Europa Park, May 2011

[Phill Pritchard]

Last month my Wife and I took a four day trip to Europa Park, Rust in Germany. It was our first time to the park, to Germany and this is my first ever trip report so please be kind To start off I thought I would quickly summarize our trip in numbers.Days away: 4 Days, 3 NightsDays in Park: 3 DaysNew Rides & Attractions Ridden: 38Shows seen: 3 ShowsHighest number of re-rides: 8 rides on Schweizer Bobbahn (Swiss Bob Run) coaster over the 3 daysTotal number of photos taken: 653Day OneThe JourneyWhen we first started planning the trip we realised that Europa Park did not seem to be the easiest of places to get to if you didn’t already know where you were going. Thanks to advice on this and other forums though, this task was not as bad as it first seemed. In the end we flew with Easyjet from Gatwick to Basel Mulhouse Freiburg (also known as EuroAirport). This airport is one of the only airports in the world operated by two countries, in this case the airport has been built in France but the airport has both French and Swiss sectors. We were staying at the Hotel Colosseo on the Europa Park resort so we decided to arrange a shuttle service through the hotel. The airport was about an hour away from the resort and the transfer cost €130 each way, the vehicles can seat up to 8 passengers so if you were going as a larger group the cost per head would make this even more economical, for the two of us it worked out around the same cost as hiring a car to only make the same two journeys so we opted for the easier option and let someone else do the driving. We were landing in the Swiss sector and expected to be collected for the Swiss arrivals hall, however after not being able to find our driver we found out from a very helpful taxi driver that apparently you cannot get to Germany from the Swiss sector and that we would have to go to the French sector. One quick trip in a nearby lift up to the next level, a short walk to get into the French sector and another lift back down to French arrivals we found our driver and she helped us out to the car with our bags. We were very impressed with our driver, she was dressed in smart Europa Park uniform, made us feel very welcome and chatted to us in English on our way to the park. These were our first view of the park and our hotel from the transfer car.After checking in we went on a walk around the hotel resort grounds, discovering many of the restaurants on the way. We eventually ended up back at the courtyard cafe area at the Hotel Colosseo with our Merlin Top Trumps and a pack of German coaster Top Trumps we had bought from the hotel gift shop. After many games, drinks and cheese & salami toasted sandwiches we went back to reception to get our room keys. Our room was on the third floor of this beautifully themed hotel, and we were pleasantly surprised that it was as nice and quiet inside the room despite being an on resort hotel.That evening we checked out the Resort’s many restaurants before deciding to eat at Restaurant Don Quichotte. We were feeling rather hungry from all our travelling and I am quite a fussy eater so we decided to go for the Don Quichottes family pan, which seemed to have a taste of nearly everything off the menu. According to the menu this meal is intended for 2 adults and 2 children and we received some slightly strange looks from the waiting staff as they delivered it over to our table of two. What followed was a “Man v Food” feast of epic proportions, the likes of which we had never attempted before. The meal arrived on a two-tier stand packed full of food, including: 2 beef steaks, 2 pork steaks, 4 chicken skewers, 2 beef skewers, 4 grilled chorizo sausages, 4 chicken drumsticks, 2 turkey piccatas, served with Andalusian vegetables, chips, wrinkled potatoes and pasta paella. Needless to say the dish did beat us in the end but we definitely gave it our all and think that for the amount of good, quality food you get it is definitely worth the €49.50 price. However you just might not fancy eating too much meat for the next week.Every night the circular fountains in the centre of the hotels courtyard would come alive with specially designed shows set to music. During the day and in between the shows some parents allowed their children to run through the middle of these fountains but when the shows started you saw some of them grab a hold of their kids, which was definitely understandable as part of shows involved the middle fountain jet shooting up over 6 stories high. There was always a nice atmosphere around the hotel and it was never really busy while we were there.Day 2 to follow soon...

[Luke_A]

Wow... Wow and wow, Europa Park looks amazing, I really hope to visit soon as the first park I visit outside of the U.K. Hotel Colosseo looks stunning as well as all of the food and resort things there too! That shuttle service from the airport looked really handy too, especially the fact that you didn't have to drive all of the trip. You haven't even mentioned the coasters and the rest of the park&rides yet and it's already an awesome TR! Keep them coming!

[AstroDan]

I am clamouring to read more!Big hearts to EP <3

[Mark9]

Oh Europa Park, I adore and love and cherish your German charm. Lovely start to the report, isn't Colosseo just amazing. The reception roof is just so gorgeous.

[Phill Pritchard]

Thanks for the kind comments guys :)Hier ist Teil zwei...Day 2We lose our EP VirginityOn the morning of our first day in the park we woke and went down for breakfast in the Hotel, which was included in our room fare. We could not believe the spread of food that was available, everything from cooked breakfast items, a vast array of fresh fruit, yoghurts, cereals, breads, pastries and many more including more varieties of tea than you would find in most tea shops. My words really do not do this breakfast buffet justice, I wish we had taken some photos of what was available.Being hotel guests every morning we were allowed to access the park 30 minutes before it opened to the General Public at 9am, this allowed for some ERT on the following rides: E.P. Express, Casa Da Aventura, Whale Adventures, Blue Fire, Kolumbus Jolle, Feria Swing and Atlantica. So with our map in hand we were off to Blue Fire. With no real queue to worry about I was on the ride in less than 10 minutes and that wasn’t even using the single rider queue. This is a fun coaster, with lots of airtime that at a couple of points I felt it actually lift me off my seat. However after riding it I didn’t quite have the buzz I was expecting but after re-riding it over the next few days, hands free and in the front row I can say it definitely improved the ride for me.One thing that really stood out about Europa Park was how tidy and green the place is compared to other parks. Every day we saw staff out planting new flowers, tending to the gardens, repainting sections of theming and when it rained one morning we even saw staff going around the park drying off the benches. This attention to detail plus the immersive theming make it one of the most beautiful parks we have ever been to.Without even meaning to we managed to catch the Europa Park Parade and we were so glad that we did. We are both big Disney fans and whilst this was not quite on the same size and scale of a Disney Parade it was full of character... and costumed characters to match! For the Parade Euromaus was joined by many of this friends who also ‘live’ at the park, I think many of these belong to the different country areas of the park.Ride wise Europa Park has a great mixture of coasters, water rides, smaller flats and dark rides. One thing some visitors may notice is the lack of large thrill flat rides, but as we are not great fans of these we loved the rides on offer. 1st day on park ride count:Swiss Bob Run x3Ghost Castle x3Atlantis Adventure x2Pirates in Batavia x2Eurosat x2Blue FireAtlanticaTirol Log FlumeAlpine CoasterWorld of DiamondsFjord-RaftingSunken City “Vineta”Euro-MirSleigh Ride “Snowflake”Historama Monorail“Poseiden”Cassandra’s CursePegasusUniverse of EnergyPuppet Boat RideSilver StarJungle RaftsPiccolo MondoElf RideMagic Cinema 4D “Sammy’s Great Adventure”EP Historama and MuseumShows: Europa Park Parade My next entry will also be about our first day on the park but focusing on FoodLoop, Europa Park’s new looping roller coaster restaurant.

[AstroDan]

Yes, I think with Blue Fire it is a grower. At first, you will probably find it either underwhelming or lacking in force (even though the fact it isn not a G intense coaster is well documented). It's also the parks (and Mack's!) first foray into such a coaster. I really love it though, top 10 coaster for sure.As for the rest of the park, it's never been and I doubt ever will be "about the thrills". This is a family park through and through, I think of it as a giant and much better version of Chessington. Great ride count for the first day!

[Mark9]

As for the rest of the park, it's never been and I doubt ever will be "about the thrills". This is a family park through and through, I think of it as a giant and much better version of Chessington.

You do Europa Park a great diservice by comparing it to Chessington, like comparing Tesco finest to Tesco value!I'd love to know what you thought of Euro-Mir Phill, thats always one of my Europa Park all-time faves.

[Phill Pritchard]

Hi Mark, I am afraid to say that we only rode Euro-Mir once whilst we were there. The one type of coaster I really don't like are Wild Mouse coasters, I really don't like the sensation on those tracks, the way they fling you out over the edge on the corners etc. I can do large thrill coasters with no trouble but little Wild Mouse coasters really freak me out! So back to the question, I didn't like the top Wild Mouse part of the track but loved the inside section, the music and the rest of it after the drop. Whereas my Wife really liked the indoor section, music and the top section but didn't like the last part as it was too rough for her as it knocked her leg and it got really bruised.But I can see how people would really enjoy it, I think I would have if I could just get over the Wild Mouse thing. LolOh and also we really loved the fact that the park was not all about the thrills, it was great to see families being able to ride most of the rides together and it also means that there is more room for more dark rides and other experience rides which is always a plus in my book.

Edited June 3, 2011 by Phill Pritchard

[TPGG]

I passed out of Euro-Mir when I went, I reckon I just got de-hydrated and dizzy. I made it through the wild mouse section at the top but can't remember anything after the first drop, FML.

[AstroDan]

I once felt quite ill on Euro Mir, but it's one of my faves. One of those special "only at EP" kind of rides, much like Eurosat, too. I must say riding Euro Mir in the Winter, at night, with the lights and Jingle Mir soundtrack is amazing...!

[Phill Pritchard]

FoodLoopLunch on this day was provided by FoodLoop – The world’s first looping restaurant. Housed in the Europa Park Historama building this is one of Europa Park’s main additions for 2011. This almost fully automated restaurant is the third Roller Coaster Restaurant to be opened in Germany and it is a world’s first as two tables in the restaurant are served via a loop in the track. This place was amazing, and the first time we ate in there we were sat on one of the looping tables, this was definitely more fun than the normal tables and we highly recommend it. On entering you are each handed a cashless vending card, this is used to tally up your bill. The restaurant was full of large round tables that about 12 people around them. In the centre of the tables are large turntables you can turn by hand to get access to your glasses, cutlery etc. and three touch screen monitors that can be moved around to face each seat. The ordering instructions on the screen are all in German but luckily a young Swiss boy sat near us helped us through the procedure, explaining everything in enough broken English to make us feel ashamed of our foreign language program here in the UK.Each seat has a number and a colour, so you select the corresponding colour and number on the screen and browse through the various menus of food and drink available, make your selections and then you enter your FoodLoop card to confirm your order.A short while after you could see your order going up in a lift from the despatch area up to the coaster track that led to our table. Almost everything ordered from the menu is sent through the loop: pots of food, bottles of drink and even open topped glasses of what looked like either milkshake or ice cream. It really is quite impressive and fun to watch. Once your items have made their way down the track to your table they ‘land’ on the top of the central turntable, so you just turn this around until you have your items in front of you. To make it easier to identify your order when it arrives the clips on either side of the carrier that sits on the tracks are colour co-ordinated with your colour and the colour next to you. Each item also has a small printed label on top with the seat number printed on it.You can re-order as many items as you like, each time going through the same procedure on the screen and then putting your FoodLoop card in. Once you are ready to pay you just take your FoodLoop cards to the till by the exit and they total up your bill. Overall the service is fast, efficient and with a minimum of fuss. And even though you would expect the quality of the food to suffer due to the gimmicky nature of the restaurant we were again impressed by the quality of the food at Europa Park.We really need one of these in the UK, someone really should open one in London! :)In the evening we decided to go to Restaurant Castillo, this was a buffet style restaurant serving a great selection of Spanish food as well as some European and World cuisine dishes. They also had a nice selection of deserts that were also all you can eat. Let’s just say I had quite a few slices of the cheesecake. Highly recommended!

Edited June 4, 2011 by Phill Pritchard

[Jake C]

Love the look of the Food Loop, just makes me want to visit the park evan more!

[Phill Pritchard]

Day 3As this was our second of three days in the park we decided that as well as the rides we were going to try and catch a few of their shows. The first one we saw was the Ice Show “Surpr’Ice”, this was a nice 30 minute ice skating show performed in the middle of a large circular theatre with tiered seating. First on the ice was a great warm up clown guy who not only got the crowd in the mood but also broke down any language barriers by performing most of his set in mime. The ‘story’ of the show seemed to involve a bell boy at a hotel falling in love with a famous lady guest. Quite how a Michael Jackson impersonator fits in with the story I am still not sure but on the whole the show was impressive with lots of tricks on the ice and one act who also performed aerial acrobatics on a ring suspended from the ceiling.The next show we tried to watch was “An English Love” based in the Globe Theatre replica in the England area of the park. Entering the theatre the stage was set out with many stereotypical English bits of theming involving a red phone box. Whilst we were all waiting for the show to begin we were all treated to many Beatles songs being played over the theatres sound system. I suppose this may annoy some British guests as of course everyone in the UK loves the Beatles, but I am a big fan so we loved it. Eventually the music stopped and the lights dimmed, the effects lights started to do a display and then the house lights came back on. After this happened a few times a young lady came on to the stage to announce in German that there was a technical problem and that they would not be able to continue with the show. So that had set us back about 20 minutes so we now had to make up for some lost time.The third show we watched later in the day was their arena show “Der Teufel + Die Königin” (The Devil and the Queen). This show lasted for around 40 minutes and had involved a number of knights taking part in a tournament in front of the King, one of which was the King’s own daughter. Needless to say one of the contenders sells his soul to the devil and is transformed in to the powerful dark knight who seems intent on winning the contest. Who will win? Will Good triumph over Evil? Alongside the stunt horse riding and joust style events there are many special effects including one or two that may come as a slight surprise. We definitely recommend this show, if only Thorpe Park could pull this kind of show off! Afterwards stick around by the side of the arena for a chance to see the riders and feed some of the horses.2nd Day on park ride count:Swiss Bob Run x2Eurosat x2Columbus DinghyFeria SwingPanorama TrainBlue FireAtlanticaTirol Log FlumeAlpine CoasterVienna Wave SwingerPirates in BataviaBritish CarouselSilverstoneCrazy TaxiPoseidonCassandra’s CursePegasusQueen’s DiamondsUniverse of EnergyEuro-TowerSilver StarTeacups (or Koffiekopjes = coffee cups in German)Ghost CastlePiccolo MondoAfrican QueenShows: Ice Show “Surpr’Ice” and Arena show “Der Teufel + Die Königin”We planned the end of the day so that our last ride would be on Piccolo Mondo, a nice relaxing children’s dark ride that has been re-themed this year (it used to be Ciao Bambini) so we could end up in the pizzeria next door for some food before the park closed. Although the pizzas were nice we felt they weren’t quite up to the high standard of the rest of the food at Europa Park. That night we spent most of our time in the courtyard back at the hotel and we watched both of the fountain shows that night, the first one was good but the second is definitely the best.My next entry will be about our last day on the park & in Germany and it will feature a run down of our favourite rides and attractions.

[AstroDan]

Thank you for continuuing to share. Very odd about a technical problem during the show in the Globe Theatre, I haven't heard of that one before!

[Phill Pritchard]

Day 4Our last day in GermanyAfter breakfast we headed into the park for our full 30 minutes of ERT, first up again was Blue Fire. Two very quick rides on Blue Fire’s front row and then we went back to the Spanish area to queue up for Atlantica for when it opened at 9am. EP’s Atlantica and Poseidon were the first water coasters we had ever ridden on and we loved them both (although I think we enjoyed Poseidon slightly more). As we were in the first boat of the morning we didn’t seem to get too wet, maybe the water pool was too calm when we hit it, and since there was no queue in the station the ride ops asked if we all wanted to go round again, of course we did! And we did get quite wet on that second go. This turned out to be a bit of a forecast for the rest of the day, it was now time for some serious re-rides!3rd Day on park ride count:Alpine Coaster x4Swiss Bob Run x3Ghost Castle x3Fjord Rafting x2Blue Fire x2Silver Star x2Atlantica x2Poseidon x2Eurosat x2Pirates in Batavia x2Atlantis Adventure x2Piccolo Mondo x2ColumbusTirol Log FlumeWorld of DiamondsCrazy TaxiUniverse of EnergyElf RideEuro TowerSleigh Ride “Snowflake”The Flight of IkarusPegasusCassandra’s CurseEP – ExpressHistorama MonorailAnd for lunch we made a return trip to FoodLoop and the food was just as good as the first visit, however the experience wasn’t quite as exciting after having sat at the looping table but it was still great fun.Leaving the park at 5pm we collected our bags from the hotel and got our transfer back to Basel to start our trip back to Gatwick. It was whilst we were at the airport we saw this amazing pinball machine. “Are you about to board a plane? Maybe you are a bit nervous about your flight? What better time to play a game themed around terrorism!”...As many people have said on this forum before, there is just so much to say about Europa Park that it would take you a very long time to cover it all. Even after writing this ‘full’ report of our trip most of the rides have only been mentioned by name. So to try and rectify this here is some information about our favourite rides at the park.Best Family CoasterHelen: Swiss Bob RunPhill: Swiss Bob Run although it is a close one between this and the Alpine Coaster. Swiss Bob Run was our first Bobsled coaster and we really enjoyed it. It was also fun watching the expressions on some of the other riders faces when they arrived back at the station, especially when you could see how really uncomfortable some guys were when they were sharing seats with their mates.Best Thrill CoasterHelen: EurosatPhill: Silver Star, despite reading bad things about it online it was my first hyper coaster and I loved it, especially the first drop. The intense screaming from some of the riders seemed really unnecessary but quite funny. Eurosat was a great space themed coaster that reminded us of WDW's Space Mountain if it had dropped some E's at a European rave! It was amazing, if a little rough in places. Best Dark RideHelen: Pirates in Batavia and Ghost Castle, I can’t choose between those two.Phill: This park is full of great Dark Rides and that makes it very hard to choose but I think because it is so similar to one of my favourite rides from my childhood (Phantom Fantasia/Wicked Witches Haunt) I would have to say Ghost Castle. But Atlantis Adventure is great too! I apologise for the photo overload from Ghost Castle but I really loved this ride! With this guy at the entrance that spits/sneezes at people as they walk past and this creepy picture in the queue line, one thing is certain this is no Haunted Mansion! A skull chandelier in one of the queue line rooms.Entering this station and seeing the old clamshell ride cars it was almost like the 2000 Thorpe Park fire had never happened...Singing in German these guys were definitely more creepy than the Grim Grinning originals. Best Water RideHelen: Fjord RaftingPhill: Atlantica almost wins just for it’s great use of “He’s a Pirate” from Pirates of the Caribbean, that was really cool. But I think I would have to go for Poseidon for its great theming at the start and also that fantastic second drop. But Fjord Rafting is a great example of how to make a river rapids ride, the best I have ridden in Europe so far. The first day we rode Fjord Rafting the smoke machines in the tunnel were not working so we did not really understand the point of the fire effect in there. However re-riding it a couple of days later it all made sense and we wished Thorpe Park would do something like that with their tunnel. Random Trip AwardsThe ride that made us feel most hungry: Piccolo Pizza... I mean Piccolo Mondo. Mostly a small dark ride advert for the Italian Restaurant next door, Pizza and Ice Cream... I wish the character on the back of the boats/ride cars had been used more though.Most random piece of merchandise bought:A small bottle of the essence they fill the Magic World of Diamonds walk through attraction with, which you also smell every time you go on the Tirol Log Flume or the Alpine Coaster. Now our house smells like Europa Park. In summary we had an amazing time at the park and can’t wait to return. We will definitely be recommending Europa Park to all our friends and family. Thanks for reading our trip report, we leave you with a video we have quickly edited together from some clips we filmed on our trip. Thanks Phill and Helen.

[Phill Pritchard]

Thank you for continuuing to share. Very odd about a technical problem during the show in the Globe Theatre, I haven't heard of that one before!

Yes a lot of the German guests that were waiting seemed quite genuinely shocked that there was a problem and that they had to cancel that performance. Some looked like they didn't quite know what to do. lol But I guess us Brits are kind of used to it. :)Oh and as we were leaving the theatre the guy that was sat at the mixing desk was busy on his mobile looking very harassed. Edited June 7, 2011 by Phill Pritchard