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Taunus Wunderland

Schlangenbad, Germany

“Regional amusement park with three credits”

Taunus Wunderland is a family-oriented theme park that’s located near the German cities of Mainz, Koblenz and Frankfurt. It’s owned by the Barth family and that name may may sound familiar to funfair enthusiasts. The Barth family owns quite a few German funfair rides, including the world-famous Olympia Looping. Please don’t expect such large roller coasters or flatrides at Taunus Wunderland, though. The park is mainly aimed toward families with younger children. Still, a visit to this park allowed me to add three new credits to my counter

ROLLER COASTERS

Taunus Wunderland’s newest area is Aryas Drachenschlucht. This dragon-themed land wasn’t quite finished yet during our visit in the summer of 2024. Still, Taunus Wunderland managed to get the headliner attraction operational as work on the decoration continued. I’m talking about Gobbi Express, a 500-metre-long Mack powered coaster. It’s worth mentioning that the ride is not entirely new, as it started its life in an indoor amusement park in Bremen. This is probably the reason why Gobbi Express has a rather unconventional layout. Even the speed feels pretty unusual: the train makes the first two laps at a snail’s pace, while the third (and final) lap is performed considerably quicker. All in all, I’d describe Gobbi Express as a strange roller coaster, but I’d like to praise Taunus Wunderland for opening this large-scale expansion. Besides, the first visible theming elements look promising.

The park’s coaster lineup is completed by Wilde Maus and Kuhddel Muuuhddel. Despite the latter’s bizarre name, it’s safe to say that these rides are a lot less impressive than Gobbi Express. We’re talking about a Wild Mouse with a standard layout and an extremely short spinning coaster manufactured by the SBF Visa Group. Both rides are far from spectacular, but families with younger children seem to adore them.

OTHER EXPERIENCES

If you like carousels, then you’re probably going to like Taunus Wunderland. The park offers many of them in varying sizes, shapes and themes. This park is also heaven if you’re into cute little track rides, or Rundfahrgeschäfte, as the Germans usually call them. The most striking examples are Wald-Expedition (which takes us to the dense forests of North America) and Heu Express, an adorable train ride past plastic farm animals. The largest non-coaster-related attraction is Traubenrutsche, a log flume. The ride features one 16-metre drop, which turned out to be surprisingly wet. 

WORTH A VISIT?

Although I’m not a part of Taunus Wunderland’s target audience, I certainly appreciated the park’s peaceful and friendly atmosphere. The attraction lineup for families is extensive and theming was actually better than I expected. Still, you shouldn’t consider Taunus Wunderland as a must-do destination. The recent addition of the dragon land is definitely a huge leap forward, but this remains a family-oriented, regional amusement park. As an adult, you won’t need more than three or four hours to discover the whole park.

This article reflects my personal experience at Taunus Wunderland during a visit in July 2024.