Europa Park | Voltron | Mack Rides Stryker Coaster | 2024

[Nicky Borrill]

Nice to see that somebody is making use of the text formatting options, I can see you're enjoying them.

Never thought I'd defend TPW to this degree, but holding thousands of guests back at one point, only to drop a rope and leave them to their own devices does seem a little reckless though, no?

Surely allowing people to gradually filter through into a large overflow queue would have been safer. I'm no expert in crowd flows etc but I would also be very scared in a crowd like that, if you've been a part of one, you know how frightening and dangerous they can be.

I do think comparing Shawn to Robb Alvey is a little ridiculous. I'm not saying his content is always fantastic but I do wonder if many people bash on him and Charlotte simply out of jealousy. I know I'm certainly a bit jealous, imagine being able to make a living visiting theme parks all over the world... Sounds pretty ideal to me.

Anyway I must say, except for the pacing issues, lack of onboard audio and the rattle, this does look fab and I'm so excited to hear more reviews and see how things look after a few months of operating. It definitely doesn't look to the same standard as PHL or other parks but it is very impressive, from what I've seen at least. RTH has a rattle and gave me a little headache but I'd still consider it to be my favourite coaster. Is anyone who has ridden both Voltron and RTH able to say how the rattle compares? Perhaps @Nicky Borrill?

Having ridden both on this trip I’d say ‘similar.’ Both absolutely have a noticeable rattle. Especially in certain seats / trains. But as is often the case, that is being blown out of proportion. But like with RTH, the ride is so good that if it in any way ‘ruins’ your enjoyment of the coaster, then this isn’t the hobby for you.

So yeh, similar levels of rattle, and similar in that the coasters are so damn good, it really doesn’t matter.

 

[TilenB]

Having ridden both on this trip I’d say ‘similar.’ Both absolutely have a noticeable rattle.

Re: the rattle on RtH, do you feel there's a significant difference between the two trains? When we went, none of us thought the ride had any sort of noticable rattle, but it was also less than a year after opening and one of the trains was out of service after an accident earlier in the year.

And to stay on topic - massively looking forward to riding this beast in mid June. Time off can't come soon enough!

 

[Nicky Borrill]

Re: the rattle on RtH, do you feel there's a significant difference between the two trains? When we went, none of us thought the ride had any sort of noticable rattle, but it was also less than a year after opening and one of the trains was out of service after an accident earlier in the year.

And to stay on topic - massively looking forward to riding this beast in mid June. Time off can't come soon enough!

They’ve only had one train on for most of my visits, I always pick quiet mid week days.

I don’t like talking about roughness and rattle too much on coasters like RTH as it really doesn’t affect the ride in my opinion… But on the other hand, you can’t deny that it’s there.

BTW, I got a rough train on Voltron tonight, train 1 last ride of the night, in the dark… And the difference is night day. It was very very rough, headache inducing almost. With a very audible squeak coming from the wheel assembly. The difference was that noticeable that I reported it to a ride host, who said “Yes, we know, train 1 we need to change some parts.”

I guess we’ve been lucky to get decent trains up until now, because the difference really is night and day. They’ll fix it in no time too, they’re aware, know what it is, and they’re Europa Park… All trains will be running well within days, I’m sure.

 

[rctneil]

They’ve only had one train on for most of my visits, I always pick quiet mid week days.

I don’t like talking about roughness and rattle too much on coasters like RTH as it really doesn’t affect the ride in my opinion… But on the other hand, you can’t deny that it’s there.

BTW, I got a rough train on Voltron tonight, train 1 last ride of the night, in the dark… And the difference is night day. It was very very rough, headache inducing almost. With a very audible squeak coming from the wheel assembly. The difference was that noticeable that I reported it to a ride host, who said “Yes, we know, train 1 we need to change some parts.”

I guess we’ve been lucky to get decent trains up until now, because the difference really is night and day. They’ll fix it in no time too, they’re aware, know what it is, and they’re Europa Park… All trains will be running well within days, I’m sure.

Quick question, are the train numbers easily visible and where abouts are they?

 

[Matt N]

They’ve only had one train on for most of my visits, I always pick quiet mid week days.

I don’t like talking about roughness and rattle too much on coasters like RTH as it really doesn’t affect the ride in my opinion… But on the other hand, you can’t deny that it’s there.

BTW, I got a rough train on Voltron tonight, train 1 last ride of the night, in the dark… And the difference is night day. It was very very rough, headache inducing almost. With a very audible squeak coming from the wheel assembly. The difference was that noticeable that I reported it to a ride host, who said “Yes, we know, train 1 we need to change some parts.”

I guess we’ve been lucky to get decent trains up until now, because the difference really is night and day. They’ll fix it in no time too, they’re aware, know what it is, and they’re Europa Park… All trains will be running well within days, I’m sure.

That sounds very much like what Shawn Sanbrooke reported experiencing on his first ride… so evidently, the ride’s smoothness is a bit of a lottery at the moment.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

Quick question, are the train numbers easily visible and where abouts are they?

Yes… But only from behind, and even if you could see them front the front, you can’t pick and choose…

 

[rctneil]

Yes… But only from behind, and even if you could see them front the front, you can’t pick and choose…

Oh I know you can’t choose a train or row. Just wanted to know how to find out what train you were on.

From the back. Thank you!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Nicky Borrill]

Oh I know you can’t choose a train or row. Just wanted to know how to find out what train you were on.

From the back. Thank you!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes, on the rear panel above the bumpers, to the right of the logo and written in white. As per the image below. (Sorry it’s so poor, I didn’t capture much of the rear of the trains.)

 

[Boodangy]

It tickles me pink how they seemingly realized the Rimac sponsor box doesn't really blend into the plaza that well so they just went to Bauhaus or something and got a couple potted plants to scatter around the car showcase

 

[Absimilliard]

They’ve only had one train on for most of my visits, I always pick quiet mid week days.

I don’t like talking about roughness and rattle too much on coasters like RTH as it really doesn’t affect the ride in my opinion… But on the other hand, you can’t deny that it’s there.

BTW, I got a rough train on Voltron tonight, train 1 last ride of the night, in the dark… And the difference is night day. It was very very rough, headache inducing almost. With a very audible squeak coming from the wheel assembly. The difference was that noticeable that I reported it to a ride host, who said “Yes, we know, train 1 we need to change some parts.”

I guess we’ve been lucky to get decent trains up until now, because the difference really is night and day. They’ll fix it in no time too, they’re aware, know what it is, and they’re Europa Park… All trains will be running well within days, I’m sure.

Hopefully those two trains don't accidentally catch fire...

 

[Nicky Borrill]

That sounds very much like what Shawn Sanbrooke reported experiencing on his first ride… so evidently, the ride’s smoothness is a bit of a lottery at the moment.

Shawn’s in a tricky position really. He loves the park and he generally seems to like the ride, when he gets a good train / seat. However he has a lot of responsibility, and absolutely has to rate the ride how he finds it at the time.

If he tells half a million viewers that the ride is great, and smooth, whilst there’s still trains with issues being used, then, if any of his viewers come to ride and end up on a bad train, they’re going to think he’s lost his mind and lose any trust they had in him. He has to be honest, as brutal as that may be.

However, where he has to rate the ride as he finds it at the time, you and I (and most other goons) can do the opposite. I can rate the ride based on only the good trains, and my good rides, confident in the knowledge that it’s Europa Park, and every little kink will be ironed out as soon as is physically possible.

 

[Nitefly]

Sorry to hear of the rough ride @Nicky Borrill.

For what it’s worth, regarding some of the other comments in the thread, there really wasn’t any reason to doubt Shawn’s real time reaction to getting bopped around unpleasantly… considering his roughness tolerance seems high to average for an enthusiast (compared to Charlotte, who seems to have a lower tolerance).

I personally have a very low tolerance and can feel ill quite quickly, so this stuff does really affect my ability to enjoy a ride (unfortunately).