Wiener Prater

Vienna, Austria

“Great if you prefer quantity over quality”

Vienna is a gem when it comes to stunning buildings and photogenic gardens. Still, I knew little about the Austrian capital until I arrived there. Some friends had told me about a beautiful city centre, but I didn’t knew the highlights of Vienna. The only sight I did recognise was a famous Ferris wheel. The Wiener Riesenrad often appears in tourist photos and travel guides. Just like the Singapore Flyer and the London Eye, it’s more than just a way to admire the surroundings from above; it’s a symbol. Anyone visiting Vienna should therefore take a picture of this huge structure. And do you know what makes it extra fun? At the foot of the Wiener Riesenrad lies an amusement park with just as many credits as Europa-Park.

Those who thought that urban amusement parks are a purely Scandinavian thing, were wrong. The phenomenon also exists in Paris, in Tokyo and here in the capital of Austria. Wiener Prater has been here since 1766 and it has become a true monument in the European amusement park business. Over the years, a very impressive range of attractions has been built: I’m counting 6 haunted houses, an equal number of bumper car tracks and 14 roller coasters. If Prater would’ve kept all its rides from the past, there would’ve been a total of 36 roller coasters today.

ROLLER COASTERS

Dizzy Mouse doesn’t need any introduction. If you’ve visited some European funfairs, you’ve probably seen Reverchon’s spinning wild mouse before. You may also know that the ride is everything but legendary. The layout shows an abundance of hairpin curves and it’s not the smoothest experience. No one with common sense would ever spend 5 euros on it… unless you’re a credit hunter. I’m guilty: I couldn’t resist the temptation and paid that amount for this mediocre ride.

Wiener Prater is not an amusement park as we know it; it’s actually a permanent funfair with dozens of independent operators. There are some combination tickets available, but an all-in option for the coasters doesn’t exist. That’s why we pay separately for every credit we ride, which makes a visit to Prater relatively expensive. However, we don’t visit the park every week, so we don’t really mind paying another 6 euros for our next coaster. I’m talking about Insider, an indoor coaster. And honestly, this ride gives more value for money than the previous ones. The queue is some kind of walk-through with a mirror maze and a laser game. That queue eventually leads to a classic Spinning Wild Mouse by Maurer Rides. Sounds boring, but thanks to the loud techno music and some cool laser effects, the overall experience of Insider is quite good.

I love flying coasters, I really do. I enjoy riding Manta and I consider Galactica as the best roller coaster at Alton Towers. But Zamperla’s Volare model literally feels like pure torture. I already experienced the pain at the Finnish Särkänniemi and I gave it a second try at Canada’s Wonderland. Both times I concluded that Volares are the most horrible coasters on the planet. A ride on Wiener Prater’s version confirmed this opinion. The nearby Roller Ball was a lot less painful, but it’s not exactly thrilling. Despite the fact that this vertical wild mouse looks pretty cool, it should be considered as a family ride.

Wiener Prater doesn’t care about the fact that certain attraction types are represented more than once. That’s why there are plenty of haunted houses, plenty of bumper cars and they’ve got quite a few wild mouse-like coasters as well. There are actually five of them. Die Wilde Maus is logically the most standardized version. This Wild Mouse has the classic layout, the classic theme and offers the most predictable ride a Wild Mouse could possibly give. Maskerade is a bit more unique. This spinning roller coaster was built by Gerstlauer, it’s mostly indoors and it has an original cabaret theme. It’s therefore the most LGBTQ-friendly roller coaster at Prater, but the actual experience is underwhelming. With its track length of just 240 metres, it’s just way too short.

The best Gerstlauer ride at Wiener Prater is definitely Gesengte Sau, which shouldn’t be confused with its namesake at Erlebnispark Tripsdrill. This is one of Europe’s largest Gerstlauer Bobsled Coasters: it’s 24 metres tall and the track is approximately 600 metres long. We were expecting a pretty spectacular ride… and we got one. The greatest strength of Gesengte Sau, in my opinion, is its varied layout. Apart from its predictable wild mouse elements, it also contains some helixes and fast drops. Besides, we’re pleasantly surprised by Gesengte Sau’s smoothness and theming. Of course, you shouldn’t expect a totally immersive experience, but the the ride looks considerably better than the other coasters in the park. Gesengte Sau may currently be the most perfect family ride at Prater.

Attention to all classic coaster lovers: Wiener Prater is home to Hochschaubahn, a scenic railway that has been running for almost 75 years. This is one of those old-fashioned roller coasters in which riders are accompanied by a staff member that manually operates the brakes. After riding similar coasters at Linnanmäki and Tivoli Gardens, I’m fully aware that the brakeman is able to make the difference between an exciting or a boring ride. Unfortunately, it seems as if Wiener Prater wants to keep the thrill at a very modest level. Hochschaubahn actually functions as a slow-moving thematic tour through a lovely Alpine landscape. Despite the fact that I expected a little more speed, I found it a privilege to ride this classic coaster.

The most underrated credit at Prater is, in my opinion, Megablitz. This roller coaster looks rather simple at first, but it turns out to be a very intense masterpiece by Vekoma. I’m pleasantly surprised by its smoothness, g-forces and powerful curves. Although I’m not claiming that it gave me a blackout, the ride does contain some very forceful helixes. By the way: the ride’s trains are identical to those of Revolution at Bobbejaanland, but they’re literally 10 times shorter.

Wiener Prater has a special habit of regularly renting guest attractions. Prater is a big funfair anyway, so those temporarily added funfair attractions don’t even look out of place here. In 2017, the giant Höllenblitz called Prater home for a period of six months. Two years later, Prater hired Teststrecke to complete its lineup. During our most recent visit in 2023, we were happy to notice that the world-famous Olympia Looping was operating at Prater. This is the world’s largest transportable roller coaster. This ride is 1,250 metres long and 32 metres tall, but its most striking aspect are the five brightly coloured loops. Olympia Looping is an impressive machine to see and riders are treated to a thrilling experience. The ride may be a bit bumpy and the over-the-shoulder restraints are far from ideal, but still Olympia Looping performs better than what I expected from a 34-year-old fairground roller coaster.

OTHER EXPERIENCES

Very few amusement parks equal the attraction density of Prater. The park isn’t only filled with coasters, but there’s a huge amount of flat rides as well. In this segment, Prater’s funfair character is actually a positive thing. Since operators in Prater work for their own income, they often create a pretty cool light and music show to attract crowds. My weak stomach and the rather expensive pay-per-ride principle make me skip all of them, but I love watching these rides.

Wiener Prater also caters to the haunted house enthusiasts and the water ride lovers. And despite the fact that these water attractions have a funfair-like appearance, they’re a lot bigger than I expected. Log flume Aquagaudi has three descents, a small airtime hill and theming includes the Little Mermaid’s naughty sister. At the second water attraction, decoration is at least as questionable. But once again, the actual ride is impressive. Wildalpenbahn is in fact a 30-metre tall water slide with a vertical lift. Both attractions cost 4.50 euros per person.

WORTH A VISIT?

What seems normal in America, is rather exceptional in Europe. Amusement parks with at least 10 roller coasters are relatively scarce here. That’s why it’s somewhat bizarre that coaster enthusiasts don’t talk about Prater that often. Yet, this park has never appealed to me like Europa-Park or Phantasialand do. Although Prater is world famous, this park lacks many things that I find necessary during an amusement park visit. Theming is almost nonexistent and the layout of the park is messy. Besides, not a single roller coaster really stands out; almost all of them are standard models delivering an underwhelming ride experience. Insider, Gesengte Sau and Megablitz were entertaining, but do these rides justify the trip to Vienna? No, not at all.

Have you ever made a ride on Vienna’s legendary Ferris wheel? What’s your favourite coaster at Prater? Would you pay the full price to ride every possible credit? Share your thoughts in the comments section at the bottom of this page.