When in Rome

[Mark9]

As is well known, Italy has seen a whack of investment in it's theme parks of late. Gardaland saw the first of what is turning out to be a very successful product for B&M and a new theme park opened up near Rome. Being the canny git that I am, decision was made to visit Italy with the intention of seeing what the country has to offer. Benin, Peep and a theme park worker who I won't name ( ) all set off last Friday with this in mind. Trip itenary belowDay 1 - Fly to Rome, Hire car and see the sightsDay 2 - Rainbow MagiclandDay 3 - Drive to RevennaDay 4 - MiribilandiaDay 5 - Miribiliandia in the morning, drive to VeronaDay 6 - Verona rest dayDay 7 - GardalandDay 8 - Drive to Venice, fly home.So to start us off, we flew into an Airport which is a bit of a challenge to say, Fumiccino. We'd hired out a car so we could see the sights. We'd gone for a Volkswagon Polo but we got something a little bit bigger...A Lancia Mazzia! Having never been on the opposite side of the road before and having only driven one car in my entire life, it was safe to say that as the driver.. I was pretty nervous. And with the Italian road drivers reputation, I'll admit how scared I was. Nonetheless, to the roads we went. Italians don't really run their cars in the same way. Whereas the atypical British driver will let you filter in and give way, Italians push and barge their cars into any nook and cranny they can. Road- markings are more of a guideline then the rule of the road as they cover two lanes, driving dead centre so you cannot over-take. It was very frightening and getting lost in the middle of Rome was no fun at all. Eventually we did find our delightful hotel. With crazy lifts.We headed into Rome quite quickly and the first real challenge was the heat. The temperature rocketed to a good 35 degrees every day which for us British people is rather hard to take. We walked through the blistering sun to the Metro station to take us to Colosseo. Unlike the London Underground, Romes system is rather more simplistic with just the A and B lines. So we get off the train, come out the station and BAMThe Colosseum hits you in all its ancient glory. It is well and truely a magnificent structure. Hard to belief it's been standing for all this time and is a testament to the Roman Empire. This was a recurring theme with the builings in Rome. They are on a scale we can barely conceive.. just take a glimpse of some of these piccies.We then headed over to the Vatican. It's truely massive. I was a little bit overwhelmed. The best part though? COSTUMED CHARACTERS! In all seriousness though, never seen a Monk before so yeah, very special.It was time to eat. I pretty much had Pizza and ice cream every day of the trip. Twas amazing.Amaazing. And with that, it was off home we went, early night and off to a place of joy...

[Mark9]

Day 2 - Rainbow MagiclandFor some reason, coaster forums haven't really taken to Rainbow Magicland and I don't really understand why. For all it's worth it is a park that is really attempting to be unique and different but also having a bit of Disney familarity at the same time. Entering the park is easy and rather cleverly the entire car park is covered, essentially keeping your cars out of the hot hot sun so when you return they are nice and cool.The parks mascot is Rainbow cat.. and his intentions are rather clear.Yes, they have an opening ceremony. I adore these, I really think it starts the day off so specially. After years and years of parks just opening the gates and letting you in, 2011 has really changed my perception of what parks are pushing the boundaries on guest expectations. Speaking of boundaries, some of the theming attempts at Magicland are absolutely sublime. Really top notch and on some levels, easily beats Islands of Adventure.RestrauntSo it was onto our first ride of the day, a Maurer Sohne launching X-Car called Shock. Now I've done a fair few number of these now (G-Force, Abismo and Hollywood Rip, Ride Rockit) to know that the concept is very good. And Shock gives off a very good start, launching up and over the pathways in a way that is very similar to the Incredible Hulk.The biggest shame was the queue because really it was just a bunch of cattle-pens behind the rides station. Luckily, we'd got to the park on time and we only queued 15 minutes. The start is shocking, if you excuse the pun. It's obvious that more was to happen at the start but budgets clearly got in the way. The car ambles back and forth in a rather bizarre kind of way before hittling the launch section and chucking you into a massive air-time hill that throws you and up and out of your seat. You dip downwards and up into something resembling a norweigan loop but not really one because instead of going in one way and out the other, you sort of do an over-complex banked turn before falling in the same direction. It lacks the punchiness of HRRR at Universal Studios. The next turn is crazy with the train taking a small banked turn at stupidly fast speeds. I'd be surprised if it wasn't tearing the cars apart actually. You go upwards into an MCBR before tumbling back to earth in an excellent inline twist and into the break run.An excellent ride for a new park to own from the word go. Shock - 8/10Next ride we came to was yet another Maurer, this time a spinning rollecoaster called Cagliostro. Now, I haven't a clue what the park was thinking when they built this because it doesn't utlise it's space in the slightest, the ride itself is so bad it hurts and the queueline is an absolute nightmare for an up and coming park. The outside theming continues the parks amazing theming levels to the empth degree. The cars themselves are ugly as sin. People have criticised all the Maurer spinners for lack of Winja esque theming but at least most spinners fit their respective rides relatively well. This doesn'y, an ugly shade of purple appearing briefly in the Italian sun for all to see before whisking back into the building.Once seated with three other adults (Chessington take note), the car takes you up a lift, outside and then back indoors where it meanders back and forth inside a large squarish building. It doesn't attempt to interact with anything or go high or low. It just wonders without a care in the world, barely spinning or challenging you beyond what it's already doing. You end up in the break run thinking, what the hell was that before a second lift hill actually takes you back up to the loading area. All a while you're wondering, is it a Maurer requirement to throw randomness at you in any direction they can think off. Cagliostro - 4/10Huntik is the next generation of shoot em up games. There is just no question that Huntik is a gem of a ride and makes full use of guns and 3D technology. The building the ride is housed in is amazing. It almost deserves to be cherished on that merit alone.Our only sadness was the Italian people had started to destroy the inside queue theming. Polystyrene lay all over the floor and parts of the wall painting was stripped bare. A real shame when you consider the park's effort in this attraction. I won't say much more about Huntik, it would give away the surprise. But to say it made Rainbow Magicland grow in our estimations.. is an understatement. Huntik - 9/10The rest of the park had some quite atypical rides such as Vekoma Dutchmans, Madhouses and a Flying Island that soared over Shock. But what struck all of us is how efficient which ride team seemed to be. A system we should adopt in our parks is a loading screen which lets a certain amount of people through a turnstile at a time. It looks like thisand allowed the staff to batch the rides effectively and with incredible precision. All three Italian parks adopt this system, keeping queues down to an absolute minimum. One thing that became quite clear is that the park was busy. The minimum we queued was 15 minutes for Shock at the beginning of the day. Nearly every other ride we queued 30 minutes for. The rapids ridfe, Drakkar, we queued 90 minutes for (As well as battling some queue-jumpers who just wouldn't get the message that they weren't getting through), a fairy dark ride we queued 50 minutes for and even the parks rollerskate was packing some heavy waiting times. No surprises either, the park was open from 10am to 11pm at night. To keep up the momentum the park seems to have already created, it needs to back up Shock with another solid, well designed rollercoaster. It could also work on its queueline shading as some, especially the rapids and the junior rollerskater, it was lacking. But all in all, we all agreed that Rainbow Magicland is a very fun, worthwhile attraction that is only just beginning its theme park journey. I will re-visit in a few years and see just where the park has gone. It's rare to visit a park in its first season.

[Benin]

Whilst I'm not adding a post of any substance now (that will happen tomorrow), I'm going to forewarn people that there will be LOTS of images in this topic... Especially of B&Ms... Cos they're sexy... <3

[NickD]

Thanks for the Pics Mark absolutely Brilliant

[Mark9]

Day 3 - Driving to Revanna.Having experienced nearly 12 hours of Rainbow goodness, the day consisted of driving over to Revenna for hotel number 2. As the driver, I couldn't photo much. SO I'm hoping Benin will be able to cover this part adequately. The photo I did take was after walking for what seemed hours to find McDonaldsThe drive itself tests every part of skill you can muster, driving up and round hills, through Italian revines and around epic mountains. All this while being menaced by Italian drivers. And the best part? The road we had chosen took us past Miribilandia with Katun and I-Speed goodness poking into the sky it certainly built up the excitement. Ravenna had epic food times where we had amazing Chip, Sausage and Ketchup pizzas and the most amazing Gelato I will ever have. So good. Day 4 - MiribilandiaThis park is probably the second most known park in Italy and it's a bit hard not to see why. The park really came to light when Katun opened in 2000. It was followed up in 2009 with I-Speed and both rides do very well in the Mitch Hawker poll with Katun at number 9 and I-Speed at number 10. I'll speak about these later in the report.In we go and to start, the new ride for 2011 was Master Thai, an Intalian made ride in which cars almost duel around a very small compact circuit. It's the kind of ride that has the best of intentions but probably isn't what the park expected. An intriguing thing is that the ride is a bit like Grand National at Blackpool. You start on one side and come back on the other side. You don't even have to get off, they just send you round again. Which was interesting. As a family rollercoaster it fits the bill well with only one real wet bit.The next two rides are very Chessington esque with one being essentially Rattlesnake and the other Runaway Train. Except both lacked that little magic. Explorer, the mine train clone is just awful. Yucky bucket type seats, a very slow ride, no theming and an exit line longer then the main queue. It was just abysmal. Pakal was a little better. Better throughput then Rattlesnake and very nice and fast. It's only flaw is that it took the last few corners with little to no braking and it hurts.The Rapids were very solid.. and came off much more favourably then Rainbow's purely because we didn't queue 90 minutes for it.. The Auto-Splash log flume less so. I dunno, a log flume really has to do a lot to impress me, especially after Splash Mountain and as wet as we got... it was just a bit weedy. We had a go on the other rides around park, watched the stunt show which after the language barrier, was far better then other parks equivalent. Lots of effects and things going on to distract. And funny as well.And now we hit I-Speed. This Intamin is relatively young and has some awesome things going for it. It's very well paced with the train maintaining a very fast speed throughout.. living up to its name. It's got an awesome lay-out which feels long and dangerous, taking you through really air time packed hills and brilliant inversions which take you by surprise even after your third go. It has an excellent throughput to. It was only running two trains when we went but the queue moved consistently. It seems to have the ability to run three trains for those extra busy days. And it looks the part to, the bright red top hat pointing into the sky, daring you to ride. But it has one flaw.The restraint system. It is ludicrous that after five/six years Intamin have not attempted to change their awful restraints on these rides. Rita wouldn't be that changed by new restraints because it's an awful ride anyway, but I-Speed is so utterly trashed by the restraints trying to behead its riders and it was the one time where I would have given I-Speed a 10 purely for its excellent pacing. But Intamin just do not have the ability to see it through. I've seen in Blue Fire that these launch rides can work with a simple OTSR system that doesn't restrain you at the neck. Especially as the two rides were built in the same year, it really lets I-Speed down. I wanted to give it a 10 but riding with a grimmace throughout the whole ride brings it down to a low 8 Such a shame. I-Speed - 8/10And finally Katun. It worked out to be my 100th rollercoaster and what a ride to hit the century on. The appearance of it is more akin to American B&M's. It sticks out over the rides entrance and you'd think it would lack the theme and cosnsitency of rides like Black Mamba and Nemesis. Not the case, Katun looks wonderful with its Stargate's wrapped around the lift and break run and its Aztec queueing area and station. The ride can run three trains but on our visit it only needed one. The queueing area can only hold about four trains worth of people anyway making some other queuelines look like monstrosities (Rita and Nemesis Inferno). The ride team would only send trains when they were completely full so on the quiet days it took a while for the first train to leave. But eventually it does and for our first ride we chose the back row. I'm so used to lift hills being short and breezy. Not the case with Katun as it works its way up the 164 foot lift hill. A short pre-drop lulls you before dropping majestically to the left. My god. The first drop is just amazing, a sheer wonder making the swooping drops of every other Inverter I've been on look crap. Somehow, there isn't much room for the pre-drop so the train sorts of ambles down, throwing its riders to the side and delivering some gorgeous air time. This is rare on Inverters and was so good. Reminded a lot of Superman de Acero in Madrid. The ride drops into the fairway into an excellent Vertical Loop, full of g force and out into a wonderful in-line twist. Normally in-lines are quite low to the ground, but not this one. The train rises a good 60/70 feet tempting you with its negative g's before throwing the train upside down and out. Beautiful. You drop back down, bank to the right before dropping even further down into a small cavern and up into a Cobra Roll. With Stuntfall, Dragon Challenge and Katun under my belt, I can safely say I prefer the inverted cobra rolls which have a little kick as you head upside down. Sit down rides just feel to slow in comparison. The ride drops out, into a MCBR which was working over time to keep the train at the right pace. Another pop of air time before two corkscrews, a rise and down into a ground hugging, forceful helix and into the break run. After my first ride I was a little taken back. Katun was quite unlike any other B&M inverter I've done, and I've certainly done quite a few these days. But Katun was something different, something special. We all came off quite taken aback. In some way's its the absolute polar opposite of Nemesis. Whereas Nemmy hugs the ground at relentless speed, Katun sticks out and knocks you aback with intense moments that come out of nowhere. It makes for an awesome comparison as both rides are seen as the best of their class and both rides compete for the highest position in coaster fans top tens. For me it narrowly beats Nemesis purely because everytime I rode Katun I came off feeling absolutely exhausted and blown away by the rides sheer quality. I only wish it was in the UK so that I could ride it every week. Katun - 10/10

[Benin]

Well after a rather epic week away, I’m back with tanned arms and tales to tell of B&M awesomeness, so why waste any time chatting when we can get down to business... Letsa go!Day 1 – Flight to RomeAn early 4am wake up call produced 4 tired heads as my Dad gave us a lift to Gatwick, where at check-in we were greeted with our first queue of the trip, which moved slowly and annoyingly as it got closer and closer to the flight time... After eventually bursting through into security, the unexperienced flyer amongst us didn’t know about the liquid/cream regulations in hand luggage, and provided even more faff and forced us to run to the plane once we eventually got through the checkpoint...A 2 hour flight later and some relatively simple passport control and baggage reclaim, we attempted our first conversation in Italian to get our hire car... It eventually worked, and we walked over to find our chariot for the week... Car achieved, we drove off to our hotel, encountering the craziness of the Italian road users... Indeed, signs and cars mean nothing to them, moving lanes and places without warning or anything, it’s mental and will really sharpen driver’s senses when you’re over there... Fortunately Mark was really up for this and whilst it took time to gain confidence, by the end of the week he was driving like a proper Italian... Another thing I discovered is that the roads in Italy are really confusing, two different exits for one junction on the motorway, the road names were hidden away in the traffic lights and could only have a worse font if they had used Comic Sans... We got lost practically every drive on this trip, so advice here is a Sat-Nav... Get one...Regardless, we (eventually) found the hidden hotel, and after some chillage we walked to the Metro station nearby to begin the trip proper, with some sight-seeing in the rather beautiful Rome... And after a quick journey in the lovely airy trains, we were greeted by this...Absolutely stunning, this really epitomises Rome in itself, brilliantly sized buildings that might be in ruin, but are still amazing to look at and wonder about how they were actually built... Quite a cool thing was that in the Forums they were openly doing digging and other work, which was interesting to watch and provided some real care to the history of the place... Tbh, I could probably fill an entire page of posts of Rome alone, the place is THAT nice to photograph... So many buildings to look at is just amazing...

[Benin]

The great thing about all these buildings is that they’re all on one street as well, so you only have to point in a direction and walk and be amazed... I cannot get over how nice Rome is... Especially when Gelato is involved... So delicious... Even if it melted quicker than I could eat the thing... It was so bloody hot all week, even up to levels of unbearableness at some points, but we survived at least...Back to the buildings... Hints to the next day were abound as after a bit more wandering we decided to make use of our 4 euro Metro ticket and head over to the Vatican... Another really nice area, and because it wasn’t too busy when we went it was rather peaceful and enjoyable to just sit and enjoy the sights... Whilst I refuse personally to pay to enter a place of faith (especially one of my own), it would maybe have been nice to see the Chapel, but due to time constraints was never going to happen... All the more reason to return really... When the evil looking monk appeared we thought it would be a good time to go and headed off to find some food... In Italy you have to really search if you don’t want pizza or pasta, so if you don’t like those, don’t bother going over there... EVERYWHERE does it... And often in large sizes... And to complete this part, is John and his tumour pizza (a Calzone)...Next up to Rainbow (RAINBOW) Magicland...

[AdamY]

Good to see you guys had fun! I agree with both of you about Rome, I really love it there. The combination of blistering heat and endless walking on painful cobbled streets really took it out of me though after about 3/4 days. I really like how there's something interesting up every little side street, be it another little ruin, or a pizza joint Some of my favourite places were the Spanish Steps & Trevi Fountain, and the massive ancient garden I can no longer remember the name of, did you visit either of those?On the theme park front, Rainbow Magicland just seems so hit and miss to me - some bits of it look world-beating, but others are pretty shocking (excuse the pun). It's weird. Huntix looks brilliant though.And Katun... Yeah, 'nuff said. I've always thought it looks great, I'd love to get on it some day. I agree on the inverted cobra roll beating the seated version, it's so much better. I've only done five Inverts, but I think Katun is top of my next-to-do list.

[AstroDan]

Some great shots of Katun and the parks. I am interested to know how Katun compares with the likes of Monster and/or Raptor and Montu. Both Monster and Montu were very intense I found, but the lack of terrain action left me rating Nemesis slightly above each.Katun is the only B&M Invert that ever gets close to Nemesis on the Hawker poll (most recently, Nemesis at #5, Katun #9). Mirabilandia is the only park with two coasters in the Top Ten mind you...! iSpeed is #10 (although this seems to directly reflect that TPR visited and all loved it, so it immediately gets loads more votes).As I said on TTF (notice you posted some pics on there, too!) - I don't understand why I have never bothered with Italy or the Italian parks. I am a seasoned traveller, did a French degree and lived in Strasbourg (near EP) for a year... but Italy has never drawn me in. Don't quite know why... I have done Spain, France, Belgium Holland, Germany etc. but still not ventured into Italy!! I ought to, really.

[Benin]

Katun is MILES better than Raptor (CP) and Montu... There is NO comparison... It IS awesome... etc...Though more on that later Have something to tide us over...Day 2 – Rainbow MagiclandEver since I first found out about Rainbow I’ve followed the construction with interest and a hint of desire, indeed, solely based from the concept art it looked like a brilliant park with grand theming and some good rides to start with, even if it the rides weren’t themselves world class from look, why put all your eggs in one basket and risk closure (looking at YOU Hard Rock Park)...Indeed, a small minority seem to feel like this park won’t work for whatever reason and think it will be brought out by a larger company in the future...I say that’s wrong, from spending 12 hours at the park (10-11 opening times) and seeing that it was well and truly packed on a Saturday, if they can keep up these gate figures and merch sales, I see no reason for it to fail...So what about the day? Well after a hour long drive from Rome along a rather dull and boring road (we didn’t use the tolls, so perhaps those routes would be easier/quicker/nicer) and straight away your eyes are drawn towards Shock, and remain so throughout the shaded parking, ticket booths and turnstiles all the way along... If anything, Shock (and a few other buildings and rides) is a brilliant focal point to the park...After getting in and walking down the Main Street it’s really obvious what park the Rainbow company were inspired by, see if you can guess from the pictures...That’s right, it’s Islands of Adventure... But if you’re gonna rip-off a park, you might as well do a good one right? And besides, whilst it holds similarities between the two parks, they are different enough to provide completely different experiences, mainly as Rainbow has a much wider pathway to accommodate the crowds it does (and will in the future) get...At the end of the pathway, we were greeted by the park’s mascot and an awesome little dance number welcoming us all into the park...I love it when park’s do this... It makes it much more of an event rather than just opening gates and letting people run off into various directions, it really gets people pumped for the day and needs to be something that the UK parks need to look at a bit more...Show over, and the attention turned back to the big red number staring us in the face, time for the first coaster of the trip...ShockThis was only really my second Maurer X-Car coaster, and since the only other one was G-Force at Drayton, Shock didn’t really have to do a lot to make me list it higher... Whilst the nice entrance belies the unthemed queue and station, 15 minutes wait for not to be ignored on it, with a potential 5/6 cars being able to go onto the track, hopefully in the future the park will use all of them if they need be...Once off, the ride goes off for a meander around the grass in front of the station, possibly the first example of the time and budget cuts Rainbow suffered in order to open the park on time, hopefully the future will hold something interesting to go in here, otherwise it’s quite a pointless piece of track and a waste of money and steel... Then the launch happens and you forget straight away about the pointlessness... I discovered earlier in the year on Fluch von Novgorod how good rolling launches are, and Shock was no exception, the sudden acceleration hitting quickly as you reach the crest of the massive airtime hill, lifting away from the car before back down into the rather strangely designed non-inverting loop, keeping it’s speed well whilst exiting into the tiny overbanked turn, arguably the best part of the ride, purely based on the speed it takes it at... So fast it could easily cause issues in the future, but damn it’s worth breaking the cars for it...Lifting back up into the MCBR before a long sweeping 360 helix into the inline before hitting the brakes and providing a short and sweet kick to the morning...It’s a rather simple ride and layout, and certainly is short but sweet... Some parts are lacking with the station, queue and pre-launch, but maybe the future will provide these little things to make it a more complete ride... 8/10After a good start to the day we elected to walk towards the park’s second biggest coaster and the only indoor one, the Maurer Spinning coaster...CagliostroThe very impressive Impressionist style building sets a very high standard for the ride, although the completely external queueline manned constantly by a security guard is a right shame... After about 20 minutes though, we were walking straight onto our purple car and quickly off up the lift hill, popping quickly outside before the inky blackness of the massive building again...Here in lies the ride’s problem, why have such a massive ditch AND building, when most of it won’t be used? The layout in outside is rather small and compact, and really doesn’t do anything of any worth or value... Indeed, when you’re finale is a lift hill to the station, you know something’s up... I have heard that there is meant to be things inside, but it would need a lot of these to make it worthwhile... 4/10Another short walk led us to our next ride, and one I was looking forward to the most, the dark ride known as...HuntikOnce again this park produces a brilliant building to house something in, a recurring theme throughout the place, but Huntik is something extraordinary, with the massive Ox and Crocodile statues guarding the ride’s entrance, a sense of awe and wonder already sets in before the queue even begins...Inside, it’s like Laser Raiders at Legoland, a massive load of cattlepens in a single room, UNLIKE Raiders though, it is wonderfully themed, with artwork, ruins and tv screens explaining the show and ride perfectly... Yes this is an IP ride, but is certainly proof that these things can work when you have the full support and effort put into it... Whilst this may have caused other parts of the park to suffer, it’s so worthwhile in the end product...Not going to go into details because that would spoil the surprise, but needless to say, the stream of effects, animatronics, 3d and the interactive element work together seamlessly to create a world class ride right up there with Spiderman at IOA...The only issue is the vandalism already caused on it by the guests... But as that’s not the park’s fault itself, I see no issue in it gaining full marks on a ride that has so much going on that to get it as near perfect as it is now (it does have minor faults which are most definitely first year issues), is an amazing thing...10/10Minds blown, it was time for the 3rd coaster of the day, the Vekoma Mine Train...L’Olandese VolanteHaving never done another other version of these outside of Disney, I was curious as to how it would ride... The answer was awful... How a brand new ride can rattle THAT much was beyond comprehension, it was rougher than some SLCs that I’ve experienced, which is certainly something for a Mine Train...Add that to the distinct lack of theming aside from the relatively cool volcano thing, it was certainly nothing worth writing home about... Maybe another victim of the budget cuts...4/10Another walk past the high diving show on the lake (which we briefly watched end, it looked cool what with jet skies and other elements) led us to the rather multi-coloured Drop Tower...MystikaThis is a weird tower and no mistake... Not sure who makes it, but I can certainly say it rides a lot better than it looks... Loading and dispatch is James May slow, and whilst it brakes early, it helps remove a common problem amongst taller drop towers, in that it loses the thrill midway through the actual ride...Good amount of theming on it as well, especially the garden centre queueline... Very enjoyable in my view... Lots of happy faces means it works well, and it probably the third best ride at the park...7/10

[Benin]

After this we elected to buy some ice creams/lollies from the nearby shop and sat on the opposite side of the lake from the entrance, before deciding on braving the rather pink children’s area for the kid’s coasters... Firstly was...AmerigoIt’s a Big Apple... Without the apple, or multiple circuits... Even for those, it was turdio...3/10Recently the park opened up it’s final ride, so we went to experience it...Maison HoudiniUnfortunately, this had a boring and long queue... Constant cattlepens in front of the house meant entertainment was short, so much we resorted to Marvel Top Trumps (old school version) just to keep going... It also seems to have a throughput issue in that the ride holds more than the pre-shows can, which is really bloody confusing to me...That said, the pre and post shows were rather cool, the pre-show especially, even if the language barrier causes some issues, similarly on the ride itself, but it does enough different compared to other versions for me to like it... Though the music doesn’t build up to the ending, and a few other niggles, it’s not the worst but not the best...6/10Hunger had set in after the burdenous queue, so we headed off to find something to eat, eventually choosing the simple fast-food place near the Flying Island...All this effort for just a restaurant... I really love the park for this, making sure the effect isn’t lost in the long run... And as each one had it’s own personality it never felt forced or contrived... So good...Back to the kid’s area we went, for the final dark ride of the day...BelievixRainbow’s attempt at Peter Pan used the Winx Club IP, which I think is quite popular amongst the girl population over here, and evidently in Italy, as this had 50 minute queue to endure outside some fake trees...The ride itself only allows two adults, which isn’t to the ride’s audience an issue, as it’s a family ride, and also makes very little sense... I think as well many of the models inside were meant to be animated, rather than static, but at least it’s better than Charlie... Shame it lacked a narrative...5/10And then the final coaster of the day, the Vekoma Junior...BomborunI liked the trains on Ben 10, so I was surprised that they are to be found on all new ones it seems... Already a good point on what is essentially an average ride... Another IP but barely any theming on this... A shame that the park constantly contrasts so much between things...Still, enjoyable ride...6/10

[Benin]

All major rides bar the water ones done, we hit up the Main Street quickly to browse, as well as photo Shock as it is such a photogenic ride (and it wouldn’t be the last one)...Time for some Rapids then...Drakkar90 minutes I’ll never get back... An awful queue of just constant cattlepens which lead onto the WORST loading procedure for a Rapids ever... Since the dawn of time they have used rotating platforms, so why Rainbow thought they didn’t need one I have no idea, loading 2 at a time and unloading 1 is bad enough, but when the boat coming off the lift literally crashes into stationary boats and causes people to fall, there’s a real issue there...However, the ride made up for itself quite well, with plenty of effects and drops getting us sufficiently wet to enjoy it all... The tunnel finale was very much an anti-climax, again can only hope something (like a Dragon perhaps as inclined towards in the ride’s name) gets added in there... Hell even some fountains would do...Whilst the queue didn’t mar my enjoyment, I’ve marked it down for the poor use of the cave (even Excalibur’s had moving things originally) and the stupid loading/unloading... The ride itself is awesome though...7/10After that long queue of doom, we lost a lot of time, so elected for dinner first before more rides, and I had my first piece of pasta on the trip, Penne... Was good...Then it was decided we would do Huntik again, but as we reached the front of the queue, it broke... DISASTER! However a natter with a ride staff who was brilliant (told us why it was broken, how long it could be in English, and tried as hard as he could which I thought was good to see), gave us 30 minutes to find something to do... Shock was packed so we elected to do the shopping then and return... But not before taking lots of night photos...Straight on through the exit, and once again it showed off, such an amazing ride and is a real gem in Rainbow’s crown of rides...After getting an on-ride, we headed home on the dangerous roads, leaving the fireworks behind and able to muse about the park itself...It has a lot of potential, and whilst some parts seemed to have suffered to ensure other rides are a classy as possible and working, I feel that the park will solve these issues as soon as possible in the future, and hopefully expand to have more transport links, hotels and rides... As it does lack a quality high throughput coaster here... Maybe a B&M? Italy does those well...Next up, Driving to Ravenna...

[Benin]

Day 3 – Driving to RavennaSo after 12 hours of a busy Magicland we needed to begin our trek across the country north towards our next destination and park, so leaving at 12 with car packed up we began the 5 hour journey towards Ravenna...The first half was pretty uneventful, as the roads were empty and as signs for cities were more regular than Magicland’s, we were able to keep track much more simply... After about 2 and a half hours, we reached Perugia, which was elected as our stop-off point...We were all rather hungry, so the search for food began down a long and winding hill, where we eventually arrived at...Yep, it was time for Italian McDonalds, whilst not too different from our own versions, it’s always nice to have a bit of familiarity in your food, as well as some differences...Pistachio McFlurry looked VILE...We trekked back up the hill to our car and began the second half of the journey, where I decided to actually take photos this time...Along our way, we were diverted off the dual carriageway onto the most mountainous road I have ever experienced in a car... It made the route to Towers look flat, and was as beautiful as it was nerve-wracking... We did realise then why so many drivers come to Italy to just drive around, because it’s such a nice countryside and can be extremely relaxing...Eventually we arrived at Ravenna, but not before we got some glimpses of what awaited us on the next day...

[Mark9]

As I said on TTF (notice you posted some pics on there, too!) - I don't understand why I have never bothered with Italy or the Italian parks. I am a seasoned traveller, did a French degree and lived in Strasbourg (near EP) for a year... but Italy has never drawn me in. Don't quite know why... I have done Spain, France, Belgium Holland, Germany etc. but still not ventured into Italy!! I ought to, really.

To be honest thats quite understandable; even though we like all kinds of rides as enthusiasts, there needs to be that starting hook to really get you in the mood to pay a lot of money to do something. Before this year, there was only really Katun and as awesome as that ride is, the cost to do it would not have made the trip worthwhile. With a second B&M and a brand new park, it suddenly become far more worthwhile then just visiting Europa Park again (As much as I love Europa.. even that needs a break sometimes)And with that being said, the next part of the trip. So we had a few more hours in Miribilandia, a quieter day for the park where we found out some rides open up to 2 hours after parks official opening time. Case in example, Reset. Now Reset, is awesomely themed and has its own little area tucked about behind a Depth Charge clone. But it has a major problem in its execution in that the ride story is not made explicit in the ride. Now, even if the story was shouted at us in Italian we would have been no closer to understanding it.. but it wasn't. The queue line videos seemed to imply something with a scientist but we didn't queue, so you miss it. The ride makes no effort with tales of death and destruction. That and the shed is so obvious. Reset - 5/10With Reset done, we had lunch and left the park. The temperature was now at a soaring 39 degrees so I picked up a coffee, we aired out the car and off to Verona we went. The drive was pretty good, despite taking a long detour around Ferrara. Eventually we did find out way and ended up in a rather lovely studentesque hotel room with a balcony. A trip to the shops were had where we stocked up on Kinder goodies, Milka bars, cheese and all those all important beers for me. After a week of sobriety it was time to relax. Long coaster discussions were had overlooking Verona. One of the best parts about being a coaster enthusiast is that it isn't just a geeky hobby we do on the internet, it introduces us to new viewpoints, new people and builds bridges across forums. We're lucky to have a fandom that just loves to have fun whether it be being bashed in the head by a Vekoma SLC, or being inverted beautifully on a B&M wing-rider. After attacking Benin in the night with a Miribilandia duck, we slept and used the next day to rest our feet and chill out whilst watching Total Wipeout and X-Men. We took a trip into Verona the next day to see Juliets windowsill and to try and sneak into the George Micheal concert, to no avail. And then it was sleepy times and ready for the final park, The Merlin wonder that is Gardaland.

[Mark9]

Gardaland - The Merlin wonderAfter another morning of getting hopelessly lost, we finally arrived at Gardaland with time to spare. With paying for parking done our first moment of intrigue was not being directed where to park. It was a free for all so I chose near the entrance. From the moment you hit the park there is the sense that this is a sort of prized possession with Merlin. With Alton Towers you get greeted by people trying to sell you photo passes and drink capsules and fastback. At Gardaland you get treated to a show with the parks mascot dancing with some dressed up females.With confetti exploded and the Italian national anthemn played, you're let into the park and it was without a shadow of a doubt which ride we would go to first... and of course the only ride people will really care about as I saw when I entered TPM chat on Friday evening.As you may be aware, Thorpe is getting one next year. With Raptor looking so gorgeous during construction, it became the main reason for the trip, the reason we left Gardaland till last. And so, the first thing you really see of Raptor is the Jurassic Park like fences that try and keep you out. It creates the excellent effect that this really is a caged animal trying to keep you out. Of course, curiosity gets the better and you enter the area. It is just incredible how small and compact the ride area actually is. It looks massive in pictures but actually it zooms back and forth, covering the same area. The only part that leaves the plaza is the first trip and its return over the rides entrance.The queue line is very similar to Saw efforts with barbed wire over the top of chain metal fences. Whereas I always find it a joke at Thorpe, it becomes menacing when you couple it together with Raptors concrete bunker. Loading is very effective with 14 people sent to each side of the station to board the train. It is so easy to get front row on Raptor due to their being no front way queue. I got on it three of my eight rides.Seating is atypical B&M. Seats are comfortable and the restraints are remincisent of Air but slightly different. The jacket that moulds itself around you can become quite tight during the ride, but that is the only flaw with it. It's very strange riding at the same level at the track, particularly as it feels like you could just touch it. You're let off to the sounds of a Raptor roaring, round the corner and up a speedy lift hill. It's very short actually, getting you up in half the time of a normal inverter. The back seats get the wonderful air-time, its in bucket loads on the first drop, whilst the sensation of speed is amazing on the front. Some vibration can be felt in the centre of the train as it turns back on itself and curls into a corkscrew. Some of the supports get so close to the train you can almost feel your feet being taken off.A small air-time hill takes you over the rides entrance plaza, a trim tries to slow the train down to any barely effect before the train helixes over a pond with water effects taking on the right hand side riders. These effects are excellently executed, each one sending a small trickle onto its riders. It always get you by surprise to. The ride eventually enters its swan song by doing an elongated inline twist through some supports, a tree and a small cage to capture the creature. Unfortunately for me these near misses didn't really do anything for me. But the inline twist was absolutely gorgeous. Think Colossus's hang time but take out the pain and add in glorious sensation as you meet with the top of the restraint in an aerial move that is slowly performed but brilliantly executed. Definitly a round of applause moment for a very daring ride. There's a very good reason why the B&M wing-rider has sold four in two seasons whereas the lone Furious Baco continues to attempt mass murder on Port Aventura visitors. Raptor is sheer quality from start to finish and Merlin have done an admirable job and definitely their best large roller coaster to date. There are obvious limitations with the wing-rider, it can't perform its aerial dogfight at fast speeds and it certainly needs near misses and obstacles to maximise the ride position. It also doesn't help that Gardaland have hit every target with a bullseye when building Raptor. It looks the part, it sounds the part and more importantly, It rides the part. It will be interesting to see whether Swarm, Wild Eagle and X-Flight will be able to deliver as satisfying an experience as Raptor has proven to do.Raptor - 8/10I shall cover the rest of Gardaland later.

[AdamY]

Raptor does look bloody gorgeous. I love the look of the swamp, it's very atmospheric. And I know everyone is tired of me saying this but that train... In your pic of it in the corkscrew where you can't see the gaps, it actually looks like one long reptilian scaly beast

[Benin]

Day 4 – MirabilandiaSo after an entire night of being excited about Katun it was time to head over to the park, however, on the way there, the Italian Rozzers pulled us over to do one of their random checks... This seems to happen a lot and nothing was wrong, but you still can’t help feeling awkward and worried...Check over, we were set on our merry way down the road and getting closer and closer to the park, and then, we were there...After a short while the turnstiles opened to the sound of Queen... Or at least, Mira’s cover of “We Will Rock You”, certainly got us pumped for the day and worked nicely with the walk into the park...Of course, there was only one ride we were going to ride first...KatunSometimes you come across a ride that doesn’t get as much attention as it deserves... Katun is certainly top of that list, even though it appears in Mitch Hawker’s top 10, very few enthusiasts talk about it in the same way as say Nemesis and a few of the more well known rides... Even the park doesn’t seem to go on about it, feeling rather modest about it’s existence and how good it is...The ride is all Aztec themed and is really nicely done, with the lift dominating the nearby area for all to see... We headed straight for the back row and once the train was filled to the fullest, we were off up the lift hill...What followed was quite simply the best inverted first drop I have ever encountered... It truly was remarkable how the turn just whipped the entire train out to the right as it dived right towards the ground and the massive loop... This part alone just made the ride awesome, and the rest of the ride needed to keep this up...It does... The inline that followed was taken perfectly, as was the brilliantly designed turn into the Cobra Roll and the helix that followed... This was built in 2000, so was definitely built at the right time, just before B&M started going more ‘safe’, but the way the ride is designed is perfect... Even the MCBR doesn’t make it lose speed, and the two corkscrews and finale helix make the ride THE complete package, and sent it soaring up to number 2 on my top 10, just narrowly behind Nemesis...They are similar, yet opposite sides of the spectrum... But Katun deserves more recognition, as it is just as good as Nemesis if not (in some circles) better than it... Completely different rides, yet just as good as each other... Damn perfect ride, just only thing missing is an amazing soundtrack to go with it...10/10A second go on Katun later and we decided to hit up some other coasters just in case the park got busy, so it was time to experience the dodgy Chessington clones section of the park, starting with...ExplorerRunaway Train but without the theming and a rather strange train design for what is really a Mack... Plus the exit is actually longer than the actual queue... It made little sense and wasn’t particularly good ride experience... Distinctly average and the way in which it slowed down mid-way through the second lap was just pointless... Give me Chessie anyday for this...4/10PakalThis strange Rattlesnake clone was again a lesser themed cousin of Chessie... However, a slightly different layout and smoothness in the first section made it rather enjoyable... The lack of brakes in the second half however made the ride become rough and generally insane... A rather interesting ride but it serves a much better role than it’s English cousin, especially with better throughput and ride in direct comparison, although better theming would make it really good...6/10After this, we headed towards the new coaster...Max Adventures - Master ThaiThis family mobius coaster had suffered some delays with construction from Preston, and it certainly shows in the ride portion, as the excellent entrance and station theming doesn’t extend all the way through to the ride itself... It’s also a rather weird ride as you get to do both sides without getting off, which is a plus as you don’t have to get off and queue again, but it also makes the ride itself seem a bit weird and paceless...Either way, the ride itself is cool, you can see the ideas behind it were sound, as the racing/duelling aspect does work even if out of sync, and it has a lot of speed and airtime on what looks like a rather meh ride... If it had better theming it would be a solid family ride but it’s certainly different and enjoyable...6/10After the Drakkar incident from Rainbow we elected to head towards the Rapids here a lot earlier than last time, so next up...Rio BravoSet alone on it’s own island, you see very little of these Rapids when off-ride, hence much is hidden away and becomes much more of a surprise when you ride it, and these were a surprise as they were rather good fun... Less themed than Drakkar but still very good fun, getting John wet as per the norm...8/10Wetness over, it was time for the smaller coasters of the park to take over, starting with...Family AdventureAt first I thought this was to be similar to Hansa’s Roland, but I was surprised to see it was just simply a larger version of Bomborun with older trains... Rode exactly like Bombo as well, just slightly longer and had a few head choppers throughout it... Was certainly a fun enough family coaster...6/10Lepretto ExpressThe vegetable patch themed coaster was a real surprise... Probably the best kiddie coaster I’ve ever been on as it was full of airtime and had a good amount of forces and drops for what it was... Completely threw me off and was actually really enjoyable... 7/10After that, we realised that the Stunt Show was about to begin, so we headed in, grabbed a Cornetto and watched it... Police Stunt ShowThe beginning of this was rather bland, full of boring slow language based sections that to me aren’t always great on an International scale, hence why Moteurs Action is poor in my eyes yet Asterix’s stunt show was epic...However, once stuff started happening, it was pretty epic, and deserves some points for that alone... Plus it had a CHOPPAAAAAAAAAAAA!7/10

[Benin]

After the show, it was time to continue the car theme and head over to the park’s 2nd big coaster...iSpeedApple naming rights aside, iSpeed has a well done atmosphere around it even though you can’t see most of the ride from the outside or the queue... But what you do see is the trains dashing around madly refusing to lose pace at any point in the ride...After a dull shaded queue, we reached the station and this is when I realised this was not a hydraulic launch, but rather LSMs, making it a lot more like Maverick than I thought it would be...After a quick speil the launch happens, and boy is it fast... No wonder Intamin thought the hydraulic launch was a bit poor now, fast and powerful and barely needs the same amount of space as the others... The top hat provided a great dose of airtime as did the hill afterwards, even with the trims attached onto it...The rest of the ride is a complete blur, with twists, turns, loops and dives coming at you thick and fast... It’s amazing how it keeps the speed on it throughout the entire course all the way to the random MCBR above the station... Also random was how the final turn swooped up into about 2 feet of brakes which then went down into MORE brakes... Why did THAT happen?However, as great as the ride and layout is, there is one major issue... And just like Maverick, it’s the restraint system... Intamins just do not agree with my neck and corners with their OTSRs, and iSpeed was no exception... If they could fix this issue this (and Maverick) would make it into my top 10 no question, but because I need to constantly brace myself in order to enjoy it fully, it loses marks for that... A real shame that it’s so easily ruined...9/10On our way to the next attraction, we discovered a ride which perked our interest so much we had to experience it...Crazy HouseMost random experience on a flat ride for a while... Spinning, talking and random effects are the order of the day here, and it was worth it just for the sheer randomness it produced... Great fun and I think more parks should have these... Could be easily modified into some rather interesting concepts and themes...8/10Distraction aside, it was time to head towards the only dark ride of the park...ResetReset is so far away from the rest of the park it’s unbelievable, indeed, it could easily be classed as a car park dark ride as it’s closer to that than the park itself... It does and doesn’t work with the theme, as the apocalyptic theme works as you wander further away from the hustle and bustle (with some great music Swarm needs to be inspired by) but it’s just so out of the way it didn’t have much of a people atmosphere, which at a theme park is sometimes needed...However, into the dark corridors we went and straight onto the ride, where the weird shooting system annoyed me as well as the lack of story... It is apparently explained in tv form in the queue, but as one didn’t exist, we knew not why the world had ended, or what we were meant to be doing... Even a Portal Personality Core couldn’t help matters... Probably not helped by Huntik’s awesomeness two days before, but it just didn’t seem to have a really engaging narrative and seemed even more mish-mashy than Duel... Just didn’t enjoy it as well as I thought I would...6/10Walking back from Reset, we noticed that Depth Charge’s clone had no queue, so we went on...Blu RiverIt’s Depth Charge, only you can’t ride by yourself... And I lost my hat on it into the channel, however, this did work in my favour as a soaked through hat was bloody amazing in the hot weather...6/10We then did iSpeed again where we met the wonderful FABio ride op, who ensured that idiots trying to jump into the shorter normal queue from the longer front row queue were sent to the back, always like seeing staff do their job effectively even on empty days... Well done...After bracing myself, it was time for some more water ride action...AutoSplashAn unique Log Flume theme here which perhaps could have a lot more going on for it... With only two drops and a random tunnel between them it’s definitely not the best version of it’s type, especially as it suffers from the first drop being wetter than the final drop, and the tunnel actually has absolutely nothing in it... But still the water was well received in the heat...6/10

[Benin]

Major rides done, we decided it would be nice to relax and hence walked around for a bit before deciding the ride the Monorail...MonorailRather airy trains and gives some nice views of iSpeed and the rest of the park, however, we did sit on the wrong side of the train so missed most of these... And the fact it’s at the back of the park and doesn’t stop again to me makes little sense or point... Oh well, it was an air conditioned sit down...We decided to grab a bite to eat to keep going, and enjoyed a terrace meal on the lake, feeding sparrows and wondering why loud noises were coming from the opposite side of us... So we headed over to investigate...MonosaurusThis dinosaur themed monorail ride is SO stupid... Go around, look at stationary models, have a long walk through the exit... It makes Legoland’s SkyRider look good... The models were entertaining but only due to the stupid poses they were in... Silly ride...3/10More faff ensued before we elected on heading towards the flight themed area (me neither) of the park...ColumbiaThese two S&S Towers are quite a landmark for the park personally, and appear a lot in images and posters... However as the Drop side (Discovery) was long, we went on the shot tower instead... And like every other S&S tower, it was exactly the same ride experience... Good, but nothing special...7/10All other rides finished, it was time to photograph and ride Katun, getting 3 more in and lots of pretty pictures... Mirabilandia is a very good park in the end, with two class coasters and a solid back-up of rides... Whilst it has no themed areas as such, the theming the park has works very well, and the chart music works a lot better in this respect as it’s rather background and a good mix of listenable things... Complete opposite of Thorpe’s singular genre choice really...I enjoyed the park, and can only wonder why people don’t mention Katun as much as they should...

[Benin]

Day 5 – More Mira and Driving to VeronaSo Mirabilandia do a rather epic deal atm, you get 2 days worth for the price of one, even if you really have to commit to it but getting a wristband, wearing it through the night and bringing it in the next day... But we did it for more Katuny goodness...Two more rides on Katun (including front row which had spited us the day before) followed a walk towards iSpeed and extended faff times in the arcade (Terminator 3 pinball ftw)... None of my opinions had changed on these 2 rides, but there was one new ride for the day...DeliriumHonestly, I have no idea what ride type this is or the manufacturer... The easiest way to describe it would be a massive tilted flying jumbos like ride... You could control your height (and get similarly high amounts of airtime) and the tilting aspect of the central arm provided an interesting experience... A bit uncomfortable on the seating but was still a good bit of fun...6/10After this we headed off to Reset to see if it was any better, and it wasn’t really... Oh well...So one last ride on Katun was to be done before some lunch and the trip up to Verona... Which one again involved a massive detour, I really disliked the directions and road-signs... Maybe next time a Sat-Nav can happen... But we eventually got there and were greeted by the strangest hotel on the trip...Indeed, it was probably preparing me for uni once more, as it had more in common with halls than a hotel, with 6 rooms including a massive upstairs empty room, a kitchen (lacking oven) and just essentially everything needed to live... It was quite cool, and it’s balcony was put to great use after a quick trip to the supermarket (and me and John’s long search for a Lidl)... Chat about rides and life happened amongst the drinking... I was later attacked by Mirabilandia duck, which kinda says it all really...

[Mark9]

[Mark9]

The rest of GardalandThere is only one issue with Raptor at the park. It highlights just how awful the rest of the park is if I'm honest. Raptor, from a ride stand point, is absolutely perfect. It has the theme, the ride experience, the whole ambience that would make it fit right into Europa Park. The rest of the park just doesn't and it is hard to believe that a year previously would have seen an SLC and a Vekoma looping coaster as the main line up. A good example of a park that attracts an audience purely through location alone.So to carry on the theme, lets start with the SLC called Blue Tornado. Despite all the Beemers and Maurers I've had the pleasure of riding, I'd never been on an SLC before. Sure, I've heard about the pain and the headaches and the bad restraints. Nothing can quite prepare you for what is about to come. So the positives? It keeps its speed very well, its farely compact and it does give a good range of inversions in quite a restrained footprint. It also looks rather pretty.The negatives? Well it wasn't as painful as I thought it would be but it lacks the punchiness of a B&M inverter. My experience wasn't as negative as I thought it could be. But as a star ride to a well known park? Not a chance. Blue Tornado - 5/10Right next door is a Vekoma Mine-Train named Mammut. It was okay, the queue moved very quickly because of two trains being loaded swiftly and it was themed quite well. No where near the standard of a Thunder Mountain or Colorado Adventure but suitably enough. And only a little bit of roughness. Probably the parks second best rollercoaster. Mammut - 6/10The Rapids were again another highlight, themed incredibly well as a lot of the ride takes place in a Volcano with suitable lava effects. I do get on well with a rapids that gets you wet via the ride and not water jets on the side of the trough. And this scored plenty. Was very well themed, very fun and very welcome on a 35 degree day. Jungle Rapids - 8/10A major dissappointment was Fuga Da Atlantide in which you start of well and then drift aimlessly for a while before repeating the same trick and drifting again. I didn't even know this ride existed before the trip so it was a surprise. Even with that it still failed to impress. The main issue with it was the lack of story. It hits you straight away with a fantastic, air-time filled drop and then you just float along for a few minutes. Theming is of AMAZING standard, seriously up to Europa and Disney but because there's nothing to grab your attention you just lose all interest. The ride repeats the same first drop and then its back to drifting back to the station. Such a shame because at its core is a decent ride. It just has no cap in its feather, no finale. Fuga Da Atlantide - 3/10So off round the park we go and gasp, whats this we spot?YAY PIRATES, JUST WHAT EVERY PARK NEEDS. Hidden below the ground of Gardaland is an amazing dark ride which I will only spoil if you read the next few paragraphs. Essentially, this part of the park is close to local houses and so the park have done a Nemesis and hidden a pirate themed dark ride below the surface. It's amazing that you really cannot see the joins, that is how well its hidden. Its a wonderful dark ride to with some great effects and a story thats accessible even if you dont know much Italian. Worth the fee and probably Gardalands second best ride. So off into the park you go and whats this round the corner?Yes, its the combination you never ever wanted to see, a Vekoma looper wrapped around a screaming squirrel. Somewhere, one day, the theme park gods were angry with Merlin. We chose Sequioa Adventure first.This thing is genuinely an actual joke and frankly ridiculous. For instance whilst they may have 5-6 cars on the track, only one can actually be killing its riders at a time. So you just sit in the station as your car moves forwards at a snails pace. First you pass your bag over and sit down. Then you move up a space. Then you move up another and your bar is locked. And then you move up another so you're about to leave. And then in what feels like the time it took for the Roman Empire to rise and fall, you're sent out into what can only be considered a torture device. The car ambles up the lift heads off and tips over the side taking you upside down. It's just ridiculous that this concept even got off the drawing board. It then flips back and as if to tease you, does the same trick again except decides to slow you down to Oblivion top of the drop pace. Swearing and screaming you eventually make it back upright over a small air time dip before tipping over again. The b.................ds decide to take your photo at this point as if its some kind of joke. Thankfully the ride only bothers to offend for three drops. You get off wondering if your brain deserves that much blood rush. You may need to sit down, you may need to call A+E, I dunno. Thank god this concept turned into the El Loco. I've never done it but anything must be better then this piece of crap. It's worth doing once and then avoiding for the rest of your life. *shudders* Sequioa Adventure - 2/10So remember queuing for that damn Squirrel. Well now its time for Fanta the ride. Oh its called Magic Mountain? I'd have never have guessed. Oblivion at least managed to keep its identity during its Fanta spew fest, Magic Mountain's fate is so much crueler. Fanta logos are over the supports, the ride structure, the trains, and all along both sides of the station. No wonder I wanted a fanta afterwards! I have to admit I rather liked Magic Mountain. But then anything would seem half decent after the S&S travesty. Magic Mountain had some good speed, inversions and a bit of much needed air-time. Not world clas by a long shot but not bad either. Magic Mountain - 6/10Two other notable rides was the log flume which managed to get us soaked in such a random place and the dark ride called Ramses in what would be Tomb Blaster if they had kept the rock and roll elements. Wasnt bad actually, very nice. Oh and of course the pervy wizard madhouse. God that was shocking...So to essentially conclude on Gardaland, without Raptor I don't think we would have thought of the park nearly as highly as we eventually did. There just seemed to lack a second star attraction or any noticeable back up attractions for the park. It's water rides were of high quality and its dark rides are of a high standard. But people expect these rides to be there anyway, its the coasters which mainly do the talking. And Gardaland wasn't saying much.

[AstroDan]

Really great pictures, and reviews. I definitely want to visit Mirabilandia sometime. Now to decide whether to go with Madrid or Italy for my next "new" European break. It'll be a while yet, mind - with Disney Paris/EP in October and EP Woodie in April.*Gets calendar out*

[Mark9]

Really great pictures, and reviews. I definitely want to visit Mirabilandia sometime. Now to decide whether to go with Madrid or Italy for my next "new" European break. It'll be a while yet, mind - with Disney Paris/EP in October and EP Woodie in April.

Thank you for the compliments I would personally go for Italy, although that depends on whether you want to include Rainbow Magicland in your trip. The problem with Madrid is as good as Parque Warner is, if you've done Kraken or any B&M inverter it isn't going to feel that amazing. Parque de Atracciones de Madrid is quite an odd park to, essentially Rainbow Magicland with less theming.I do feel we take Europe for granted sometimes, we've got so many different cultures and awesomely different ride experiences just a plane ride away.

[Benin]

Day 6 – Chilling in VeronaThe original plan for this trip was to do all 4 of the major Italian parks, including Movieworld Studios, right is effectively next door to Gardaland, however, we must have angered the Coaster Gods, as the opening times for the park changed for the worse, meaning it was shut midweek and we had very little alternative as to what to do...So we sat in our hotel room all day and chilled... I like days like this on holiday, as it allows everyone to either sleep/read/sit or just do whatever without any need for rushing or walking... We did venture out for extra supplies of food midway through the day, but aside from that didn’t do anything until the evening, where me, John and Mark hit the town to see what it was like...A rather depiction of Italian roads I feel... Random canoeing in the river is random... Looked fun though... And just what could lay beyond this rather dark and dingy hallway? Why it’s Juliet’s Balcony of course, from that rather popular play of Shakespearian standards... Dunno why Verona have claimed it, but they have... DEAL WITH IT! Meanwhile, in Verona... Most epic looking music venue ever! The Arena is slap bang in the middle of the city and has more restaurants than you can shake a stick at... And who was playing?George Michael... Hungry, we elected to eat at the weirdest theme/name for a restaurant in Italy... Even this place has Spider Crabs... And as John is demonstrating, the biggest menus I’ve seen in a long time...Talking of big things, here’s the drinks... Totally extraordinary... Unfortunately so much ice made it practically undrinkable after a while, but still, epic size is epic... Spag Bol, Italian style... Do try the Oreo and Kinder Ice Cream... It’s AMAZING <3 Unable to get into the concert, we wandered back towards the hotel, only to find... OMG I’M SO THERE!Next up – Gardaland...