Heide Park Resort, commonly known as Heide Park, is a theme park in
Soltau
Soltau () is a mid-sized town in the Lüneburg Heath in the district of Heidekreis, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It has around 22,000 inhabitants. The city is centrally located in the Lüneburg Heath and is known nationwide especially for its touri ...
,
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. With an overall area of over 850,000 m
2 (210 acres), it is the largest
amusement park
An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...
in
Northern Germany
Northern Germany (german: link=no, Norddeutschland) is a linguistic, geographic, socio-cultural and historic region in the northern part of Germany which includes the coastal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony an ...
and among the largest in the country. It is part of the British-based
Merlin Entertainments
Merlin Entertainments Limited is a British entertainment company based at Poole in Dorset, England. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until November 2019, when it was acquired by a consortium that includes Kirkbi A/S (the investment a ...
which operates 123 attractions in 24 countries.
History
The site originally belonged to the Heidenhof Wildlife Park, which was named after the chapel that was built there in 1350. After the zoo was closed in 1972 following a devastating storm, the showman Hans-Jürgen Tiemann bought the land and opened a small amusement park in 1978 (with the contractual requirement to maintain Heidenhof Chapel as well as the keeping of native animals). When Heide Park opened on 19 August 1978 it offered only six rides: the ''Monzapiste'', the ''Heide Park Express'', the ''Oldtimerrundkurs'', the ''Floßfahrt'' (
tow boat ride), the ''Wichtelhausenbahn'' and the ''Hochbahn''. In its first season, the Heide Park had just under 200,000 visitors. 1979 saw the first dolphin show, for which they built a large domed roof a year later (after the 2008 season, the dolphinarium was closed due to protests).
The ''Heide-Dorf'' (Heath Village), a richly detailed replica of typical buildings from the
Lüneburg Heath
Lüneburg Heath (german: Lüneburger Heide) is a large area of heath, geest, and woodland in the northeastern part of the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It forms part of the hinterland for the cities of Hamburg, Hanover and Bremen a ...
, was inaugurated in the 1988 season. In 1996/'97 the Dutch section of the park was built with a windmill and canal at the other end of the park.
With the growth of the park, the catchment area grew as well. In the 1990s, up to two million people visited Heide-Park each season with 2,100,000 guests in 2001. The following year the UK-based
Tussauds Group
The Tussauds Group was an entertainment company which is now a part of Merlin Entertainments. It was based in Poole, Dorset from where it managed a portfolio of brands and over 50 attractions that included the Madame Tussauds waxworks, Legoland ...
bought the park and since then attendance to the park has decreased to 1.5 - 1.6 million visitors per annum. Hans-Jürgen Tiemann still has influence in the park by shares and as an advisory director of the Tussauds Group. In early 2007 the
Merlin Entertainments Group
Merlin Entertainments Limited is a British entertainment company based at Poole in Dorset, England. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until November 2019, when it was acquired by a consortium that includes Kirkbi A/S (the investment a ...
bought the majority of the shares of Tussauds Group from Dubai International Capital, which had taken over the shares in 2005.
The most recognizable landmark in the park is a 1/3 scale replica of the
Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; French: ''La Liberté éclairant le monde'') is a List of colossal sculpture in situ, colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the U ...
(35 meters tall), it was inaugurated on 4 July 1986 on the 100th anniversary of the original statue. At the end of 2011 the whole structure was relocated to stand within the roller coaster ''
Colossos''. The park's mascot is a bear called Wumbo.
In the 1990s, Hans-Jurgen Tiemann was successful as a driver and sponsor on the touring-car racing circuit, while his son Marcel Tiemann began a career as a professional race car driver.
The Park's owner, The Tussauds Group, was sold in May 2007 to the
Blackstone Group
Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. Blackstone's private equity business has been one of the largest investors in leveraged buyouts in the last three decades, while its real estate b ...
.
The Tussauds Group as a separate entity ceased to exist, and was merged into the Blackstone-owned Merlin Entertainments which has since operated the Park.
Music and events
The music played at Heide Park is a combination of commercial tracks, library music and commissioned music. The following composers have had their music played at the park: Graham Smart,
Ian Habgood
Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponding to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. It is a popular name in Sc ...
, David Buckley, Crispin Merrell, IMAscore and John Sanderson.
Halloween in October is a special event.
Heide Park Resort
![Wumbo-Figur vor dem Eingang des Holiday Camps](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Wumbo-Figur_vor_dem_Eingang_des_Holiday_Camps.jpg)
Hotel Port Royal was opened in 2007 with 150 family rooms and 16 suites. There is also a Holiday Camp that opened in 2005 with 81 wooden houses in Caribbean style with a total of 536 beds.
Park areas
The park is divided into five areas.
* Eingang & Ausgang, that features Lower-Saxony style buildings
* Bucht der Piraten, that is mainly themed around the world of pirates
* Transilvanien, with a medieval-style castle on top of the hill surrounded by a forest
* Land der Vergessenen, which hosts the park's award-winning wooden roller coaster Colossos - Kampf der Giganten, as well as the Mayan Village that has many flat rides.
* Exploria
Attractions
Heide Park currently has about 40 rides which are mainly aimed at families but its thrill rides are also very popular.
One of the main attractions is
Colossos - Kampf der Giganten
Colossos - Kampf der Giganten, German for ''Colossos: Battle of the Giants'', is a wooden roller coaster located at Heide Park in Soltau, Lower Saxony, Germany. Manufactured by Intamin, the roller coaster opened as simply Colossos in 2001. Unlike ...
, a wooden roller coaster, which until the opening of
Balder
Baldr (also Balder, Baldur) is a god in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, Baldr (Old Norse: ) is a son of the god Odin and the goddess Frigg, and has numerous brothers, such as Thor and Váli. In wider Germanic mythology, the god was kno ...
, on 12 April 2003 in the
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
amusement park
Liseberg
Liseberg is an amusement park located in Gothenburg, Sweden, that opened in 1923. It is one of the most visited amusement parks in Scandinavia, attracting about three million visitors annually. Among the noteworthy attractions is the wooden roll ...
, was the steepest wooden roller coaster in the world. The latest attraction is the wing coaster Flug der Dämonen. It is Germany's first wing coaster and reaches a maximum of 4 ''g'' positive during the ride.
Roller coasters
Water rides
Other attractions
Krake Alive! - a 7 min horror maze (2012); Heide Park. This indoor horror maze has 7 different scenes in the 300 sq m building with plenty of special effects and live actors as well. Age limit 12 years.
Go Karts - go karts (2004); extra charge
Kiddie Rides
*Koggenfahrt - circular ride (1982); Mack Rides.
*Lucky Land - play area with gold digging, horse shoe throwing, etc. (2008).
*Nostalgic Carousel - Venettian Carousel (1997);
Bertazzon.
*Pizie Town Train - on track ride (1978); Mack Rides.
*Rotor Baron - airplanes (1985); ETZ Marcel Lutz.
*Screamie - a 12m tall mini drop tower (2008); Zierer.
*Sea Horse Bay - paddle boats for kids (2005); Klarer Freizeitlagen.
*Steam Carousel - carousel (1989); Peter Petz.
*Water Playground - water play area (1991).
*Wild West bucketwheel - mini
Ferris wheel
A Ferris wheel (also called a Giant Wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondolas, capsules ...
(2008); Zierer.
*Peppa's Boat Trip - boat ride - Peppa Pig theme (2018); Metallbau Emmeln
*George's Dino Adventure - tracked horse ride Peppa Pig theme (2018); Metallbau Emmeln
*Grandpa Pig's Train Tide - train ride - Peppa Pig theme (2018)
*Peppa's Hot Air Balloon Ride - balloon ride - Peppa Pig theme (2020)
Shows
Five shows are available each day at Heide Park, these are;
* Anger of Mayan, a 25-minute show about Mayan Indians at the Mayan Amphitheater that was built in 2011 and seats 800 people.
* Gold of Port Royal, a 35-minute pirate show at Pirate Arena that was built in 2010 and seats 1200 people.
* Puppet Comet, a 10-minute puppet show at Puppet Comic Theatre, built in 1985 and seats 100 people.
* Madagaskar LIVE! - It's Circus Time, a 30-minute show based on the movie ''Madagaskar 3: Flucht durch Europa'' in a tent, built in 2013.
* Previous shows include The Dolphin Show (closed 2008), The Parrot Show (closed 2008), The Bird Theater (closed 2009) and Hello Spencer (closed 2016).
Trivia
* Heide Park was one of three playable real world parks (with
Alton Towers and
Blackpool Pleasure Beach
Blackpool Pleasure Beach is an amusement park situated on Blackpool's South Shore, in the county of Lancashire, North West England. It operates as a secure facility, and has introduced epayments via smartphones for admission charges, replac ...
) added to
RollerCoaster Tycoon in the
Loopy Landscapes expansion pack.
Gallery
:''Main gallery:
Heide Park at WikiCommons''
File:Heide Park Eingang.jpg, Heide-Park Entrance
File:KapitolHeidepark.JPG, Kapitol
File:Rapid River, Heide-Park.jpg, ''Rapid River''
File:Piratenkapitän2007.jpg, Pirate in 2007
File:Hallo Spencer Studio im Heide-Park.jpg, Hallo Spencer Studio
File:Hotel Port Royal Eingang.JPG, Hotel Port Royal Eingang
References
External links
Official Flash-Website of the Heide-ParkHeide-Park Holiday-CampHeide-Park-world - Info, Photos, Forum, Gallery etc.
{{Merlin attractions
1978 establishments in West Germany
Amusement parks in Germany
Buildings and structures in Lower Saxony
Economy of Lower Saxony
Lüneburg Heath
Merlin Entertainments Group
Tourist attractions in Lower Saxony
Amusement parks opened in 1978