DippieDoe Familiepark

08/03/2013
For this saturday my colleague Jasper and I made plans to go to Toverland. Only one day in advance the idea arose to make a quick stop at DippieDoe familiepark on the way there. A new roller coaster has been added to this small park since the previous visit in 2006.

The drive goes very smoothly on this black saturday, except for a small mishap at the exit to the A67 motorway. Fortunately we were able to turn around some 6.8 kilometers later. We arrive at DippieDoe at about half past ten and there are hardly any other cars in the parking lot.

Once inside indeed there appear to be less visitors than staff in the park. In the first hall we encounter a small breakdance, a carousel and a rockin 'tug. And no less than 4 visitors.

We walk straight outside and there it is also completely deserted. Most people are probably next door at Aquabest. In the Zeeslang there are 3 children, one boy immediately wants to get off. The operator nicely completes the remainder of the ride for the other two.

Jasper has not previously been on this coaster, the former Adventurenslang of Avonturenpark Hellendoorn, and so we grab a ride here first. We have the entire train to ourselves. The very friendly operator informs us that there is a second roller coaster at the back of the park. We know, that's what we came here for.

This second coaster is called Tyfoon (#822) and originally stood in Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen. The curious thing is that this rollercoaster had already been removed from Tivoli in 2003 and has only surfaced again in 2011 here in DippieDoe. So Tyfoon has been in storage somewhere for eight years.

When we arrive it appears that it only opens at 11am. Another problem is that one of the two trains got stuck in the block brakes. It takes quite some time before they've got it going again and then a number of test runs follow. That goes well for some time until another train comes to an early halt. Just when I start think it is not going to happen today, we are admitted in. Hopefully it will work, the man says. That sounds encouraging.

Tyfoon is a reasonably fast coaster but not overly smooth. Occasionally there is a piece of banking in the course of which I wonder whether that was original there. In any case, we arrive back into the station without any problems. The operator ask if we all would like a second ride. Of course we do, and fortunately also the second time the train makes it to the finish.

DippieDoe doesn't really have something to offer us any further and so we quickly move on to Sevenum.


The DippieDoe entrance.


Little Dancer is a small version of a breakdance.


This I haven't seen before: a game in Angry Birds style. The children need to dance on numbered dots and stand still on time.


A virtually empty Zeeslang.




The hospitality industry also isn't awake yet. Empty terraces.


The queue at Tyfoon.


The problem area at the blockbrakes.


This time the trains make it through just fine again.




Even more angry birds. All new playground equipment in style.

Toverland

08/03/2013
Half an hour later we arrive at Toverland. It seems considerably busier than DippieDoe, here the entire first parking area is full and we have to leave the car in the gravel course.

In the front hall, we immediately find the first roller coaster: Boomerang Boomerang is a Vekoma coaster with a train with real locomotive. It is the first time for Jasper in Toverland and so we are headed for the entrance. There is barely a queue for Boomerang, we have to wait only one run. The ride itself is just as I remembered: a little wild and rather short but not that horribly wrong.

At the second hall is already somewhat busier. Especially for the Bobkart course Woudracer there is a serious queue. It is a neat attraction though and so we decide to sit it out. The capacity of this type of Bobkarts is sad and therefore it takes quite a long time before it's our turn. Jasper sprints away first and then I still have to wait until the next kart arrives painfully slow. The advantage is that I can, once onboard, drive all the way flat out, which turns out much slower and shorter than I had in mind.

Outside we run into Booster Bike first, still a very nice and unique roller coaster in the Netherlands. We also take one lap here, we hardly need to wait, and we can sit / lie all the way up front. Booster Bike unfortunately seems to have deteriorated somewhat over the last 9 years, but it's still a decent ride.

The Magical Valley area behind the roller coaster is totally new this year. There has clearly been given an enormous amount of care to decor. There is a beautiful new restaurant with terrace and water playground. There are tons of boulder dragged in to form the landscape.

The Magical Valley also includes a new roller coaster: Dwervelwind (#823), named after the inhabitants of this area, the Dwervels. The station looks great from both the outside and inside. Again, it is very quiet here. It appears that the crowds in the park aren't that bad after all. In other words: they handle their capacity very well. Dwerveldwind is a spinning roller coaster from Mack with trains like the ones on Euro Mir in Europa Park. And do we spin alright, for some reason the third coach, in which we are seated, spins a lot more than the other three. However, a very good entertaining coaster with a lot of fast cornering.

Also completely new is Djengu River, a very beautiful landscaped rapid river of 450 meters long. The queue to the loading platform is again perfectly detailed, although it is quite hot in the inner part. The ride is never dull, even though we didn't get very wet, there is plenty to see along the way. Very nicely done.

From the Magical Valley we walk to Troy and again we can board almost instantly. The first ride we take seats near the back. What a wonderful speed and fantastic drops this coaster has. Jasper is stunned by the sheer violence of this monster. We go for a second time right away all the way in the back and then again frontseat. There Troy actually gives the best experience though, with the full wind in your face. As far as I am concerned, this ride is worth every euro of the 6.5 million it costed.

We walk back into the hall for a go on Backstroke, which unfortunately is a bit too short. We don't get wet either. Many children are in the water at the rafts even though it isn't allowed to swim.

Finally we make another round through the park and we grab one more ride on Booster Bike, Dwervelwind (no longer in the third coach, a lot more pleasant this time), Djengu River and Troy (again frontseat).

Toverland has really made a big step forward with this expansion and made the connection with the larger Dutch theme parks. I wonder what they have in store for us in the future.


It is a beautiful warm day in Toverland.


Katara Plaza, new restaurant and environment.


The beautifully designed station of Dwervelwind.


Logo.






First drop.


Decoration in the Magical Valley.


The Djengu River can be crossed through these walkways in different places.


Station of Djengu River.






Magical Valley.




The Tolly Molly carousel is also in style.


The big splash of Backstroke.


Troy is still a thrill.




Scorpios the swinging ship.