Railing Across Europe

[jayjay]

I like theme parks. I like trains. Last year, I promised myself a long interrailling holiday to combine two things I like, and this April, I've spent two and a half weeks doing exactly that. After months of planning, poring over timetables, putting together a route and booking tickets, I ended up with a final route:


Thursday 6th: "Belgian Waffling" - Plopsa Indoor
Friday 7th: "Stay Indoors" - Bobbejaanland
Sat 8th: "Ultravox Joke" - Wiener Prater (CF Live)
Sun 9th: "Happy Magic Fun" - Familypark Neusiedlersee (CF Live)
Mon 10th: "Not Happy Magic Fun" - Skyline Park
Tues 11th: "A Beautiful Cathedral City, and Creds I Guess" - Legoland Deutschland and Ulm
Weds 12th: "Wolfratshausen" - Märchenwald im Isartal
Thu 13th: "Starting the Proper Parks" - Mirabilandia
Fri 14th: "I Voluntarily Rerode a Pinfari" - Fiabilandia
Sat 15th: "Disanilandia" - Moviepark
Sun 16th: "Merlin: Episode 2" - Gardaland
Mon 17th/Tues 18th: "Ein Zug Nach Zug" - Travel through Switzerland
Wed 19th - "All the Creds" - Europa Park Part 1
Thu 20th - "Foodpoop" - Europa Park Part 2
Fri 21nd - "Phantasialand (The Sober Version)"
Sat 22nd/Sun 23rd - "The Final Push" - Paris/Le Jardin d'Acclimatations

I'll put an appendix at the end of this post with some notes on Interrail, but generally it worked out pretty well for me.

Day 1 - "Belgian Waffling" (Plopsa Indoor Hasselt)

The adventure begins! Due to leaving reservation bookings a bit late, I ended up needing an extra hostel the night before in London so I didn't miss my 8am Eurostar. Dear Generator London: It would be lovely if every room had power outlets, you know, in case people had phones they needed to be charged.

Also, stop ripping off Virgin Trains branding that wasn't funny in the first place

I'm going to spend the next few pages gushing over Mainland European architecture, so can I just point out that we have some pretty good stuff too.

Spoilers, this is not the first picture of a train station

Noble steed no. 1 (There will be lots of trains in this report and I do not apologise)

I've always loved the thought of travelling by Eurostar (FAST), and oh boy, in the one hour preceding this journey, they proceded to kill most of my excitement. Why do I need to check in half an hour before boarding? Why does a train need airport style security? These are the kinds of things I use trains to avoid.

Whatever, we sped through the English countryside at 180 mph, through the tunnel and popped out into Belgium.

Oh wait, nevermind. Brussels South still thinks it's London

Brussels South Station, which is called Bruxelles-Midi in French because why not confuse all the tourists

Destination number one on my journey was Hasselt, a medium sized town near the Dutch border, requiring a short hop on a train that looked straight out of the 60s

I love the weird pattern of mirrors at the ends of the carriage

Who likes trains?

Hasselt is not a town you visit on holiday. In fact, it's probably not a town many Belgians want to visit either. It feels a little like my hometown of Banbury: it's made up of a central shopping area, which was active and full of variety (and even history), and the rest of the town, which is mostly made of concrete.

Sure Bruges and Leuven have all the history, but do they have a grey, tree shaped office block?

One thing my hometown doesn't have however, is a cred. So, off to cred number one at Plopsa's Belgian indoor park. Luckily, my Plopsa pass was still valid, so this cred was free!

There's always a moment around this point when I realise I'm a 25 year old man walking into a kid's theme park and I wonder what I did wrong in life

The theme of day one is grey boxes

Plopsa Indoor is themed to the same high standard as the rest of Plopsa's parks. Plenty of high quality scenery and character figures. It reminded me of Toverland's indoor sections. Being a kiddie park meant that there wasn't really anything for me here besides a +1, speaking of...

Nothing exciting as coasters go: just a newer Zierer Rumblebum, but the lighting, water and scenery lifted this from "forgettable kiddie ride" to "happy surprise." Kids don't deserve the "eh, that'll do" attitude that some places go for, so I'm happy this exists.

Quack

Spent a couple of hours wandering around Hasselt, waiting for hostel check-in.

I joke about the grey buildings, but this is actually quite nice

Aside from trains, you will spend the next few pages becoming bored of pictures of European churches - sorrynotsorry

Dear HEMA, your rabbit mascots are scary

One shop dealt in collections of international and historic coins

Chocolate shop was shut - which is a shame because I WANT IT

Belgium reminding the world they have Tintin - decorated for Christmas or something

Time to check in to my hostel, which, not wanting to feel out of place in Hasselt, was made almost entirely out of concrete.

It's a symphony in grey

It was also almost entirely empty. I nearly bagged a solo dorm, but an old French-Belgian guy turned up to make things awkward. The standard hostel routine of walking into a full room of people not making conversation felt much more appealing than attempting to find common ground with a single random stranger.

A short part one for a short day, so join in next time, when I go to a proper theme park - the ever exciting Bobbejaanland.


Interrailling
First things first, if you're interested in doing train travel in Europe at all, the best resource in the world is Seat 61, written by one guy who has amassed a veritable encyclopedia of best ways to book and travel by rail.

Interrail passes are worth a look if you're thinking of doing a lot of rail travel over a long holiday. I paid about €300 for "15 days in one month," which allows unlimited travel over most of Europe's railways, including one day's travel in and out of your home country. Validity varies from country to country: in e.g. Germany, Scandinavia and Switzerland, you can jump on literally any train and just leave. In certain countries (notably France, Spain and Italy), passholders have to pay reservation fees on high speed trains. Night trains will always carry a reservation fee (usually cheap though: Cologne to Vienna was €34 for an eleven hour journey, with a bed and breakfast).

If you're booking very far in advance, long distance train fares work like air fares, and it may be cheaper just to book these cheap fares instead.

 

[Hixee]

I'm really looking forward to this report. Firstly because it simply sounds like a great idea and a cracking time, but secondly because I might mine it for some ideas.

Looking forward to more trains, cities and creds.

 

[tomahawk]

I'm going to follow this one! Wife and I are flying to Europe for our 5 year anniversary next year and her one must is a train through Switzerland. Look forward to more!

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[jayjay]

I'm going to follow this one! Wife and I are flying to Europe for our 5 year anniversary next year and her one must is a train through Switzerland. Look forward to more!

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

I'll get to that part eventually, but in summary, yes! I used a regular train between Milan and Zürich and that was gorgeous enough. There's also the panoramic Bernina/Glacier Express that are primarily for sightseeing

 

[Howie]

I like your trip reports Jay, they're funny! Few too many trains, but we'll gloss over that bit.
Look forward to the updates. The theme parky bits anyway, not so much the trains.

 

[zazobo]

Wahhhhhhtt! That route looks the NUTS.

 

[Pink Cadillac]

This is so cool though. I'm looking forward to seeing your report on Fiabilandia and its colossal Big Apple!

 

[Coaster Hipster]

I love the idea as well! It is creative and ambitious. Best of luck for your trip

EDIT: I guess I read that one too quickly haha. Still looking forward to the rest of your TR though ^^

 

[TilenB]

I love the idea as well! It is creative and ambitious. Best of luck for your trip

He's already back home, haha.
Great report so far, jayjay. I'm looking forward for more of it.
I actually had plans to visit Plopsa Hasselt myself last year. Was planning to combine it with the one in Coo, but that burdenous park couldn't get their Vekoma running by 1pm and with the next train leaving at 3pm, there was no time left to get to this park by the time I reached Hasselt (got there at 5pm, with the park closing at 5:30). Nevertheless, I still took a short walk around the city and found a big fair with 4 creds (it was spread by the road that connects the city center with the Plopsa park).

 

[jayjay]

I actually had plans to visit Plopsa Hasselt myself last year. Was planning to combine it with the one in Coo, but that burdenous park couldn't get their Vekoma running by 1pm and with the next train leaving at 3pm, there was no time left to get to this park by the time I reached Hasselt (got there at 5pm, with the park closing at 5:30). Nevertheless, I still took a short walk around the city and found a big fair with 4 creds (it was spread by the road that connects the city center with the Plopsa park).

Ooh, burdenous. You must have been unlucky because I remember the Coo creds being open early when I went. Anyway, here's some more words.

Day 2 - "Stay Indoors" (Bobbejaanland)

Bobbejaanland was not originally penned, but I managed to find room in the schedule after moving Phantasialand to the end of the trip. I sidled quietly out of my dorm to go and eat breakfast in the world's most empty hostel breakfast hall.

I was literally the only person here - also more grey boxes

Rule number one of breakfast in Belelux: never pass up the opportunity to make hagelslag

Bobbejaanland is reachable via a half-hourly free bus from Herentals railway station. I opted for the "stupidly early" option since I had a night train (more later) to catch and I had bags to deal wth. There's always an awkward moment when you realise they're doing security bag checks and I've got a rucksack with 12 days worth of clothes.

Bobbejaanland was founded by Bobbejaan Schoepen, a Flemish singer. Learned from Wikipedia and not from the park itself

Half price entry with my Super Duper Plopsa Fun Card! First things first, I needed a locker. Turns out I had to speak to somebody at the candy shop

:emoji_notes:I'll take you to the...:emoji_notes:

I had the storage option of "small" or "large," where small meant a plastic box behind the counter. My bags wouldn't fit, so I paid €8 for a large locker.

Pictured: one large locker

But who cares about lockers, this is a theme park, so here's some ride reviews.

Typhoon: I don't mind Gerstlauer roughness, but this doesn't offer much else. Most Eurofighters are at their best when the inversions are snappy and tight, but this makes most of its layout from slow rolls. The first drop is great as usual though

[[Picture of Typhoon]]
Usually I'd put a picture of the ride here, but apparently I forgot to take one

Bob Express: Lengthy and adventurous, but ultimately not the most exciting mine train

Creds over water always welcome

Speedy Bob: A wild mouse. I got on a train with a Belgian guy shouting random things like "OKAAAY," "YEEHAAAAWW," and something in Flemish that sounded like "I LIKE THE CAT" (any Dutch speakers know?). I'm talking about him because all I wrote in my notebook was "meh"

Oh yeah, also my 250th cred. Whoops

Oki Doki: A clown themed coaster that looks boring and tame, but is surprisingly forceful.

This ride is Oki d-okay

At this point, I've noticed that Bobbijobbi like their film music, including Chicken Run, The Good, the Bad, the Ugly, and Back to the Future. Studio lawyers avert your ears.

They have some other rides, so I sampled their indoor log flume

I don't remember Indiana having Aztec pyramids

All byyyy myyyseeeelf

This was actually really fun. Some nice effects and good enveloping scenery. Would recommend!

Dream Catcher: An Arrow suspended coaster. Apparently used to be plane themed, but like Vampire, had the bucket trains replaced with the open trains. I remember spending the ride wondering what would happen if a cabin just detached. Would the restraints open? Would the car float? Oh look, the ride's over. Wasn't that exciting.

Dream Catcher was on one train - catching your dreams of fast queues

Seriously, lakes will make you forget the lacklustre

Revolution/Mount Mara: The first sign you get that this is going to be unorthodox is when you get to the station and take a first look at the train

WTF

The front half of the train was under the curse of VR, but that didn't matter as I'd accidentally walked into the regular queue anyway (follow the signs for "Revolution"). I am so glad this is a thing. You've got a rave spiral lift hill around an empty atrium with trippy ceiling projections and some kind of monster pit on the ground. Then, the downhill bit leaves the atrium, progressively picking up speed and diving through holes, before circling the floor. This is one of those indoor coasters where the close proximity really helps the feeling of flying at high speed. 7/10, did a reride later.

Next surprise of the trip, Forbidden Caves. Sometimes the best way to do a park is to just walk into things I have no idea about.

Theme park tour companies are always so irresponsible just letting randomers walk into forbidden caves

Definitely do this if you're just here for the cred run. If anybody's done Chessington's Halloween mazes, the first half has lots of overenthusiastic hamming from the "lead cave explorer" (in Flemish of course).

To finish, a 3D simulator. Part of me felt a little let down by that, but the ride itself was pretty fun, and having a wraparound screen always helps with immersion. Solid ride, would do again!

Statue from inside

If I had to sum up one aspect of the park, it's that everything indoors was leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of the park (apart from my overpriced pizza for lunch which was overdone and cardboardy). The log flume, the walkthrough and Revolution were my highlights of the day.

This is actually outside, but a photo of this needs to be here

Belgian Flip Flop: Huge but felt kind of weak. Or maybe I've just gone off these. Who knows.

Flipp Floeppe

Rio (Rapids): Solid as rapids go. They even nicked the whirlpool section from River Quest. More intriguing was the disused contraption near the station consisting of a ferris wheel lift followed by a straight drop. Has this ever been used?

And finally...

Who needs creative mascots when you have emoji (Naga Bay in the background)

Naga Bay: Maurer spinners are usually fun, and this is no exception, but it's in the lower ranks. A little lethargic and not as insane as they should be.

As a park to be in, Bobbejaanland is about average. I don't feel like it's quite the "hole" that everybody has told me it is, but it's severely let down by Flamingoland syndrome: lots of rides but nothing of particular quality. Operations, likewise, felt a little lacking, but there weren't a huge number of people in the park, being a weekday. I got everything done, and left around 3pm to make my way over to Vienna.

A short hop over to Brussels in a rather nice double-decker. Then to Cologne, via Germany's high speed ICE service. If you want my answer to "favourite train," because I know that's what you're all secretly reading this for, it's this beauty:

Real trains have curves

It's high speed, it's got a restaurant car, very comfortable seats and compartments. Also, the driver's cab wall is made of glass in the new versions, so you get to sit at the front for a driver's view.

Plus an in-train magazine with my FAVOURITE CRED

Liege Station is all modern and shiny

As Dan and his honeys already know, Cologne doesn't mess around. Walk out the station, and BAM...

BIG CATHEDRAL

Two objectives to complete while waiting for my night train:

1. Find a supermarket and buy some Kellogg's cereal for Merlin vouchers
2. Sightsee

A box of Choco Crispies was acquired from a local Rewe, and it turns out that having a box of cereal was nice whenever I was feeling stingy on the ho(s)tel breakfast front.

So... first night train. I didn't know exactly what to expect, but it was certainly an experience. I'm about to make it sound awful, but it's a fun adventure and I'd do it again.

8.00 pm - I arrive at the platform. Fifteen minutes pass departure and it's still not here. Others on the platform start to look antsy.
8.30 pm - Train rolls in. I find my compartment and meet my roomies. I've got a politics student and a German mother/daughter going on holiday in Vienna with me.
9.00 pm - The train slowly rolls into Bonn. We wait for departure yet the train stays put. An alarm sounds for a bit, but people continue sitting tight. Holiday mum paces up and down the corridor while the others chill in our compartment.
10.00 pm - We've finally moved off and picked up the last person. The conductor working our carriage moves the seats into bed positions and delivers some sheets.
11.00 pm Trying to go to sleep on a train is surprisingly easy. The rocking motion is kind of therapeutic.
3.00 am - I wake during the night and peer out of the window. We're in Mannheim and have not moved for a while. Suddenly the train starts up and we trundle forward and stop, then backwards. Since half the train is going to Innsbruck, this requires a 3am game of musical carriages.
7.30 am - Morning. We're all waking up and realising that instead of being nearly in Vienna, we've only just left Germany. Holiday mum is incredibly frustrated - "unfassbar," she mutters. My plans don't start until 2pm, so I sit quietly and wait for breakfast.
8.30 am - A tray arrives with a couple of bread rolls, jam, butter and hot chocolate. My ticket is handed back with a note: "Delay 145 Minutes."

9.00 am - I attempt one of those whimsical "relaxed staring out of my moving hostel window" photos.

Don't think there was enough scenery to pull it off

9.30 am - We've had our regular seats reset and two people have left. Politics student and holiday mum start a conversation, while I desparately try to hang onto the bits of German I've learned. Suddenly it gets political. I hear the German word for "refugee," and fingers start pointing. Holiday mum gets exasperated, "unF**KINGfassbar!" I stare awkwardly out of the window while holiday daughter plays on her phone.
10.45 am - Finally, the trains trundles into Vienna Central. Holiday mum and politics student seem to leave on friendly terms and say "bye" to me. I take my stuff and go off to find Owain and Ian for the Vienna Live.

Next up, the patchwork quilt that is Wiener Prater.

 

[Pink Cadillac]

That night train sounded interesting

I can't remember if I went on an ICE train or not. I didn't understand the ticket machines either. Did you book yours in advance?
And which coaster was this? It's like a new-gen vekoma

 

[jayjay]

Did you book yours in advance?

I just turned up and hopped on the train because Interrail Ticket! But yeah, for long distances, booking in advance is recommended.

And which coaster was this? It's like a new-gen vekoma

That's the spinner, Naga Bay. Note added, cuz I wasn't clear there

 

[Pink Cadillac]

I thought it was from the way you worded it but the track didn't match up to the other Maurer spinners I'd seen!

 

[JoshC.]

I found Bobbejaanland a really weird park. Like you say, pretty much everything indoors is great (including their splash battle which is a ton of fun...if it's hot), but everything outside, bar the rapids, is just a bit naff. I was quite lucky to have the pre shows for Forbidden Caves spoken in English whilst I was there which was nice.

The giant wheel on the rapids was apparently used for the first couple of years it was open but had loads of issues and high maintenance costs, so they stopped using in 2002. Also means that River Quest stole the whirlpool idea

Loving the report though - looking forward to seeing more!

 

[Rachel]

You must have picked up so many new creds, i'm a bit jealous, such a cool idea and it looks like it was an epic trip!
Looking forward to reading the rest of the report.

 

[jayjay]

Day 3 - *Ultravox Joke* (Vienna and Prater)

Following on from a refreshing night on a train, I met up with Owain and Ian to go and drop stuff in our hotel room. A few hours to go until the live: ripe for some brief sightseeing. I followed the horde to the Palace.

Horse Horse

Conor peers into the gardens while Jordan enjoys a delicious invisible sandwich

The palace is as grand as most European palaces, but the real treasure is the Schönbrunner Schlosspark behind the palace. You could spend a good couple of hours walking around, looking at the various statues, fountains and optionally the zoo nearby (we didn't fancy spending the extra money).

Blackpool if they were classy

Lots of intricate and well crafted details, but all I can see is the WHARRGABL at the top

Bloody tourists!

Back by the palace was a market, ready to lighten our wallets. I grabbed an early lunch from a Spätzle stall, which was cheesy and oniony and incredibly filling.

No Easter fair is complete without the Easter Chicken

But enough of that culture rubbish. Morton and Tilen B were waiting for us at Wiener Prater, so off we went. Wiener Prater is a fascinating park. The entrance is exactly as pretty and dignified as you'd expect for a traditional city park. The 100 year old Wiener Riesenrad (Ferris wheel) stands proudly at the front of the park, with a multitude of coasters and dark ride facades stretching out in every direction.

Adventuring further, we discover what a patchwork this park is. You stand in the vibrant forecourt of the area by the wheel, walk a couple of minutes and find yourself in a travelling fair with blaring dance music and bright colours.

oonts oonts oonts oonts

Now, if Bobbejaanland was a park with many poor to mediocre creds, this is in another league. One of the better ones is the above pictured Boomerang, which is enjoyably disorientating and doesn't feature OTSRs (though pure metal lap bars were not a good idea)

Prater really loves its Wild Mice. Four of them up for offer, three of which spin. All I noted down for the regular mouse was "no," and the spinning Reverchon model was generic, but in an incredibly spinny mood.

You spin me right round baby right round oh GOD MAKE IT STOP

Best for onride experience was Maskerade, a bizarre little thing that had something of a glittery pink "preshow" and a literal lift.

Fabulous!

Insider was a Maurer spinner with generic Mouse layout (relocated from Tokyo), but prides itself with the best queue in the park. Mirror maze, lasers, and far too dark to see half the time. Plus the lasers on ride jazz up an otherwise dull ride into something far more exciting

Maybe this sign looks really exotic if you don't speak English

Continuing the spinner theme, Höllenblitz was in town! To be honest, not really feeling the love. The frontage with the waterfall and the first drop is excellent, and popping briefly outside was a good choice for the first drop. But the rest felt like a vaguely uncomfortble spinner.

The name translates to Hell Lightning though, which is awesome

The Volare: exactly as bad as I remember the last one I rode was

GROẞ

"Jesus Owain, it's just a tree, it doesn't have whimsy"

Megablitz: a Vekoma sitdown that became a surprise highlight - very intense helices (and sudden brakes)

Sehr gut!

Halfway through the day (what does it matter, this report's not in any sort of order), we took a break. People who hadn't eaten grabbed food from a pub, and Dave sodded off to do the wheel. I won't lie, even after the Spätzle, I was a little envious of Conor and Jordan's huge pile of meat.

While others eat lunch, Tilen extracts cash from the stomach of a fiberglass pig

Every historic city park needs a classic woodie, and Vienna's is from 1909! Or at least it would be if the original didn't burn down in 1944. So the replacement is from the 50s. It's a perfect quirky little installation, complete with water jets and a gnome garden

Yes, I did just say gnome garden - note the one having a ****

Zug des Manitu: Covered family coaster that starts off rolling backwards, then proceeds to roll through an incredibly jerky course with bonus wheel squeal

Scream if the bearings sound like they're giving out!

There's also a kiddie cred and a Pinfari looking thing whose lapbar strut dug into my leg. I try to forget those.

Being a pay-per-ride park meant our wallets were feeling light, so we limited the number of non-coasters. The star flyer was worth it for the look over Vienna, and there were a couple of dark walkthroughs on offer: a dinosaur themed one, which kept on delivering surprises, and a horror walkthrough, which couldn't really make up its mind on what its theme was.

This wasn't ridden. Was it relocated from Drayton? Old images suggest the theming is the same

Finally the Hotel Psycho ghost train. I don't do well with excessive jump scares, so I did this mostly out of peer pressure, and seemed to survive. I can certainly appreciate it's a high quality thing at least.

End of the night, most of us trudged over to our hotel, where Conor preached to Ian the good news about our lord and saviour Uber. Being on the train the next day, I was zoning out most of the transport talk and resigning myself to an early start.

 

[Coaster Hipster]

Vienna's palace looks majestic and elegant. Looks like an inspiring place to visit Megablitz could be one of those early Vekoma lucky stroke of genius. I always like a good intense coaster, especially helixes so this one should be a lot a fun to me as well.

Did you get to see the awww cute pedestrian traffic lights with couples holding hands?

 

[jayjay]

Did you get to see the awww cute pedestrian traffic lights with couples holding hands?

Oh yeah, I forgot about those, but we did see some. Sweet.

 

[Pink Cadillac]

Ew I just looked up those Boomerang lapbars and I can say that's something I don't want that pressing into my thighs! Enjoying this so far and looking forward to familypark!

 

[Snoo]

You visiting Vienna only makes me want to visit more.. plus creds!

Great report Jay. Can't wait to see more.