01 · The gap
A family coaster for all ages
Campos do Jordão sits at 1,628 metres in the Serra da Mantiqueira and is Brazil’s highest town. Parque Capivari lies at its centre, with a cable car running up a small hill. Like the Prater, it charges no admission: guests pay for each individual attraction.
That was one reason the site appealed to me. From my work in the Prater, I know this system and its guest behaviour very well.
The park already had a strong coaster-like attraction: an alpine coaster that uses the slope of the hill. But on an alpine coaster, riders control their own speed with a lever they push forward. That works for adults and older children. For the youngest guests, it does not.
The park was missing an attraction for small children. A compact family coaster filled that gap exactly.
Real coaster feeling – without a minimum age that excludes half the family.
02 · The purchase
Why second-hand
A new coaster would have taken months to build before it could even be shipped.
A used coaster in good condition was available immediately, had a proven operating history and fitted the budget.
The ride is a compact kiddie coaster by the Italian manufacturer I.E. Park, a Mini OTTO with a custom layout: one train of four cars, sixteen riders. Campos do Jordão is already its fourth home.
What surprised me most was how robust the ride is. It had spent many winters outdoors in Bavaria, through deep frost. Apart from one gearbox with a crack and the usual wear parts – wheels and drive tyres – it was in good shape.
- 2003 · Cologne Its story began at Tobiland, a large indoor play park, where it ran as the Tobiachterbahn.
- 2007 · Munich It then moved to the Lollihop and became the Wilde Mini Maus.
- 2014 · Bad Tölz At the Blomberg in the Bavarian Alps it operated as the Blombini-Express.
- 2026 · Campos do Jordão At Parque Capivari it now runs as Hilda’s Mini Mountain.
Four homes, two continents – and still running.
03 · The schedule
The season sets the deadline
The biggest challenge was not engineering. It was time.
Campos do Jordão’s high season is the Brazilian winter, from June to August, with July as its peak. To recover the first costs and to see how guests responded, the coaster had to be running before the season began.
That left less than three and a half months for everything: purchase, dismantling, export, ocean freight, customs, inland transport, assembly and commissioning.
The only way to make that work was to prepare everything in advance. Dismantling plan, crew, packaging, container and documents were organised before the deal was closed. Once the final details with the seller were agreed, I only had to pull the lever, and the whole chain started moving. The time saved at this stage was exactly the buffer we needed later.
Dismantling in the Bavarian rain. The dismantling went to plan – apart from the weather. Several days of rain slowed the work, but my crew stayed on schedule. The container was loaded on time and released for the truck to the port of Hamburg.
It also brought a first surprise. When we turned over one of the track sections that carry the drive tyres, gear oil began to leak: the gearbox had a crack. We drained the oil before it went into the container. The repair would have to wait for Brazil.
04 · The crossing
Four weeks of letting go
Then came the part every project manager dislikes: waiting. For about four weeks, the container was at sea between Hamburg and Santos. Once a container is sealed and on the ship, the project is out of your hands. There is nothing left to optimise, only to trust the preparation. I can confirm: it is an uneasy feeling.
The drive from São Paulo down to the port of Santos is an experience of its own. Elevated motorways carry the trucks through steep mountain terrain, one level stacked above the other. It looks like a film set – or another planet.
Santos
Inspected piece by piece
In Santos, Brazilian authorities inspected the shipment and initially questioned whether the wood used for packing met import requirements. We had paid particular attention to exactly this point before shipping, because wood packaging is a classic stumbling block in international freight.
It still triggered an additional inspection. The coaster was unloaded from the container and every single piece of wood was separated and examined. The result: everything was in order. The process cost three days.
Compliant packaging is necessary, but it does not guarantee a smooth inspection.
05 · The build
Four days from arrival to first ride
From Santos, the coaster travelled inland to Campos do Jordão. There, we assembled and commissioned it in about four days.
None of this would have been possible without Felix, my business partner in Brazil, whom I have known for around ten years. Together with our crew we worked late into the night.
My fuel during the day was a typical açaí bowl from the stand next door – fast, filling, and I could keep working with it in my hand. I ate one practically every day.
06 · The repair
Repairs against the clock
Not everything went perfectly.
The cracked gearbox sat at the very top of the lift. It carried the greatest load from the train, which probably caused the crack we had noticed in Germany. We replaced it on site in Campos do Jordão – a lot of extra work in a schedule that had no slack.
A second gearbox gave us a different worry: it might overheat. So we ran the ride and checked its temperature constantly with a thermal imaging camera. The readings told us when to add extra breaks or adjust the operating cycle for the moment.
That way we could keep the ride running under control, without risking damage to a second gearbox.
You will find things you did not expect. What matters is finding them early, handling them cleanly and having the experience to fix them on site.
07 · The result
Just in time for the season
The theming came with the ride and was adapted to its new home. We also added a water fountain to the layout. Because the train runs several laps, the fountain gives each lap a different rhythm and keeps the ride varied.
The ride opened on 6 June 2026, just in time for the season. Guests love it. It offers a gentle ride, yet the drop from three and a half metres delivers a genuine roller coaster feeling, and the curve adds a short burst of speed. It is the perfect first coaster for the park’s smallest guests – the riders who will be queuing for the big coasters a few years from now.
One of my favourite photos from the project shows Felix and me holding our very first takings. After weeks of costs, deadlines and worry, it was the moment the project became real.
08 · The market
What buying my own coaster taught me about the used-ride market
Trading used rides has become an important part of my business. Buying a coaster for my own project changed how I see that market.
Sitting on the buyer’s side of the table, with a hard deadline and my own money at stake, I understood much more directly what buyers need:
- Clarity early Honest information about condition, documentation and history before the deal, not after.
- A seller who responds fast With a tight timeline, every day of waiting is a day lost on site.
- A realistic plan for dismantling and transport The price of a ride is only part of the cost. Logistics decide whether a project works.
- Someone who has done it before Customs, packaging and inspections are where inexperienced projects lose weeks.
Commissioning in Brazil went almost without a hitch, too. My biggest worry had been the switch from 50 Hz to Brazil’s 60 Hz grid. In the end, it caused no problems at all.
A well-built ride, properly maintained, can travel much further than many buyers expect.
09 · Hilda
More to come
The partnership with Parque Capivari continues. Next, we are adding further games. For the coming summer season, two more rides will join the park.
Buying or selling a used ride, or moving one across borders? I know both sides of the table – and how to keep a project on schedule. Get in touch
Sources
- RCDB – Blombini Express – I.E. Park Mini OTTO, relocations Tobiland, Lollihop, Blombergbahn, Parque Capivari
- coaster.cloud – Blombini-Express – opened at the Blomberg under this name in 2014
- Coasterfriends – Blombergbahn – at Blomberg since 2014, previously Lollihop Munich
- Freizeitparkweb forum – Tobiland – indoor park in Cologne-Godorf, opened 2003
- travel.com.br – Campos do Jordão – 1,628 m, Serra da Mantiqueira
- Diário do Turismo – Parque Capivari – free entry, only rides are paid
- RCDB – Trenó, Parque Capivari – the park’s alpine coaster
- Esse Mundo é Nosso – When to visit Campos do Jordão – high season June to August, July busiest
