I just got back from a 5-day trip with the European Coaster Club where we visited several parks in Austria and Switzerland, with a short stop in a German park along the way.
Note: I will use the term Credit in this post to refer to a roller coaster that you can ride in order to increase your count of unique roller coasters ridden. Every 100 coaster you ride, you bring a paper with the number written on it and have yourself photographed in the coaster for publishing in the ECC magazine. I enter this trip with a strong credit of 12. One person on the tour was photographed riding their 2700th coaster.
Day 0: Prater
I arrived in Vienna the day before the tour would start. I had a loose idea to go into the city center and view some museums and get dinner, but others who had arrived on the same day were gathering at our first stop, Prater, and coordinating via the common whatsapp group. I met up with some of them who were taking the opportunity to get credit on the coasters that we would not be visiting on tomorrow’s tour.
I ride Roller Ball and bang my head against the headreast due to not being prepared to how rapidly the ride pivots back and forth. (Not too hard but it did hurt sligthly.)
Day 1: Prater (for real this time)
Many of us gather in the hotel lobby in order to walk together to the meeting point at Prater. The plan for the day is announced. Because the tour is planned to go on the huge Riesenrad Ferris wheel, which has limited throughput, the group is split into two. We are split up between those who intend to ride the Volare coaster and those that don’t.
The travel itinerary has a list of the coasters at Prater that we will go on. Volare is listed last with the comment sorry about this one :). I want the credit so of course I go on it, but dang, it really lived up to is reputation.
Prater is a weird place. The area itself is owned by the city and there are several different companies with permits to operate rides there. Entry is free and you have to pay per ride. Some companies accept card payments, most don’t. The entire place feels like it is a weird combination of two worlds - a big, fixed-in-place theme park with the aesthetics and ride quality of a traveling funfair. The fact that the rides are operated by different companies, seemingly without any will to coordinate, leads to a bunch of strange duplicates. Multiple Break Dances, multiple bumper cars, multiple go-carts. What feels like 500 of those arcade machines where you punch a punching bag. 300 machines where you kick a soccer ball. 200 machines featuring both a bag to punch and a ball to kick.
As night descends, the lights get brighter, the music gets louder. The war for your attention and money escalates. I had a great time there going on the guided tour and was also really happy to be done with the place.
Rides of note this day
Volare
Remember that iconic ending to Half Life 2? Gordon has finally made it into the Citadel. He comes across a transport system where coffin-like cars travel suspended below a rail hanging in the air.
He enters one, and it begins its journey towards a force field, behind which a huge electrical arc is shot through the coffins one by one. Once it is Gordon’s turn, he is immediately electrocuted to death.
Kind of a strange ending to the game after having come so far. But whatever, I’m mentioning this because Volare reminded me of it. Only difference is that your coffin is pivoted forwards after entering it so you travel head-first.
Also the ride is a whole lot less smooth. At least you don’t get electrocuted.
Megablitz
Pretty fun coaster! Also one of the scarier ones due to the fact that you do not have any neck support, so if you are afraid of back injuries you are very keen on staying upright during the very fast helices. Something that is made harder by the fact that you start graying out halfway through them.
Wiener Looping
WOOOOOOO THIS IS THE STUFF. A quick lift hill, a quick trim brake and then you are off. The first drop goes slightly beyond vertical. A pretty intense airtime hill and then you are inside this tangle of track spaghetti. The vertical loop is really chonky, wider than it is tall in order to extend the time spent hanging upside-down. The elevated station means you don’t spend any time in a boring, low-energy state towards the end - the ride makes a strong, brief statement and then you are done.
My second favorite coaster of the trip.
Olympia Looping
Video (Note that the video is shot in Munich)
This coaster brags about being the biggest transportable coaster in the world. The 5 loops look impressive as you stand in front of it, taking it in.
This ride is all positive Gs, all the time. All hills are banked slopes, pushing you down before the loops, the loops themselves pushing you down even more. The ECC member riding next to me had ridden it in London and he gave me the advice to keep your shoulders high, lest the shoulder restraints getting pushed down one more step and making the ride a whole lot more uncomfortable. I was not able to follow his advice and the ride indeed became more uncomfortable.
Olympia Looping is an absolute workout session and I was both happy to have ridden it and relieved that it was over with. Would ride again, though the 12.50 euro ride ticket is a bit sour.
Day 2: Familypark + Eis Greissler Manufaktur
The second day starts and we get our hotel breakfast before getting on the bus on which we will spend a fair bit of time going between locations for the rest of the trip.
First location is Familypark in Sankt Margarethen im Burgenland. A very nice place, well maintained, nice theming and best of all: Trees all around providing shade. The entire trip, save for one day, was done in really sunny, toasty weather so being able to get some relief from that during a visit was a huge blessing.
We then departed for Eis Greissler Manufaktur. An ice cream factory that has a small adventure park built up around it including a small roller coaster and a guided tour featuring a ‘5D cinema’. What parts of it made up each of the 5 dimensions sparked some philosophical discussions between us.
Also we had ice cream.
Some time during this day I hit my head somewhat hard on something while going down the stairs inside the bus.
Rides of note this day
Götterblitz (Familypark)
I liked this one! The ride is situated in a section of the park less sparsely occupied by trees, giving you a grand view of the area and the nearby Neusiedler Lake. Riding in front does not add much in terms of airtime or even views, due to the front of the train being shaped as a huge metal horse.
Rattenmühle (Familypark)
Nice bobsled-style coaster (again with the hairpin turns but whatever). It weaves nicely between the trees and the station building. Riding the first time at the back seat, one of the final drops took me by surprise.
Bucklbahn (Eis Greissler Manufaktur)
Probably the gentlest coaster we went on for this tour. I’m mentioning this as a noteworthy one just because how enthusiastic the operator was, high-fiving passengers as the train passed through the station and how it seemed like he liked running the show just in general. He asked me why there are so many of us who seem to know each other and seem so keen on documenting this ride and I explained what our deal was.
Day 3: Fantasiana + Freizeitpark Ruhpolding
Woke up with a sore throat. Trying to tell myself that it could just be a one-off thing, not a sign that you are coming down with something. It seems to subside a bit during the first part of the day.
This day was cloudy, going between a light drizzle and occasional light rain. A huge relief from the toasty weather we’ve had so far. I forgot to bring my rain jacket so I had to buy a very noticeable yellow poncho in the Fantasiana park shop.
They have two coasters, Helios which I would describe as really really fun and Fridolin’s verrückter Zauberexpress which I would describe as fun and cute.
We also got a guided tour through their Dracula’s Castle spooky ride and my favorite part: The train workshop of Helios. Photography was allowed, but publishing not, so I cannot share pictures here. Picture a mechanic’s workshop with two tiers and a piece of track that ends mid-air. Shelves lining the walls with stacks of wheels. Three metal pylons mounted in the center of the bottom floor, each ending with an electric motor connected to a car tire for moving the train around on the auxiliary tracks. A big photocopier in the corner. Several plastic water tanks roughly shaped like a human body for simulating actual riders during testing.
We departed Fantasiana for a brief dip into Germany and Freizeitpark Ruhpolding. The soreness in my throat starts growing.
Ruhpolding has a single coaster, Der Gipfelsturmer. It is a boomerang style coaster, a pretty short one. A drop, a little helix and airtime hop, some curves and then you are up the lift hill for the reverse run. The little curves right at the bottom of the reverse drop are kind of rough, in particular when you are going backwards and cannot see them coming.
There was almost no one else in the park, so the train was likely the first fully loaded train in a long time. Because of this it nearly stalled on the group’s first ride, the culprit being that the booster wheels were not configured in a way allowing them to accelerate the now much heavier train. So after the first ride the coaster was shut down and we had to wait for the mechanics to adjust the wheels.
I rode it once, took some photos and sat in the cafe drinking tea to dampen the pain in my throat. I did not like the way this was going.
Most of the group went to a nearby Biergarten from the hotel but I opted to locate a place where I could buy some cup noodles and chips to dine on in my room while watching replays of today’s Sumo wrestling, hoping that a bit of rest and downtime could make me feel better.
Rides of note this day
Helios (Fantasiana)
My favorite coaster of this trip. I had not looked up any ride videos of it so I did not know what to expect. My first ride was in the back row so I was taken by surprise by the shape of the first drop, followed by my first ever ride through a outwards banked airtime hill. The corkscrew jumps through and over the station room. I tried to look up towards the queue and the camera-armed people of the tour but I don’t think any good photos were taken. A bit on the shorter side but it packs in a lot of fun elements within that time frame.
Day 4: Hell Freizeitpark Familienland + Summer Park Fiss
We ride the bus way up in the mountains to what feels like a super remote place where there is a pretty ambitious steel coaster in a small park. I ride it once, tag along the group to the kiddy coaster for the credit then spend most of my time in the cafe with a nice ice cream coffee while chatting with some of the ECC veterans.
While on the bus departing Familienland, my cold gets worse and my nose gets super runny. It all seems to be aggravated by the less than stellar air quality in the bus. Because the itinerary for this day included two alpine coasters located kind of remotely, there is a whole lot of driving in store for us and I felt every hour of it. We had to turn back from the first alpine coaster due to the bus not being below maximums for the road leading up to it. The road up to the second alpine coaster was a long switchback road (again the hairpin turns aargh). Eventually we could finally get off the bus and I was in such a sour mood at this point. I was considering sitting out riding the alpine coaster due to my physical state, but I decided that admitting defeat in that way and missing out on finally riding an alpine coaster would just dampen my mood even more. Plus, getting some food and fresh air was making me feel better.
I banged my head harder than I’ve ever done in years when entering the cabin to the lift taking us up to the start of the alpine coaster.
After the coaster we had a multiple-hour bus ride into Switzerland. I sat there with an itchy, runny nose, alternating between trying to sneeze as politely as one can possibly do in a crowded bus, and trying to blow my nose as politely as one can possibly do in a crowded bus. Awful experience.
(For any ECC tour members reading this: I took a covid test on returning home and it turned out negative.)
Rides of note this day
Fisser Flitzer
I finally got to ride an alpine coaster, something I’ve been wanting to do since that seeing old-timey viral video in its heyday (the author of which was on the tour!). It was kind of rough! Some organization within the group was carried out so that those who wanted to ride without any brakes applied would go first. I am really glad I was not tempted into doing the same.
It is a very pretty experience, riding through the hills, between the trees, over bridges and through tunnels. The big mountains providing a beautiful backdrop across the great valley. You really need to focus on taking in the view between bracing for the turns and sudden drops.
Day 5: Conny-Land + Ticiland
We stayed at a very nice hotel in central St. Gallen. Thanks to a slightly later departure time for the day, I had some time to visit a pharmacy just across the street which and buy some medicines to make the day much more bearable.
We left the hotel for Conny-Land, home of Cobra, a very Normal looking coaster. Also Mammoth Tree, the most unique ride on this trip for sure. I only felt like riding Cobra once, so there was a bit just of milling around, waiting in the heat for the bus to depart.
Finally, we got to Ticiland. A small place that is completely indoors that still manages to fit some large-ish flat rides in there and one family rollercoaster.
We were almost the only visitors there. The ambience was made out almost completely of the wooshing sound of the rollercoaster as it went by. This together with the fact that we were now indoors, away from the sun and the heat, made it all feel like a much needed wind-down and chance to exhale for a bit.
Rides of note this day
Mammut Baum
There are two things that stand out when you are entering Conny-Land. The loop-and-a-half of Cobra’s farthest end and the ski-lift counterwheel tower (a term I just made up). This ski-lift is the Mammut Baum. It spans from the furthest edge of the park to the parking lot in front, so you can see it at all times. What you don’t see as often is the gondola itself, because there is only one and the ride is 2 (3?) minutes long. But eventually you will see how it operates. Or at least part of it.
From the outside of the ride, you see the gondola depart from the station, pass through the big Mammoth Tree in the center of the cableway, then halt causing the gondola to bounce up and down as the cable tension starts to oscillate due to the stop. Then the cable car then moves in reverse (it never comes close to the far end of the cable way in the parking lot) back into the Mammoth Tree where it stops once more. Then the doors close. What happens in there? Unclear. You can see that the cable itself is being jerked around a bit, indicating some kind of commotion in there but what kind of commotion is a mystery to the outsider.
Finally, the doors open and the gondola returns back to the station.
As we were waiting in line, we were speculating what could possibly be going on inside there. It was hard to gauge the emotions from people’s facial expressions as they returned to the station and disembarked.
Our turn came, we got in, I hit my head on the raised lap bar (not too hard).
I’m being reductive here but I want to emphasize that I’m only being slightly reductive here: Mammut Baum is part simulating the experience of getting stuck on a ski lift midway between two pylons, part being stuck inside a big tree while a booming voice rants at you in German while you are being shaken around and flames are shooting up along the walls of the chamber. My German is pretty rusty so I could not fully understand what was being said (plus being jostled around while fires are shooting around me has a negative effect on my grasp of the German language it turns out). But the gist of it is that the Mammoth Tree introduces itself, then tells you how angry it is about all the environmental destruction and tree cutting that humans are up to. It shakes you around a bunch in anger and the aforementioned fire effects start firing along the walls of the enclosed space while fans blow the resulting hot air onto you. Then it lets you go.
Certainly a unique ride.
I bumped my head on the lap bar as I was getting out. I hit the exact same spot I hit yesterday at Summer Park Fiss. Ow ow ow.
Cobra
Finally, Cobra. We had been waiting for it to open because it opens several hours after the park itself does.
It is a boomerang-style coaster. You are pulled up a past-vertical drop, then released, sending you back through the station into two airtime hills and a really intense vertical loop. The loop is followed by another half-looping, leaving you traveling upwards while upside-down until the train stalls and starts running backward back to the station.
We knew ahead of time that this would be a rough one and indeed it was. Very rattly and the transition from vertical to horizontal travel after the drop, as well as the loop, are pretty harsh. As I was riding it I could feel the pain in all the spots I’d hit my head cumulatively during the trip.
Glad to be done with that credit, though if I ever find myself in Conny-Land once more I’d ride it again. There isn’t that much more to do there really.
Final thoughts
I return back to Sweden, head all banged up, weird bruises on my legs and elbows, temporary loss of hearing on my left ear (flying while your sinuses and ear canals are all clogged up is a bad idea), sneezing and coughing, completely mentally drained. And I cannot wait to go on the next ECC trip.
I had a great time riding all these new coasters and officially starting off a proper credit count (which was tripled from this trip). But most importantly, it was so much fun being around other people of all ages who are as nerdy or even nerdier than you when it comes to roller coasters. I made friends there that I really hope to see on future trips. Heck, I even got to talk to trip attendee Chris Sawyer. (He made Roller Coaster Tycoon. There is a direct line of events starting with that game and ending with me going on this trip, something I share with many others also attending.)
Image credit: Justin Garvanovic
For the next time
Start doing:
- Bring a bag for the park visits. I thought I was being smart by bringing only a few items with me into the parks, all contained within my zippered pockets, save for my water bottle which I instead clipped to my belt using a bottle sling and a carabiner. Turns out that gets awkward real quick and leads to situations where I wish I had carried more water or brought my jacket with me. I’d be better off keeping all my essentials for the visits in a bag and keeping only my mission-critical stuff (phone, passport if necessary) in my zippered pocket.
- Check your luggage. I was stressing out so much about making sure I had travel-size stuff of all my toiletries. Just check your bag next time and use a small backpack as hand luggage.
- Pack for the possibility of getting sick. I did not count on catching a cold so I had nothing with me to help me out when that actually happened. Thanks again to Jim, Ted and Tilen who could help me out because of their forward-thinking when packing for their trip!
- Bring my face mask. Big blunder on my part not to bring it to wear at least during the air-travel part as well as the bus ride.
Keep doing:
- Cardio. The amount of time spent bike commuting and using the stair machine in my gym really felt like it paid off. There is just so much walking around, standing around, climbing stairs, ascending hills, descending hills. Being able to physically cope with that helps so much.
- Upper-body strength. I could probably benefit from gaining some more strength for next year’s trip. With the amount of forces you are exposed to and being rattled around in all directions you can really benefit from a bit of strength to brace yourself better.
Thank you very much for reading what ended up being a post almost matching the length of all other stuff I’ve written on this site combined. If you liked reading it, please send me a ping via the Like this post button at the bottom. It really helps make the internet seem less like a lonely void that I’m shouting into.
rykarn