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2015: 40th Anniversary

New fountains on Vienna Waveswinger:
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New paving in the park on the path between Russia and Switzerland:
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New seating for Euro-Tower:
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:)
 
Excuse the very large post, but even for people who know the various EP web resources like the back of their hand, it's been really difficult today just to keep on top of what's been going on.

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New entrance pleasantness. I wonder if it'll eventually have a sign of some sort where those two faux-windows are?

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New large LED screen outside the Confertainment centre.

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Statue near the entrance has had some more bronze figures added (previously just EuroMaus and he looked a little lonely)

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Inside the Tower queue.

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Roland announced that there'll be a book about the history of the park coming out in the summer! Fingers crossed for English, fingers crossed for English...

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New theming in Italy.

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I think this is Don Quixote? Looks fab anyway, those faux-ivory things in the middle!

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New room in the Arthur hall, apparently some sort of 'VIP Room' that'll be themed to a toolbox. Not liking this at all.

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New Bar Colosseo extension. They confirmed to me on Facebook today that this new part will be the smoking lounge (with the rest presumably non-smoking).

There's a TON more photos of various things going on at RideOnBlog. There's loads of photos of the new parade, but I didn't include them because I thought it might be a bit of a spoiler for some people. Check out the gallery here!

And on a bit of a bum note, the park announced that they're extending their sponsorship deal with Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom for a further five years. The irony of a Russian state-owned company sponsoring a theme park dedicated to Europe, when in the past year Russia literally invaded part of Europe, is sadly lost on the Macks it seems. :(
 
All looking good :). As said before, it's great to see the bar in Colosseo going non smoking but still having the option for smokers. A happy balance between the two options me thinks! Loving how Euro Tower looks now, much more fitting to the annual pass/info office that they built under there previously, always looked a bit outdated compared to the rest of the area. Don Quichotte looks utterly stunning, the restaurants around there really are something else now, especially compared to how they did look.

As for the "VIP area" in Arthur, I'm not too fussed in all honesty. I'm sure eventually it'll just blend into the area and you'll forget it's there. Don't forget Gazprom Hall houses a similar (rather huge!) room up top, and most forget it's even there these days.

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Clearly their Confertainment facilities are big business, and if a little conference room is going to help them fund rides and these sorts of improvements in the long run, I'll gladly put up with them :).
 
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Europa Park is now open for the 2015 season!

Here is a look at the entrance to the new 'Dream Dome':

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I am glad this is temporary as it doesn't look that great. Also, they have put their Flying Stars logo on incorrectly; the star on the left is upside down! Ooops!

I'm trying to gauge how things are going on opening day via Facebook. It appears that the newly paved area around Euro Tower means there is move space for people, I think some planting/vegetation has been removed. I can't picture exactly what is was like before but here is a photo from today:

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I do not know if it has opened since but Arthur seems to have been down all morning. Eurosat is also only running three trains due to technical issues meaning a long queue and throughput of around 600pph. EDIT - Sat has just closed!

I have seen positive comments about the new 4D, Time Carousel, and the new parade though!

:)
 
There used to be this fountain by Euro Tower facing Petit France, I think that's what you mean.

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Awww that was a nice fountain, I wonder why they got rid...?

Footage has emerged of the new fountains on the Vienna Waveswinger:



A nice little extra, though obviously not as advanced as the Phantasialand ones that sync up with the movement of the ride. Couple of other things:
  • Euro-Mir's shop has been refurbished.
  • Schloss has a new 'Spook Me!' themed scene.
 
Main issues for the weekend has been as follows:

- Arthur a few technical issues on Saturday morning
- Eurosat low capacity and some downtime on Saturday
- Silver Star had to close at 4.30pm on Sunday due to extreme wind (this is VERY unusual)

Positives:

- Park extended to 7pm on Saturday and 6.30pm on Sunday despite both being fairly quiet
- New shows seem to be getting reasonable reviews (The Ice Show is 'very' different)
- Loads of work around the park as usual
- Most drink prices have gone up by €0.10

:)
 
I didn't visit at all in 2014 but at the weekend I did notice a lot more bar checking than in the past. My bar was physically checked on Euro Mir, Euro Sat, Feria Swing, Silver Star and Poseidon. Still no checks and subsequent 10 second dispatch times on Alpenexpress though :)
 
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Looks like Whale Adventures is getting a new name, with a 'Northern Lights' subtitle. Also, new concept of the second dark ride section, I believe.

Some new stills from The Time Carousel here:

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The Whale Adventures development is promising. Could become integral to a visit to EP rather than being largely ignored.

Could be better than Angkor, too!
 
Silverstar has been closed all day due to extreme winds, and Blue Fire was closed until around midday, again due to extreme winds.
 
I went to see Das Zeit Karussell today because it was very wet outside and I needed somewhere to shelter. I didn't intend on seeing it at all this week, however I'm so glad I did!

From someone who speaks only a little bit of German, the storyline was very easy to follow, with the tale being told more through the visuals than the audio, which keeps things universal. I had no idea that the film was set within Europa-Park for the most part, and this along with the quirky animations and cliché 3D/4D effects made me smile and laugh throughout the motion picture.

Make sure you go and see this if you're at EP at all this year! There's one show every 20 minutes with the doors to the cinema opening around 10 minutes prior to the next showing.
 
We mostly think (members of Epfans.ch) that the new 4D movie is really excellent and even better than the first one ! :)
 
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