Heide Park

Heide Park Resort

Entrance in 2012
Location	Soltau, Lower Saxony, Germany
Coordinates	53°01′41″N 9°52′09″E / 53.02806°N 9.86917°ECoordinates: 53°01′41″N 9°52′09″E / 53.02806°N 9.86917°E
Owner	Merlin Entertainments
Opened	19 August 1978
Operating season	March–November
Area	~ 850,000 m^2
Rides
Total	41
Roller coasters	9
Water rides	3
Website	www.heide-park.de

The Heide Park Resort(in English Heath Park) is a theme park in Soltau, Lower Saxony, Germany. With an overall area of over 850,000 m² (210 acres), it is the largest amusement park in Northern Germany and among the largest in the country. It is part of the British-based Merlin Entertainments.

History

The site originally belonged to the wildlife park Heidenhof, which was named after the chapel that was built there in 1350. After the zoo was closed in 1972 (following a devastating storm), the showman Hans-Jürgen Tiemann bought the land and opened a small amusement park in 1978 (with the contractual requirement to maintain Heidenhof Chapel as well as the keeping of native animals). When Heide Park opened on August 19, 1978 it offered only six rides: the Monzapiste, the Heide-Park Express, the Oldtimerrundkurs, the Floßfahrt (tow boat ride), the Wichtelhausenbahn and the Hochbahn. In the first season Heide-Park had just under 200,000 visitors. 1979 saw the first dolphin show, for which they built a large domed roof a year later (after the 2008 season, the Dolphinarium was closed due to protests).

Heide-Park

The location of Heide-Park

The Heide-Dorf (Heide-Village), a richly detailed replica of typical buildings from the Lüneburg heath, was inaugurated in the 1988 season. In 1996/'97 the Dutch section of the park was built with a windmill and canal at the other end of the park.

With the growth of the park, the catchment area grew as well. In the 1990s, up to two million people visited Heide-Park each season with 2.100.000 guests in 2001. The following year the UK-based Tussauds Group bought the park and since then attendance to the park has decreased to 1.5 - 1.6 million visitors per annum. Hans-Jürgen Tiemann still has influence in the park by shares and as an advisory director of the Tussauds Group. In early 2007 the Merlin Entertainments Group bought the majority of the shares of Tussauds Group from Dubai International Capital, which had taken over the shares in 2005.

The most recognizable landmark in the park is a 1/3 scale replica of the Statue of Liberty (35 meters tall), it was inaugurated on July 4, 1986 on the 100th anniversary of the original statue. At the end of 2011 the whole structure was relocated to stand within the roller coaster Colossos. The park's mascot is a bear called Wumbo.

In the 1990s, Hans-Jurgen Tiemann was successful as a driver and sponsor on the touring-car racing circuit, while his son Marcel Tiemann began a career as a professional race car driver.

Music and events

The music played at Heide Park is a combination of commercial tracks, library music and commissioned music. The following composers have had their music played at the park: Graham Smart, Ian Habgood, David Buckley, Crispin Merrell, and John Sanderson.

Halloween in October is a special event.

Heide Park Resort

Mascot Mumbo Wumbo at the Holiday Camps

Hotel Port Royal was opened in 2007 with 150 family rooms and 16 suites. There is also a Holiday Camp that opened in 2005 with 81 wooden houses in Caribbean style with a total of 536 beds.

Park areas

The park is divided into five areas.

1. Park Entrance that features Lower-Saxony style buildings
2. Bucht der Piraten (Pirate Land) that is mainly themed around the world of pirates
3. Transilvania with a medieval-style castle on top of the hill surrounded by a forest
4. Land der Vergessenen (Land of the Forgotten) which hosts the park's award-winning wooden roller coaster Colossos as well as the Mayan Village that has many flat rides
5. Wild Wild West was opened in 2008 to celebrate the park's 30th anniversary, it incorporates Lucky Land.

Attractions

Heide Park currently has about 40 rides which are mainly aimed at families but its thrill rides are also very popular. One of the main attractions is Colossos, a wooden roller coaster, which until the opening of Balder, on 12 April 2003 in the Swedish amusement park Liseberg, was the steepest wooden roller coaster in the world. The latest attraction is the wing coaster "Flug der Dämonen"-(German for Flight of the demons). It is Germany's first wing coaster and reaches a maximum of 4G positive during the ride.

Panoramic view of Colossos

Roller coasters

Name	Picture	Type	Opened	Max. Height	Length	Max. Speed	Manufacturer
Big Loop		Steel coaster	1983	30 m	706 m	67 km/h	Vekoma
Colossos		Wooden coaster	2001	52 m	1344 m	120 km/h	Intamin
Desert Race		Launched coaster	2007	19 m	650 m	102 km/h	Intamin
Flug der Dämonen		Wing Coaster	2014	40 m	772 m	100 km/h	Bolliger & Mabillard
Grottenblitz		Powered coaster	1985	6 m	370 m	45 km/h	Mack Rides
Indy-Blitz		Steel coaster	2008	4,5 m	128 m	23 km/h	Zierer
Krake		Dive coaster	2011	41m	476 m	103 km/h	Bolliger & Mabillard
Limit		Vekoma SLC	1999	33 m	689 m	80 km/h	Vekoma
Schweizer Bobbahn		Bobsled coaster	1993	27 m	990 m	53 km/h	Mack Rides

Water rides

Name	Picture	Type	Opened in	Max. Height	Ride length	Producer
Mountain Rafting		River rapids ride	1992	-	600 m	Intamin
Wildwasserbahn I		Log flume	1980	12 m	600 m	Mack Rides
ToPiLauLa-Schlacht		Splashbattle	2010	-	150 m	Mack Rides

Other attractions

Name	Type	Opened in	Producer
Bounty	Pirate Ship	1982	Intamin
Break Dance	Break Dance	1991	HUSS Maschinenfabrik
La Ola	Wave Swinger	2009	Zierer
El Sol	Enterprise	1991	Huss
Lady Moon	Tilted spinning ride	1991	Huss
Floßfahrt	Tow boat ride	1978	Mack Rides
Heide-Park Express	CP Huntington train	1978, rebuilt 2004	Chance-Morgan
Kanalfahrt	Slow boat ride	1991	Mack Rides
Magic	fast spinning ride	1991	Huss
Monorail	Monorail	1985, renewed 1995	Intamin
Oldtimer	Steerable oldtimer track	1978	Mack Rides
Panorama	a 75m tall Gyro tower	1985	Intamin
Panoramabahn	Train Ride	1978	Mack Rides
Okti	Octopus / polyp	1982	Schwarzkopf
Huracan	Standup spinning ride	1983	Heinz Fähtz
Scream	a 103m tall Drop Tower	2003	Intamin
Aqua Spin	Top Spin	1992	Huss
Kaptains Törn	a leisurely 4 min boat ride	1997	Mack Rides

Krake Alive! - a 7 min horror maze (2012); Heide Park. This indoor horror maze has 7 different scenes in the 300 sq m building with plenty of special effects and live actors as well. Age limit 12 years.

Go Karts - go karts (2004); extra charge

Kiddie Rides

• Koggenfahrt - circular ride (1982); Mack Rides.
• Lucky Land - play area with gold digging, horse shoe throwing, etc. (2008).
• Nostalgic Carousel - carousel (1997); Bertazzon.
• Pizie Town Train - on track ride (1978); Mack Rides.
• Rotor Baron - airplanes (1985); ETZ Marcel Lutz.
• Screamie - a 12m tall mini drop tower (2008); Zierer.
• Sea Horse Bay - paddle boats for kids (2005); Klarer Freizeitlagen.
• Steam Carousel - carousel (1989); Peter Petz.
• Water Playground - water play area (1991).
• Western Risenrad - mini Ferris wheel (2008); Zierer.

Shows

Scene of the Pirate Show

Five shows are available each day at Heide Park, these are;

• Anger of Mayan, a 25-minute show about Mayan Indians at the Mayan Amphitheater that was built in 2011 and seats 800 people.
• Gold of Port Royal, a 35-minute pirate show at Pirate Arena that was built in 2010 and seats 1200 people.
• Hello Spencer, a 20-minute children's show based on the popular TV-series, theater seats 200 people.
• Puppet Comet, a 10-minute puppet show at Puppet Comic Theatre, built in 1985 and seats 100 people.
• Madagaskar LIVE! - It's Circus Time, a 30-minute show based on the movie Madagaskar 3: Flucht durch Europa in a tent, built in 2013.
• Previous shows include The Dolphin Show (closed 2008), The Parrot Show (closed 2008), The Bird Theater (closed 2009).

Trivia

• Heide Park was one of three playable real world parks (with Alton Towers and Blackpool Pleasure Beach) added to RollerCoaster Tycoon in the Loopy Landscapes expansion pack.

Gallery

Main gallery: Heide Park at WikiCommons

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  Heide-Park Entrance

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  Kapitol

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  Rapid River

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  Pirate in 2007

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  Hallo Spencer Studio

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  Hotel Port Royal Eingang

External links

• Official Flash-Website of the Heide-Park
• Heide-Park Holiday-Camp
• Heide-Park-world - Info, Photos, Forum, Gallery etc.