Last Sunday, on a bright and chilly (read: 1°C) morning, I finally experienced Hyde Park Winter Wonderland for the first time! After 14 years of bringing festive fun and thrills to Central London, I was definitely overdue a visit. The event offered a brilliant +9 for the coaster count as well as family rides, dark rides, market stalls and endless food and drink! Some were great, others were an... experience.
The Good
Munich (Olympia) Looping
I mean, just look at this thing. I'm a pretty positive person when it comes to rollercoasters and adore everything from a wacky worm to a RMC, but I've never been particularly excited about a travelling coaster before. However, this was a different beast entirely. The world's largest travelling coaster comes with it's unique level of hype - and concerns. A rough ride can be endured when it's short, but at this size? Potential ruined day, right off the bat. I needn't have worried. Munich Looping is glass smooth. How?! How does a 31 year-old travelling coaster achieve a level of ride experience many permanent installations can only dream of?! Not only smoothness, this ride offered intensity I haven't experienced since the Manta pretzel-loop. Full brain-squeezing, eye-pressing intensity in every loop and that was second-train-of-the-day on a freezing cold morning in mid-train seat. Madness.
Ice Mountain
Unlike Munich Looping, I went in to Ice Mountain with minimal expectations. The façade was excellent - as far as tarpaulin-based facades go - but I was sure I'd heard from others that the inside was a black box, the façade merely a ploy to make you believe this ride was worthy of your cash. Not so! Upon dispatch we were immediately greeted by an animatronic yeti, although the owners had taken a leaf out of Disney's book and mostly opted for light effects in place of motion. Inside, there were decorations and lights spread all around the base of the ride. What were they? I have absolutely no idea, thanks to how ridiculously fast we were spinning as we passed. If you are even remotely susceptible to motion sickness, do not even try. A very strong Wild Mouse and definitely the best of the four at Winter Wonderland IMO.
Interactive Queue Lines
One thing I truly loved about Winter Wonderland was the interactive elements present in many of the coaster queue lines. The Wilde Maus XXL queue was so packed full of surprises that I witnessed one person turning back in disgust, thinking he had paid £8 only for his promised coaster to be a mere fun house. Bumpers, stepping stones, rollers... this queue was chaos in the best possible way! I wish we could see something as creative and enjoyable as this in permanent queue lines, but I can't see anything with this much injury potential being installed anytime soon.
Haunted Mansion
A suspended ride system? On a haunted house? Incredible! Whilst the interior of the ride is largely your standard haunted house - albeit with some impressive additional effects - the inverted vehicles made me feel far more vulnerable than usual and really added to the experience. Alongside the absolutely stunning façade and some unexpected tricks on the way out, this made for a very fun ride!
The Lidl Stand
£3 for a hot mince pie and a hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows!? With all proceeds to charity? No brainer. Thanks Lidl!
The Bad
Wilde Maus XXL
Amongst the very worst rollercoasters I've ever experienced sits Wilde Maus XXL. For those who have visited Chessington World of Adventures, imagine Rattlesnake. Now scale Rattlesnake up so that the drops - and speeds - are much greater. Forget about adding any trims. That should just about give you Wilde Maus XXL. We were thrown in to hairpin turns at speed so many times that I forgot what it was not to feel pain. A truly cursed coaster.
It's a Small World Adventure
Of course we knew this would be rubbish. Of course it was always going to be a waste of £5. But, daammmmnnn. I haven't said 'wait, is that it?!' at the end of a ride in a long time, but there was truly nothing else to say. Two small rooms and a few mirrors do not a dark ride make. I felt so, so sorry for the families around us paying up to £25 a ride. The only good thing we had to say afterwards was 'at least it wasn't as racist as it could have been'. A low bar indeed.
The Jolly Hog Veggie Dog
I was going to just title this section 'food', but that wouldn't have been fair to the many other food outlets at Winter Wonderland who I'm sure put skill and passion in to their festive offerings. However, I would be remiss not to mention the single worst food item I have ever purchased from a food stand - including the cold pizza with a dead fly on it I had at my first festival - this.
Just look at it. Covered in gelatinous - supposedly vegetarian but who knows - goop, freezing cold and served in a miniature bun. 8 of my Great British pounds spent just to go immediately in the trash. Vile.
All in all, I had an absolutely fantastic morning at Winter Wonderland. We arrived at 10am for park-open and managed to walk on almost everything, plus the festive vibes were out in force. This is definitely going to be an annual pilgrimage from now on, just so long as they keep bringing Munich Looping back.
Speak again soon,
Claire
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