Phantasialand

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Sam
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I'm really annoyed. Because I didn't like Phantasialand anywhere near as much as I thought I would, and I think this is why.

An Intamin Aquatrax would be awesome! But since the first and only one was built in Korea, I've heard rumours of Aquatraxes a million times for different parks, it's almost a running joke!

One of those Splash Parties would be a colossal waste of space. :|
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Nightfall
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As I noted during my trip report last year Phantasialand seems to be in the middle of a major (and I mean major) restructure as an attempt to bring a more consistent layout to the park. I was actually shocked once I got home from that trip and started researching the parks history to find that the Berlin and fantasy areas were completely altered only two years before. And already the park looks nothing like I remember it. It really is impressive what they are trying to achieve which is also why so many classic rides have to be removed for the plan to work.

I can understand completely why they're doing this as the park had a very confusing layout before (partly as a result of the road running straight though it which splitting the park in two). What they seem to be trying to create is a central midway to connect each area. It starts with Berlin (a German version of Main Street) which leads to a grand plaza area at the end. As of my visit the only way to go from this plaza was up onto a balcony and then back down on the other side to reach the rest of the park. There was however another path at the back of the Plaza that had just started construction. I’m assuming that this is the raised walkway Sazzle has posted. This raised path is the second part of the midway and leads all the way over to Colorado. As a result there is now an easy to follow route to each area of the park which ignores the changes of height that made it so hard to navigate before. The only trouble is it’s currently a construction site, hence why it looks a mess.

I also think there is another connecting path yet to come. Looking at the wooden fence in this picture:

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I think it’s likely they’ll be a linking path from here to whatever they’re building now and the rest of the Mexican section of the park.

I’m actually amazed they’ve managed to reshape the park like this while keeping it open. Unfortunately a lot of still decent rides have had to be sacrificed but once this is done the park will have so much more land available now that everything has been streamlined to the one midway.

I hope this post made sense. It’s hard to explain what they are doing but having seen that new path it’s made the last few years development make a lot more sense, to me at any rate.

Edit: Having read the last few posts and Sazzle’s new retrospect section (thanks for that) I thought I’d explain a bit more about the plaza. At the moment it seems like a waste of space and doesn’t make sense. However once this restructure is complete I suspect it will become the focal point of the park. As I noted in my report last year there is no main gate because half the guests enter at the car park near Mystery and the other half enter at Berlin. However I think the brick wall currently taking up the back of the plaza will replace the car park's Mystery entrance (or something along those lines). As a result guests will be entering at either end of Berlin and that area can truly become the Disney style main street I think they planned it to be.

This is mostly me speculating of course but it does seem to make sense. According to Google maps there is nothing but a field there at the moment. Could there be a fairly big expansion planned their too?

Also that restaurant you thought was gone I am fairly sure it’s still there, just closed up at the moment. It was certainly still functioning and showing no sign of closing last year.
Last edited by Nightfall on Thu May 24, 2012 10:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Benzin
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So what about the new Funhouse they're putting in?
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I believe that is going in an existing building in Berlin :)
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Sam
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Funhouse? Source? Where's the topic on this? :)

Sounds rubbish!
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Phantasialand-Fans.de :)

I think the term "funhouse" is very vauge. I'd expect something along the lines of a Berry Bish Bash/Wobble World hybrid, rather than this :P

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Dormiens-Dave

There is also a huge poster advertising the fun house on park.
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Benzin
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That topic says 3 floors and 21 rooms... That's certainly more rooms than Bish Bash for certain, and the way the posters are advertising it makes it seem like a multi-room experience...

I would say it would definitely be something more like an atypical German fun house...
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Ramius
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Here are some more infos:

http://www.phantastische-fans.com/index.php?page=Thread&postID=31302

The attraction is called: "Das verückte Hotel Tartüff".
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James6
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Just wanted to add my thoughts on the state of the middle of the park.

I visited for the first in April, and whilst the section in the centre of the park didn't look great I still had one of the best days I've ever had at a park, and it's certainly one of, if not my favourite park. Although I understand for those who were there before it will have seemed worse by comparison.

Still can't wait to see what they do with the space, especially as they are apparently removing Silbermine dark ride in 2014, will be a pretty huge space.
If you go down to the Towers today, you\'d better ride Th13teen. :P
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Sam
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James6 wrote:Still can't wait to see what they do with the space, especially as they are apparently removing Silbermine dark ride in 2014, will be a pretty huge space.
That actually made my day. Didn't think it was possible that I'd celebrate the removal of a dark ride and a Schwarzkopf but Silbermine is so bad that its removal makes me jump for joy!
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James6
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Haha I didn't think it was THAT bad ;)
If you go down to the Towers today, you\'d better ride Th13teen. :P
DiogoJ42

I must be the only man on earth who likes Silbermine :lol:

Whatever ther are building, I'm sure it will be epic.
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Sam
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DiogoJ42 wrote: I must be the only man on earth who likes Silbermine :lol:
Why?

Not having a go, genuine curiosity. :P
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John
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Nah, I like it as well.  Sure it's far too slow and has that pointless tunnel leading to and from it, but if they could just speed it up a bit they'd have a perfectly respectable ride on their hands.
AstroDan

It is atrocious. I have never been so bored on an omnimover.
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John
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The siege scene at the end is fairly epic.  I rather feel that it would have been better as a boat ride though - that downhill bit should be a drop.
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Sam
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John wrote: Nah, I like it as well.  Sure it's far too slow and has that pointless tunnel leading to and from it, but if they could just speed it up a bit they'd have a perfectly respectable ride on their hands.
Yeah I remember you saying that on park John, but I can't see it myself!

The whole ride, even if it moved quicker, is still so tedious! The scenes are old fashioned and quite shoddy to be honest. And it uses up so much space, without the 'wow factor' that a dark ride that uses up so much space should have. :)

Get rid!
DiogoJ42

As John said, it just needs to be faster. You can't argue with the vast scale of it.
Also, just to be picky Dan, I'm not sure it counts as an omnimover... The cars don't rotate.  ;)
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Sam
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It's not just the speed I have a problem with. The scenes themselves are beyond tedious, uninspired and completely lacking in any kind of soul! I think that's my main problem with the ride - it's soulless.
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