Winter Wonderland - Hyde Park London

[Ladyofthelake]

I managed to get down to Winter Wonderland yesterday and despite the rain managed to get on a fair few things.

Olympia Looping was amazing. It was far smoother than I was expecting (smoother than some of Merlin's coasters!) and was a good overall ride. I did notice what others have mentioned with the restraints, on my ride I felt them push down as I went through the first inversion. It's certainly a ride I'd like to do again and I hope it returns next year.

There did seem to be a decent range of rides, although it was a shame Break Dance and Airwolf didn't make a return this year. XXL and Wilde Maus were as good as ever.

One thing to be aware of if you are planning a visit us just how busy it gets. Even in heavy rain the event was still extremely busy with all the ticketed attractions such as the Ice Kingdom and Ice Skating sold out. There were also issues in the tube with the Piccadilly Line experiencing long delays and several stations closed due to the volume of people on the line so it's definitely worth checking before you go.

[theparklifekid]

Me in front of Olympia Looping



So I landed last night and this morning before leaving London, made a quick trip to Winter Wonderland! I was literally only here for half an hour so I only got to do 3 rides. Wild Maus XXL was just as I remembered it, very fun! Thriller Coaster was "Pain: The Ride". Olympia Looping however was awesome! I only was able to get one ride on it, on the front row, the experience was very intense (And I thought Formula Rossa was intense), the layout was great, fast at all times and I loved the loops. Even though I had only one ride its now my 10th favourite coaster.

[Max]

The planning documents for this year's event are now online, and so is the potential map of attractions.
The map shows that Olympia Looping will return, and most of the lineup remains unchanged, a few flat rides have been replaced but there doesn't appear to be any major differences.

[Zach]

Wonderful response by Winter Wonderland due to recent acid attacks in London, they are not permitting opened bottles of water, glad to see they are active is responding to current issues and policing the issue with customers commenting on the refusal of bottled water into the attraction. However WW are offering free water at all there bars which is a simple and nice compromise to tackle the issue. A solution some customers don’t seem happy about, however I would rather be safe than sorry. 

What do you make of it? 

[Chris]

It's a nice idea, but as I was not hand searched, I could have taken anything inside hidden in my jacket..

[Zach]

It's a nice idea, but as I was not hand searched, I could have taken anything inside hidden in my jacket..

That’s interesting, having not been down myself this year yet, I can’t comment on the overall security runnings of the site, I’d like to think it’s mostly a visual stop and profiling search rather than a physical pat down for every guest. Which if they were to put in place would be a site traffic nightmare, queues would be enormous just to get in, but I can see the point also of if you’re going do an attack such as one described you would as you have said Chris hide it.

 Hopefully with the knowledge that the site is aware of such a threat and searchings or ruling in place it will prevent/deter people from thinking about it.    

[NemesisRider]

In the last week I got a chance to get to Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland. I didn’t have a huge amount of time there, but I had enough time to get on a few of their best rides.

Mini review:

First stop with obviously Olympia Looping. When I visited the ride was only running one train - however the queue (even for front row) was extremely short. After a less than 5 minute wait I was on. My only real issue with this ride was the odd restraint system - instead of a lap bar or over the shoulder restraint, a strange hybrid of the two is employed. If this ride was lap bar only I would have found it much more enjoyable, as the OSTRs restrict your movement and somewhat pin you down. The ride itself is very intense, even on the front row (which offers some great views). The pacing is quite relentless - it doesn’t feel like there’s any moments where nothing is happening, and the loops are nicely spread out through the layout. Overall, very good ride, but needs new restraints to be top 10 material for me.

Next was Hangover - The Tower, possibly my favourite Winter Wonderland ride. The views of London offered by this ride are spectacular, especially when you’re rotating at the top of the tower. I was pleasantly surprised by how this ride was run: you begin by rising up then dropping from half the height of the tower (a less intense drop but definitely fun), then dropping the entire distance (a more intense drop that is very satisfying). Would highly recommend this ride, even if it doesn’t necessarily top my favourite drop tower (Scream). 

Following this was Wilde Maus XXL. This ride was possibly the busiest in the entire park, so get there early! The queue up to the ride is amusing, with interactive elements that almost feel like they’re trying to murder you... Anyway, the coaster begins with some larger swooping drops, which are my highlight of the ride. The proceeding switchbacks are a bit repetitive, but forceful and fun. The ending of the ride is a lot more twisted and unpredictable, but one or two points the levels of lateral Gs were a tad uncomfortable. Overall another good ride to have over in the U.K., at least temporarily. 

I concluded my visit with a quick ride on Air. I found Air a fraction nauseating, but nowhere near the levels of a ride like Skyforce at Pleasure Beach. The cycle I got seemed pretty reasonable in terms of length - however, I was a little disappointed that it didn’t have any moment where you are held towards the sky and spun (as seen on Mechanica and other star shapes). The ride is pretty disorienting with lots of flipping, and is something I’d love to see at one of our major U.K. parks.

That concluded my Winter Wonderland visit. Whilst it’s very expensive due to its pay per ride operation, I’d definitely recommend visiting, especially to get the Olympia Looping credit. 

Photos:

[Adz]

I visited on Boxing Day. I'm lucky enough to be able to get to a lot of the bigger fairs in the UK and Europe so things like Hangover, Air, Blizzard (Turbine), XXL etc are far too expensive at Winter Wonderland for my liking. I often find them half the price and giving twice as long cycles elsewhere.  But then people are paying it so I can't blame them. 

Olympia/Munchen Looping is a very special coaster, it may not be the tallest, fastest, most intense or whatever but I really enjoy it. If you had said to any enthusiast in the UK 10 years ago that Olympia Looping would make its way over here then you'd have been laughed at! It's testament to the event that it sustains such a huge machine.

Topscan/Flying Circus was absolutely insane. £6 is a lot to pay for a Topscan but when it's giving 10 minute cycles and up there with the most intense ones I've ever ridden then it's worth every penny. 

The same goes for the Breakdance, I make no secret that Breakdances are one of my favourite flat rides and I can often be found spending insane amounts reriding them abroad, so it's amazing to have a proper Huss machine over here giving some of the most mental cycles these machines can give. 10 minutes at full speed for £5 is a bargain!

[Danny]

So with Winter Wonderland now closing its doors for the season, it’s time to look forward to what may come in November 2018!

I only visited once this year, and my main bugbear was the layout. I have always admired Winter Wonderland for designing the layout to cope with the crowds, but this year it felt much more compact, which was almost uncomfortable at times when it was busy.

However I did enjoy my time and done a few rides (below):

Gladiator/Blizzard x 2
Wilde Maus XXL x2
XXL x 2
Breakdance x 2
Hangover
Olympia Looping

I did also notice that although the crowds were there, rides we all very quiet, a recurring trend that showmen have noticed over the past couple of years. Even Olympia was a walk on front row on one train, seemed strange but I’m sure they had a successful run overall

As always I had lots of fun and look forward to what’s to come later on this year!

[NemeJaney]

Having visited the other day, I observed that Wilde Maus XXL had a VR upgrade option for an extra £2, which apparently lowered the main price(I may be wrong). 

Did anyone try this at all? Curious to see what VR would be like on a travelling ride like this.

[Danny]

Having visited the other day, I observed that Wilde Maus XXL had a VR upgrade option for an extra £2, which apparently lowered the main price(I may be wrong). 

Did anyone try this at all? Curious to see what VR would be like on a travelling ride like this.

When I went there were signs in the token booths saying this option was unavailable, not sure if this was the same for the whole run though

[jamesc]

Winter Wonderland is Back!

Dates Are:-
Thursday 22nd November 2018 4-10pm.
Friday 23rd November 2018 to Sunday 6th January 2019 10am-10pm (excluding Christmas Day).
An Annual Charity Preview evening will be held on Wednesday 21st November at 4-10pm, tickets available online from this link.

Official Website link click here.

Roller Coaster Geeks and Fans Alert!, new for 2018 is the Coaster Pass where you can use an Oyster Card style system for all the Roller Coasters present this year.

NEW SHOWS FOR 2018
Peter Pan On Ice
Teletubbies Christmas Show every morning at 11am.
Live Comedy Stand Up Show featuring different stand up comedians daily at 9pm.

NEW RIDES FOR 2018 (Confirmed so Far) Below:-
Dr Archibald: Master Of Time: The largest travelling VR ride in the world from Patrick Greier in Germany. This immense experience is many years in the making and a true spectacle to see at night.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0NY4qOUV74&feature=youtu.be
Grundler & Preuss's Circus Circus Huss Magic: Coming all the way from Germany. This family style thrill ride is perfect for all ages.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbtsabPS1YQ

[Chris]

Interesting news about the Coaster Pass.

Brand new for 2018, Christmas has come early for thrill seekers with the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland Coaster Pass, giving easy tap 'n' ride access to all of the 9 rollercoasters at Winter Wonderland. There is a minimum of £30 pre-payment when you first order the pass and in the spirit of Christmas giving, we are adding a £5 bonus on your initial purchase to enjoy even more rollercoasters! You can pre-load your Coaster Pass to use again and again during the 45 days Winter Wonderland is open.

What is not clear though is the benefit of using it over standard contactless debit / credit cards, and if there is any saving involved!?

[abigsmurf]

That Doctor Archibald looks pretty neat. Clever twist on the old fashioned ghost train ride. Decent length ride too.

[jamesc]

Another new ride has been confirmed as coming this year is a KMG Surf Ride.
It will be making its first debut this year, brand new from the factory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzM1zr7Xdag

[theparklifekid]

Do we know if Olympia Looping is coming back this year?

[jamesc]

Olympia Looping will be returning this year as far as I know.
Santa Land will feature 2 new rides this year, Ice Trike Trail & a 45 metre long Ice Slide.
Also brand new is a convenient family entrance that leads straight into Santa Land and the Christmas Grotto.

[Ladyofthelake]

With the opening of Winter Wonderland now under 2 weeks away, we now have the official map for 2018's event:



From what I can tell, there appears to have been a bit of a more substantial layout change this year, but I could be mistaken on that There looks to be many of the staple rides of the event returning, however I can't see Breakdance listed and the ride listing generally seems to be a little shorter than normal, although not by much. A full PDF version is available on the event website.

[abigsmurf]

Spent a couple of hours in it this evening, didn't really get to do too many rides because of who I was with. First time I've ever been but it's easily the best travelling fair I've ever seen and all the rides were in a condition that puts so dubious fairs to shame.

Had a good time overall.

A few negatives:
It is expensive, I would say obscenely so. The 'premium'  rides are £9 a go. An evening here going on a good selection of rides will costs more than a day at Disney. Food and drink typically expensive too, £5 for a small cup of suspiciously weak mulled cider. That said, I do absolutely love churros and even though the cone was £5 (oddly there were lots of places selling churros and they had different prices), it was a good size and I wouldn't have wanted to eat more. If you had it as a day out and were with friends who wanted to do as much as they can, I could easily see you getting worrying close to the £100 mark with food and drinks taken into account.

One of the big things I wanted to try and managed to get on was Doctor Archibald. It looks absolutely stunning at night, any theme park would be proud to have a ride looking as good as that, let alone a fair. 

Unfortunately, everything past the pre-show was a big big disappointment. The headset didn't have the volume turned up anywhere near enough so all I really could hear was the music playing loudly around the park and the 'story' passed me by. The ride has 4 short scenes and they're all kinda simple, uninteresting and lacking in creativity (one of them literally has you going in a zigzag along a track). You keep waiting for a drop that never happens (where it feels like there should be drops you tilt downwards, brace for a drop only to feel brakes instantly kick in). The ride has barely started before you get told to take off your glasses. 

It may be the longest ride of its type but when you're on a VR with not much happening instead of getting bombarded with elements like on the best ghost trains, it is hopelessly short. It is absolutely not a £9 ride.

[nicky.borrill]

Enjoyed my visit today, never been so lots of new creds. Olympia Looping surprised me, it’s forceful and a damn good coaster for a travelling ride. Ice Mountain was brilliant, we were on our own, just the 2 of us on one side with the other empty. So we spun like crazy!!! Have never, ever, spun like that on a coaster before, brilliant.

Also enjoyed the Magical Ice Kingdom, Ice Bar, Dr Archibald VR and Snowman experience. Had a chat with Jack Silkstone in the attraction he’s working in, he seems to be enjoying it there, shame as I miss his videos. Not gonna reveal the attraction he’s on, as he hasn’t, so not sure he wants too many people distracting him in his new job.

All in all a great day out.