Colossos- Kampf der Giganten is the original Intamin pre-fabricated wood coaster at Heide Park.
Colossos is this German park’s signature attraction and it was recently refreshed back
in 2019 with a full retrack and retheme. This ride’s American cousin in El Toro
has gotten way more recognition and acclaim over the years, but Colossos has a lot of similarities-
both good and bad. So in this video, I will review Colossos and explain why it may be
running better than El Toro at this present time. Colossos opened in 2001 as Europe’s tallest and
fastest wood coaster. While Wildfire at Kolmarden has passed Colossos in these categories, Colossos
is still one of the biggest woodies out there. This ride stands 164 feet or 50 meters tall.
And it really makes its mark on Heide Park’s skyline. The first drop and camelbacks run
along the perimeter of the park all by its lonesome, which accentuates this coaster’s scale.
Most wood coasters are carved and shaped on-site, but Colossos was an entirely different animal. It
was the prototype pre-fabricated or plug-N-play wood coaster. The coaster’s track was precisely
laser-cut in a factory, so the assemblers on-site just had to fit them together like Lego bricks.
This allowed the coaster to feature more extreme elements than prior wood coasters.
For example, Colossos hits 4.5 positive Gs, which is astronomical for a wood coaster.
And the ride has some powerful ejector airtime, as low as -1.5 Gs according to Intamin.
This was also designed to provide a smoother ride. But the pre-fabricated track was both a
blessing and a curse. On day one, this track style offers the smoothest ride of any wood coaster.
It’s smoother than most steel coasters. But the ride can develop potholes over time
that can jar your back. If you’re ridden El Toro, you know what one of these sections feel like.
It’s a different roughness than your traditional wood coaster that shake you side-to-side.
The more complicated track construction makes it harder and costlier to retrack the pre-fabs.
Six Flags Great Adventure has been retracking sections of El Toro over the past decade,
but the two earliest pre-fabs have needed a full retrack.
The first to suffer this fate was Colossos. The ride was closed in 2016 after 15 years of
operation. The park determined the ride’s track was too damaged to operate. Balder at Liseberg
closed earlier this year for the same reason. Colossos originally cost $21 million Euros
to build in 2001 and needed $12 million Euros of repairs. There was
some concern if Heide Park would invest that much in a pre-existing attraction,
but the park saw value in saving their star attraction. After sitting closed for 2.5 years,
Colossos reopened in 2019. The ride was smooth as glass and it also received some new theming.
In a bold move, the park tied the ride’s 2.5 years of closure into the ride’s story.
Right before you board, there’s a projection screen explaining the ride sat idle on the
park’s skyline for 3 years as a dark power rose from the ground and tried to defeat Colossos.
The station is filled with an eerie soundtrack and vines reminiscent of those from Stranger Things’s
Upside-Down. But most prominently, the final bunny hill passes through a giant wooden monster.
And this is one of the coolest theming elements ever.
The monster is holding an old track piece from Colossos, creating a
terrifying fakeout and headchopper. Then the belly you pass through is filled with fog.
Last but not least, the monster spurts fire out of its head as you approach it.
This is an incredible visual for both riders and spectators. There’s no other
theming along the course, but that’s fine since the elements are strong enough on their own.
Colossos is the most popular ride at Heide Park. The ride routinely has the longest line in the
park. It’s not uncommon to see this line around the 45-60 minute mark. There are three ways
to beat the crowds. One, arrive early and head here first. It’s in the very back of the park,
so you can usually get 1-2 rides before most people reach it. Two, use the Express Butler
skip-the-line pass. You can either purchase the unlimited, all-day option or single shots for
roughly 9 Euros. Three, use the single rider line. After everyone else has loaded, enough single
riders to fill the train are released and they can choose whatever vacant seat they would like.
This line has been pretty short in my visits. Operations on Colossos are pretty good.
The crew frequently has the next train ready to go before the prior one hits the brake run.
And that’s pretty impressive since Colossos has a long 15 row train. The restraints also can be
unaccommodating to larger guests, which is no surprise if you’re familiar with El Toro.
One improvement over El Toro is that the train has lights for each individual seat to determine
if it’s verified. Meanwhile on El Toro, the crew only knows if an entire car is good to go,
which makes it trickier to recheck restraints. The seatbelts are also able to be checked from the
outside of the train, which helps Colossos’s crew as well. The restraints are identical to El Toro
with the U-shaped lap bar combination with those seatbelts. These restraints are plenty comfortable
and make it easy to experience the airtime since they’re resistant enough to lowering further
during the ride. It’s also worth noting the trains are just 5 cars long as opposed to 6 cars long.
My favorite seats by far are the back car. One of the operators who is a fellow coaster
enthusiast swears the back is significantly better than the other rows in the back car,
but I found all 3 equally as great. And because this ride was recently retracked, it’s running
super smooth in every row. There’s no need to worry about a wheel seat on this wood coaster.
It’s running like El Toro in its early years.
Once dispatched, the music changes its tune and you slowly ascend the giant lift hill.
It faces away from the park towards vast fields, but you do get a cool
view of Heide Park if you look behind you. Colossos starts off pretty similarly to El Toro.
The first 2/3 have identical elements. They just ride a little different here.
After turning to the right, you approach one of the best drops on any wood coaster.
This drop isn’t nearly as steep as El Toro’s. Colossos has a max angle of descent of just 61
degrees, but that’s still quite steep for a wood coaster. You get a great burst of ejector airtime
for the first half of the drop, but then it cuts off. It’s similar to the airtime you
get on the early Intamin hypers in terms of the duration. I think that’s for two reasons. One,
you hit the max angle pretty quickly. Two, there is a trim on the drop that does grab the train.
And speaking of that, there are trims on the first two camelbacks as well.
I actually didn’t notice them on my back car rides, but I did feel all 3 trims slow
the train down a tad on my front row rides. This prevents Colossos’s start from matching El Toro,
but it’s maybe 75% of that ride which is still elite.
The first drop, and first few valleys on this coaster for that matter, have sharp pullouts
that deliver good positive Gs. These forces are similar to what you get on El Toro’s first half.
Next are back-to-back camelbacks. Camelback 1 is exceptional. It’s just a hair worse than
one on El Toro, as it delivers several seconds of powerful ejector airtime. It doesn’t matter where
you sit. You will be launched out of your seat. Camelback 2 is more seat dependent. Those in
back get good ejector airtime although it isn’t quite as sustained as the first one.
Those up front get more sustained airtime, but it’s more like strong floater airtime.
It feels really weird to get sustained floater like this on an Intamin pre-fab since this
model is famous for the ejector airtime. But sustained airtime is always a delight for me.
Next is the far turnaround. It’s profiled identically to El Toro’s, but I think this
one has better forces and comfort. The rise into the turnaround gives a decent pop of airtime for
those up front. Then the twisted dive down to the ground offers fantastic positive Gs. This pullout
does have a bit of a shake to it, but it’s way smoother than its brother in New Jersey.
I always dread this part on El Toro. You then rise upwards and navigate a sizable
drop to kick off the return run. And if you’re in back, you get a nice burst of floater airtime.
Next is a speed hill. It has always baffled me why this hill is so weak on El Toro and Colossos.
The train has a ton of speed, but this hill is just not that strong.
It only gives some weak floater if you’re in the back car.
This is where Colossos starts to deviate from El Toro. Rather than going into the Rolling Thunder
hill and twister section, Colossos has a giant helix and a series of bunny hills.
The helix is a buzzkill. It’s the one element on Colossos that feels
and is slow. It really disrupts the pacing of the ride. It does have some very weak and
sustained laterals, but it just doesn’t have the speed and/or intensity of the ride’s first half.
I also want to note that I did feel some light bumps on my 2022 rides.
They didn’t cause any discomfort, but it’s worth monitoring given this ride’s history.
Colossos then navigates 3 consecutive bunny hills. I always envisioned these hills giving
thigh-crushing ejector airtime like the final hills on Intamin hypers or Balder.
Now I have only ridden Colossos since the refurb, but these hills don’t do
anything like that. In the back, I honestly think they ride more like the final hills on a B&M hyper
since you get solid and mildy-sustained floater airtime.
Towards the front, the airtime is much briefer, but the pops have some more power to them. Plus
you have that amazing visual with the monster on the final bunny hill to accompany that airtime.
While the finale is less intense than that of El Toro, I do prefer the airtime hills over
the twister section. But Balder’s finale beats both rides handily.
Colossos then rounds one final turn. This turn looks and is pretty slow, but it does
offer some mild laterals at least. You then hit the magnetic brakes and smoothly come to a stop,
ending the 4409 foot or 1344 meter long coaster. I hinted at it, but Colossos’s pacing is uneven,
just like El Toro. The first third is fantastic. Colossos has one of the best starts of any
coaster. I love that first drop, first two camelbacks, and forceful turnaround. The
middle section has a lull though with the speed hill and large helix. Colossos does
pick things up with the finale, but these hills are merely good not elite like the ride’s start.
So what would I rate Colossos? I would give this iconic wood coaster a 9 out of 10.
Most of that is earned by this ride’s outward leg. The first drop and giant camelbacks are why
I love Colossos. Getting speed and sustained ejector airtime like that is spectacular.
While the airtime over the final 2/3 isn’t nearly as intense, Colossos still finds ways to get
you out of your seat. And this ride has more to offer with the atmospheric theming in the station
and that impressive statue towards the end. Now do I prefer this ride to El Toro? Maybe.
I think El Toro has the stronger elements, but Colossos is smoother and more reridable. Plus it
has the theming that does add to the experience in my opinion. These two rides are right next to each
other in my ranks. I see so many people rating El Toro in their top 10 lists and if you love
El Toro, I think you’ll love this ride too. So those are my thoughts on Colossos at Heide
Park? What are your thoughts on the original Intamin pre-fab? Let me know down below,
especially if you rode it just before the ride closed in 2016. I’d love to know how the
ride has changed from an airtime and/or smoothness perspective. If you enjoyed this review, I’d
appreciate it if you gave this video a like and you considered subscribing since there will be a
lot more roller coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!