4 replies to this topic

[Antinos]

The start of the trip started out being quite a hectic day and a half from me. When we arrived in Amsterdam at five thirty this morning, it was so foggy, it was unreal. Four hours later, we landed in Madrid. After getting settled in the hotel, my dad and I headed off for our first park.

We arrived around 1:00 and I went straight to Abismo.

Abismo
3 rides
9/10

This ride is awesome. The sky loop is an awesome element and the ride is pretty smooth. The hill produces major ejector airtime and the overbanked turn ends the ride with some nice forces. The trains are also very comfortable as well. It would be a ten, but it´s just too short. Next up was La Lanzadera

La Lanzadera
3 rides
9/10

Drop towers are such a rush, and this is no exception. One guy was operating the ride and he was doing a great job, keeping the line next to nothing.

Tarantula was closed, so I went to Tornado next.

Tornado
2 rides
8/10

This ride starts off fantastic with it´s drop, two vertical loops, and two quick turns. After the corkscrew, the pacing starts to go, but the ride is silky smooth, so there´s a plus. I would´ve ridden it more, but I didn´t want to wait for people to load so full trains could be dispatched.

El Tifon
1 ride
6/10

I pretty much rode this Disk-o to ride a ride. It wasn´t anything special. While I was in line, some kids got in line behind me and a few looked a bit like Jochem. For a while, I thought it was him, but they were speaking fluent spanish so I knew it couldn´t be him.

Tarantula
1 ride
7.5/10

The ride finally opened up so I took it for a spin, pun intended. Although we didn´t get spun very much, this was very enjoyable. The ride was smooth and had some nice forces. My favorite part was after the second horseshoe turn where you dive down into a quick, forceful turnaround in a tunnel.

Top Spin
1 ride
6/10

For whatever reason, the top spin made me feel a bit nausious, which surprised me. The cycle was still very fun.

Ferris Wheel
1 ride
5/10

We went on this on the way out because my dad hurt his tailbone before the trip and couldn´t ride the rides. At least he got to go on something. I got some nice pictures of Abismo as well as of the construction on the new wild mouse they´re building. Bonus points for a long cycle.

We left around 4:00. There wasn´t much else to do and I didn´t feel like whoring. Overall, I liked the feel of the park. It reminded me of Canada´s Wonderland where you can walk onto the grass and sit down and relax. They had a nice collection of rides, and had the thrilling rides in one area and the kiddie rides in another area. Hopefully I make it back here again some day.

I´ll post pics when I get back. Hopefully our hotels in Barcelona and Paris have internet service as well.

[Antinos]

Well that trip went by fast. Now that I’m back in the states, I can finish this report, with pictures this time.

Here are the pictures from Parque de Atracciones:

The first view you get of Abismo


Through the trees


From the queue. Very twisty


Very nice looking ride


Major airtime right about here


Wonderful way to finish the ride


Now PdA’s other rides


Tornado is a very sleek looking coaster


Great pacing through this turn


Neat shot of the corkscrew that goes over the midway


Tarantula, the park’s spinning coaster


My car didn’t get spun much, but it was still fun


Best picture I could get of it


On Top Spin, everybody starts cheering and chanting right about now


Atmosphere shot of the main entrance


Here’s where they’re building the new wild mouse at


One last overview of the thrilling section of the park



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Tibidabo:
This was a pain to get to. The funicular conductor was also the cashier, so there was one man doing everything, creating a very long wait. While I was up there, I had a great time. The park was lovely and had a great atmosphere. Anyway…

Earlier in the day, we were at the Sagrada Familia basilica which is still under construction. It’s quite a beautiful structure so far. I can’t wait to see it completed. Here’s a photo from the top:



Once we paid at the ticket booth and entered, we walked down the stairs to Muntanya Russa. I got in line and waited five minutes.



The trains are pretty comfy, and in my opinion look nice.



The ride is on the side of the hill which the park sits on. It offers an outstanding view of the city and ocean:



The ride has many twists and turns which give great positive Gs



And even a helix of death, which did not disappoint!





Because of the hill, the first drop is larger than the lift, and makes you feel like you’re dropping all the way down the mountain



Another view of the ride’s wonderful location:



Next up was the plane. While I was in line, four characters, two flight attendants and two pilots, dressed in old fashioned costumes came into the queue and made us put on oxygen masks and vests. Then they came on the ride with us. Too bad they were speaking so fast because I couldn’t understand a thing they were saying. They made the ride more enjoyable than it would normally be.



While it doesn’t look very high (and it isn’t), when you’re on, it seems so much higher because of the hill. It actually looks like you’re in a real plane flying over the city, just because of the location of the ride. The ride is also self-propelled by the propeller in front.



I would really love to come back to this park and explore it more. The view alone is enough to get me to go back up. Maybe my Spanish will improve a lot more by next year and I’ll be able to understand the characters as they’re speaking.


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Parc Asterix
Dear lord. Getting here was a disaster. Our hotel was on the Left Bank. Asterix is north of the airport. After taking two metros, we get to the nearest RER station to go to the airport. Everything’s fine until we get to Gare du Nord. After much confusion, we find out that there is an electrical problem. Luckily they had some workers helping people get to where they need to, so we were directed to the main platforms upstairs. Because of this, the trains are more spread out, and to add to it, our train was a short one. We’re crammed in like sardines, and everybody smelled terrible. After a half hour or so, we got to the airport. We bought our bus tickets and got in line. The bus didn’t come for a whole forty five minutes. We left our hotel at 9:00 AM. We got to the park at Noon.

Anyway, we got inside. I headed straight for Tonnerre de Zeus.


They were running one train, but crowds were light, so I got on just fine. My first ride was in the middle. After going up the lift, you make a right turn and plummet down into a tunnel.


Blasting out of the tunnel, you are sent into the first turnaround, which is loaded with lateral Gs(as well as the rest of the ride’s turns).


After this, you’re sent into a large turning hill under the lift that leads into the helix of death(full of laterals). Dropping out of this, you head into three hills, all ejector airtime, before turning around again. Two more hills with floater air follow before another turnaround into a wild run back to the station. This consists of many hills and turns next to the lifthill and around the queue which makes for a great finale.


Tonnerre de Zeus is a hard coaster to photograph, so here’s the best one from Goudurix’s lift.


Note the guys with the Santa hats and wigs in this train:


Overall, Zeus was a great ride. It landed in my top ten at number six. From what I gather, it sounds like a more compact version of Boulder Dash without the terrain. Here’s me during one of my rides:


Next up was Goudurix, which has a new paint job.


In my opinion, it looks great. This is a very photogenic coaster. It helps that they have a promenade right in the middle of the ride which is perfect for snapping photo after photo.


I, for one, actually enjoyed the ride. I don’t see how people think it can be as brutal as everybody says. Either the park has really worked on the ride, or these people preaching the ride’s brutality need to toughen up.


They have these pads on the headrests that wrap around your head and really do a good job at keeping your head from moving.


The pads worked well for me at least.


One more:


I walked over to Trace Du Hourra next. I got my dad on this and he loved it. This is a large Mack bobsled that was quite long and had some incredible theming to it as well.


After that, I headed to Vol d’Icare.


There isn’t much to say about it…


One thing I really liked about this park was their attention to detail. The scenery and theming was very well done, up there with Disney, in my opinion. Here are some atmosphere photos:








And here’s the log flume. The only log flume I’ve seen like this in the states is Ripsaw Falls at IoA.


You will only see something like this in Europe. If the US saw that, they would think that the carousel is vulgar because the kids have to sit in his butt.


Zeus and his panties will unleash their wrath upon you. Typical French.


One last photo of the main rides:


Thanks for reading.

[Maxlaam]

Nice trip, why didn't you visit Gump's house and go to "de Efteling" with us? Has some great theming too!

Also, I'm not a big fan of Goudurix's new paint job, it's really bright, and colorful.

Muntanya Russa looks like fun coaster too, especially because it's built on the side of a hill!

[KCB Designs]

Goudurix Reminds me so much of a rippin rocket its not funny.

[Antinos]

Nice trip, why didn't you visit Gump's house and go to "de Efteling" with us? Has some great theming too!

Also, I'm not a big fan of Goudurix's new paint job, it's really bright, and colorful.

Muntanya Russa looks like fun coaster too, especially because it's built on the side of a hill!

If we were in Amsterdam for a bit, or anywhere in the Netherlands, I would have made arrangements on MSN. Actually, I think we discussed meeting up at Asterix at one point, but that's far for him.

The terrain on Muntanya Russa adds so much.

Goudurix Reminds me so much of a rippin rocket its not funny.

Now that you mention it, it looks exactly like one! I like the track, but the more I look at it, I don't like the purpleish brown supports.

By the way, here's two offride videos:





I'll post some culture photos and panoramas at a later date.