A Themepark in Europe
Entry posted by Matt 236
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As part of my annual holiday, I would have the opportunity to see and visit one park [just one] outside of the uk and the Merlin circle. But the big question is, which park would it be?
Well it's definitely not Port Aventura for starters.
Nor is it Europa Park.
And it certainly is not Disneyland Paris either [more to come on that tagline later].
But the big question is, which theme park in Europe did I manage to visit this year?
The answer to that question is Tivoli World. But the big question, out of all the places to visit, why have I returned back to this average mundane park for?
The answer is this, every year my family and I rent a villa out in Spain and despite being home to exciting parks such as Port Av and, Warner and Terra Mitica [places I can only dream of seeing currently], the nearest of those is at least five hours away. This means the only theme park available within the surrounding area is this place.
So, having been about a year since my last visit to the park, has much changed at the park since my last visit? The answer to that unfortunately is no! However there have been some minor changes around the park.
The first thing to note is the Tokaido [powered] roller coaster which was closed last time I went,however was up and running again when I visited this time.
What did I think of it? I didn't, the ride is rubbish. It goes around the circuit 5.75 times, why 5.75? For some reason, the ride starts by going backwards and then eventually launches in the forwards direction. It goes through the circuit [properly] five times before passing it once more looking like it's going to do another lap, then suddenly it slows down, stops and then reverses bcd to the station. This ride never used to do this.
Surely getting five laps around is a good and generous thing? Not for me it isn't. Despite having similarities with Scorpion and Fish's layout, except the first helix is missing, the trains have a strange and uncomfortable design where riders sit in two's but one is in front of the other instead of beside meaning they push in to you during the sharp drops and turns. There's also no seat belts either 
. The ride is also very rattly and rough [no doubt due to it's age] where each lap passing on, the ride becomes more and more uncomfortable, infact by the end, I just wished the finish already.
Didn't like this one at all, gone off it in most ways. Makes Flying Fish look like Scorpion Express and Scorpion look like big thunder. Cleanse it with fire!
Next up was this ride, a sort of Vintage Cars style ride. TBH it didn't much as wasn't too interesting and the only good bit of the actual ride was around the half way point, where you get a half decent view of the surrounding western stage area.
Next up is the Twister [good name choice 
] and to consider this one of my park favourites and the first ride I [actually] enjoyed is quite concerning that this park isn't that good [it probably isn't].
Hang on a moment, I thought I was at Tivoli World not Disney. Oh Wait, it's another of those Disney knock off rides [sort of]. 
Despite not being the most amazing of dark rides [Hex,Duel,Mk1 bubble works], there is something I seem to really like about this ride [having done it 3 times during my visit]. I don't know whether it's because of the ride's general charm with basic but noticeable models, the catchy upbeat soundtrack outside or just the fact of wanting to see euro disney.
Moving on, and it's time to take flight on the park's [large] ferris wheel [they have three for some reason]. You can get some really nice views of the park [which isn't a very big place] and surrounding area.
Castillo Del Terror, quite possibly the worst ghost train I've ever been on. TBH nothing really works [anymore] and the few things that do seem to only happen after the cars actually passed. The most exciting part of the ride for me was actually when the car went outside of the warehouse building, which probably shows how poor this ride actually is, I've done ghost trains in fairgrounds better than this one.
Time for a short break whilst I have some ice cream.
OK, back on topic and hang on a moment, we've gone back, back too far! Actually this is the dinosaur walkthrough at the park, which is ok, very well themed [or at least it was when it was installed] but sadly like much of the park, it feels dated, worn and behind it's time.
Next up is the Montana Rusa [spanish for Roller Coaster which is an original name imo] which for once didn't have a [long] queue. Did enjoy this ride lot, it's a bit like one of those old cyclone style like the one at Clacton.
Time to for another [decent] ride, this time on the drop tower. Enjoyed this one a lot, a fair bit of drop time but still won't beat good old Detty.
Meanwhile next door, a green mesh fence has suddenly appeared. I wonder what's going on here?
Looks like one it's rides has been stripped down in to pieces. This ride is a Top Spin [which I was hoping to finally ride], however it was closed last year as well so something major must be wrong with it.
Tivoli has some loverly gardens positioned in the park, and whilst they're perhaps seen better days, it's still a loverly place to see and walkthrough on each trip there.
The Show boat, this a funhouse style attraction where you walk around the boat featuring numerous obstacles and things plus a view outside. They also stage a pirates of the caribbean show here as well, which unfortunately just got boring after a little as it got repetitive.
What's that in the distance I wonder?
Ratonlandia, what's this?
A sort of walk through attraction which depicts living mice. Certainly quite a strange and random attraction to have at a theme park, but at least this bit is now open again [it was closed for several years for something].
Nightime, and now the park really comes to life and despite the saying everything looks better at night, this place truly glows.
Time for a Caroulsel ride you say? This was the best at the park [they have many [too many]].
They also sold some pin badges here too. This one however took the mickey 
The park just seems to come to life at park, sort of transforming from a rather mundane theme park to a magical place with life. There;s also plenty of show here as well including a circus show, which was quite funny and included a space theme plus traditional spanish flamenco with live musicians. This one was also very good.
Our last stop will be the Union Express, a railway diorama which was quite an interesting distraction.
http://i798.photobucket.com/albums/yy267/mattthemepark/DSCF2006_zps5a6391d6.jpg
http://i798.photobucket.com/albums/yy267/mattthemepark/DSCF2010_zpsc205d32c.jpg
And that marks the end of the trip. So What did I think about it this time?
To be honest, it's much the same as last time, same rides, same settings and apart from the mouse walkthrough and that powered thing being reopen [which I guess you could say the park has gone forward a tad], nothing at the park has changed. It's certainly no Alton Towers, Thorpe or even Chessington, but somewhat has a nice feel at night with all the lights, shows and fountains going on and is a park I don't really go for the rides [which excluding a few are rather average]. I suppose this park is better than the uk ones in some ways, the late nightie hours and closing [which is 2am in summer], the many shows and features that were installed in the park in it's prime [now passed their best] exceed these, but it's still a park crying for some major updating.
I don't know if I'll be revisiting Tivoli again yet, [if I go away to the same place next year probably], but hopefully the next blog outside the Merlin circle won't be this one. I'd only recommend this park if you're staying in the Malaga area [considering the next nearest park is 3 hours away]. If you're going there for theme parks, you've probably chosen the wrong part of Spain.
Adios
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