Oh, hello. :} How was Vienna?
Today we're off to the first German park of the official tour, Bayern Park! Bayern Park is one of those places that nobody was really aware of before the trip was announced. Subsequent research painted a picture of a small family park with a few large attractions, including a Maurer Söhne launched coaster!
 |
| With every transition from one country to another comes a convenience store stop! |
 |
| "The soda pop aisle is mah happy place. :]" |
 |
| WOOT! |
 |
| Okay, Michael! Which candy are you going to get? Decisions, decisions... |
 |
| I got Monster Ripper and Cadbury Maltesers (superior Whoppers). There were a few casualties when the bus took a sharp turn and the little bag fell over. There were malted milk balls rolling all over the floor, which lead to maximum melty-stickiness later. Oops. |
 |
| Coach shenanigans. :} |
 |
| We're here! Dig Bayern Park's quintessentially-German marquee building! |
 |
| Bayern quickly revealed itself to be larger, nicer, and more established than we had expected. |
 |
| There's a great deal of charm about. Several of the rides are kid-powered! |
 |
| Time for a German kiddie park staple: The Butterfly Coaster! (Or Buttlefry, as I like to call it) :} |
 |
| What is a Butterfly, you ask? |
 |
| Well, that's the million-dollar question. We're not exactly sure ourselves. |
 |
| I classify it as a coaster, but it's a stretch. The self-operated shuttle coaster feels like the next step up from something you might find at your typical playground. Or in the toy aisle at Wal-Mart. |
Woo! Credit #70 of my Year of 100 New Coasters! (I guess)
 |
| Ron especially liked the Buttlefry. :} |
 |
| OoOoOoOh! What's inside the castle? |
 |
| What else? SPACE! The final frontier! |
 |
| Interesting space-shenanigans took place! |
 |
| Time for round 2! Star Shuttle is Bayern's indoor, space-themed Buttlefry. |
Credit #71 feels suspiciously similar to credit #70 for some reason.
 |
| Time for Bayern's superb alpine slide! Unlike most alpine slides, this one is METAL! Speed and bodily harm abound! |
 |
| Also unlike most alpine slides, this one has a lift hill that takes you back to the top. In that respect, it felt like a cross between an alpine slide and an alpine coaster. |
For anyone who would like a refresher on the differences between Alpine Slides and Alpine Coasters, check out my Denver Colorado Trip Report: Part 1, featuring the excellent "Canyon Flyer" alpine coaster at Glenwood Caverns! :}
 |
| We all had a great time on the slide! |
 |
Whoa! Looks like Mat scored a heavy-metal burn from the alpine slide!
(He wasn't the first, and he certainly wouldn't be the last) |
 |
| For many ACErs, the dreaded slide burn is what leaves the most fearsome mark on not just one's body, but on the psyche as well. For other ACErs, the hazardous trampoline garden is what strikes genuine fear into one's heart! Or at least some anxiety. (I'm looking at you, Hamburger). :} |
 |
| For a less-stressful amusement experience, try the chairswing |
 |
| or the Pig Train Through the Land of Gnomes. |
 |
| Freischütz would turn out to be the first miss of the trip. The aforementioned Maurer Söhne launched coaster was having...well...launched coaster problems. |
 |
| Moving on! Who's ready for another spinning raft slide?! |
 |
| The spinning raft slide has become a phenomenon in Europe. These guys are popping up everywhere here the way that traditional rapids rides popped up everywhere in the U.S. in the 80s. |
 |
| People from this region who go to U.S. parks probably look at our rapids rides and say, "Where's the drop?!!?" |
 |
| Every water ride needs a counterpart animatronic of a man in an outhouse spitting at guests. |
 |
| Even after two Butterfly coasters, still more butterfly-themed rides awaited us! |
 |
| This butterfly-themed ride is one of those Huss Airboat rides. Sort of a mini-Troika-type-thing. Good stuff. :} |
 |
| Butterfly-themed ride #4: Achterbahn! |
 |
| And actually, it's "technically" caterpillar-themed. But hey, It's all the same. This ride is just the butterfly in its rowdy, pubescent stage (and parents of teenagers, you all know how fun that is, right?) |
 |
| Hooray for being in my own report! Thank you Mr. kind ride operator! |
Achterbahn packs a punch! Same size/style of coaster as Jaguar at Knott's, but more thrilling. I wish Six Flags Over Georgia would get another family coaster with this kind of capacity! Credit #72!
 |
| I, in my infinite wisdom, thought it would be a pretty cool idea to film my 2nd ride on Achterbahn facing the tail of the train. |
 |
| I can safely say that it was one of the wildest rides on a "family coaster" that I've ever had. I got beat up, tossed around, and my camera caught glimpses of a lot of interesting things. Like my arm. |
 |
| But a mid-ride photobomb from Mat made it all worth it! |
 |
| Bayern Park Express! Who needs rails? |
 |
| And look! It's an ACE party in the caboose! :} |
 |
| Next is Bayern's Deluxe-off-the-shelf log flume! |
 |
| The paperclip-shaped traveling log flume is a pretty common thing in the US (I've now seen 3 this year alone, the others being at Beech Bend and Palace Playland), but Bayern has jazzed theirs up quite nicely. |
 |
| It's the Black Forest! Everyone touch a tree! TOUCH THE BLACK FOREST! |
 |
| "In Germany, we lift logs for fun." |
 |
| Bayern has a 2nd, larger alpine slide. While fun, the smaller one is a bit more wild. And this one was a b*tch to walk to. |
 |
| Mat "Old Lady" Wangro was traveling at a pretty conservative pace after his slide-burn incident. :} |
 |
The boys all decided to slide again, but I was ready for the "Pretzel, Beer, and Cigarette Ride"!
(...haha I lied. I don't smoke. I just thought the ash tray looked good in the picture. :} ) |
 |
| Next up is the ever-thrilling fantasy spinning boat ride thing. |
 |
| What's interesting about this ride is that it's a pretty elaborate little operation in an otherwise rustic part of the park. |
 |
This is how I roll float. |
 |
| Bayern's pond features a proud paddlewheel boat! |
 |
| Mat was adamant about riding the donkeys, so ride the donkeys we did! |
 |
| And it was a good call, too! Cute little tracked ride. The donkeys even made authentic donkey noises. :} |
 |
| Then we rode the dragon-theme-Hymalaya-type-ride. I don't normally ride these types of things. Now I remember why. |
 |
| Last coaster of the day was Froschbahn, a tiny version of the park's Achterbahn. |
After Achterbahn, my credit # was exactly 399. I decided to forego Froschbahn so that I could have my 400th credit be something more remarkable.
 |
| I'm sorry, little froggy! Next time! |
 |
| Time for Round 3 of potentially harmful Bavarian amusements. |
 |
| I wasn't sure if I would survive this one, so I sent Jeff down first. :} |
 |
| The ridiculous drop-out mat slide of death turned out to be awesome! |
 |
| It feels totally unsafe & then when you get to the bottom you're like "Let's go again!" |
 |
| The wavy race slides were a lot lest harmful-looking & consequently less fun. |
 |
| Time for more alpine slide action! I went fast enough down the slide to collide with Mat Wan-Granny at the bottom :} |
 |
| Gift shop time! I feel like every park should have its own brand of liquor. Can we make this a thing? |
 |
| Goodbye, Bayern Park! We had so much fun today! |
Zombie-tired, I fell right to sleep on the bus again. When I awoke, we were magically in Munich!
No comments:
Post a Comment