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[2024] Europa-Park General Discussion

CSLKenny

TS Member
Nevermind work for the 2023 coaster and the Adventure Land retheme beginning - EP are also busy this off season with a couple other older attractions.

Poseidon is seeing a partial retrack with modifications requested by the Tüv (health and safety authority). Allegedly the opportunity to redo the drop will also be taken.


IMG_3480.jpg


A crane has also been set up at Eurosat for work to renew the old silver ball, which minus the top parts removed for the CanCan retrack, was left untouched until now.
 
Poseidon is seeing a partial retrack with modifications requested by the Tüv (health and safety authority). Allegedly the opportunity to redo the drop will also be taken.

Are they doing the whole ride, or just one section?

See above ;)

Good to see some work done on that section though. I've never been a fan of how it jolts you about a little too much, so the more that's done the better. As for Eurosat, absolutely hated the colour difference on the building since the refurb, so glad to see it should look a little more uniform next season.

Have to say it's great to see all these "minor" works still going on with everything they've been through this past two years. Hopefully the 2022 season will bring a little more normality for my next visit.
 
Whilst I absolutely applaud some work on Poseidon, I would never call it horrendous. I mean, it shuffled a bit and was somewhat uncomfortable. It certainly didn't break your back.
 
Has Poseidon got a lot worse in that area over time? It's been a while ...

It’s that shunt which you get at the bottom of the swooping drop which is the unpleasant section. If that can be sorted out, the rest of the ride is still more than tolerable.
 
I'm not an engineer, but the fact they've changed the track design for the new water coaster at Nigloland suggests they haven't been completely happy with Poseidon.
https://rcdb.com/18358.htm

Krampus has more of a spine to the track with the triangular section underneath on the more forceful sections. Hopefully that will make it wear better. I still think that overall Poseidon's an impressive ride with some good theming, but it definitely had become a bit rough in places. I actually think Poseidon could benefit from a makeover more than the slightly older Euro Mir, although I don't think they should do a complete re-theme like they did with Euro Sat. But if they're re-tracking sections that could sort some of the main problems out.

Edit: Slightly off topic, but on the rapids at Europa Park there's a poster for Grizzly River Run, which looks like it's advertising the rapids at California Adventure. I notice they've got the same poster on Krampus:
https://rcdb.com/18358.htm#p=126907

Has anyone got any interesting insights into this?
 
No insight but if you look at the other posters they are all tributes to other famous rapids. I think Mack Solutions were also credited for themeing Krampus, so they probably just copied the posters over (hence why they are all rapids but Krampus is a water coaster).
Never noticed it at Europa Before, will have to search for them next time!

In regards to the change in track design it's possible that the newer track is simply easier to calculate and fabricate. As it shares the spine of Macks other major coasters they can likely use the same design process and therfore its cheaper to produce.
I'd hope there are some benefits too in how it rides, but the redesign might not have been for that reason.
I notice the spine is absent on the straight sections which suggests it's not just to make fabrication easier.
 
Poseidon was really uncomfy in October. Don't know if it was a combo of the track, the fact that water coasters in my limited experience don't corner well or the boat having square wheels but it was a one and done. ASS on the other hand was much better. The only other unpleasant ride was Schweizer Bobs, that had a nasty vibration that sadly utterly spoilt it.
 
Europa just posted this rather cute video of Ed Euromaus helping out with some off-season maintenance:

I can’t believe that it’s only just over 2 months until Europa opens again; didn’t they only just shut from the Christmas event?

They have a very short closed season…
 
Yep, they're not too far from year-round opening now, though I don't think it really makes sense for them to extend any further. They have an advantage in that a lot of their rides can be run at low capacity over winter season allowing them to do some of the maintenance on the trains, similarly they don't need to have everything on full capacity in March so having the odd train off isn't an issue.

Quite a few parks seem to be pushing the limits of their calendars at the moment - Phantasialand winter season ends next weekend whilst BPB are clearly unable to perform all their maintenance between November and February resulting in multiple rides being closed at either end of the seaon.
 
Based on the weather at EP today (highs of 3 degrees, lows of -5 degrees according to my weather app), I’m honestly not sure much would be open even if the park was year-round.

That does make me wonder about the viability of opening Europa year-round; have the Macks ever explored it?
 
Based on the weather at EP today (highs of 3 degrees, lows of -5 degrees according to my weather app), I’m honestly not sure much would be open even if the park was year-round.

That does make me wonder about the viability of opening Europa year-round; have the Macks ever explored it?

I am pretty much certain it has been explored, but I just don't think it is necessary. Even with the park being closed, the resort is more 365 than it ever has been - with Rulantica open through the winter now meaning that a weekend break to the resort is a legitimate option for families even when Europa-Park is closed.

The park do so much work during their closed periods, more than any other in Europe, and so the two and a half months of closure are actually very valuable.

January just isn't a month where people want to go to theme parks, by and large.
 
I've been to parks in similar temps (Alton Towers in -5 for example) and even wrapped up it is massively unpleasant. It's not a matter of if they can do it, it's why would they do it? Also it's uneccessary pressure on maintenance and expenses if the park is quiet due to the cold.
 
I can see closed season being reduced even further in future, but the park just isn't set up for it to be done at present. Closed season at EP brings a shed load of equipment and cranes onto the park, and with the narrow pathways public opening isn't really a possibility.

That said, as the park expands and access points and pathways are reconfigured I can see maybe just a January closure then perhaps some areas to be opened up for access in February, with others closed on a rolling basis each year for more major works. Let's not forget there's also the problem of staffing too. They're struggling to recruit for Summer operation at present, that situation on top of Covid restrictions needing to be a thing of the past has to be resolved before they even think about anything further.
 
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