Our attraction of the week this week is Europa Park's Blue Fire, a 2009 launch coaster from Mack Rides. (For those of you not familiar with Europa Park, it's Mack Rides' home park and a showcase for its ride designs.)
Blue Fire opens with a short dark ride segment before getting to business with a 0-62 mph launch out from the ride's show building and up its initial, 125-foot hill. You'll pass through some rockwork before setting up for the ride's 105-foot loop. From there, you'll enjoy multiple inversions and airtime hills, including a twisted horseshoe roll that will look familiar to fans of Cedar Point's Maverick.
Blue Fire's sponsored by a natural gas company - thus the name. You're riding the "blue fire" of burning natural gas. So I can't give Blue Fire full credit for its short dark ride introduction - it's basically just a commercial for the sponsor. You see some natural gas workers, scientists, and a natural gas pocket, before you move up through the pipeline, where the pressure mounts and you burst through the wall - now all kinetic energy, flying through air. But it's nice to have that moment between loading and launch, allowing the tension and anticipation to build. And Blue Fire does one of the better jobs out there of providing fun visuals during the ride, with abundant decor and landscaping along its 3,465 feet of track. This ain't no roller coaster in a parking lot. (And let's give some due to that sponsorship money, shall we?)
Let's take a ride, courtesy the park's official on-ride POV video:
I've not visited Germany's Europa Park yet, but I'd love to take a ride on Blue Fire. If you've been on this coaster, please tell us your thoughts about it, in the comments.
Wanna waste some time looking at more great theme park videos and photos? Hit the archives and check out our past attractions of the week.
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If I remember correctly, Blue Fire was the coaster that had sensors that riders could hold on to that measured their heart rate while they rode, which I had never seen on a coaster before. Psychologically, it made the coaster even more thrilling!