• Daniel Stark

    Théma Chef d'oeuvre Ejectors Lap Bar

    Do avoid spoilers as far as you can. I'll spoil nothing here. This is definitely a world class ride. Theming is top notch, the queue, tower and everything is very well done, and there is a solid, fitting story to the ride. The coaster is proof of what Gerstlauer can do when allowed to (budget-wise). Great pacing, some positives, a couple of pretty good airtime moments and a bunch of well placed laterals. And the whip. Oh, man, is this ride whippy. And I love that. Best is in that regard the exit of the overbank after the octopus arm; it felt as though it were to rip my arm off. The infinity coaster trains are quite good and the clamshells seem pretty comfy at first, I loved them at Fury. Here, however... They're not first class, it's too of an aggressive ride for them, and I ended up with some bruises. Nothing too bad, though. The only "big" con I have about this one-of-a-kind masterpiece is its "rerideability". It was great, and as the park was quite empty, I managed to get 9 rides. I could have ridden it once or twice more, there was time, but I didn't. I didn't feel like it. Yeah, it's awesome, but there were... certain parts (in plural) I just felt like waiting for them to pass, after two or three rides. And the main layout isn't very long to compensate that. Great coaster anyway, definetely worth a visit on its own to beautiful HP.

  • Daniel Stark

    Théma Inversions Ejectors Déception !

    Don't read reviews. Don't watch POVs. Don't do research. Decent coaster with good theming, that's all you need to know. ___ALERT, SPOILERS AHEAD___. This is the coaster with the best onride storytelling I've ever ridden. Theming is some of the best: great atmospheric queue enhanced by those creepy sounds, great station and nice (very) little dark ride portion at the beginning. Then a sudden small drop into the launch, completely dark, and you turn right and rush into blinding daylight, into that super powerful ejector hill. Then some mediocre layout and a "final" inversion, a very well paced heartline roll wich is taken at the exactly perfect speed. One of my favourite inversions. And then, another one of the surprises for first-timers, the vertical lift inside the tower with another show scene and some projections. A steep drop and a couple of turns in pitch black. And it's suddenly over. One of the most unique coasters I've ever ridden, and I only wish my German was better in order to understand the show scenes. It has a horrible pacing due to the many stops to tell the story, but it doesn't matter, as this isn't a regular roller coaster. It's a storytelling experience, the coaster is just a side part. However, that first camelback and that elite inversion are really awesome. The rest of the layout is just there, doesn't really provide any forces, but it's okay. Nevertheless, the launch heavily disappointed me. I'd heard it is the world's most powerful LSM, so expectations were high, but I didn't really feel it that much. It's good, but nothing too crazy. Maybe it was an issue of expectations, but I'd swear I felt Anubis' launch at Plopsaland more powerful. The drop wasn't my favourite, either, too abrupt and less enjoyable in the darkness, but it was fun. Another con was that, for some reason, this coaster left me slightly nauseous, but I don't know exactly why. Abrupt force changes, disorienting dark part, long show while on the lift? Could be. Anyway, this is an awesome ride with some of the best theming I've ever seen.

  • Daniel Stark

    Bonne suprise ! Intensité Ejectors

    Woodies always look impressive, their massive structure make them seem larger than they are. But Colossos is already enormous. So, wow. Firstly, I like the theming, the giant is imposing from offride and enjoyable onride, its roar is really intimidating and the station looks nice. Besides, it has quite a good soundtrack, my favourite from the park, and I love that it's played through the lift hill. That's something that should be made more often, it really adds to the experience. Then, the drop, although it's just straight track (it reaches it max angle soon and then looses all curvature), really provides, it exceeded expectations. With those long trains, if you ride at the back it gives powerful ejector that's then sustained by weakish floater till the bottom. The next two camelbacks are awesome as well, great, sustained ejector air all throughout. However, the turnaround isn't the best, and the rest of the hills only give mediocre floater. On my first rides, I didn't really complain about that, but the more I rode Colossos, the more I felt those other hills were too weak. However, they're fun, and you really feel the speed of this monster flying through the layout. The lap bars were awesome at times, offering great freedom for the first ejectors; but sometimes they stapled on the first valley. I don't know why that happend only at times, maybe it depends on the specific seat or something, but it happend, unfortunately. Also, the valleys were very intense, the two first ones and mainly the one after the turnaround. I'd never have thought that the most forceful (positive-Gs-wise) coaster at the park was their woodie. Awesome intense valleys amidst awesome ejector hills. If only that quality was kept all throughout... By the way, this is a coaster made out of wood, but it does not feel like a woodie at all. If I'd ridden blindly, I'd have sworn it was steel. No rattle at all and incredible forces for a woodie. That's great, on the one side, but on the other, I did miss the wooden coaster feel I've always loved. Overall, awesome roller coaster and clearly best at the park for me.

  • Daniel Stark

    Airtimes Bonne suprise ! Déception !

    It'd been a long time since my last time on a hydraulic launch, and expectations were very high. They weren't met (probably memory had idealised it). The launch felt too short and weak. On rerides, I found it strong enough to be enjoyed, but nothing crazy really. On another hand, the rest of the coaster was a really nice surprise. This is a fun machine, I enjoyed it a lot more than expected. The first turn has some whip into it, the coaster pulls some decent positives and there are three nice airtime moments. The OTSR didn't bother me at all, they fit the ride well enough. There isn't much theming, but the helicopter and some scarce desert theming around the queue are better than nothing. It's in the desert area, so it's not meant to be very scenic. Besides, it has a soundtrack, although it's not very catchy. The ride may be a bit too short, but I'm okay with that. It always left me cheerful, it provides enough forces and enjoyment, and it's pretty good capacity-wise, with a short layout, separate loading-unloading stations and bag shelves before the airgates. So, short queues for a short ride; that's fair.

  • Daniel Stark

    Inversions Layout Harnais

    Better than Raptor. This is what I expected a B&M wing would feel like. It has more positive G's (not too many, though) and a more interesting and longer layout. Theming is slightly over average, with a nice soundtrack that really fits the theme. However, as opposed to raptor, there isn't really any onride theming with near-misses, but it's not needed. Unexpectedly, the weakest element was the speed hill. It wasn't very forcefull and the vest restraints killed any airtime it would give. The first drop (my first dive drop) was nice for its uniqueness, but I rather prefer traditional drops with airtime. However, it was fun and really fits the ride, which is a compact inversions machine. And hurray, there was no vertical loop there (not a fan of those). And although there was a dive loop and an immelman, they were shaped so that they mostly felt like zero-g-rolls. As a result, all the inversions were floaty rolls taken slowly and providing a pretty unique feeling because of the riding position. Solid coaster overall.

  • Daniel Stark

    Théma Fun Trop court Layout

    Dives are my least favourite B&M model. The main appeal is supposedly the drop, but it only gives floater air and the hanging moment doesn't build enough anticipation for me. There are many other coasters out there these days that manage to do that "vertical-hanging-before-the-steep-drop" way better. And other than the drop, most dives (at least those in Europe) have pretty much nothing to offer, specially Krake. It did pull some decent positives on my second ride late in the afternoon, though, but that's about it. Theming is nice, with the big Krake figure and some theming here and there around the queue. Besides, the soundtrack isn't bad and it really fits the ride.

  • Daniel Stark

    Situation Fun

    It's a fun ride and I remember the queue having some nice (though scarce) theming. It's enjoyable and it feels very different from other coasters with its thrill level, so it's great that the park has this as something more unique to complete the lineup. I didn't find any rattle worth complaining about. One of my favourite aspects is that you can walk around it through several paths between the vegetation and the coaster, providing great offride views. It's a pity that the "dark" part wasn't really pitch-dark, though; would have been a lot of fun.

  • Daniel Stark

    Situation Harnais Inconfort Layout

    Just bad. I don't care if it's old. Nessie at HP is older and it's way better. This is one of those credits you have to suffer through. The corkscrews are awkward, the straight portions of track to make it a "custom" model suck and the loops are a bit nauseous. The force changes there seem badly designed. Besides, this trains and harnesses are unbearable. Setting over the lake is nice, though, providing some great photo opportunities.

  • Daniel Stark

    Théma

    Another SLC. My opinion is mainly the same as for other SLCs. This one had some decent theming, soundtrack and story, though. The best I've seen on an SLC so far. I really liked that the two fog effects were activated as the train passed by, as if you were really fumigating the cursed plants. Anyway, it's just an SLC, so once and done. This one in particular left me a bit nauseous afterwards, but it was probably something with me, my massive breakfast and the fact that I rode both Vekomas here in a matter of minutes.

  • Daniel Stark

    Théma Fun

    Very reminiscent of Alpenexpress at EP. Scenery is very well done and ride's fun, a nice kiddie. Lights in the indoor portion are off not to spoil the "How to train your dragon" boat ride which passes beneath, I guess, but it's a pitty. There seemed to be some nice theming in there for the coaster.

  • Daniel Stark

    It's just a cred in a Western "micro-land". Grottenblitz is a better kiddie at this park.

  • Daniel Stark

    Airtimes Théma Fun Déception ! Intensité

    Theming is quite well done, mainly queue and station, although the dark portion after the brakes is just dark. Looks like a missed oportunity for some theming and storytelling at the end. The coaster is fun and it has some decent air, specially at the back. However, it didn't meet expectations. Those old rounded Schwarzkopf loops seemed so intense, I'd heard praises about them, and this loop disappointed. Some short and rather weakish pull of Gs at the bottom, and some nice floater at the top, but not the bone-crashing positive forces I expected. Actually, B&M inverts do that so much better. Guess it was just a problem of expectations. This is a very enjoyable family-thrill coaster, and it's great for what it is.

  • Daniel Stark

    Théma Fun

    Gerstlauer may be my favourite family coaster manufacturer. This thing pulls some nice laterals at points, and it even has a great twisted floater hill at the back row. Theming is really good, as well as the location over the lake. Besides, it does two laps!

  • Daniel Stark

    Fun

    It's a fun kiddie, does a lot of laps and has some nice-looking theming. I also appreciate that its theme (and the surrounding area's) is quite original, as far as I've seen. But as a coaster, it's just a fun cred.

  • Daniel Stark

    Fun Déception ! Inconfort

    The ride was fun, but I expected it to be a bit more intense given its height. It didn't give any floater and, what is worse, I found it quite uncomfortable. It's not really rattly or anything, but the train desing isn't the best and the seats are too hard for my taste. Not really a bad ride, but it was once and done for me. Better to marathon Kärnan...

  • Daniel Stark

    Théma Fun Inconfort Airtimes

    Theming is quite good, else is pretty average. The seats are too low, making it a bit uncomfortable, and I believe the drops are weaker than those of other wild mice. It's fun to do the cred, thought.

  • Daniel Stark

    Airtimes Inversions Intensité Temps mort

    Exceeded expectations, thought for me it's clearly not as good as iSpeed. Theming around the area is pretty well done and this monster's B&M's roar is really impresive, to the point that you're near iSpeed and you hear Katun more. My first rides on this were just ok, but late afternoon rides on an over 35ºC day really showed its warmed-up potential. It is intense. All the inversions are great and pull both powerful positives and great whip. The final helix is very, very poweful, maybe the same or slightly less than the one on the batman clone. The elements here felt huge and you really felt that speed. What a massive invert this is. The unusual airtime was also greatly appreciated: both drops (first one and MCBR) are quite good, and there's a nice floater pop somewhere as well. However, there are two dead spots that really annoyed me: some forceless straight portions of track, one right after the cobra and the other between the corkscrews. Why, B&M? Overall, very solid ride and second best for me in Italy (I've yet to try Storm). My favourite invert so far.

  • Daniel Stark

    Inversions Layout Ejectors Théma Launch Temps mort

    It's a great ride. This OTSR are pretty good, they leave you enough room and are quite comfy. However, as this thing has some great ejectors, when you get thrown out of your seat you lift up and the free room disappears, so some of the airtime is partially killed by the harnesses. It would be infinitely better with lap bars, specially having those punchy lateral G's, but this OTSR are okay; better than B&M's or old Vekoma's. Worst part is the entrance and exit of the MCBR, when you bang your neck against the restraints, it's too harsh a transition there. Besides, the part after that is quite dead, the bunny hop gives just some very mild floater. Anyway, both inversions are awesome, one providing sensational hangtime and the other being so quick and intense I don't even know what I felt. Probably the closest thing I've experienced to a mosasaurus roll. Top hat is wonderful, great airtime and some whip, and the following camelback is superb as well. The twisty afterwards disappointed me a bit, probably due to the restraints, but the twisted airtime hill that follows is really outstanding. There's a small pop of ejector with a pop of laterals, and then the overbanked turn. The entering manouver into that element is probably the most intense moment of the coaster, force-wise, but the exit is sort of a dead spot for me. The launch was a bit underwhelming, guess I've been spoiled by hydraulics, and theming leaves a lot to be desired, but it's overall a great roller coaster and probably best in Italy (I've yet to ride Storm).

  • Daniel Stark

    First Drop Fun Trop court Temps mort

    More or less what I expected. Drop is fun, giving some nice floater, and the immelman can have some whip deppending where you sit. The camel gives the expected floater air and the final inversion provides great hangtime. The helix has no intensity to it, though. It's obviously too short, and theming disappointed: at the queue it is quite poor, and there's nothing really noteworthy during the coaster itself. It's a fun ride, but I'm not a fan of the Dive Coaster concept: Giant Inverted Boomerangs and BGCE do the drop-anticippating-thingy way better (and probably Tilt Coasters, eager to try those). Worst part is the "valley" after the drop, into the tunnel. There's a short straight portion of track in there, probably there so that the tunnel is longer, but it kills the experience for me. I mean, you have the (actually weak) positive forces on the reception of the drop, and rather than sustaining them through the immelman, they annoyingly stop at the tunnel for a sec. Quite a frustratig moment.

  • Daniel Stark

    Fun Trop court Harnais Déception !

    I didn't expect it to blow me away, but still, I thought it'd be better. There's nothing wrong with it, it's just to mild a coaster for me. The drop is quite good at the back, and there are a couple of nice floater moments. The inversions are good and give some hangtime. It sounds good. However, the vests (my first time with them) sort of ruin it. I don't think they're bad restraints, but they're not very appropiate for a ride whose major appeal is hangtime. None of the turns pulls any decent positives, even less than expected, and the ride is a bit too short. However, what dissapointed me the most were the near-misses, which I expected to be awesome, as claimed for wing coasters (this was my first one). I didn't believe I'd crash, they were way weaker than Taron's and FLY's (yeah, I've been spoiled by Phanta). Anyway, decent low-thrill coaster which is always fun to ride, just lacks some punch.

  • Daniel Stark

    Débit Bonne suprise ! Sans intérêt

    This park is weird. Like, very, very weird. And they wanted a boomerang, but that was too normal for them. So? They got the weird Vekoma Invertigo, with inverted trains and face-to-face setting, quite a rare model. More fitting for this park. I guess this was more or less the decision-making process when buying this XD. Anyway, the ride was more fun than expected, not as horrendous as normal boomerangs, with a more bearable intensity and the nice face-to-face setting. Still, it wasn't very exciting, I don't really like these old-school inversions machines. The biggest pro is capacity: it had no line whatsoever, unlike most other rides. That's what happens when you have a "normal" coaster at a park with rides having less than 200 pph...

  • Daniel Stark

    Fun Longueur

    Hilarious. Everything at this theme park is weird, and this is no exception. I was laughing all the time on this. Very long, I don't know how many laps, maybe it was even too much. The fact that there was just one operator, nobody else riding and it was just a walk on was pretty funny. We sat, the guy pressed a button and kept watching us all the time. It's a powered coaster, but the enery supply system isn't on the track; it's a cable attachad to the back car and to a rotating statue on the center. Hilarious. Lot of fun to get this unique cred.

  • Daniel Stark

    Fun

    Another wild mouse, model I'm not a fan of. Not being even a Mack, I thought it'd be worse. It's fun. However, I don't remember much of this ride, as on one of the turns my phone slipped off my pocket and almost fell. I spent most of the ride trying to gab it and afraid I might lose it. Not a good experience at all, but it wasn't the ride's fault. Overall, just another wild mouse. Glad I rode it first thing in the morning; waiting times grew a lot afterwards.

  • Daniel Stark

    Théma Fun Inconfort

    Fun little kiddie. Theming isn't top tier, but at least there's something. Looks nice, better than nothing. Transitions were quite uncomfortable, though, cheap janky ride. Rexplorer at this park is a way better kiddie coaster.

  • Daniel Stark

    Théma Inconfort Sans intérêt

    This ride was bad. Capacity was weird, I don't quite understand what they were doing there. They just loaded all six trains at the same time, on both stations, and then they dispatched them all and waited till all of them had finished the cycle. Therefore, lines moved abruptly fast for an instant, and then got stuck for ages.Theming on the entrance and the vehicles was nice. That's the only good thing to say. This ride hurts. The first drops and following hills are nice, as the track is going staight, and you even get some very slight air. But afterwards, on the turns, those transitions are too janky. It's not fun to ride a coaster when every time it switches direction you have to brace for yourself and end up groaning on every transition. I'm not one to care about rattle or headbanging much, note that I can even enjoy SLCs and woodies like Coaster Express, but this coaster was just poorly designed. Do it only for the credit and then keep away!!

  • Daniel Stark

    Fun Inconfort

    It's fun and it look impressive with that height for a water ride. In the first row, after the vertical lift, it seems as if there were no track, building great anticipation. Pity that once it starts to drop you see all the track there at 45º and it only manages to provide some great sense of speed, nothing more. The hill after the first splash gives absolutely no airtime. The second splash is the one that can get you a bit more wet. The lap bar was good, but the seats were uncomfortable, too hard for me, which did take away from the experience.

  • Daniel Stark

    Théma Bonne suprise ! Fun Inconfort

    Theming is quite nice, lots of decent rockwork and there are a couple of dinos around. It was smoother than expected: some Mack powered coasters have quite janky transitions, and this was built by a pretty unknown manufacturer, so I thought it would be very rough. Turns out I was wrong, quite well designed, but for the fact that on the second lap it starts slowing down too soon, creating the uncomfortable situation others comment here. Overall quite a good kiddie, I even rode it a second time to take a break after rerides on the beast of Katun.

  • Daniel Stark

    Inconfort A raser ! Layout

    I never liked this model, even in the POVs looks boring. The trains, as most of old Vekoma ones, are really uncomfortable, too small and have horrible harnesses. The layout is, above all, unoriginal: two loopings, a boring turn, two corkscrews and that's all (well, there is an helix, but it's quite slow and pointless). It was not even fun, and it looks ugly from outside (why does it have to be white; I hate white-coloured coasters, that's NoLimits default colour). In light of Efteling willingness to replace old rides (like Pegasus or Bob), I hope they remove this monster as soon as possible.

  • Daniel Stark

    Théma Bonne suprise ! Fun Inconfort Layout

    Quite a pleasant surprise. More fun than what I remembered of Python @ Efteling (probably my memories were wrong). Layout is totally unspired, though. I rode towards the back, so the drop gave some nice, weakish floater, and after the loops there was also some very mild air. The loops feel awkward, too small for such long trains (or maybe the other way round), and the corkscrews were nothing special. Quite a tame ride overall. Theming was pretty simple, but it worked well enough for me. I love how this coaster is themed to drugs, so unique (my interpretation of the film on the queue, you smoke something with the Indian chief and then... roller coaster!). Most of the transitions weren't as janky as I'd expected, but the one after the second corkscrew everybody complains about... I'd never imagined it could be THAT bad. Wow. What the hell happened there, Vekoma?!

  • Daniel Stark

    Théma Sans intérêt Layout

    I'm weird, I don't hate SLCs, I don't find them uncomfortable. But I don't get what this coasters are about. They're just boring. I've ridden coasters way more rattly and painful. Maybe it's because I tend to ride SLCs first thing in the morning to avoid queuing too long for a ride I know I won't like, so it's cold and that's why it doesn't rattle. Next time I'll try riding it later in the afternoon. Anyway, the issue I find here is that the inversions offer no whip nor hangtime, there's no airtime at all, height and speed aren't extreme enough to be a thrill by themselves, and the positive forces are too weak (again, maybe it was cold). It's not really a bad coaster, but it's obviously not family-friendly, so I don't get why it is sooo tame. Theming is bad for Gardaland as well, by the way.