September 8, 2024, 6:19 PM ·
Our European road trip was taking us to five theme parks that we had never visited before, but of all those parks, just one of them had opened a major new attraction in 2024. Europa Park debuted Voltron Nevera Powered by Rimac at the end of April, and since its debut, this quickly became one of the most anticipated attractions of our entire trip. This Mack “Stryker” coaster is the centerpiece of a new Croatian-themed land and celebrates the innovations of Nikola Tesla – I guess Elon Musk didn’t want to sponsor the ride, so the park instead turned to the Croatian hypercar manufacturer Rimac, who have a car on display near the ride’s extended queue and sell branded merchandise in the coaster’s gift shop.
In a word, Voltron Nevera is BREATHTAKING with a complete experience from beginning to end. With all due respect to those who have had a chance to ride Hyperia at Thorpe Park (another Mack creation), I don’t think the UK’s tallest coaster could possibly be better than Europa Park’s newest attraction. I’ve ridden probably close to 500 coasters (lost count long ago), and there isn’t a single one that can top Voltron Nevera – not VelociCoaster, not Fury 325, not Steel Vengeance, not Iron Gwazi, not Project 305 (my previous top five).The coaster has excellent theming, especially when you consider the thrills that it packs. It’s rare to come across a coaster that can combine both great theming and high-octane thrills with VelociCoaster and Project 305 (when it still had heavy NASCAR theming) being the rare exceptions. Voltron’s façade is gorgeous with a museum-style building topped with a massive Tesla tower and the world’s first beyond-vertical launch track extending above the roofline and into the first inversion.The main exterior queue behind the building contains a number of massive artifacts that look like giant transformers and huge electrical cables. The primary interior queue is where the theming is taken to another level and where you will find a Tesla animatronic figure conducting experiments and powering his machines.Above the Tesla animatronic, there are louvers that open and close to give waiting guests a chance to catch a brief glimpse of the train on the launch track, while on the opposite side of the room, there is a video screen showing bolts of electricity and occasional recorded videos of the train returning to the station.The theming is taken to a truly electrifying level every 10 minutes when Tesla coils mounted to the ceiling perform a melody that energizes the crowd below. When Voltron is running at optimal capacity, guests will probably hear the tune 2-3 times. But even for guests in the slower moving single rider line (completely contained within the enclosed portion of the queue) or if you’re unlucky enough to get caught during a shutdown (like we were), even hearing the song for the 4th or 5th time still gives you a jolt of adrenaline to get on this incredible thrill machine.Inhale that ozone, because once you’ve made your way through the indoor section of the queue, guests are directed to locker bays beneath the loading platform. There are even designated bays for the single rider line to provide a steady flow of guests up the stairs and onto the trains. Once you’ve placed all of your loose items into a locker (and locked it with a nondescript RFID key card provided by the attendant), you’re directed up a flight of stairs to the boarding platform. Guests are then sorted by group size with the still separate single rider line used to fill in any empty seats. As with many single rider lines, the pace of this line can be dependent on random sizes of groups in the main queue as well as how efficient the ride ops are at sorting people into 4-person rows with some staff working harder to pair any odd numbered parties together, and only using the single rider line as a last resort.Once you’ve been grouped, you’re then directed to the loading platform where trains are slowly moving forward synchronously with adjacent conveyor belts, much like Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket at USF, which is the reason for the locker bays downstairs and the quick pace of the grouping process. Seats on Voltron are arranged in 4 rows of 4 with individual seats well-spaced to give guests a good bit of elbow room. Riders are secured in the comfortable bucket seats (with their distinctive quilted pattern) with a simple lap bar (like Copperhead Strike at Carowinds minus the extra safety belt). Attendants wearing uniforms that appeared to be a cross between Prohibition-era bartender and lab assistant then check each restraint and lock rows with the wave of an RFID tag as the train slowly rolls down the platform. Once the train reaches the end of the platform, it progresses into a dark ride section featuring another Tesla animatronic conducting experiments to harness the power of electricity flowing from a powerful generator. The train then pauses as the darkened room is filled with lightning and sound effects. Bolts of electricity envelop the train, and the track then pulses up and down as if being charged by tens of thousands of volts of power.Deep breath….
Before you know it, the doors ahead of you open, and the train speeds off and straight up and out of the building into that world’s first beyond-vertical launch track and the first inversion you likely marveled at above the ride’s entrance before getting in line. The launch is pretty interesting, because it starts out like any other LSM coaster, but once the train clears the roof and begins to make its turn backwards, it feels like the last set of LSMs are willing the train into the inversion.This creates loads of hang time before the track turns the train right-side up and into a short dive along the ride building’s roof to pick up speed for a mind-bending sequence featuring a corkscrew, low-slung airtime hill, and an Immelmann.Just when you thought you could catch your breath, Voltron puts another jolt of adrenaline into riders as the train passes through a second set of LSM motors to build speed for the next series of elements. A zero-g stall high above the ground is followed by another excellent airtime hill and a series of quick, high-intensity turns before the train executes a dive loop, followed by a really quick pop of air, and into the brakes.OK now, breathe… breathe… breathe….No, Voltron is not done, and most coaster fans should recognize there’s more to come as the track locks the train into place and spins on a turntable (for what it’s worth, the turntable alternates the directions it spins, clockwise one cycle followed by counterclockwise the next). There are some more lightning, sound, and fog effects here, but not nearly as impressive as the initial dark ride section before the first launch. The turntable is also not fully enclosed, so the lightning shown on the LED screens is not as impactful as those inside the building.Did you catch your breath yet? Hopefully you did, because the train is launched backwards and up a vertical spike before gravity takes over and pulls you back into the LSMs to give you another jolt of adrenaline, as if you really needed more. The next element is a top hat with a dive into a high g turn followed by a perfectly profiled airtime hill.I assume Voltron probably has your attention by now, because designers are ready to wow you with an outward banked turn, and another low-slung airtime hill before taking you into the final section of the course. That finale is what really clinched Voltron’s top spot on my current coaster rankings as the train dives into a slow roll near Croatia’s main square.That is followed by a high speed/high-g turn around the land’s observation platform, into another twisted shot of air, and finishing with a corkscrew.Are you still breathing? I had to check, because Voltron is a breathtaking piece of engineering that has more tricks than a Vegas magician. The 30 seconds or so it takes for the train to roll into the station and synchronize with the station’s conveyor belts are essential for you to get your bearings and collect your thoughts on what you just experienced. I needed some more time to ponder after getting off, but after thinking on it, what I had just experienced was the best roller coaster I had ever ridden, and the consistent crowds lining up to ride this elite attraction with 80+ minute waits throughout both days we were in Europa Park were completely justified. If this weren’t our very first time visiting the park and its immense collection of rides and attractions, I would have devoted a full day to just riding Voltron.This coaster is intense without being nauseating. It’s thrilling without being unapproachable. It’s highly themed without being forced or corny. Mack has pulled out every coaster element you could smash into a relatively compact layout and created an attraction that is unrivaled. My only slight criticism to this otherwise perfect coaster would be that the outside seats, while providing amazing visuals by being wider than the track, are a tad bumpy. My other quibble is that the Europe Park marketing team could have done a lot better with the coaster’s merchandise. I did notice a trend across all the European parks we visited of merchandise that is only subtly branded. There were only 2 different colored shirts (beige and black) for Voltron with the same design, which does not feature any coaster track or name Europa Park (though there were 3 different Rimac shirts). I recently wore my newly purchased Voltron shirt to Kings Dominion, and I told my wife that there probably wasn’t a single person in the park that knew I was wearing a roller coaster shirt.Minor nitpicks aside, Voltron Nevera is a must-experience coaster, and is almost certainly the best new coaster of 2024, with all due respect to those who might claim Hyperia should take that crown. It is everything a world-class roller coaster should be with efficient operations, impeccable theming, and a ride experience that is jaw-dropping. Now breathe, and find a way to get to Europa Park to experience the best roller coaster on the planet.Next up – Europa ParkPreviously – Liseberg, Legoland Billund, Efteling’s thrill rides, and Efteling’s family attractions, Hotel Charles Lindbergh, Phantasialand* * *
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