originally posted on 11/3/2019
Photo: Courtesy Mack Rides. View full-sized image.
Visitors to Freizeitpark Plohn in Lengenfeld, Saxony, Germany, had time to speculate about what would replace Silver Mine, the Flitzer that had operated at the park for 17 years when it was removed in 2017. The park was home to six coasters at the time, and it was clear that the park would replace Silver Mine with a coaster, not just another ride.
Freizeitpark Plohn chose Mack Rides, specifically its Big Dipper model, for its newest coaster, and plans were revealed in 2018 when construction began. Dynamite is only the second Big Dipper model operating at a park, the other one being Lost Gravity at Walibi Holland (Biddinghuizen, Flevoland, Netherlands), which opened in 2016. Lost Gravity is longer in length and ride time than Dynamite, but these are only two considerations altogether.
A custom layout was planned for Dynamite, along with Western theming in the station and on the coaster trains. Dynamite, which opened to the public on May 18, 2019, is the park’s largest investment to date.
Photo: Martin Valt. View full-sized image.
One might wonder how Dynamite could fit into the space formerly occupied by a Flitzer, but it does. The total track length is 1,640 feet, and the coaster tops out at just over 144 feet. The trains consist of two cars that hold eight riders: four across in two rows, with the two outer seats on each row being floorless, like a wing coaster. The Western theming begins when riders enter the station and see Old West paraphernalia along with some serious-looking buzzards keeping an eye on things. Also, one can’t help but notice the giant holes in the station walls, suggesting that someone wasn’t too careful in packing the explosives. To further emphasize the coaster’s name, the seats on the train sit directly behind what looks like a huge box of dynamite.
Photo: Martin Valt. View full-sized image.
So, what’s a ride on Dynamite like?
Once at the top of the chain lift hill, the coaster enters a dive drop into an 80-foot-long underground airtime tunnel below a barn-like shed, reaching speeds of 62 mph, after which it flies through an overbanked turn into a 270-degree helix. A banked dive takes riders through the barn’s roof once more. After an airtime hill, passengers enter a vertical loop, followed by a zero-G roll. Approximately a minute and a half and three inversions later, they are back at the station. While the ride is on the shorter side, it explodes with action.
Photo: Courtesy Mack Rides. View full-sized image.
Photo: Martin Valt. View full-sized image.
Photo: Richard Bannister. View full-sized image.
Freizeitpark Plohn’s other coasters are Drachenwirbel, an SBF Visa compact spinning steel family coaster; El Toro, a wood coaster from Great Coasters International, Inc.; Raupe, an SBF Visa Big Apple/Wacky Worm; and Plohseidon, a steel family coaster from Zierer — plus, there is Miniwah, a powered Mack Rides dark ride family “coaster.” In addition to these, Freizeitpark Plohn offers many other attractions, including animal enclosures and dinosaur models.
— Lee Ann Draud
ACE Publications Director
Take a ride on Dynamite here:
Video: Courtesy Freizeitpark Plohn.
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