Octopus (Heide Park Resort)

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octopus
A train in a splashdown with no shipwreck built

A train in a splashdown with no shipwreck built

Data
Location Heide Park Resort
( Soltau , Germany )
Type Steel - seated
model Dive coaster
category Floorless coaster
Drive type Chain lift hill
Manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard
costs 12 million  euros
opening April 16, 2011
length 476 m
height 41 m
Dimensions 10,000 m²
max. slope 87 °
Max. speed 103 km / h
max.acceleration 3 g
Travel time ~ 2 min
capacity approx. 1050 people per hour
elements 87 ° drop
splashdown
Immelmann
Camelback
Inversions 1
Subject area Pirate Bay
Theming Kraken , piracy

Octopus in Heide Park ( Soltau , Germany ) is a floorless - roller coaster on the model dive coaster the manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard , which opened on 16 April 2011th The 476 m long and 12 million euro route reaches a height of 41 m and has a splashdown as well as an Immelmann and a Camelback . Krake, the only dive coaster in Germany, has three trains with only six seats in one of the three rows for the first time, which enables the use of the narrower standard rails from the manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard in contrast to the wider dive coaster rails.

history

The construction site of the splashdown
The delivered parts at the depot

The first speculation that a new roller coaster would be built in the park began in late 2009 when it became known that a project called Ungetüm 2011 was being worked on. In September 2010 the park received the first delivery of the track parts from Bolliger & Mabillard . On October 31, 2010, Heidepark officially announced Germany's first Dive Coaster Krake . The track was built by the company RCS . Construction work began on the splashdown element first . Later, the Immelmann and the station were built on the site of the demolished dolphinarium. On January 28, 2011, the railway closed the rails after the rails had been connected at the First Drop. After the test drives and an opening ceremony, Krake opened on April 16, 2011. The maiden voyage was taken by managing directors Hannes W. Mairinger and Jimi Blue Ochsenknecht .

After the announced theming element of an octopus mouth, through which the train was supposed to run after the first drop, had not been set up, the park had to take a lot of criticism because of the promised theming. As a reaction, the element was finally added in the following winter break and a cabinet of horrors called Krake lives! set up.

Theming

The layout of octopus

Since octopus can be found in the Pirate Bay theme area , the entire railway system refers to the theme of piracy . To implement this theming, part of the original dolphinarium was redesigned and decorated with protruding cannons. The station building was designed as an abandoned pirate bastion. Since 2012, the railway has had another theming element in the form of a ship penetrated by an octopus mouth through which the train travels. The name of the attraction is derived from the symbolism that the passenger is torn down by the octopus.

The park commissioned the composers Andreas and Sebastian Kübler from the music producer IMAscore from Paderborn to compose and produce the background music for the roller coaster, which can be heard in the area around the attraction, the queue and the station.

journey

The ride is permitted from the age of twelve and a height of 1.40 m. After the hydraulic platforms and fences, which are used for entry, have been folded to the side, the train leaves the station directly into the 41-meter-high chain lift hill . After a left turn you come to a holding brake, which first leads the train slowly over the first drop, stops it on the slope for about three seconds and finally releases it. At the end of the 87 degree steep First Drop , which leads through the octopus mouth on the lower part, the train reaches its maximum speed of approx. 103 km / h before it plunges into the splashdown , with water flowing through baffles at the end of the vehicle in two fountains whirled up and the train slowed down at the same time. It is followed by an Immelmann as a turn . After a dip there is a small Camelback hill before the train enters the downward sloping final brake after a right curve. After a 180-degree left turn, the train, which has been greatly slowed down, returns to the station. The journey takes about two minutes.

technology

rail

Overview of the entire railway system
A train passing through the mouth
A train after the Immelmann exit
The splashdown and Immelmann
A train in the Immelmann
The view of a train in the holding brake

The steel track is 476 meters long, the lift hill is approx. 41 meters high. Both rails and supports are painted dark brown. The installed rails weigh around 700 tons. Due to the smaller trains compared to other dive coasters such as SheiKra or Griffon , it was possible for the first time to use the standard rails from Bolliger & Mabillard for a dive coaster. All other dive coasters use much more massive and wider rails due to the higher weight of the trains.

Trains

Octopus has three identical steel and fiberglass trains that were made in Switzerland . Each train consists of three cars with six seats each for 18 passengers per train. Every single black seat has a brown shoulder strap as a restraint system . In the rear rows of seats, compared to the front rows, the seating positions are increased by approx. 30 centimeters for better visibility; this means that the rows are arranged in steps. There is also a roll-back protection under the trains , which is intended to prevent the train from rolling back in the event of the chain lift breaking. In addition, there is a device for the holding brake under the trains and baffles at the rear for the splashdown fountains .

Records

Unlike the seven other dive coasters, Krake does not have a world record. Nevertheless, it has some peculiarities. It is the first dive coaster that only has six seats in a row, which means that the narrower rails can be installed. It is also the first and only dive coaster in Germany. For the first time, the track has a direct splashdown after the first drop, which is followed by the Immelmann . All other dive coasters with Splashdown go through an Immelmann first.

reception

Krake had to take a lot of criticism from the broad mass of visitors. In particular, the short length of the runway and the lack of the promised theming was criticized. Nevertheless, airtimers.com rated the octopus with four out of five possible stars in its novelty check.

Jurnan Schilder from Theme Park Tourist also rated the runway with four out of five possible stars.

Significance for the park

Octopus is one of nine roller coasters in the park. It is the second highest and second fastest, but at the same time also the third shortest run in the park, whereby the even shorter runs are children's roller coasters.

Although there was this new major attraction in 2011, the opening year of the Kraken, the number of visitors to the park could not be increased. They stagnated compared to the previous year at 1.35 million, although the average growth of the 20 most visited parks in Europe was 2.8%. In 2012, the park had to accept a big drop in visitor numbers. Despite the attraction, these fell by 7.1% to 1.3 million.

Web links

Commons : Krake (Heide-Park)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Krake - Heide-Park Soltau (Soltau, Lower Saxony, Germany) . RCDB entry, accessed on July 5, 2013
  2. ↑ Heide-Park builds Germany's first dive coaster. In: pressetext.com. November 1, 2010, accessed January 7, 2020 .
  3. ↑ a b Heide-Park - First information about the B&M Floorless Dive-Coaster "Krake" . Article from airtimers.com, November 1, 2010, accessed July 5, 2013
  4. ↑ a b KRAKE ( Memento from May 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive ). Official website of the Heide Park, accessed on July 6, 2013
  5. ↑ Speculation: "Ungetüm" 2011 . Heath Park Forum. November 14, 2009. Archived from the original on March 5, 2011. Retrieved on April 11, 2013.
  6. ↑ Diving Into Heide Park In 2011 ( English ) NewsPlusNotes. September 21, 2010. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
  7. ↑ Heide Park Announces Krake for 2011 ( English ) NewsPlusNotes. October 31, 2010. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
  8. ↑ a b Heide-Park builds Germany's first dive coaster (Heide-Park is building Germany's first dive coaster) (German) . In: Wallstreet Online , November 1, 2010. Retrieved April 18, 2013. 
  9. ↑ a b c "Krake" conquers Heide-Park Soltau . In: Norddeutscher Rundfunk , February 24, 2011. Archived from the original on April 24, 2011. Retrieved April 19, 2013. 
  10. ↑ a b c octopus . Heidepark. Archived from the original on May 2, 2013. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
  11. ↑ a b Krake Growing at Heide Park ( English ) NewsPlusNotes. December 16, 2010. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
  12. ↑ Time For A Krake Update ( English ) NewsPlusNotes. January 16, 2011. Retrieved April 14, 2013.
  13. ↑ Krake - Rail closure in Heide-Park . Article from airtimers.com, January 28, 2011, accessed July 5, 2013
  14. ↑ The Completed Krake ( English ) January 29, 2011. Retrieved April 15, 2013.
  15. ↑ Photo TR: Opening Day Krake at Heide Park ( English ) Theme Park Review. April 16, 2011. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
  16. ↑ a b New product check: Krake, Heide Park . Article from airtimers.com, April 27, 2011, accessed July 5, 2013
  17. ↑ a b Heide Park Completing Krake Theming ( English ) NewsPlusNotes. February 21, 2012. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
  18. ↑ Kraken Is Creepy! ( English ) NewsPlusNotes. April 12, 2011. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
  19. ↑ Heide-Park 2012 - The killer octopus is alive and is finally getting hungry! . Article from airtimers.com, October 26, 2011, accessed July 5, 2013
  20. ↑ Station of the Octopus . RCDB photo, accessed July 10, 2013
  21. ↑ The new major attraction of Heide Park "Krake" gets a soundtrack from IMAscore. IMAscore, March 21, 2011, accessed March 21, 2011 .
  22. ↑ Krake Roller Coaster POV B&M Dive Machine Heide Park Germany . themeparkreviewTPR (YouTube). November 17, 2012. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
  23. ↑ With Germany's first dive coaster - KRAKE - flying high . Heath Park World. April 15, 2011. Archived from the original on April 4, 2016. Retrieved on April 18, 2013.
  24. ↑ a b List of all dive coasters . RCDB entry, accessed on July 6, 2013
  25. ↑ Review: Krake at Heide-Park (English). Article from Theme Park Tourist, Jurnan Schilder, April 27, 2011, accessed August 24, 2013
  26. ↑ List of roller coasters in Heide Park . RCDB entry, accessed on August 24, 2013
  27. ↑ Global Attractions Attendance Report 2011 ( Memento of November 5, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (English; PDF; 616 kB). Themed Entertainment Association (TEA), accessed August 24, 2013
  28. ↑ Global Attractions Attendance Report 2012 ( Memento of October 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (English; PDF; 16.7 MB). Themed Entertainment Association (TEA), accessed August 24, 2013

Coordinates: 53 ° 1 ′ 29.4 ″  N , 9 ° 52 ′ 45.2 ″  E

This article was added to the list of articles worth reading on September 4, 2013 in this version .