14 and with any bags. This is especially annoying, as it causes a lot of confusion, yet nothing happens if you take your bag with you and they even have a shelf for them in the station. The cue line in itself does not feature actors, but is merely scary decoration with some surprisingly old-school animatronics occasionally trying to startle you with movement and loud noise. Apart from these it is designed well, but pretty short and does not seem to improve the ride as much as, say, the Xpress cue line at Walibi Holland - it has too much of a fair ride vibe. Operations are efficient, although the cars are so small that getting to the other side to stow your backpack away is kind of a struggle. The ride: You get launched forward very softly into what could be a loop for all you get to know of the track by then. Of course, you don't make it far and roll back into the station. That moment feels a lot like the airtime on the highest point of a pendulum ride. What follows is probably the highlight: being launched backwards into yet another loop - this time you already reach quite a height. The force felt here is a relatively uncommon sensation and strongest in the back row. For this reason alone, I think this ride is best experienced there. You once again drop back into the station and get your final launch (none of these three feel strong whatsoever). Next comes a series of elements, that feel kind of like a quick best-of-coaster-experiences. Because the track is bent upwards in such a narrow radius, the positives are strong, but you immediately twist violently and get very strong airtime, when you reach the top of the ride, heads up. Next in line is a slow inline twist with beautiful hangtime, a feeling enhanced by the lap bars, before you tumble down into a non-inverting loop with once again strong positives at the bottom. The ride is intelligently designed to feature so many good things in such a concise space and is consistently forceful. Still, it fails to leave a lasting impression - it simply feels to flat-ridish.

The shortness unfortunately takes away from this beautiful machine. It's a shame as it fits well into the park as a whole. The Kraken's mouth is nicely designed and the splash zone well-conceived. Aft...

The shortness unfortunately takes away from this beautiful machine. It's a shame as it fits well into the park as a whole. The Kraken's mouth is nicely designed and the splash zone well-conceived. After the drop, which is of course the intense highlight of the ride (especially in the back row), and the Immelmann to catch your breath, there is basically only two moments of pretty G-heavy valleys enclosing a hill. And yeah, that's just not enough to make you want to re-ride a lot, no matter how good the drop is. Interestingly, the nearby drop tower Scream feels more of a complete ride than this - from a rollercoaster you simply expect more. 3 stars for the drop and the overall ride experience that oozes B&M-quality.

Desert Race is saved solely by its launch - even if there are more intense launches, this surely feels very strong. You also get that nice "second-phase-of-ignition"-feeling, where this thing kicks yo...

Desert Race is saved solely by its launch - even if there are more intense launches, this surely feels very strong. You also get that nice "second-phase-of-ignition"-feeling, where this thing kicks your butt again half way through the launch track. Best experienced in the first row. The layout after that neither is long nor does it feature spectacular elements, but it does what it does well. Decent airtime and gives you time to comprehend what just happened on the launch track. Still, as a whole, it doesn't feel long enough to be memorable, similar to Krake. Unlike Krake, though, the theming here is disastrous. That's a shame.

This coaster (and a lot of coasters with similar layouts) deserves its rating for its fun factor alone. I think it is overrated in terms of intensity, though. While the drop in the back packed some se...

This coaster (and a lot of coasters with similar layouts) deserves its rating for its fun factor alone. I think it is overrated in terms of intensity, though. While the drop in the back packed some serious punch, the airtime is not at all extreme, just very good and there's plenty of it. Positive Gs are not extreme either, but strong nonetheless, especially at the lowest point after the turn around. What bothers me personally with this type of ride is its very predictable and schematic layout, there's no out-of-control-feeling at all and there are a lot of moments to catch your breath. The near-miss-giant at the end is a welcomed addition and you get a nice sprinkle of misty water passing through the hole, that can be easily mistaken for just fog in some videos. Fire effect also adds to the excitement in the cue line, as you really feel the heat. I personally don't think the near miss works so well, but I was also very much anticipating it, so that might have detracted from the surprise. Overall, a great and very smooth wooden coaster. For me it still does not feel like that one stand-out coaster in the park, though - for one part because it is a little less wow-ing than expected, and also because I find some other coasters in the park stronger than they are often made out to be.

Yeah. This has its place as a ride that is fun to do once in a while, but suffers from its age and its uninspired layout. Station design has kind of stood the test of time. Trains are not uncomfortab...

Yeah. This has its place as a ride that is fun to do once in a while, but suffers from its age and its uninspired layout. Station design has kind of stood the test of time. Trains are not uncomfortable per se, but not on the level of some of the newer rides in parks. Drop is garbage in the front, but quite fun in the back. Entrance into the loops packs a surprising amount of Gs in the front. Entrance into the double corkscrew is surprisingly fairly aggressive, as its diameter is pretty narrow. Rest of the ride can get lost. Or then again maybe not, because it would be even shorter. Big Loop is not riding smooth anymore, but very tolerable for me. Overall an OK ride, that can provide a bit of fun occasionally.

A quality coaster experience overall and a coaster type I like for its unique feel. First part of the cueline is well-themed, second part not so much. Sides can be chosen, rows cannot. Personally, I ...

A quality coaster experience overall and a coaster type I like for its unique feel. First part of the cueline is well-themed, second part not so much. Sides can be chosen, rows cannot. Personally, I have no problems with the vest restraints, I find them to be almost unnoticeable very quickly. Wingover Drop offers a unique sensation, especially on the right side, where you are magically being lifted up before heading down. Bottom of the drop and first hill are probably the most intense parts, but the ride in general is not aggressive at all. What follows is a mixture of graceful inversions, that form a pretty unpredictable and therefore appealing layout. The building fly-through at the start is the only really noticeable near-miss, which is a shame. This ride is best experienced in the front row. Back row has a bit of rattle and sometimes you feel a mysterious kind of stop-and-go-shuffling, as if the train were sort of an accordion. The layout is not too long, but also not too short to feel like a complete ride. A great addition the park's lineup though not a stand-out-coaster that would justify a long-distance travel in itself.