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Toverland - TROY! (de Sensaaaatieeee)

Pierre

Strata Poster
Following on from Ian's Walibi Holland topic, the next port of call was Toverland!

This was a first for me, Darren and Ian while a repeat visit for Rach & Peter. I didn't take many pictures on the day due to foolishly forgetting a travel adapter and not having a full charge on my phone!

A swift 46 minutes away from the hotel we arrived and the first thing that stands out by a mile is TROY! The weather was a lot nicer for us today too...

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We headed in being ushered towards the entrance by the mascot with a weird head! Entrance was only €22 I was expecting a lot more so it was a nice surprise.

As soon as you walk into Toverland you can just see how 'fairytale' it all is and how much effort they put into things. I absolutely loved the kiddie coaster flying over the other rides indoors and the whole place just had a really feel good vibe to it.

We decided to head straight to Troy but as you pretty much passed the Booster Bike on the way and it had no queue we ended up riding that first. I loved the cheesy soundtrack and the plants/vines wrapping around the station. I was keen to compare this with Velocity with it being my homepark, the launch felt a little less forceful but other than that it was very similar. I think my over riding of Velocity has killed this unique concept for me to be honest.

While we were at Booster Bike we noticed the new 'cred' was operating so headed over that way before TROY! The pathway was annoying the hell out of me as I had a bit of a hangover and it is just a temporary gravel path so the noise was just really grinding on me. You could see the outline of the rapids - it looks like its going to be a hell of a long one! The whole area should look fantastic when finished.

We queued for d'Wervelvind for a few minutes before we got on. I like the queueline walking around under the track. They had the soundtrack speakers all installed but with the planting still very new and fresh it looks a bit bare at the moment.

The inside of the station is really nice, with vines and leaves growing from the ceiling that light up when the train enters/departs the station with the soundtrack... Ian shows this on the off ride video really well.

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The ride itself was OK, the first drop is pretty quick but due to the nature of the ride it all depends on how good a spin you get to determine the quality of the ride. This one wasn't so good.

We were all ready for TROY! now so we headed on over. I got a quick shot of 'Back Stroke' on the way.

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I was also amazed at the lack of health & safety worries as kids played in water about 6 inches deep on rafts, bridges and stepping stones without a care in the world. This is what I love about European parks.

Troy looked stunning - I'd heard good things about the ride and was really looking forward to it. I confess, I had to get a goon shot.

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As soon as the ride leaves the lift hill it is just purely relentless. Dropping into a curved hill which must be about 1/8 of the height of the drop should have really gave me an indication of what to expect but WOW! Unbelievable stuff, there just isn't a time for breath until the brake run... I think I actually have a new favourite coaster in TROY! It also must be one of the ride-ops of TROY!'s favourite as he had a complete perma-grin throghout the whole day. We did comment on the soundtrack, the way the man shouts TROY! sounds a bit too camp for such a beastly ride.

We headed back indoors to ride 'Back Stroke'

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The turntable on the lift hill was odd and something I've never seen before. It also felt really weird. The Yoda looking thing spits water at the boats that leave the station occasionally, ours was one of them! Back Stroke was fun and as you can see from my earlier picture the outside drop is quite big but at the end of the day, its just a log flume.

I think we grabbed some lunch after this. I was quite burdenous and didn't really fancy anything at the place everyone else ate so queued about 45 minutes for a burger. People had ate theirs and came to meet me before I'd even been served my food. They gave me a landmine to notify me when it was ready. The burger was decent and I walked and ate to prevent being any more of a burden than I already was.

We rode d'Wervelvind again. This time it was fab as we got a great spin! Ian tried filming a POV but his camera ran out of memory!

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The ORP was only €2 to be e-mailed to you!

We whored TROY! for a few rides afterwards as we all agreed it was clearly the best thing there. It was now on two train operation but there was still only a 1-2 train wait for riding. It was earlier mentioned Lord Morton hates station fly throughs, I said I loved them, however after waiting a few times and being screamed at as the other train flew by changed my opinion on them very quickly.

Toverland is a fantastic place - there isn't many parks I'd revisit without there being a major new coaster but this is one of them. Cheap entry, fantastic looking park, feel good vibe all around, cheesy soundtracks and TROY!
 

davidm

Strata Poster
"hate" is a bit strong, but glad you see my POV! :)

Good TR too - really weird reading that, having been there myself only a few months ago and now theres a nice new ride where I just had a muddy field.
 

Ian

From CoasterForce
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Ah, Toverland, what a wonderful place. It has a dramatic entrance without being in-yer-face. I remember driving along the road towards the park though a pretty glade of trees with no theme park in sight. It wasn't until I pulled into the car park did I notice Troy, the shed like entrance and the other attractions. Toverland looks like a magic, interesting place right from the word go.
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After passing through the cute little ticket booths, we were in the first indoors area. I loved it! Seeing a coaster, a chair swing, a water slide and many other attractions all under one roof was quiet surreal. I suppose I could compare the "wow" factor to when I visited Mall of America in 2007. There's something special about an enclosed theme park area. I remember going to soft play centres as a child and Toverland felt like an adult (yet family friendly) equivalent. Any theme park that can instantly take me back psychologically to an innocent, care free wonderland gets a thumbs up from me.

The fairy tale connecting room between the two sheds/warehouses is fab.
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The second warehouse is MASSIVE. It has has an extensive play area, several flat rides, food shops, a log flume and a fun house. It's awesome.

Toverland lacks direction signs (well, I didn't spot any) so it opens itself up to exploration.

As with most trips, it's creds first, flats later. First up was the motorbike coaster. I didn't like the way it was situated immediately outside of one of Warehouse 2's exits. I suppose it's so families don't have to walk too far from the main play area. The walkway towards the cred is covered, lacking in sunlight and felt moldy. I didn't understand what the theme was all about, but before I knew it, I was riding front row.
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It was very much like it's cousin at Flamingoland - alright. Not special, not turd. It was ok. +1. Perhaps the coaster might feel more welcoming when the rapids have been built and the building site next to it is a luscious new ride? The safety fences and tarpaulin surrounding the Booster Bike was dingy.

The next cred was d'werlvewind; the new one! I'm glad they opened it earlier otherwise it would have been major spite (much to the amusement of some people reading this no doubt ;)) Funny though, we could have possibly been the first ever British guests to ride it.

We trudged up along the LONG gravel path towards the the shiny new cred. As Pierre said, the sound was excruciating, repetitive and grating. However, it did give us a chance to take in the enormity of the gorgeous-looking new rapids opening next season.
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I took a few construction photos for those who fancy a quick mudfap.
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At this point, I had only explored a small section of the park but (aside from Booster Bike), the whole park was fab. It was was like Disney without the plastic, commercial, "look at the size of my bollocks" sickly **** that occurs at a Disney park.

Then I saw the new cred. Against the clear, blue sky, a beautiful, twisting, yellow & green sculpture stood before me.
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The area around d'wervelwind did look bare but once the plants mature and the new rapids are open, it'll look even better. It reminded me of Willy Wonka's factory in the old Charlie & the Chocolate Factory film. The coaster did look good enough to eat.

The station is gorgeous. When the ride exits & returns, the lights in the leaf-covered ceiling twinkle and mystical music is played. It's incredibly childish, camp and sweet but, at the same time, very tasteful. Fab!
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We had two rides, one at the start of the day and another towards the end (when I tried to film the POV as mentioned in Pierre's report).

I found the first ride of the day quite mediocre. I was in the front row and didn't experience any thrill or force. It was fun but lacking in thrill. Kids seemed to love it though. However, the second ride was fantastic! I sat in the middle car so whenever it span, I was facing somebody and because I love watching people's on-ride reactions, it added to the experience. The train also seemed to furiously hammer along the track, it was quite disorientating. Great fun!

All in all, it's an ok, fun coaster. I wouldn't visit Toverland for this ride alone but it's a good addition and the second best coaster there. Thankfully the spin was controlled and gentle on both rides. It has re-rideability but I wouldn't queue more than 30 mins for it.

Here's one last photo and an offride video.
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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDeAJJSPOco[/youtube]

I'll post the second part later on.
 
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