First CoasterKart in Germany to Open at Tier- und Freizeitpark Thüle
The season at the Tier- und Freizeitpark Thüle in Friesoythe, Lower Saxony, has been running for just under four weeks. From 1 April, the park will no longer be open to visitors only on weekends, but also on weekdays. The highlight of the 2022 season is clearly going to be the new “CoasterKart“ attraction by Wiegand, whose implementation in Thüle marks the first installation in Germany and the third worldwide after the Rowdy Bear Ridge Adventure Park (USA) and the Jungle Adventure Park (Thailand). The new 540-metre-long ride, dubbed “Lost World“, replaces the previous bobkart track at the same location. “It is with a heavy heart that we have retired our bobkart ride. It has always been a crowd pleaser, but this new ride was so exciting and interesting that we said if we are quick here and dismantle it at the end of the season and are back for the start of the new season, then the guests will forgive us that the bobkart ride is no longer there,“ said Alexandra Grothaus, Managing Director of Tier- und Freizeitpark Thüle.
During the ride, visitors, who can regulate the speed of the karts themselves and accelerate up to a speed of around 40 km/h, find themselves in a primeval-like setting including fossils, excavations and static dinosaur replicas (supplied by Dutch manufacturer Joop van den Heuvel). Lush planting and other decoration details such as a waterfall are designed to transform the site into a jungle, where another prehistoric giant may be hiding around every turn. “We‘ve actually turned everything inside out here. [...] There are now tunnels that you drive through that didn‘t exist before with the bobkart track either. Then we actually had to bridge great heights, simply to make the track more interesting. So we have done a lot here so that the guest really has the feeling of riding a new ride [...],“ Grothaus continues.
Matching the theming, the CoasterKart cars – ten in total for two people each – were designed as “rusty“ sand buggies. The new experience is planned to be handed over to the visitors in the course of the Easter holidays and will initially be operated in a soft opening phase. With the “Aloha Swing” swing tower, the Tier- und Freizeitpark Thüle expanded its attraction portfolio with a new family-friendly experience from the SBF-Visa Group in August 2021. (eap)
