New Drifting Coaster At Oktoberfest

Apparently the coaster has been on the German fair market for two years, I have not seen it so far in my area. Yesterday I got a chance to ride it and it was awsome. It is a simple, yet unique concept. Kinda a wild mouse with swinging cars that really swing. I loved it and wondering why not parks in the US jump on that concept. It can not be expensive and has a small foot print.

There are some new flats too at Oktoberfest, but I was drunk of course and took no pictures or videos, but what is impressive is that every flat ride is basically a nightclub with lasers, fog, great music and some even have fire. It is the best amusement park on earth

I assume they know what they’re doing, but the beam between the seats and the chassis looks so flimsy...

PhantomTails said:

I assume they know what they’re doing, but the beam between the seats and the chassis looks so flimsy...

I thought so too, but in Germany these rides have to go thru Tüv which is state regulated and not easy to pass to be able to operate. . I guess it is safe, otherwise they would not be able to run the ride, But what do we know about physics ?

Out of curiosity, were you sober when you rode?

The reason I ask is that I thought it was boring and pointless. Perhaps it's better after a few too many though :)

I think it looks rather cool. Wouldn't mind see these pop up in the states.

Alex. What new flats, please? Think hard.

When we went to Oktoberfest last year it was the occasional version that's reduced in size. Every four (or five?) years the Bavarian Central Agriculture Fair takes up part of the Wiesen resulting in a smaller midway. While the smaller version was still astonishing, I would like to go back sometime when everything shows up to fill the grounds completely.

I found this. Feast your eyes, ride lovers.

Just remember the TUV certified this.

There's a whole society of Taumler fans.

I'd love to try one of those, but I'm afraid my old bones couldn't take it. And just watching makes my beer wanna come up.

Fun fact: when Carowinds first opened they had a Tagada. They also had a real, genuine Waltzer.

The Waltzer at Morey's kicked my butt pretty good last month...still not as good as having ops push your car, but still....

The "drifting coaster" concept is really what I was expecting from Seven Dwarfs (sic)...

@Richard Banister, of course I was drunk(more like tipsy), the coaster does not look spectacular, but is so much fun to ride, I was really surprised and I liked the unique concept as I have never seen it before. It is not massive like Olympia Looping(still one of the best coasters on earth) or Alpina Bahn, but it earned a mentioning on Coasterbuzz ;-)

@Dutchman, Taumler is Kult, versions of this ride have been around for 30+years with no accidents. It is popular with teens as it is the first time for most to "accidently" can touch a girl,lol. It is also a beauty to watch it. Some are really good and can stand up the entire ride.

@rcmac, if my old bones can do Taumler, yours can do it too! It is a fun ride

@rcmac I barely remember names and sure not after 4 Liter Beer, one stand out that I did not see before was the Voodoo Ride which I thought was crazy, I did not get on it as I wanted to stay standing,lol

Oktoberfest in general is the best amusement park on earth for 16 days. You have great themed flatrides that are there own nightclubs, funhouses, 100 year old traditional rides like the Teufelsrad and Slide of death, 6 coasters, some of them like Olympia Looping considered one of the best coasters. Plenty of beergardens, beer and of course the tents that incredibly combined have a capacity of 119000 seats.It is insane. Attendance this year is way up, so expected are 8 Million visitors this year, most US parks would love that many visitors in a year

Basically the place is visiually stunning, I just sit by the beer carousel and watch Olympia Looping in action as it is basically a peace of art, and be happy. Plus you meet great people and of course girls in dirndl, you can not beat that place

The drifting coaster kind of reminds me of an Arrow suspended coaster except that the track is on the bottom.

Alex, based on the video RCMAC posted above, the VooDoo ride is the VooDoo Jumper, a Fabbri Smashing Jump ride that looks like it would instantly make me ill. That said, from videos I have seen, the ride has one of the best light packages of any ride and even blasts fire from the cauldron in the center of the ride.

Some of the more unusual rides in that video were the Trabant-style ride where people sit on benches, the 'Fahrt In Paradis' (heh heh) which looks like a precursor to the Himalaya or Sea Storm, and what looks like a Schwarzkopf Bayern Kurve with hills and a complete train. It was also nice to see how amazingly well-maintained the Matterhorn and Calypso were. I haven't seen a Calypso with all of its flash intact in years.

There also appeared to be many dark rides on the midway. I have watched videos of many of these and really wish our fairs and carnivals had dark rides of this quality. They also seem to like putting a chainsaw-wielding live actor in many of them for an extra treat!

Thanks for sharing those videos. I really need to get to Oktoberfest one day...

@rayP1970 You did not completed living life until you went on the beer carousel,and watch Olympia Looping in it's glory-lol. The video above posted is great but does not serve justice on how these rides look at night. I was sipping my beer looking at the Voodoo ride for probably half an hour at night. Lights, Lasers, Fog and fire, it is a show and that is just one ride.

What I like about it, as an amateur historian, are the antique rides that make their traditional appearance. The ride with the benches is called Crinoline. I had seen it in vids, but when I came upon it I was transfixed. It attracts the older set in their traditional costumes, and there's an actual German band that plays sweet songs for the riders. I didn't get on it, as much as I would have liked to, but I was saving my € for the big stuff. (It's an expensive day- between the beer, the food, and the rides we dropped about 400.)
I've never seen such flashy rides, and it sure made our American midways seem sad. So much attention is paid to decor and music. And that's what you'll have when operators are independent, all vying for your attention and your money. That Matterhorn (lord, is it ever fast) was the closest I saw to the standard midway ride we typically see here. Otherwise is was big spectaculars that we only see sporadically at fairs, or in themers, and if that.
That beautifully restored Calypso was absent when I visited, it was one I wanted to see and ride. And I don't remember seeing the big portable water rides, either, maybe due to the limited space that year.

We ended the night on the huge Ferris wheel, Riesenrad. Our drunk asses sure enjoyed the spectacular view of the grounds and what seemed like miles of bright midway from above.

When did you go and why did you not invite me, I am only living 3 hours away.lol. What water rides are you referring to? There has always been a log flume ride, different rides each year. The rapid ride is new, I think it premiered last year.

Hope you went on Taumler, Teufelsrad and the Slide of death.

"There also appeared to be many dark rides on the midway"

Yeah, but they are mediocre. You have a lot of scary houses too, Some would credit them as a coaster(which they are not). Oktoberfest is all about fun, it does not really matter, I take some dark ride after 4 or 5 beers any day of the week, nobody cares how bad it is. You go for the beertents and the rides are actually second in what you want to do. .

I don't remember seeing the log flume or the Rapids ride last year. I may be wrong though.
It rained the entire evening we were there, so riding was limited. I rode every coaster, Sky Fall, Parkour, and Toboggan. I wanted to go in Teufelsrad, if for no other reason than to sit and watch a while, but due to the fact it was raining the midways were pretty dead. I could hear people in there but I couldn't see how many. Anyway, I busted my ass on Toboggan pretty good, and I wasn't sure I could handle any more physical activity.
I would've tried Pluschie's Rotor and all of the funhouses had conditions out there been better. Plus, we had a large group in the Paulaner tent, dinner was waiting, and trust me- that was a lot of fun too.

Don't worry, I plan to return.

BTW, the TUV approves this, too.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UhgHBrtwG_8

^ RCMAC, I could see myself spending a lot of time in there watching the costumed girls get spun off of that disc! Add in the hanging ball and the lasso guy and that is entertainment at its finest. Although sitting on a bench and watching people get flung up a Toboggan attraction also sounds like a lot of fun... Remember, a laugh at someone else's expense is always a good laugh!

Alex, sorry to hear the dark rides aren't as good as they seem on YouTube. Fahrt Zur Holle looks like a lot of fun as does Fellerhoff's Geisterstadt (not sure if that was there this year based on the videos). But as you mentioned about the VooDoo Jumper, watching a video and witnessing it in person are two completely different things. :)

And did either of you see 'Encounter' at all? I saw an Oktoberfest video that showed the exterior, so I had to do some digging and it looks like the builders copied WDW's old Alien Encounter and made it into a portable attraction. Just wondering how it would compare to the original.

Teufelsrad is a classic! I really like the video you posted, that girl was not getting off the ride,lol. The ride is 100+years old, what is the Tüv about to say, now it is not safe anymore after all these years without an accident?lol

I never did the Rotor as I think it is a bad idea to do so after a lot of food and beer. I did it in Magic Mountain plenty of times, so I am good on that one.

Rcmac, how much did you drink before getting busted on the Toboggan aka slide of death? HA! I am pretty good with that one surprisingly, but I love to watch people fail with a beer in my hand, for that alone it is worth to visit.

Log Flume(probably a different one) and the Rapids ride were there last year, I think the Rapids premiered last year.

Did you do Olympia Looping ? That is a must for coaster nerds like us, Alpina and Höllenblitz too.

I like the Paulaner tent too, glad you enjoyed yourself. Next time you go, sent me a pm, I do not need a reason to go to Oktoberfest, but course it nicer to do so with a fellow coasterbuzzer