Europa Park 18/05/10 - 21/05/10

[Mark9]

(Long Trip report)It's trips like this which make you see how pitiful the effort is in the UK. Yes, Wild Asia for British standards is pretty good and Alton Towers even bothering to do a single 30th birthday event is pretty commendable. But all of it falls down when Europa do this on a daily basis. I haven't been to Europa Park since 2006 and back then I was far more into rides then the experience. I've been known to say Europa doesn't have a signature ride, what it has is loads of really solid rides that come together to create a complete day out. Well now, in Blue fire they have a ride that is an icon ride, it is single handedly more enjoyable then any B&M or Intamin rollercoaster.During my visit they were only running three trains. Now if this was any other park that would be full capacity but oh no, not at Europa. This thing can run 4 trains and has a spare train to boot. The throughput of this thing on three is astonishing and to have one train come in just as another goes out makes you feel like you never stop moving. Blue Fire is in the Iceland area of the park and is themed around escaping gas pressure which launches through the volcanic ruins of the area. If this thing was an Intamin rocket it would shakle you to hell, be painful and would cut your neck to pieces. Instead, this being Mack brilliance, the restraint is more like a lap bar. In some respects, it's simialr to Maurer Sohnes lapbar, except works better because you aren't crushed to death. Blue Fire is incredibly smooth and very fast. The inline twist near the end of the ride is a particular highlight, I had a smile beeming from ear to ear. I can't believe this is Mack's first upside down, with this model they deserve to sell and sell as Blue Fire for me, is a pure 10/10 ride.And yet, we're stuck with Stealth and Rita. Fabulous.The new ride for 2010 is Whale Adventure. It's essentially a Splash Battle where the effects all work, as do the guns, the theming and water effects are all top notch. It has an amazingly long queueline and hanging from the top is a huge whale. It's an amazing piece of work and I believe is the same layout as Battle Galleons.Now.. if you can tell me whats wrong in this picture you win a prize.Yes thats right, there's no need for checking bars (or even having bars down in some cases). Germans have theme parks so much more sussed then we do. They don't rely so much on Health and Safety as we do so when that MikeyT bought up the Tomb Blaster thing in the other topic I facepalmed so much. Alpine Express, for those that don't know, is an amazing powered coaster which journeys into a diamond mine, up and over the log flume and past a giant robot dragon. This ride opened in 1984 and yet it still looks brand new.So to take a break from the rides, we stayed in Hotel Colosseo. The park has four hotels which are all themed immacuately. The main attraction at Colosseo is the water feature in the centre of the circle. Water shows occur regularly and are very impressive and worth a watch. Our room overlooked the circle.So back into the park we go and to celebrate 35 years of Europa Park, a new show for year has appeared in Greece. It's basically an ice show. At the end a huge champagne bottle is wheeled out, lifted to the top of the tent and out comes Euro Maus. This was such a magical experience and just another element of Europa Parks charm. Their themed characters do more then get wheeled out on busy days, they are constantly in the area.Another part of the celebration is a small museum in the Italy section of the park showing some of the past rides and elements that are still in the park to this day.A few other park facts. The park runs Early ride time for Hotel guests, this starts at 8:25 and features Alpine Express, the Spanish spinning rides, the Log Flume, Atlantica Supersplash and the Whizzer ride. The park then opens at 9-6 pm every day (unless hours are extended). During our visit we only saw one ride not available. Considering Europa Park nearly has 50 attractions this is incredibly impressive. If all rollercoasters at peak capacity there hourly throughput is 15,000 people. That's Chessingtons max capacity and Thorpe nearly at capacity. Considering the coasters are 1/5 of the park that is incredible, so when you go you will always be able to get at least ten rides.I won't list all the rides we rode, I'll just show how many rides we got in during the day.Day One - 36 ridesDay Two - 27 ridesDay Three - 23 ridesIt's an awesome park, anyone that has even a small interest in theme parks needs to go because its an incredible, magical park.

[Benin]

I agree...Though you haven't even mentioned the awesomeness of Euro-Mir and it's soundtrack...Then again that proves how good the park is, you need ages to talk about how good it really is...

[James6]

Absolutely fantastic report and you really do see what is wrong with UK parks when you see things like that, the theming, the care in all parts of the attractions, capacity, and of course no guests without common sense!Europa has for a while been one of the parks I HAVE to visit and every TR I see makes me want to go more and more

[JoshC.]

Now.. if you can tell me whats wrong in this picture you win a prize.

That's one of my favourite theme park pictures I've ever seen. :)Glad you had a great trip; really does show how far behind the UK is with it's standard of parks...

[tidear]

I prefere drayton manor if I'm honest

[Ryan]

I prefere drayton manor if I'm honest

Have you actually been to Europa Park?

[Mark9]

I prefere drayton manor if I'm honest

[Deleted Users]

Just put a smile on his face and be done with it On topic: on the face of it Europe does look like a pack with just a collection of solid rides like you said but after this trip report I will do some further looking into it and see if I can get there eventually.

[tidear]

I went to Europa the year Supersplash was built - I found it most frustrating how half the park couldn't be explored in one day, which was all we had. I guess it would be better if you stayed over the night

[Ryan]

I went to Europa the year Supersplash was built - I found it most frustrating how half the park couldn't be explored in one day, which was all we had. I guess it would be better if you stayed over the night

Surely it wouldn't be that good if you could get it all done in under a day {cough} Thorpe.

[Benin]

I went to Europa the year Supersplash was built - I found it most frustrating how half the park couldn't be explored in one day, which was all we had. I guess it would be better if you stayed over the night

Pffft, try doing both Californian Disney parks with only a day then come back and complain about it...I seem to remember managing to do all the coasters in my first day of two at the park, so it's perfectly doable if that's what you're really into, but that's NOT what Europa Park is about... Hell I only found out this year that the diamond mine where Alpenexpress goes through can actually be walked through... Shows the park's quality...

[Mark9]

Hit right on the nose there Benin. If you are into pure thrill rides then thats easily do-able in a day. Eurosat runs 7 trains, Euro-mir can run 9, Matterhorn has 12 cars and Silverstars queue never stops moving on three trains.But if you really do like rides and not just the Merlin group ones then Europa is a key place to visit if you want to see a park that is at the top of its game every single day it is open. There are so many little things hidden away around the park and so much to do that it's worth staying 2, 3 nights just to explore everything. You could even devote an entire day to seeing all the shows because theres about 12-14 different shows a day.

[Benin]

If there's one thing I would say I disliked about the park when I went was the Poseidon and Supersplash queues... Everytime you turned a corner and thought you were near the end there was another cattlepen awaiting you...I would say Poseidon's queue is the same length as Rita's when both full, but since Poseidon actually has theming and takes you around the entire building complex, it's so much more awesome...Dammit Mark I want to go back now... I may have to go back in September and do a credit run

[TP Daniel]

Thanks for the TR Mark! Included some nice photos and made me want to go there even more.I think it's a shame how parks such as Thorpe aren't really able to keep up effects as from what you've said Europa can. In the first picture it looks like the smoke you go through on the launch is working? That's the sort of thing which would be a novelty at Thorpe and they would be thanked for having it going, when in fact it should always be running. We shouldn't be pleased if it's running, we should be displeased if it isn't.Also from reading your trip report it seems to be going for the same sort of effect as Disney. Having the obvious attractions but having a whole world of extra things to do if you're willing to take it slowly instead of charging off to the coasters. I think this is emphasised by the hotels and also the sheer amount of shows.Also goo to hear about how good Blue Fire is. I saw the layout and thought it looked like it had potential, good to see Mack have managed to pull off a well rounded, fun coaster.Anyway yeah, great trip report, hopefully will fit this in if I go to Germany/that area of Europe with the family.

[Coaster XTREME]

Great trip report, Europa Park looks fantastic. The theming and the rides look great. Would like to go at some point.

[AstroDan]

Excellent report, but not suprised! I have been visiting since 2004, when I lived in Strasbourg - and it's always been amazing yet with all the attractions added it just gets better and better. A new attraction in 2011 plus the next resort hotel for 2012 keeps the place ticking over. There are two new attractions opening in July too, the Historama and Litill Island.Amazing, amazing park.

[Whiteknuckle]

I have to admit, Europa park is the best theme park I have been to in my life. Throughput on the rides is amazing, even Silverstar front row, with 3 trains on.Would love to go back to do the new coaster.Favorite ride has to be Euro Sat. Love the music on it aswell, and brought the double CD of the music at the park.

[babbel]

Actually, I think, the german theme parks are behind Alton and Thorpe. At this Point I'm talking about Phantasialand and Heide Park. Just look at them. The theming at the Phantasialand is unbelievably good, but if you are just about the rides, the UK is in my Opinion much better. We don't even got a single (working) S&S or a flying Coaster/ Free Fall Coaster. Of course, the Europa Park is a great themed place in the german theme park landscape, but the rides are all, even in my opinion blue fire, family friendly. If we would have a single thrill Park, I would be happy, but we don't.Cheers,babbel(Please don't get annoyed about some grammar faults, I'm sure there are some )

[Benin]

Actually, I think, the german theme parks are behind Alton and Thorpe. At this Point I'm talking about Phantasialand and Heide Park. Just look at them. The theming at the Phantasialand is unbelievably good, but if you are just about the rides, the UK is in my Opinion much better. We don't even got a single (working) S&S or a flying Coaster/ Free Fall Coaster. Of course, the Europa Park is a great themed place in the german theme park landscape, but the rides are all, even in my opinion blue fire, family friendly. If we would have a single thrill Park, I would be happy, but we don't.Cheers,babbel(Please don't get annoyed about some grammar faults, I'm sure there are some )

I'm sorry what?It must be the fact we over here are too used to our parks and you're used to your parks... But, the German parks are superior in the more important things, ride running and park presentations...You could have the best rides in the world but if you can't run them well or provide a good environment, then your park is no good in my eyes...Plus the fact they dispatch rides with opened bars <3

[MikeyT]

the rides are all, even in my opinion blue fire, family friendly.

I've got a feeling that's kind of the point though. All the rides at Europa are designed so that the largest spectrum of people can ride them, together.

[Mark9]

Actually, I think, the german theme parks are behind Alton and Thorpe. At this Point I'm talking about Phantasialand and Heide Park. Just look at them. The theming at the Phantasialand is unbelievably good, but if you are just about the rides, the UK is in my Opinion much better. We don't even got a single (working) S&S or a flying Coaster/ Free Fall Coaster. Of course, the Europa Park is a great themed place in the german theme park landscape, but the rides are all, even in my opinion blue fire, family friendly. If we would have a single thrill Park, I would be happy, but we don't.Cheers,babbel(Please don't get annoyed about some grammar faults, I'm sure there are some )

I'd much rather be in a family friendly environment with amazing attractions then to be in a thrill seekers paradise where every ride is just there to scare you silly. Thats boring, thats not entertaining, thats repeitive and draining. Parks like Gardaland, Phantasialand, Europa Park do so well because they don't limit there target audience to an extent that others are basically told not to bother visiting. Europa Park does have thrilling rides, anyone who has ridden Eurosat, Euromir, Blue Fire and Silverstar are thrilling but more importantly, are fun.

[James6]

^ Couldn't agree more, fun rides are in my opinion at least, better than purely thrilling coasters. And that's what Europa seems to do so well have a lot of fun rides but some that are also thrilling.I guess that's one reason why I really like Th13teen.

[AstroDan]

Europa-Park is not a thrill seekers park - it never will be the man focus and never has been. However - it is the best park in Europe from my experience (based on my visits to PortAventura, Disney Paris, Asterix, Holiday Park, Phantasialand and UK parks) - because it is simply operated to a perfect degree. Europa-Park has, to my knowledge, more rides than any other park in Europe and also more shows per day. These shows are of such an excellent quality and testimony to this is that EP also do opening ceremonies etc. for major events in world sport (CL Final ceremony 2005 was done by EP, for example). They also have immaculate, but not over the top theming, which is pristine and kept fresh every year with new additions. They have throughputs on their rides like no other and, in Blue Fire and Silver Star also have world class rollercoasters. The likes of Eurosat and Euro Mir whilst not everyones cup of tea, are certainly unique. Indeed, although not the best coaster I have ever been on, Eurosat certainly holds that "favourite coaster" place in my heart. It's fantastic!I saw their Mysteria end of day show in Halloween 2009 and was blown away. I didn't think anything could beat FiestAventura but this really did - simply stunning.And, I haven't even got onto the Hotels and Tipi Village yet...! You really need 3 nights/4 days to experience everything on offer at EP.A guy I know prefers Flamingoland to EP because of the "rides". If you are the kind of person that only cares about track and train and doesn't give a hoot about theme, experience, general ambience etc. then stick to the likes of TP.

[Benin]

A guy I know prefers Flamingoland to EP because of the "rides". If you are the kind of person that only cares about track and train and doesn't give a hoot about theme, experience, general ambience etc. then stick to the likes of TP.

ANYONE who prefers Flamingoland to ANYWHERE deserves a slap...