I’m an amusement park lover, and there are a few things that make me more giddy than the promise of a scary ride. Sometimes I rethink the idea but I always go through with it, with the right motivation & people by my side. Having heard that the rides were a bit on the scary side, I went with my friends to the oldest amusement park in the world, the Prater in Vienna, with very little hesitation.

Fun fact : The Prater is a public park in Vienna famous for its rides and museums. It started out as a hunting ground for the Emperors of Austria until Emperor Josef II decreed the land a public recreation area.This means that its one of the oldest parks in Europe.

On The Way! 

The Prater Park is very easy to reach by public transportation (Praterstern station on either subway line U1 or U2).

It’s open daily from 10AM to midnight all year round with its peak season between March and October. Individual attraction and ride opening hours may vary.

Entry is free to the park itself but you pay individually for rides and they range from 3EUR to 5EUR

What kind of rides are there?

There are a lot of rides of varying thrill levels. I love roller coasters and was on the lookout for them and counted at least 9. Now, you don’t get so many in just one park. They have every kind of ride you can think of, and they even have a map to show you the levels of scary you want.

All the pricing information can be found here 

There are also water rides which came in handy on a hot day like the day we were there. Like a typical amusement Park, it’s filled with ice cream, cold drinks, cotton candy, hot hogs and all that good stuff.

The Prater is not only an amusement park, which is lovingly called “Wurstelprater” by the Viennese people. It is also a huge recreation park area with a long avenue of trees, called Hauptallee.

What about the scare factor?

Like any ride, the promise of adrenaline pump will be guaranteed. You have to use trust your gut on which rides to get on to receive the maximum effect of a scare.

I got on three rides and while these are relative/subjective results, the most one which got my bones shaking was the ride they call the “tornado”.

Watch the video below to see: 

If you however want to scream your lungs out or just out rightly get unconscious from all the feels, there is the king of all rides which is called the Ejection Seat.

It looked like a giant rubber band which, for 15 Euros, will catapult you at 14 meters per second into the stratosphere. I am giddy, while thinking of it, and now I wonder why I never tried it.

Also, according to this website, we have Black Mamba as one of the scariest rides too!

” The name certainly attracts already the right target audience for this attraction. It is all about thrill in extreme positions with strong acceleration up to 80km/h and unexpected twists. Up to eight brave people can ride with the Black Mamba at the same time. Due to the special design in the form of a snake, which is mounted on 3 axes, the movements are unpredictable. This surprise effect may really mess up the pit of your stomach.The exceptional experience lasts approximately 3 minutes and should have a high ranking at the Prater Top 10 list for all who are looking for action.” 

– www.city-walks.info

Do you love amusement parks? What are your favorite rides?