Parque Quiqueland came onto the coaster enthusiasts radar when the following video clip was found by Maria, a friend in Brazil who I've not yet met but who shares my same crazy obsession for finding new rides.
Any home made ride is going to be a reason to visit (unique is good) and a German friend Lutz was the first friend to visit the park in 2014 but found the ride in a closed state, and his thoughts were that it was in such a bad state that it'd probably never open again. However we'd already locked in the park into the trip so decided to visit it anyway.
Getting the park was pretty straightforward with a nice drive through some pretty arid countryside from Aguascalientes to San Luis Potosi to the East. The park is situated on the banks of a lake to the north-east. Finding the entrance wasn't so straightforward as we missed it and found ourselves circumnavigating the lake instead.
A shot from "are we there yet" distance away.
At the entrance we seemed to be mis-charged entrance with us not being given enough change but we shrugged it off. However we weren't able to shrug off the member of staff who accompanied us around the park. I guess having 3 adults rock up at your children's park is reason to call out on the PA for backup :)
The crazy golf had at one time looked much prettier than it did today.
The big coaster circles the centre of the park. We chatted to our guide/chaperone as best we could and tried to ascertain if the coaster could be opened today, and here's how the conversation went.
"Montana Rusa, es esta abierta?"
"No"
"Hoy?"
"No"
"Siempre?"
"No"
Ironically the Spanish was being said by the non-Spanish speakers and the easy-to-interpret responses by the Mexican.
A good travel tip is that it is always good to learn a few key phrases when travelling abroad ("when is the ride going to open", "can I ride this" - phrases like that haha) but I impressed myself by somehow remembering that "siempre" meant "ever". Clearly the little Spanish I did learn at school is filed away in my brain somewhere.
Judging by the quality of the train I don't think I had any case for attempting to say in Spanish "Well the ride looks well enough to ride so why can't you run it". It looked really really bad looked like it could fall off the track at any minute but apparently the reason given was to do with the motor that operates the lift hill had broken.
I think they also had some problems with their brakes, and we later found a very faded sign that said there was a weight limit of 80 kilos, and there was no way I could have made that weight.
That aside it was an impressive construction and we were a little gutted not to have experienced the bone-rattling ride.
Elsewhere the rides were a small collection of childrens fairground rides.
Yay! Another coaster. The conversation this time went something like this.
"Podemos viajar?" ("can we ride"?)
"No"
"Solo y solo y solo" ("one at a time" in very bad made up on the spot Spanish)
"Si"
So somehow our basic negotiating had paid off and we each got to ride, one at a time, for as many as laps as we could bear and adults do get some whiplash on these little things so it wasn't easy.
"Solo y solo y solo" became a phrase we'd use a lot on this trip as a result of its success today!
It's worth mentioning that I don't think this train came with this station initially as everytime we turned the corner into the station the outstretched right-arm would smack against this support. A hole had been cut into the support in an attempt to minimise the collision but my weight was causing the car to top quite a bit causing a noticeable SMACK sound to be made each lap.
More little sad spin rides. I think the only other visitor to the park whilst we were there was a father and daughter. I guess with no money coming in they can't invest in the upkeep of the rides, I'm surprised they can pay the staff.
So sad! Remember a spring mounted dog is for life, not just for opening season.
As a precursor to the night's "entertainment" the park has a matador training ring.
With little budget the park has chosen to go with a Mexican desert theme. The cacti looks really authentic.
One side of the tower that supports the coaster lift hill has been modified to serve as a climbing wall.
90s flashback. Gladiator, ready! Contender, ready! Fight!
More cacti
Not to be confused with "cack tie"
In an righteous attempt to do more than just the little coaster in the park Tal decides to take on the aerial walkway not appreciating just how long it was until he was up there.
One of the coaster cars is now a sled for the reindeer.
and that was Quiqueland. We knew what we were getting and not getting and we had had quite a good run of luck so far and we were hoping we'd get more here.
"Asi es la vida" (that's life!)
From this park we headed back into Aguascalientes for the next park.
No comments:
Post a Comment