Visit to Europa Park 29th Nov-1st Dec

This was a very enjoyable trip compared to my October visit to Alton Towers, I will discuss the rest of my trip as it may prove useful to other people who want to visit Europa Park.
We flew from Luton to Basel at Midday on the Friday (I refuse to call the airport "London Luton" because it is not in London). The staff at Luton Airport were very friendly and I picked up a magazine to read on the flight from WHSmith.
At Basel Airport we picked up a hire car and this is an important point: If you are picking up a car from the Swiss side of Basel Airport (Basel Airport is actually in France), you must drive south through Switzerland then back north into Germany (not through France). We stayed with friends in Freiburg for both Friday and Saturday nights to save money.
On Saturday we visited Europa Park, because it was November, 9/13 rollercoasters were advertised to be open and the park would be open from 11-7 which was still better than Alton Towers for most of the year. The park was busier than expected so they extended opening hours to 8pm and opened 12/13 rollercoasters, I think the only closed rides were Atlantica Super Splash and Fjord Rafting. Despite the crowds, I was still able to ride all 12 rollercoasters including re-rides on Blue Fire, Wodan Timbur Coaster, Silver Star and Euro Mir. I also enjoyed the traditional Christmas market which was a nice touch for the Christmas season. After a fun-packed Saturday we visited the city of Basel on Sunday (Ok, we spent a few hours at a subway) then flew back home arriving back at around 10:30pm. I was exhausted at school the following day but it was worth it!
If you would like to ask me any questions then please do!

Glad you had a good time!

EP is certainly a great bet in winter season - there's almost *more* to do than in the main season due to the additional seasonal activities.

AstroDan said:

Glad you had a good time!

EP is certainly a great bet in winter season - there's almost *more* to do than in the main season due to the additional seasonal activities.

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And that's despite the 6€ discount! It would be nice if UK park's had winter events as grand as this, (before someone mentions the weather, it was 1°C by the end of the day but all the rollercoasters except Poseidon stayed open. It's rare to see temperatures lower than that in southern England so a good winter event in the UK should be possible).

Wait is Silver Star usually open throughout Christmas? It's listed as closed which is partly why I've not visited over the winter yet.

RicketyCricket said:

Wait is Silver Star usually open throughout Christmas? It's listed as closed which is partly why I've not visited over the winter yet.

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Where have you been?

Officially, the park maintain that the following attractions are closed in winter:

• Silver Star (has run in winter since 2017)
• Blue Fire (has run in winter for many years now)
• Atlantica Super Splash (remains closed in winter)
• Fjord Rafting (remains closed in winter)
• Tiroler Log Flume (started running last winter)
• Poseidon (started running last winter)

The reason they do not promote these rides as being open is due to the weather. If it is under 5 degrees, then it is unlikely any of those will run and, typically, it will be below 5 degrees on a number of days. Sometimes, if it's a cold winter, then these rides may barely run at all. In addition, I think they like to keep the winter event more family friendly in terms of atmosphere. The park cannot deal with the same number of guests per day in winter; the christmas market for example reduces the space around the entrance area. Rides also run less trains due to maintenance.

Also - once we get below 0 degrees, then rides that are advertised as open (i.e. Wodan), start to become potentials for not opening.

Although I did get on Blue Fire at around 2°C towards the end of the day.

They have been able to operate Blue Fire in lower temperatures over the past couple of winter seasons. Not sure if they've got some new wheel compounds for winter.

So would I be correct in thinking that the decision to open those non-advertised rides in the winter is all down to the weather, as opposed to crowd levels?

Enter Valhalla said:

So would I be correct in thinking that the decision to open those non-advertised rides in the winter is all down to the weather, as opposed to crowd levels?

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I'd say that it was largely weather however the decision to extend opening to 8pm was due to crowd level.

Rides like the log flume generally open at busier times if the weather is okay. On quieter weekdays, even with decent weather, it’s less likely to open. That’s really the exception though, as all the big coasters are generally open on quieter days if the weather is okay, albeit sometimes on reduced capacity.