Phantasialand - Review 2018
Back in September of 2018 Harry and I visited Phantasialand. It was technically my second time at the park as I’d been there once before in 2011, but it felt brand new because I couldn’t remember much from my first visit. It was Harry’s very first time, so he was really excited for the trip and even more excited to finally get on Taron after hearing so many people rave about it. We stayed in the centre of Cologne which has good public transport links out to the park so we were able to get there for opening and stay until the park closed.
The whole park, although small and tightly packed, was beautifully themed. We actually loved the fact that all the areas were almost on top of each other and that some parts basically had two layers. It gave the park a vibrant and compact feel which we aren’t really used to, but that works well for Phantasialand. By far our favourite area was Klugheim. The level of detail throughout the whole area was just stunning and it really took us to another world. Even the toilets were themed!! Insanity.
THE COASTERS
Winjas
We absolutely love a fun ride, and that’s exactly what the Winja rides are. They both have great snappy turns, fun spins and there’s decent interaction between the rides and the whole building. It was great to walk through the building and see the coasters zooming around. If you asked us to choose the best of the pair it would have to be Force, purely because the layout was slightly more exciting. But we loved them both way more than we expected to!
Black Mamba
Don’t get me wrong, inverts are great. But there’s just something about them that I’m not a huge fan of. Despite that, I really enjoyed Black Mamba as an overall ride. It has a fast, compact and pretty forceful layout and a surprisingly well done lift hill which we really loved. Not being a massive fan of inverts I wouldn’t rank it that high but I would say it’s a solid ride. Harry doesn’t think it tops Nemesis, but I’m not sure...
Raik
Raik was another surprisingly good ride and a solid family coaster. It was made even better by the interactions it had with the surrounding scenery and nearby Taron. Our ride on it actually synced up with a passing train on Taron which was pretty amazing. If we had more time on the day we would have gone back for a re-ride for sure!
Colorado Adventure
Colorado Adventure was a crazy long and really fun mine train! It just went on and on forever - we thought we would never get off… It’s got a surprising amount of force at some points throughout the ride which makes it very enjoyable. I would say it’s one of the best mine trains I’ve been on so far.
Temple of the Night Hawk
Where to start with Temple of the night Hawk… The ride is insanely boring and equally long. It should have ended after the first 30 seconds but it just carried on and on, somehow getting more boring as it went on. We couldn't work out what they were trying to achieve with the theming either - what’s with all the trees in the station? Who knows. It was pretty disappointing overall and was just screaming out for a re-theme (or to be removed completely to be honest).
Taron
We both love this ride. It’s currently my number 2 and Harry’s number 3. There’s so much to say about it; the theming is insane, the transitions are snappy and fun, it’s fast paced and the 2nd launch is definitely a highlight. There are just a few things that didn’t quite live up to our expectations. We probably hyped it up way too much because we heard so many people saying great things about it, or we caught it on an off day - who knows until we go back and ride it again! We just thought the trims at the end ruined it slightly and a little more sustained airtime throughout wouldn’t be a bad addition. But don’t get us wrong, it’s an incredible, quality ride. We can’t wait to go back and ride it again - in the dark as well next time...
OTHER RIDES
Chiapas
What a tricked out log flume! Chiapas was really fun and it’s got some unique trick-track elements, combined with some fun audio and theming. The last drop is also incredible and Harry says it’s his favourite log flume now - that’s a compliment because he’s really not a fan of log flumes, as we know. There should really be more log flumes built on the same scale as Chiapas.
Talocan
I absolutely hate Topspins, so there was no way I would ride Talocan. But Harry said it was the most theatrical flat ride he’s ever done. Even just watching it was incredible and almost like a show in itself! The fire effects were timed perfectly to a fantastic soundtrack, it was forceful, fun and the overall theming was stunning.
Mystery Castle
This was the only ride I remember getting on when I visited Phantasialand in 2011, and I remember being terrified of it. But riding it in 2018 was a completely different experience. It’s a fantastic drop/shot tower; the cycle inside is great, the drop is forceful, you get loads of airtime when being forced back up and it’s all synced to a great soundtrack! It’s such a fun ride and I can’t believe I didn’t love it the first time around (even though back then I was scared of every ride). We enjoyed it so much we rode it again!
Maus au Chocolat
Maus us Chocolat isn’t the best shooter ride we’ve ever been on. It has some great themed sets, but it’s let down by some pretty boring screens and it’s far too long. We were hoping for something a bit more exciting but it never came. It’s not awful but we weren’t blown away by it unfortunately.
There are a couple of other little things we liked about the park. If you’ve listened to the podcast you’ll know how much we love their Jambalaya, which you can find in the Afrika area, and we’d be lying if we said that wasn’t one of the highlights of the day. Harry also had a great time pretending he could play the bongos. You can see the footage of that here.
We absolutely loved our day at Phantasialand. It’s a stunning park with some quality rides and beautiful theming. We didn’t manage to get on everything as many times as we would have liked (we definitely needed more rides on Taron) but we had a great time and we will be returning this year for a another visit. We can’t wait to get back to the park and are excited for the opening of their new ride, FLY, which we hope will open before we return!
Want to know more about our day at Phantasialand? You can watch the vlog of the day or listen to the podcast episode all about our visit!
-Zoe
