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Going Local: Part 3: Weird Powered Coaster and Dinosaurs

TilenB

Strata Poster
With myself turning 18 this year and getting the driver's licence I've decided to visit some more of the local attractions, let those be funfairs, water parks, small family amusement parks or alpine coasters that can all be covered with a less than a 2 hour drive in one direction. And today was the first of those.

With mum and dad out of town for the day, I took the privilege of taking my dad's car to school today (with permission, ofc). After I was done with school for the day I continued my way to BTC City, our country's biggest shopping centre, since it was only a 15 minute drive for school (which is quite comfortable compared to the burdenous option of public transport, which would most probably have taken at least an hour if not more).

Why did I decide to post a Trip Report of me visiting a shopping complex on here? The reason behind it is quite simple. The country's biggest funfair operator, Lunapark Müller has, for the 4th year in a row, set up a fair there (the reports from the previous years can be found here and here).

The ride selection was similar to the previous years, but had a couple of novelties as well.

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Overview

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Breakdance (it only ran once the time I was there)

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I'm unsure of how these are called, but I remember it being quite vile a few year ago when I first rode it.

The Batcoster (this spelling still kind of makes me giggle) made a return this year. Although I already had the cred from last year, I've decided to ride it, since, well, I haven't ridden a serious coaster in a looong while.

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Trains are still powered by LG

And also... To film this crappy POV

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbg2WUBqz3g[/youtube]

And some off-ride footage

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEY9XXs0hPw[/youtube]

They also had some horror house with live actors, but I didn't try it (I doubt it would be interesting anyways, since the people working in it must be bored as hell with nobody giving a damn about their attraction.

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I didn't know Tagadas were made by Zamperla... Didn't ride it since nobody else around was.

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And a Polyp...

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The Booster was closed today. I think it would be one of the few rides I would give a go if opened. Maybe next time.

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They had another coaster advertised, but it turned out to be a kiddie Log Flume, dammit.

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And the main reason for my visit was... This f*cking thing.

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I won't go into much detail around it. Basically it is the same ride that some other cfers have ridden in Southport a few days ago. I doubt it is the same physical ride, but the themeing seems to be spot on with its English counterpart. To add the insult to the injury the ride was set to run quite slow. But I'm glad it was, since the one in Prater turned out to be quite juddery and rough, despite its small size. The only highlight of my ride (I was the only one in the train, obviously) was the when the train just randomly started to go backwards in the last of its 3 laps. It only went backwards for a few meters, but it was quite random and awesome.

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkHuSTU8LyQ[/youtube]
And mostly it for this time round. Stay tuned for more!

And sorry if you found this report a bit too long. Here is a bunny to make you feel better. ;)

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ThomVD

Giga Poster
Re: Going Local: The Third Take on the Same Fair

OMG that bunny! <3

Seems like a crappy fair (aren't they all :wink: ) but at least you managed to get a cred in Slovenia.
 

cjbrandy

Hyper Poster
Re: Going Local: The Third Take on the Same Fair

The POV you filmed seems pretty decent! There's not a riciculous amount of camera shaking in it.
 

TilenB

Strata Poster
Re: Going Local: The Third Take on the Same Fair

^ Thanks! I thought it would be a bit worse, since it really shook me at the bottom of the first drop. I agree it does come out as rather decent, especially considering it was filmed by a regular photo camera, rather than something more professional. :)
 

ignace

Mega Poster
Re: Going Local: The Third Take on the Same Fair

ThomVD said:
(aren't they all :wink: )

No. Dutch and Belgians fairs suck, but the German ones are freaking awesome.

Nice report. How smooth is the Zyklon-style coaster? I actually really liked Zug der Manitu.
 

TilenB

Strata Poster
Re: Going Local: The Third Take on the Same Fair

^ It was actually rather smooth. There was maybe a turn in the latter section of the course that was a bit on the rough side, but otherwise it rode quite fine.

As far as those CAM coasters are concerned, I've come to an conclusion they are quite a bad model. Either they are supposed to be run like this one was (meaning they barely move, watch the off-ride video I posted) or they are unable to negotiate the track smoothly if run at higher speeds like the one in Prater...
 

TilenB

Strata Poster
Re: Going Local: The Third Take on the Same Fair

While the finals are being well underway (and more or less done with) we've decided to go to a day trip to one of the major Slovenian waterparks, Aqualuna (to where we haven't been in 6 years), to set my mind off studying for a bit. We picked up my little cousin (who is just shy of 10 years) with and set off.

Upon reaching the destination we've noticed that the place was being surprisingly packed, but we'd soon found out what the reason was - they were having an Open Day, meaning the entrance to the park, which otherwise costs 15€ on weekends, was free. Unbeknownst of the event taking place, it was quite a neat surprise to all of us.

And now for the slides;

The most prominent slide in the park and basically the main reason for our visit was Polin made King Cobra, which was added to the park in 2013. It's basically a dueling/racing slide that ends with a half pipe element. It was quite fun and definitely up there with the best waterslides in Slovenia (I doubt that any of the current slides can overtake the amazing Aqualoop as my favourite slid in Slovenia). The only lowlight was the long queue, due to which I only managed to ride it twice, once with my cousin and once with dad.

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It has to be one of the most photogenic waterslides out there!






The part before the half pipe is a bit uphill to slow the riders down and prevent going airborne. It occurred quite frequently that a lighter boat with 2 kids in it got stuck in there, slowing the whole process down.





King Cobra has been built on a pre-existing structure which also houses all of the other major waterslides.

Those 3-lane racer slides have been built custom for the tower. Being quite some taller than usually, the speeds they generated were pretty high. Easily the 2nd most popular slides next to King Cobra.



[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKC_hB0MtVI&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]

The 'Tornado' slides were also quite fun. When I was about 5 we went here quite frequently and I was always quite startled by the red slide, since it had that huge drop in the end. Now I disliked it for a different reason, since it turned out to be quite jolty and rough at the bottom. Note that the longer blue slides weren't there yet 13 years ago and were added a bit later on.



Talking about the blue slides, one of them generated quite high speeds and almost caused some riders (including myself) to be thrown out at the bottom turns. Easily the most fun thing to happen to me on a waterslide in a while.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sb7bTXVQbcg[/youtube]

They also have the Twister slides, which were neither fun nor smooth </3



The big yellow slides remained closed for the whole day. But even back when they cared to open them, they didn't operate for much longer than an hour or two...



Apart from the slide tower they also have 2 water play areas for kids. The smaller one has been there for ages, while the larger one was added in 2012 and is also made by Polin.









And have I mentioned how cool the surroundings were? :D



On our way back we stopped to dine in some amazing restaurant called Stari Pisker (Old Pot) in the city centre of a small town Celje. I had a New Zealander burger (which had steak cuts in and onion rings on top of), while my parents and cousin shared a meat platter, filled with pork ribs, fried chicken and chips. It tasted as awesome as it looks.





Till the next time! And I hope I will now finally visit a proper theme park when I'm done with the finals.
 

TilenB

Strata Poster
Re: Going Local: Part 2: Aqualuna Waterpark

This time something for those of you that like unusual parks out of the beaten path!


Yesterday (October the 17th) I have visited the little Croatian park called Dinopark Funtana (Funtana is the name of the village before you make any guesses). I have heard of the park prior to this season, but only started paying attention to what they are doing this May, when we drove by the place with my parents and I've seen a coaster being under construction. The ride has seemingly opened less than a month later and put the park on my to-do list when it comes to day trips.

Fast forward to yesterday then. As on the most of the weekends we have also spent this one at the coast. It being a day with rather inclement weather, there was little to no chance of having one last swim this year. Instead we opted for a short trip and I proposed we can go South for me to ride the Dinopark cred. My parents were up for it and in about an hours' time we were there. Ofc, my parents weren't too interested in the park and have thus left me there for about an hour, taking a short walk around the town instead.

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The entrance fee was 80 Kuna, which is roughly 10,5€

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Upon approaching the park I have noticed the coaster sitting there idle and I feared the worst, so I asked the guy in the ticket booth whether it is open and he confirmed it was, but continued it kind of takes shifts with the Pirate Ship, so one is open for an hour, then the other next hour and so on...

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I have foolishly taken the wrong path and ended up going through the part with Dinosaur animatronics instead of going directly to the cred.

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This park map was a bit dated and doesn't show the coaster yet (it should be in the lower left part of it).

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Park is built on some nice terrain as well.

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''Ehrmahgerd! Fek off!''

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Yay, finally!

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The ride is an interesting one. It is nothing I have ever seen before. It has no station, the trains have no seat dividers or restrains (is it an ACE coaster classic then?) and I have absolutely no clue on who has made it, since there were no manufacturer plates in sight. The layout is a triple helix, which also quite unique for a powered coaster.

For those interested I have also filmed a front row and back row POV, which can perhaps give you a better idea on how the ride looks.

Front Row:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz4gya_QvpA[/youtube]

Back Row:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2ZGkLNE9_Q[/youtube]

And some more pics

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As I was walking away, I saw a guy jumping in the moving train with a cig in hand. Yay for the Balkans...

Elsewhere in the park they had this scary looking kids ride. If I can say one thing, I definitely wouldn't put my kid on to ride it.

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The ride is in fact suspended from that home made wooden support structure. And it has rust on it.

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Plenty of rust!

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And is self operated (like most of the stuff in the park, apart from the Pirate Ship and the Coaster).

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Other rides:

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Comes with Donald The Horny

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They also have a show arena (no shows in off-season, though).

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And goats (which symbolise the Dinosaur food, I presume?)

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This is also some sort of a ride.

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Hunt the Dinos!

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They also had Nessie, which you could turn on and it then started to cackle and make random noises.

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And a motorbike, because, why not?

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I walked around the park for ages, waiting for the hour to pass and my parents to come pick me up. Before I left I took one ride on the Pirate Ship, which was ****, since it took ages to gain some speed and height and stopped as soon as it finally started to get some momentum (photo from outside the park gates).

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This little rabbit said goodbye. I don't think it was supposed to be there, though.

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Final thoughts?
It's an interesting park, especially the part away from the road, where most of the animatronics are and where the terrain is quite hilly. But you can hardly spend more than an hour here, even if you have a kid that is super excited to see everything...

So that was Dinopark, a dinosaur centred park with Dragon themed coaster, Pirates of the Carribean themed flat ride, motorbike stunt show and goats.

Till the next time...
 

Mysterious Sue

Strata Poster
What a strange little park. I'd totally give that inverted chair thing a go, it looks so ghetto.

Is that a magical liopleurodon?
 

Pink Cadillac

Giga Poster
Re: Going Local: Part 2: Aqualuna Waterpark

TilenB said:

They've literally taken classroom chairs from my old school, taken the legs of and attached them to a derelict ski lift.

TilenB said:
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Comes with Donald The Horny

Yes Donald! Spread those legs! Omg this makes me so happy. I love Donald <3
 

TilenB

Strata Poster
Mysterious Sue said:
What a strange little park. I'd totally give that inverted chair thing a go, it looks so ghetto.

Is that a magical liopleurodon?


The chair thing had an upper weight limit of 50 kg. I think it's there for a reason. :D

Is Ilopleurodon what Nessie is supposed to be? They had a few of those underwater creatures, so I might have posted the wrong one in my TR.
 
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