Hi all,
I am going to Hamburg Germany in May and was wondering if anyone has visited Miniatur Wunderland. I will only be there for a few hours when our cruise ship docks. It looks like Miniatur Wunderland is near the docks so I was wondering if I could squeeze in a visit. We are there on Tuesday the 5th of May. The excursions that the ship is offering go for 3.5 hours and as I don't yet know exactly when we arrive and depart, I'm not sure if I should book tickets or not.
thanks for any help
Alan
Alan Jones in Sunny Queensland (Oz)
Hi Alan,
in any case, Miniatur Wunderland is worth a visit - even if it is a short one. Miniatur Wunderland is closely located to the cruise ship terminal in Hamburg, if that´s where your "boat" will be moored. I am not sure whether it is in walking distance, but a cab will take you there in 5 minutes.
3 hours are sufficient to get a very good impression, although you may risk to miss one or two of those tiny details
You don´t have to prebook the tickets, though it may be advisable to avoid the queue at the ticket counter.
How do I know this? I live a 30 minute drive away from it!
A friend of mine was there a while back, and was there for most of the day - spent well over an hour just at the airport terminal !. Said he almost needed to go back a second day to fully take it all in. You're going to have to move pretty quick through the displays if all you have is a couple hours !
Mark.
¡ uʍop ǝpısdn sı ǝɹnʇɐuƃıs ʎɯ 'dlǝɥ
Alan, I was there with my wife (Berlin born and raised) in 2010 after coming home from Iraq. We went to visit her family and friends and this was a surprise from her to me. We were there 6 hours, and I felt like I was rushing along! The airport portion was under construction when we were there. As has been mentioned tickets are available on scene, and as I recall, people are allowed in every so often. I don't know what the time intervals were but it wasn't very long. I guess that helps control the occupancy. It's already been mentioned about location to the port and I'm sure the member who lives there (Ulrich?) can help you more with specifics there.
It's certainly worth a trip. It WILL blow your mind! I would suggest doing as much research ahead of time on the various portions they have. This way you may be able to recognize areas that interest you and spend a little more time.
Enjoy your time there and take lots of pics!
Happy RR'ing!
Duane
Thanks everyone so far. Looks like a must do. I have downloaded their maps and will have a closer look at the layout. Definately will see the airport part and have my camera charged and ready to go.
This is a wonderful place to visit and I spent many hours there. I remember Model Railroader doing an article but don't remember the issue. It was the first time I saw the Faller Car system in action and it blew me away. One time when I went back, it happened to be a school holiday and they were only giving out tickets for certain time slots. You might want to do some internet searches on the school calendar to make sure you can get in.
Mike
Alan:
Lucky bum!
OOOPS, were not supposed to use that sort of language here!
Seriously, I hope your plan works out. Maybe you could arrange to have somebody foul the props so you could stay longer!
Miniatur Wunderland is on my bucket list.
Have a great time!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
coblesan I remember Model Railroader doing an article but don't remember the issue.
I remember Model Railroader doing an article but don't remember the issue.
Wunderland goes to Switzerland - Dec-2009
This massive display layout expands yet again
Miniature wonderland - Feb-2004
a high-tech display layout in Hamburg, Germany
I have never been there but a fellow modeler was at a NMRA meeting in Parkland Washington and he had he got a couple of CDs while he was there. I now have them and they are great. One of them shows areas off the layout and how they service the locomotives and motorized cars/trucks as well as the equipment that runs the layout. If I were you I would plan on getting the CDs while you are there.
Paul
Dayton and Mad River RR
Well, I'm home after a looong holiday and a visit to Minature Wonderland.
We were on a cruise to Hamburg. Our ship docked about 1 hours walk from Minature Wonderland, I walked it as the weather was good and I needed the exercise. No queue to get in and I asked about a behind the scenes tour in English. There was one starting in 15 minutes. It was well worth it although a bit of an effort to get through, over and under some of the smaller walkways behind the layout. There were only 2 others in our group. Derek, our tattooed and dreadlocked guide, showed us around the maze of plywood, plaster, tracks, wiring (6,000Km of it), water tanks and mechanisms that make the exhibit work. Train tracks go everywhere, over our heads, under the floor, down to the floor below where other countries are modelled and more is to come. The model of a Hamburg Petrol station even has the current price of petrol displayed on little yellow LED signs. It's texted from the local garage each time it changes and automatically updated on the model, so the staff check it out before deciding whether to buy gas on the way home. It took about 2 hours to walk around behind about half of the displays on the 4th floor. We walked behind USA including deserts and Las Vegas, snow covered Scandinavia and it's huge harbour with boats, locks and an oil rig, Hamburg including a model of Der Konig Der Lowen (The Lion King)theatre that I had walked past on the river walk and a model of the warehouse that Minature Wonderland is in, middle Germany, Knuffingen, and its amazing airport, Austria and the alps and then popped out near Switzerland. The fully operational airport was one of the best parts, with planes taxiing, taking off and landing, fire and service vehicles whizzing around and all done in finest detail. Even behind the scenes, we found details such as two nuns sitting down, an artist painting a nude lady, another naked pair doing !@$#% and a row of dustbins behind the houses. We saw how they cool and filter the real water (36,000 litres) in the harbour so it doesn't cause corrosion or go green. How the many small vehicles on the layout are charged up automatically every night, ready for the next days drive. After lunch in a large comfortable aeroplane style seat, I went on to see more, this time with the now large crowd of other onlookers. The Swiss scenery is amazing, the Matterhorn, 6 metres high, dominated the two storey scene. I didn't buy the DVDs but took lots of photos and videos of my own.
I certainly recommed a visit if you are in Hamburg. I was the 195873rd Aussie to visit, but nearly13million people have visited.
I'll never make it to Germany, but I enjoy seeing the pictures. The place must be somewhat overwhelming.
On this side of the pond, there is Northlandz. The place is amazing. If you can, it's well worth a visit.
South Penn
I missed it when I was over in the states a few years ago, I'll have to pln another visit. If you want more on Minature Wonderland check out MiWuLaTV on youtube. A lot is in German, but the pictures tell the story.
cheers