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2020: Piraten in Batavia

I think the books are a great way to give attractions an added layer of lore without forcing it into the ride experience.
Remember when Th13teen opened and there was a big debate about if rides need a proper story? I think both sides had a point, rides don't need to have more than a consistent theme when your riding them but they become so much more if there's a story to discover. Europa's Voletarium is a great example of this as you don't need to understand anything about the ACE but having it makes the queue and surrounding experience a lot more interesting.
 
Burbs said:
Aww, does that mean they've got rid of the "I buy you better one, she not that good!" sound effect? :(

Europa-Park: second only to Disney.
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I am going to make a calculated guess and say yes. Disney's Pirates made some huge PC updates a few years ago. The times we live in I guess.

Second only to Disney absolutely.

I think Europa exceeds better than Disney in some respects too!. The speed and agility the park responded in getting this rebuilt. Is world class in my opinion. No one, including Disney. Has ever rebuilt and (dare I say it) reimagined an attraction with the speed and quality that Mack and co have managed to do this. It truly is amazing.

The designing and building of huge set pieces, highly themed entertainment and massive dark rides, takes years. Even when loosly working from a previously made plan. It really is amazing.

Another massive piece of proof to show that Europa is a personal project first and not a corporate money making machine. Although, by building such an amazing park with love, the money naturally rolls in. But I think it is clear that is always secondary to their decisions. But by building such a great product, they know the people will come.

Almost like you or me building a model railway, just on a much bigger scale.

The Germans show the world how it is done once again.

Move over Disney. Again. Second only to Disney. But first in agility and speed of development.

If building high quality rides was a willy waving contest. Mack and Europa are the big guns along side Disney, in my opinion. For different reasons.
 
Wasn't half the reason it was redone so quickly because it was already being planned for a refurbishment anyway? Just so happened the fire accelerated those plans.

Tis still an impressive turnaround but I don't think they did everything from scratch.
 
I think one of the reason Europa-Park are able to get things done so quickly compared to say Disney is because they actually operate in a similar way to how Disneyland operated before Walt passed away. If the Macks want something done then it is going to happen; there are no layers and layers of management to go through and investors to satisfy.

Things got done at Disneyland in the 1950s/1960s incredibly quickly. Bureaucracy is what slows these processes down.
 
Benzin said:
Wasn't half the reason it was redone so quickly because it was already being planned for a refurbishment anyway? Just so happened the fire accelerated those plans.

Tis still an impressive turnaround but I don't think they did everything from scratch.
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First I have heard of that? You could be right but aside from Jungle Raft Ride and Euro-Mir, I am/was unaware of any other ride marked for major work anytime soon.

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And I was unaware of that so thanks Dan :)
I suspect what Benzin said is true because the story of Batavia and the dagger was already on the ACE website before the fire (to my knowledge at least as it's linked to the founders story). But I suspect they were only planning to add this as a small scene like how geisterschloss keeps including small additions. But it meant they already had ideas ready when the fire happened.
 
It's pure speculation on my part, but given their history for plussing attractions as their own tech advances it wouldn't surprise me if things were being drawn up for some point in the future.
 
Just posted on ES Facebook after Pierre happened to be stood outside the ride as they changed the sign...

The opening has been brought forward 48 hours to 28 July.

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Piraten in Batavia "The Making Of" part 3 is now out! Please add English subtitles. Things we learn:

  • Music by Hendrick Schwarzer (Wodan, Europa-Park Suite, Time Carousel, Spook Me, Rulantica: The Musical)
  • Scenes are much more segregated/distinct in the new ride
  • The food offer at Bamboe Baai is different to the previous 'Choose & Mix' options

 
I think segregating the scenes on the new Pirates could be their first blunder on this project. I think one of the major positives of rides such as Pirates of the Caribbean and the old Batavia are the huge opens scenes that make you feel as if you're outside at night. I think they add a lot to those types of attractions, yes they're open but still also divided to a point where you can't see everything at once.

With most attractions having limited space it's not an opportunity many parks get for these large open scenes so I think maybe splitting up the show building might not have been the best idea. It'll still be incredible I'm sure, but it would have been nice to have it a little different to the smaller dark rides.
 
siralgenon said:
I think segregating the scenes on the new Pirates could be their first blunder on this project. I think one of the major positives of rides such as Pirates of the Caribbean and the old Batavia are the huge opens scenes that make you feel as if you're outside at night. I think they add a lot to those types of attractions, yes they're open but still also divided to a point where you can't see everything at once.

With most attractions having limited space it's not an opportunity many parks get for these large open scenes so I think maybe splitting up the show building might not have been the best idea. It'll still be incredible I'm sure, but it would have been nice to have it a little different to the smaller dark rides.
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I feel the total opposite actually.

The old ride was too open. Making it more of a "journey" means the ride will be able to take on a narrative that wasn't possible before.

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Yep, I completely agree Dan. Old Batavia was very open to its detriment, and never really had an 'outside at night' feel. It was more of a 'look how much more of this big shed you've got left to float through' feel, mostly because a fair chunk of it took place in one room that I'm pretty sure you could see across, certainly at ceiling level. By contrast, Fata Morgana at Efteling is all the more interesting for being split into scenes, even making a show of you moving between them, so I've been really pleased when people in the development videos have mentioned that the new ride is split into more defined scenes.

I got the impression that Bamboe Baai will be doing those salad-type offerings in addition to the kind of meals it used to have. I could be wrong but I hope not to be, as I was originally more interested in the restaurant than the ride.

Finally, having watched a POV of the old ride (welI, about half - I got bored, just as I used to riding for real), I'd be pleased if the fire tiger turns out to look a bit dirty, but one thing I really don't want to see is one of those pathetic 'circular chase' effects which I'd forgotten there were two of.
 
Old Batavia was indeed very open, too open in my opinion. From after the drop you could see nearly all of the ride ahead of you, and I do feel that is possibly what made it so boring (in my opinion, I never rated it).

I am so impressed with what I have seen so far of new Batavia. The quality of the theming is excellent, putting each scene in to its own room will really help with the flow and the storytelling, and the new soundtrack is looking like a true masterpiece!
 
They’ve previously mentioned that the show would not return to Bamboe Baii, but what I correct to understand from that video that this might not be the case and there will be a show returning?
 
Exciting news; the first boat is now in the water:

Fantastic stuff; might we see testing start soon? Regardless, it’s lovely to see a Europa Park classic getting closer to opening in a revived, modernised form!
 
venny said:
They’ve previously mentioned that the show would not return to Bamboe Baii, but what I correct to understand from that video that this might not be the case and there will be a show returning?
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There won't be shows during park hours. The stage will be used for the Indonesian Malam dinner show.

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siralgenon said:
I think segregating the scenes on the new Pirates could be their first blunder on this project. I think one of the major positives of rides such as Pirates of the Caribbean and the old Batavia are the huge opens scenes that make you feel as if you're outside at night. I think they add a lot to those types of attractions, yes they're open but still also divided to a point where you can't see everything at once.

With most attractions having limited space it's not an opportunity many parks get for these large open scenes so I think maybe splitting up the show building might not have been the best idea. It'll still be incredible I'm sure, but it would have been nice to have it a little different to the smaller dark rides.
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Ah but the building for Pirates of the Carribean is still split up into distinct parts. Just very subtly and what makes it feel like it is done so well. Spitting up the show scenes by no means makes it impossible to have large open spaces. It just mean you get more control.
 
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