Colossos is a wooden roller coaster, located at Heide Park Resort, in Soltau, Germany.
The ride allegedly opened to the public as the world’s tallest and fastest wooden roller coaster.
Although both of these records have been disputed, the wooden attraction remains an iconic ride
that continues to impress guests even to this day.
Colossos originally opened to the public on the 13th of April 2001,
at a cost of roughly 21 Million Euros.
This astounding price tag was the result of two major factors:
Firstly - Colossos is huge.
It stands 50m (164ft) high, and dominates the skyline at the back of the park.
And Secondly - The attraction was the first of its kind.
Traditionally, wooden roller coasters are fabricated on site, meaning that wooden pieces
are cut to size on park, before being bolted together.
The same cannot be said for Colossos.
Built by Intamin, the ride became the first of their prefabricated wooden roller coaster models.
Here, the company uses computer aided machines to precisely and accurately cut the individual
track sections offsite.
This means that they can be assembled together onsite at a much quicker rate.
This technology has allowed the company to build even bigger rides, all while maintaining
the smoothness of a steel roller coaster.
However, these aren’t the only interesting facts about this attraction.
As of 2019, Colossos features a unique storyline and a huge themed structure.
But the ride never used to look this way.
The wooden roller coaster operated seamlessly, without any major theming, for close to 15
years; then suddenly on the 28th July 2016, it was closed until further notice.
Heide Park quickly cited ‘unexpected repair work’ as the reason and throughout the rest
of the year, the ride remained dormant.
In January of 2017, the park stated that despite their best efforts, Colossos would not reopen
for the start of the 2017 season, as originally hoped.
Only two months later the full impact of the closure was revealed to the public.
Colossos was no longer structurally sound, requiring extensive regenerative work to begin
operating once more.
Heide Park turned to their parent company, Merlin Entertainments, to see whether they
would fund this redevelopment.
Rumors began to spread, with some stating it would be closed for good, while others
questioned whether it would become a new hybrid roller coaster.
After several months of nail biting silence, Merlin had made their decision.
Colossos was to be fixed and reopened to the public as the wooden roller coaster it originally was.
The company stated that, due to its previous high popularity,
they would not convert the ride into a hybrid coaster.
Construction vehicles began groundwork at the start of the 2018 season; and later that
year it was announced that Colossos would reopen to the public as Colossos: Kampf der
Giganten, meaning Battle of the Giants.
On the 19th of April 2019 Colossos eventually reopened to guests, at an additional cost
of 12 million Euros.
Included within this was the rides’ extensive retheme, which saw the construction of a huge
25m 82ft tall thematic structure that ties directly into the new storyline.
As soon as guests walk up to the attraction, they are met by this creature, which appears
to have torn apart the roller coaster’s track.
When riders hurtle its way, the giant bursts into flames, before engulfing the entire train.
However, it’s within the queue line and station that guests are able to pick up more
specific details of the attraction’s actual theme.
“Colossos stood tall for 15 years, but time had taken its toll, and for the last 3 years
it has remained silent on the skyline.
During this time a dark power has begun to rise from the depths of the earth.
It’s strength now threatens to destroy Colossos.
Only the energy of Colossos, and the screams of riders, can halt the beast.
You must scream to stop it, scream to escape, scream to conquer.”
It’s at this point that riders board one of two trains, each of which consists of 5
cars, seating guests in 3 rows of 2.
This means there are a total of 30 riders per train.
Once ready, visitors leave the station building and become part of an epic battle between wood and fire.
They immediately begin to climb the huge 50m (164ft) tall lift hill,
and navigate a slow 180 degree bend.
The trains then plummet down the 48.5m (159ft) drop.
Riders descend at the maximum vertical angle of 61 degrees, all before reaching their top
speed of 110 km/h (68.4 mph).
Before they know it, visitors have already begun to traverse the ride’s first airtime
hill, one of many featured throughout the layout.
After a 2nd, almost identical airtime-hill, the trains ascend a third hill, before navigating
a curved drop to the right.
This is quickly followed by an upward climb to the left, and another large drop.
After a third, smaller airtime hill, riders rise into a non-operational mid-course brake
run, and begin to spiral down a left-hand helix.
Following a 4th airtime hill, guests come face to face with the huge themed structure,
which appears to be holding the ride’s remaining track.
As the trains fly over another airtime hill, the creature bursts into flames.
Guests dive beneath the fake track element, and fly straight into the monster’s mouth.
A short 180 degree banked turn later, the trains speed into the final brake run,
marking the end of the ride.
Throughout the entire experience, visitors navigate a total of 1344m (4409ft) of track,
all within approximately 70 seconds of actual ride time.
And, even despite this long length, it features a decent throughput of roughly 1030 riders per hour.
So far, the new and improved Colossos has been well received.
Many are happy to see the iconic ride open once more, while others have praised the new
theming which has enhanced both the attraction’s onride and offride experiences.
Like all Intamin Prefabricated roller coasters, Colossos has also been applauded for its fantastic
airtime and extremely smooth ride.
Are you happy this wooden attraction reopened to the public, or would you have liked to
see it reborn as an all-new hybrid roller coaster?
Let us know in the comments down below.
Thank you for watching, and we'll see you all next time.