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Poland: That RMC...

davidm

Strata Poster
There's an RMC in Poland.

An RMC.

In Poland.

Like Poland - where we visited just last year and there was just a big flat empty field.

A bloody huge new RMC.

Bugger.

--

I had some time booked off work this month, but had apathetically not booked up any big trip for that time, so as I was hitting the start
of that time with nothing planned, the lure of a quick trip over to see that RMC became too much (had only been over there just over a year
ago on that CF trip, but the city I had really liked then and not spent that much time in so that all worked) and booked up a few days for some
tourism, beer and the letters R, M and C.

Just a crappy quick TR though, mini photo dump (I took the good camera and have taken vast amounts of pics of the thing, but not sorted through
them or processed any, that time will come later...)

Thursday 17th October

6AM flight out of Manchester courtesy of Mr Easyjet - resisted the temptation to dash off to the RMC immediately after picking up the hire car
(had given myself far too much time in Poland so was not rushing at all) so headed to the local salt mine tourist sight instead.

Was ok - here the only picture I've processed so far;



Local Pope, made of salt;





This was near the salt mine too, some brine-hall place - weird.



Right that had occupied a few hours, found my hotel (pretty near the centre of Krakow), found some beer places to occupy myself with for a
while.

Friday 18th October

So last year, when heading to drop Serena off near the airport, my satnav app had taken us an interesting back-road route while involved a
tiny car ferry - oh how we laughed when that appeared in the middle of our trip. Must make sure I don't go that way again I thought.

But of course, since I was using the same satnav app as last year, stupid app took me that way again - I did stop to check it but by that
time I was only a few minutes away from the ferry, so there I was again - oh how I laughed at myself again. Muppet.



Also, worst colour ever hire-car.

Turned up at Energylandia just at opening though and seeing I'm parked 4 rows from the entrance at opening time, suspect that this is not going
to be a busy day at the park!



Dear me its a trek from the entrance to the new 'Dragon Zone' area of the park. Doesn't quite match Kolmarden's epic RMC trek because there
are no hills in the way of this one, but Energylandia's rather haphazard park layout (at least in the 'older' bits of the park - 'old' being
very relative here of course) still makes you take a good 15 minutes to get there - there's only one tunnel/entrance into the new area (as you
have to go underneath a road to get there) and the entrance is a little tucked away near Formula, but well signposted I guess.

The entrance to Zadra is at the far end of the Dragon Zone too, so that's a trek through the park, a trek through a tunnel and a trek through a
themed area to finally get to the ride entrance. Hah, if it were only that simple. There is an ornate entrance way, all very new and shiny
(some unfinished themeing pit notwithstanding) - you go up some stairs, around a corner back on yourself and down some stairs - so thats pretty
pointless. You then wander through some unthemed bit for a short while until you get to some more stirs that you go up, along a bit and back
down again. FFS. (there is actually something underneath this second pointless set of stairs, unlike the first set - but only a pathway). You
are still well outside the ride of course, but have by now walked back the whole length of the Dragon Zone (albeit a little 'backstage'). Right
into the queue proper you think as you head towards the structure - theres one big switchback that they have opened the short-cut gates for
but theres still another trek through the structure and another large switch back (with a closed shut gate that you could have used). At the end
of this second large switchback there is finally a sign that you might be reaching the end as '50 min' is painted on the floor. Wow, if they
think that that a 50 min line starts here then you must have walked through a 500 min queue from the ride entrance. Bizarre.

Obviously there is no queue today so finally get to some lockers and a staircase up into the station - they have the same '3-gate' batching
system to get people into the station (front row, singles and others) - I'm not convinced it works to be honest though - the front row Q is
OK, but the singles is pointless really as you've had to fight your way (as a single) through the entire Q to get there and then that gate
gets blocked up with others waiting for the others-gate. No such problems today on my first ride though as there is only a pair peeps
waiting for the front row and so I can walk straight on to a mostly empty train - back couple of rows were taken so I get into row 2.

This is still the first train of the day - I've not seen any other dispatches. We then have to wait until they get a full train, blimey
its taken 1/2 hour from park opening before we dispatch!



Right I've taken billions of pics of Zadra so you'll be sick of them soon, but what are you going to do...

That first ride was slow - but I had been expecting that and it was still very good, especially the (slow) stall - that was insanely good.



Head back around - its literally a 5 minute walk to get back around that stupidly long queue line, even at a fairly brisk goon-inspired pace.

Empty seat on the back-but-one row and I sit next to the chap I was sitting behind on the previous run, who I spot is wearing a RMC T-Shirt,
like a proper goon. Its better in the back even at this early point, the drop is better and the view on the stall is frankly ridiculous.

Start chatting to RMC-goon and he's only come over from Kansas City to ride this (and Untamed). Not only that, he's US-CoasterForce-known as
he's been to many of the US-Lives too - ha ha small world then (not on the forums but @LarsonLoopers on the twitter) - Hello James!

And I've just checked his YT out and there's a full queue-walk video there so you can see the madness for yourself. And amusingly he filmed
that just as I walked around between those 2 rides, since he's actually just following me around through that queue! Ha ha ha. :)

LINK HERE

So anyway, this seems to be a good way to spend the next few hours, so we and another random euro-goon who is doing the same thing (and whose
name I didn't get - sorry if you are reading this!) do that - a good dozen or so rides I think.

So its a very very good ride. Steel Vengeance is better, mostly because its a bit longer and that insane second half on Vengeance wins it for
me. The drop, mini speed hump on Zadra are better than the similar elements on Vengeance, but the two big hills that follow on Vengeance are
better than the odd turnaround thing on Zadra or either of its equivalent big hills. The stall on Zadra though is immense. Possibly my
favourite element ever (will need to go back and re-ride Wildfire's stall I think). The second inversion on Zadra is like that first one on
Vengeance but doesn't roll into Vengeance's second funny-inversion-dive-thing. There's a very good double-down in Zadra that hints at the
sustained ejector parts of Vengeance or (half of)the Lightning Rod quad-down - especially later in the day when its running fast. The last
inversion on Zadra was a bit weaker early on, but again by the end of the day that as well was very good.

Hard to fault the thing - the biggest problem is the stupid queue-line. Some bits of Zadra are better than equivalent bits on the other big
RMCs, some are better on the other big RMCs. Fantastic coaster then.

After a couple of hours riding it, need a break so I go off to "get my other creds" - the other two new coasters in the new area. Theres a
small mini-mine-train thing called Draken (as opposed to the other Dragon roller coaster in the park!) and a Vekoma junior coaster called
Frida (as opposed to the other Vekoma junior roller coaster in the park!). Neither are remarkable, although you do get a good view of Zadra
running from the Draken coaster.

Bumped into James again, so we rode Formula a few times (had only rode it the once last year) - decent little ride that, its going to feel
a bit odd when the bigger version of it gets built in the field next to Zadra next year.

I ride a few other things, gave Hyperion a few laps but was rather shocked by how rough it had become. It was OK in the middle seats, a bit
rough but still very good, but then I rode it on the outer back left seat and it was just horrible - first half was OK but after the floater
hill it was bouncing along something rotten - made me feel ill. Rode it front outer seat too and that was better but still not as good as
it should be (or had been last year). Shame that as it still looks amazing (despite its also ridiculous queue line).

Also rode the older Dragon roller coaster, might be the best Vekoma junior suspended coaster I've ridden.

Rode this, think the park could do with a good observation ride through?



Exclusive construction shots for next year's coaster now - its a pretty big site, couple of big holes in the ground have gone in but
nothing vertical yet;



And there a big hill that I guess has been built from the mud from those big holes - looked pretty solid rather than just a dump of mud as
there was a digger up on top of it doing stuff.



I also picked up the powered kiddy cred I avoided last year - there was no-one riding it when I wandered past so wasn't going to lower myself but
a small (German I think) group of euro-goons went in and so I followed them (share that shame?). Not too proud about that, but +1.



Late afternoon now, so headed back to Zadra (as did the other random goons for the day of course). Was running faster now, proper ejector on
the double-down and the last inversion giving some good fun too now. Some of the best rides ever then I think. Queued for the front at one point (goggles required!) but I think the back is where its at.









Approaching park close (6pm) it wasn't dark but sun was setting, couldn't get proper night rides, just dusk-rides - which were great anyway.



Last train of the day, back-but-one row. And done (for now).

Took ages to get back into Krakow though (traffic issues on a Friday night rather than silly ferry issues though) - was a bit knackered but
that didn't stop me wandering out for a big pizza and a few beers :)
 
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davidm

Strata Poster
Saturday 19th October

Had planned to do some generic touristing today - I will not bore you too much with this. Krakow is packed with tourists though, weather was
amazing for October (T-shirt temperatures, sunny skies, lovely), so obviously headed inside and underground as soon as possible.

Under this place (which you can't avoid as its the central square in the city)



there's a city museum 'Rynek Underground' under there (built when they excavated the area a few years back) - was really quite good, managed
to waste a few hours in there.



Back on the surface, there's a famous (apparently) old alter in the local church



Only it was all covered in scaffolding (renovation) - pah!



Went to another city museum (Krzysztofory Palace, just off the main square) - that was a bit rubbish. To be fair the displays were well done
just the place was not very big.

Generic touristing done then, I retreated to the safety of a random craft beer bar and proceeded to explore the back streets of what was the
Jewish ghetto area of the city. When I say 'explore' I mean crawl around various bars - I mean its almost culture?

Arty pedestrian bridge I wandered over late at night...





Sunday 20th October

Right, back to that RMC, this time with a proper camera - so if you were not sick of the same photos by now, there's a few more coming.

Successfully managed to ignore my satnav's "take the next left / do a u-turn / take the next left" protestations and went to the park the way
I should have done on Friday - no back roads just main (for rural Poland) roads - sorted, got there much quicker and easier today but ended
up parking further away as there was already many more cars there.

Same initial plan as Friday though - just ride Zadra for a while. Since I had stuff with me got to experience the locker policy - and it works
really well on Zadra, you buy a wristband for 5 zloty (about £1) and that lasts all day, scan in to open a locker and scan again to unlock it
after the ride. The lockers on Zadra were two sided and just before the stairs into the station level and that worked just great. Other
rides the lockers were not so conveniently built into the queue so might not work quite so efficiently (Hyperion's for example there is just
a big batch of lockers in the entrance way, Formula's you can put stuff in then when in the queue but to get it out you have to go in search
of the lockers as you don't exit past them. Much better system than the US-parks anyway.

Obviously bump into James and co again on that first ride and so as a little group we cycle round it for a while. After a while I want to go
off and take pictures (which was the main reason for coming back here today) so I do that - and bump into that ThrillRidesPhotography chap
taking the same pictures no doubt - he's got a bit better lenses with him though, so we'll see after I've processed some of these :)





















The observant of you will notice that all these Zadra pics are from one side of the ride only, you can't get around to the other side of
it apart from the bits you see as you walk through that interminable queue line.

I have a few rides on Hyperion too (middle seats only) - park is a lot busier than it was on the Friday, but this is still walk-on.

Then my cunning plan was to walk down the road outside the park, to see what you can shoot from there - so out into the car park I go!



And after some trekking you can get to the other side of the ride, but its not great - two things conspire against me, first the park fence is
rather close to the road so you can't shoot over it very well and secondly the sun is directly behind the ride at that time of the day, which
makes a bit of a challenge. :(





(this taken through the fence, but the light reflecting off the bars still causes an issue)


Might be able to rescue some detail in these though, we'll see...



Hyperion is a bit nicer to get pics of from outside though.











Back in the park, have a bit more of a photo-wander







Before finishing off with a few last Zadra rides :)



Evening's festivities starting off in an achingly hipster area - a disused tobacco factory complex (known as 'Tytano' now).



and continue via a few other places of course...

Monday 21st October

Went to Auschwitz today, figured I should do that after the frivolity at theme parks rather than before. Not a photo-day really then although
this at the start of the tour has some frightful numbers on it ; you struggle to make sense of the scale of the place, which I suppose is
a good thing.



Had gone on an organised bus trip rather than driving there myself - the bus pickup was right outside my hotel so that seemed like the best
way of doing it and was back in Krakow (its around a 90 min drive out there) late afternoon, this was my last night out there so headed
back to some bars in the city centre this time, but it being a Monday everywhere was very quiet.

Tuesday 22nd October

Had the morning for some more touristing. Went to the (now famous) Oskar Schindler's factory a little way out of the city centre - it was
really a museum about life in Krakow under the Nazi occupation rather than Schindler's story itself and again pretty powerful stuff, very
well done again as all the museum places were (even the small one I didn't rate that much). I had got there early and it was manageable but
as I left there were huge queues for the place and its pretty small / claustrophobic in places so I'd recommend booking or getting there early
if anyone was planning to go - don't just rock up at peak tourist times expecting to get in!

Here's his desk though ; that seemed to be an reasonably inoffensive photo?



There is a modern art place next door to the factory - actually built on the compound where the factory buildings were (the museum is more in
what was the offices I think). I like my modern art places, this was a pretty good (and big) building but I wasn't too keen on a lot of the
art in this one to be honest, maybe I just wasn't in the mood?.

On my various trips out of Krakow over the last few days (they had all gone the same way) I had passed an impressive "castle" type thing
on a hilltop so since the trip back to the airport went past there I stopped off for a looksee.



Wasn't much up there actually, a modern hotel in the woods and a posh restaurant in that main building.

Right, dump car at airport, last beer in the departure lounge, job done.

 
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Antinos

Slut for Spinners
Excellent report, as always! That's awesome that you happened to meet James while you were both over there - he's a great guy!
 

Howie

Donkey in a hat


Also, worst colour ever hire-car.



Dat car, tho!
? ? ?

Sorry, too busy laughing to actually read the rest of the report at the moment!
Day. Made!
I promise to read it properly once I've composed myself. ;)

*Edit: have now read it. S'good. Glad to hear that Zad' is not quite as good as Vengeance.
 
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Youngster Joey

Strata Poster
Excellent Report. It's cool you got to meet James, He's a great guy!

Generic touristing done then, I retreated to the safety of a random craft beer bar and proceeded to explore the back streets of what was the
Jewish ghetto area of the city. When I say 'explore' I mean crawl around various bars - I mean its almost culture?

I mean getting together to drink is a large part of Jewish culture so it definitely should get full culture points ?
 

i.d.b

Roller Poster
Enjoyed reading your trip report. I visited the week before you and also went Auschwitz, plus nearly all the craft beer bars in Katowice.
 

Hixee

Flojector
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Social Media Team
Last one of the block violation ones is the winner for me. Fabulous! :p
 
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