originally posted on 11/11/2024
Photo: Jan Liebrecht. View full-sized image.
Halloween season has some of the most fun and scary events at theme parks worldwide. This year for Scarefest, ACE Europe visited Heide Park Resort in northern Germany located in a lovely forest near Soltau. Most parks in Europe are served by trains or public transportation, so it was an easy and inexpensive ride from the Hamburg airport, with timed train transfers to Wolterdingen. Twenty-two ACEers attended from Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic, United States and Portugal.
Heide Park is well known for its Halloween event and the transformation that takes place during the fall season.
Photo: Jamey Frank. View full-sized image.
Photos: Jan Liebrecht. View full-sized image.
View full-sized image.
Heide Park is well known for its popular “Scare Zone” in the Transylvania area, which contains three scary mazes with live actors who deliver doses of adrenaline to startled guests. The day started out chilly and foggy, which added to the spooky ambience, perfect for Halloween. Trees in the mist had turned bright red, orange and yellow throughout the park and the surrounding forest.
The park host, Jan Stöhlmacher, met attendees in front of the themed Abenteuerhotel (Adventure Hotel) for a group photo and then escorted everyone inside the park before opening. He described the process of construction, theming, design and hiring of actors to bring the experiences to life so visitors can be scared half to death. Following this was a backstage tour of the mazes SubTerra and Grand Hotel Morton; it was fascinating to see the technology, operations and hidden corridors.
The park’s Intamin wood coaster, Colossos — Kampf der Giganten, definitely lives up to its name.
Photo: Jan Liebrecht. View full-sized image.
Afterward, attendees were escorted down the perimeter service road to take group photos in front of the magnificent wooden coaster Colossos — Kampf der Giganten (Battle of the Giants). There was free time until late afternoon when timed entries were given for each maze plus the outdoor spooky garden/graveyard, Ex Crypta, surrounded in swirling fog and shadowy darkness, overrun with ghouls.
Attendees enjoyed the park’s mazes, which were as popular as the roller coasters.
Photos: Jamey Frank. View full-sized image.
As the sun set, the park became aglow with eerie lighting, spooky shadows and beautifully illuminated coasters. The lighting, shadows and fog added to the atmosphere while riding the coasters, giving a whole new dimension to already excellent rides.
Heide Park features an impressive and varied coaster lineup, including Bobbahn, Flug der Dämonen and Big Loop.
Photo: Jamey Frank. View full-sized image.
The coaster lineup is impressive, too. Flug der Dämonen (Flight of the Demons) is a masterfully designed, unique and long wing coaster built over terrain with five butter-smooth inversions, especially remarkable in the darkness and mist. Built on a hillside, Bobbahn is one of the longest bobsled-style coasters built by Mack at 990 meters in length (3,248 feet) with multiple lifts and a surprise helix in the dark. Desert Race is an Intamin hydraulic launch coaster that packs a punch, and Krake is a short but thrilling sea monster-themed Bolliger & Mabillard dive coaster.
Big Loop, a classic Vekoma double loop and corkscrew coaster, looked beautiful, reflected in the lake. Nearby, Toxic Garden, themed like a radioactive garden with carnivorous plants, is a Vekoma suspended looping coaster that is noticeably smoother than most. Both have impressive pink and blue lighting schemes that really make their twisted tracks stand out. Rounding out the family coasters are Grottenblitz, a delightful powered coaster, and Indy-Blitz, an enjoyable smaller Zierer ride.
As day turned to night, the park took on a completely different vibe with clowns and dramatic lighting.
Photo: Jan Liebrecht. View full-sized image.
Photo: Jamey Frank. View full-sized image.
Towering over the park, Colossos — Kampf der Giganten is an enormous 50-meter (164 feet) monstrous out-and-back reminiscent of Shivering Timbers at Michigan’s Adventure (Muskegon), including loads of airtime (especially toward the back of the train), grinding fast helix, breathtaking views and fire and fog effects. And after its extensive refurbishment in 2019, it’s running incredibly smoothly, reminiscent of El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure (Jackson, New Jersey). The highlight of the day was ascending the lift hill on the final ride of the night during the spectacular fireworks finale over the lake directly adjacent to the coaster…magnificent!
No matter the time of day, Colossos is an imposing sight.
Photo: Jamey Frank. View full-sized image.
Special thanks to Jan Liebricht of ACE Europe and Heide Park Representative Svenja Heuer for organizing an amazing and very worthwhile experience. Upcoming events for ACE Europe include Winterfest in Liseberg, Sweden; Springfest 2025 at Gardaland and Movieland Studios in Italy; ACE Viking Trip II — Finnish Invasion, summer 2025; Scarefest 2025 at PortAventura in Spain; ACE Winterfest 2025 at Phantasialand in Germany, and more! Find out more about ACE Europe at https://aceeuropeonline.org/, and subscribe to the ACE Europe regional newsletter.
— Jamey Frank, ACE Europe Assistant Regional Representative
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