Our European road trip was taking us to five theme parks that we had never visited before, but of all those parks, just one of them had opened a major new attraction in 2024. Europa Park debuted Voltron Nevera Powered by Rimac at the end of April, and since its debut, this quickly became one of the most anticipated attractions of our entire trip. This Mack “Stryker” coaster is the centerpiece of a new Croatian-themed land and celebrates the innovations of Nikola Tesla – I guess Elon Musk didn’t want to sponsor the ride, so the park instead turned to the Croatian hypercar manufacturer Rimac, who have a car on display near the ride’s extended queue and sell branded merchandise in the coaster’s gift shop.
In a word, Voltron Nevera is BREATHTAKING with a complete experience from beginning to end. With all due respect to those who have had a chance to ride Hyperia at Thorpe Park (another Mack creation), I don’t think the UK’s tallest coaster could possibly be better than Europa Park’s newest attraction. I’ve ridden probably close to 500 coasters (lost count long ago), and there isn’t a single one that can top Voltron Nevera – not VelociCoaster, not Fury 325, not Steel Vengeance, not Iron Gwazi, not Project 305 (my previous top five).
The coaster has excellent theming, especially when you consider the thrills that it packs. It’s rare to come across a coaster that can combine both great theming and high-octane thrills with VelociCoaster and Project 305 (when it still had heavy NASCAR theming) being the rare exceptions. Voltron’s façade is gorgeous with a museum-style building topped with a massive Tesla tower and the world’s first beyond-vertical launch track extending above the roofline and into the first inversion.
The main exterior queue behind the building contains a number of massive artifacts that look like giant transformers and huge electrical cables. The primary interior queue is where the theming is taken to another level and where you will find a Tesla animatronic figure conducting experiments and powering his machines.
Above the Tesla animatronic, there are louvers that open and close to give waiting guests a chance to catch a brief glimpse of the train on the launch track, while on the opposite side of the room, there is a video screen showing bolts of electricity and occasional recorded videos of the train returning to the station.
The theming is taken to a truly electrifying level every 10 minutes when Tesla coils mounted to the ceiling perform a melody that energizes the crowd below. When Voltron is running at optimal capacity, guests will probably hear the tune 2-3 times. But even for guests in the slower moving single rider line (completely contained within the enclosed portion of the queue) or if you’re unlucky enough to get caught during a shutdown (like we were), even hearing the song for the 4th or 5th time still gives you a jolt of adrenaline to get on this incredible thrill machine.
Inhale that ozone, because once you’ve made your way through the indoor section of the queue, guests are directed to locker bays beneath the loading platform. There are even designated bays for the single rider line to provide a steady flow of guests up the stairs and onto the trains. Once you’ve placed all of your loose items into a locker (and locked it with a nondescript RFID key card provided by the attendant), you’re directed up a flight of stairs to the boarding platform. Guests are then sorted by group size with the still separate single rider line used to fill in any empty seats. As with many single rider lines, the pace of this line can be dependent on random sizes of groups in the main queue as well as how efficient the ride ops are at sorting people into 4-person rows with some staff working harder to pair any odd numbered parties together, and only using the single rider line as a last resort.
Once you’ve been grouped, you’re then directed to the loading platform where trains are slowly moving forward synchronously with adjacent conveyor belts, much like Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket at USF, which is the reason for the locker bays downstairs and the quick pace of the grouping process. Seats on Voltron are arranged in 4 rows of 4 with individual seats well-spaced to give guests a good bit of elbow room.
Riders are secured in the comfortable bucket seats (with their distinctive quilted pattern) with a simple lap bar (like Copperhead Strike at Carowinds minus the extra safety belt). Attendants wearing uniforms that appeared to be a cross between Prohibition-era bartender and lab assistant then check each restraint and lock rows with the wave of an RFID tag as the train slowly rolls down the platform. Once the train reaches the end of the platform, it progresses into a dark ride section featuring another Tesla animatronic conducting experiments to harness the power of electricity flowing from a powerful generator. The train then pauses as the darkened room is filled with lightning and sound effects. Bolts of electricity envelop the train, and the track then pulses up and down as if being charged by tens of thousands of volts of power.
Deep breath....
Before you know it, the doors ahead of you open, and the train speeds off and straight up and out of the building into that world’s first beyond-vertical launch track and the first inversion you likely marveled at above the ride’s entrance before getting in line. The launch is pretty interesting, because it starts out like any other LSM coaster, but once the train clears the roof and begins to make its turn backwards, it feels like the last set of LSMs are willing the train into the inversion.
This creates loads of hang time before the track turns the train right-side up and into a short dive along the ride building’s roof to pick up speed for a mind-bending sequence featuring a corkscrew, low-slung airtime hill, and an Immelmann.
Just when you thought you could catch your breath, Voltron puts another jolt of adrenaline into riders as the train passes through a second set of LSM motors to build speed for the next series of elements. A zero-g stall high above the ground is followed by another excellent airtime hill and a series of quick, high-intensity turns before the train executes a dive loop, followed by a really quick pop of air, and into the brakes.
OK now, breathe... breathe... breathe....
No, Voltron is not done, and most coaster fans should recognize there’s more to come as the track locks the train into place and spins on a turntable (for what it’s worth, the turntable alternates the directions it spins, clockwise one cycle followed by counterclockwise the next). There are some more lightning, sound, and fog effects here, but not nearly as impressive as the initial dark ride section before the first launch. The turntable is also not fully enclosed, so the lightning shown on the LED screens is not as impactful as those inside the building.
Did you catch your breath yet? Hopefully you did, because the train is launched backwards and up a vertical spike before gravity takes over and pulls you back into the LSMs to give you another jolt of adrenaline, as if you really needed more. The next element is a top hat with a dive into a high g turn followed by a perfectly profiled airtime hill.
I assume Voltron probably has your attention by now, because designers are ready to wow you with an outward banked turn, and another low-slung airtime hill before taking you into the final section of the course. That finale is what really clinched Voltron’s top spot on my current coaster rankings as the train dives into a slow roll near Croatia’s main square.
That is followed by a high speed/high-g turn around the land’s observation platform, into another twisted shot of air, and finishing with a corkscrew.
Are you still breathing? I had to check, because Voltron is a breathtaking piece of engineering that has more tricks than a Vegas magician. The 30 seconds or so it takes for the train to roll into the station and synchronize with the station’s conveyor belts are essential for you to get your bearings and collect your thoughts on what you just experienced. I needed some more time to ponder after getting off, but after thinking on it, what I had just experienced was the best roller coaster I had ever ridden, and the consistent crowds lining up to ride this elite attraction with 80+ minute waits throughout both days we were in Europa Park were completely justified. If this weren’t our very first time visiting the park and its immense collection of rides and attractions, I would have devoted a full day to just riding Voltron.
This coaster is intense without being nauseating. It’s thrilling without being unapproachable. It’s highly themed without being forced or corny. Mack has pulled out every coaster element you could smash into a relatively compact layout and created an attraction that is unrivaled. My only slight criticism to this otherwise perfect coaster would be that the outside seats, while providing amazing visuals by being wider than the track, are a tad bumpy. My other quibble is that the Europe Park marketing team could have done a lot better with the coaster’s merchandise. I did notice a trend across all the European parks we visited of merchandise that is only subtly branded. There were only 2 different colored shirts (beige and black) for Voltron with the same design, which does not feature any coaster track or name Europa Park (though there were 3 different Rimac shirts). I recently wore my newly purchased Voltron shirt to Kings Dominion, and I told my wife that there probably wasn’t a single person in the park that knew I was wearing a roller coaster shirt.
Minor nitpicks aside, Voltron Nevera is a must-experience coaster, and is almost certainly the best new coaster of 2024, with all due respect to those who might claim Hyperia should take that crown. It is everything a world-class roller coaster should be with efficient operations, impeccable theming, and a ride experience that is jaw-dropping. Now breathe, and find a way to get to Europa Park to experience the best roller coaster on the planet.
Next up – Europa Park
Previously – Liseberg, Legoland Billund, Efteling's thrill rides, and Efteling's family attractions, Hotel Charles Lindbergh, Phantasialand
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The dead stop turntable ruined it for me. Awesome coaster for sure, but Mack should have taken a leaf out of Intamins book, when it comes to including LSM launches in the middle of rides.
Voltron was my 3rd favorite coaster of my trip. Ride to Happiness was way out in front, followed by the Pantheon-on-steroids .. Toutatis.
Theming was amazing, but hats off goes to the guy who designed the outside switchbacks. A remarkable feat of mazy type design. I think it was 2 or 3 times I thought I was close to the ride building, only to find myself further away at the next turn ... :)
I’ve loved reading your write ups! I did a similar trip in 2023 and unfortunately this ride wasn’t open yet. I wasn’t really considering a return to the park because I was a little underwhelmed, but looks like I will have to return to ride this.
Going to have to agree with Mako - Ride to Happiness is the best coaster I’ve ever been on and is an insanely high bar to beat.
@Mako - We didn't go through the standby line (utilized the single rider line for our rides, which took about 10-15 minutes less than the posted wait minus breakdown time), but that exterior queue looked to be very elaborate and sufficiently twisty. They probably could have put more of the queue inside the building, but I can see the rationale for keeping the inside wait down to @15-20 minutes to build anticipating and to keep the line moving efficiently onto the load platform.
I cannot personally vouch for Ride to Happiness or Toutatis (Parc Asterix was off the itinerary because we didn't want to get too deep into France during the Olympics, and there just weren't enough other unique attractions at Plopsaland De Panne for us to trek into Belgium), but I give a lot of credit to parks that put effort into theming roller coasters, which are notoriously difficult to give a cohesive story. For me, a coaster needs to be more than just mind-blowing in terms of elements, sensations, forces, and speed, it has to have that extra something to make it unique. Obviously, the spinning cars on Ride to Happiness and the swing launch on Toutatis (along with its trenches) gives those decently themed coasters something unique, but they're still similar to coasters here in the states (Time Traveler and Patheon, respectively - the European analogs might be better, but are they worth crossing an ocean compared to Voltron, which has NOTHING like it here in the states, or anywhere else in the world for that matter). The theming on Voltron is top notch, though I do agree that the turntable could have been a bit better themed, but it serves the purpose of giving riders a chance to catch their breath before the trip back to the station.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but Voltron left me awe struck and contained all of the elements I'm looking for in a coaster - speed, intensity, airtime, variability, length, theming, and excellent, efficient ride ops.
Of course Russell, we all have our own preferences and choices of our favorite coasters. I'm pretty sure if Mack had used a better middle-of-the-ride transition, I would look upon Voltron very differently.
Nothing like RtoH anywhere in the world. Inverted spinning extreme, it truly was unique every time I rode it.
"Tad bumpy" ... :)
Maybe a bit more than that. But I'd live with it, if that turntable wasn't there.
Hopefully we get a Stryker somewhere/sometime in the US
I don't really understand criticism of the turntable, which unlike a standard MCBR serves as a demarcation point where the ride begins to function differently and it ties into the ride's story.
I'm thrilled to read such a glowing review of this ride. Europa Park is one of my top 3 parks on the planet and that was before they added a potential world No. 1 coaster. Can't wait to get back.
I cannot think of a coaster I've ridden, that has a dead stop, momentum killer, in the middle of a ride .. Maybe some will say Everest? or Hagrid's and Th13teen for the drop track? But all of those are not extreme coasters like Voltron.
I would be very happy if Voltron had a MCBR instead of the turntable.
Again, it's an awesome ride ... but, if only ...
Mummy?
@Makorider - Maverick comes almost to a full stop (very slow roll) before the second launch in the tunnel. Full Throttle also comes to a full stop before it goes through the swing launch and over the loop. I'd also say the bigger B&M dive machines that have MCBRs (SheiKra, Griffon, Valvarvn, and Yukon Striker) come to nearly a full stop before their second drops to get as close to that first tip over the edge as practical, without resetting the chain dogs.
I can definitely see the criticism of the turntable, and I think they could have done better by having it fully enclosed to enhance the theming and so the actual turntable mechanism is hidden from view (in the dark). There is still a bit of suspense there because you don't know which way the turntable is going to spin, but experienced coaster riders know what's coming there.
I have only been to Europa Park once and felt while its a great park: big, a lot to do for all ages, very well themed and beautiful, has the scale of a huge corporate park but operations, cleanliness, and care of a family owned park, and really great onsite hotels...the one big flaw was that it while it has a lot of rides it lacks great ones. Other than Arthur I didn't come away from any attraction there thinking "wow, that is a world-class ride."
I felt Silver Star was the weakest B&M hyper, Blue Fire was pretty and had a nice queue/station but the ride kind of lacked, Wodan was a let down (it looks amazing but wasn't anything special when it comes to GCI's). Also not going to lie i'm not a fan of the blatant ripoffs of Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Spaceship Earth thing (the fact that they have the structure itself, the ride is OK I guess). It comes across as tasteless IMO.
TBH my favorite rides in the park were Arthur, the bobsled, and this really weird dark ride in the Italy section that I think was about making pizza.
From your trip report it sounds like they have done a good job addressing this with the addition of Voltron, I mean it doesn't get any better than #1 and I trust your judgement on that. It looks like not only a world class coaster but also completely original, unique, and elaborate theming. Sometimes I don't go on these kind of rides anymore because of my age (I flat out do not ride Gerstlauers anymore, and this kind of looks like one though it isn't), but will definitely give this one a try based off your reccomendation.
I've been hearing top 20 quite a bit with Voltron, but #1 in the world is a pretty high bar. My current favorite Mack coaster (Time Traveler) finds itself at 30 on my coaster list, so while it's not unreasonable that I'd place Voltron higher (it does look better than Time Traveler), it'd probably need to be something truly special in order to elevate it above those you name as your former top five (which are all top ten on my own list of 700+). Still, I'd love to get back to Europa Park at some point and give it a try...perhaps it really is far more than it looks and deserving of all the praise you've given it.
Agreed Russell, but do you not think Mack could have transitioned the '1st' & '2nd' halfs better by using LSMs into somesort of turnaround element, then use the same LSMs that are there now, to get you back to the station?
They could have even slowed the train into a tunnel with the lightning effects, then launched it out ....
I just think the design engineers were a little lazy using the turntable.
And yes, I also agree, souvenir shirts. in particular, were in short supply at all the parks I visited, not just Europa. There wasn't a single Voltron t-shirt in the store. I bought the cream hoodie, just to have something. Not sure I'll need it in Florida though .. LOL
@Makorider - No doubt Mack could have done something different there, but if you look at the narrow strip of land they were working with, they were pretty limited in what could be done. I've read a lot of reviews of Voltron, and I agree with a common refrain that Mack wanted to pull out every trick in their arsenal as a proof of concept for the Stryker coaster. It has the conveyor belt load platform, wave track block, beyond vertical LSM, booster launch, turntable, swing launch, MCBR, along with all of the elements the unique train design takes along the way. It's like a model home at the front of the new housing development that is tricked out to be the top of the line with the expectation other parks buying the coaster would pick and choose different features on the prototype/model. I also think Mack didn't want to push the envelope too far and end up with a lemon in their own park, so the height and speed are not taken to the extreme (possibly because there just wasn't the space to make Voltron any bigger than it already is).
@AJ - I think it's telling that the recent Golden Ticket ranking placed Voltron at #11 on the list of top 50 Steel Coasters in the world. That's a pretty high ranking for a coaster that a lot of people who vote in the poll have not had an opportunity to ride yet. FWIW, their ranking is...
1. Fury 325
2. Velocicoaster
3. Steel Vengeance
4. Millennium Force (I've never understood the passion for this one)
5. Iron Gwazi
6. Taron
7. The Ride to Happiness
8. Zadra
9. Expedition GeForce
10. Maverick
11. Voltron
12. Superman (SFNE)
13. Leviathan
14. Project 305
15. Phantom's Revenge
16. F.L.Y.
17. ArieForce One
18. GotG:CR
19. Mako
20t. Diamondback
20t. Iron Rattler
I've ridden all but 4 coasters on that list (Zadra, Ride to Happiness, Expedition GeForce, and ArieForce One), and I generally agree with the rankings above give or take a few spots here and there, which could be impacted by day to day variables like weather, individual train ride, efficiency of ops, and general mood when you're riding (sometimes I feel Project 305 is the best and want to marathon it for hours, but there are other times when I just don't want to deal with those forces more than once).
@the_man7 - I have more to say on Europa Park in future articles, which won this year's Golden Ticket for Best Park in the world, so stay tuned...
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