Attraction Review: Phantasialand Part Two


If you haven't already, check out Part One!

Day two and after an epic 12 hour sleep I was feeling slightly more human. As this trip was booked on the fly we checked into a cheap and cheerful hotel on an industrial estate about ten minutes round the corner. It did the job, but definitely in the future will always look at staying at Hotel Matamba, purely for the Taron ERT. It's a necessity to me now. We did head to the Zambesi buffet which I highly recommend but honestly we were too knackered to enjoy it properly as we'd have liked to, which was a bit of a shame but something to learn from for next time!


I held my breath as we headed into the park - surely we hadn't lucked out and managed to get the park empty for a second day in a row? Turns out the Wednesday was even quieter that the Tuesday and Taron didn't go over a 40 min queue all day. With this in mind, we put the brakes on the pace and took the time today to really enjoy our surroundings.


I forgot to mention, during April Phantasialand were running a promotion where if you presented your ticket at a special booth in Berlin you could return on any other day in the year for free, so this day cost us nothing for the park ticket which just made it even sweeter!

The plan was to head back to the fab Berlin bakery, but I stopped for a wee and discovered an amazing looking breakfast buffet, so we inhaled that instead. Such a good shout, it only cost €11 and sorted us out for the rest of the day. Highly recommend, it's right next to where the toilets are on main street in Berlin.






We took the time today to enjoy some attractions we'd usually skip, first up was the wave swinger in Berlin. It's absolutely stunning to look at, a great centrepiece for the square and beautifully decorated with mermaid-esque imagery and fountains that dance in time with the ride and threaten to give riders' feet a good soaking.

As wave swingers go it was quite fun, the fountains add an extra element of thrill but honestly after about 30 seconds on these I'm done. Spinny rides in general just don't do anything for me! At least it's pretty.

We had another go on Maus au Chocolat. I still beat Conor but this time the rope pull on my piping bag was a lot stiffer. I'm a really sore loser (and worse winner) so this really pissed me off how difficult it was to fire with. The rope had all frayed and bunched up at the ends creating friction which caused the issue. Shame to see something like that at Phantasialand and I hope it's something they're looking into fixing!




We also checked in to Hotel Tartuff for some fun house antics. This is a weird one, it's very well themed for a fun house but I always feel that it's a little too 'open'. The best fun houses to me feel really claustrophobic and shut off, I think it heightens the madness and this feels too 'proper'. It has slides though so can't exactly complain.








Snuck back through to Fantasy for another go on Winjas, this time on the 'good' side. Fear is just so much better for some reason - I think with the airtime hill and the 'added extra' being slightly more imaginative it just makes for a better ride! We also took a flight up the Tittle Tattle Tree for a better view of Wuze Town. Took me by surprise how intense the drop on these actually is, definite flutter of butterflies in the tummy here.

I didn't get any pics, but we also rode one of my favourite dark rides ever the Hollywood Boat Tour. It's got everything you need in a dark ride - terrifyingly dodgy animatronics, ropey special effects and that musty smell your loft has. It's perfect, and I'm glad that with the development of Rookburgh this is being left alone for the time being. That said, it definitely no longer fits with Phantasialand's aesthetic so it can only be a certain amount of time before this gets the chop along with Temple of the Night Hawk.

Which we also took a ride on right about now. I love these old Vekomas, but again Night Hawk has no place in modern Phantasialand and it sticks out like a sore thumb compared with the finesse of the other lands and attractions. It's kind of got this weird Predator vibe going on which doesn't match the name of the attraction at all, and sadly there were some kids smoking weed in the queue area so the whole thing stank the entire way around. Shame.









After another quick ride on Chiapas (still walk on) we continued on through to Afrika for another trip on Black Mamba. We met the fat Afrika dragon (don't know its name). Kind of fab that even on ridiculously dead days like this the park still brings the characters out. We rode Mamba in the back this time and the rattle was undeniable this time round. Still a relentless and intense ride though, love it! Always wish for another attraction in the Afrika area though. Whilst it's fab that there's a whole land dedicated to one attraction I can't help but feel a supporting flat or dark ride would be fab here.


Taron time again. By our estimations we could get three rides in before having to call it a day. Annoyingly it broke down for about 15 mins when we were queuing for our second go which threw our timing right off. Phantasialand are a little strange in that whilst the park is advertised as being open til 6PM, the ride queues close at 5.30/5.45PM. Don't get me wrong, it's extremely well advertised everywhere so shouldn't come as a surprise, it's just a little frustrating when you're used to queues closing at the advertised park closing time as opposed to a few mins before.

If I gush on and on about how fab Taron is we'll be here all day. So I'll just post some pics instead. Taron <3


















Due to the timing error after the breakdown it mean we could only squeeze in 2 goes in Taron, but seeing as Mystery Castle was right next door with a 0 minute queue we opted for a few rides on this instead to finish our trip.And they were playing the fab mode with all of the sound and lighting effects this time, yay! We rode three times in a row, I seriously can't get enough of this tower. If Tower of Terror didn't exist this would definitely be my favourite!



And just like that our little trip to Phantasialand was over. I always think it's a good sign when I'm very sad to leave a park because it means I've had a really good time, and that was definitely true in this case!

I can't tell you how much I love this park. It's my favourite park in the world, and for good reason. Everything is excellent and has a strong sense of 'Phantasialand' that sets it apart from usual theme park rides. Especially with the newer attractions, the park is truly unique and just getting better with every season. After staring down into that huge pit I can't wait to see what Rookburgh brings and I'll definitely be making some time in my calendar to revisit next year.

Talk later xoxo,


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