French and Dutch cred tours - 2015

[peep]

This trip report is going to cover two consecutive weekend trips. The first trip had been planned a month or two in advance as a way of taking advantage of a ticket offer for Parc Asterix and the three day bank holiday weekend at the end of August.

Saturday 29th August

Patrick stayed over at mine on the Friday as we left at a silly time in the morning to get over to Croydon where we were picked up by Benin and Tarin. We then drove onwards to the Eurotunnel. Luckily we got there early which allowed us to grab some much-needed caffeine in the waiting area. The journey went by without anything of note and we arrived at our first park of the trip a bit earlier than anticipated. The car park for Dennlys was filling up quickly and there was a huge amount of people waiting at the gates to get in as there was still a good 15-20 mins till opening. Once the park did open there was a huge bottleneck which caused lots of faff.





After a quick loo stop we soon discovered that Nitro was due to open at 12:30. We had planned to leave at 12 so we had to be prepared for later spite just so Benin and Patrick could get the Nitro cred (Tarin and I had been to Dennlys before). So, we continued onwards with the next cred, Le Furio, a family Soquet. The operator was pretty efficient which is pretty good considering he was alone and there was quite a queue. I quite like this coaster, then again all Soquet are pretty fun, good solid family rides.


potential spite





We then wandered over to the new kids rollercoaster Voltigo. It's one of those tiny new Gosetto spinny coasters which appear to be popping up all over the shop. It was a shame they built it over the piece of land which used to have the crazy bikes with odd wheels etc. Still this is a nice addition and it's bright colours liven the area up a bit. I think we were all a bit sad when the ride didn't actually provide much of a spin and it went around its little circuit way too many times.





I love the little park mascot, it's a great little design. We still had some time to kill before Nitro opened so we decided to queue for the shot tower. Yet again the operator was super efficient. The ride was also great fun, some lovely airtime.


just what is this?



We then had a spot of lunch in a cafe by the entrance. Had a very nice baguette.



We then joined the mass of peeps waiting for Nitro to open. Wasn't looking forward to this queue as it was more of a scrum than a queue to get into the queue. Still 12:30 happened and a staff member opened the queue for us. We had to queue for some time but with some banter the time passed nicely and we were soon boarding one of the poorly designed coaster cars. The first half was ok and then it just snaps and becomes really violent and not in a good way. Seeing as this wasn't my first time riding this I should have been more prepared but I forgot how lethal some of those 'transitions' are.





We then legged it to the car and onwards to our second park of the day, Parc du Bocasse. I really quite like Dennlys, it must be fantastic for locals with kids, there's a decent selection of attractions and fun ones at that. The setting in an old farm is also quite nice and the green areas provide quite a natural and nice atmosphere.

With none of us knowing much about Bocasse we weren't sure what to expect. A very busy car park and a new spinning coaster sitting on a field next to said car park was certainly far from what we were expecting. We got in pretty quickly and headed straight for a loo (a common theme for the day, something about drinking lots on a road trip) - this turned out to be right at the back of the park. After somehow navigating ourselves through the crowds we managed to get to our next coaster for the day.


Just chilling next to the car park


Over a bridge to get to the actual park






Yet another park with a strong farm theme




Cats! Lots of cats! No idea why but they all seemed to live in the house



Gonzales was a standard L&T systems junior coaster. It was quite fun, was annoying having to queue for quite some time for it though - especially as we were against the clock. As we were fast approaching the brake run I saw a wasp coming right at me, it luckily hit me in the cheek and not the eye and then from the impact it was flung behind me and into Tarin who proceeded to kill it after it stung her, it looked painful.

We then made our way over to another Soquet, Train de Mine. This also had quite a queue but we were able to spend that time watching the coaster do its thing and living in fear of more wasp attacks. The ride itself was good fun but maybe not as chaotic as the layout looked. I love Soquet coasters though, so peculiar yet really solid enjoyable family coasters.


This is a thing


This was a closed thing











We then left the park for 'Jurassic coaster' - you have to pick up a wristband for it upon exit of the park. Something told us they didn't quite think this plan through. There was quite a queue for the coaster which then wasn't helped by another break down (we saw one on the way in). Burdenous, a further delay in our journey was not what we needed. Soon enough an engineer arrived on a bike, proceeded to turn it off and back on again and all was good to go. While we were waiting we were amused by the children randomly playing on the hillside. The coaster was very standard, albeit smooth.





Bocasse was an odd park, it felt really crammed but that could have been to do with how busy it was. Yet again it seemed like a nice place for local families but I think Dennlys is far superior in terms to the overall quality. It was then a dash to make it to our third and final park of the day. We were all pretty tired by this point but Benin was a trooper and got us to Jardin d'Acclimatation in good time. We somehow managed to find a spot to park the car fairly quickly. The lady on the ticket desk was being burdenous and we had quite the language barrier. We purchased our tickets and headed in to find the creds. First up was Tacot Express, yet another Soquet! This one was quite nice and had an awesome tunnel finale!









So after that barrel of fun it was on to the next coaster, Dragon, which is yet another Soquet! Our fourth of the day, made me happy in the face. This one was also enjoyable but not as good as the Tacot Express.









The park is really large and I've visited before (rides were closed) and it's just a really nice place to be, especially on a sunny afternoon like when we were there. On my previous visit there was a large building under construction, its now complete, I have no idea what it houses but the architecture of it is fab.



There's also a really old pigeon lodge thing...


We then made our way to the third and final coaster before we headed on to the hotel. Papillons d'Alice is a really unique Reverchon spinner, with smaller cars and an unusual layout. Patrick and I got a stupid spin going on it, to the point where it was almost too much spinning.



The journey to our hotel was an entertaining one. We had to get to the opposite side of Paris and it was either go around or go via the arch de Triumph, something Benin really didn't want to do. However after thinking we had managed to avoid it we turned a corner and this happened...







It was kinda hilarious but nowhere near as bad as it could have been. The sat nav then led us to take a really nice route along the river before taking us out to our hotel on the Disney property. We were staying at the Kyriad on site which is a nice hotel and we got the room for a bargain. Check in was nice and quick and after a quick refresh we headed onto one of the free buses into the Village for an evening meal. It had been such an exhausting day so to end with a nice meal at King Ludwigs was relaxing and a fitting end to a good day.



Thanks for reading and I'll be posting day two soon....

 

[Nemesis Inferno]

I still have nightmares about that roundabout...

 

[peep]

Sunday 30th August

We got ourselves up and ready at a fairly decent time, we got on the next shuttle bus to the Resort hub and found some breakfast in the Disney Village. Once fed we headed over to the Studios. Tarin got her discounted ticket pretty quickly and we soon found ourselves entering the park (which seemed to have opened the rides slightly early).



We opted to head straight to Crush's coaster because although it would look like a long queue it would only get worse. We jumped straight into the single rider queue. It advertised a 30 minute wait and it was pretty spot on! The queueline is rather dull and tedious, especially with the single rider queue, sometimes it moves really quickly due to large numbers of group of 3s, and then other times it won't move for ages. I didn't get a great spin on the ride and we did stop on the lift hill for quite some time (probably down to some station-based faff). Still, it is a fun ride, would love to see some new projection systems in there though.







It was then straight round to Ratatouille. The whole area was crammed and the queue for the fastpasses was insane. We just did the same thing again and jumped into the single rider queue. This one moves so much quicker, what with two rows of 3 people, lots of random spare seats going! The time board did suggest single rider queue was 10 minutes but it was more 25-30. Still much better than the chaotic cattlepen of the outdoor normal queue. The ride, as always, is an absolute delight. It's just a joy from start to finish, the way the cars dance around is entertaining in itself.



We then popped into Toy Story Playland for RC Racer (Tarin still needed the cred). We tried to continue playing the single rider game but our luck ran out and we were spited by a pretty long queue (for the RC Racer single rider anyway). It was rather faffy and it probably would have been quicker on this occasion to just have joined the normal queue. Oh well. I still really enjoy RC Racer, the cycle is way too short but when it is going you get some decent air time.








Let's play: Spot le Benin!

It was then somehow lunchtime so we grabbed some food in the Backlot cafe opposite Rock 'n' Roller. The food was ok, nothing really of note. We did approve of the bin signage in the Iron Man section...



After food we managed to catch a performance of Animagique! Seeing as this show is leaving early next year I'm probably going to try and see it at least once on all my upcoming visits, it's a fun show. However the fun child-based announcements before the show begins have been replaced with standard adult ones. This probably happened ages ago but it has been quite some time since I last saw it.

The Studios was clearly silly busy so we had the crazy idea that maybe everyone was doing this park first so we hopped over to Disneyland Parc to find out that our theory was in fact true! On our way we had a bit of shop faff, I got a photopass+ annual pass edition, a whole year of orps and character pics for like 40 euros, bargain! While Patrick and I waited in the main park for Benin and Tarin we managed to get a ride on the paddy wagon!





Once we met up with Benin and Tarin by the time board we headed over to Casey Jr. We did find a mass of roaming characters by Small World but the crowds were being annoying so we continued onwards. The storybook area of Fantasyland was rammed, which was a surprise, but we still joined the end of the queue for Casey Jr and enjoyed the shade. Casey Jr is a fun little ride, I do love a good fun soundtrack on a ride.

We then continued through Fantasyland and found ourselves in the queue for Pirates of the Caribbean. I think it was another 20-30 minute wait. It has such a ridiculous throughput that even a long wait never feels long as its always moving. I also find myself humming along to the soundtrack. The ride itself was in fairly decent condition, a few effects were back since our last visit, some had gone, as is the forever changing views of Pirates of the Caribbean.





After our adventure on the seas we went adventuring through the adventure isle caves. It's one of my favourite places in Disneyland Paris, such a great maze with lots of different entrances and exits. We also found the treasure!







When we managed to find an exit we approved of (via the wobbly bridge!) we headed straight for Indiana Jones! The queuetime was 20 minutes but we could see people in the extended queue which is a lot more like 40+ so we grabbed fastpasses for 30 mins time and headed off to Phantom Manor! Quite the trek.

Phantom Manor also had a 20-30 minute queue, a common theme it would appear. The stretch room was crazy dark which meant we couldn't tell if we were near the walls or not. The ride itself kept breaking down or loading and off-loading disabled guests which was rather annoying.

Still once out it was back over to Indy for our allocated fastpass time. Due to people faffing with the water fountains in the normal queue the usual burdenous merge from fast pass to normal queue was painless, that was a nice change. The ride itself was great fun, I do enjoy it but maybe that's because I've found a way to position myself in the seat?



We then headed over to Discoveryland for the new Jedi Academy show in the Videopolis theatre. We still had some time so Patrick and I risked it and jumped into the single rider queue for Space Mountain. This new queueline was such a new experience for us that people must have looked at us weirdly after we got quite excited about seeing the station from a new angle.





So after a 6 month refurb has much changed? Actually, a fair amount. There's some rather noticeable new projections which really stand out (but in a good way). I think the sun explosion projection was a little off though, it's almost like they've adjusted something for future updates and in the process have made the awesome explosion really small? A bit odd. One of the meteors looks amazing, I think they've given it some projection mapping or something, it really stood out. All in all it was looking good and I can't wait to see what happens in phase 2.

We then ran round to Videopolis for the show. Wow the set is impressive. I know the sides are from the Lion King, but overall it just looks fantastic. The show is really well put together too and I love that there's a couple of guys that micromanage the kids, just kept reminding me of the Lego Movie.





Still, it's a brilliant addition to the park and it'll be interesting to see what happens when they give it a new home next year. Also new since our last visit was the Ant-man preview in the Captain EO theatre. So Benin and Tarin headed off to Star Tours while Patrick and I checked it out. Obviously it was a bit weird seeing it after seeing the film but jeez, glad that was the case! They show the first shrink scene, fine, then the extended trailer, ok. Then they show a whole bunch of extended bits from the trailer, might as well not see the film. Just a really odd thing to put on in the parks. Nice idea but they showed way too much and it was kept on for far too long (the film had been out since July?).



Once we met back up with Tarin and Benin after looking around Star Traders (loads of new Star Wars tat) we joined the main queue for Space Mountain. It wasn't too much of a wait but unfortunately the audio wasn't that loud, a shame.



We then headed back over to the Studios where we reluctantly ended up getting some burgers in Studio 1. I think we were all pleasantly surprised by the quality of the burgers. It was quite the enjoyable fast food meal. It obviously then made sense to go straight to Rock 'n' Rollercoaster which had a 5 minute wait!!!

It was running really well, the lighting was looking great and it was speeding around the course. However the audio was messed up. I think they had a failed launch which resulted in all the trains not understanding where they were in terms of audio playback. So even though when it played it was super loud and amazing it counted down half-way through the ride, very odd sensation. We ran around again in the vein hope that it'd be fixed (staff clearly knew what was up and one of them looked like he was trying to reset the audio system when they came back - he failed). This time it was a bit more in sync but the audio sounded like it was a car stereo trying to catch a radio signal in the middle of nowhere. The speakers were totally blown and any time the train did a manoeuvre it would just have trouble playing, it kinda sucked. It's still a fun ride but obviously the audio is a rather big part of the ride and it's distracting when it doesn't work.



We then headed round to Tower of Terror. The staff were in a great mood and were playing up the creepiness, love it when they do that. It was Tarin's first time on the Tower and I think she was a bit scared of what was to come - understandable. We then got the English audio track for the ride!!!!!! Love it when this happens, such a rare treat. Obviously the ride itself was amazing. We then ran around and got another go. No English audio this time but our ride host was fab and did the trick where a kid too small to ride welcomes everyone back, very amusing.









The park was now closed so it was once more over to the Disneyland Parc. We were just in time to catch a Royal Welcome, in other words, Princesses Anna and Elsa ride down Main Street in a horse-drawn cart to the Frozen soundtrack. It actually had quite a large gathering of people watching it.





Weirdly enough, for the first time that we can recall on a Summer visit, Minnie Mouse was still greeting guests at her photolocation, at night, what madness was this?



We headed over to Cottonwood Ranch which was host to the Frozen fun event during the Summer.



We joined the queue for the last performance (at like 9:45 pm, again, what the hell Disney? Keep it up!) of Sing-along Frozen. It was actually quite exciting to be seeing another new show at Disneyland Paris, it's been so long since they've added lots of new entertainment. They've done a fantastic job decorating the theatre, it works really well. One addition I wasn't a massive fan of though was two cameras which tracked the crowd to broadcast on screens at certain times. So glad we were out of range. There was a group near us though which were really hyperactive, they had signs, they cheered and whooped and really gave it their all when it came to singing. It's always fun playing spot the cast members




Yay for big bouncy balls


Yay for chaos!







The show was really good fun, it's got a genuine energy due to the great songs and the cast seemed to be enjoying themselves. There's also a reserved area for kids that have dressed up which is rather adorable and a brilliant idea.

Patrick and I picked up a very blue Frozen-themed frozen slushy which was tasty (but pricey) and we made our way over to Central Plaza for Disney Dreams.





During the wait for the main show to begin a random (and unscheduled) Frozen dreams thing happened. They used the Frozen score and basically tested the fountains. Still, it was nice while the masses of people waited for Dreams to begin. Oh and peeps were sitting on the floor again. Where has this trend come from? Staff are not enforcing it or anything, it just seems to be naturally occurring, love it.








Huzzah, the fire has returned!





And that was the end of our random chaotic day at Disneyland Paris. We left, spent some time faffing in World of Disney before getting back to the hotel for some much needed sleep. I find it amusing that I always tell goons that you can't get all creds at Paris done in a day but we basically achieved it and without really trying and we kinda don't know how. (We could have fit in Thunder Mountain but large queues and constant breakdowns put us off). It was a tiring, hot but very fun day. It was great to achieve so much, got on most of our favourite rides, saw all the new things on offer and just had a fun time. Happy times.


Thank you for reading. I'll be posting part 3 within the next few days.

 

[Nemesis Inferno]

If we weren't so bothered about a decent spot for Dreams we would've got BTM as well, it was only advertising 20 minutes after we came out of the Frozen show...

Disney is a day is mega-tiring, last time I did it was in Cali and that was even worse than Paris...

 

[nadroJ]

Disney in a day is vile if you've never been before. If you have then I find it's quite fab to just run around doing all your favourites <3

 

[peep]

^Definitely. We were lucky with crowds and knowing how to get around certainly helps. I wouldn't recommend a noob tries to achieve what we did.


Monday 31st August

Well, the whole reason we made this random trip happen was upon us. I had, for the second year in a row, received an offer I simply couldn't refuse from Parc Asterix via email. A free ticket plus up to 5 additional tickets at a substantial discount. How could I not plan a random jaunt over to one of my favourite parks? We left our hotel at a reasonable hour and made our way along the motorway to Asterix. Near the ticket booths we met up with a friend of Benins and her friend. I think split amongst us our tickets cost like €24 each, bargain! We then joined the masses in the bottleneck but beautifully designed main street area.



Our first stop, obviously, was Oz'Iris. The queue is still one of my favourites and with decent operators the queue moves really quickly. We managed to wrangle a back row ride. We were all set and ready and then the ride sensors threw a hissy fit. Luckily we didn't have to get off but we were sat on the ride for a good 10-15 minutes while loads of people squeezed into the control box to attempt to fix the problem. There was also a security/health and safety team making sure everyone on the brake run was ok and that no one was entering ride areas, it was all quite interesting to watch.

Anyway they fixed things and we were on our way up the steep lift hill. I love this ride so much, it's just excellent from start to finish. The first drop is insane, the loop is great, the dip into the misty tunnel is fab and the zero-g rolls, oh gawd they are so perfect.






A perfect representation of how we looked while queuing



We then rode the Tivoli so Tarin could get the +1 before we moved backwards a bit for Trace du Hourra, the massive Mack bobsleigh cred. The queue was being rather burdenous and with only three trains in operation (as opposed to the max 5) the queue moved fairly slowly. Due to the silly queue we stupidly decided to squeeze two of us into each car. I have never regretted something so much, I literally had the handle IN my stomach, it was incredibly painful. Eww.

After picking up some much needed refreshment we joined the queue for Oxygenarium. I was shocked at how quickly the queue was moving as my previous experience with the queue was not so pleasant. The ride itself was terrifying. All 6 of us squeezed into one dingy caused some chaotic spinning throughout and we actually caused quite the splash too. Actually quite good fun.



We were then going to ride Goudurix but it had broken down so while Tarin and Benin waited for it to re-open the rest of us went over to the viking swinging ship. It was good, lots of floaty airtime, got a bit tedious though.



By the time we were off Goudurix was back in operation so we immediately joined the queue. I think we waited something like 10-15 minutes, which was nice. It rode ok apart from the odd jolt, think I've had better rides on it though.



Picking up more creds we ticked off Vol d'Icare. This is an ok family coaster and nothing more. I do love the theming of the station and queueline but glad I didn't have to queue very long (unlike last time).



We then wanted some Hydra action. Patrick sat out because spinny rides. It's a good flat ride and I'm always surprised there isn't more of them in parks.



We could see a digger clearing space for next year's Disko coaster. It looked a bit stuck...



Actually really looking forward to seeing this ride built, should be an excellent addition to the park and where it's going should work really well. Obviously Zeus was next. Amazingly we didn't have to queue too long for this one. While the first drop is incredible I find the rest of the ride really uncomfortable, It's a shame because I used to rave about this but I simply can't re-ride it anymore.





We then decided to go in search of some food. We ended up in the Roman themed pizza/pasta restaurant. I had some pasta which was tasty and very filling.

We then went to relax by watching one of the new shows, Magique Panoramix. This was set in an old theatre which pretty much got demolished and rebuilt with some fab new exterior theming. The set was also really fab and although it started with some audience participation (was actually bricking it - especially as I had absolutely no idea what they were saying) still, what I could understand they were amusing and they did a few tricks which was nice. The two peeps messing around in the audience then visited the magician who was trying to teach them how to make the potion that is famous in the comics. They then fail several times, each time resulting in various amusing magic tricks/illusions to occur. It was brilliantly staged and it looked fantastic. Each magic trick is simple and over-used but they fit into the story well and designed in slightly new ways to make them feel fresh. You've got to love the effort the Asterix entertainment team put into their shows.





It was then from one show to another. Yet another new show, Gaulois vs Romains: le match (I think you can translate that one ), this was one was set in the decent sized Roman Coliseum arena thing near the entrance of the park. I used to enjoy the show that was performed in here but they made huge changes to the arena which has allowed them to create a park show like nothing else I've seen. The idea is simple, The Gauls go up against the Romans in a light-entertainment game show for the Roman Emperor, Cesar. Sounds pretty basic right? Well nothing could have prepared us for the onslaught of hilarious skits and proper cheering/booing from the audience (we got quite caught up in the story).

The whole thing starts off like a TV studio recording (but dressed up in the Asterix style of Rome) with a guy walking around talking the audience (yeah, this had me quite tensed up again) and he was armed with a bloody camera which showed people cacking it up on the big screens. After he had got the crowd going we all counted down to the beginning of the recording and the show host was revealed, she was brilliant and was a great pastiche of these type of show hosts. We're then introduced to the two teams with all the usual big build up to round one which ended up being..... a DANCE OFF. OMG, it was amazing, even if it did go on a bit. How the Romans one was a brilliant moment and one I didn't see coming.

Then, we were nearly broken by what happened next. Advert breaks complete with fake adverts for the bits inbetween each round were a brilliant touch and apparently closely resemble real ads. The whole thing was like watching a live version of Horrible Histories in French. I won't go on as this will take me all night to write up but it was just really great fun and I had a smile on my face the whole 30 odd minutes it was on. I think this actually might be my favourite park show ever. I've found a fairly decent multi-camera recording of the show on youtube, enjoy...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8swQyoV0DM[/youtube]

We then went on le grand splash which I really like but it usually has a dreadful queue (epic rainclouds approaching meant people were avoiding it). Weirdly Benin's friend spotted someone she knew in the queue which resulted in much awkward faff afterwards when the kid would not let her leave him (cute, but we wanted to move on). The ride is quite a tranquil ride with some fun water and sound effects which then lead up to the big drop where you don't get that wet.

After the faff we sped over to the stunt show, this was my third time seeing it and I still adore it, the best park stunt show? I think so. About 5 minutes in the heavens opened and the rain was absolutely insane, we had timed our day well as it finished before the show did and we didn't see any more rain for the rest of the day.



We decided another go on OzIris was in order. We got on fairly quickly and it was running extremely well, yay for awesome B&M inverts!



It was then time for Le defi de Cesar. Unfortunately it was in a really bad state and this upset me a lot seeing as it's my favourite mad house. It just has ridiculous (and unique) pre-shows and then a really unique set up for the mad house. However the whole thing just felt like it was falling apart, hope they give it a massive refurb over the winter.



We then did the little boat ride in the Gaul village which is quite long and last year's new cave effect is still fab. We then did Transdemonium. I've never really been a fan of this ride. It's got some great ideas and effects but it's all just a bit thrown together rather than a coherent story (feels like they tried to create one with the troll things). The heavy smoke and cool lighting is approved though.

The others then wanted to end the day with another go on Zeus. Patrick and I sat out because it's super rough and I really didn't want a horrible headache the whole way home. We then said goodbye to Benin's lovely friends who were entertaining and genuinely nice people. It was then time for all the gift shops before getting back in the car for a very long journey home. Urgh, was a burdenous journey made even longer with satnav woes and eurotunnel delays (due to an earlier train fault). Got home at a silly time, yay

It was yet another great day to end such an exhausting yet brilliant weekend. I got 7 creds and visited two of my favourite theme parks, what's not to love? Asterix never fails to amaze me in their updates of the park and I'm really looking forward to seeing what else they have in store in the future. Oh and they can totally send me another cheap voucher thing



Thanks for reading and trip 2 will start at some point soon.

 

[peep]

So the Tuesday I was at work but I had some great news, Nic was able to get the following Friday and Monday off work (as was I!) so we spent the evening booking up hotels and shizz. Good thing we already made up most of the plan the week before or that would have taken us forever, instead of the like 2 hours it actually did. Come round to the Thursday evening (gotta love a 3 day working week) and I was meeting Nic at Dover train station so we could get a ferry over to France. Once in France we drove like 5 mins from the port and arrived at our hotel. The car park was tiny for the two hotels it was trying to cater for (someone clearly hadn't worked this out) but we somehow managed to squeeze the car in somewhere round the back. The hotel was a Campanille but had recently undergone a refurb and it was fab. One of the best cheap hotels I've ever stayed in.


Friday 4th September

After some much needed sleep we got up and drove the 2-3 hours up the road to Efteling! We arrived shortly after opening and we walked straight in. We then waited by the heavily themed ATM for a Thom. After he arrived we found some characters to get our photos with...


Hmm, that be some dodgy marketing plan





We caught a new morning version of Aquanura which was nice and moved on to Bob which had a 15 minute wait. I really enjoy Bob, it's such a fast-paced crazy little ride.



We then took an adventure on Fata Morgana. I really like this dark ride, has a great soundtrack and so much is going on. The new updated effects were a nice touch and Thom pointed out the ridiculousness of the laser temple room.



It was then time for one of the main reasons we were back in Efteling, Baron 1898. It's odd seeing it in person, it oddly fits in with the rest of the park extremely well. The queue was burdenous though, it felt like everyone else in the park was in the queue and it moves slowly. Sad face. Still after our long wait we were finally handed a ticket (for row assignment) and let into the waiting foyer.














Row one!

We then entered the first pre-show room. The level of theming (as expected) is amazing. There's a really creepy vibe to the whole scene and it was nice that they had English translations on a projection. The second pre-show is more of a waiting room prior to entering the station but there's a really fab animatronic.



The ride starts off with another slight pre-show before you go up the lift which is really fab. Being in the front row for the hold at the top of the drop was great seeing as the tunnels is so full of mist you really can't see much past it. The drop might not be that tall but it still packs a punch, then speeding through the tunnel of mist into the first inversion is disorientating and great fun. The zero-g is nice and the helix pulls some nice forces, I also like the little bit of airtime from the hop into the brake run. It's a fun ride but still falls into the 'too short' category. However it means it's super re-ridable and a great addition to the park's ride lineup. I think the only thing really letting it all down is the queue which is all outside and a bit cheap. Feels almost like an after-thought. It was unpleasant to queue in as they've tried to create three separate queues (front, normal and single) but squeezed them all into a tiny space which causes not only confusion at the entrance but can be quite claustrophobic despite being out in the open. That's another thing, when it rains there is no protection, the whole thing feels like it wasn't intended to be used which is stupid.



Lets discuss the awesomeness of the station then. Instead of the staff just pressing a green button to let the train despatch they integrated it into a set of large industrial style brake handles which just adds a whole layer of authenticity to the story and just looks great.



We then headed for some lunch in the big station at the back of the park. Nic and I had a kebab which was super tasty and very filling. We then decided to head over to Vliegende Hollander. It had been too long since I last rode this so was looking forward to experiencing this again. The queueline is just fab, one of the best in the World by far. Although it creates a lot of tension and provides you with no idea of what is going on I do wish more happened inside. However the effects that do exist are extremely awesome and the sheer effort is extraordinary. A shame then that after all that the outside coaster section is pants.











We then headed for Joris en de Draak. It had a 15 minute wait which was nice. Yet again, it had been far too long since my last ride on this so I was finding it hard to compare to more recent rides on wooden coasters. It's such a fun ride, certainly a little rough around the edges but overall it is ageing well. It picks up such a great speed and I love all the quirky dips and the way it flings you about. The flag ceremony when your side wins is also a lovely touch.


Best themed vending machine?


I don't remember these fab coast/scarves hangers before.


So pretty

After another go on Joris (this time blue, not as good as red) we headed over to Vogel roc. This is such a fun family coaster and I love the soundtrack. Just a shame it was running on one train, granted it didn't need a second one but it meant additional faff.



We then went to grab a ticket for the revamped Raveleijn show (you need to pick up a free timed ticket from some machines outside) before heading into Droomvlucht. This had a bit of a queue but as it constantly moves it wasn't much of a wait before we boarded. I love how imaginative this ride is, from an unusual ride system to magical sets. The new star hall is fab and is probably one of the best moments in the ride now (obviously the 'such a cred' room is the best moment).



In the queue we noticed that our Raveleijn tickets had a card-game like style which was cool, but I think they were collected so also felt a bit pointless?




Such a massive improvement, shame it's still a massive cattlepen though

We then did Villa Volta which was in a terrible state. I couldn't believe it, first the one at Asterix and now the one at Efteling. This mad house sounded really broken and it barely spun around and when it did it was jerky and awkward. Full of disappointment. Seeing as we still had a bit of time before the show started we headed into the fairytale forest of forever. In a bid to not get lost or miss the show we tried to only see certain bits of the forest. We started with Sleeping beauty's castle which I don't think Nic and I had seen before (it was a bit snowed off on our last visit).











We then headed to the show arena. After taking a seat Thom mentioned that there's an English audio thing so we went outside in search of one. There was a €5 deposit. It didn't exactly work too well, was very crackly and the audio seemed to jump from quiet to loud all the time. We got a better jist of what was being said but I'm not sure I'd say it added to our experience. The main reason why I wanted to see it again didn't disappoint, the way the villain arrives and exits is mind-blowing and I just can't get my head around it. The new piece of set is cool but obscures the view for at least a part of the audience throughout the entire show. It's generally still a bit of a mess and although they've added more fire it all still feels like it needs a lot of work done on it. It's a shame because it looks fantastic, the style is fab and the effects are great but it's lacking a cohesive story.









We then headed back into the forest. Specifically to track down our favourite bits, we started with the Indian Waterlillies. I think Nic and I were glad we weren't the only ones bopping along to the dangerously catchy music.







The fairytale tree was being all fab and there were quite a few families listening to his stories. I still can't get over how amazing this animatronic is though, it's just incredible.



I got distracted by a bird who was obsessed with the contents of a bin, he then ended up in said bin.



It was starting to spit so we escaped the fairytale labyrinth and found Polles Pancakes. We timed our visit well because the rain got heavier and everyone else in the park all of a sudden had the same plan. I can't get over how amazing the design of this restaurant is, so beautiful and the large animatronic thing in the centre is great. The staff, as always, were fab and the pancakes were tasty (regretted not getting the amazing apple one again though).





The weather had calmed a bit by the time we had finished but was still a bit moist. We decided to head over to Baron which obviously had no queue now. It was still great fun, the damp weather caused the smoke/mist effect to go overboard which looked amazing and gave the whole area a really creepy atmosphere.







We then tried to run over to Joris for one more ride but the queue had already been closed, boo. NOTE: Efteling closes the queues earlier than the park, can be 10-15 minutes early depending on how long the queue is. A little disappointed we just headed straight to the front of the park for Aquanura. It was a little sad to be watching the evening addition when it wasn't dark but such is life when visiting on a September weekday. The weather had slightly turned moist again and the wind blowing the fountains everywhere wasn't helping but wow we got the most unexpected finale ever. As the show progressed the wind kept making the fountain water get closer to where we were and then out of nowhere, like some massively delayed effect a mass of water just dropped out of the sky and on to the whole area, we were absolutely drenched! We couldn't stop laughing for a good 15 minutes, it was just so ridiculous and sudden and the sheer amount of water was unbelievable. Nic and I actually spent the rest of the weekend occasionally laughing at it, just one of those moments that will never be forgotten.

The show itself was a new version we hadn't experienced before and well, we prefer the original, certainly includes more of the original park music but they removed a lot of the more upbeat tracks which has caused the show to become quite bland and boring which is a shame.

We then faffed around the tat shop before saying goodbye to Thom and headed back to the car to laugh at how wet we were. We then had an hour drive to Apeldoorn for our next hotel. It was great to meet up with Thom again and to experience the park with CF's biggest Efteling fanboy. It was also nice to just be back at one of Europe's best theme parks. Wish the weather was a bit better but you can't have everything. Hopefully the wait till my next visit isn't as long.

Our hotel in Apeldoorn was very nice, a 4* located about 15 minute walk away from the town centre. After checking in and sorting our lives out we headed into town to find some food. Options weren't looking great and everything we came across we weren't that impressed by. Then we found a massive pub with a bit of a hipster-ish feel (Het Stadscafe). The menu was all in Dutch (obviously) and we tried our best to translate it but to no avail. Instead our amazing waitress Laura helped us make sense of it all, she was great and didn't make us feel like idiots. I ended up with a burger that was just incredible, was almost too much food, the quality was fantastic.

We then headed back to the hotel to rest up before a rather hectic day.





Thanks for reading. I plan to somehow write up the last 3 days of this trip within the week so watch this space!

 

[ThomVD]

Awesome report as usual!

Baron's queue sucks, the only letdown of the ride really (aside from the obvious length). It did move particularly slow when we visited, usually it moves a lot faster. Can't believe you think Joris is rough around the edges, as it's easily among the smoothest woodies I've done, but I know your view on woodies :wink:

The Aquanura incident was amazing <3 Such a great laugh and deffo the highlight of the day! The new show is indeed a bit of a letdown compared to the amazing old one, but it IS a lot better in the dark though. It was great to visit the park with some fellow fans :--D

 

[Martyn B]

Just spent the last hour reading all of this, sounds like a great trip! Can't wait for the next installment!

And nice to see a new entrance arrangement on Crush Coaster! Any other little improvements like that around the park?

 

[peep]

^In terms of queuelines Space Mountain is the only other difference with a new single rider queue. There's lots of little changes here and there that only regulars and goons will see. They're introducing new colour schemes and new building materials to make things last longer etc. I think we'll be seeing a lot of changes in time for the 25th anniversary year.


Saturday 5th September

We got up at a very reasonable hour and decided to walk to a bakers 5-10 minutes away to grab some breakfast. Soon after leaving the hotel the heavens opened so by the time we got the bakery we were absolutely drenched, not a fun way to start a day. We ended up getting a croissant or two, going into an Aldi to pick up some drinks and then popping into another bakery for CAKE. The place looked too good to not get something, I picked up something that was messy but amazing. Our walk back to the hotel was nice and dry so we were able to appreciate the area a bit more. Fun fact: Nic and I adore Dutch architecture.

After getting back to the car and shovelling food in our mouths we headed onwards to the first park of the day, Julianatoren. We got a little lost on the way and it wasn't helped by lots of diversions due to a local marathon event going on. We did manage to arrive shortly before opening.



The park was very similar to Adventure Island in Southend with it's clever use of space and having rides on top of buildings housing other attractions etc. We quite liked their style.









We then reached the cred, Jul's rollerskates. A fairly standard Vekoma junior rollercoaster, it really stood out in it's location. A much larger attraction compared to everything else in the park (even the other cred is only a butterfly). However as soon as we boarded and the bars were locked the heavens opened and OMG, it ended up being one of the wettest ride experiences I've ever had. By the time we came into the station ready for an automatic second lap I had an actual puddle of rain water in my lap, it was gross. I immediately chose to hide under shelter after that to wait for it all to calm down a bit.











The actual ride was fine and quite a nice family coaster, just a shame the weather had to go and ruin it all. Nic decided to ride the butterfly while I hid from the rain. We then entered a little building which had toilets and some dodgems.





We decided to ride the dodgems which were actually decent. This is also when we found out that all game machines and usually coin operated things were all free. We thought that was a nice touch. We played a game in a heavily UV-lit room against this woman and her son, I think I won in the end. Fun times.





The weather then decided to calm itself so we had a little wander around the park. I bet local parents love this place, there is so much for little kids to do and also a nice selection of rides for everyone. I decided to do the ghost train. The operator actually rode around it too (it went round as a long train rather than individual cars). It was a bit tacky and cheap.

We found some random characters. Kudos to the park for creating a really great set of characters, like Dennlys, it adds a nice layer to the park.



Next to the tower the park was built around there was a little entranceway to some caves. With time going ok we decided to investigate. There wasn't really anything down there but it lead us out to a tent with a 4D shooty thing (didn't bother), some more free games and a big building block thing.



That then led us on down a corridor with mice characters dressed up in random decade-based scenarios.





We decided to move on to our next park, there were creds to get! It took just under an hour to get to the next park, Avonturenpark Hellendoorn. We had no idea what to expect from this park. Yet again after shortly arriving the heavens opened so we sheltered near the big cred, Tornado.





Soon enough the rain ceased and we hopped on to the Vekoma looper. It was incredibly smooth! Like, I know I usually stick up for Vekomas but even Nic was happy with how this one rode. There was like one weird kink in the track after the corkscrew but it just glided through the course really nicely. A pleasant surprise.





The rapids looked great and very tempting but already still damp from the rain we didn't bother.



Instead we headed on to the next cred, Donderstenen, a Zierer Force themed to rocks? This was quite good fun but there were two fountains that managed to get the middle of the train rather wet, added something to the ride I suppose, just glad we were at the back.





Next up we went to check out what was in the haunted house thing. It looked rather set up for a mad house. Instead you enter on the side and then descend into a random interactive dark ride. Not complaining, I love interactive dark rides but the whole set up was very random. Wasn't a massive fan of the circular car and the gun. The theming was great though, a very decent quality to the whole thing.









I was aware the park had a hidden third cred and I saw some parents hovering next to something with a ride sign. Turns out Rioolrat is the hidden cred. It was a very similar set up to Raptor Attack at Lightwater Valley in that you go down what is essentially a sewer system. Automatically adds an interesting atmosphere. The ride itself was great fun! If it wasn't the faff of getting to the ride and the mass of kids that appeared out of nowhere in the queue I would have happily ridden that again.




Slippery dark wet staircase of doom





We then faffed a bit, looked at their fab tat and moved on. I really liked this park and if we weren't against the clock I could have spent a good afternoon at this place. The creds are good fun and I'm sure there were a few more hidden treats. Our next park was about 30 mins away.

I'd kinda been looking forward to visiting Slagharen. It's always being slagged off on looopings.nl and I was curious as to why it had such a bad rep. After some initial faff getting tickets while it yet again rained (there was a trend occurring) we headed into the park and went in search of some lunch. We ended up at some American themed burger bar. Service was a little slow and food wasn't of great quality but it was ok for what we were after. We happened upon some large show/parade thing once we finished up which was odd. A fairly large cast singing the same song on a loop (it was quite a catchy ditty). Also caught a glimpse of the park mascot characters which are adorable. They're the sort of thing I expect in Japan not some random family park in the Netherlands.




Nic is curious if this is the same brothers than ran quite a few UK parks like Dreamland?







We then walked along the very long Western themed street to the big Schwarzkopf cred, Thunder loop. It was a good coaster, very smooth and the loop was good.







Thom had told us that the park had an interesting dark ride and although we were now running quite tight in regards to time I insisted we tracked it down. It ended up being a large domed building which hosted Wild West Adventure, a rapids-lite boat ride. I found the location of the ride quite unusual and found the whole thing fairly impressive. I approved of the final scene.





We then headed to the other side of the park for the other cred. Along the way we appreciated the lock bridge with a lock dedicated to the two characters, thought that was a nice touch.



The drop tower looked good but we didn't have time...



The mine train was fairly standard, not too much of note here...





We then got back in the car for our fourth and final park for the day, Plopsa Indoor Coevorden. First, Slagharen I thought was a nice park despite our rather short and frantic little visit. I couldn't see why it got all the bad press but maybe if I had a full day I'd change my mind? Either way they have a nice line up of attractions.

Plopsa was about a 20 minute drive away and we were surprised to find upon our arrival that it was located next to a Center Parcs. I think thats a brilliant idea. The place was pretty quiet when we arrived. It's extremely similar to the other Plopsa indoor park but I prefer the backdrops at this one, more like the original concept art which is fab. Obviously we went straight for the cred. The Wickiebaan was exactly the same as the other one so not much of note here.



















The main difference between the parks is this one has an Anubis themed flat ride. It's a super spinny discuss like ride and I had to make sure I rode it. This thing is actually mental and I can't get over two things, that Plopsa own one and that kids seem to love it. It threw me about like there was no tomorrow and I got an obscene amount of air time on it. If it had gone on much longer though I would have almost certainly spewed my lunch up.





Nic and I then rode the lighthouse themed drop tower (full of airtime) and the carousel before leaving as the place closed. I do like these little Plopsa parks, I think it must be great for local families, although I doubt this one has many close by as it's in the middle of nowhere.





Why does the camel looked so worried?





We then travelled to Delden where we found our hotel for the night. It was really nice if a bit weird. Like to get to reception from the car park at the back you walk through the restaurant? Staff also hide away in some other room rather than staying by the reception desk, it's all really odd. Still the room was large and comfy so all was good in the end. We decided to drive into the village to find food but after getting odd looks from the peeps in a pub window and realising that most places were closed we would move on to a bigger town centre. It's a lovely village though...



This was in our car park...






So we ended up in Hengelo which is a much bigger town with loads of restaurants and bars. We ended up in a massive bar/restaurant called De twee Wezen. The food was amazing and the staff were quite attentive and friendly. If you ever find yourself in Hengelo I recommend.

We then got back to the hotel and watched some Dad's Army on BBC 2 (wtf?) before getting some sleep. It had been another long and tiring day but full of good rides and nice locations.



Thanks again for reading!

 

[Nemesis Inferno]

Benbom Brothers did own Dreamland indeed...

Making notes on what side attractions to ride at these places too this week, keep the reports coming John...

 

[Martyn B]

Nice to see a report on Hellendoorne, it's the sister park to Pleasurewood Hills & Bagatelle!

 

[peep]

Sunday 6th September

After a lovely breakfast at the hotel we checked out and drove about 15 minutes away to our first park of the day, Waarbeek. We got to the park about 10 minutes early, we eagerly awaited the park opening next to these geese themed kid things...







We then paid the entrance fee and headed straight to the cred, Rodelbaan. Built in 1930 this thing is really unusual. It looked home made and the cramped over-grown state of the park added to the whole surreal-ness of it all. The randomly graffitied walls around the area made it feel like a dystopian playground from a sci-fi. I did film a POV but I haven't bothered to put it online yet. Maybe one day. The ride itself is surprisingly fun, it provides some decent air time on the drops and the headchoppers in the form of other walkways was slightly terrifying. It wasn't particularly fast or super thrilling but for something built in 1930 in the middle of nowhere it has a certain charm. To the point where we re-rode after taking a stroll around the park.

Have a mass of photos....






















A Richard themed tree slide?





After our brief 20 minute visit we felt we didn't really want to do any of the spinny things (there was a semi-decent selection of things) so we hopped into the car and made our way to park 2. Kalkar was our next park which is located in Germany (love random little border crossings). I think we were both looking forward to this one as it was by far the most unique park on our itinerary. What could make it unique I hear you cry? Well it's based in an unused power plant...



The bin in the car park had seen better days....



The entrance had a really nice new modern building so they must be bringing in a decent amount of guests. They were also building one of these enterprises on a tower rides themed to under the sea?...



The park's highlight...



More on that in a mo, first we had a cred to get! This was a custom powered coaster from Zamperla and it was a really odd layout. It kind of hover over and around the park's log flume and annoyingly went around the track like 5 times and occasionally had a very loud horn.











+1 achieved it was time to check out the rest of the park!



So the big cooling tower had a massive climbing area thing and a few other bits for kids, it was actually huge and quite impressive...





'Upstairs' is where the main attraction is housed though, "der vertical swing" is a really custom Zamperla lovechild between a starflyer and drop tower. Yeah sure it looks normal, then we got inside and noticed that the tower actually had drop tower styled seating? It was very odd. So Nic grabbed one of those while I got one of the outer swingy seats. I think this might go down as the most random park based experience ever. The cooling tower is so freaking massive that the smallest sound makes a massive echo, so going up and everyone is like screaming in joy/whatever/etc and it makes really cool and creepy echoes. It then peaks over the top so we can see the view, drops down a bit, creeps back up so we can see the view again and then it was back down to the bottom. Soooooooooo weird. They even installed like a sponge carpet which I think really added to the whole weirdness of just everything going on in that tower.












I DON'T UNDERSTAND

Back down to the ground and we found where all the people were, it was lunch time and everyone was getting lunch.... FREE lunch. Oh yeah, this park has its perks. There are a couple of huts each serving a different food thing, so you could get unlimited chips (with added paprika mix stuff of amazingness), drinks (if you could get past the hive of wasps) and soft serve ice cream! Safe to say Nic and I love this park.





The park also had a weird character thing which appeared everywhere, some of the theming felt quite new...





Old power station buildings are creepy...





We headed into the bruter museum which housed lots of random elements from the power station that never was. It also came complete with creepy mannequins...













The museum was crazy detailed...









Quite hard to tell but the following picture was where they'd made a new whole in the building to show how think the concrete has to be...



We then had a bit more of a nosey before getting back in the car. So glad we left Waarbeek early as it left us some more time to enjoy this weird and wonderful place.

About 40 minutes away was Amusementpark Tivoli. It's a tiny park and we were a little concerned we wouldn't get in without kids but we had no hassle.


I love that the donkey excreting a coin is a standard tale in the Netherlands

CRED! Standard Tivoli. +1





So there's what looked like an interesting dark ride, outside is all painted up like a jungle, quite different and exciting. Told Nic we should do it and I doubt it's a horror based one because look at all the happy animals (Nic does not like scary things) so we both get in a car. As soon as I enter I laugh as it is indeed a cheap horror ride. WTF? I've never seen in-park false advertising like it before, it was amazing (not the quality of said ride, just the contrast between exterior and interior) and I was highly amused.







Safe to say Nic wasn't amused.

We looked at what else the park had to offer, not a lot was the answer. The whole back area appeared to be occupied by large inflatable things and a couple of little rides for kids. There's a little boat ride underneath the cred which has extreme headchoppers.



Well, that was us then and it was time to get back into the car.



Another 40-or-so minutes and we were at Billybird. I sort of wanted to visit this place purely for their cred since Mushroom rode it some years back. It just screamed weird and I love weird. We had entrance faff and to be honest I have no idea why, the peeps in front just took forever and there were lots of looks of confusion. Still we got in and made the massive trek over to the cred on the other side of the lake. OK, only just got in and the place is already silly.









After making the long journey over to said cred it was then up the massive flight of stairs to get to the station. I simply do not understand the point of their design here. The ride does have a lift hill. The ride does have an exit station on the ground before the lift hill. And yet, oddly, they chose to place the station at the top of the lift hill, 45 feet in the air. Can someone please make some sense out of that? We also had to wait for a good 10-15 mins at the top as the capacity isn't exactly amazing.




Pictures look different because the weather was being bi







I couldn't say I was looking forward to the ride after the ride op was convinced Nic and I could squeeze into the same car. To be fair it managed to squeeze two kids and their dad in the other car. After some initial belt faff we were on our way. I have to admit it was really good fun. The air time on that main hill is brilliant and kinda terrifying. The speed it gains around the track is also pretty good and it rides very smooth. If it wasn't for the stupid station decision we would have gone round again.

We then made the huge trek back over to the entrance where we climbed Hemeltijk. I think that translates as 'health and safety nightmare mountain'. The mountain hides a couple of slides (we struggled to find one of them) and has pure moments of 'OMG I'm going to die' where there's no railings but a massive drop on either side of the bit you walk across. I'm not going to lie, this freaked me out a bit, not great with things like this at the best of times but with rain water making certain bits slippery and the overall lack of things to cling on to I wasn't exactly enjoying my time.


There's a way to get up somewhere here


We're still alive, yay!













Shortly after the heavens opened and we ran back to the car so we could head on to our fifth and final park for the day. 30 minutes away next to Eindhoven is Dippiedoe. A random (mainly indoor) family park which is part of a huge area of day out based things like lake activity centre and an arena. I think we arrived about an hour before it closed for the day so I think the lady on reception was a little surprised by our arrival. We meandered through the cramped indoor area (mainly play stuff for kids) and outside to the cred.

Tyfoon is a really fab little Zierer 'comet'. It was super smooth and picked up a decent speed, the transitions were also smooth. Lovely. We had become part of a small group of kids who instantly ran around to re-ride. We only ran around the once though. We could have totally ridden it loads though but we were super tired and bed was already calling (it was like 5pm).




Yeah, sorry, it's not easy getting good photos of this compact cred

We then headed back inside where Nic spotted a slide so that happened. We were slightly held up by this adorable little girl practically being forced to go down the slide by her Mum. We both picked up some mighty speed and the air time on one of the last humps was ridiculous. I think if we weren't so tired and it wasn't so much effort to walk to the top (it was quite a tall one) we probably would have had another go.



Dippiedoe really isn't aimed at people like us (clearly) but it does have a fab cred, glad we made it in good time. I was also shocked that we were not spited by ONE cred, now that takes some pure luck. We then headed to our last hotel of the trip on the outskirts of Eindhoven. It felt a bit like an American motel, a bit dodgy and pretty alone. After sorting our lives out we headed into town via a local bus service (pretty easy to navigate). About 20 minutes later we were in the town centre and we had no idea what we wanted to eat. Cue a spontaneous wander around until all the options we looked at are dismissed. Oh and there was a random music festival thing going on. One stage had a sort of soul group and we stumbled into a party/market thing which was instantly awkward as everyone was uber drunk and there was a guy singing some old Dutch songs that apparently everyone knew. We pretty much did the following...

We then (finally) stumbled upon a pretty awesome Italian restaurant. We had fun looking at the pictures and going "been there". After the tasty food it was back to the hotel (where we helped some other peeps get to our hotel as they were slightly confused by the buses) and then some much needed sleep.


Thanks for reading!

 

[peep]

I've decided to just go for it and finish up this report tonight....

Monday 7th September

We had a surprisingly good breakfast the hotel before we moved on to our final park of the trip, Toverland. It's been a while since my last visit and the place has changed a lot. I was also concerned that due to there only being two of us we would get bored due to lack of random antics on the silly play stuff. However we made our way in and I was immediately impressed by the fab new ticket booth area.











I'd forgotten this was a thing but the park are selling their waveswinger. Instead of just running it till it finally sells and leave they've taken away the chairs and left the lights on? Yeah I don't get it either but I assume a replacement of some kind will make its way to the park for next year.



A few things have moved about and lots more theming had been added to the first hall since my last visit, it was nice to finally see the great update in person.













We knew where we were heading first though, straight into the second hall and for Blitz Bahn! The revamped powered bobsleigh ride thing. What a difference! From the epic new queueline to the fab bits and pieces around the station, to the new launch sequence and the FAB tunnel at the start, to the new brilliant on-board soundtrack and the general look of the exterior with its hills and sheds the update is nothing short of excellent. Toverland have well and truly polished a turd and turned it into gold - it really is a magic land

















The new version is so great that we instantly ran around to ride it again. I just can't fault it, it just gets everything so right. Even the Octoberfest themed bar at the exit is fab (complete with talking bear head above the bar, obviously).




I approve of the timed ORPs



We then headed outside where we entered the new area. I was intrigued to see how it'd look in person and I have to concur with everyone else that it's just great. It's a pleasant, playful environment with music and lots of little bits and pieces. I'm glad that they know that it's these sort of things that make Toverland special from other big parks.









Obviously we went straight for Dwervelwind. I like that the queueline winds around the ride area. The station building is also nice, but a little but over-hyped but that could be because we didn't really have to wait. I thought the ride was a lot more forceful than I would have ever expected from a family spinner. It's fun and I love that it has on-board audio. It's not something I could re-ride though.















We then explored the area further and to go on the rapids. Annoyingly they were closed and weren't due to open till later in the day, boo.















We then went to go on Troy, oh, also not open till later in the day. To be fair the park was dead and we weren't exactly in a rush. So we opted to go on Boosterbike. Wow I forgot how fun this ride is. I really loved it, the launch was great and the ride was still smooth with a couple of moments of air time.



We opted to go straight back on (I don't think we left the station). When we did get off though I discovered a small flaw in the park's new design. For some reason they've kept the doors from the hall into that little area with some seats at the exit of the ride. Instead of just leaving it all fairly open (with a gate on the exit) the exit makes you walk all the way around to the new gift shop which seems weird and awkward. All just feels like an after-thought, either way Boosterbike also struggles to fit in amongst it's new surroundings. I wouldn't be surprised if we finally see it re-themed or something within the next few years.

We then headed inside for the fun house. It was fun, not as fun as it is with a large group but still fun. We then went on the Vekoma junior coaster, Boomerang. It's aged well and is still a decent family coaster.



We then went through the magic house where you take a wand and wave it about to make things happen. I'm surprised more parks don't have things like this as it's great for the little ones (actually thinking about Universal added something similar within their Potter areas, I like Universal, they're clever).



We then headed outside for the first performance of the day of 'fountains of magic', a little fountain show outside. I couldn't help but think the music was a little too dull for a show trying to get your attention.





The rapids were now testing but still not open but Troy was now open so we headed over to that. I used to love troy, it's fast and has a great flow to it. I was appalled to find (even after being forewarned by Thom) that it has not aged well. I found it unpleasantly rough and while there were moments I still enjoyed it was something I simply couldn't re-ride. So when Nic enthusiastically wanted another go she went back on while I went on the swinging ship Scorpio.







I love that Scorpio has an on-board soundtrack, it's fab too. It also has quite a fierce swing with lots of air time. The rapids were now open so we headed over to that next. The random indoor bit of the queueline was fab. The station was nice...



Due to the weather not being so great we were concerned we'd get quite wet on the rapids, that was not to be so all was good. Or not? Although it has it's moments (the waterfall, the heavily themed shower bit) it's quite a dull rapids with the occasional moment of potential splashes etc from the actual rapids. This is definitely not Hafema's strongest rapids.













This new area has totally transformed the park though, the landscaping is adventurous and exciting and all the random animatronics in the area are fab and really bring it all to life. We decided to head back over to Dwervelwind for a re-ride.



It was even more forceful that time! Absolutely crazy ride. We were running low on energy by this point and it was only lunchtime. We headed back inside for a spot of lunch at the place next to the entrance. I think we had a hot dog which was quite nice. After some lunch I decided to have a go on one of the dingy slides. Luckily didn't get wet but wow I picked up a lot of airtime on that last bit.



We then went for another go on Blitz Bahn because it's fab. I love how they've given the ride a massive backstory and there's lots of little video bits and pieces. We had to actually queue for a little bit this time which meant we got to watch one of the videos, its very well made.

We then grabbed some Milka from the new Milka shop complete with animatronic deer...



We sat down to watch Too's magic show (the little witch character). The audio was so quiet we couldn't really tell what was going on. They've also changed the look of the pig character, much better design now. However due to the awful audio and not really knowing what was going on we moved on.

I was pretty tired and had sort of had enough of the park already but Nic wanted one more go on Troy. I decided to give it another chance. Yeah, no, I stand by my earlier comments, rough and un-re-rideable. After Nic grabbed yet another go we made our way back to the car via the tat shop.

We then went through lots of little villages trying to find a supermarket (I can't remember what we went in search for). I ended up getting some Apple and Pear juice themed to Efteling characters...



Happy days. The long horrible journey then happened and I think I got home around 11pm. Totally worth it though, love a good spontaneous road trip. Got lots of new creds, went back to some of Europe's best theme parks and had a nice weekend with Nic. I think overall Toverland has gone down in my opinion because I've now been to better places but with a large fun group it's a brilliant day out.


Yet again thank you for reading, I'll leave you with an ORP of Nic and I on Boosterbike...

 

[TilenB]

Great report peep! I basically did a very similar trip as you did a week after (I didn't pack that many parks in a day, since it isn't exactly doable with only public transport). The fab little coaster at BillyBird has such an unusual station design to save costs. The cars are fairly light and it only needs a much smaller lift hill motor to get the cars to the top.
I disagree with Troy. It has a bit of a rattle, but I wouldn't really deem it unreridable. It's such a fun coaster.

 

[Martyn B]

Peep, you sure it's not your tolerance to wood getting low?lol I remember you saying about how bad Zeus was at the back (last year I think?). I then had a trip to Astèrix and had no issues, if anything I found it just as chaotic as ever!

I've started to notice that I'm not as tolerable to some flats anymore!

Oh, and isn't that Billybird coaster that famous solar powered coaster? Maybe having passengers going up the lift would use too much energy?

 

[peep]

Yeah I'd agree my tolerance has changed slightly (I'm really not alone regarding Zeus though, I think it might be a difference in the trains). Even the casual woodie vibration tends to give me a delayed headache (feels terrible, like travel sickness) but I also find proper rough ones just uncomfortable, and I like having a spine that isn't broken. I'm totally fine with the majority of steel coasters though, it's just the movements in wood based coasters that just don't work well with me.

Sent from my C6903 using Tapatalk

 

[PeskyTrimBrake]

Hmm, that be some dodgy marketing plan

Toverland being savage af :lol:

Awesome report! Really love Baron's station as well as the scenery around Oziris! I personally hate Disney heavily milking Frozen in their parks. The movie was ok but my god, Disney needs to chill IMO.