Forza Italia - Roma to Verona

[Nemesis Inferno]

Well after a rather epic week away, I’m back with tanned arms and tales to tell of B&M awesomeness, so why waste any time chatting when we can get down to business... Letsa go!

Day 1 – Flight to Rome

An early 4am wake up call produced 4 tired heads as my Dad gave us a lift to Gatwick, where at check-in we were greeted with our first queue of the trip, which moved slowly and annoyingly as it got closer and closer to the flight time... After eventually bursting through into security, the unexperienced flyer amongst us didn’t know about the liquid/cream regulations in hand luggage, and provided even more faff and forced us to run to the plane once we eventually got through the checkpoint...

A 2 hour flight later and some relatively simple passport control and baggage reclaim, we attempted our first conversation in Italian to get our hire car... It eventually worked, and we walked over to find our chariot for the week...

Car achieved, we drove off to our hotel, encountering the craziness of the Italian road users... Indeed, signs and cars mean nothing to them, moving lanes and places without warning or anything, it’s mental and will really sharpen driver’s senses when you’re over there... Fortunately Mark was really up for this and whilst it took time to gain confidence, by the end of the week he was driving like a proper Italian...

Another thing I discovered is that the roads in Italy are really confusing, two different exits for one junction on the motorway, the road names were hidden away in the traffic lights and could only have a worse font if they had used Comic Sans... We got lost practically every drive on this trip, so advice here is a Sat-Nav... Get one...

Regardless, we (eventually) found the hidden hotel, and after some chillage we walked to the Metro station nearby to begin the trip proper, with some sight-seeing in the rather beautiful Rome...

And after a quick journey in the lovely airy trains, we were greeted by this...

Absolutely stunning, this really epitomises Rome in itself, brilliantly sized buildings that might be in ruin, but are still amazing to look at and wonder about how they were actually built...

Quite a cool thing was that in the Forums they were openly doing digging and other work, which was interesting to watch and provided some real care to the history of the place...

Tbh, I could probably fill an entire page of posts of Rome alone, the place is THAT nice to photograph... So many buildings to look at is just amazing...

The great thing about all these buildings is that they’re all on one street as well, so you only have to point in a direction and walk and be amazed... I cannot get over how nice Rome is... Especially when Gelato is involved...

So delicious... Even if it melted quicker than I could eat the thing... It was so bloody hot all week, even up to levels of unbearableness at some points, but we survived at least...

Back to the buildings...

Hints to the next day were abound as after a bit more wandering we decided to make use of our 4 euro Metro ticket and head over to the Vatican...

Another really nice area, and because it wasn’t too busy when we went it was rather peaceful and enjoyable to just sit and enjoy the sights... Whilst I refuse personally to pay to enter a place of faith (especially one of my own), it would maybe have been nice to see the Chapel, but due to time constraints was never going to happen... All the more reason to return really...

When the evil looking monk appeared we thought it would be a good time to go and headed off to find some food... In Italy you have to really search if you don’t want pizza or pasta, so if you don’t like those, don’t bother going over there... EVERYWHERE does it... And often in large sizes...

And to complete this part, is John and his tumour pizza (a Calzone)...


Next up to Rainbow (RAINBOW) Magicland...

 

[Nemesis Inferno]

Day 2 – Rainbow Magicland

Ever since I first found out about Rainbow I’ve followed the construction with interest and a hint of desire, indeed, solely based from the concept art it looked like a brilliant park with grand theming and some good rides to start with, even if it the rides weren’t themselves world class from look, why put all your eggs in one basket and risk closure (looking at YOU Hard Rock Park)...

Indeed, a small minority seem to feel like this park won’t work for whatever reason and think it will be brought out by a larger company in the future...

I say that’s wrong, from spending 12 hours at the park (10-11 opening times) and seeing that it was well and truly packed on a Saturday, if they can keep up these gate figures and merch sales, I see no reason for it to fail...

So what about the day? Well after a hour long drive from Rome along a rather dull and boring road (we didn’t use the tolls, so perhaps those routes would be easier/quicker/nicer) and straight away your eyes are drawn towards Shock, and remain so throughout the shaded parking, ticket booths and turnstiles all the way along... If anything, Shock (and a few other buildings and rides) is a brilliant focal point to the park...

After getting in and walking down the Main Street it’s really obvious what park the Rainbow company were inspired by, see if you can guess from the pictures...

That’s right, it’s Islands of Adventure... But if you’re gonna rip-off a park, you might as well do a good one right? And besides, whilst it holds similarities between the two parks, they are different enough to provide completely different experiences, mainly as Rainbow has a much wider pathway to accommodate the crowds it does (and will in the future) get...

At the end of the pathway, we were greeted by the park’s mascot and an awesome little dance number welcoming us all into the park...

I love it when park’s do this... It makes it much more of an event rather than just opening gates and letting people run off into various directions, it really gets people pumped for the day and needs to be something that the UK parks need to look at a bit more...

Show over, and the attention turned back to the big red number staring us in the face, time for the first coaster of the trip...

Shock

This was only really my second Maurer X-Car coaster, and since the only other one was G-Force at Drayton, Shock didn’t really have to do a lot to make me list it higher... Whilst the nice entrance belies the unthemed queue and station, 15 minutes wait for not to be ignored on it, with a potential 5/6 cars being able to go onto the track, hopefully in the future the park will use all of them if they need be...

Once off, the ride goes off for a meander around the grass in front of the station, possibly the first example of the time and budget cuts Rainbow suffered in order to open the park on time, hopefully the future will hold something interesting to go in here, otherwise it’s quite a pointless piece of track and a waste of money and steel...

Then the launch happens and you forget straight away about the pointlessness... I discovered earlier in the year on Fluch von Novgorod how good rolling launches are, and Shock was no exception, the sudden acceleration hitting quickly as you reach the crest of the massive airtime hill, lifting away from the car before back down into the rather strangely designed non-inverting loop, keeping it’s speed well whilst exiting into the tiny overbanked turn, arguably the best part of the ride, purely based on the speed it takes it at... So fast it could easily cause issues in the future, but damn it’s worth breaking the cars for it...
Lifting back up into the MCBR before a long sweeping 360 helix into the inline before hitting the brakes and providing a short and sweet kick to the morning...

It’s a rather simple ride and layout, and certainly is short but sweet... Some parts are lacking with the station, queue and pre-launch, but maybe the future will provide these little things to make it a more complete ride...

8/10

After a good start to the day we elected to walk towards the park’s second biggest coaster and the only indoor one, the Maurer Spinning coaster...

Cagliostro

The very impressive Impressionist style building sets a very high standard for the ride, although the completely external queueline manned constantly by a security guard is a right shame... After about 20 minutes though, we were walking straight onto our purple car and quickly off up the lift hill, popping quickly outside before the inky blackness of the massive building again...

Here in lies the ride’s problem, why have such a massive ditch AND building, when most of it won’t be used? The layout in outside is rather small and compact, and really doesn’t do anything of any worth or value... Indeed, when you’re finale is a lift hill to the station, you know something’s up... I have heard that there is meant to be things inside, but it would need a lot of these to make it worthwhile...

4/10

Another short walk led us to our next ride, and one I was looking forward to the most, the dark ride known as...

Huntik

Once again this park produces a brilliant building to house something in, a recurring theme throughout the place, but Huntik is something extraordinary, with the massive Ox and Crocodile statues guarding the ride’s entrance, a sense of awe and wonder already sets in before the queue even begins...

Inside, it’s like Laser Raiders at Legoland, a massive load of cattlepens in a single room, UNLIKE Raiders though, it is wonderfully themed, with artwork, ruins and tv screens explaining the show and ride perfectly... Yes this is an IP ride, but is certainly proof that these things can work when you have the full support and effort put into it... Whilst this may have caused other parts of the park to suffer, it’s so worthwhile in the end product...

Not going to go into details because that would spoil the surprise, but needless to say, the stream of effects, animatronics, 3d and the interactive element work together seamlessly to create a world class ride right up there with Spiderman at IOA...

The only issue is the vandalism already caused on it by the guests... But as that’s not the park’s fault itself, I see no issue in it gaining full marks on a ride that has so much going on that to get it as near perfect as it is now (it does have minor faults which are most definitely first year issues), is an amazing thing...

10/10

Minds blown, it was time for the 3rd coaster of the day, the Vekoma Mine Train...

L’Olandese Volante

Having never done another other version of these outside of Disney, I was curious as to how it would ride... The answer was awful... How a brand new ride can rattle THAT much was beyond comprehension, it was rougher than some SLCs that I’ve experienced, which is certainly something for a Mine Train...

Add that to the distinct lack of theming aside from the relatively cool volcano thing, it was certainly nothing worth writing home about... Maybe another victim of the budget cuts...

4/10

Another walk past the high diving show on the lake (which we briefly watched end, it looked cool what with jet skies and other elements) led us to the rather multi-coloured Drop Tower...

Mystika

This is a weird tower and no mistake... Not sure who makes it, but I can certainly say it rides a lot better than it looks... Loading and dispatch is James May slow, and whilst it brakes early, it helps remove a common problem amongst taller drop towers, in that it loses the thrill midway through the actual ride...

Good amount of theming on it as well, especially the garden centre queueline... Very enjoyable in my view... Lots of happy faces means it works well, and it probably the third best ride at the park...

7/10

After this we elected to buy some ice creams/lollies from the nearby shop and sat on the opposite side of the lake from the entrance, before deciding on braving the rather pink children’s area for the kid’s coasters... Firstly was...


Amerigo

It’s a Big Apple... Without the apple, or multiple circuits... Even for those, it was turdio...

3/10

Recently the park opened up it’s final ride, so we went to experience it...

Maison Houdini

Unfortunately, this had a boring and long queue... Constant cattlepens in front of the house meant entertainment was short, so much we resorted to Marvel Top Trumps (old school version) just to keep going... It also seems to have a throughput issue in that the ride holds more than the pre-shows can, which is really bloody confusing to me...

That said, the pre and post shows were rather cool, the pre-show especially, even if the language barrier causes some issues, similarly on the ride itself, but it does enough different compared to other versions for me to like it... Though the music doesn’t build up to the ending, and a few other niggles, it’s not the worst but not the best...

6/10

Hunger had set in after the burdenous queue, so we headed off to find something to eat, eventually choosing the simple fast-food place near the Flying Island...

All this effort for just a restaurant... I really love the park for this, making sure the effect isn’t lost in the long run... And as each one had it’s own personality it never felt forced or contrived... So good...

Back to the kid’s area we went, for the final dark ride of the day...

Believix

Rainbow’s attempt at Peter Pan used the Winx Club IP, which I think is quite popular amongst the girl population over here, and evidently in Italy, as this had 50 minute queue to endure outside some fake trees...

The ride itself only allows two adults, which isn’t to the ride’s audience an issue, as it’s a family ride, and also makes very little sense... I think as well many of the models inside were meant to be animated, rather than static, but at least it’s better than Charlie... Shame it lacked a narrative...

5/10

And then the final coaster of the day, the Vekoma Junior...

Bomborun

I liked the trains on Ben 10, so I was surprised that they are to be found on all new ones it seems... Already a good point on what is essentially an average ride... Another IP but barely any theming on this... A shame that the park constantly contrasts so much between things...

Still, enjoyable ride...

6/10

All major rides bar the water ones done, we hit up the Main Street quickly to browse, as well as photo Shock as it is such a photogenic ride (and it wouldn’t be the last one)...

Time for some Rapids then...

Drakkar

90 minutes I’ll never get back... An awful queue of just constant cattlepens which lead onto the WORST loading procedure for a Rapids ever... Since the dawn of time they have used rotating platforms, so why Rainbow thought they didn’t need one I have no idea, loading 2 at a time and unloading 1 is bad enough, but when the boat coming off the lift literally crashes into stationary boats and causes people to fall, there’s a real issue there...

However, the ride made up for itself quite well, with plenty of effects and drops getting us sufficiently wet to enjoy it all... The tunnel finale was very much an anti-climax, again can only hope something (like a Dragon perhaps as inclined towards in the ride’s name) gets added in there... Hell even some fountains would do...

Whilst the queue didn’t mar my enjoyment, I’ve marked it down for the poor use of the cave (even Excalibur’s had moving things originally) and the stupid loading/unloading... The ride itself is awesome though...

7/10

After that long queue of doom, we lost a lot of time, so elected for dinner first before more rides, and I had my first piece of pasta on the trip, Penne... Was good...

Then it was decided we would do Huntik again, but as we reached the front of the queue, it broke... DISASTER! However a natter with a ride staff who was brilliant (told us why it was broken, how long it could be in English, and tried as hard as he could which I thought was good to see), gave us 30 minutes to find something to do... Shock was packed so we elected to do the shopping then and return... But not before taking lots of night photos...

Straight on through the exit, and once again it showed off, such an amazing ride and is a real gem in Rainbow’s crown of rides...

After getting an on-ride, we headed home on the dangerous roads, leaving the fireworks behind and able to muse about the park itself...

It has a lot of potential, and whilst some parts seemed to have suffered to ensure other rides are a classy as possible and working, I feel that the park will solve these issues as soon as possible in the future, and hopefully expand to have more transport links, hotels and rides... As it does lack a quality high throughput coaster here... Maybe a B&M? Italy does those well...

Next up, Driving to Ravenna...

 

[Nemesis Inferno]

Day 3 – Driving to Ravenna

So after 12 hours of a busy Magicland we needed to begin our trek across the country north towards our next destination and park, so leaving at 12 with car packed up we began the 5 hour journey towards Ravenna...

The first half was pretty uneventful, as the roads were empty and as signs for cities were more regular than Magicland’s, we were able to keep track much more simply... After about 2 and a half hours, we reached Perugia, which was elected as our stop-off point...

We were all rather hungry, so the search for food began down a long and winding hill, where we eventually arrived at...

Yep, it was time for Italian McDonalds, whilst not too different from our own versions, it’s always nice to have a bit of familiarity in your food, as well as some differences...

Pistachio McFlurry looked VILE...

We trekked back up the hill to our car and began the second half of the journey, where I decided to actually take photos this time...

Along our way, we were diverted off the dual carriageway onto the most mountainous road I have ever experienced in a car... It made the route to Towers look flat, and was as beautiful as it was nerve-wracking... We did realise then why so many drivers come to Italy to just drive around, because it’s such a nice countryside and can be extremely relaxing...

Eventually we arrived at Ravenna, but not before we got some glimpses of what awaited us on the next day...

 

[Shubinine]

I'm already sad I'm not there anymore(your last 2 pics)

Maybe I'll visit rainbow magicland sometime when I go back to italy, looks like an interesting park.

I'm curious about how you spend your time in Mirabilandia and weather it's a busy day or not because it seems like I am the only one here that got a pretty empty day.

 

[10WaTT]

Lovely report! I liked the look of Rainbow Magicland all lit up at night time, beautiful.

 

[Thekingin64]

Rainbow Magicland looks so photogenic, day and night. At some point I do want to go to Italy, not just for the parks.

 

[Nemesis Inferno]

Day 4 – Mirabilandia

So after an entire night of being excited about Katun it was time to head over to the park, however, on the way there, the Italian Rozzers pulled us over to do one of their random checks... This seems to happen a lot and nothing was wrong, but you still can’t help feeling awkward and worried...

Check over, we were set on our merry way down the road and getting closer and closer to the park, and then, we were there...

After a short while the turnstiles opened to the sound of Queen... Or at least, Mira’s cover of “We Will Rock You”, certainly got us pumped for the day and worked nicely with the walk into the park...

Of course, there was only one ride we were going to ride first...

Katun

Sometimes you come across a ride that doesn’t get as much attention as it deserves... Katun is certainly top of that list, even though it appears in Mitch Hawker’s top 10, very few enthusiasts talk about it in the same way as say Nemesis and a few of the more well known rides... Even the park doesn’t seem to go on about it, feeling rather modest about it’s existence and how good it is...

The ride is all Aztec themed and is really nicely done, with the lift dominating the nearby area for all to see... We headed straight for the back row and once the train was filled to the fullest, we were off up the lift hill...

What followed was quite simply the best inverted first drop I have ever encountered... It truly was remarkable how the turn just whipped the entire train out to the right as it dived right towards the ground and the massive loop... This part alone just made the ride awesome, and the rest of the ride needed to keep this up...

It does... The inline that followed was taken perfectly, as was the brilliantly designed turn into the Cobra Roll and the helix that followed... This was built in 2000, so was definitely built at the right time, just before B&M started going more ‘safe’, but the way the ride is designed is perfect... Even the MCBR doesn’t make it lose speed, and the two corkscrews and finale helix make the ride THE complete package, and sent it soaring up to number 2 on my top 10, just narrowly behind Nemesis...

They are similar, yet opposite sides of the spectrum... But Katun deserves more recognition, as it is just as good as Nemesis if not (in some circles) better than it... Completely different rides, yet just as good as each other... Damn perfect ride, just only thing missing is an amazing soundtrack to go with it...

10/10

A second go on Katun later and we decided to hit up some other coasters just in case the park got busy, so it was time to experience the dodgy Chessington clones section of the park, starting with...

Explorer

Runaway Train but without the theming and a rather strange train design for what is really a Mack... Plus the exit is actually longer than the actual queue... It made little sense and wasn’t particularly good ride experience... Distinctly average and the way in which it slowed down mid-way through the second lap was just pointless... Give me Chessie anyday for this...

4/10

Pakal

This strange Rattlesnake clone was again a lesser themed cousin of Chessie... However, a slightly different layout and smoothness in the first section made it rather enjoyable... The lack of brakes in the second half however made the ride become rough and generally insane... A rather interesting ride but it serves a much better role than it’s English cousin, especially with better throughput and ride in direct comparison, although better theming would make it really good...

6/10

After this, we headed towards the new coaster...

Max Adventures - Master Thai

This family mobius coaster had suffered some delays with construction from Preston, and it certainly shows in the ride portion, as the excellent entrance and station theming doesn’t extend all the way through to the ride itself... It’s also a rather weird ride as you get to do both sides without getting off, which is a plus as you don’t have to get off and queue again, but it also makes the ride itself seem a bit weird and paceless...

Either way, the ride itself is cool, you can see the ideas behind it were sound, as the racing/duelling aspect does work even if out of sync, and it has a lot of speed and airtime on what looks like a rather meh ride... If it had better theming it would be a solid family ride but it’s certainly different and enjoyable...

6/10

After the Drakkar incident from Rainbow we elected to head towards the Rapids here a lot earlier than last time, so next up...

Rio Bravo

Set alone on it’s own island, you see very little of these Rapids when off-ride, hence much is hidden away and becomes much more of a surprise when you ride it, and these were a surprise as they were rather good fun... Less themed than Drakkar but still very good fun, getting John wet as per the norm...

8/10

Wetness over, it was time for the smaller coasters of the park to take over, starting with...

Family Adventure

At first I thought this was to be similar to Hansa’s Roland, but I was surprised to see it was just simply a larger version of Bomborun with older trains... Rode exactly like Bombo as well, just slightly longer and had a few head choppers throughout it... Was certainly a fun enough family coaster...

6/10

Lepretto Express

The vegetable patch themed coaster was a real surprise... Probably the best kiddie coaster I’ve ever been on as it was full of airtime and had a good amount of forces and drops for what it was... Completely threw me off and was actually really enjoyable...

7/10

After that, we realised that the Stunt Show was about to begin, so we headed in, grabbed a Cornetto and watched it...

Police Stunt Show

The beginning of this was rather bland, full of boring slow language based sections that to me aren’t always great on an International scale, hence why Moteurs Action is poor in my eyes yet Asterix’s stunt show was epic...

However, once stuff started happening, it was pretty epic, and deserves some points for that alone... Plus it had a CHOPPAAAAAAAAAAAA!

7/10

After the show, it was time to continue the car theme and head over to the park’s 2nd big coaster...

iSpeed

Apple naming rights aside, iSpeed has a well done atmosphere around it even though you can’t see most of the ride from the outside or the queue... But what you do see is the trains dashing around madly refusing to lose pace at any point in the ride...

After a dull shaded queue, we reached the station and this is when I realised this was not a hydraulic launch, but rather LSMs, making it a lot more like Maverick than I thought it would be...

After a quick speil the launch happens, and boy is it fast... No wonder Intamin thought the hydraulic launch was a bit poor now, fast and powerful and barely needs the same amount of space as the others... The top hat provided a great dose of airtime as did the hill afterwards, even with the trims attached onto it...

The rest of the ride is a complete blur, with twists, turns, loops and dives coming at you thick and fast... It’s amazing how it keeps the speed on it throughout the entire course all the way to the random MCBR above the station... Also random was how the final turn swooped up into about 2 feet of brakes which then went down into MORE brakes... Why did THAT happen?

However, as great as the ride and layout is, there is one major issue... And just like Maverick, it’s the restraint system... Intamins just do not agree with my neck and corners with their OTSRs, and iSpeed was no exception... If they could fix this issue this (and Maverick) would make it into my top 10 no question, but because I need to constantly brace myself in order to enjoy it fully, it loses marks for that... A real shame that it’s so easily ruined...

9/10

On our way to the next attraction, we discovered a ride which perked our interest so much we had to experience it...

Crazy House

Most random experience on a flat ride for a while... Spinning, talking and random effects are the order of the day here, and it was worth it just for the sheer randomness it produced... Great fun and I think more parks should have these... Could be easily modified into some rather interesting concepts and themes...

8/10

Distraction aside, it was time to head towards the only dark ride of the park...

Reset

Reset is so far away from the rest of the park it’s unbelievable, indeed, it could easily be classed as a car park dark ride as it’s closer to that than the park itself... It does and doesn’t work with the theme, as the apocalyptic theme works as you wander further away from the hustle and bustle (with some great music Swarm needs to be inspired by) but it’s just so out of the way it didn’t have much of a people atmosphere, which at a theme park is sometimes needed...

However, into the dark corridors we went and straight onto the ride, where the weird shooting system annoyed me as well as the lack of story... It is apparently explained in tv form in the queue, but as one didn’t exist, we knew not why the world had ended, or what we were meant to be doing... Even a Portal Personality Core couldn’t help matters... Probably not helped by Huntik’s awesomeness two days before, but it just didn’t seem to have a really engaging narrative and seemed even more mish-mashy than Duel... Just didn’t enjoy it as well as I thought I would...

6/10

Walking back from Reset, we noticed that Depth Charge’s clone had no queue, so we went on...

Blu River

It’s Depth Charge, only you can’t ride by yourself... And I lost my hat on it into the channel, however, this did work in my favour as a soaked through hat was bloody amazing in the hot weather...

6/10

We then did iSpeed again where we met the wonderful FABio ride op, who ensured that idiots trying to jump into the shorter normal queue from the longer front row queue were sent to the back, always like seeing staff do their job effectively even on empty days... Well done...

After bracing myself, it was time for some more water ride action...

AutoSplash

An unique Log Flume theme here which perhaps could have a lot more going on for it... With only two drops and a random tunnel between them it’s definitely not the best version of it’s type, especially as it suffers from the first drop being wetter than the final drop, and the tunnel actually has absolutely nothing in it... But still the water was well received in the heat...

6/10

Major rides done, we decided it would be nice to relax and hence walked around for a bit before deciding the ride the Monorail...

Monorail

Rather airy trains and gives some nice views of iSpeed and the rest of the park, however, we did sit on the wrong side of the train so missed most of these... And the fact it’s at the back of the park and doesn’t stop again to me makes little sense or point... Oh well, it was an air conditioned sit down...

We decided to grab a bite to eat to keep going, and enjoyed a terrace meal on the lake, feeding sparrows and wondering why loud noises were coming from the opposite side of us... So we headed over to investigate...

Monosaurus

This dinosaur themed monorail ride is SO stupid... Go around, look at stationary models, have a long walk through the exit... It makes Legoland’s SkyRider look good... The models were entertaining but only due to the stupid poses they were in... Silly ride...

3/10

More faff ensued before we elected on heading towards the flight themed area (me neither) of the park...

Columbia

These two S&S Towers are quite a landmark for the park personally, and appear a lot in images and posters... However as the Drop side (Discovery) was long, we went on the shot tower instead... And like every other S&S tower, it was exactly the same ride experience... Good, but nothing special...

7/10

All other rides finished, it was time to photograph and ride Katun, getting 3 more in and lots of pretty pictures...

Mirabilandia is a very good park in the end, with two class coasters and a solid back-up of rides... Whilst it has no themed areas as such, the theming the park has works very well, and the chart music works a lot better in this respect as it’s rather background and a good mix of listenable things... Complete opposite of Thorpe’s singular genre choice really...

I enjoyed the park, and can only wonder why people don’t mention Katun as much as they should...

 

[Martyn B]

Nice report, sounds like a fun trip so far!

Sometimes you come across a ride that doesn’t get as much attention as it deserves... Katun is certainly top of that list, even though it appears in Mitch Hawker’s top 10, very few enthusiasts talk about it in the same way as say Nemesis and a few of the more well known rides...

I'd imagine thats probably down to Katun following the generic B&M Invert layout of drop, loop, zero-g etc.

 

[furie]

I'm getting a distinct feeling of Deja Vu[super]2[/super]

Great report anyway, enjoying it so far, good to see a "separate group" opinion of these parks... Twice...

 

[Anonymous]

Completely agree with you that Mirabilandia is absolutely FAB!!
However Rainbow Magicland really have to get their act in order, but I guess that it will take a few years to get it sorted and added enough rides/shops/restaurants to fill the park...

 

[marc]

You are so lucky you done that drive in the dry lol, was there a huge traffic jam or was that clear as well.

It's very interesting to read your report, you went the other way to us.

Richard was also a bit shocked how different Mirulumbabi was compered to when he last went. Maybe we just over done it with the ert but the park just felt empty and lacked any atmosphere

 

[Nemesis Inferno]

^I think CF over-doing Katun would have seriously affected the day... 5 times on the trot is way too much for it, 3 was enough but it was punctuated with breaks between each ride... Plus the weather was exceptionally good... I just felt like it was a good solid line-up and it (and the rest) had enough people to ensure a good day out...
The only major traffic jam we had was leaving Rainbow, as everyone was turning up for the fireworks...

^^Now you see I think the issue here is that everyone seemed to expect Rainbow to be perfect in it's first season... It has enough now to fill up a day (although needs a few more quality high throughput rides), has a shop at every major ride exit, has plenty of food choices and some great theming... Considering the budget and time constraints they faced late in the construction, they are in a perfect foundation for the future...

^^^More like Deja Vu[super]3[/super] furie

^^^^If people are to write off a coaster for being so generic then they are a fool... Katun is effectively the perfect 'generic' B&M invert, and is much better than Batman and the rest...


Verona/Garda may have to wait till Wednesday or Thursday, shall see what tomorrow holds...

 

[Josh73]

Looks like great trip. I've always wanted to ride iSpeed and Katun. That first drop on Katun loooks awesome. BTW, Great PTR! Keep up the good work.

 

[10WaTT]

I love the photo of Katuns corkscrew hiding in the plantation! Oh, and it was 6 times in a row on Katun

 

[Nemesis Inferno]

Day 5 – More Mira and Driving to Verona

So Mirabilandia do a rather epic deal atm, you get 2 days worth for the price of one, even if you really have to commit to it but getting a wristband, wearing it through the night and bringing it in the next day... But we did it for more Katuny goodness...

Two more rides on Katun (including front row which had spited us the day before) followed a walk towards iSpeed and extended faff times in the arcade (Terminator 3 pinball ftw)...

None of my opinions had changed on these 2 rides, but there was one new ride for the day...


Delirium

Honestly, I have no idea what ride type this is or the manufacturer... The easiest way to describe it would be a massive tilted flying jumbos like ride... You could control your height (and get similarly high amounts of airtime) and the tilting aspect of the central arm provided an interesting experience... A bit uncomfortable on the seating but was still a good bit of fun...

6/10

After this we headed off to Reset to see if it was any better, and it wasn’t really... Oh well...

So one last ride on Katun was to be done before some lunch and the trip up to Verona... Which one again involved a massive detour, I really disliked the directions and road-signs... Maybe next time a Sat-Nav can happen... But we eventually got there and were greeted by the strangest hotel on the trip...

Indeed, it was probably preparing me for uni once more, as it had more in common with halls than a hotel, with 6 rooms including a massive upstairs empty room, a kitchen (lacking oven) and just essentially everything needed to live... It was quite cool, and it’s balcony was put to great use after a quick trip to the supermarket (and me and John’s long search for a Lidl)... Chat about rides and life happened amongst the drinking... I was later attacked by Mirabilandia duck, which kinda says it all really...

 

[Nemesis Inferno]

Day 6 – Chilling in Verona

The original plan for this trip was to do all 4 of the major Italian parks, including Movieworld Studios, right is effectively next door to Gardaland, however, we must have angered the Coaster Gods, as the opening times for the park changed for the worse, meaning it was shut midweek and we had very little alternative as to what to do...

So we sat in our hotel room all day and chilled... I like days like this on holiday, as it allows everyone to either sleep/read/sit or just do whatever without any need for rushing or walking... We did venture out for extra supplies of food midway through the day, but aside from that didn’t do anything until the evening, where me, John and Mark hit the town to see what it was like...

A rather depiction of Italian roads I feel...

Random canoeing in the river is random... Looked fun though...

And just what could lay beyond this rather dark and dingy hallway?

Why it’s Juliet’s Balcony of course, from that rather popular play of Shakespearian standards...

Dunno why Verona have claimed it, but they have... DEAL WITH IT!

Meanwhile, in Verona...

Most epic looking music venue ever! The Arena is slap bang in the middle of the city and has more restaurants than you can shake a stick at... And who was playing?

George Michael...

Hungry, we elected to eat at the weirdest theme/name for a restaurant in Italy...

Even this place has Spider Crabs...

And as John is demonstrating, the biggest menus I’ve seen in a long time...

Talking of big things, here’s the drinks...

Totally extraordinary... Unfortunately so much ice made it practically undrinkable after a while, but still, epic size is epic...

Spag Bol, Italian style...

Do try the Oreo and Kinder Ice Cream... It’s AMAZING <3

Unable to get into the concert, we wandered back towards the hotel, only to find...

OMG I’M SO THERE!




Next up – Gardaland...

 

[Nemesis Inferno]

Day 7 – Gardaland

So here it was, the final park of the trip, and one I was particularly looking forward to, both for Raptor and to see how an Italian Merlin park would look/run after Heide Park earlier in the year...

After yet another diverted journey to the park we arrived just on time, and able to see this...

Yep, another opening ceremony to the park... I have no idea why we don’t seem to do this over here, as they are pretty enjoyable and make the park’s opening so much more of an event rather than just opening the tensa barriers/gates/turnstiles/whatever... Gets everyone more excited for the day and what lies ahead... God our entertainments are rubbish aren’t they?

We entered the park, and naturally headed to the brand new B&M hotness...

Raptor

Probably my most anticipated ride of this year, Raptor certainly ticks the boxes on looks, mainly as it manages to look massive, yet actually be one of the more compact B&Ms in the world... Because of this, the ride’s plaza is full of places to watch and look at the ride, making it a great double bill for Merlin creating really old style Tussauds ride (Krake is very much the same)... Watching the various near misses and inversions is brilliant, but we couldn’t do that for too long, there was a 1 minute queue to do...

1 minute later, we reached the left hand side and the front row... The station certainly looks the part, very industrial and the barbed wire queue fences really lend to the atmosphere of government research stuff... Feels a lot roomier to in comparison to Saw’s queue, but different ideals behind them make the difference here...

Back to the ride, it’s so simple to sit in and dispatch, before long we were ascending the short but quick lift hill into the first drop, and it was then the ride decided to show off it’s true self...

The first drop is insanely fun and good... As in the overbanked turn afterwards... And the inline after that... Indeed the entire ride completely fulfils the fun and good category perfectly, with great smoothness and flow between each element without the need for a high level of intensity... The interaction with water and theming work damn near perfectly, and the lack of pure intensity helps the ride be a big yet undemanding ride to those who aren’t keen on rides... Back row in addition also provides insane airtime on the first drop and beyond, even some slight B&M rattle as well, but it barely detracts from the ride...

The positions are weird at first, but they do provide a very interesting experience, the comfy restraints (bar the vest which for some reason tightens mid-ride, however, this is only noticeable on the brake run) are brilliant, and the spray of water onto the ride is just brilliant interaction in an extremely hot country...

Comparisons to Air are fair game here, because they both are good quality rides without the need to use excessive force on the riders... The re-rideability of Raptor is immense, especially with no queue, so we did it twice more and enjoyed it just as much, so damn good...

9/10

After that, we looked at the rest of the ride list, and decided for the lesser of evils...

Blue Tornado

The day the lesser of evils was a Vekoma SLC is the day the world ended... However, this was run extremely efficiently with barely any stacking at all, so the queue moved very quickly... John sat this one out but I would probably say it’s one of the better SLCs I’ve been on... Certainly better than Limit...

If these weren’t rough we’d probably love them... That’s what I get from them... Shame the pain ruins them...

6/10

Across the pathway, was another Vekoma, this time an extended Mine Train...

Mammut

Opening the same year as Tripsdrill’s Mammut, this was another ride which had excellent platforming going on... It helps that it’s just lap bars, but still, with 3 trains on you can’t faff about, and once again the queue moved excessively quickly...

The ride itself I was fearful of due to Volante at Rainbow, however this was a rather smooth and enjoyable coaster, with some decent theming surrounding it, and whilst the 3rd lift section was kind of pointless, it didn’t detract from the ride and had the best drop on it... Solid family ride and probably the 2nd best coaster in the park...

7/10

And again across the pathway (themed areas, who needs them?), we saw a rather awkward prize for a Merlin park...

Awkward Mickey... Anyways, after that was our first water ride of the day...

Jungle Rapids

Merlin are fixated with snakes I’ve decided... So many Cobra heads surround the ride’s entrance and queue you’d think Nick Varney loves them... But I digress...

Another nicely themed and entertaining Rapids... These were probably the most consistently good rides throughout the trip, as they all used theming, effects and splashes to a great effect, and never got us so drenched we wouldn’t enjoy it... This one is particular probably had the best consistent theming, including inside the volcano which was the focal point of the ride...

Why can’t we have rapids like these?

8/10

Continuing the water ride theme, we headed off into a secluded corner of the park, and found...

Fuga de Atlantide

Is it a coaster people ask, and it’s an interesting question what with the two cable lift hills and track drops, and when places like RCDB count Atlantica Supersplash, why not this?

Because it’s dull is why I don’t want to count it... Petty maybe, but deal with it...

First off the ride is beautifully themed and landscaped, however, whilst the two drops are fun due to just a seatbelt (a surprise on an Intamin), it’s what’s in between that counts, and well, there’s nothing in between...

There’s absolutely no story or anything to look at whilst moseying through the two drops... The single animatronic is dying a horrible death and there’s no story to keep you entertained whilst doing through this well themed area... Missed a trick here this ride did... Which is a shame considering the look of it...

Plus, can’t take bags in the queue, and there’s barely any lockers... Leaving them in the open? The Brit inside me disapproved greatly...

5/10

More walking followed, and we reached another random space themed area, home of...

Space Vertigo

Little baby Intamin drop tower with some really old school space theming... Was quite cool actually in a 90s sort of way... Another garden centre queueline too...

It also cemented my belief that smaller drop towers often work better than bigger ones... Much more impact between start and finish as you miss out the entire terminal velocity for several seconds... Good fun...

7/10

After this lunch was called as we were rather peckish, so we headed towards the English Village section of the park for some piratical munchies, but we were distracted on the way by...

Just a random show happening outside... I think it was timed but still, it was something that they didn’t need to do or have... Chessie should start having random shows dotted around the park, next to Chips Ahoy, on the Mexicana balconies, the list could go on... More parks need to do this just because it’s a good distraction and gives areas a lot more life and atmosphere, as proven by a massive crowd appearing by the end of the show itself...

After a burger of buccaneer proportions, we headed off to start our dark ride double bill, starting with...

I Corsari

Probably the most hidden dark ride in existence, the entrance itself is tucked away in a dead end, hiding within the giant ship of the area... I doubt many people even realise where this ride is, let alone what it does...

And so begins the most random dark ride I have ever encountered, there is apparently a story, and some really good animatronics in there, but... Just...

I don’t even know...

You jump from scene to scene, including traditional PotC rip-offs, to swamps and jungles, and perhaps the scariest thing ever to appear in a dark ride, before ending under the sea and then it’s over...

But it’s AMAZING!

Seriously amazing, no idea why, but it’s just something of sheer random quality that I loved it... Great atmosphere, great theming and just great times...

9/10

After that random bout of fun, it was time for...

Ramses

More down to earth theming abound, as it does what Tomb Blaster tries to, but excessively better, as it involves amazingly detailed sets, animatronics and I always like a shooting ride that has things react to you shooting them...

Not gonna spoil things, but the ride really transforms into something different after the initial scenes, and the constant story updates in the televisions are a neat idea, helping the narrative evolve along with you... Add in some stylish music and the ride is set for what is a very good dark ride, probably in my top 5... No Huntik but it’s still awesome...

9/10

Now what could be the best way to possibly follow those two epic dark rides? By going to the corner that no park ever wanted, apart from Gardaland’s original owners (thankgod we can’t blame Merlin for this)... A Vekoma looper and our first ride, a S&S Screaming Squirrel...

Sequoia Adventure

AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL! WHOEVER DREAMT UP THIS IDEA IS A FRIGGIN MORON!

Ahem...

Never have a felt such a displeasure on a ride... Even Cedar Point’s Mean Streak is better than this... Constant 3 seconds of headrush does not a good ride make... Especially with the throughput being terrible as they can only have one on the track at any time... WTF?

Seriously, this is the worst ride I’ve ever been on... FACT...

1/10

Magic Mountain (Fanta – The Ride)

Following the S&S travesty to the coaster world, anything would seem better, even a Vekoma... Interestingly this also has the new Vekoma restraints, which are their attempt at being like B&M...

It doesn’t work...

But, it’s definitely a better attempt than before... Still rickety but at least it didn’t try to pummel my head to a pulp...

Just want to know why I craved a Fanta after riding this... Only the heavens must know...

5/10

After that disasterous 30 minutes, we needed something nice, so went onto the final new coaster of the day and trip...

Ortobruco Tour

A Bigger Apple coaster... And it was like one of the rides on RCT where the builder has realised it can’t get over the hill normally, so has put lift hills everywhere so it can finish the course...

It was stupid really... But certainly a better idea than a normal Big Apple...

5/10

All the coasters done and the heat not leaving, we decided to go on the nearby log flume...

Colorado Boat

Muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu! Says the sponsorship on this amusing little flume ride... Again nicely themed and landscaped, with a surprising amount of wetness once more, this time from just milling about in the trough rather the drops... Random times...

Still another fun ride though...

6/10

That done, John split off from the group to go and watch the Raptor Magic Show, whilst the rest of us headed off for some magic of our own...

Magic House

Situated in the massive tree is yet another strange Madhouse, with yet more lifts and a strange story...

However, this one is punctuated with the one, the only, PERVY WIZARD!

Perhaps the greatest fail in a Madhouse build up ever, the pre-show is quite cool with the park’s mascot Prezzemolo going on about something, only for the perv to turn up and ruin our fun and make us go on the ride...

So the ride has some epic music, which as per the norm builds up, with some good scenery and light changes really making it impressive... It builds up to the finale... And then...

THE WORST PROJECTION OF THE PERVY WIZARD APPEARS IN THE ROOF...

It’s so awful it’s funny... Never has such a good ride be let down by something so pathetic... But Magic House did it... Tiny projection onto a massive roof? IT MAKES NO SENSE!

A real shame... Though with the lifts on exit it makes me wonder if they are such a good idea, as they really do ruin the mood after the finale... Maybe they just need to be done well?

5/10

Strangeness over, we headed back to John and photographed Raptor lots more, as well as riding it 5 more times...

To say this ride is photogenic is an understatement, so damn beautiful to look at and watch...


After the 5th time (8 times each on both B&Ms, score), we decided that it was time to say farewell to the park and head back to the hotel for one final night... Overall, Gardaland needs more high quality coasters in there, as without Raptor it really lacks a really good ride to take over the role of star attraction... Maybe Merlin have good plans for the park, but out of the 3 we visited, it certainly felt like the weakest ride line up...

Still, Raptor is definitely worth it... Just a question now to see if Swarm/X-Flight/Wild Eagle are to be as good...

 

[Martyn B]

Great report and nice pics, I enjoyed reading that.

 

[Anonymous]

Great report!!
We joked about getting stopped by the police while in Italy (always had since we did in Germany a few years back) but we never did, maybe because we drove our Swedish car, which meant that the Police would be forced to deal with some ignorant foreigners if they did
Seems like you came to the same conclusion as we did, Mirabilandia > Gardaland. Even though Raptor is pretty good compared to what you would think about it...

Can't wait for the next trip report from you guys!!

 

[peep]

I think you've summed up the main things Benin, let me have a go at detailing our adventure a bit more

WARNING: This trip report is going to be LONG. It’ll also take me an age to write but it’ll involve some amusing anecdotes (hopefully), some nice pics and a few video clips. I hope you enjoy reading it and get inspired to write your own trip reports of your latest theme park (or cultural) visits. There may be one or two in-jokes but I’ll try to explain them if I think I’ve mentioned one. There will also be a few ‘The Room’ in-jokes.


So I think it’s time for me to start to tell my tale of our epic trip to Italy. It all began on an average Thursday evening where Mark and I met up with Benin at some awful train station which is way too close to Croydon for my liking. We dropped off our stuff at Benin’s residence while we waited for the fourth member of the troupe. Waiting is a boring game and after what felt like an age we were hungry so we headed to ‘Spoons (not of the plastic variety) for some grub. Food was nom but we were still awaiting the arrival of the fourth member. Hmm, it was approaching the hour of Torchwood so we headed back to the house and prepped for our Torchwood drinking game (every time someone says ‘Torchwood’). Benin went off to the train station to meet the latecomer while Mark and I began the most disappointing drinking game ever. In other words we only had one shot throughout the entire episode, FAIL. Oh well, a bit later and we attempted to get some sleep in.

At like 3 or 4 (I forgets the exact time) we awoke, got ready and left for Gatwick airport. Benin’s farther was amazing and drove us there which felt like no time at all, though we did have to put up with his dad’s unusual taste in music (Avril Lavigne and Iron Maiden). Anyway when we arrived we went straight to the check-in desk which had an epic queue which meant that as we were getting nearer to the desk the closer we were to not getting through in time. Urgh. Anyway, finally we were checked in and bags sent to the plane we made our way to security. This is where one of us (I’m not naming and shaming on here) accidently forgot to put their gel and liquid based toiletry stuff in their suitcase and got stopped for ages and had to chuck loads away.

Oh well we all made it through in the end and we rushed into Boots to grab some snacks for breakfast (running out of time for anything more). We then quickly walked to our gate which happened to be miles away and we got on the plane. We were sitting waiting for ages but I managed to get a window seat so I wasn’t bothered. However they announced that they over-booked the plane and that not everyone was able to get on so we only just made it in time, that wouldn’t have been a great start to the trip now would it?

I love flying over Italy, it’s so gorgeous from above, loads of hills and mountains and sandy coastlines. That was a nice way to start.

We arrived at the Rome airport, Fiasomething. After being hit with the wave of heat once leaving the plane we collected our bags and made our way to the hire car company. Everyone was too scared to just go up and talk to the staff there so I went up with Mark (our wonderful driver for the week) and began conversing with the staff once she was off the phone (this seemed to be a trend with Italians that sit behind desks). We were given the wonderful Lancia Of Love (LOL) which was far superior to what we were meant to be getting, a VW Polo.

It was a great size for all four of us, with plenty of leg room in the back and comfy seats it was fantastic for our lengthy journeys throughout the week. One problem arose as soon as I opened one of the doors though, the smell the car gave off inside was a bit hideous but it was just something we had to deal with and once aired out it soon went away. So, Mark going slowly to try and get used to the car drove us out of the awful multi-storey car park of doom and via the motorway to our hotel in Rome.

Zoom

We got to where the hotel was meant to be and got all confused for ages, going round in circles, awkwardly asking locals etc but eventually we realised our simple mistake and found the entrance to the car park, parked the car and I checked us in. I wasn’t too sure what to expect from our first hotel as there was a mix of praise and rage on tripadvisor but as soon as we opened the door I was all like ‘YAY’. We had a nice large spacious room with a decent Sony TV and a large bathroom and we all had a single bed!

We chilled out for a bit before starting our Italian adventure. We made our way on foot to the nearest Metro station. It wasn’t a long walk at all really but in the heat it felt like quite the trek. We found the station quite easily and using the easy-to-use ticket machines (which you were able to get an English translation on) we all got our tickets for the day for a measly 4€! That 4 euros gets you around Rome on their Metro lines for 24 hours, we were impressed.

Their Metro service was so simple that a five year old could navigate it; there are TWO lines, A and B. Now I don’t think you could get simpler than that. We were on Line B and we headed straight to Colloseo. The trains were long, spacious and really open. It was just a giant bendy bus basically and with no doors in-between carriages it just felt like it went on and on like some odd optical illusion.

So yeah as you can tell, I really approve of their trains. I think the biggest factor was that it was nice and cool and when it was so hot outside it was just odd but really nice.

In what felt like only a few minutes we had arrived at Colloseo and I’m not kidding, you exit the station to see this….

What a way to start a day around Rome! So we stayed in this area for a bit, amused by the amount of costumed characters roaming around. We grabbed some water to help us deal with the heat (mid thirties meant I was dying, I can barely stand 22 ). We watched the female peeps on part of the site they’re still digging up next to the Coliseum; it was like watching an Italian version of Time Team that was organised by Playboy magazine, kinda.

Nearby there were these bollards which lots of peeps had attached padlocks to, no idea why or what it represents but it must mean something as we saw it in Verona too.

Anyways, moving on we walked around the edge of the Forum and up this huge hill, at the top there were people going to a wedding, they must have had some amazing backgrounds for their wedding snaps.

We then went back down the hill and along the long road towards all the other historical buildings of epicness. Wherever you look there is just some amazing architecture from the Roman period, I loved it and I wish we had more time. After a while we decided to get some gelato as we’d walked past so many of these touristy cabin things selling foodage. I got strawberry flavour, it was really, really nice. Gelato count: 1

Around the corner from where we got the gelato was this amazing monument. I don’t actually know anything about it but it looks so beautiful. There is no way my camera can do it justice but here is one of the better pics…

It sat on one side of this square where some of the most manic driving I have ever seen occurred. It was like a free for all and there were hardly any markings on the road, mental.

We then ventured down a few more roads including this stereotypical-looking Italian (and very narrow) road.

We found ourselves turn up at the Trevi fountains. It was ridiculously busy so we didn’t get very near but it does look very nice.

We decided to head over to the Vatican so we made our way to the nearest Metro station. On the way I noticed that Taxi waiting areas were called Taxi Atac, this highly amused me, here is a pic of a sign on the floor.

Anyway we found the train and several minutes later we were at the Vatican. I’m not a fan of religion but their architecture is magnificent and on such a huge scale, love it.

French for no + Benin’s surname = No Benin. Yep, I am easily amused, who knew?

The others didn’t want to pay to go into any of the gallery/museumy bits of the Vatican so we just milled around for a bit. While there we spotted quite a few nuns, priests and monks, to me it seemed a bit surreal so I joked they were costume characters because, well, it was amusing at the time.

Why u wearing dressing gown in public?

There was also this odd little police cart thing that went past a few times, it amused us purely for the fact a policeman was roaming around in a golf buggy.

We were feeling a bit hungry now so we went in search for pizza. We found pizza and it was good. I had a calzone which looked like it had a giant tumour, we lold.

The others got standard pizzas, well, apart from Benin who got garlic bread but was the size of a normal pizza anyway.

They were rather nom and rather cheap for the amount you got. We then made our way back to the hotel via the Metro, which as I’ve already stated, I love. We saw one train that was covered in graffiti, I don’t like graffiti. Actually we had to get Line A back to the main station which acts as a hub where you can change over to the other line. Line A trains weren’t as amazing as Line B trains. Something I noticed on the trains back were posters about early closing due to construction of a new line, yep, ladies and gentlepeeps, line C is on it’s way!!! Sorry I’ll stop getting all goony over the Metro lines now.

When back at the hotel we chillaxed and reflected on our first day in Italy. We also put the TV on, we found the kids channel, sorted. Hang on, what is this, FIREMAN SAM!!!! Oh, in Italian. Watches anyway. ROFL, the episode just happened to be about a pizzeria, what are the chances of that happening? It was amazing but was also a fun way to end the evening.

In a rush to capture evidence of said Fireman Sam times I took this uber blurry pic



For all my pics from day 1 Cliky me