We’re privileged to have enjoyed over a week of theme parks across Europe this Spring, many of which I (Alex) hadn’t visited in nearly a decade and were new for Sean entirely. The first of 9 parks we’ll be covering is one of Germany’s northernmost parks, the lovely Hansa Park.
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A regal entrance plaza has welcomed guests to Hansa Park since its opening in 1977, on the former site of a short-lived Legoland park. Inside, guests are treated to a wide array of themed areas, many of them with a nautical flair that reflects the park’s oceanside location.
A trio of Scottish-themed rides are among the first that guests will encounter on their visit to Hansa Park. Of them are two family-friendly coasters, the looping Schwarzkopf Nessie and the lengthy Vekoma Royal Scotsman.
In Lumberjacks’ Camp we find our favorite coaster at Hansa Park: the enigmatic Flucht von Novgorod, a partially-enclosed launched Gerstlauer Eurofighter. It would be the first of three heavily-themed, partially-enclosed Gerstlauer coasters for Hansa park, all of which feature complex pre-show sequences and indoor lift hills (two of which being vertical).
Just south of Flucht von Novgorod are two of Hansa Park’s 4 (!) flume rides. The longest is the Wild Wasserbahn (also one of the oldest flumes in Europe), and the tallest is SuperSplash, a prototype Intamin that’s somewhere between a wide-gage log flume and a Spillwater.
One of the park’s two kiddie log flumes – along with the larger of the park’s waterslide attractions – make up Hansa’s fitting pirates area.
Crazy Mine, a standard Maurer wild mouse, is dressed up rather nicely here – complete with singing audio-animatronics. Not to be outdone, Schlange von Midgard features an articulated pre-lift dark ride scene that changes between the first and second laps around its 200m (656ft) of track.
And finally, there’s the showstopping Schwur des Kärnan – perhaps the world’s most flamboyant hyper coaster. This odd beast could make even the most jaded coaster enthusiast blush.
As you can see, Hansa Park boasts a wealth of charm and unique coasters – from the classic to the cataclysmic, and everything in between. The park is what we crave from a quality European theme park experience, but also delivers surprises at every turn. With one of the quirkiest lineups of any park anywhere, we’ll watch Hansa’s next moves with great interest and with eager anticipation for a return visit.
Take a longer look at our day at Hansa Park with ride footage and walk-through moments in our Hansa Park Vlog:
