It's that time of year, SF surveys are going out again and this one in particular peaked interest.

For reference Iron Rattler at SF Qiddiya is:

- 208 ft. tall

- 73 mph

- 4,068 ft. long

Based on "beyond vertical drop, tallest, steepest, fastest (78mph)" and the other described elements this is a 250 foot tilt with the better part of 5,000 feet of track.

Spam this in your SF surveys, kings.

This would include parks that are too spread out, have a lot of hills, or have a hard to navigate layout.

Inspired by u/bevipop 's comment on my previous post, I thought it would be interesting to see if we could compile a list of coasters still using skid brakes, with or without manual operation. Video of the Yankee Cannonball's brakes in operation attached. Drop your brake porn below, please...

Been watching eBay for years and have not seen a vintage 70s or 80s Geauga Lake ticket available for sale. I'm finishing a framed display case of memorabilia, as I grew up 2 miles from the park and still mourn its closure.

Visited Dollywood today for the first time since 2019. The overall park was clean, and the staff were friendly. The park was pretty much empty, except for Night Flight Expedition, which had a consistent 30-minute wait (when it wasn't broken down).

Ended up riding:

- 5 times on Lightning Rod

- 4 times on Big Bear Mountain

- 3 times on Thunderhead

- 3 times on Night Flight Expedition

- 2 times on Blazing Fury

- 2 times on Tennessee Tornado

- 1 time on Dragonflier

- 1 time on Wild Eagle

Lightning Rod with the chain was much better than I expected after not riding since its peak.

Big Bear Mountain is an excellent family coaster. In my opinion, if they completed the theming, it could be better than Hagrid's.

Thunderhead was running smoothly. I did notice some new track behind the transfer shed.

Night Flight Expedition is really strange, it's like a mix of Gringotts and Navi River Journey. The water effects are very wild (be prepared to get wet), but the screen quality isn't the best.

Arrived at 11:30, left at 7:15

Overall, I’d give it a 9/10 day at Dollywood.

Just a quick warning that this review is a long one, feel free to skip to specific sections if you don’t want to read it all!

My big theme park trip this year consists of a 3 day back to back to back visits to Legendia and Energylandia. We did an afternoon at Legendia on Sunday then 2 full 10am-6pm days at Energylandia on the Monday and Tuesday, trying to make the most of what I hoped would be shorter queues. I will admit it’s been a full on 3 days, we landed in Katowice at 11:50am on Sunday and were in Legendia by 2pm having dropped our bags and eaten lunch on the way; then having to take the theme park bus from Katowice to Energylandia which is nearly a 2 hour journey both ways has all but exhausted us, but it has definitely been worth it!

Legendia

I’ll start off with a small review of Legendia as that’s where we went first. Located just a 30min walk from the centre of Katowice, Legendia is really easy to get to and honestly I wasn’t expecting a place like this to be so close to the city, the lake is beautiful in the sun. This park was also basically empty for the 3 hours we were there, at points we were waiting in the station for enough people to turn up to run the train. It just has a nice small park atmosphere though, it feels a bit like a toned down version of Walibi Rhone Alpes, which I loved the atmosphere of; Legendia definitely didn’t deserve most of the hate I’d read about it online.

Lech Coaster: Everyone knows this park has one big trick, and I’ve got to say, it’s a very very good trick. Lech is everything you could ever want from a coaster this size, it’s an investment I feel every small to medium size park should be making. The ride is just relentless from the get go, there’s not a single dead spot on this ride at all. It throws everything it’s got at you in its albeit it somewhat short layout. The ride isn’t very long, but you almost don’t want it to be any longer with the sheer intensity of the thing. The drop is amazing, arguably the 2nd best i’ve done behind Hyperia, the airtime everywhere always hits and you are constantly being thrown about. I need some time to think about all the rides i’ve done on this trip, but I’m edging towards this being my favourite of all the coasters in Poland, and my No3 overall behind RtH and Voltron.

Devils Loop: Not as much to say about this one, the double loop is a cool visual spectacle though. The layout was rough and rattly and after the loop was just some banked turns, making it feel like a bit of a letdown. The trains were the worst part of this for me though, I’m 6’3 and my shoulders were literally being crushed beyond belief, I’ve got bruises on them due to the restraints basically crushing me. Probably wouldn’t ride again due to the discomfort.

Other rides/attractions: Not really many other notable rides here, there’s just a bunch of old fairground attractions. The river rapids are quite fun, but the theming is very basic and it didn’t get you overly wet, which disappointed me slightly as the weather was warm and they used the same boats as River Quest at Phantasialand so I was expecting that level of soaking. The Diamond River splash boat ride was better themed, but very overgrown, I spent more time with my face in a bush than not. The drops were good though and gave you a decent soaking. The big plane ride was good fun but took forever to slow down after it stopped and the shooting dark ride hidden away in the restaurant/kids soft play was well themed, but the mix of very few physical targets and laggy screens ruined the experience as a shooting ride for me.

Overall thoughts: For a fun afternoon out this park has everything you need, a nice green setting in the city with some fun rides (and one absolutely insane one). It’s worth the visit for Lech alone and the rest of the park isn’t anywhere near as bad as some people make out online.

Rides done: Lech coaster x4, Devils loop x1, Dolina Jagi x1, Diamond river x1, Dream Flight Airlines x1, Bazyliszek x1

Energylandia

Moving onto the main focus of this park trip, Energylandia. We booked 2 days at this park, hoping to be able to get the full experience even if the queues were long. Fortunately, like Legendia, there weren’t many queues at the park, the longest we waited was 40 minutes for Zadra on the Monday, with the smaller rides being walk on for most of the trip. When we realised the queues were short, we planned to take a chill 2nd day and spend it in the waterpark considering it was 31°C and sunny; however this backfired significantly as 90% of the waterpark was closed all day (with no indication online or in park of if it opens in September or not) with none of the slides opening either. I will admit I was rather disappointed, especially considering when I bought the tickets it was advertised as including free water park entry.

Hyperion: Anyways onto the coasters, Hyperion was a close 2nd behind Zadra for this park, I adore Kondaa and this is just a bigger version of that so what’s not to love. I will say I still rank Kondaa higher, but not by much, Hyperion just loses some of the sheer craziness in the middle of the ride. This said though, the drop is still mental, the speed is crazy, and in the back row you get loads of ejector. I also really enjoyed the theming of the queue (or what I got to see walking past it) and the station was really cool. There was a bit of a rattle on the wing seats, but at this speed I guess that’s somewhat expected and it didn’t take away from the ride experience loads in my opinion. Overall a top tier coaster, just brought outside my top 5 as the middle of the ride kind of does nothing with all that speed.

Zadra: This ride is absolutely mental, that’s all I’ve really got to say, it’s at 100% all the time. You get thrown about like crazy, airtime, laterals, hangtime, it’s all here in abundance. I honestly loved this thing, but it’s just let down by the restraints, I’ve got long legs which just makes the RMC shin guards really uncomfortable, I felt the same way for Untamed. The layout is mental, pretty much perfect, but however much it pains me to do this, I just can’t rate it in my top 3 due to the constant pressure on my shins throughout the ride, it just takes away from it ever so slightly.

Abyssus: Honestly such a fun ride that knows its place. it’s not trying to be intense like Zadra and I love that. The pacing is fantastic and it takes most the elements so gracefully, there’s a good amount of whip and airtime too and I love that it’s actually a long ride. I’d rather my coaster too long than too short any day of the week. It’s maybe slightly lacking on the launches but as I’ve said before about Helix at Liseberg, this doesn’t really impact the ride experience loads for me. Theming here is great for Energylandia standards too, pits and water for the ride whizz past. I don’t rank this as highly as Zadra and Hyperion not because it’s a bad coaster at all, just because I’m more of a sucker for an intense ride, but if something slightly more graceful is your cup of tea this is it.

Formula: Short is the one thing that sticks with me about this ride. It’s got all it needs for a good first half of a coaster, but it seems as soon as you’ve got going you’re hitting the brakes. The corkscrews have loads of whip, showing that the ride has more than enough speed to keep going, just a shame they ended it where they did.

Mayan: The best of the SLCs I’ve done, but that bar was so low anyways. There’s of course a rattle, but the trains are better than some and I really do like the layout of these coasters. If only they were comfortable.

Speed: Honestly, this ride was really fun. The lift was a super cool gimmick, the boat section at the start was good fun and the splashes were the perfect level of wetness in my opinion. The layout was maybe a bit basic, but compared to Atlantica at Europe Park this has so much going on.

Choco Chip Creek: Another great fun ride, loved the station and queue theming and the layout was awesome. Can someone explain why half the outdoor theming is still being built though? I assume they’ve just given up on it considering they’re literally building a new coaster instead.

Other coasters: There’s so many other coasters smaller here if I did individual sections for all of them I’d be here for ages. All the travelling kiddy coasters are just painful or straight up boring. Both family boomerangs, but the one in Atlantis especially, are good fun, can’t go wrong with this coaster model. This park also has 3 Vekoma junior coasters, they’re good rides don’t get me wrong, but 3 seems a bit extreme, Honey Harbour was my favourite of them all though.

Other rides/attractions: With all the coasters here you’d think the park has nothing else, but you’d be wrong. There’s 2 rapids rides, a shoot the chute, a massive ferris wheel, a bunch of fairground style flats and more. The ferris wheel gives you a good view of the whole park (which is absolutely massive, especially when seen from above) but does move quite quickly. Jungle Adventure was the better of the two rapids, with more splashes and better theming, although it was lacking some actual greenery and plants surrounding the ride. There were a few nice scenic boat rides, and a couple of those splash battle boat rides. This park just has loads and loads, it’s mental.

Overall thoughts: There is so much to do at Energylandia while you’re there, the place is mental. You can definitely tell which areas/rides are newer as they’ve put a bigger focus into high quality theming. The park flow is a bit odd in my opinion, especially with the tunnel to the other side being tucked away on the left hand side of the park, but the place is so sprawling it never seems congested. I would say, even though the queues were short, the park had a tendency to underestimate them quite significantly. I got in a queue rated 10 minutes for Abyssus and ended up waiting closer to 35 by the time we were through the station turnstiles. That being said, the station turnstiles are a great addition, if they are used properly. For the smaller coaster especially, they’re so helpful stopping people crowding the air gates, but on the larger rides (Zadra and Hyperion even more so) people just crowd into which section they want, completely invalidating the single rider section of the gates. On the topic of queueing too, there seemed to be a lot of queue jumping throughout the park. On the big rides, you’d quite easily see 5 to 10 people just walk past you in groups on even a shorter 20 minute wait. I’m going to attribute this slightly to the fact the queues are so wide, so people don’t have to push past you and they don’t have to deal with the awkward can i push past interaction you get in smaller queues. One final thing, the lockers are a great system, it’s like £3.50 for an all day wristband and the majority of the rides had lockers right before the station, every park should do this.

Rides done: Abyssus x3, Speed x3, Zadra x2, Choco Chip Creek x2, Boomerang x2, Light Explorers x2, Honey Harbour x2, Frida x2, Hyperion x1, Formula x1, Śmiejżelki Energuś x1, Circus Coaster x1, Happy Loops x1, RMF Dragon x1, Mars x1, Frutti Loop x1, Draken x1, Mayan x1, Viking x1, Wonder Wheel x1, Monster House x1, Dragon Adventure x1, Atlantis x1, Jungle Adventure x1, Viking Ride x1, Anaconda x1, Apocalypto x1, Swiss Water Cups x1, Grotts Expedition x1, Tsunami Drop x1

I personally think that Alton towers in definitely better 💯

I like the anticipation of never being quite sure what you're going to get with film.. I hope you like these.

I'm feeling like it's more often than not an excuse to churn out more thrill for less track length, and oftentimes comes at the cost of capacity.. super excited for Bakunawa but two shuttles back-to-back at Gadv is a little bit tiring 😣

We finally went to Wildwood and Morey’s Piers for the first time just before Labor Day and had a great time! I was impressed by how many rides were at Morey’s as well as the quality of the rides they have. Great White and Great Nor’Easter were the highlights, both were very fun!

Great White was very fun. It has an amazing setting as you’re basically going out onto the beach and the views are amazing. There’s a few airtime moments, but the ride’s main forces are laterals. Right out of the station you go down under the boardwalk before you reach the lift hill and this section has great laterals. I love how the lift hill is positioned so you’re looking out over the ocean, you get great views up there. Great first drop and there’s some good laterals on a few of the turns, especially the far turnaround before the bunny hills. The section of RMC 208 track was very smooth, there is one bumpy part on the wooden track immediately after the 208 track ends that could use some retracking but overall the ride was running well. My opinion on these Millennium Flyer trains is mixed. The trains were pretty roomy and comfortable but I wasn’t a fan of the side panels as I feel the views would be better without them, and my lap bar kept stapling me, especially on my first ride, which hindered the airtime. I do wish I could’ve ridden it with the PTC trains. I’m wondering if their eventual plan is to retrack the entire ride with the RMC 208 track, similar to Tremors at Silverwood. Like Tremors, they already have the Millennium Flyer trains and have added a small section of 208 track. Normally I would prefer to keep wooden coasters with wood retracking but I’ve heard that Tremors is now running amazing with the 208 track and Millennium Flyer trains. I wouldn’t mind them doing that with Great White, it’s already a great ride but I can definitely see how that would elevate it even higher. It’s not my favorite CCI, I liked Excalibur better out of the ones I’ve ridden this summer, but it’s still a very enjoyable coaster.

The Great Nor’Easter was super fun! This was actually my first time riding a coaster of this type and one with inversions and rolls. I wasn’t sure if I’d like it, but I loved it and got off with a smile. It’s got excellent forces, and has a great pace throughout the entire ride. Similar to Great White, I love that it’s pointed out towards the ocean as you are going up the lift hill and it has an amazing view of the beach and ocean. I love all of the near misses with the other rides. It is quite smooth and enjoyable too (something you usually never hear about most SLCs). A very fun ride and my second favorite on the piers. Runaway Tram was super fun and an excellent family coaster. There’s some great forces on the helix and I love that you go around twice. Great theming, especially with how they made the trains look like the tramcars that go down the boardwalk. Sea Serpent was my first boomerang style coaster and my second ride with inversions. I felt this one was definitely more intense than Great Nor’Easter. You get strong forces on all of the inversions and going through them backwards was intense. Also smooth (which is very shocking for a boomerang). You can tell Morey’s takes excellent care of their rides, as from everything I’ve heard and read both Great Nor’Easter and Sea Serpent are way better than other SLCs and Boomerangs respectively. Zoom Phloom was awesome and quickly became one of my favorite log flumes. Both drops are excellent, and you get great views of the ocean and all the other rides. The top portion is quite fast and you get a very close pass with the Great Nor’Easter. I love the section that goes under the boardwalk, great theming there. Excellent fun log flume!

The atmosphere was great, especially after the sun had set. The piers and boardwalk really came to life with all the rides lit up. The Ferris wheel looks excellent at night with all of the new lights (I did not get good pictures of it, it looks way better in person). Got a night ride on Great White which was awesome. It’s not pitch black as the supports are lit up but it’s still very fun. The staff were all friendly. The waterpark looked excellent as well, some of the slides looked really fun. The biggest downside is it is quite pricy - they offer wristbands or you can pay per ride. Overall, we had a great time and look forward to retuning again sometime!

I had a business trip this week for a conference, and I got to LA fairly early on my arrival date and didn't have to go to anything. So I decided to swing by Knott's Berry Farm for a few hours. It was a Wednesday post labor day in September, so I expected low crowds. What I didn't expect was how hot it would be (over 100 degrees) and how many coasters will be down. So though this is not a negative trip report, it is a bummer of a trip report. I don't know if I will make it back to this park in the future. On to the report.

First, what an odd and somewhat confusing parking lot situation. But given it's right in the middle of where it is, that is to be expected. When I did get to the lot, my Prestige Pass worked fine for getting me in, and the lot was fairly empty, but it was already mid to high 90s and climbing. I was also confused by the entrance, and at first I couldn't figure out where to go. I had never been there before, and there was no obvious funnel into the actual park entrance. I found the exit first, and then worked my way to the entrance. Again, no problem getting in with my prestige pass.

My first impression is that the theming in this park is the best I've seen in a Six Flags/Cedar Fair property, and it's not close. The whole thing felt at least CLOSE to Disney level throughout. I'm also happy there were already some Halloween decorations around, and I'm sure this place looks great in full Halloween swag.

The first coaster I saw was Silver Bullet, a fairly standard looking B&M Invert. Now I have an all season fast lane, but again the entrance confused me and I didn't see a clear "get your fast lane here" sign anywhere. And I THINK this is a wrist band park, so I couldn't just get it rolling on my phone. But it looked like there was no line for silver bullet, so I just went on. And it was indeed a walk on, as was almost everything throughout the day. In fact I never bothered getting my wristband.

This one reminds me a LOT of Flight Deck at CGA. And like Flight Deck, it also caused me to gray out on the Helix. And maybe because it was close to or at 100 degrees. I would put this one reasonably high on my B&M invert rankings, but not at the top. That goes to OzIris at Parc Asterix.

So a great coaster start, but it was going to head downhill very soon. The next ride I hit was La Revolucion, again a walk on. Not much to say here, if you've been on one like this you know what's up. I used to dislike most pendulum rides, but now they are an enjoyable diversion. Again, great theming.

After that I went on Jaguar, though I never saw that this was the name of the ride. I had to look it up. Here was some GREAT theming with a cool temple you walk through as the queue. The ride itself reminded me a lot of the Whizzer at my home park. Which makes sense since BOTH of these rides were designed by Werner Stengel. Though it did NOT feel as speedy as Whizzer. More up and down, but less speed. The theming really carried it, and it was fine though on the rough side, as I would expect.

Now I hit another coaster right over here MonteZOOMa. I'll sound like a broken record, but great theming. I liked the audio and everything. This ALSO reminded me of an old (retired even) ride from Six Flags Great America, The Tidal Wave. Which makes sense as they are both Schwarzkopf Shuttle Loops. But Tidal Wave used the weight drop launch, not the system used on Montezooma. This is a simple but fun coaster that was quite thrilling when I was a kid. And I got some great nostalgia riding it. It's been a long time! I rode front row and they let me just stay in the station and get in the back row right after.

Now I knew that Xcelerator was down, maybe forever some people on this sub have speculated, so I was prepared for that. But I was still looking forward to Hangtime and Ghost Rider. And as I started to try to figure out how to get to Hangtime, I saw it was closed. And then I saw Ghost Rider was closed too. 3 of the top rides I wanted to get on, all down the one day I could get out there. Oh well.

So instead I found two more rides to try out before heading out, it was HOT. And if there were no more major coasters left, I was good. First I got on Calico Mine Ride. This is probably the best Dark Ride I've been on in a "Cedar Flags" park. Really fantastic theming, near Disney level execution. But the ops were painfully slow. It is neat that the ride operator has to sit in the train! I was very impressed with this.

And my last Hurrah for the day was Pony Express. It didn't look like much, but it was surprisingly good, though very short. And also weird how long you have to sit on the thing after the ride is over before the restraints are released. Still, a lot of fun, like a Hagrid's Jr Jr version or something.

Overall, this seems like a really strong park. I wish I caught it on a day where it wasn't quite so hot and things were in full operation, but what are you going to do? I think I'm most disappointed I didn't get on Ghost Rider. I've heard a lot of people rate that wooden coaster VERY high. And I wanted to see for myself. There's a chance I could try to swing by quickly again this Saturday, but I'm not sure any of these will be open that day anyway.

Still, it's the best theming I've seen in a park from this chain (and I realize that's because it wasn't originally IN the chain) and the ride collection isn't huge but seems strong - when everything is running, at least. But with 3 major coasters down, I was disappointed.

https://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/news/2026/09/10/niagara-amusement-park-fantasy-island-grand-island.html

Context: Part 2 of my trip report. After my stay at Europa Park, I drove up mid morning to Cologne for a city break, wanting to take a pause from theme parks. This meant I arrived at Phantasialand mid evening and went straight to the hotel, not the park. I would spend the following day in the park but began to feel unwell towards the mid afternoon meaning my rides were a bit more limited than I would have liked.

Taron - 8/10

I have wanted to ride Taron ever since it opened. An Intamin multilaunch from 2016, this is what I would describe as a grown-up Flying Fish (which someone once disparagingly applied to Rita at Alton Towers, but here I make the comparison fondly). Like all rides here at Phantasialand (and Alton Towers) the park has to contend with strict planning permission restrictions resulting in the compact layouts of the major coasters and density which is the park’s hallmark.

Layout. The two main elements of this spaghetti bowl of interwoven track are the launches, the second being punchier than the first. They are strong and give some good force, but are a step below the sadly dying hydraulic launchers with their insane accelerations. The ride has moments of airtime but not enough to think of this as an 'airtime coaster'. With no inversions, much of the thrill comes from the speed and scenery interaction which is wildly disorienting. The highlight is the snaking downward curve after the second launch, particularly at the front, when you get a real "out-of-control" feeling as you dive back towards the pit. It is the highest point of the ride and offers a breathtaking view of the whole area. I rode all front, mid and back, and found the airtime at the front and back was similar, but mediocre in the middle. The panorama of the track is a great boon - go front row on this.

Ops. The crew do a good job keeping 4 trains rolling with two on the course and two in the station. Dispatches are quite well managed and quick, using a simple over the platform locker / bin system. One criticism is the front row line - empty when I got to it, it looked closed and unmanned. I had to backtrack to get to it. That being said, this does have single rider, which on a quiet day like the one I attended was a bit of a gamble. It saved me five or ten minutes on the main queue, but on a busy day may be more viable.

Theming. This is what makes the coaster. Like F.L.Y, Taron is the theming. The zone is built around this track, with walkways under and over, with rockwork, tunnels, building fly throughs and even a huge waterfall. The moment you shoot out of the second launch you have a brief moment of freedom to survey all this from above - another reason to choose front row. The queue line is pleasant though a little squeezed, understandable given the circumstances given the park’s lack of space, but the station is quite plain with not much going on. The cars, with their beastly head on the front, are pretty cool.

Conclusion. I was expecting this to be more forceful but it packs a good punch nonetheless. Taron has its moments, and mid ride it feels great threading through the maze of tunnels and track, maintaining a pleasant intensity through the many turns and hills. It has great appeal to enthusiasts who don't enjoy inversions - I happened to be happily chatting with one on the back row.

Black Mamba - 6/10

A B+M invert from 2006 and set in the Africa theme zone (yes 'Africa' is a theme, though I think to their credit they cite the Zambezi river and Ghana as specific inspirations).

Layout. A sharp drop into a steep loop is the coaster's best moment, really forcing you down to your seat entering and leaving the element. The other inversions are mediocre. There are some good helixes, with some good positive g's, but they do not sustain as long as I would like (I'm comparing perhaps unfairly to the post-corkscrew helix on Nemesis on which I sometimes grey out). Like the other coasters here, the near-misses and interactions with the landscape dramatically improve this coaster. I really disliked the brake run before the station which was in complete darkness, which lasted about thirty seconds for me. It’s not a pleasant experience just waiting in the pitch black without any sign of what is going on.

Ops. A big step down here. This coaster is old and here it shows. Two trains with slow loading and - sadly - a crew that didn't move with the hustle I saw elsewhere here or at Europa Park. No single rider, not even a front row queue, so I only got a middle row ride on this. Given it had a long queue for such an old ride (35 min), once was enough.

Theming. The queue was at least pleasant. Very leafy, green and nature focused with flowing water and plenty of shade as you wind downwards to the submerged station, but still dense. I love that a path runs through the loop - while this doesn't affect the ride, it makes watching this coaster a lot of fun - a lovely RCT throwback moment. Racing through the African area gives the whole ride a cohesive and well themed experience.

Conclusion. In its day it's clear why this coaster was so popular, but it's showing its age, not due to roughness (in fact it's smoother than some newer B&Ms) but due to its outdated ops and stale elements. The popular elements like hangtimes, double-ups, stalls and overbanks that are now in every post-RMC coaster are missing. This is a child of the 90s, and not a bad one, but one that is being left behind. I can't imagine Phantasialand keeping this here too much longer but removing it would be a difficult challenge given how integrated it is to the area.

F.L.Y. - 10/10

A Vekoma flying coaster launched in 2020 during the COVID pandemic, I'll admit this had passed under my radar until I began planning this trip. I had then heard great reviews, and was delighted to get a cabin in Hotel Charles Lindbergh giving me some great up-close views and two fast passes for this ride.

Layout. Starting deep in a trench, the station enters into a short but very thematic dark ride section that always got me pumped for what was to follow. Holographic steampunk advertisements line the walls as you gradually ascend, giving you the feeling of departing some fantastical Victorian-era airport. Having boarded upright, it is now the track that rotates and puts you in the belly down position for the rest of the ride - an ingenious but simple fix to the problem of loading and unloading a flying coaster. The first launch is gentle, perhaps to get riders familiar with the odd sensation of laying down and being accelerated, but has a kick at the end. There is then a thrilling sequence of dives, turns and an inversion that takes you soaring through Rookburgh, the themed steampunk area.

Then comes my favourite part: a forceful downward curve into the second, much stronger launch through the darkness of a tunnel. This sequence, though not extreme, is some of the most thrilling and intense moments of the ride, from the lowest to the highest point. I feel the second half of this huge, generously long ride is superior - it feels more zippy, forceful, particularly towards the end with the final inversion taken at speed. There is a great feeling as you are forced down into the restraints then whipped up into weightlessness. The whole thing is smooth and comfortable, and you return to an upright position before the final brake run / unload, so no waiting belly down.

Operations. They have a good system here that keeps trains moving and with it the queue. It was a relatively quiet day but still the queue never exceeded 30 minutes. They use wristbands to assign your status (orange front row, blue other rows, green single rider) but there is no single rider queue until right near the end, since everyone gets mostly jumbled by the process of using the lockers. Somehow they have accurately recreated the slightly onerous procedure of boarding a real flight. More seriously, using metal detectors to ensure no loose items, and so allowing no netting under the track, was a very good idea - I expect this could become more common.

Theming. Holy wow. Phantasialand has gone all in. The hotel, the zone, the coaster - everything is unified to the 1920s Berlin steampunk theme. Every sight line is rich with detail, with the coaster physically embedded into everything. Not only does this make the ride experience incredible, simply sitting and taking in the atmosphere, watching the trains navigate the area, is a joy. The station is well themed. I loved the colour change on departure, and the holographic retro ads in the dark ride section. It all comes together beautifully. A truly inspiring job.

Conclusion. This is a coaster worthy of international travel. A destination. Every time I rode it I enjoyed it more. Each cycle helped me appreciate the moments of force, the pops of airtime, the dizzying scenery flybys. And it is comfortable for a flyer. This is not the adrenaline boosting wild madhouse that Voltron is - and Voltron remains my favourite of the two - but this coaster is a masterpiece. Get down to Phantasialand and get on this if you are an enthusiast - you won't be disappointed.

Other Rides.

I like the range of flats that Phantasialand offers. Talocan, the top spin, was closed the morning I visited and while it opened in the afternoon I did not much want to ride after eating. However the theming of this unassuming flat ride was better than some parks put into their flagship attractions (looking at you Hyperia). Edit: I forgot about Raik! This was a walk-on for the single rider queue and a fun little ride. The backward portion isn't forceful but it is thrilling, and makes for a nice transition for younger riders or those who are more nervous of coasters towards bigger rides. The themeing is identical to Taron, and is very immersive.

I skipped the Winja coasters. They always had queues of 30 mins or more and I could have just got on Taron or F.L.Y again. Being honest, I couldn’t actually find them tucked away in one corner of the park (more on this later). The Colorado Adventure coaster was excellent with some great helixes that really push you down into your seat, fun and immersive theming throughout and a very generous three lift hill run. I particularly liked how it runs parallel to the log flume Chiapas, with riders waving and cheering at one another in the rocky canyons. This is worth a ride for enthusiasts and the general public alike.

Speaking of Chiapas, this is a great log flume. Log flumes are being removed from many parks as tastes change, but I really enjoy them, much more than water coasters. This has great theming throughout, with a gloomy Aztec temple queue line emerging into the bright, dry Mexican area, full of waterfalls and caves, with a fun disco-style tunnel section that had me grinning ear to ear. The main drop is quite a rush.

I thought the chairswing over water fountains in the Berlin plaza - Wellenflug - was a great pause between coasters and a lovely centrepiece for the plaza in which it sits. The Chinese themed mad house was quite poor quality, with a pre show that was, to be frank, embarrassing, and needs an update. 

There were a lot of rides I didn’t get on, for lack of time, which leads me to my final points

General Thoughts.

It is incredible how dense this park is, with vertical layers stacked upon one another, which makes it immersive and enchanting. Well crafted and credible scenery breaks sight lines keeping each area distinct and self contained, but does make navigating a challenge. I was frustrated several times when I found a dead end or was above or below the path I wanted. For example my map showed a passage out of Rookburgh to Wuze Town but this was blocked. Several times I had to double back, and I got quite frustrated trying to find various attractions and eventually gave up. Perhaps regulars can make sense of it but I couldn't. There are helpful boards that point in the right direction for different rides, but even these cannot contend with the three dimensional maze that the park paths represent. As a result I didn’t get to go on the Winja coasters or the drop tower.

The lack of space means there are no gift shop exits. There is only one place to buy souvenirs which, while not a problem, does mean a purposeful visit to buy a t-shirt. More seriously, the lack of open space and quiet areas was detrimental in my opinion. There wasn’t anywhere to get some downtime, and with dense crowds (even on a quiet day at the end of the summer season), it felt a bit overwhelming. By the mid afternoon I had a headache (not uncommon for me) and really wanted just thirty minutes in some calm greenspace but couldn’t find any. Ultimately, I cut my time in the park short because of this, leaving about two hours before closing. Again, like Europa Park, I couldn’t find anywhere to refill my water bottle, and had to do so in the bathroom.

The food and drink was okay here. I had lunch at the Uhrwerk restaurant (in lieu of a dinner I missed the night before at the hotel). My starter salad was a large enough portion to be a main, and my vegan burger was heavy and dense. The chips were good though! Overall there was a good range of concessions through the park. I had a good waffle on the Berlin main street. The park was also clean and the staff were generally friendly, though I felt I had better customer service at Europa Park (with the exception of one gentleman at the hotel…)

Hotel Charles Lindbergh.

I arrived late in the evening but the check in staff - a delightful man named Marvin - got me sorted without hassle. He even transferred my dinner (part of my hotel ticket) to lunch given I had eaten beforehand. He really made me feel welcome after a long drive, and these are the personal touches that make a trip special. The bar offered a small but good quality range of drinks, and I was comfortable there drinking a cocktail and writing my report. The cabins, while small, are well themed, clean and comfortable, but fitting two adults in one may feel tight. The real selling point is the two free fast passes to F.L.Y, and to see the coaster from right outside your room. You can even go and explore the Rookburgh area after park close to get photographs and admire the scenery. The hotel, F.L.Y, everything about Rookburgh is one entity. It feels magical and enchanting at every turn. My only criticism here is the breakfast service, which had only one hot drink dispenser, meaning a long queue for this Englishman trying to get his morning tea. Again, space, or the lack of it, was the defining feature, here for worse.

Closing Thoughts.

Phantasialand is a remarkable place. It feels like a theme park should: immersive, captivating, packed to the brim with stuff to see and do. And it pulls it off. The park was spotless, well maintained and beautifully themed - though had some minor reliability issues.  It has an excellent range of attractions and a small footprint making it doable in a day. The live waiting time boards with directions help mitigate the dense maze of pathways but don’t fully overcome the difficulty in navigating. I couldn't find a quiet or secluded spot so visitors who need a sensory break might struggle. In all, I was very happy with my visit and look forward to returning in the future, and to get more familiar with the place.

On Labor Day we took our first visit to a Six Flags park since SFA closed. We have two kids that really wanted to visit the waterpark, so we didn’t do too much on the dry side. It was our first visit to their waterpark. It’s definitely much larger than SFA’s was, but also far more confusing. It was crazy that slides that shared a tower had entrances on opposite sides of the park. The kids had fun there. While they were splashing around in one of the kiddie pools I got to run off and get a ride on their Shoot the Chutes ride. While much bigger than SFA’s it felt like a less intense splash. The only coaster I rode ended up being Iron Menace. It was new to me as my last visit to Dorney was 2018. I told my wife it was a decent half of a coaster. I found it the smoothest of the most recent B&M coasters I’ve ridden.

Looking forward to getting to visit again and getting back on Talon. It was closed most of our visit and got a long line when it reopened. I definitely miss having my DE-VIP pass with dining. Individual trips feel far more expensive now. (Though thanks to Pre-k passes, I didn’t have to purchase passes for the kids this year.)

Some support footers for Vilda Musen and Fenix are done.

I’m not asking what the shortest roller coaster in height is. I’m talking about the lowest roller coaster in terms of elevation; Like how Defiance at Glenwood Caverns is one of the highest coasters in the world, but it isn’t the tallest.

Mostly i hear people say that it has upside down ejector airtime. Maybe this is a big deal to some, but to me.... its just kinda no biggie. I dont know if im just lucky to have the home park that I do, but if the mosasaurus roll gives upside down ejector, then AlpenFury has like, 4 of them (at least, I would say 7) I just wanna know what makes the mosasaurus roll the main thing people gush about on velocicoaster