On a hot summer day we decided to go to Phantasialand, a theme park in Germany. With our Efteling subscription we can go once a year to phantasialand for free. I went to Phantasialand with my sister Kelly and her boyfriend Roy, my uncle Josef and my boyfriend Marijn who later in this blog will tell about his experience in the new themed area.

The main reason we went to Phantasialand was the new themed area named Klugheim. It has two new rollercoasters that we needed to try.

Early on the day my uncle picked us all up at my house. It was all long drive to Phantasialand. When we arrived and everyone was awake we went straight to Klugheim. First we went to the new rollercoaster Taron. It was a launch coaster. I am not a fan of launch coaster but this is a good one. It was a long smooth ride and the theming around the rollercoaster was really good. It was also a pretty long ride. After Taron we went to Raik, the other new rollercoaster. Raik is a shuttle coaster made bij Vekoma, a Dutch attraction maker. This also was a smooth ride but it wasn’t long. What is fun about shuttle coasters is that at half of the ride, it goes backwards on the same track. I also really liked this ride.

The themed area let me think that I was in Berk from How to Train your Dragon but with more rocks. Phantasialand kept it a secret until the day it was opened. And when the world could see it, it was thrilled. No one had a clue what it could be. We only know the they were building a rollercoaster.

After Klugheim we went to the rest of the park. We had been there before so we knew the way. I did almost all the other attractions, even Talocan and mystery castle which I found terrifying. The attractions I found the best are Black mamba and Chiapas. Sometimes I don’t enjoy rollecrosters with loops like Python in the Efteling. But I really like Black mamba. Chiapas is just a really happy waterslide. The music is really good and suits all parts of the ride. If you start the ride the music is peaceful but when you enter the disco room you hear the party music. Ever since I was little I have liked skulls and that is one of the themes of Chiapas. All over the ride you see happy skulls smiling at you. Phantasialand is one of the parks that is really good at theming the park. Every themed area looks great. Only some of the old attractions aren’t not so well themed.

Once upon a time, there lived a dragon named Schneck. He was not an evil dragon, but quite a friendly one indeed, and curious at that. Schneck wished to know the secrets of the energy lying within the Earth, and therefore commanded a certain magister to perform research on this topic. Led by the magister, a group of smart and intelligent scholars gathered and built a curious device to process the power of the Earth. Plagued by evil goblins, yet encouraged by the mysteries of the Earth, the scholars now invite you to join them in: Klugheim.

First impression

The small town of Klugheim, which literally means “smart village”, is surrounded completely by enormous, column-shaped rocks and can only be entered from two locations. This ensures that Klugheim remains a world to its own, without getting any kind of thematic contamination from the adjacent areas “Deep in Africa”, “Mexico” and “China Town”. The rocks are quite odd in their shape, but this is part of the theming and I must say, adds a level of aesthetic to the area. Hard to believe they are man-made, when looking at their height and form. Impressive. Upon entering, guests are entirely immersed in the world of Klugheim considering that the world is separated and the imagery is rewarding: a view of wooden rooftops, stone chimneys (including smoke) and the high mountains of rocks in the background is breath-taking. For all who are fan of Game of Thrones and of Skyrim it must be a familiar sight. What I find particularly interesting about this view is how two themes from the background story are being reinforced by this, without actually forcing the entire story down the guest’s throat. Firstly, the background of the story involving energy from the Earth is being represented by the stone of the mountains, and its odd, kinetic

shape. Secondly, the mystery (Klugheim remains part of Phantasialand’s “Mystery” themed area) is reflected in the content of the many houses and pathways that are not (yet) being revealed to the guest entering the area. It’s quite challenging and at the same time induces an irresistible urge to go explore. Another element that cannot go unnoticed is Taron, a magnificent new roller coaster that spins, twists, turns and flies triple fold everywhere over, under and through. Its black track and tup-shaped train can be seen at any location in the village and my, it’s a beauty. Upon standing at the entrance of Klugheim I’m both amazed about the enforcement of theme and hyped to try the thrill of Taron. It’s rare to find the combination of a high level of rides, complemented by such a consistent, well-represented theme. So many impressions, can’t wait to go in!

Within the village

The village is entered (considered you come from the direction of Mexico like I did) over a wooden walkway. In the morning the crowd is held up on this bridge and Phantasialand announces in a deafening volume how proud they are of their new world and its world records. This is absolutely annoying, as it is pure arrogance and visitors should be given the chance to explore the area by themselves instead of getting the contents lectured to them through the speakers. Fortunately, after this announcement the visitors are let loose into Klugheim and will get the chance of uncover its secrets for themselves. I will now talk about my general impressions within the village, and after about my experiences in the roller coasters Taron and Raik. To be honest, I did have higher expectations of what I would find in Klugheim. Not to imply the level is low, but there are some missed chances. First of all, there’s about one main path leading through, and that is it. This is the same path as the wooden walkway that leads into Klugheim, and goes on all the way through to split into two paths, that lead to the other end directly. This is a shame considering that a mysterious village should, in my opinion, have many hidden and unexplored pathways, tunnels, alleys and gates, where secret parts of the village lie. This should not only be realised in the form of paths, but also houses, pubs, blacksmiths, labs, whatever you can think of, that can be entered or at least peeked inside of. One park that is an absolute master at this is Europa-Park, so I suggest Phantasialand Imagineering has a look there. However, along the paths there are many spectacular sights, such as waterfalls along the rocks and petrified goblins (which, according to the background story, turn to stone when exposed to sunlight). Again, here’s an example of perfect reinforcement of the lore without forcing it. There are extraordinarily beautiful details to be discovered, like dragon ornaments and sundials. There must be background to each and every one of these, which to me really succeeds in enhancing the mystery of the area. Along the paths there are signs of life as well, for example clothes hung up to dry outside the houses. Actual inhabitants of the village lack though, which is a shame. I’ve talked about details, but the raw set-up of the houses and bridges in Klugheim has been well executed as well. The materials seem realistic, even though real wood and stone have probably been barely used. This attention for detail but also for consistency gives Klugheim its immersive power.

There’s another flaw I would like to talk about however. Taron is bloody everywhere. It does not matter where you set foot, Taron will be visible, and the screams of its riders will be audible, not to mention the all-pervading sound of the second launch (Taron is a launched roller coaster, thus propelled over a level piece of track to gain speed). This fact destroys part of Klugheim’s immersion, because visitors are distracted from the medieval mystery theme by the sound and sight of modern roller coaster technology. I believe Phantasialand should have paid more attention to getting more quiet areas within the village. Do, however not get me wrong. The thematic level of Klugheim is beyond usual theme park, or even Phantasialand standards, and is most definitely worth visiting, because oh boy is it beautiful.

Shuttle coaster Raik

Time to talk about the coasters! I have not uttered a word on Raik yet, which seems fitting in way: Raik is a hidden, small coaster tucked away between the rocks of Klugheim. It can be seen as a gem though. Upon entering, there’s a clear theme: time travel, but time travel in a very modest manner. Raik is supposed to be a toy for the scholars that invented energy machine Taron. A toy that twists the currents of time nonetheless! A clock is seen in the station and another one on the front coach of the train. I must attend you that this is a shuttle “boomerang” coaster, which means that it will ride the track until halfway into the ride, and then go the same way backwards in order to arrive in the station again. Therefore, coaster and theme fit well together as the clocks tick forward when the train goes forward and backwards when, (you guessed it!), the train comes back. This trick is quite entertaining for those in the queue that can see into the station already, and also for the riders to pretend that they are being “rewinded” by Raik. Kudos to Phantasialand for coming up with such an interesting concept for a small family coaster (cause that’s what it is). Again, the theming has some nice details and the materials constitute a genuine and beautiful look for the overall picture. Very unique and very well executed!

Launch coaster Taron

The main element of the background lore is the machine the scientists of Klugheim set up to convert the Earth’s energy into real kinetic energy, and this machine is Taron. Taron is a double launch coaster designed by Swiss company Intamin AG, which is known for their tendency to build extreme rides. Taron is a clear example of this. The ride starts by launching the train from 0 to over 100 km/h in mere seconds and an extraordinarily long piece of track full of bends, curves, bunny-hops and dives that destroy the rider’s sense of orientation completely, and take him on a trip of sensations that cannot ever have been felt before. This coaster is rough yo. But just when the victims think they are saved, a second launch takes them close to 120 km/h and does the same bloody turns, twists and crazy stuff to its riders but now twice as forceful. It is just amazing what this ride does. To add to the G-forces and unexpected bends, like I said before, it goes over, underneath and through everything, which means many near misses with buildings, but also with itself (other parts of the track). There are, unfortunately, two major missed chances for this crazy roller coaster. One is the concept of an on-ride soundtrack, as do coasters such as Space Mountain Mission 2 in Disneyland Park Paris and Vogel Rok at Efteling. A well-composed soundtrack simply makes a well-themed ride with a clear, specific topic, which is both true for Taron, a thousand times better. IMAscore, the company in charge of Klugheim’s music, could easily have come up with an amazing score. That I am sure of. Missed chance! Secondly, Taron should have had a few inversions (going upside down). It has none and it really is a bummer. Inversions like zero G rolls or corkscrews could have made Taron that bit more intense and unexpected. It is that which prevents Taron from being an absolute top roller coaster, such as Helix (Liseberg) and Blue Fire (Europa-Park).

I must add a note on Taron’s breath-taking theming. The ride is supposed to be a machine that translates Earthly energy into kinetic energy, and it does that! There is a lot of power in there, so that I call well done. Furthermore, the theming around the station is magnificent. The combination of woods, stone and steel really gives off that medieval, primitive feeling, but at the same time there’s also the part that represents the innovation, the discovery and the technology. It’s a contrast, but a powerful combination of theme. The train has been shaped as a tup, I presume again to illustrate the force with which it rushes forward without stopping. And that is exactly Taron’s power: it just goes on and on, without slowing down a single bit.