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2020: Europa-Park General Discussion

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New cattlepen looks dreadful. It's a peculiar decision from the park as one would've thought they would just keep the existing queue screens and update accordingly.
 
Matt N said:
Also, on a random note, Blue Fire has always reminded me of what Air used to be like at Alton Towers in terms of its vibe and general theme. I admit that Air didn’t have rockwork like Blue Fire does, but for some reason, the whole vibe of Blue Fire really reminds me of what Air was like.
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you make a good point comparing Air and Blue Fire. I think if Air had the theme of Blue Fire it would have been the complete experience. As it is I love both rides for trying to be a little bit different.
 
Tim said:
you make a good point comparing Air and Blue Fire. I think if Air had the theme of Blue Fire it would have been the complete experience. As it is I love both rides for trying to be a little bit different.
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If you look at the original concepts for Air, then I think that had the technology not cost so much, then it and Blue Fire would actually have looked rather similar in terms of their theming!
 
Has anyone seen any visitor reports of how the park has been since reopening? Be interested to know how the virtual queueing is working out, how successful the social distancing aspects are, and how the park feels with such limited numbers and the changes in place.
 
pluk said:
Has anyone seen any visitor reports of how the park has been since reopening? Be interested to know how the virtual queueing is working out, how successful the social distancing aspects are, and how the park feels with such limited numbers and the changes in place.
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I am on quite a few german facebook groups, and have also watched a few YouTube updates from over the weekend. Generally speaking the reaction has been positive. Some things to note:

  • Although there have only been 10,000 on park each day, queues for the more major rollercoasters have been as long as they would be if there were 30,000 on park due to the reduced capacity per train and additional cleaning
  • The Virtual Queue app has had a lot of issues. However, part of the reason for the very low starting capacity in the park is to allow them time to iron out issues
  • Distance Radar seems to drain phone batteries. Unsure if it's much benefit. Nice idea I guess.
  • Very limited food and beverage offering at the moment. However, within a few weeks this should improve
  • Hygiene standards are generally going down very well. The entertainment staff helping with this seems to be going down well
  • Hotel breakfasts seem hit and miss. There is no buffet allowed at the moment, so it's table service. But a lot of criticism about selection/speed of service. Hopefully buffets will be permitted again soon...!
A lot of comment about how odd it is for the park to be closing at only 6 or 7pm on a usually peak May weekend... especially with the weather.

It is all so quiet.

Most rides have had little to no queue at all.
 
AstroDan said:
  • The Virtual Queue app has had a lot of issues. However, part of the reason for the very low starting capacity in the park is to allow them time to iron out issues
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I assumed this was the case, as I think my app's had an update from the app store like five times this last week :p

AstroDan said:
  • Hygiene standards are generally going down very well. The entertainment staff helping with this seems to be going down well
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Saw a pic of my friend, who's in the ice show, squirting out sanitiser on people - looks like both staff and guests are enjoying that :p
 
Excellent, sounds like a decent start to build on, hopefully our theme park overlords are watching closely.

Since Greece announced Brits aren't welcome (amongst many others) when they resume tourism because of our infection rates it would seem likely other countries would follow suit. I'm not holding my breath for when we'll be able to return, got to have a dream though.
 
After watching a few vlogs on YouTube it looks like the park have done pretty well with limiting guests, increasing hygiene standards and putting protocols into place, but after viewing these videos it looks like no one is social distancing and the ones that are are very few and far between?

Is this not a thing over in Germany?
 
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Having seen quite a few photos from Efteling, Toverland, movie park, etc no one seems to social distance very well at all, especially outside the park when queuing to get in.

Don’t know if that’s just Europeans for you and they’ve not had it like we had in terms of distancing as much.

I imagine when parks and stuff reopen in the UK, majority of the people will stand well clear of each other.
 
djtruefitt said:
Having seen quite a few photos from Efteling, Toverland, movie park, etc no one seems to social distance very well at all, especially outside the park when queuing to get in.

Don’t know if that’s just Europeans for you and they’ve not had it like we had in terms of distancing as much.

I imagine when parks and stuff reopen in the UK, majority of the people will stand well clear of each other.
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That's a good point, they don't really queue normally never mind about now.
 
Out in public and on trains in Germany I've sadly seen not a lot of people ahearing to distancing and a minority aren't bothering with mask requirements. So I'm not surprised parks are having similar issues with guests. Shame to see and quite concerning.
 
Has anyone been in a supermarket in the U.K. lately? I can’t say social distancing is particularly adhered to here either.
 
Social distancing is almost impossible to enforce. This was always going to be the case. I think we just have to accept it won't be adhered to everywhere we go. It hasnt even been during peak of the pandemic tbh.

We just got to hope that this thing dies off soon and doesn't come back with a bang similar to how SARS went away.
 
AT86 said:
Has anyone been in a supermarket in the U.K. lately? I can’t say social distancing is particularly adhered to here either.
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Was gonna say, going to Asda is often quite chaotic because people don't follow the rules set in place.

Let's not act like we're any better at social distancing than anyone else.
 
I think the audience for this kind of thing is self-selecting as well.

The kind of person who is willing to rush back to a theme park in its opening week is statistically going to be far, far less worried about the virus (rightly or wrongly). The kind of demographic that visits theme parks is also (again, as a rule that I am in no way suggesting applies to everyone) less likely to be severely impacted by the virus as well.

Hence, perhaps visitors are less bothered about following social distancing rules than Germans or Dutch people are in general.
 
I'm in Berlin, where active cases are down to the low hundreds amongst a 4 million plus population. Of course, some people have been rather taking the piss, but generally the relaxed mood matches the statistics. People are being cautious, but not paranoid, especially as summer is here and in a city that values and relies on green space, everyone understandably wants to be outdoors.
 
Good news: there's a new Roland Mack biography out (an update of the previous one) called, charmingly, My Life For Europa-Park.

Bad news: I asked EP if there's going to be an English translation and they said there are no plans.

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Yes - I have got Roland Mack "King of Fun" in English.

Shame the new one is not :(
 
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