originally posted on 2/4/2022
All photos and images courtesy of Energylandia. View full-sized image.
Energylandia (Zator, Poland) opened its doors in 2014. European enthusiasts hardly took notice, and Americans certainly didn’t. Three family/children’s coasters weren’t actually newsworthy. Three roller coasters from Vekoma the next year offered bigger thrills, but there was still nothing major enough to entice one except for a handful of credits. Formuła in 2016 added something notable. The Space Warp coaster from Vekoma was more intriguing. Two more coasters (plus a powered ride) came in 2017. If the lineup wasn’t that impressive, the frequency of additions was.
Then the big leagues were breached. Hyperion, an Intamin hypercoaster, put the park on the map in 2018. And it came with Speed (an oddly named Intamin water coaster) to add another signature ride. This was followed by three more (!!) in 2019. Zadra from Rocky Mountain Construction was huge and had coaster fans around the world salivating. By this time, enthusiasts were all well aware of Energylandia, even if they knew they might never get there in their lives. Zadra was joined by two family offerings. The pandemic hardly slowed things down, as 2021 brought two additions. Abyssus was a spectacular launched looping coaster, and the anchor of a brand new area called Aqualantis. A Vekoma family coaster came with it. At this point, there were 16 roller coasters. Energylandia leapt to the front of European records and was poised to make a run for a worldwide record.
Sweet Valley is an all-new section. View full-sized image.
Was the park slowing down? Apparently not. In 2022, Energylandia is at it again. A brand new land called Sweet Valley is themed to sweets, candy and desserts. What a yummy theme! This new land comes with a complement of rides for the whole family, two of which are coasters. Choco Chip Creek is a new Vekoma mine train. Construction of the ride was one of the first things completed. Among the other attractions is Honey Harbour, a Vekoma junior coaster.
View full-sized image.
Vekoma has been a great partner for the park, as the coaster company has manufactured 10 of the park’s 18 coasters.
A decade ago, Energylandia didn’t exist; now it is at the forefront of destination parks that enthusiasts would like to put on their bucket lists. The park enjoys funding support from the government. Reports are that this arrangement may be coming to an end. If so, growth may stop, but what has been put in place in less than 10 years is incredibly impressive.
— Tim Baldwin, ACE News Editor
View full-sized image.
#ACENews