Thankfully though, their star attraction, Shark Trip, was clearly open. So after paying a lady who was quite literally doing 3 jobs at once (operating Shark Trip, a flat ride and selling tokens for both), we took our seat on the shark and were treated to several fairly brutal laps.
Download File https://urlcod.com/2yVcwI
I lost count of how many times I rode this amazing attraction but 3 things were constant on every ride. The level of theming always surprised me, the drop always scared me and I always loved every second of it.
Sadly all good things must come to an end. So after a ride on the Ferris Wheel, another couple of laps on Fridolin, many more laps on Wild Train and 2 more visits to the Knights Ride Tower, it was with a heavy heart that I had to say farewell to Fantasiana. But not before getting myself a copy of the Mami Wata soundtrack CD and a kick ass lenticular Knights Ride Tower postcard!
The trains are awesome for starters. Comfy little seats and Fridolin himself, loving it, on the back.
The station has a couple of nice effects with a screen and some projections to enhance the starting sequence which takes riders backwards out of the station, seemingly by mistake, before launching forwards through it and into the layout.
The queue had smoky animatronic dragon and spiders.
The ride that followed was a very interesting drop tower sequence compared to other rides of this ilk, utilising various positions to present you with actual dark ride scenes, along with good music and bonus effects.
Although the drop itself was short, it was well timed and packed a punch.
Mami Wata was yet another hit, squeezing a good amount of fun into a tiny space with the use of turntables and elevators with the signature craziness of a Hafema build. The ride also comes with its own ImaScore CD, which was instantly purchased and remains one of my favourite theme park tracks.
Killed some time with re-rides until after lunch, when Castle Dracula opened. This was a scare attraction that started out with a solo trip through a mirror maze and then became many animatronic and effect based scenes. It acted as though it was quite an intense experience for a very family orientated park, with a couple of groups leaving the queue prematurely during the warning announcements. This seemed a little unnecessary from my assessment of the inside, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
While the bold claims on the website may not be fully true, Fantasiana is definitely a little gem of a park with some very good attractions as well as probably having the nicest atmosphere of the whole trip.
Satisfied with the success of that find, we raced back over the border for this jolly fellow.
Next thing to become available. The operator was mean to me this time and impatiently pushed the restraint down as I was half in, trapping me in the middle of the 2 seats. Physics dictates that the middle is not a good place to be seated when these rides hit corners at high speeds, resulting in an awful ride.
Quite a ridiculous little thing, a rare custom Vekoma. The positive forces it produces are so sustained it was taking the air from my lungs.
The only coaster I was tempted to reride, but thought it was probably better leaving it with that single memory. Easily the highlight of the park.
Only a few things left to do, various walk-bys had taught me that the Boomerang was still dormant. Decided to get the Zamperla Volare out of the way.