Coaster Hipster

Even though Parc Saint Paul is less than 2 hours away from where I live, I somehow never bothered to visit the place. After several delays and figuring out a public transportation/uber strategy to navigate in and out there, it was finally time to discover Parc Saint Paul and its reported quirkyness The entrance sets the tone with a plastic-y gate that wouldn't feel out of place at a fairground. The Campion family - who founded the park and still operates it to its day - were originally fairground ride operators which explains the very funfair look of most scenery there, as well as the nature of the rides. Started the day on Aérotrain. The ride op which was actually very warmful and friendly, was the most remarkable thing about my experience on this tame Vekoma kiddie. It makes for some nice parking lot mini-skyline, but of course I forgot to take a picture from that angle Toilet humour. Next was the local shameful cred, Pomme (apple in French). Actually make that 2 shameful creds! Never seen this sort of hairpin style kiddie before. It's obviously fairly uneventful, but the tight hairpin turns actually deliver some soft laterals which are rarely found on the usual kid-targeted coaster. There is actually a lot of trees around the paths, which alleviates the whole tacky scenery and basic, flat pathwork of the park. Since I didn't really research into the park, was surprised to find some sort of authentic village houses around the chairswing area. They look nice enough even though they feel too realistic to fit the otherwise carefree, fun atmosphere of Parc Saint Paul. But anyway, moving on to the main draw! Wood Express is really fun! There are so many little pops of ejector air taken at a good speed thoughout the layout. It doesn't provide much if any laterals at all unlike its older French cousin Timber at Walibi Rhône-Alpes, but I found the Parc Saint Paul woodie to be smoother. Also, the second hop on the double down midway through is remarkably strong! Like all other hills the airtime is very short, but it is definitely felt there in particular. Since chest-belt GoPros are accepted here - as with most smaller French parks - I took the chance to use my camera and test its 4K abilities. Parc Saint Paul clearly made a very clever move buying Wood Express. It's a lovely ride for the whole family, but thrillseekers will certainly enjoy the fun, airtime-filled experience. I'm very pleased to see another nice new ride in France, we're truly in a good phase after years of frustrating stagnation Next door is Formula 1, my first Pax coaster :eek: The Russian manufacturer has a reputation for making wonky rides, and this one surely has its share of weird transitions! Tbh, I didn't find F1 to be really rough. It has quite intense moments, especially the main drop which is quite sudden. The bad banking and above all horrible restraints prevent me from truly enjoying this however. Still something very unique and worth trying at least once though! Ending the cred with another fairground-ish coaster. Une Souris Verte is your typical Zamperla spinning wild mouse. After trying the horrible SBF equivalent (with OTSR...) this one feels like a relief. It's still a very mundane experience. Piece of trivia: Une Souris verte is actually named after the eponymous folk song for children. The sign above actually displays the lyrics! But wait, isn't there another cred here? That's correct, but Wild Train is SBNO for the year. Shame as it was reportedly the better Pax of the two at Parc Saint Paul. Oh well... Make of that what you will 😛 Tried the drop tower. The ascend to the top is actually, really, really slow! The ride's not very tall, but the drop itself is decent I guess. With all the main trill rides ticked off, it's time for some re-rides on Wood Express! Luckily the line, which went up to 30 minutes before, ended up shortening to a 5 to 10 minutes wait at the end of the day. Kudos to the good ride employees who kept the ride running and often tried their best to fill up empty seats Ended up with 11 rides on Wood Express eventually - and it was consistently fun! I found the front row better, but the difference is very slight anyway. Parc Saint Paul was fun! Obviously it is mostly about Wood Express from my enthousiast perspective, however the rest of the park has decent enough filler to keep me interested for a short day. The employees are friendly, and the place overall has a warm, unpretentious atmosphere. It does lack the charm of other French parks (Le Pal and Nigloland come to mind in particular) and I would not want to revisit any time soon, but the good dynamic of the park has to be acknowledged Next on my trip schedule is Holiday Park, where I return for a +1 kiddie cred and more Expedition GeForce bliss!

Good point there, also thanks for sharing the article I don't have a burning desire to visit such a park, but still have some curiosity about it. Sort of a 'how bad can it be?' curiosity (if it's actually bad at all), but yes, it's fascinating in a way. Actually this reminds me of Nara Dreamland, the Japanese loose equivalent - which however had a more subtle backstory. Defuctland made a great video narrating this (maybe this was shared here already):

Day 2 & 3 - Alton Towers After a very short night (we stayed late at Blackpool and then couldn't find the entrance to Alton's hotel resort for some reason...), I was very excited to walk in Alton Towers for the first time. Heard of the park ever since I became an enthusiast back in 2005, when I couldn't hear but praise about the creativity and quality of the rides. Even with the recent backlashes I was still very curious to experience Alton for real. First impressions: the Mainstreet is alright, however I am quite impressed with the gardens and Castle! The place certainly has a distinct charm, and feels more authentic than most amusement parks. It's just very pleasant and relaxing to walk around. We went to the back of the park and chose to begin the day with Rita. Great launch, but I really feel there is some missed potential here. Intamin launch coaster racing in the woods sounds really, really good on paper. In the end, the actual layout feels rather ininspiring and the forces rather soft. Decent ride, but I can't help but wondering what could have been. I apparently forgot to take pictures of Thirteen, but I found it enjoyable really. Smooth and fun outdoor section, fairly solid scenery. Obviously knew for ages about the drop trick, but still enjoyed it for what it is. Hex was next. Really liked the pre-show and queue in general. The actual ride is classic, but enjoyable Mad House action. It is a nice touch to walk in and around the castle after the exit. A long, very long walk leads our group to the most anticipated zone of the trip: Forbidden Valley! Galactica - I remember loving Superman Ultimate Flight at SFGAdv despite its reputation as a rather tame Flyer, so was looking forward to the one that started it all. I enjoyed gracefully gliding through the short and low to the ground layout, but I thought it lacked a truly breath-taking moment. I guess that's why Pretzel Loops were invented then! Nemesis - Going straight to the point with this one: Nemesis lived up to the hype for me! I just love how well this smaller invert breaks the generic B&M formula of "loop, zero G, another big inversion then corkscrews". I feel every portion of the layout flows so well and the terrain interaction makes the whole thing even more impressive. Most of the layout is intense, though not to the extreme levels of complete gray/black-out, except for that insane downwards helix right after the first corkscrew. Helixes are generally for me a monotonous affair, sometimes intense, but most often lacking a 'sudden' element to make it truly exciting imo. (Not sure if I worded that well) Not Nemesis'. With the sudden acceleration and change in height, that helix has such a wonderful dynamic and feels like being caught in a whirlwind! Definitely a 'favourite coaster moment' in my books. Dark Ride Shooters are most often good fun, and Duel is no exception. Having only done it once and trying too hard to get a high score (and of course, failing to do so), I was too distracted to really appreciate the theming. I think it was quite good though. We then proceeded to Wicker Man, but its Q was approaching 2 hours so we walked even further to The Smiler. I have to admit I was always perplexed by this record-breaker, inversions don't over-excite me and the original Gerstlauer Infinity has 14 of them. It does look quite appealing off-ride though. The whole scenery made out of mostly concrete and metal fences is really weird to me, but it kinda... works? I mean it feels a little out of place compared to other Alton Towers, but isn't short of entertainement value. Got a 2nd row middle seat, and the first half wasn't actually that bad. Mostly smooth upside-down action and a decent pop of airtime squeezed somewhere in-between. The second act was some headbanging galore however, putting me on defensive riding mode the whole way through It's kinda worrying for a relatively young coaster really. At this point the group split off, and I chose to head straight back to Forbidden Valley hoping for some re-rides on Nemesis. Oh yeah. In the end, managed 10 consecutive laps on Nemesis! Was a perfect way to conclude the day. The following morning, we went straight to the Wicker Dude for some early hotel guest ERT, but the thing was down, and we ended up waiting over an hour on a surprisingly busy Monday at the park. To be honest, I was actually unaffected by the hype and hype backlash around the ride's construction and only followed the whole thing from a distance - as you may know I was more preoccupied with the endless Hyperion updates showing the same pullouts every time So I sat aboard the train expecting something in the range of InvadR, nothing overwhelming, but a fun family woodie type of coaster. And it felt just like that. I found Wicker Man to have rather good pacing (even that flat turnaround did not bother me very much), little airtime but an emphasis of laterals in a ride that feels a little short in duration. Nice use of the terrain, too. I also didn't watch the preshow stuff beforehand. Pretty impressive video mapping imo! The ride happened to break down right during the lap of some in our group - another half-hour gone due to an ordinary smaller GCI somehow not working properly! Thankfully though, we were compensated with Fast Passes, which were duly utilized later that day for some walk-on rerides on Wicker Man. Customer service was really decent overall during my visit I might say. Despite the issues here and there, still felt there wasn't much faffing around and that the staff was actually trying their best. We then tried - and eventually failed - to get the remaining creds. The hour-long Q at Spinball Whizzer was partly responsible for the failed cred hunt. Noticed some distinctive structure shuffling each time a car goes through some specific sections of the layout which made me worry about how comfortable the ride would be. Turns out it was a pretty intense spinner! Threw me around quite a lot, and the whole experience was wonky, but fun. I feel guilty for thinking this is more exciting than Winjas, despite the latter's wonderful theming and tricks. I like how Alton created a nice zone to enhance Oblivion's drop. It really is an elaborated build-up for the big moment. Not sure if that's an unpopular opinion, but despite all that, the ride itself wasn't as thrilling as, per example, Griffon. The drop definitely feels better at the front, however even there, I thought it wasn't as much of a deal as the whole build-up suggests. Still an enjoyable machine though. At this point, we only had about 2 hours left, so we decided "m*rde with the +1 creds, let's re-ride the good stuff instead!" Which we duly did. Along with the aforementioned Fast Pass laps on Wicker Man, we returned to Forbidden Valley for a final time. My best attempt at capturing both B&Ms in action. I was really impressed with Alton Towers in the end The valley and forest background are just superb, it is so unusual to wander a bit and to end up in a quiet, relaxing grove inside an amusement park. I appreciate a lot the park's emphasis creating an intricate ride storyline and atmosphere. The coaster line-up has some good depth and variety. However only Nemesis provides a truly breath-taking, superlative experience in my opinion. With AT's ride height restrictions, it was always going to be a tough act to follow and subsequent Secret Weapons did a reasonably good job, while never reaching the creative peak of Nemmie. Maybe I'm getting spoilt, but I can't help but imagine the park could have been even better with a more ambitious Rita, or a truly ground-breaking woodie. Despite those nit-picky considerations, Alton Tower easily becomes one of my favourite parks. It's a charming place that I would really, really recommend to my GP friends!

For whatever reasons, I never visited English amusement parks until this year, even though coasters across the Channel - especially Alton's - had my interest ever since I became an enthusiast back in 2005. But with the additions of both Icon and Wicker Man and the opportunity to join fellow French/Belgian goons on a road trip meant I finally got the chance to experience creds in England! Day 1 - Blackpool Icon - I was actually quite worried about the Qs after seeing quite a packed entrance, but in reality the wait times were fine throughout the whole day - 30 minutes at most on the new coaster. Rode it 6/7 times and while Icon doesn't reach the graceful bliss of Helix or the insanity of Taron, it remains a pretty solid ride experience. Some weak spots here and there, but also a couple of strong highlight elements as well! It is a grower for sure. Definitely preferred the back seat for the nice mix of airtime and laterals exiting the Immelmann. Highlights: The first hill, the twisted hill and the Immelmann (back seat) Lowlights: The first launch is kinda weak, the meandering turns around Stepplechase After starting the day on a high, our group decided to tick off the classic woodies one after another. Big Dipper - Was quite worried to ride this, fearing a really unconfortable experience. In the end it was pretty harmless, and even delivered some fun little pops of air! Re-rode later in the day with a bulky guy, which meant I had a lot of space between me and my lap bar. Flying over those small hills was quite exciting actually Grand National - Only got to try the left side. It was quite bouncy, but not to the point it became too rough. There are some definite moments of sudden airtime only old woodies (and maybe some wonky Pax coasters) deliver. The racing element also made the experience quite enjoyable. Nickelodeon Streak - Apart from the flash colour scheme, it was kinda forgettable really. Not too rattly, nor too exciting either. Blue Flyer - Couldn't help mispronounce this kiddie "Blue Fire" instead. Kinda cute coaster actually, and I would have loved to have this sort of ride at my home park when I was a child. With the woodies done, we went for a lunch break before getting on the Arrows... Stepplechase (yellow side) - Hmm... ouch?! The seating position was really awkward and almost every turn entrance or exit was jolty. Really unique ride for sure and I wouldn't want it to be torn down, but it's really unfortunate that the ride experience is not so comfortable. Big One - I have to say this Arrow hyper looks really photogenic and mighty. Aboard, it provides nice views of Blackpool and the coast as well. Otherwise, this is arguably one of the shakiest coaster I've ever ridden! Definitely had to hang on to the bar in front of me. For some reason though I couldn't help laughing during the whole experience - despite the rattle, the coaster carries some good speed throughout the whole layout making for an 'entertaining' experience. Actually wished I could get a second ride on it but the train valleyed in the final turns so... nope. Revolution - The whole thing looks really weird - first climbing some stairs as if you were about to do some water slides, then entering this 'station' without a ceiling and with no doors between the platform and the train. But for all the weirdness, Revolution is quite a fun ride actually. Fairly intense loop and some little pops of airtime on the drops. Avalanche - Was surprised by the second half. I ended up being crushed by the bar with the ending helixes being unexpectedly intense and twisty! The lack of MCBR arguably helps the momentum of this Bobleigh, and it feels smoother than Trace du Hourra back home. Didn't get to ride Infusion as it closed right when I was about to enter the Q. Not that I care much about that. I am quite happy with my first day at Blackpool. Some areas feel quite tacky, but the whole place is lively and I appreciate its unique selection of dated vintage rides (RIP Wild Mouse though). Icon adds a much-needed quality ride experience to compliment well the heritage coasters. I wouldn't return soon unless they add anything big, but BPB was a pleasant start to our trip! Next part: Alton Towers For whatever reasons, I never visited English amusement parks until this year, even though coasters across the Channel - especially Alton's - had my interest ever since I became an enthusiast back in 2005. But with the additions of both Icon and Wicker Man and the opportunity to join fellow French/Belgian goons on a road trip meant I finally got the chance to experience creds in England! Day 1 - Blackpool Icon - I was actually quite worried about the Qs after seeing quite a packed entrance, but in reality the wait times were fine throughout the whole day - 30 minutes at most on the new coaster. Rode it 6/7 times and while Icon doesn't reach the graceful bliss of Helix or the insanity of Taron, it remains a pretty solid ride experience. Some weak spots here and there, but also a couple of strong highlight elements as well! It is a grower for sure. Definitely preferred the back seat for the nice mix of airtime and laterals exiting the Immelmann. Highlights: The first hill, the twisted hill and the Immelmann (back seat) Lowlights: The first launch is kinda weak, the meandering turns around Stepplechase After starting the day on a high, our group decided to tick off the classic woodies one after another. Big Dipper - Was quite worried to ride this, fearing a really unconfortable experience. In the end it was pretty harmless, and even delivered some fun little pops of air! Re-rode later in the day with a bulky guy, which meant I had a lot of space between me and my lap bar. Flying over those small hills was quite exciting actually Grand National - Only got to try the left side. It was quite bouncy, but not to the point it became too rough. There are some definite moments of sudden airtime only old woodies (and maybe some wonky Pax coasters) deliver. The racing element also made the experience quite enjoyable. Nickelodeon Streak - Apart from the flash colour scheme, it was kinda forgettable really. Not too rattly, nor too exciting either. Blue Flyer - Couldn't help mispronounce this kiddie "Blue Fire" instead. Kinda cute coaster actually, and I would have loved to have this sort of ride at my home park when I was a child. With the woodies done, we went for a lunch break before getting on the Arrows... Stepplechase (yellow side) - Hmm... ouch?! The seating position was really awkward and almost every turn entrance or exit was jolty. Really unique ride for sure and I wouldn't want it to be torn down, but it's really unfortunate that the ride experience is not so comfortable Big One - I have to say this Arrow hyper looks really photogenic and mighty. Aboard, it provides nice views of Blackpool and the coast as well. Otherwise, this is arguably one of the shakiest coaster I've ever ridden! Definitely had to hang on to the bar in front of me. For some reason though I couldn't help laughing during the whole experience - despite the rattle, the coaster carries some good speed throughout the whole layout making for an 'entertaining' experience. Actually wished I could get a second ride on it but the train valleyed in the final turns so... nope. Revolution - The whole thing looks really weird - first climbing some stairs as if you were about to do some water slides, then entering this 'station' without a ceiling and with no doors between the platform and the train. But for all the weirdness, Revolution is quite a fun ride actually. Fairly intense loop and some little pops of airtime on the drops. Avalanche - Was surprised by the second half. I ended up being crushed by the bar with the ending helixes being unexpectedly intense and twisty! The lack of MCBR arguably helps the momentum of this Bobleigh, and it feels smoother than Trace du Hourra back home. Didn't get to ride Infusion as it closed right when I was about to enter the Q. Not that I care much about that. I am quite happy with my first day at Blackpool. Some areas feel quite tacky, but the whole place is lively and I appreciate its unique selection of dated vintage rides (RIP Wild Mouse though). Icon adds a much-needed quality ride experience to compliment well the heritage coasters. I wouldn't return soon unless they add anything big, but BPB was a pleasant start to our trip! Next part: Alton Towers

Haven't ridden AA but I think SLCs in essence have a great layout depite the usually horrible comfort. I rode Mayan at Energylandia, which was built in 2015 and has had from the start the new trains with vest restraints. It is actually decent fun! The ride has strong forces and is well paced too. You still have a couple of jolts at some moments, but overall the ride comfort is much improved compared to your regular SLC. I wonder if Vekoma did some slight track modifications, as Mind Eraser at SFNE which also has vests is much rougher and much less enjoyable...

Only counting coasters I've ridden this year (re-ridden and new): 1) Expedition GeForce - The definitive airtime machine for me. 2) Lech Coaster - Relentless new-gen Vekoma! 3) Superman the Ride (Six Flags New England) - Would match EGF imo if it weren't for these poor restraints! 4) Schwur des Kärnan - So weird, yet so exhilarating! 5) Helix - Wonderful complete coaster experience despite the lesser intensity. 6) Taron - Unconsistent, but very unique ride with some really amazing elements. 7) Wicked Cyclone - So much ejector airtime it's a little painful! 8) Balder - Great first drop and a ridiculously fun pattern of repeating bunny hops with airtime! 9) Formuła (Energylandia) - Short, but very fun mix of elements! 10) Star Trek: Operation Enterprise - A delicate mix between agressive little pops of airtime and subtle floater moments. Happy New Year everyone! Even though I'm not posting much, it's a real pleasure to read and follow this forum

Amazing report! It's also a very valuable one as not many people go to this place, to put it mildly. The park looks quite pretty actually, the landscape work is impressive. Deep Space and Nitro also seems like an exciting coaster combo. Batman at SFNE was pretty meh on both my visits there, but the steeper drop and longer layout are great improvements. Your praise and commentary on Deep Space makes me wish Premier build more of these - their Sky Rocket II is photogenic, but lacks substance imo. Thanks for sharing the pictures and impressions on this overlooked park

If the project comes true, I'm curious how successful the park would be. Ferrari World is the only noteworthy competition in Abu Dhabi, and reports I read say it's generally empty - with only Formula Rossa drawing long lines, even with the opening of Flying Aces. Looking at the RCDB page, I found that one 'Inverted' coaster is listed in the coasters under construction. I wonder if that's one of the Intamin Inverted coasters that have been rumored recently. https://rcdb.com/13899.htm

Time for the Vekoma and MACK Rides interviews Both companies enjoy a steady momentum, and it's great to hear from senior professionals some explanations!

It's a shame MW doesn't seem to advertise properly what is such a remarkable product. From the shaky POV to the uninspiring ads in trains... there was potential for so much more! Not only DC Rivals seems to be a really exciting coaster, it's also one of the most appealing and photogenic I've ever seen. I mean, why bother using this landmark Joker head at the top of the lift hill if you're barely advertising it afterwards? I'm sure the coaster will be a tremendous success nevertheless, but it will be despite this lacklustre marketing campaign

Last September, I was in Berlin for this year's Euro Attractions Show as a reporter for French website CoastersWorld. As part of my coverage, I made several interviews with representatives of coaster manufacturers. Here are the first two of these! First, James Swinden of Great Coasters International gives his insight into his company's way of building wooden coasters. I really appreciated his sincere passion for his job, and for a professional still very early in his career, his answers were very articulate and accurate! Second, Sascha Czibulka, Vice-President of Intamin, gave me a 16-minute long interview that really exceeded my expectations! His answers were superb, detailed and very informative His account of how the hydraulic launch system had been created for Knott's Berry Farm was particularly valuable. Really talented senior executive who knows his work very well. If you're interested, there's some more to come: - Maximilian Roeser of MACK Rides talks about the manufacturer's lastest coasters, including DC Rivals! - Chuck Bingham of Martin & Vleminckx discusses the challenges and rewards of building wooden coasters in China. - Chad Miller of The Gravity Group tells us the story of how he became a coaster engineer, and the most important aspects of a woodie according to him. (hint: airtime!) - Peter van Bilsen gives the reasons behind Vekoma's remarkable comeback. I want to thank all people involved in these interviews. The interviewees of course, but also all of my CoastersWorld mates for their precious help in the making of these videos. This was a wonderful experience meeting and interviewing all these professionals, and I hope you'll like the resulting interviews

Thanks I agree about Phanta, the mix of exciting coasters/flat rides and theming is truly unique and breathtaking. Really looking forward to F.L.Y. too, Vekoma is doing great things at the moment and a collab with Phantasialand could do fireworks! Part 1: Movie Park Germany Like many others, I did not have particularly high expectations for this park - especially visiting right after Phantasialand. For years, Movie Park stood out for the wrong reasons (a horrible SLC and Bandit), but at least Star Trek raised my curiosity. Although the plaza features a bizarre sight mixing Star Trek with a volcano top, I actually liked the Main Street itself. Decent looking Hollywood pastiche stuff. MP Xpress had a distinct nasty smell that joined the brutal headbanging usually found on most SLC. It's like the owners thought 'How can we make this worse?' I actually had some fun moments on Bandit! It does have a very prominent rattle at many moments, but the pacing is good and the ride convey an exciting 'out-of-control' feel akin to the best woodies. Oh and the lift hill chain is so fast, you would think you're on an Intamin cable-thing :eek: (Also did the floorless drop tower nearby, which did hurt my nuts too) Crazy Surfer has a nice theme idea - riding a wave and stuff - but there's not much actual scenery. I had luck with the seat choosing as I got to experience the spikes facing the disappearing track in front of me Some parts feel empty, but overall Movie Park did a good job with the entrance, queue and station scenery work. Late in the day, the employee doing the animation in the command room before the station was awesome! Really charismatic and engaging. Wish I filmed the moment. Same inversion - three different angles. Star Trek was in reality a lot of fun! Tame first launch for sure, but the backwards climb into the spike is quite forceful and provides some exciting weird laterals and floaty forces. Backseat is definitely better to experience that funky spike! The relatively slow pacing provides some good hangtime throughout the rest of the layout, and the bunny hops section is sketchy but quite exciting too. That part almost feels like a wooden coaster and delivers several good pops of ejector. Excellent addition to the park really! I didn't even know Van Helsing existed. Cool Gerstlauer Bobsled with a fairly unusual layout Good thing that the best two coasters of the park are near each other, so you don't have to return to that dreadful SLC zone again. Time to tick off the remaining 3 creds of the park. Not much to say about Mission to Mars (top), but Ghost Chasers did give me an exhilarating moment! Basically, I'm quite skinny, and was riding with CoasterForce legend Kenny - who is quite the opposite of skinny. That left me with a lot of space betweem my legs and the lap bar, which delivered a nice surprise float during the big drop! Awesome moment on a generic Wild Mouse :eek: I was worried about Jimmy Neutron's Atomic Flyer's transportable-style supports, but the ride was quite enjoyable family fun. Decent gliding sensation and speed. It's quite hard to get decent pictures of Mystery River. The ride itself has surprising speed for a Rapids ride. Theming really feel cardboard-y however The local Shoot-the-Chute is named Bermuda Triangle and is themed around... sci-fi volcano I guess? I got front seat and that was really wet... which sucks considering my aversion for water rides. I really wished I did make that poncho investment at Phantasialand ^^ The Halloween Horror maze has an immersive and tense atmosphere, but overly relies on jumpscares in my opinion. It does keep you on your nerve all the way, but gets repetitive towards the end. I, like some others, was quite excited for my night ride on Bandit. Some were even queuing for the second-to-last row with anticipation. The actual ride was even wilder, but it gave me substantial back pain for the rest of the night :eek: At this point, some in the group went for more scare mazes, while I split off for more Star Trek goodness! I had a fun day at Movie Park Germany really! I wasn't too bothered by the lacklustre stuff and enjoyed a lot Van Helsing and Star Trek. I think some of the negative image around the park is due to having such impressive competition around. Having low expectations probably help, but this park really has some fun and nice bits

A month ago Nigloland in France published this montage of drone footage around Alpina Blitz. I feel the PR of the park is really improving and reflects its upwards momentum ever since the addition of the Mack Megalite.

Never actually been there, but a little disclaimer about Parque Warner in Madrid: while the park is open on weekend in November, their Vekoma GIB (Stunt Fall) is generally shut down during Fall/Winter because of the colder weather from my understanding. Not that you're guaranteed a ride in Summer anyway since that thing is notoriously unreliable, but if you're really aiming for maximum creds that piece of info might be valuable to have in mind. For Parque de Atraciones de Madrid, the Intamin Invert, Tornado, only runs with enough people aboard the train. Which means you might miss the cred if the park is too empty (irony). From what I've heard the coaster isn't nothing outstanding though! PortAventura is the safe bet however. Everything should be open and running fine, although you might get both Intamin launch coasters breaking down from time to time. The park is very, very busy in the Summer, but you should be fine visiting in November!

It's awesome to have some Aussie coasterfans coming to Europe! I hope you'll love it. When exactly do you plan to visit amusement parks? Most parks are open the first week of November (Monday 31th Oct to Sunday 5th), and some do open the final week of November as well. Sweden has the best quality/quantity ratio in Europe imo, for reasons discussed above (also Lisebergbanan is considered one of the best Schwarzkopf by some!) However, while Liseberg will be open for some days in November, its high profile rides will be closed. Helix, Balder & co only open during Spring, Summer and Halloween. During the Winter and late Fall, Liseberg is more of a public garden, since it is located close to the city centre - I believe it's right next to the city college! Toverland has the same issue from my understanding. After November 4th, only the indoor section is open... you would then miss on Troy (fab GCI woodie from what I heard) and more Which transporation will you use btw? Some parks like Holiday Park, home of Expedition GeForce, are quite challenging to reach by public transportation - and it is closed during all but one day in November anyways. Phantasialand however, has a 40 min shuttle from Koln. Here's a list of parks in mainland Europe, open in November I suggest visiting: - PortAventura, Spain Shambhala is worth the visit alone, considered by some to be the best B&M and the best coaster in Europe, so much floater air! Great looking park as well. Open during the whole month - Phantasialand, Germany Really unique park and one of my favourites. They have to work with a tight footprint and are really, really creative with it! Taron is an intense, very snappy Intamin LSM launch coaster. They have a €15 fastpass which you can use 4 times on most major rides except for Taron. Also, if you are a hotel guest, you can have excusive rides on Taron after park closure for one hour! It is really a treat to experience this coaster at night Open November 1->5th and 24->30 - Europa-Park, Germany No need to introduce this one. Lots to do, but the operations are super efficient so you should be able to do most thrill coasters (and perhaps every coaster) in a day. Might ask for the optimal order to ride the coasters and reduce waiting to some of my more knowledgable friends if you want. Open November 1->5 and 24->30 I'll post more if I think of more. Issue is, as other said, is that most parks are closed by November 5th About Disneyland Paris, both parks are doable in one day, especially if the park closes late. You might want to start with the Studios, which is quite underwhelming imo, and then enjoy the rest of the day at Disneyland Park itself. Enjoy your visit to Europe! Bon voyage !

I've had a nice and cheerful experience with the guys at CoasterForce at Parc Astérix, so I decided to join them for another, bigger trip! This time I would also discover 3 new parks in Germany, in addition to a return to Phantasialand... Summary Part 0: Phantasialand - Return of Taron Part 1: Movie Park Germany - Star Trek is actually underrated! Part 2: Heide Park - My first Wing Coaster Part 3: Hansa Park - Lovely management and stunning Kärnan Part 0: Phantasialand Although not an official part of GhosterForce, many people from CF added a stop to Phanta before the main event. The temptation to return there and get more night Taron craze was too much! One of my car-mates was Rachel, who was visiting the park for her first time, and her excitement was infectious! It's always a special feeling for me to return there and enjoy unique creative theming and rides, but to share the experience with someone who's never visited before added to my joy and certainly made me proud of my favourite park We also met CSLKennyNI, which was a real pleasure. Really cool guy with great insights on the park and the German coasters in general Starting with Maus au Chocolat allowed us to avoid long lines there, and therefore the high-pitch mice noises didn't get too annoying. I find this shooter dark-ride to be a lot of fun, despite the shoulder pain it indulges and despite my actually terrible aiming skills! The walk to Wuze Town includes a stopover near the much-discussed F.L.Y. sign. Winjas was good family fun as usual. It has a lot of gimmicks, but it truly adds to the experience instead of being a marketing overhype. Only complaint is that the cars are really narrow, even for a skinny dude like me :eek: We cleared off this side of the park with two of its more dated rides: Temple of the Night Hawk and Hollywood Tour. I suppose that, along the Berlin entrance, Phantasialand will work on refurbishing this zone to bring it to the standards of the park. Temple is actually fairly smooth and has some decent pace, but its family-ish layout calls for much more theming than a ride in the complete dark with no effects whatsoever. Chiapas is for me what a flume ride should be. Gorgeous, immersive theming and music that keeps you entertaining throughout. The disco part never ceases to keep me excited! After that, I split a while from the group to take more pictures and off-ride videos, we rejoined for Mystery Castle. The launch took me by surprise as I was expecting some more wait before the boost kicks off. I know it's part of the theming, but I wish it weren't so dark during the actual ride experience, so you could see the others as you drop and launch up again during the short program. Still a creative and exciting take on the usual drop tower/space shot type of attraction! We walked through the Klugheim zone but did not ride the gem Intamin yet. Not exactly sure how we resisted the temptation with so many breathtaking interactions with the ride, but I also remember Rachel really really wanted to make Taron her #300! Colorado Adventure was I believe her final stepping stone before reaching 300. I still like this Mine Train very much, the long layout provides a enjoyable ride. However, Big Thunder Mountain in Paris did have more of a wild out-of-control feel since its rehab. The banking on Colorado is funky at times. You have some wonky laterals which gets really fun during the dark section. Not having hard OTSR on an old Vekoma (and no inversions either) really helps I suppose! Can we ride Taron now then? Yessss!!! After that exhilarating Night ERT last April, I was curious to ride again the much-praised Intamin Blitz. Predictably, it wasn't as intense at noon, but Taron still surprises me, notably with the wicked change of direction right after the first airtime hill! Really snappy twist coming after a dive under some building so you can't really see it coming if you're not familiar with the layout. I split again from the group for the launch break. I was planning to shoot more videos of Taron, but a 5 minutes wait for single riders decided otherwise... Not gonna refuse such a treat! Did 3 more solo rides then, and also grabbed a front row ride on Raik, which does have a twisty bit of its own. It's a cool extra really Black Mamba at the front was still remarkably forceful. The layout is kinda generic, but very enjoyable nonetheless. The drum beat playing as the train exits the station always makes me more excited! Did a couple more re-rides later in the day which confirmed my positive thoughts about the Invert. I somehow forgot to take a picture of Talocan on fire. Such a spectacular thrill ride and once again, the scenery and atmosphere really enhance the experience there! Onto the final "new" attraction of the day: I never did Hotel Tartuff in 7 previous visits to Phantasialand. :eek: It's very easy to miss it and mistake it for yet another merch store in the Main Street. The CF lively atmosphere made the Fun House quite fun actually! The rest of the day was re-rides so let's skip to the most exciting part... Exclusive rides on Taron for the hotel guests, yay! I have to say, while the coaster does feel less borderline insane than before, I still get the adrenaline rush that makes me run in excitement from the station exit to the ride's gates all across the empty line again and again. The epic fanfare, the magnetic roars, and a twisty fast-paced layout really kept me excited during the whole hour. I ended up riding Taron 10 times during that session, and 15 times the day overall. Phantasialand really had a superb idea to make this hotel ERT, that's a brilliant piece of marketing there!

I wonder if that could be the new multi-launch spinner that Intamin advertised at EAS 2017. That's a bit of a stretch, but not impossible either!

A little bit of shameless self-promotion, as I visited again Phantasialand last week as part of the GhosterForce meeting. In addition to the fab Brühl, discovered Movie Park Germany, Heide Park and Hansa. Definitely expect Trip Reports coming up! @Gazza Will definitely upload the most valuable pics to the site if you want

Back on topic of favourite coaster videos, I really like the Movemotions official montages stuff: Truly inspiring editing and filming imo. Make me really excited for the ride every time!

Futuroscope's manager, Dominique Hummel, has recently announced the construction of a major roller coaster at the park for 2019. The coaster would cost 22 million euros, theming included, which would be the biggest investment of the park for a long while. Source in French: http://www.centre-presse.fr/article-558530-le-futuroscope-attend-pesquet-loeb-et-une-montagne-russe.html Additional info surfaced on the dedicated Futuroscope fan: - The coaster's height requirement will be 105 cm or 42 inches - It will be themed to a space adventure - Will have both indoor and outdoor sections - One of the element would be a freefall drop section of track. Source in French: http://www.forum-futuroscope.net/t829p30-projet-de-coaster-sur-l-espace-au-futuroscope-fin-2019 Very interesting news. Futuroscope has never been coaster-focused. In fact, they only have one roller coaster and it's just a Sunkid Butterfly. But they have a strong financial momentum. I'm very curious how the regular Futuroscope audience will react to this departure from their usual style. It is a fascinating gamble that could well expand the park's reach. Futuroscope is one of the largest French amusement parks and is located near Poitiers, in the western-ish part of the country. It generally has a 2M visitors attendance.

So my friends at French website CoastersWorld just made a documentary about Alpina Blitz, the Mack Megalite at Nigloland. They've been granted some cool perks by the park, such as some backstage tour, permission to film from the coaster's lift hill catwalks, and an interview of the manager itself, Rodolphe Gélis! The video blends some nerdy technical footage (ever wanted to see a transfer track being used?) with insightful backstories about why and how Nigloland chose this coaster type. Mr Gélis notably explains why the park picked Mack over Intamin, and gives his own experiences and opinions about coasters! Of course, the video has English subtitles for you Feel free to give your thoughts on this documentary. My mates at CoastersWorld plan to make it a series with more insights on other coasters...!

All the replies above are very accurate and helpful already If you have time in Tokyo, I suggest trying Gekion Like Coaster at Tokyo Joypolis. It seemed (understandably) very overlooked by the big guns in an around Tokyo, but it looks like a truly bizarre and exciting Gerstlauer Spinning coaster... with an inversion! Yep, years before SDC announced Time Traveler ^^ https://rcdb.com/6453.htm

Seeing this unanimous and overwhelming praise is so heartwarming. This is the kind of emotion and excitement which explains why I'm so deeply interested in rollercoasters. I truly hope to make my way across the world to ride it someday <3

It looks so pretty at night Reminds me of awesome night rides on Helix, but DC Rivals could be even better with its layout!

To be entirely honest, I'm still quite new to the site and do not follow all its publications. So I probably missed a lot of interactions and stuff going on here. Oops :s