Meet the Spin Snakes!

The latest tour to the Coaster Breaks roster has returned after an epic 8 days away with a group of repeat bookers all from previous tours. Welcome back to Nathan from the first ever Coaster Breaks tour, Joe who was on the second tour last year, Tom and Andrew both were a part of the Log Flume Appreciations from the first tour of this year and Will was on the second trip of 2022.

As such it was so awesome for me to meet up with people I know from the previous trips and for them to all meet each other, mostly for the first time however there are connections and interactions from the Coaster Breaks WhatsApp Group.

Spin Snakes was already decided as our name before the trip and I am sure many from the Coaster Breaks exclusive chat is already expecting and laughing at this. Based on a throw away comment from the main chat about the terrible name of Sik at Flamingo Land and better names we could call it, Spin Snake was the worst suggestion and since became a meme with Coaster Breaks.

The Extension

As we all kind off knew each other, the tour was slightly extended as I must drive from Bognor Regis to Frankfurt which is a bit of a long journey. What better way to break this up than with Theme Parks! The idea came while talking to Nathan and knowing Joe would be up for this, we started a few days earlier with the first stop at the gorgeous Bellewaerde. Featuring some great coasters as Huracan and the new Gerstlauer thrill coaster Wakala, I was already getting distracted with the Lions, Tigers, Leopards and Lemurs. This was a great first park to start the tour as it felt relaxing before heading to our hotel in Gent for the night.

Next on the list was Bobbejaanland with the standout coaster being the Gerstlauer multi-pass launch, Fury. This thing is unique in that you can choose to ride it facing forwards or backwards and features the clamshell restraints also found on the Oath of Karnan. The park itself felt very clean and was very easy to navigate. That night I felt mean as we drove to Cologne... past signs to Phantasialand, I almost did a 10-minute detour so the two could look at Black Mamba and Mystery Castle as we drove by, but I couldn’t bring myself to that level of cruel. After checking in to the hotel near Cologne Airport, we awaited the arrival of Will who was coming a night earlier as it was easier to fly from Bristol airport, plus gets an extra day in Klotten, our next park.

After meeting up with Will and Nathan smashing a plate of eggs at Breakfast (Threw it to the Ground!) we headed into German countryside up a huge hill with spectacular views for a couple hours in the wildlife park, Klotten. Another awesome Gerstlauer was the standout with Heisse Fahrt. I was more distracted by the Racoons here and took more photos than any other park on this tour, including Europa Park which we spent two days at!

This was a very hot day, and we were all feeling the heat. We would blame the heat on Will losing his phone and getting it back later in the afternoon but, he did that at Phantasialand previously as well! We left early for a scenic drive to Frankfurt to meet Tom and Andrew who have randomly found themselves stranded at a petrol station, picked up the final two before checking in to the hotel and heading over to an Italian for dinner.

Holiday Park

The first official day of the tour begins with an excruciatingly hot day at Holiday Park in Germany. This was a record heat I have experienced at a park with temperatures hitting 39 degrees at one point. The park was very quiet for a Saturday, probably due to the extreme weather. As we head to Holiday Park, Tom reminds us that his last visit, Expedition GeForce and Sky Scream both did not open due to the cold weather. We told him to wait in the van until we got at least one go on the coaster.

We get to the park; we see it testing and head straight to the previous Golden Ticket Winning World’s Best Roller Coaster. We are batched outside the queue with a man on the gate for 10 minutes, 20 minutes… wait what is taking so long? No shelter as our skin burns, impatiently we ask what is happening, technical difficulties! Tom, get back in the van! After 30 minutes they tell all of us to go away and they do not know the outcome for the day. The park has recently got a second train and it is rumoured to be the issues causing a delay with technical difficulties.

So hot our first ride of the tour is the log flume just to call down. It is only 10:30am and already mid 30s. Post log flume we get to lapping some Sky Scream. This very intense Premier Rides Sky Rocket 2 is themed to horror with a very dark queue line. There is great ejector at the top and the bottom of the non-inverting loop is ridiculous.

Still no GeForce so we head around the rest of the tiny park. Jet Skis, Drop Tower (With amazing views of a broken GeForce) and then the indoor section with a family coaster and random flat ride to try and cool down. Lots of liquids and to the ghost train. Throughout this time, we occasionally checked on GeForce and the staff were doubtful for the whole day! Ok what next… hold on, there goes another GeForce Train and people are on it!

Race to the entrance, and yes, we are on. Still one of the world’s best coasters and back on again for a second lap. Throughout the day we had 5 rides however there were other issues that need to be mentioned. It was very hot, and this is a very intense coaster. People are regularly sick on Expedition GeForce, and this happened twice throughout the day, especially when combined with the heat. First lot of barf came up in front of Andrew and was a very close call. The ride then needs to be hosed down. Second one was worse. Our group was split in the station with two on the train and the remaining four of us in the station. Two rows in front of the first two on, someone blacked out at the bottom of the first drop, it wasn’t until near the end of the coaster he came to, he tried to hold the sick in his mouth but couldn’t and then ran straight to the edge of the platform and that is where he stayed, constantly being sick until paramedics came., almost passed out in the station building and the coaster being down for over 30 minutes as they dealt with the medical emergency. Obviously, health and safety are paramount and the staff where fantastic at helping, even holding up a cover for privacy. Eventually the station was evacuated, however they did get it back up for a final two trains of the day.

Please everyone, be very careful when it gets this hot and get shelter from the sun and drink plenty. If you feel too unwell to do a coaster, do not do it and do not feel shame about it as your health needs to be a priority. We had an awesome time in the end, even in the heat and all of us (Including Will’s phone) headed on to our next hotel.

Erlebnispark Tripsdrill

Through the German countryside we go as we head to the very picturesque park in what feels like wine county for a day at Erlebnispark Tripsdrill.

This is the oldest theme park in Germany and has been family owned for over 90 years. The latest coaster Hals-Uber-Kopf was first and this new generation Vekoma invert is unbelievable. So smooth and yet such fun, a very different take on their previous model.

This is a park which is great to just go exploring, find random paths and head inside random buildings. There are very strange animatronics, statues and a very odd robot animal show.

Karacho is another excellent Gerstlauer Coaster with an impressive launch and some crazy elements. This was a very strange day but a huge highlight for the week. I even brought hope some Tripsdrill wine for presents.

That evening we headed to the Golden Ticket Winner for the World’s Best Theme Park and as we drove into Rust, we could see Silver Star towering in the distance.

Europa Park & Rulantica

This park is huge. 13 coasters, dark rides, spectacular theming and so much more. A nice long walk at the 9am gates opening to Blue Fire. As the group takes in the attention to detail on the slow stroll. This was followed by Wodan, the parks powered coaster and log flume then a second go on Wodan. Now for the Wodan v Troy debate… group was surprisingly split between the two. (I am team Troy, sorry!)

Day one at the park was continuing with the strong sun blaring down. We completed all the credits and rides on the surprisingly awesome Snorrin Tourrin, plus the so incredible remake of Piratan in Batavia. We had lunch in the roller coaster restaurant and by the time the park was closing, we were desperate to cool down when we headed over to Rulantica for the 7-10pm slot. This impressive waterpark was the perfect option to cool down after the long day and was so much fun with the whole group. It was just a perfect day at a world class resort.

Before we started day two at Europa Park, it was only right to sing Happy Birthday to Andrew and to gift him with a Germany birthday card along with a cuddly toy of a duck. (Andrew has a fascination with ducks!)

Day two was a wet day, however this did not stop us as we started off on the flying theatre, Voletarium. A game of Silver Star roulette saw us get lucky with no rain on the B&M hyper coaster and we were also somehow safe on the other major attractions. As the park closed, we ended the day front row Silver Star on the last train of the night. This is one of the world’s best theme parks and as always, the park does not disappoint. It is awesome to think this will only be getting better in 2023 as the park build their very impressive sounding new extreme coaster.

As the rain disappeared and the sun came out for our drive, we left Germany and headed into France for a lovely meal at a French restaurant. We later arrived at our hotel and to all our surprise, so did Will’s phone!

Walygator Grande Est

This Aspro theme park in France is themed to an alligator and is the sister park to Oakwood in Wales. If you have been there, it is similarly operated with a very low quality. However, the draw to the park is the huge B&M invert called Monster. This is a clone of Raptor at Cedar Point but was relocated from Japan and was installed without the break run making this something of a legend between coaster enthusiasts. Quick review, this is one of the ugliest coasters in the world, but your feet will feel them helixes at the end with the blood rushing down. No matter where you are in Walygator you can hear this beast roaring around and is the main standout for visiting the park.

The day is designed to be more of a chilled day after two very long days at Europa Park and this is what it did perfectly. En Route to the next accommodation saw us stop at a Buffalo Grill, a chain which is very popular in France from a lot of burgers, mixed grills and steaks.

Nigloland

Niglo being Romani for Hedgehog, this is the third busiest theme park in France and the country drives throughout the morning gave us a picturesque start to a wonderful day. Celebrating 35 years since opening their doors on June 1st, 1987, we were greeted by a giant cake statue as we headed through the entrance and straight to the standout coaster Alpina Blitz.

This is a very compact, intense and fun airtime filled coaster in the Swiss section of the park. Next was the new water coaster, Expedition Krampus and then the strangely smooth wild mouse. This park is basically a Mack Rides catalogue which is not a bad thing as Mack is one of the most reliable companies in the industry, and we did just visit their own theme park.

The lunch was awesome as we had either pasta or a half chicken and chips and the drop tower was probably the scariest ride of the trip. 328ft tall (Over 3 detonators for those of you using Thorpe Park measurements). I think we all wanted a seat belt to go with this but no, restraints only as we rotate around the giant tower getting awesome views of the French countryside.

Nigloland is a very charming park. You regularly see the owners walking around and you can feel the proud approach they take to owning and operating this gem of a park.

Parc Asterix

Staying near Charles De Gaulle airport and only a 10-minute drive in the morning, we make our way to another Compagnie des Alps park themed to the French comic book series.

The first thing we notice was the top hat for the new Intamin multi launch opening next year, Toutatis. Wow does this look good. It is like combination of Pantheon and Kondaa which can be found at their other park. You can get a lot of viewpoints of the ride such as the backwards vertical spike near the super splash, random airtime moments from the tall helix on Oziris and a great overview from the Mack bobsleigh, Trace du Hourra lift hill.

This was the wettest day of the trip. Since going from the extreme heat at Holiday Park, to every day telling us it was going to rain and it didn’t, this was the day it rained!

It was a busy Saturday and so the 1 hit fast passes was purchased to get on all the attractions which greatly helped us out. We did hit a few coasters first before we used the passes and once used the queues were not too bad and was kept under 30 minutes each.

The new experience was Tonnerre 2 Zeus which is the Gravity Group retrack of Tonnerre de Zeus. This features a new wave turn and the awesome new trains, the Timberliners. This was my first time on the complete overhaul as my last visit was in 2020 and they have done a great job. There are a few rough patches but it was overall very enjoyable. The special upcharge added to the back row has seen the two seats replaced to face backwards! Now with Enso at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in the UK scaring everyone and their bank balance for back row upgrades, we had to think if this was going to be worth it and it is cheaper than a ride on Olympia Looping! At only 8 Euros this also includes a fast pass to the back row and so become worth at least one ride. I was hesitant as I preferred facing forwards when on Fury the previous week and so I didn’t know if I would like this as much. Basically yes, it is! It is on steroids and became the huge sleeper hit of the trip. Back row Tonnerre 2 Zeus was jumping in the top tens for everyone on the trip. People called it better than Ride to Happiness. We paid 3 times and we could easily pay more as it is so worth it… especially with a tipsy ride after being in the sky bar previously!

Parc Saint Paul

The last day as we use Parc Saint Paul as a pit stop while we head to the UK. The main reason for coming to this park is the incredible and compact coaster Wood Express. Another Gravity Group wooden coaster, this thing is worth the trip alone. We also did some very questionable PAX coasters, tried to eat a frozen chicken panini, and fed some goats before getting to the Euro Tunnel.

This was a great inaugural tour of the Southwest Germany and France tour, and I cannot wait for the second one taking place on July 23. There were also some new credits for me and the break from the Belgium, Germany and The Netherlands tour was much needed. Don’t get me wrong, as this blog gets released, I would be back in Belgium with a new group and I am just as excited as always to get back to Walibi Belgium.

Thank you to Nathan, Joe, Tom, Andrew, and Will for joining on this tour and we all made it back safely… including Will’s phone… Not so much Nathan’s hat!