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2019: Scandinavia & Snorri Touren

It does make you wonder if that ‘star canopy’ that was used to hide the roof of the show building was in some way a contributor to how quickly the fire seemed to have spread. Obviously I am no expert, just typing out loud so to speak but if that had caught fire it would spread across the whole building without much bother.

So sad to see, was literally on this ride two weeks ago today and now it’s reduced to nothing.
 
Well modern starcloths are "fire proof" (which we all know only delays ignition, if something gets hot enough, it will always burn). Not sure about one made in the 80's though.
 
Craig said:
Spotted one more photo on Twitter which shows what's left of the interior (ie nothing)

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Great find. It’s interesting how the framework has survived but (presuming it was a pneumatic Animation) the cylinder controlling the motion has not. You can see there is a hole for it in the centre of its chest, above where the pivot joint has swung forward.
I’m going to guess the cylinder was made of aluminium or something else with a lower melting point than the steel. For record that would mean the fire was between 700 and 1,400 degrees C!
 
DiogoJ42 said:
Well modern starcloths are "fire proof" (which we all know only delays ignition, if something gets hot enough, it will always burn). Not sure about one made in the 80's though.
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Would have thought the starcloth would have been replaced if the original one did not meet improved fire safety regulations. Germany are very good at making stuff like this retrospective.

On the water rides, the rules changed a while back in Germany stating that if it was intended for riders to get significantly wet, then the water must be chlorinated to near swimming pool standards. Fjord Rafting & the Log Flume at Europa subsequently had chlorination plants retro-fitted so the water meets the requirements. (Newer water rides like Atlantica Supersplash & Poseidon were obviously built with them from the word go).
 
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Although the Vineta rockwork survived the fire, the animatronic did not:



Michael Mack also Tweeted this earlier, showing a message of support they have had from Fantasiana over in Austria:



He says; "From all over the world we get pictures of this kind, which support us in demolition and rebuilding!"

:)
 
I wondered why a load of rockwork had appeared where scandavia was. Goes to show they made that (and the castle walls in Batavia) of very durable stuff!

Also as I was saying to Islander earlier I’m curious if the city of Vineta survived because the framework protecting it did and heat normally rises while it was burned in a pit.
 
I'd be incredibly surprised if it did considering the pic on the previous page looks like the glass has gone completely. At the very least it's been completely smothered in debris, but at work it's likely parts of the burning roof took out whatever was in there too :(
 
Very sad for the park but I’m glad no one was seriously injured.

I’m now looking forward to how the park approaches this. Wonder if they’ll swap like for like and have it identical or re landscape the area with a totally new feel.
 
Given that space is at a premium at Europa Park, and that Pirates felt very much like the Disney-aping EP of the 1980s, I don't think they will rebuild such a vast attraction that largely served as a people-eater, rather than the highlight of anybody's day. That said, a park as popular as EP needs that kind of ride as much, or perhaps more than any other park at the moment. Who knows! But I would bet that the Macks are already reconfiguring some promising hypotheticals...
 
Plastic Person said:
Given that space is at a premium at Europa Park, and that Pirates felt very much like the Disney-aping EP of the 1980s, I don't think they will rebuild such a vast attraction that largely served as a people-eater, rather than the highlight of anybody's day. That said, a park as popular as EP needs that kind of ride as much, or perhaps more than any other park at the moment. Who knows! But I would bet that the Macks are already reconfiguring some promising hypotheticals...
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Space isn’t at a premium, they have bags of room for expansion. In short term they have the horror nights space to work with and once they have filled that they will probably just push the road back again.

I suspect the facades will return as was with some minor guest flow stuff. They may decide to take non pirates route but it wouldn’t surprise me if they just rebuilt as was.
 
The fire is a hugely saddening and unfortunate event, resulting in the obliteration of an iconic park dark ride and picturesque area home to several hidden jewels within an amazing park. At least no one was injured.

The park and Mack-family, have done a terrific job in staying professional and dedicated keeping their park running with the least disruption possible. They definitely have a great sense of pride that I wish other park operators had. Massive kudos goes to park staff and emergency services also.

Whilst without they will hopefully rise from the ashes (literally), I still cannot help but feel great sorrow for what is no more. The park lost what was arguably one of their most quaint and picturesque areas, filled with plenty of hidden wonders (Veneta etc.) amongst one of their largest and most iconic dark rides. This also marks a sudden end to the ‘POTC variant/knock offs’ with the ones in Bellewaerde and Drayton also removed.

Judging from the picture, this from around the drop area with the ship/fort battle. I can vaguely recognise the shell of an animatronic and rockwork structures. It’s sad to see the rest has literally melted away. Some say Batavia was on the list of attractions to be rethemed/updated, but that’s no longer possible.

Hopefully the Scandanavian area will become rebuilt, equal (if not better) than what was there before and Batavia can be replaced by a sufficient successor (preferably a water system based dark ride). It won’t happen over night and may take upto two years (if not longer) before the wounds are covered over. I do wonder whether other park developments (Rulantica aside) are delayed as a result?

Whether the replacements are something different or close imitation, it certainly won’t be the same as the original Scandanavia and Pirates In Batavia are gone forever!

I wish Europa the best of luck in all of this.
 
I can't be sure of this, but RCDB has a roller coaster and new themed area listed down as coming in 2021, although I was pretty sure I had earlier read somewhere saying that that would be for 2020. Sad if it has indeed been pushed back a year, but obviously understandable.

If I was to hazard a guess at what Europa does next, I'd say they'll do whatever they can to get Fjord Rafting open as soon as possible. I'm guessing that they'll want to rebuilt the area of Scandinavia that was destroyed too, and I would assume they'll start work on that during the main closed season, and open it at some point in 2019. As for Batavia, I really couldn't guess what they will do.. I think they'll try and have something open in its place for 2020 though. And I hope it is a dark water based ride, but maybe utilising more modern technology than Batavia did.

I really just want Europa to turn this tragic event into an opportunity to make the park even better than it is.
 
We saw an interview being conducted near Euromir and tried looking for it.

I don't think this is it but still worth a read.

Mr. Gabriel, are there any findings on the cause of the fire?

No, the experts are still investigating the site.This will certainly take a few more days, you can not say anything about it before.

After all, can one exclude causes, arson?

Personally, I absolutely exclude arson, but we wait for the analysis.

Supposedly there was a loud bang as the fire spread.

I was in person at this time. I did not notice an explosion or a bang that some people have heard. Only in the course of the fire there were loud noises. But they exist just when building parts collapse.

What is the damage?

That's not clear yet. We assume a double-digit million amount. We are fully insured against the fire damage.

What's next?

When the experts are done, we want to clear the debris as quickly as possible in the next few days. Then we can share more routes and attractions, such as the Koffiekopjes, the rotating coffee cups, in the Dutch theme area.

Could anything be saved at the main attraction, the pirates in Batavia?

No, the facades of the Dutch theme are still largely preserved, but unfortunately much has been destroyed behind them.

Many park guests associate childhood memories with the pirates. Will the ride be rebuilt true to the original?

It's too early to say anything. I think the topics Holland and Scandinavia will keep their character. The pirates in Batavia were a wonderful family attraction from the 1980s. I can imagine that it will go in a similar direction again.

When firefighting sued the fire brigade partly about too little available extinguishing water.Was there a gap in the rescue concept?

There were no bottlenecks in the water supply.The concept clearly states that when all the hydrants are occupied, the natural resources in the park, ie the river Elz and ponds, will be tapped next. That happened, there was always enough water there, at most it was about where to take what and when.

The warehouse burnt down completely - was there no sprinkler system there that would have been able to fight the fire right away?

No. But the hall complied with the latest fire regulations, so we are on the safe side.

What was in the hall?

Our fund, the garments that our employees wear at attractions or shows. Replacing these will be the biggest task of the next few days. Also offices and event technology are burned.

Have fewer visitors since the fire?

On Sunday, 20,000 people were in the park, as many as we would have expected without fire.This shows that our decision to open was right.And we get a lot of popularity from guests, partners and other parks.

Why did you decide to reopen the park the very next day without discount on entry?

Because only a small part of the park is affected. We have over 100 attractions, very few of which are restricted or not. That's why we still offer guests the offer they expect from us.

Why is not there much to hear from the owner family Mack since the fire except via Twitter?

For one, they are very emotionally affected. For Roland Mack, a part of his life's work has burned down, where we all very much hang with our hearts. On the other hand, the Mack family is already in talks and working on plans for the future of the spent area. This is currently happening and takes a lot of time. Questions from Dominik Dose
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Source: https://www.lahrer-zeitung.de/inhal...nnt.bfcf1aba-8d61-4fb3-964e-bd043327b396.html
 
I have faith that if they want to do it (which I suspect they will) we will get Scandinavia and Holland back pretty much as was. If I’m honest I would like them to take the opportunity to do something other than a knock off pirates in the show building.

Time will tell I guess.
 
I think it would be a wasted opertunity to rebuild it exactly as was. There has been 30 years of progress in technology, just waiting to be taken advantage of! Even if the basic theme is kept, I would expect to see a radically different ride.
 
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