CookieCoasters
Giga Poster
So for our first trip avec theme parks of the year, we are currently spending a week in Paris. At the moment were are in Roissy, just outside CDG airport for Parc Asterix and Disney, before we will eventually move onto the city for the culture stuff.
So yesterday we made our way to Parc Asterix, which is was only about 10-15 mins from the hotel and we actually ended up getting there really early; nearly an hour before the park opening. Obviously it was pretty quiet at that time, but I didn't want to get my hopes up for quiet day because every other time we've been to the park, it has been really crowded.
We got through bag checks (is this new? Don't remember it from last time), then bought our tickets and lined up in one of the queues outside the entrance. After being moved between three of these different queue lines because they decided not to sign post which ones they were going to open, they eventually let us through into the entrance area of the park. Once we got to the rope, there was about 20 minutes until 10am, so we played some theme-park related games At 10am the rope dropped and off we went.
Once the rope dropped we made our way briskly to OzIris, as I thought Tonnerre de Zeus (being a rather temperamental woodie) would benefit from having some time to warm up.
I last rode OzIris back in the summer of its opening year and at that time, I would have to say I wasn't its biggest fan. Back then I thought that it had a good first half, but post the underwater dive, I found it to be a little on the tame side.
You can't deny it has a fantastic setting though
The queue line is also one of the better-themed ones.
We got on about the third train of the day and went to the back row.
So, my thoughts on it 3 years after opening. I think it is has improved quite a lot since. First off, the first drop has always been great, especially for an invert. Sometimes I would wait for the little pre-drop and then get surprised when we just went straight down. I feel that the rest of the ride had definitely 'loosened up' since my last visit. The first part had some great forces and was smooth, without being too smooth if that makes sense.
I think the underwater dive is a cool feature, but I think it's more for the visuals. The kind of funky corckscrew/zero-g roll inversion is still a little bit pointless IMO as it doesn't really add anything to the experience. I'd forgotten about the pop of airtime you get as you dive down towards the last inversion, so that was a nice surprise. I remember thinking nothing of the final zero g roll last time, but this time I quite enjoyed the floaty sensation it provided. Then the ride ends with a fairly standard couple of turns.
It might have been partially down to going in with lower expectations this time, but I really the ride has improved. Its not one of my absolute favourite inverts because I still find the second half slightly weaker, but its a very solid coaster and a hell of a lot of fun.
After we had ridden OzIris twice with minimal queuing, we decided to make our way over to TDZ. On the way, you go through this indoor pathway with shops and stuff; a part of the park that I always find quite unique.
Once we got to Tonnerre de Zeus, the queue was short (yah!), but they were only running one train, which even when its quiet still irks me.
I have ridden TDZ on two previous visits. On the first visit, it was fantastic, extremely relentless and exciting. At the time it instantly made it into my top 3, with I think only EGF and Tatsu ahead of it. On the second visit 3 years ago, it was rather lackluster and very disappointing compared to the previous time. I know it's generally only thought to be an average coaster by most, so I was interested to see how it performed during this visit.
I chose the front row of the back car, as from my experience this seat provides the best ride, but is usually a more comfortable experience than the very back row. The airtime you get from this seat on the first drop is brilliant; really takes you by surprise. You then go into the tunnel and up into a sharp turn. From this moment, I knew the ride was back to its fine form. It was back to being completely relentless, long, exciting and lateral heaven.
Now I wouldn't say that laterals are something that usually particularly interest me, but TDZ executes them so well. Yes they're are quite aggressive and in abundance, but they really help provide that WOW factor The ride also has some more great airtime moments on the hills towards the middle of the ride, which gives the experience some more diversity. The trick track section works really well as you are still going pretty fast at that time and especially at the back, it catches you off guard. Now it is a very shaky ride, but IMO, never in an uncomfortable way. It only adds more to the ride experience.
I know many of you are going to disagree here, but I think that when TDZ is running on top form, it is definitely the best CCI (out of the one's I've ridden obv.) over Boulderdash. Boulderdash has more airtime, but I find the layout of TDZ more enticing and actually more comfortable. The only problem I have is that it clearly is quite inconsistent in how well it runs (as a lot of woodies are), but I still believe that it is a massively underrated wooden coaster
We only rode TDZ once at that point as the queue had grown and I wanted to see if they would put the second train on. Therefore, I made my way over to the seemingly gorgeous mess of Vekoma steel across the lake.
I remember thinking that I would probably never go on Goudurix again, but since it has received some re-profiling, I thought it was worth giving it another try.
The queue was a bit longer than I would have hoped for and this was also running only one train, but I knew I wanted to get it done at some point, so I just decided to do it. It was only about 30 mins.
Anyway for the ride: the track is still quite 'kinky', but in all fairness I did notice a difference in the severity of the head-banging. The main problem I found actually was the restraints really hurt my shoulders. I don't know if this is just because I have grown to an awkward height for them, but before they do anything else, Parc Asterix really need to get the new Vekoma vest-restraint trains.
We then walked over to the main restaurant because we were all quite hungry, but there was still 15 minutes until it opened so we headed over the Le Grande Splash
There was no queue, so we essentially just walked onto the boat. I really don't want to go back to Parc Asterix in the summer now, it is so much more enjoyable when it isn't absolutely rammed.
The ride has two drops. The first is very small and is just after you go through asterix mountain. Then there is a long meandering section in the 'jungle', but they make it more interesting with water bombs, fountains etc. The final drop is also quite small, as you can see in the picture above. We actually barely got wet this time, but I definitely think we've gotten quite wet on previous visits. Its a fun ride but I prefer the one at Port Aventura.
We then went back to the restaurant and had our lunch. I can't remember its name, but the building is made out of different fruits (not literally). Sadly I don't have any pictures though. My parents were having a dessert, but I wasn't so while they were waiting for it, I ran over to TDZ as I noticed they were running TWO trains :--D
Another surprise was that the ride was basically walk-on, which was great. I had another two goes and it was even more mental than earlier. On the second go it got stuck on the lift hill though for about 20 mins. The only thing I thought was thank God the ride isn't that tall because I would not want to have to walk down the stairs from the height of something like Shambhala. But it got going after a little while.
We then decided to do some of the other water rides, starting with the rapids
It's really short and kind of dull. Not much else to say really.
Menhir Express is one of my favourite log flumes
I like that it moves through the channel quite fast and I think the 'surprise twist' to the first drop is quite good. I also love the hollowed-out stones you travel in. It is definitely the wettest of the three water rides at the park.
We then went back to the OzIris area, where I got three more rides on it. It still only had a very short queue.
This is my favourite photo that I took of it.
It was noticeably more intense than it was in the morning, particularly in the first half. You can often measure the intensity level by the feeling of blood rushing to your feet.
We then went over to L'Oxygenarium (raft slide), but that also broke, but this time we were in the queue line. As shown in the picture above, it looked as though there might have been some raft jam because they were 'rescuing' people from what appeared to be stranded rafts.
I then did some more TDZ
And some more OzIris. We did go back to L'Oxy... but none of us thought it was worth waiting in the bigger queue that it had built up.
And then I had a final ride on TDZ to end the day on a very big high.
So for some final thoughts on the park. Firstly, I much prefer the park when its quiet because it is simply more enjoyable and easier to get on rides. I think the park is also under-recognised for its theming. It's not the best theming, but they certainly have made an effort and the area around OzIris is spectacular. It's still not one of my favourite parks because I don't really have that emotional connection to it I get at other parks, but I still had a fantastic day and OzIris and TDZ are two great coasters.
I got one last photo of OzIris as we were driving away.
Thank you for reading my report. Next up will be Disneyland Park.
So yesterday we made our way to Parc Asterix, which is was only about 10-15 mins from the hotel and we actually ended up getting there really early; nearly an hour before the park opening. Obviously it was pretty quiet at that time, but I didn't want to get my hopes up for quiet day because every other time we've been to the park, it has been really crowded.
We got through bag checks (is this new? Don't remember it from last time), then bought our tickets and lined up in one of the queues outside the entrance. After being moved between three of these different queue lines because they decided not to sign post which ones they were going to open, they eventually let us through into the entrance area of the park. Once we got to the rope, there was about 20 minutes until 10am, so we played some theme-park related games At 10am the rope dropped and off we went.
Once the rope dropped we made our way briskly to OzIris, as I thought Tonnerre de Zeus (being a rather temperamental woodie) would benefit from having some time to warm up.
I last rode OzIris back in the summer of its opening year and at that time, I would have to say I wasn't its biggest fan. Back then I thought that it had a good first half, but post the underwater dive, I found it to be a little on the tame side.
You can't deny it has a fantastic setting though
The queue line is also one of the better-themed ones.
We got on about the third train of the day and went to the back row.
So, my thoughts on it 3 years after opening. I think it is has improved quite a lot since. First off, the first drop has always been great, especially for an invert. Sometimes I would wait for the little pre-drop and then get surprised when we just went straight down. I feel that the rest of the ride had definitely 'loosened up' since my last visit. The first part had some great forces and was smooth, without being too smooth if that makes sense.
I think the underwater dive is a cool feature, but I think it's more for the visuals. The kind of funky corckscrew/zero-g roll inversion is still a little bit pointless IMO as it doesn't really add anything to the experience. I'd forgotten about the pop of airtime you get as you dive down towards the last inversion, so that was a nice surprise. I remember thinking nothing of the final zero g roll last time, but this time I quite enjoyed the floaty sensation it provided. Then the ride ends with a fairly standard couple of turns.
It might have been partially down to going in with lower expectations this time, but I really the ride has improved. Its not one of my absolute favourite inverts because I still find the second half slightly weaker, but its a very solid coaster and a hell of a lot of fun.
After we had ridden OzIris twice with minimal queuing, we decided to make our way over to TDZ. On the way, you go through this indoor pathway with shops and stuff; a part of the park that I always find quite unique.
Once we got to Tonnerre de Zeus, the queue was short (yah!), but they were only running one train, which even when its quiet still irks me.
I have ridden TDZ on two previous visits. On the first visit, it was fantastic, extremely relentless and exciting. At the time it instantly made it into my top 3, with I think only EGF and Tatsu ahead of it. On the second visit 3 years ago, it was rather lackluster and very disappointing compared to the previous time. I know it's generally only thought to be an average coaster by most, so I was interested to see how it performed during this visit.
I chose the front row of the back car, as from my experience this seat provides the best ride, but is usually a more comfortable experience than the very back row. The airtime you get from this seat on the first drop is brilliant; really takes you by surprise. You then go into the tunnel and up into a sharp turn. From this moment, I knew the ride was back to its fine form. It was back to being completely relentless, long, exciting and lateral heaven.
Now I wouldn't say that laterals are something that usually particularly interest me, but TDZ executes them so well. Yes they're are quite aggressive and in abundance, but they really help provide that WOW factor The ride also has some more great airtime moments on the hills towards the middle of the ride, which gives the experience some more diversity. The trick track section works really well as you are still going pretty fast at that time and especially at the back, it catches you off guard. Now it is a very shaky ride, but IMO, never in an uncomfortable way. It only adds more to the ride experience.
I know many of you are going to disagree here, but I think that when TDZ is running on top form, it is definitely the best CCI (out of the one's I've ridden obv.) over Boulderdash. Boulderdash has more airtime, but I find the layout of TDZ more enticing and actually more comfortable. The only problem I have is that it clearly is quite inconsistent in how well it runs (as a lot of woodies are), but I still believe that it is a massively underrated wooden coaster
We only rode TDZ once at that point as the queue had grown and I wanted to see if they would put the second train on. Therefore, I made my way over to the seemingly gorgeous mess of Vekoma steel across the lake.
I remember thinking that I would probably never go on Goudurix again, but since it has received some re-profiling, I thought it was worth giving it another try.
The queue was a bit longer than I would have hoped for and this was also running only one train, but I knew I wanted to get it done at some point, so I just decided to do it. It was only about 30 mins.
Anyway for the ride: the track is still quite 'kinky', but in all fairness I did notice a difference in the severity of the head-banging. The main problem I found actually was the restraints really hurt my shoulders. I don't know if this is just because I have grown to an awkward height for them, but before they do anything else, Parc Asterix really need to get the new Vekoma vest-restraint trains.
We then walked over to the main restaurant because we were all quite hungry, but there was still 15 minutes until it opened so we headed over the Le Grande Splash
There was no queue, so we essentially just walked onto the boat. I really don't want to go back to Parc Asterix in the summer now, it is so much more enjoyable when it isn't absolutely rammed.
The ride has two drops. The first is very small and is just after you go through asterix mountain. Then there is a long meandering section in the 'jungle', but they make it more interesting with water bombs, fountains etc. The final drop is also quite small, as you can see in the picture above. We actually barely got wet this time, but I definitely think we've gotten quite wet on previous visits. Its a fun ride but I prefer the one at Port Aventura.
We then went back to the restaurant and had our lunch. I can't remember its name, but the building is made out of different fruits (not literally). Sadly I don't have any pictures though. My parents were having a dessert, but I wasn't so while they were waiting for it, I ran over to TDZ as I noticed they were running TWO trains :--D
Another surprise was that the ride was basically walk-on, which was great. I had another two goes and it was even more mental than earlier. On the second go it got stuck on the lift hill though for about 20 mins. The only thing I thought was thank God the ride isn't that tall because I would not want to have to walk down the stairs from the height of something like Shambhala. But it got going after a little while.
We then decided to do some of the other water rides, starting with the rapids
It's really short and kind of dull. Not much else to say really.
Menhir Express is one of my favourite log flumes
I like that it moves through the channel quite fast and I think the 'surprise twist' to the first drop is quite good. I also love the hollowed-out stones you travel in. It is definitely the wettest of the three water rides at the park.
We then went back to the OzIris area, where I got three more rides on it. It still only had a very short queue.
This is my favourite photo that I took of it.
It was noticeably more intense than it was in the morning, particularly in the first half. You can often measure the intensity level by the feeling of blood rushing to your feet.
We then went over to L'Oxygenarium (raft slide), but that also broke, but this time we were in the queue line. As shown in the picture above, it looked as though there might have been some raft jam because they were 'rescuing' people from what appeared to be stranded rafts.
I then did some more TDZ
And some more OzIris. We did go back to L'Oxy... but none of us thought it was worth waiting in the bigger queue that it had built up.
And then I had a final ride on TDZ to end the day on a very big high.
So for some final thoughts on the park. Firstly, I much prefer the park when its quiet because it is simply more enjoyable and easier to get on rides. I think the park is also under-recognised for its theming. It's not the best theming, but they certainly have made an effort and the area around OzIris is spectacular. It's still not one of my favourite parks because I don't really have that emotional connection to it I get at other parks, but I still had a fantastic day and OzIris and TDZ are two great coasters.
I got one last photo of OzIris as we were driving away.
Thank you for reading my report. Next up will be Disneyland Park.