Trip Planning: Information, advice and questions!

[Skyscraper]

A heads up for anyone flying with easyJet from Manchester airport... From Wednesday November 19th, all easyJet departures and arrivals will be from Terminal 2.

Source

Also... The EES system is fully live at Basel Airport, so it is advisable to allow extra time for that.

 

[Bowser]

I got an email from the park saying that hotel rooms for 2026 season go on sale soon. They seem to give the impression that they sell out very quickly, is this accurate? I vaguely recall seeing discussion about this before.

We're planning on going in May 2026 but unsure if we'll stay onsite or Airbnb, mostly depending on how our upcoming Phantasialand trip goes.

So wondering if this is hyperbolic marketing on their part or they are the theme park equivalent of Taylor Swift tickets? I did a price check booking a while back and didn't seem to notice a particular issue with lack of availability and if we did stay we'd likely need a suite which presumably is less in demand.

 

[Llama]

It is mostly marketing hype, though I think there can be a rush in very specific circumstances: people who want a specific room number on specific dates, booking around certain annual parties, getting to the cheaper Eco rooms before anyone else, things of that nature. For a normal trip I don't think you have to worry.

 

[Manchester1894]

The cheap rooms go very quickly

 

[Skyscraper]

I got an email from the park saying that hotel rooms for 2026 season go on sale soon. They seem to give the impression that they sell out very quickly, is this accurate? I vaguely recall seeing discussion about this before.

We're planning on going in May 2026 but unsure if we'll stay onsite or Airbnb, mostly depending on how our upcoming Phantasialand trip goes.

So wondering if this is hyperbolic marketing on their part or they are the theme park equivalent of Taylor Swift tickets? I did a price check booking a while back and didn't seem to notice a particular issue with lack of availability and if we did stay we'd likely need a suite which presumably is less in demand.

Members of the Hotel Friends programme get to book a week before it goes live to everyone else. It's not absolutely essential to book during the presale, unless you're looking at visiting during potentially busy periods.

 

[Bowser]

So after our successful Phantasialand trip i'm now planning our first trip to Europa Park!

Currently looking at doing 3 days in May half term which for us would be May 26-28 (Tues, Wed, Thurs) and we'd probably travel the days either side of that.

According to crowd calendar this is not anticipated to be particularly busy. Ascension Day is May 14th and Whit Sunday is May 24th. Does that seem accurate as far as these things go?

If so i think we'd do 1 day park, 1 day Rulantica and then final day half at each.

 

[AT86]

I would personally give 2 full days to EP and one to Rulantica.

 

[Skyscraper]

So after our successful Phantasialand trip i'm now planning our first trip to Europa Park!

Currently looking at doing 3 days in May half term which for us would be May 26-28 (Tues, Wed, Thurs) and we'd probably travel the days either side of that.

According to crowd calendar this is not anticipated to be particularly busy. Ascension Day is May 14th and Whit Sunday is May 24th. Does that seem accurate as far as these things go?

If so i think we'd do 1 day park, 1 day Rulantica and then final day half at each.

Just bear in mind that one and a half days won't be enough to do everything in the theme park, especially if you have to take it slowly. It's a huge park with tons to do, ideally you need at least two days minimum for a first visit, preferably three.

 

[NuttySquirrel]

I agree, two full park days and one full day at Rulantica is the best way to do it. It's expensive to split a single day across the park and Rulantica, and the two are not that near each other. Entry and exit to Rulantica take time as well with all the faff of changing and showering.

A third park day doesn't hurt for your first visit if the budget will stretch, but it's not essential.

 

[Bowser]

Thanks @NuttySquirrel @Skyscraper @AT86

I think my son will love Rulantica more than Europa tbh, he will definitely want to go back after doing it once. So my plan was to get an evening ticket for the second visit so we'd still have a good chunk of the final day at Europa. Plus the Rulantica day will serve as a rest day of sorts as presumably we won't be in there for 8 hours.

We also don't need to do everything at Europa. My son has quite specific taste so i think we'd aim to do the following rides and then on the second day re-rides of the favourites and perhaps anything missed.

- Alpine Express
- Arthur
- Atlantica (weather pending)
- Atlantis Adventure (i'm now laughing as i type this that i'm up to 4 rides and still on the letter "A")
- Blue Fire
- Castello
- Eurosat Can Can
- Pegasus
- Pirates in Batavia
- Tirol Log Flume (weather pending)
- Voletarium
- Voltron
- Poseidon
- Wodan

Now i've typed it out that is quite a lot! But tbh if we miss some and he has a wonderful time that's fine. We've been to Efteling twice now for 3 days each time and still haven't been on Piranha or Villa Volta! He gets tired/over stimulated quite easily so I try not to go in with the mindset of getting as much done as possible, just having a good time. Not the most cost effective way to do things but it's what works for us.

Also we will have RAP access if/where needed and can hopefully get some virtual slots.

PS he's too short for Silver Star which is why i omitted that.

 

[Benzin]

If he's got an Access Card you literally just go up Virtual Queue/Exit. No need to get a card from Hotel or Guest Services.

 

[Skyscraper]

If he's got an Access Card you literally just go up Virtual Queue/Exit. No need to get a card from Hotel or Guest Services.

That only covers the holder and one companion though, if they've got three or more people in their group they'll need to get the green card from guest services.

 

[Bowser]

That only covers the holder and one companion though, if they've got three or more people in their group they'll need to get the green card from guest services.

Yes I’d read this so we’d probably combine tactics as I believe the Green card has quite a low number of uses. My wife is usually happy to sit out the more extreme rides or rerides.

I think a good number of the rides I listed don’t tend to go over 20 minutes which is doable. In fact even today on Halloween only Voltron is currently over 25 minutes!

 

[Skyscraper]

Yes I’d read this so we’d probably combine tactics as I believe the Green card has quite a low number of uses. My wife is usually happy to sit out the more extreme rides or rerides.

I think a good number of the rides I listed don’t tend to go over 20 minutes which is doable. In fact even today on Halloween only Voltron is currently over 25 minutes!

Plus most queues move lightning-fast, you're not stood still for long! Will say, though, Voltron's queue hall can be sensory overload.

Some of the smaller dark rides are usually always walk-on as well.

 

[venny]

I’d also second (third/fourth?) the recommendation for 2 full EP days, and actuallly more. Even with RAP.

The joy of the park unfolds when you have time to do “nothing”, because that’s the time when you happen across the delighful details that make the place so special. From picnicing in the hidden cloisters of Portugal, discovering the Mask Museum and listening to live music at O’Mackays, to exploring the historic Black Forest house, strolling through the Schloss gardens and having lunch by the Elz river listening to the string quartet…

The more time you have in the park, the more you’re likely to enjoy its wonderful richness.

 

[Bowser]

I’d also second (third/fourth?) the recommendation for 2 full EP days, and actuallly more. Even with RAP.

The joy of the park unfolds when you have time to do “nothing”, because that’s the time when you happen across the delighful details that make the place so special. From picnicing in the hidden cloisters of Portugal, discovering the Mask Museum and listening to live music at O’Mackays, to exploring the historic Black Forest house, strolling through the Schloss gardens and having lunch by the Elz river listening to the string quartet…

The more time you have in the park, the more you’re likely to enjoy its wonderful richness.

If i was going alone for sure but with my family i have to tailor things quite specifically to make it work. We've never done more than 2 nights away so this is already going to be pushing things. Personally I'll be happy just to see the place and get on the key rides (Voltron, Arthur, Blue Fire and Wodan). If we stay onsite i can potentially run off to do Silver Star for "research purposes" too.

We did Disneyland Paris quite comfortably in 1.5 days. Obviously they have much longer opening hours but we didn't stay particularly late. I think with this trip we could do something like EP 10am-4pm then Rulantica 6pm-8pm which would pretty much be another full day in the park anyway.

And of course missing things gives us a reason to go back!

 

[Poisson]

With the recent news, Mir needs to be done as it'll be gone soon, also much more of a key ride than Arthur.

I'd recommend 2.5 or even 3 full EP days, I don't do water parks so I'll go with what the others have said for Rulantica.

If you want a rest day, Steinwasen Park is not far to drive to, has animals, couple of coasters and a few rides, plus some sort of adventure trail I think?

 

[Skyscraper]

With the recent news, Mir needs to be done as it'll be gone soon, also much more of a key ride than Arthur.

*In your opinion

Whilst I do agree that Euro Mir is worth riding once as it's days are finally numbered, I'm not entirely sure that @Bowser's son would enjoy the sheer brutality of its profiling.

Arthur is much more important in my opinion.

 

[Matt N]

Euro Mir isn’t one for those who don’t enjoy their rides rough and ready, that’s for sure!

I found it easily Europa’s weakest coaster when I did it; I thought it was really rough and honestly didn’t have an overly interesting layout. I’ll admit to being surprised that it always gains such plaudits around these parts.

 

[Bowser]

Yes from everything i've heard on here doesn't sound like it would be enjoyable for my son or my aging spine!

Arthur looks like his almost perfect ride, a suspended coaster with dark ride elements... just needs a launch.