Heide Park, Germany

Sometimes dreams do come true. I was lucky enough to go to Heide Park for two days over the past couple weeks and I am so grateful. The 12th graders went as a physics field trip in September, but I was unable to go because I had already committed to going on a field trip with the 6th graders. The teacher that I work with, Ana, felt bad and took me twice with her kids. I had a wonderful time. But, “What is Heide Park and why was this a lifelong dream?” you ask. Well, to start off, it is a magical place.

One of my favorite games growing up was Roller Coaster Tycoon. I would play for hours and hours, creating rides and making my park award-worthy. One of the expansion packs that I played with included three “real life parks” that you could build upon. Well, Heide Park was one of those parks! I recently went back to the game and I must say, some of the resemblances between the virtual park and the real one are striking. Below are some of the comparisons that I noticed. If you feel so inclined to even compare it with the park map, the link is here.

The first huge similarities are The Big Loop and Limit, two white roller coasters that sit directly next to each other. The roller coasters in the game are pretty much exact replicas. It is really cool.

 

The next roller coaster was one of my favorites. It was like a bobsled; I have never been on a roller coaster like this. The roller coaster traveled on a curved track, and the cart was allowed to move freely. The game model for this ride was also an exact replica. Look at that turn!

 

The game includes the famous viewing tower and the two separate monorails that the park has. It also includes the double-decker carousel and the log flume. We got a picture on the log flume and I will upload it once it is available to me.

 

   

There is also the raft ride. I went on this four times it was so great. I know I sound like a broken record, but the model in the game is so exact. And the mini roller coaster to the top of the model image? Yes I went on that too. It actually goes inside a little tunnel which has a diorama of two horses prancing. It was great.  Do you see the part of the virtual raft ride near the bottom of the image were you are surrounded by waterfalls? Yup. That happened. As you can see by the bottom picture I had a really great time.

 

 

 

Some rides were not built before the game came out. One of these was the Kraken. It had a very steep drop into the mouth of a very frightening looking…..Kraken.

 

The best ride in the park was the Colossus. This is the tallest wooden roller coaster in the world. It is also the third fastest wooden roller coaster and has the fourth longest drop. It was so awesome.

 

I did not even cover half of the similarities between the game and real life. I had such an amazing time geeking out over the whole experience. Overall, I had a really great two days at Heide Park with Ana and her kids.

 

 

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