Energylandia is rapidly growing theme park near the town of Zator, less than half an hour drive from Kraków in Poland, which this year premieres Europe's second tallest and fastest roller coaster.

We were invited to the launch event for Hyperion on 14th July to experience the new ride before its public opening, check out all the other attractions at the park and enjoy the Beach Party & Magic Night event.

Energylandia only opened in 2014 and it already boasts more than 30 rides and attractions across 26 hectares. The rate of expansion is quite remarkable and as well as Hyperion the park includes a great collection of other rides.

• 
• 
• 
•  

The exclusive opening ceremony began with a dramatic performance featuring dancers, acrobats and fire artists. An official inauguration followed with the new ride being blessed by a priest, including splashing the brand new ride with holy water.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•  

The queue line for Hyperion is a fully immersive space themed walkthough, executed to a very high standard and really detailed. Upon reaching the entrance to the loading bay (station) riders can choose where they would like to sit and wait behind automated barriers until it's time to board.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•  

We tried riding Hyperion in the front row, back row and the middle rows - it's awesome everywhere. As well as the immense height, speed and airtime, it flings you all over the place! The ride is over 252ft tall and it reaches a top speed of 142km/h. 

Hyperion begins with a 265.8ft drop at 85° into a tunnel, launches into an ejector airtime hill and completes a twist and dive manoeuvre. It then enters a high speed over-banked hill, goes over a speed bump and onto a floater airtime hill then into a panoramic wave turn.

Next, the ride goes over another speed bump and into a stengel dive, an over-banked turn, two double s-curves, an s-hump with airtime, an ejector airtime hill with a water splash and finally jumps into the brakes.

Hyperion has been manufactured by Intamin.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•  

After the ride, a stylish shop offers an extensive range of Hyperion branded merchandise and on-ride photos are available.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•  

After this, we joined in with the fun at the Beach Party & Magic Night event, where live DJs and dancers had taken over the water park. There was a brilliant atmosphere and the music ranged from cheesy pop to high energy dance.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•  

After making the most of the opportunity to experience some other rides in the dark, we returned to Hyperion for a final night time ride. It was EPIC.

• 
• 
• 
•  

Energylandia has more to offer than just Hyperion, here are the other highlights:

Speed Water Coaster is the world's tallest and fastest hybrid roller coaster and water ride. It has a vertical elevator lift. We really enjoyed this very unusual element.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•  

Energylandia has a good collection of Vekoma roller coasters including the Formula launched coaster, Boomerang coaster and inverted coasters Mayan and Dragon.

Formula launches riders from 0 - 49 mph in 2 seconds and includes 3 inversions; a sidewinder and a pair of corkscrews. It has been given an eye-catching racing theme and features a great pre-launch section in a smoke-filled tunnel. There is an enclosed section on the peak of Boomerang and a tunnel over the station, which really adds to it. Mayan is a standard SLC coaster with 5 inversions (roll over, sidewinder and double in-line twist) but due to the new generation trains it delivers a much smoother ride than most. Dragon is a great family coaster that is suspended above water and also includes both an underground tunnel and a fly through the station roof.

There are another 6 smaller roller coasters at the park aimed at families and children, so there's something to suit all ages.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•  

Beyond these, there are several water rides including the Jungle Adventure rapids, Anaconda flume and a Splash Battle, plus a selection of thrill rides such as Aztec Swing, Space Booster and Tsunami Dropper.

The developing theme park has a few nicely themed areas, such as the Viking Village and Swiss Village, but the majority of rides and attractions are packed in tightly and not grouped into themes, and due to how very new everything is much of the landscaping hasn't bedded in yet, but will do in time.

Energylandia have big plans for the next few years with both a hybrid wooden coaster and a double launch coaster in the works, so we'll be back!

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•