Poseidon was the son of Titans
Cronus and Rhea, brother of Zeus and the husband of Amphitrite, one of the
Nereids, by whom he had a son, Triton.
As the god of the sea, Poseidon
is often mistaken for Neptune, the Roman god of the sea, and in art is represented
as a
bearded man, often holding a trident, accompanied by a dolphin.
Poseidon plays part in many
ancient myths, including those of his affairs with nymphs of the springs and
fountains resulting in his many and somewhat notorious sons such as Orion and Polyphemus,
the Cyclops.
Predominantly, however, Poseidon
spends many legends locked in battles with like-minded gods such as Athena, who
he battled (unsuccessfully) for control of Greek capital Athens.
This was a battle of wit, not of
brute force. Whoever could present the people of Athens with the most valuable
gift would gain control. Whilst the cascading waterfalls of Poseidon were
beautiful, the salty water from them was worthless in comparison to the Olive
tree planted by Athena.
Unfortunately, many battles
weren’t as eloquent, often resulting in gratuitous death and destruction
throughout.
With such colourful legends, it
is surprising that not more parks have Greek
themed areas. Something seems
strangely apt by theming a wooden roller coaster after the thunder of Zeus
(Tonnerre De Zeus, of course), and just as fitting is Poseidon, the second
water coaster from Mack.
The first was Sea World
Florida’s Atlantis, themed – coincidentally - after the Greek city banished to
the bottom of the sea. To compare the two is not as relevant as you may think,
seeing that predominantly Atlantis is a log flume with a stretch of coaster
track, whereas Poseidon is a roller coaster with a stretch of log flume.
The pathway around the
intricately themed Greek area of Europa Park wraps around the beautiful dark
blue lagoon, through which the majority of the boat section of Poseidon takes
place.
Towards the back, a large
cascading waterfall hides the bottom of the final drop, and every so often, a
boat scathes through the middle, throwing implausible amounts of water away
from its fibreglass hull and over a neighbouring pier stretching along the side
of this element.
Behind a rocky horizon, the rich
blue track and pale white supports criss-cross as the track goes through
an almost contorted section of twists and turns before it drops down past the
immense Greek temple that forms the station to this water coaster.
Often I say a station is large.
Well, this is complete overkill, utterly contradicting every element of theme
park mentality in the book. The masonry on this building is as spectacular as
the ride, using solid carved rocks as opposed to breezeblocks covered in
sprayed cement, using unyielding yet finely chiselled columns of rock to
support the roof 40ft above. The gable ends are decorated with intricate
carvings of the gods of Greek mythology and the entrance marked with flaming
torches.
It could have been so easy to
take the easy option and hide a tin shed like is the case even at Disney, but
this building is the real McCoy. Why they don’t think visitors are naïve enough
not to notice is beyond me, but what I do notice, moreover appreciate, is the
attention to detail that is clearly absent from pretty much every other theme
park worldwide.
The inside of the building is as
rich a tapestry as the outside. A row of boats slice through the solid rock
floor, Poseidon’s enormous trident obliterating the far end, sparkling with
power, smouldering at
its point of impact.
The boats are identical to those
on Valhalla, and are predominantly white, trimmed in varying colours per boat,
including blue, teal, gold and red. The sides are re-assuringly high,
considering the vast sea of H20 that your vessel will soon sail though.
As your boat approaches the end
of this perpetually moving conveyor, you pass through a smashed image of
Poseidon shrouded in a rolling red mist before you dip into the water outside.
Your boat slaloms through the
ruins of a Greek city, destroyed by quarrelling gods and powers unbeknown to us
mere mortals. Once glorious buildings have crumbled into the water, wooden
trestles splintered beyond recognition.
A fine mist settles as you
continue between the city walls, littered with the destroyed remains of sailing
boats, be-headed statues of those who people honoured, fine masonry destroyed.
The boat is soon then lifted
onto track via a conveyor belt as it rises to about
45ft. Without warning, gone
is the relative comfort of water as the track throws your ‘boat’ into a arcing
110-degree swooping turn, dropping with surprising haste, regaining height and
passing through some block-brakes.
With surprising ferocity, your
wheeled craft is thrown into a plunging drop, pulling you to the side towards
the ground below. After skimming the ground below, you climb to the side and
through another set of brakes that make very little difference.
Once again, you are yanked out,
to the side, before dipping down sharply and splashing down into the lagoon. As
your boat becomes a boat once again, water is thrown away from the boat as the
water level rises over the front and front seat riders get a lap full of water.
The pandemonium that prevailed
is now a distant memory as you weave through the lagoon past the city wall
which you are now on the outside of. As you approach the walkway that butts the
end of the cove, you turn back towards the final, main drop.
Glance left and you see the
pandemonium that ensued, the lift-hill climbing to the top of the contorted,
curling drops. As you pass a wooden walkway,
jutting out between you and the
final drop, you begin the climb up the final lift.
The water is left at the bottom
as you turn the 180-degree turn up top, once again on wheels. As the pace gets
faster, the boat suddenly drops, heading towards a rocky tunnel, full of mist,
through which it bursts.
With almost violent airtime, the
boat climbs into a sharp bunny hop before splashing through the rolling
white-water that forms the bottom of this spectacular drop.
Spray is thrown from the side as
you pass through this short white-water section before dipping sharply into the
lagoon, onlookers taking shelter as the
wall of water is thrown skywards
towards the quay to your right and the path to your left, and then, inevitably
back onto the front seat riders.
As the boat slows, a final turn
past the surrounding walkway takes you back into the fantastic station in which
you leave to the left-hand side.
Poseidon excels in many aspects.
Not only has the actual ride been improved on sister ride Atlantis by vastly
extending it and adding far, far more coaster track, the theme is perfectly
apt.
It is
an epic show of events
throughout and a perfectly evolving plot line that keeps your attention
throughout.
It starts off with the
fantastically themed and rather atmospheric remains of the Greek city, as you
float round in an almost gentile Pirates of the Caribbean manner.
This is all a distant memory,
however, once your boat is threaded onto the roller coaster track for a frantic
session on the many curving turns and drops that make up the roller coaster
section of the ride.
The roller coaster section of
the ride is tightly packed and quite chaotic. As your boat is essentially a
single roller coaster car, you don’t get the feeling of shuffling often
associated with swooping turns and multiple brakes which hold the back of the
train.
The transition back into water
is flawless. You almost forget you’re on a coaster until in the blink of an eye
you splash down. The slaloming log flume section through the lagoon is an
opportunity to catch your breath. It isn’t a dead spot, there is plenty to look
at, including the final drop.
The final drop is glorious. The
airtime sustained throughout is powerful and completely unexpected. The tunnel
offers great visuals, and although front seat riders come off worse than anyone
else, it isn’t intolerably wet for the climate.
Although the ride itself is
fantastically engineered for your enjoyment, it is the attraction as a whole
that entertains with theming that is thorough, high quality but not intruding.
Should you not be up for riding,
watching Poseidon is as much a spectator sport as Tidal Wave. The walkway to
the entrance takes you over the final tunnel giving you a good idea of the main
prose of the ride.
The splash is impressively vast,
and as such, gets the surrounding pathway and the quay between the final lift
and drop. Throughout, once again, theming is refreshingly real, sans chicken
wire and sprayed concrete.
Poseidon sets the benchmarks
Valhalla couldn’t and offers an engaging, powerful ride. The attraction
successfully upholds the intricate perfection developed elsewhere in the park
and proves that a five-star ride doesn’t necessarily require knuckles to be a
brighter shade of white.