I was waiting for this one, I tried it myself but couldn't find how many indoor block zones there were (brakes, transfer, station, weird lift bounce thing)
Right now voltron is only running 6 of its 7 trains. They are rotating one train out at a time to send back to mack's warehouse to have its stabilisers fitted. They didn't have time to fit all the stabilisers inside the bogies if they wanted the ride to open on time, but it's nice to see they're doing it now. That's why roughness varies so much between trains right now. Also, with only 6 trains the operators very often manage to exceed the theoretical throughput of the ride. With 6 trains the theoretical throughput should be 1300pph, but they can manage 1400pph quite consistently, sometimes even more. When all 7 trains are on track at once, the operators think they'll be able to hit 1750 or 1800pph, maybe even a bit more. That probably won't happen before the end of this month though. Apart from the first 3 days, it hasn't had too much downtime. And when it does, it usually doesn't take much longer than 15-20 minutes to fix, if that. The valley block being able to reset with riders in it saves a lot of time.
@@davecuban9414not just me then! I had 4 rides a couple weeks back. 3 rides absolutely amazing - my final ride was incredibly painful. Horrendous!! But didn’t let it ruin the previous 3 rides 🙂
@@jacobshaw8825 Sadly, I had 3 bad rides and 1 amazing. It is like night and day. The thing is that those reviews from the media day made by influencers do not feel very objective
To be fair Voltron's track was completed back in last may and has probably been testing for many months and even then it stalled during passholder previews.
As soon as I recognized how many of the blocks on Voltron don't use brakes, I was studying intensely as heck. This thing's a marvel and your enthusiasm is contagious, Ryan.
When i was in Queue for Voltron last Week i said to my wife "i hope ElToroRyan is making a video about this Coaster, he will have a field day with all those Blockzones!" And then comes 9:08 which got me a good laugh :D Thanks for the awesome Video!
I said to my partner in the queue wow there is so many trains there must be loads of block zones and I was trying to count them my partner was like what are you on about 😂😂
@@DaviesFuture Well after nearly 20 years my wife got used to my shenanigans in Theme Parks 😅 She even get´s excited now when there is an "Error" on the Ride and it´s not "just the Ride"... 😎😂
It‘s not quite always that way, but mostly! I went yesterday and it opened late and broke down twice, but from like 14:00 onwards it ran without any issue.
quick note ! Mack rides and europapark increased the speed of the forward (fourth) launch to 100km/h to reduce the chance to have a rollback on the top hat ! which makes the second part of the ride even more thrilling
@@SkeledroMan no it never was a typo because it was originally written 90 km/h on the website AND the EP app and now both still show 100. So YES it does .
Sorry but never in a million years have they increased speed by 10km/h or more than 10%. Force increases exponentially, so such a change would result in borderline unsafe forces.
@@smuella sorry but yes they did it… europapark just confirmed me that they did increase it to 100km/h. They probably designed it for 100 but put it at 90 and then increased it to 100
@@smuellaThe thing is, the Airtime hills feel Borderline unsafe xD the strongest one has been measured with -1,5g (and the others doesnt feel any weaker)
Ever since EP dropped the animation POV of Voltron months ago, I had a gut feeling that 2nd launch was actually a hidden block as well, especially if you consider the delta time between blocks. Nobody really believed it back then. It's a really smart block!
They actually mentioned the "hidden block brake" in the episode back then in March 2023 of their construction documentary (aka. "Baudoku") in which they discussed the animated POV. Hence this wasn't that much of a surprise.
A couple more things in regards to this amazing piece of technology: - In case of a breakdown the ride should be mostly selfsufficient to reset itself, for example from the launch before the stall. It should all go (almost) automatically with the operstor just having to keep oversight. - I think the ride system also prefers to not stack on the Brake 2 block as you mentioned that is high up in the air, because when the final brake is fully occupied with 2 trains i think it just wont launch from the turntable in normal operation. - If you look at 12:48 you can see on the turntable itself, on the right side of the track, an arrow that shows in which direction the turntable will travel that cycle - 19:04 ofcourse the lockers will be free, try and get away with upcharged lockers in Europe 😂 I wish you the best of luck...
I rode it 3 times in its second week of operation and it blew my bloody socks off! Super intense with some real ejector airtime in places. I've heard some say that they think the turn table disrupts the flow but I was grateful for a chance to catch my breath, the added theatricality was appreciated too. All in all an incredible ride. I hope you get to travel to Europe sometime soon!
I think my favorite element is the boarding status indicator lights, which while adding a layer of clarity to boarding still manage to look at home aesthetically on the train and look really cool
That launch/boost which is also a block brake and re-launches from a stop back and forth (Top Thrill 2-style) is brilliant. What a great way to hide a block brake in a coaster!
0:10 I guess this is a rare case where one has the chance to correct Ryan: Mack Rides and Europa Park are seperate companies that are both owned and operated by the Mack Family. Legally both are independent of each other and Europa Park is, at least technically speaking, just another customer of Mack Rides as any other Park would be. But I guess that really only means that they are just moving money from one of their bank accounts to a different one whenever Europa Park "purchases" something from Mack Rides.
Of course you're right, that's the way it is today. But Europa-Park was actually founded as a showcase for Mackrides to present the advantage of stationary attractions over transportable rides.
@@RuKoReview They still serve as a showcase of sorts. And who is to say that there isn't an agreement between the two companies that the park gets prototype rides at a discount, because they may have to deal with teething problems of the rides? But even when the park was founded, they were legally independent businesses. Mack Rides was owned by Heinich Mack back then and the park was started by (I think he was Heinirch's brother) Franz Mack and his sons Roland and Jürgen.
Independent doesn't mean that there isn't a relationship and the two don't cooperate together. I worked for a company where the independent subsidiary got preferential status over internal suppliers when we needed to purchase stuff.
I still find it crazy that the trains cost 1 million euros each! So that's 7 million purely for the trains. This thing was probably crazy expensive to build, but it was well worth it! This thing is amazing! My current number 2.
What’s so crazy about the costs for one train ? You realize that these trains are not a mass product coming from a Henry Ford Style assembly line, but handmade by order pieces of hitech art Maybe you heard that one song: „It costs that much cause it takes me f-ing hours …“
@karstenbursak8083 bruh 7 mil is like a third of the cost of entire coasters. 7 mil is insane especially when there's multiple. So the budget is already exceeds a normal coaster and we ain't even talking about the multiple mechanical elements like the turntable or the multiple launches
Well... I am quite sure that Europa-Park didn't actually pay that much. After all, both are owned by the Mack family, and I think a big part of the showcase deal between the two is that they get the prototypes, which can still have some issues, but likely at a more friendly price.😉
“Now what you’re all waiting for, the block zon” *add break* *insert frustration block zone here* “For those who are unfamiliar, a block zone is a section of a ride that only one train may occupy” *insert celebration block zone here*
I was fortunate enough to be able to visit on Wednesday, and wow was this roller coaster amazing. On top of this I was lucky enough to have both of my rides in the front row. Seat 1 and 4, definitely have to say that it felt like the right side of the ride held more of a punch. Can't wait to eventually ride it again, hopefully sooner than later.
Thank you so much for including my content in your video. Being a longtime follower of your channel, I feel very honored by this. Voltron Nevera was a long-anticipated coaster by me, and I managed to ride it seven times on opening weekend. For those of you who are interested in some stats about this coaster, I also made a video with the G-Forces that I recorded during my very first ride: th-cam.com/video/H2XZCCfWDy0/w-d-xo.html Yes, the ride is intense compared to everything else Europa-Park has in its lineup. Especially the ejector airimtes and the zero-G moments are exceptional. One thing I could add to the discussions: The ride is a bit shaky at the moment. And that varies from train to train. Some of these trains already have a longer ride from all the testing they've been doing for months. And Mackride is aware of the problem of shakiness. In fact, the day before the ride opened, a test was conducted with a different rubber/tire configuration. However, due to the higher friction, the train valleyed on the last part of the track and had to be dismantled on site using a huge crane. Ultimately, this also delayed the opening on Friday and led to the chaos with the queues that you may have seen on other videos. What impresses me most about this ride is how all the disruptions can be dealt with. I don't know of any other coaster where trains can be pushed back into position manually during operation without having to perform a complete shutdown. The same applies to the many ways in which a train can be stopped on course and then operation can be continued without major interruption via a swing launch. This really is a masterpiece.
Proof that a coaster doesn't have to be 300 feet tall or super extreme to be exciting! I'd love to see more rides like this. Creative and immersive theming, fun tight layout, creative elements... Are you paying attention, SeaWorld Parks?
I love nerding-out about coasters with your videos! Your research shows passion, and your knowledge of the subject is consistently impressive. Additionally, videos like yours help to relax my anxiety and take me to places I might not manage to reach in person, so thank you!
Got the notification right at the start of my lunch break - perfect! This coaster really flew under the radar for me before opening, but seeing videos of it now, I want to go to Europa Park more than ever before 😂 I’m also a sucker for technically complex rides, so this is perfect lol
The slip ring is even more susceptible to problems than cables that are designed to be moved around. It's also not uncommon for Mack Rides to do that. Their (commercially not very successful) version of the Mad House ride (I only know of one installation, and that's at Europa-Park as well) doesn't use slip rings for the lights on the rotating part. It's all cables, and therefore you can only rotate so far before you have to reverse.
Spot on analysis! I think you’re absolutely right with the block zones as far as I have also observed. The coaster is just insane. You have to come to Europe to experience it. It’s just a pure banger non stop. Another fun fact: they positioned the photo camera of the ride in the perfect spot right when you come out of an inversion with a very big smile on your face 😂. I honestly was never that happy and excited after riding a roller coaster before. It’s coaster perfection.
Great video, Ryan. As always! Just one little correction: Voltron actually reaches 100 kph (62 mph). They increased the speed about one week after opening, because they "realized that people can handle the higher speed", so Europa-Park says. Some fans believe the inofficial reason is a reduced risk for valleying.
14:50 Impress your friends by guessing which way the turntable will spin... by looking at the little marking on the bottom, near the right rail while entering the turntable. It's either "A ->" or "B
Have been waiting for this video. After seeing the first pov of this ride, I knew you would have a field day breaking it down. It's such an amazing coaster. Hope one day we get something like this in the US.
15:00 - it's not surprising that the turntable alternates clockwise and anticlockwise; if it continuously rotated in the same direction, the wires to the LSM stators would get twisted. This way, fixed wiring can be used (instead of a complicated bus-bar system) with a cabletrack to carry the current to the stators.
Rode Voltron a few months ago- what an amazing ride. Very unique and intense ride, and the queue (like all the queues in Europa Park) had outstanding theming- definitely worth a wait imo
Holy crap, just returned home from Europa Park yesterday night, looking for some content on this ride and here it is! This was pretty amazing to ride, probably the best rollercoaster I've ever been on!
I definitely consider this to be one of, if not the best coaster in Europe this year. Hyperia looks great, but this coaster is very unique and I havent seen much like it!
Thank u for the nice video :) As a german I am so glad to have Voltron in this country. The perfect fit which Europa Park really needed. Cant believe that my number one and two are Mack coasters now :D Greets from Germany
I visited Germany a few days ago, and got to ride this beauty. It is MUST RIDE. That first launch was heart pounding and the air time during the inversions was intense. Was a bit sad that we had to stall for a minute right before the backwards launch. Took some momentum away. But it didn't take away from the experience. Europa Park's loading times are insanely fast. As a single rider, I didn't wait longer than 20 minutes for most of the coasters. (About 30ish for Voltron, as the trains stopped for a few minutes.) For Blue Fire, I think I waited 5 minutes? (Granted, I went on a weekday.) Considering the park closed at an early 6pm that day, it's pretty amazing that I got to do almost all of the coasters with no problem. (I skipped Pegasus, Alpenexpress, and the water rides.) Put this park and coaster on your list!
I’ve been on Voltron when it had minor downtime (which I think was due to the failure of the pre-show curtain - similar to the one on blue fire). We were held before the turntable, then on the turntable, having turned, and then subsequently the final brake run (which can stack 3 trains) so they try to keep the mid-course ‘brake runs’ clear. I’ve also seen it go down very briefly for restraint/rfid issues. It is simply an amazing ride.
Luckily, europapark is my homepark so i already rode it several times. It‘s my new number 1 coaster just because its so unique and you can experience so many different intense forces… love it
Very good video, but I have to clarify a few points as a Europa-Park fan. Voltron now drives 100 km/h and not 90 km/h. Launch 1 block goes until 2nd launch and not until the first inversion. The block from the third launch goes up to the end of the double up into the normal block. 😊 It can of course be, that the last two points are not 100% right, but since I have over 30 rides on Voltron, I believe it should be. 😅
@@SkeledroMan No, the speed of the final launch (after coming down of the spike) has been increased from 90 to 100km/h, I believe to avoid rollbacks from the top hat (which occured few times). The speed stat has been corrected in the app as well.
Definitely need more rides like this in the states with a moving station, free lockers, and just a lap bar. So many parks’ operations are bogged down by securing loose articles and ride ops having to check seat belts along with lap bars. This ride looks amazing, but with all of its moving parts, I’m really hoping it doesn’t have a smiler style accident. Great video as always Ryan!
Yesterday was kind of a bad morning for Voltron. It constantly kept on stopping and operations couldn't shine as they usually do. However, they managed to pick up pace so that in the afternoon it was that capacity monster i so much love. The queueing is just a breeze, you barely get to stand still. The shakiness of some trains seem to be the real issue tho. Train No. 5 for example has always been a brain shaker, no matter what. When I got on to Train No.3, which I have never ridden before, I asked the operator if it's one of the shaky bois. He shrugged and went "we don't really know why, sometimes they're smooth, sometimes they're shaky". Looks like they haven't identified the problem just yet, which is a bummer. It literally decides whether you have an amazing experience or just a good roller coaster ride
Nice video as always! Have been lucky to go to Europa Park last week. Waited 75mins for Voltron, but was absolutely worth it. The overall theming, starting in the waiting lines, was making the waiting time much less tedious. And the ride... o my god, what a magnificient beast of a ride. Lots of speed, smoothness, and the ride just keeps going. Even though I had seen onride clips already, still surprised me when riding it how long it kept going. Also, getting a seat allocated in the front doesn't hurt either ;-) Overall, I LOVED IT...
I recently had the chance to ride Voltron a couple times. Have to say, it's an excellent layout and just a very impressive coaster. But depending on the train and seat you get it's also really rough. Like almost uncomfortably rough, worst is the outer left seat. For me, best is the inner right seat, for the combination of forces and smoothness. The launches definitely improved, but aren't quite as forceful as the modern Intamin counterparts. For us the effect track before launch 1 was turned of, and as I heard that isn't to uncommon currently. We had a chat with a operator after closing, he told us they haven't finished programming the ride and it's actually incapable of running all 7 trains yet. We measured about 45 second dispatch intervals with 6 trains on our visit, wich still kept the line moving real quick. So, it really has the potential to be a top coaster for me, but there a improvements to smoothness desperately needed! And, 19:04: Yes, the lockers are free.
Ryan this is a masterpiece!! (the video and the ride) 14:50 The turntable likely cannot rotate 360 continuously if they use an energy chain (one of those hard, tank tread like covers for wires and cables) and have to wind and unwind, hence the constant 180 and reverse. Gotta plan my trip asap to ride this
When you look at the Turntable at 15:07 Look at the edge of the turntable on the right side of the track, there you can see either: B with an arrow to the left or A with an arrow to the right which indicates the spin direction of the turntable
Okay so a few things: Voltron is still fighting with evere rattle issues, although they are working on solving that issue as fast as possible This ride is absolutely amazing and I am so happy my Home Park now has this world class rollercoaster that it was missing. It is my new favorite Rollercoaster.
@@AnotherSwissTH-camUser Wow, they're fast. Another user commented that they are switching out train by train to install stabilizers. I've just watched a VLog of someone mentioning several trains (4, 5, 6, 7 and one lower number, I think) that are the problematic ones. By now they could have all been replaced. Hmm, probably Silas (Parkfan95) would be the best person to ask, since he is there so often.
Personally, I believe coasters built with short LSM's in the valleys of hills will become the norm in the future. Maintenance crews could access the LSM's from near ground level making it a lot easier and safer do upkeep. In terms of ride experience you could keep the pacing consistant while adding a bunch of capacity. Also no slowing down, you could hypothetically run the thing at 100 mph for the entirely of the ride. Everything I know about coasters is from the internet so I could be completely wrong. Love the video!!
It's possible but it's likely to be pretty expensive. Keep in mind Mack owns the park so this is also an advertisement for the system; a showroom model of sorts. The cost to throw all the gold plating on it is a little easier to swallow when it's the one you brag about to potential customers.
Great video, rode the coaster as much as I could on my visit a few days ago and it's truly awesome. Three small facts I would ride to mention: - lockers are indeed free, ride attendants will give you a key card, which allows you to choose a locker, in the exit area there is a scanner which will tell you your number in case you forgot it - the Tesla coils now play the rides theme, also there are two smaller coils next to the animatronic - the effect track is visible from the waiting area, however shutters close once a train launches to not spoil the launch, that effect is also mirrored to the other side of the station where the train arrives after traversing the layout, however there is no window but a large screen showing the Mack Family riding the coaster Also I would like to mention that operations were really smooth and there was no downtime, apart from some very short station stops, that were resolved under a minute
Why tf does Europe get all of the wildly unique coasters?! Its like park owners in the US see these awesome rides built elsewhere and think "how can we add that ride model while spending as much money as possible and requesting as little unique elements and themeing as we can get?" 🤦♂️
It comes down to just one word: MONEY ! As most of us know the American business philosophy is simply described as „increasing profits by cutting costs by all means“. And these rides are just to complex to operate and maintain with just a few employees, wich simply is out of the picture for most park owners outside Disney and universal.
Was there for 3 days this week and it ran pretty seamlessly every day for 10 hours a day. And the ride experience itself is absolutely ridiculous! The turntable is helpful for breaking it up because it is absolutely relentless from start to finish.
Agreed. Just visited this weekend and Voltron is my new favorite coaster in EP. The intensity of the ride is unmatched by anything in the park. I'm pretty jaded when it comes to coasters. But Voltron really put a smile on my face.
Europa Park is my favorite theme-park world-wide (and I worked for both Busch Gardens parks for about 2 decades) in my opinion due to the theming, staff, food, ride selections and operations. I haven't been to Disney Sea yet and that may surpass this park, but for me EP is an amazing park
already ridden it now it's my number 1 together with kärnan (btw Nikola tesla actually did some research into transferring power over the air so the story isn't entirely made up)
thanks for using some of my footage. It's such a brilliant coaster, love it to bits. And it's absolutely stunning how much tech went into creating the coaster and also the station and queue line. And of course you did a great job explaining it all. Hope you'll get to experience this Mack masterpiece soon!
I've also heard rumors, that the bouncing track piece before the launch also serves as a scale for the trains. Not sure if this is true, but it would make sense. That way they can calibrate how much power is needed for the launch.
So Croatioa got two kick-ass things this year. 1: A beauty of a rollercoaster at Europa-Park 2: An absolute kickass-song at Eurovision Song Contest 2024...Rim Tim Tagi Dim by Baby Lasagna
i have no idea if this is true, but somebody commented on another youtube video that the part where the track rises up and shakes the train also acts as a scale to weigh the train and calibrate the speed of the next launch to ensure the train gets through the inverted top hat.
The day I rode Voltron, the bounce effect was switched off. The lightshow was dazzling, and then the train simply launched. This makes me think that the trains are not weighed.
This ride really was worth all the hype. From the moment you arrive on the Croatian plaza and seeing multiple trains going all at once to actually ride it feels out-of-this-world. Such a long, intense, thrilling experience (sometimes even a little too much) that leaves a smile on everyone’s face coming off the ride. It’s time for the electric age! ⚡️
Europapark is my home-park. 2024 is the 49. season of the park. Voltron is a punch-full ride with a lot of forces in all directions ! My first 4 rides were so powerful -it gave me a headache and a whiplash… I love Voltron ! It’s the best coaster in my 250 credit experience…
The loading process is amazing, the 2 times I rode in row 4 the people in row 1 had been released from the restraints and the new riders had been seated and had their restraints locked before my restraints had been unlocked.
What a great ride, what a great theme park too, hence I think it’s won best theme park in the world either 7 or 8 times in a row. Great vid Ryan, thanks a million.
I just rode Voltron for the first time the last few days. It not only got my enthousiast heart, but also my engineerheart pumping. What a awesome ride Mack has made!
Damn boy! How did you whip this out so quickly? Is this the real Ryan or AI Ryan…? 🤔 No matter the case this is an awesome video! Super informative and makes me hella stoked for future Mack rides!
The turntable changes the direction it spins to simplify power and signal wire layout. Otherwise, spinning it on the same direction will make wire management more difficult.
Where a normal rollercoaster ends at the first brake run , mack just said "Why not add a swing launch and double the ride time" I love them
There is no one I’d rather explain to me the complexity of Voltrons block zones
I was waiting for this one, I tried it myself but couldn't find how many indoor block zones there were (brakes, transfer, station, weird lift bounce thing)
13:20 That is actually not just a Technician but the Voltron Project Lead Patrick Marx
Right now voltron is only running 6 of its 7 trains. They are rotating one train out at a time to send back to mack's warehouse to have its stabilisers fitted. They didn't have time to fit all the stabilisers inside the bogies if they wanted the ride to open on time, but it's nice to see they're doing it now. That's why roughness varies so much between trains right now.
Also, with only 6 trains the operators very often manage to exceed the theoretical throughput of the ride. With 6 trains the theoretical throughput should be 1300pph, but they can manage 1400pph quite consistently, sometimes even more. When all 7 trains are on track at once, the operators think they'll be able to hit 1750 or 1800pph, maybe even a bit more. That probably won't happen before the end of this month though.
Apart from the first 3 days, it hasn't had too much downtime. And when it does, it usually doesn't take much longer than 15-20 minutes to fix, if that. The valley block being able to reset with riders in it saves a lot of time.
Those stabilisers should be ready for the opening. I got three rides in the morning, each on the outer seat and got knocked out like for 4 hours. 😅
@@davecuban9414not just me then! I had 4 rides a couple weeks back. 3 rides absolutely amazing - my final ride was incredibly painful. Horrendous!! But didn’t let it ruin the previous 3 rides 🙂
@@jacobshaw8825 Sadly, I had 3 bad rides and 1 amazing. It is like night and day. The thing is that those reviews from the media day made by influencers do not feel very objective
@@jacobshaw8825 yep same. 3/3 rides all headache-inducing. Awesome ride, but definitely rough :(
Wow, that will match or surpass Silver Star, the capacity monster!
Crazy how the most complex 2024 coaster has been doing fine while Hyperia and TT2 are having serious issues…
It valleyed on the first day amongst a few other issues, all coasters nowadays are so complex that teething issues are to be expected
To be fair Voltron's track was completed back in last may and has probably been testing for many months and even then it stalled during passholder previews.
And still has turntable problems as well
To be fair, Voltron has issues with vibrations on some of the trains. But yeah, it hasn't been closed and doesn't have a lot of downtime.
But none as serious as the temporary closures we see without any planned re-opening date (so far) with Hyperia and TT2
Mack Rides have been absolutely killing it these last 10 years or so. I can't wait to see what they cook up next
As soon as I recognized how many of the blocks on Voltron don't use brakes, I was studying intensely as heck. This thing's a marvel and your enthusiasm is contagious, Ryan.
I love that Mack rides modern design language is pretty much what we all made out of K’nex coaster models back in the day 😂
Great video as always ! It was an honor to see my footages in this video. If you need footages for another coaster in Europe, I'm your man 😉
Thanks very much!! Your footage was very helpful!
@@ElToroRyan I'm still impressed that I was able to catch you in a comment section during your footage collection phase for this video
When i was in Queue for Voltron last Week i said to my wife "i hope ElToroRyan is making a video about this Coaster, he will have a field day with all those Blockzones!"
And then comes 9:08 which got me a good laugh :D
Thanks for the awesome Video!
I said to my partner in the queue wow there is so many trains there must be loads of block zones and I was trying to count them my partner was like what are you on about 😂😂
@@DaviesFuture Well after nearly 20 years my wife got used to my shenanigans in Theme Parks 😅
She even get´s excited now when there is an "Error" on the Ride and it´s not "just the Ride"... 😎😂
Went to EP the other day and Voltron ran non stop, the whole day minus 15 mins of downtime. The ride is incredibly reliable.
I was there for 3 days recently and i never saw it breaking down
It‘s not quite always that way, but mostly!
I went yesterday and it opened late and broke down twice, but from like 14:00 onwards it ran without any issue.
quick note ! Mack rides and europapark increased the speed of the forward (fourth) launch to 100km/h to reduce the chance to have a rollback on the top hat ! which makes the second part of the ride even more thrilling
No they didn't. The 100km/h figure was a typo on the website. It has never run that fast
@@SkeledroMan no it never was a typo because it was originally written 90 km/h on the website AND the EP app and now both still show 100. So YES it does .
Sorry but never in a million years have they increased speed by 10km/h or more than 10%. Force increases exponentially, so such a change would result in borderline unsafe forces.
@@smuella sorry but yes they did it… europapark just confirmed me that they did increase it to 100km/h. They probably designed it for 100 but put it at 90 and then increased it to 100
@@smuellaThe thing is, the Airtime hills feel Borderline unsafe xD the strongest one has been measured with -1,5g (and the others doesnt feel any weaker)
Loved this video, Voltron is a masterpiece 😍
hello digital dan,
Ever since EP dropped the animation POV of Voltron months ago, I had a gut feeling that 2nd launch was actually a hidden block as well, especially if you consider the delta time between blocks. Nobody really believed it back then. It's a really smart block!
They actually mentioned the "hidden block brake" in the episode back then in March 2023 of their construction documentary (aka. "Baudoku") in which they discussed the animated POV. Hence this wasn't that much of a surprise.
A couple more things in regards to this amazing piece of technology:
- In case of a breakdown the ride should be mostly selfsufficient to reset itself, for example from the launch before the stall. It should all go (almost) automatically with the operstor just having to keep oversight.
- I think the ride system also prefers to not stack on the Brake 2 block as you mentioned that is high up in the air, because when the final brake is fully occupied with 2 trains i think it just wont launch from the turntable in normal operation.
- If you look at 12:48 you can see on the turntable itself, on the right side of the track, an arrow that shows in which direction the turntable will travel that cycle
- 19:04 ofcourse the lockers will be free, try and get away with upcharged lockers in Europe 😂 I wish you the best of luck...
Liseberg has upcharge lockers on valkyria. about 50 cents each
I was on a train right before one of those short downtime. the cause was vomit, excessiv amounts of vomit starting right after the train stopped.
if u upcharge lockers in Europe nobody will go on the ride and the park is instantly bombarded with bad reviews.
I'd call this a Masterpiece
I rode it 3 times in its second week of operation and it blew my bloody socks off! Super intense with some real ejector airtime in places. I've heard some say that they think the turn table disrupts the flow but I was grateful for a chance to catch my breath, the added theatricality was appreciated too. All in all an incredible ride. I hope you get to travel to Europe sometime soon!
the brake right before the turntable breaks the flow, so annoying and uncomfortable.
I think my favorite element is the boarding status indicator lights, which while adding a layer of clarity to boarding still manage to look at home aesthetically on the train and look really cool
That launch/boost which is also a block brake and re-launches from a stop back and forth (Top Thrill 2-style) is brilliant. What a great way to hide a block brake in a coaster!
0:10 I guess this is a rare case where one has the chance to correct Ryan: Mack Rides and Europa Park are seperate companies that are both owned and operated by the Mack Family. Legally both are independent of each other and Europa Park is, at least technically speaking, just another customer of Mack Rides as any other Park would be. But I guess that really only means that they are just moving money from one of their bank accounts to a different one whenever Europa Park "purchases" something from Mack Rides.
Of course you're right, that's the way it is today. But Europa-Park was actually founded as a showcase for Mackrides to present the advantage of stationary attractions over transportable rides.
@@RuKoReview Doesn´t matter how it was originally when the Video is talking about who currently owns and operates the Park.
@@RuKoReview They still serve as a showcase of sorts. And who is to say that there isn't an agreement between the two companies that the park gets prototype rides at a discount, because they may have to deal with teething problems of the rides?
But even when the park was founded, they were legally independent businesses. Mack Rides was owned by Heinich Mack back then and the park was started by (I think he was Heinirch's brother) Franz Mack and his sons Roland and Jürgen.
Independent doesn't mean that there isn't a relationship and the two don't cooperate together. I worked for a company where the independent subsidiary got preferential status over internal suppliers when we needed to purchase stuff.
@@Kandralla That´s why I worded it the way I did.
I still find it crazy that the trains cost 1 million euros each! So that's 7 million purely for the trains.
This thing was probably crazy expensive to build, but it was well worth it!
This thing is amazing! My current number 2.
What is number 1?
@@paulrex9912Wacky Worm
What’s so crazy about the costs for one train ?
You realize that these trains are not a mass product coming from a Henry Ford Style assembly line, but handmade by order pieces of hitech art
Maybe you heard that one song: „It costs that much cause it takes me f-ing hours …“
@karstenbursak8083 bruh 7 mil is like a third of the cost of entire coasters. 7 mil is insane especially when there's multiple. So the budget is already exceeds a normal coaster and we ain't even talking about the multiple mechanical elements like the turntable or the multiple launches
Well... I am quite sure that Europa-Park didn't actually pay that much. After all, both are owned by the Mack family, and I think a big part of the showcase deal between the two is that they get the prototypes, which can still have some issues, but likely at a more friendly price.😉
I love these coaster news/technical analysis videos you've been publishing lately! Informative, timely, decent length, and block zones!
I’ve seen multiple POVs of this ride, and I’m still blown away by it. I really hope I get the chance to ride it someday.
“Now what you’re all waiting for, the block zon”
*add break*
*insert frustration block zone here*
“For those who are unfamiliar, a block zone is a section of a ride that only one train may occupy”
*insert celebration block zone here*
I was fortunate enough to be able to visit on Wednesday, and wow was this roller coaster amazing. On top of this I was lucky enough to have both of my rides in the front row. Seat 1 and 4, definitely have to say that it felt like the right side of the ride held more of a punch. Can't wait to eventually ride it again, hopefully sooner than later.
Thank you so much for including my content in your video. Being a longtime follower of your channel, I feel very honored by this.
Voltron Nevera was a long-anticipated coaster by me, and I managed to ride it seven times on opening weekend.
For those of you who are interested in some stats about this coaster, I also made a video with the G-Forces that I recorded during my very first ride: th-cam.com/video/H2XZCCfWDy0/w-d-xo.html
Yes, the ride is intense compared to everything else Europa-Park has in its lineup. Especially the ejector airimtes and the zero-G moments are exceptional.
One thing I could add to the discussions: The ride is a bit shaky at the moment. And that varies from train to train. Some of these trains already have a longer ride from all the testing they've been doing for months.
And Mackride is aware of the problem of shakiness. In fact, the day before the ride opened, a test was conducted with a different rubber/tire configuration. However, due to the higher friction, the train valleyed on the last part of the track and had to be dismantled on site using a huge crane.
Ultimately, this also delayed the opening on Friday and led to the chaos with the queues that you may have seen on other videos.
What impresses me most about this ride is how all the disruptions can be dealt with. I don't know of any other coaster where trains can be pushed back into position manually during operation without having to perform a complete shutdown. The same applies to the many ways in which a train can be stopped on course and then operation can be continued without major interruption via a swing launch. This really is a masterpiece.
I went this year it’s incredible. So much fun. Comfortable and giggly. It’s really fun to just watch too trains everywhere.
Voltron was simply stunning. Already want to go back!
This HAS to be the best coaster ever built.
Absolutely not
Coaster looks incredible! Top notch themeing, a ton of elements, and block brake heaven, wowza
Proof that a coaster doesn't have to be 300 feet tall or super extreme to be exciting! I'd love to see more rides like this. Creative and immersive theming, fun tight layout, creative elements... Are you paying attention, SeaWorld Parks?
Saw the entire video. It does look like the best coaster to open this year and the best coaster at Europa Park. Thanks for posting!
I love nerding-out about coasters with your videos! Your research shows passion, and your knowledge of the subject is consistently impressive. Additionally, videos like yours help to relax my anxiety and take me to places I might not manage to reach in person, so thank you!
Mack Rides have really outdone themselves with Voltron Nevera and it’s just shocking how amazing this looks.
Got the notification right at the start of my lunch break - perfect!
This coaster really flew under the radar for me before opening, but seeing videos of it now, I want to go to Europa Park more than ever before 😂 I’m also a sucker for technically complex rides, so this is perfect lol
The clockwise/counter-clockwise thing is probably due to the electric connections of the turntable. I can’t imagine that thing using a slip ring 😂
yeah, the currents involved with a launch are very high, and a slip ring might add too much resistance (or be too expensive) to be practical.
The slip ring is even more susceptible to problems than cables that are designed to be moved around.
It's also not uncommon for Mack Rides to do that. Their (commercially not very successful) version of the Mad House ride (I only know of one installation, and that's at Europa-Park as well) doesn't use slip rings for the lights on the rotating part. It's all cables, and therefore you can only rotate so far before you have to reverse.
@@Colaholiker exactly
it has a whole backstory, a 4D movie, and historic lore to go with it. packs a ton in a small package!
Spot on analysis! I think you’re absolutely right with the block zones as far as I have also observed. The coaster is just insane. You have to come to Europe to experience it. It’s just a pure banger non stop. Another fun fact: they positioned the photo camera of the ride in the perfect spot right when you come out of an inversion with a very big smile on your face 😂. I honestly was never that happy and excited after riding a roller coaster before. It’s coaster perfection.
Great video, Ryan. As always! Just one little correction: Voltron actually reaches 100 kph (62 mph). They increased the speed about one week after opening, because they "realized that people can handle the higher speed", so Europa-Park says. Some fans believe the inofficial reason is a reduced risk for valleying.
14:50 Impress your friends by guessing which way the turntable will spin... by looking at the little marking on the bottom, near the right rail while entering the turntable. It's either "A ->" or "B
Voltron looks amazing. It makes me want to go back to Germany. Thanks for the sweet block zone info.
the design of this coaster is genius
In terms of manufacturers, Mack is my Dad 😌
Have been waiting for this video. After seeing the first pov of this ride, I knew you would have a field day breaking it down. It's such an amazing coaster. Hope one day we get something like this in the US.
15:00 - it's not surprising that the turntable alternates clockwise and anticlockwise; if it continuously rotated in the same direction, the wires to the LSM stators would get twisted. This way, fixed wiring can be used (instead of a complicated bus-bar system) with a cabletrack to carry the current to the stators.
Rode Voltron a few months ago- what an amazing ride. Very unique and intense ride, and the queue (like all the queues in Europa Park) had outstanding theming- definitely worth a wait imo
Holy crap, just returned home from Europa Park yesterday night, looking for some content on this ride and here it is! This was pretty amazing to ride, probably the best rollercoaster I've ever been on!
I definitely consider this to be one of, if not the best coaster in Europe this year. Hyperia looks great, but this coaster is very unique and I havent seen much like it!
Thank u for the nice video :)
As a german I am so glad to have Voltron in this country. The perfect fit which Europa Park really needed. Cant believe that my number one and two are Mack coasters now :D
Greets from Germany
I visited Germany a few days ago, and got to ride this beauty. It is MUST RIDE. That first launch was heart pounding and the air time during the inversions was intense.
Was a bit sad that we had to stall for a minute right before the backwards launch. Took some momentum away. But it didn't take away from the experience.
Europa Park's loading times are insanely fast. As a single rider, I didn't wait longer than 20 minutes for most of the coasters. (About 30ish for Voltron, as the trains stopped for a few minutes.) For Blue Fire, I think I waited 5 minutes?
(Granted, I went on a weekday.) Considering the park closed at an early 6pm that day, it's pretty amazing that I got to do almost all of the coasters with no problem. (I skipped Pegasus, Alpenexpress,
and the water rides.)
Put this park and coaster on your list!
14:50. You can see the arrows on the turntable indicating which way it's going to spin.
I’ve been on Voltron when it had minor downtime (which I think was due to the failure of the pre-show curtain - similar to the one on blue fire). We were held before the turntable, then on the turntable, having turned, and then subsequently the final brake run (which can stack 3 trains) so they try to keep the mid-course ‘brake runs’ clear. I’ve also seen it go down very briefly for restraint/rfid issues.
It is simply an amazing ride.
Luckily, europapark is my homepark so i already rode it several times. It‘s my new number 1 coaster just because its so unique and you can experience so many different intense forces… love it
Very good video, but I have to clarify a few points as a Europa-Park fan. Voltron now drives 100 km/h and not 90 km/h. Launch 1 block goes until 2nd launch and not until the first inversion. The block from the third launch goes up to the end of the double up into the normal block. 😊 It can of course be, that the last two points are not 100% right, but since I have over 30 rides on Voltron, I believe it should be. 😅
100km/h was a typo on the website. it has never gone that fast, and i think it has been clrrected
@@SkeledroMan No, the speed of the final launch (after coming down of the spike) has been increased from 90 to 100km/h, I believe to avoid rollbacks from the top hat (which occured few times). The speed stat has been corrected in the app as well.
That swing launch block is so cool!
When I've watched the first POV I didn't notice most of these block sections, I'm seriously impressed how perfect they've managed to make this ride
Definitely need more rides like this in the states with a moving station, free lockers, and just a lap bar. So many parks’ operations are bogged down by securing loose articles and ride ops having to check seat belts along with lap bars. This ride looks amazing, but with all of its moving parts, I’m really hoping it doesn’t have a smiler style accident. Great video as always Ryan!
Yesterday was kind of a bad morning for Voltron. It constantly kept on stopping and operations couldn't shine as they usually do. However, they managed to pick up pace so that in the afternoon it was that capacity monster i so much love. The queueing is just a breeze, you barely get to stand still. The shakiness of some trains seem to be the real issue tho. Train No. 5 for example has always been a brain shaker, no matter what. When I got on to Train No.3, which I have never ridden before, I asked the operator if it's one of the shaky bois. He shrugged and went "we don't really know why, sometimes they're smooth, sometimes they're shaky". Looks like they haven't identified the problem just yet, which is a bummer. It literally decides whether you have an amazing experience or just a good roller coaster ride
Nice video as always!
Have been lucky to go to Europa Park last week. Waited 75mins for Voltron, but was absolutely worth it. The overall theming, starting in the waiting lines, was making the waiting time much less tedious.
And the ride... o my god, what a magnificient beast of a ride. Lots of speed, smoothness, and the ride just keeps going. Even though I had seen onride clips already, still surprised me when riding it how long it kept going. Also, getting a seat allocated in the front doesn't hurt either ;-)
Overall, I LOVED IT...
Wow! Thank you so much for this not-so-problematic roller coaster deep dive! This looks amazing, I really hope my home park gets a mack stryker
I recently had the chance to ride Voltron a couple times. Have to say, it's an excellent layout and just a very impressive coaster. But depending on the train and seat you get it's also really rough. Like almost uncomfortably rough, worst is the outer left seat. For me, best is the inner right seat, for the combination of forces and smoothness. The launches definitely improved, but aren't quite as forceful as the modern Intamin counterparts. For us the effect track before launch 1 was turned of, and as I heard that isn't to uncommon currently. We had a chat with a operator after closing, he told us they haven't finished programming the ride and it's actually incapable of running all 7 trains yet. We measured about 45 second dispatch intervals with 6 trains on our visit, wich still kept the line moving real quick. So, it really has the potential to be a top coaster for me, but there a improvements to smoothness desperately needed! And, 19:04: Yes, the lockers are free.
Those coaster trains remind me of a gerstlauer infinity coaster.
Ryan this is a masterpiece!! (the video and the ride)
14:50 The turntable likely cannot rotate 360 continuously if they use an energy chain (one of those hard, tank tread like covers for wires and cables) and have to wind and unwind, hence the constant 180 and reverse.
Gotta plan my trip asap to ride this
this looks like so much fun, even the queue.
When you look at the Turntable at 15:07
Look at the edge of the turntable on the right side of the track, there you can see either:
B with an arrow to the left
or
A with an arrow to the right
which indicates the spin direction of the turntable
We’re at Europa Park all week and have ridden this many times. The station is amazing. Geat video as always, thank you.
Looking forward to making this my 500th! 😎
Okay so a few things:
Voltron is still fighting with evere rattle issues, although they are working on solving that issue as fast as possible
This ride is absolutely amazing and I am so happy my Home Park now has this world class rollercoaster that it was missing. It is my new favorite Rollercoaster.
I'm going in 2 weeks, think the rattle will be fixed? 😅
@@rechtebanana in my experience it's just 1 train that has rattle issues out of the 7
@@AnotherSwissTH-camUser Wow, they're fast. Another user commented that they are switching out train by train to install stabilizers. I've just watched a VLog of someone mentioning several trains (4, 5, 6, 7 and one lower number, I think) that are the problematic ones.
By now they could have all been replaced. Hmm, probably Silas (Parkfan95) would be the best person to ask, since he is there so often.
Personally, I believe coasters built with short LSM's in the valleys of hills will become the norm in the future. Maintenance crews could access the LSM's from near ground level making it a lot easier and safer do upkeep. In terms of ride experience you could keep the pacing consistant while adding a bunch of capacity. Also no slowing down, you could hypothetically run the thing at 100 mph for the entirely of the ride. Everything I know about coasters is from the internet so I could be completely wrong. Love the video!!
It's possible but it's likely to be pretty expensive. Keep in mind Mack owns the park so this is also an advertisement for the system; a showroom model of sorts. The cost to throw all the gold plating on it is a little easier to swallow when it's the one you brag about to potential customers.
Great video, rode the coaster as much as I could on my visit a few days ago and it's truly awesome.
Three small facts I would ride to mention:
- lockers are indeed free, ride attendants will give you a key card, which allows you to choose a locker, in the exit area there is a scanner which will tell you your number in case you forgot it
- the Tesla coils now play the rides theme, also there are two smaller coils next to the animatronic
- the effect track is visible from the waiting area, however shutters close once a train launches to not spoil the launch, that effect is also mirrored to the other side of the station where the train arrives after traversing the layout, however there is no window but a large screen showing the Mack Family riding the coaster
Also I would like to mention that operations were really smooth and there was no downtime, apart from some very short station stops, that were resolved under a minute
Why tf does Europe get all of the wildly unique coasters?! Its like park owners in the US see these awesome rides built elsewhere and think "how can we add that ride model while spending as much money as possible and requesting as little unique elements and themeing as we can get?" 🤦♂️
America: Great coasters
Europe: Smaller coasters meant to fit a tighter location.
And theming.
@@hassathunter2464Why can't we have both? I don't think anyone is gonna be like "yeah, that ride has too much theming, I don't wanna ride it"
It comes down to just one word: MONEY !
As most of us know the American business philosophy is simply described as „increasing profits by cutting costs by all means“. And these rides are just to complex to operate and maintain with just a few employees, wich simply is out of the picture for most park owners outside Disney and universal.
Was there for 3 days this week and it ran pretty seamlessly every day for 10 hours a day. And the ride experience itself is absolutely ridiculous! The turntable is helpful for breaking it up because it is absolutely relentless from start to finish.
Agreed. Just visited this weekend and Voltron is my new favorite coaster in EP. The intensity of the ride is unmatched by anything in the park. I'm pretty jaded when it comes to coasters. But Voltron really put a smile on my face.
Praying for Rockit Nevera to come to Universal Orlando
What a great video about my favorite roller coaster by my favorite content creator! Great work Ryan!
yeah this ride looks absolutely incredible. take me with you if you go to ride it 😂
Ryan this is my favourite video you've ever done!! Such brilliant a clear explanation ❤ and what a ride, man!
Europa Park is my favorite theme-park world-wide (and I worked for both Busch Gardens parks for about 2 decades) in my opinion due to the theming, staff, food, ride selections and operations. I haven't been to Disney Sea yet and that may surpass this park, but for me EP is an amazing park
RIDING THIS THING NEXT MONTH... LETS GO!!!
That loading system is tight af as the kids say these days. So cool.
already ridden it now it's my number 1 together with kärnan (btw Nikola tesla actually did some research into transferring power over the air so the story isn't entirely made up)
thanks for using some of my footage. It's such a brilliant coaster, love it to bits. And it's absolutely stunning how much tech went into creating the coaster and also the station and queue line. And of course you did a great job explaining it all. Hope you'll get to experience this Mack masterpiece soon!
I've also heard rumors, that the bouncing track piece before the launch also serves as a scale for the trains. Not sure if this is true, but it would make sense. That way they can calibrate how much power is needed for the launch.
So Croatioa got two kick-ass things this year.
1: A beauty of a rollercoaster at Europa-Park
2: An absolute kickass-song at Eurovision Song Contest 2024...Rim Tim Tagi Dim by Baby Lasagna
i have no idea if this is true, but somebody commented on another youtube video that the part where the track rises up and shakes the train also acts as a scale to weigh the train and calibrate the speed of the next launch to ensure the train gets through the inverted top hat.
I read the same in a comment, but don't knows if its true
The day I rode Voltron, the bounce effect was switched off. The lightshow was dazzling, and then the train simply launched. This makes me think that the trains are not weighed.
I would love to see a multi train POV like Ryan did of BTM, Hagrids and Everest
This ride really was worth all the hype. From the moment you arrive on the Croatian plaza and seeing multiple trains going all at once to actually ride it feels out-of-this-world. Such a long, intense, thrilling experience (sometimes even a little too much) that leaves a smile on everyone’s face coming off the ride. It’s time for the electric age! ⚡️
Europapark is my home-park.
2024 is the 49. season of the park.
Voltron is a punch-full ride with a lot of forces in all directions !
My first 4 rides were so powerful -it gave me a headache and a whiplash…
I love Voltron ! It’s the best coaster in my 250 credit experience…
The loading process is amazing, the 2 times I rode in row 4 the people in row 1 had been released from the restraints and the new riders had been seated and had their restraints locked before my restraints had been unlocked.
This ride really sold europa park as a must visit place fpr me.
I am pretty sure a coaster channel named coaster dash stopped during the layout on voltron
This seems like a perfect fit for Hershey’s Chocolatetown where both capacity and space is an issue.
the "Miniatur Wunderland" in Hamburg, aka: the Biggest Model Train Layout on the World is also building this as a Model!
Best. Theme. Ever
What a great ride, what a great theme park too, hence I think it’s won best theme park in the world either 7 or 8 times in a row.
Great vid Ryan, thanks a million.
I just rode Voltron for the first time the last few days. It not only got my enthousiast heart, but also my engineerheart pumping. What a awesome ride Mack has made!
This ride is way too cool and universal should be jealous.
last time I was this early, Cedar Point attempted theming!!
Damn boy! How did you whip this out so quickly? Is this the real Ryan or AI Ryan…? 🤔 No matter the case this is an awesome video! Super informative and makes me hella stoked for future Mack rides!
Ryan’s videos are always so engaging ❤
The turntable changes the direction it spins to simplify power and signal wire layout. Otherwise, spinning it on the same direction will make wire management more difficult.