Richard Bannister

There was a torrential downpour in progress as we arrived at Sommerland Syd which was showing no sign of abating even two hours later as we left the park. Almost all of the attractions were open for those hardy enough to partake of them, but the majority of guests seemed to be staying indoors. We did note two people in the water park, quite a surprise given the relatively low outside temperature.

Last year the park hired out a travelling coaster to fill the spot formerly occupied by Kaemperutschebanen. This evidently worked out well for management, as they decided to do the same this year, albeit with a different ride. Family Star (#1671) is a smart looking Fabbri spinning coaster owned by the Alberts family, whose caravan was parked directly behind it. More cars on track than riders meant that we stopped dead in the mid course block until a space had been freed in the station, but other than that this ride was entirely as expected.

Rømø Lege & Hesteland is a family park that happens to be home to a pair of large size Heege Butterfly coasters. With nobody else in sight we figured that we might as well try both Himmelexpress (Left) (#1672) and Himmelexpress (Right) (#1673) in each direction, marking probably the only time in my career I've taken four consecutive rides on one of these machines.