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[2024] Alpenexpress & Tiroler Wildwasserbahn Rebuild

Matt.GC said:
Still, that burnt out shell still manages to have more charm than the Rapids and RMT tunnel at AT.
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...we don't have to turn every topic into an opportunity to have a dig at AT ;)

Anyway, Alpenexpress was the park's first coaster and coupled with that history and Diamond Mine being so highly regarded by visitors, there's a lot of nostalgia for the area. It was so incredibly unique to have the walkthrough and the two rides running through that building.

I've no doubt whatever the future has in store in terms of rebuilding, it'll have the same or greater level of thought and detail put into it. The positive from this situation is that as the park has matured, Europa have progressed not just to produce charming attractions, they're now capable of creating world class experiences. That was demonstrated by the Scandinavia/Pirates rebuild, so I'm sure they'll be cooking up something special for this project.

As others have said I do worry for other future projects being further delayed as a result of this, but hopefully continuing strong visitors numbers post-Covid will encourage them to stay on whatever timelines they have as much as possible.
 
The blessing, if it can be such a thing, is that this re-build is not on the same scale of the Scandinavia/Pirates re-build. For that they had to re-build the park's biggest dark ride and associated restaurant, a whole themed area with shops and large restaurant, theming for Fjord Rafting (the tunnel) and back of house buildings/infrastructure.

He were are looking at parts of Alpenexpress and Tiroler, one show building and associated shop, and one shop in Spain. Clearly still a lot of work, but it seems more manageable and can be more easily done in phases.
 
See I always quite liked that shop, it was very small but stocked a nice little range of merchandise. I bought a couple of CDs from there in winter season just gone! As there are no other shops in Spain, and because it is near to the hotel exit, I suspect they will likely want to re-build the shop.
 
Probably end up with a bonus ride in Spain just because there's some old plans littering the warehouse.
 
I agree with Rob, this is not as big a cost as Pirates. That was a huge building on multiple levels with an expensive ride system, restaurant and facades that needed rebuilding. This is a section of a Mack rides coaster, a Mack rides flume and a walk through. Insurance will cover a lot of that.

I suspect their bigger headache is what this does to their insurance premiums. If I was an underwriter I would be very concerned about the parks structural fire safety and I would make the premiums reflect that.
 
It’s pretty futile speculating on the insurance provisions of a park. Do they have insurance, do they self-insure, what risk are they viewed as, what are their policy provisions, what are the applicable deductibles…?

There’s so many variable that we’ll never be privy to. In relative terms, I wouldn’t expect this to be a massive cost to rebuild, even if it is an insurable event. As others have said, this isn’t a grand rebuild in the way the Pirates fire was. They don’t have an entire land to rebuild, only sections of two relatively simple ride systems and the theming and shop that surrounds them.

Kudos however that there appears to be a push to get these fully reinstated by next year. I guess that’s a product of needing the capacity, but also wanting to get it out of the way so that the park can focus on the 50th.
 
While I agree it's difficult to discuss the specifics of insurance for a park, I also don't think you can refer to general speculation and discussion about the impact to the park's policies as "futile". It's a valid question, and indeed insurance has come up in previous interviews with those from the park.

There's been multiple past public reference to the the resort working with their insurers when improving their fire safety measures post Scandinavia fire. For example, the fire safety systems that alerted teams to this week's fire along with the increased headcount of the resort's own fire service. It was also reference in an interview with Can De Haan, the resort's safety engineer in 2019 after the Scandinavia fire:
On May 26, 2018, dark clouds of smoke rose over the site in Rust, southern Baden. A fire broke out in the area of the Fjord Rafting attraction - and completely destroyed the popular "Pirates in Batavia". The day after the accident, the park opened as if nothing had happened. The major fire caused millions in damage. "The fire was an event that took a lot out of us emotionally. In terms of security, it was a standardized process. All emergency plans worked perfectly, not a single visitor was injured," emphasizes Can de Haan in the GDV magazine Positions . The entire park had to be cleared one by one. "Attractions at a safe distance were allowed to continue. That way we were able to avoid panic and get everyone out safely."

The police assume a technical defect as the cause - the insurance company will probably pay for the damage.

How do you actually insure an amusement park of this size? "In terms of insurance, a roller coaster is nothing more than a building. There are structural specifications, fire protection, everything. We always coordinate new plans very closely with our insurer in order to preemptively rule out as many risks as possible. If we come to the conclusion together that we should extend the sprinkler system in the waiting area by two meters, then we'll do it," explains Can de Haan. In any case, he considers the park to be very safe, much more dangerous for him is the approach on the freeway.
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From the quotes above, I think it's safe to assume the resort has an external insurer so there'll be in discussion with them regarding a settlement and future improvements. Two major fires in 5 years is bound to increase premiums and/or improvements in fire detection and prevention as a requirement for continuing coverage though - I think it's difficult to argue otherwise.
 
I'm not surprised the park don't self insure, with such a risk of massive penalties do they have the assets? UK law has the fine for causing a death as unlimited, per person (I would imagine German law is similar?) and they feasibly could have a death toll from one accident on park into the hundreds (EP Express track failure causing it to land on a crowded area below isn't impossible, as massively unlikely as it is)

Regarding how they move on with costs etc will depend on how big the bill is and how it'll affect their renewals.
 
venny said:
It’s pretty futile speculating on the insurance provisions of a park. Do they have insurance, do they self-insure, what risk are they viewed as, what are their policy provisions, what are the applicable deductibles…?
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I mean Craig has covered this but as this is a discussion forum, and we don’t have the details of any of the internal matters of any park that comes up on the forums, if we go by your logic let’s just shut down now 😊
 
My point is, in regards to insurance proceeds and conditions, you will never know. This isn’t speculation about a new ride that’s currently secret and will inevitably be disclosed in the passing of time. It’s a commercially confidential matter between two parties, again, assuming this is an insurable event.

I’m not suggesting it’s not worthy of debate, but rather that it’s extremely unlikely you’ll ever know the upshot of whether insurance (if it is in place for this element of the park) would respond to such a matter. It’s not car or house insurance - there are potentially multiple bespoke policies in place, which may even have several layers of insurance. To respond to the question of statutory insurance, I’m quite sure the park will have that in place. Whilst I’m no expert on the German statutory requirement for insurance, if it’s anything like the UK, there will be a statutory insurance requirement for employers liability insurance and probably third party death or injury. The current reinstatement works required for the fire are clearly not a matter for either of these policies.

I’ll say again though, bravo to the park for such a rapid response to dealing with the situation and reopening.
 
I really really hope they rebuild the Gem/jewel mine as an indoor walkthrough space. It was one of my favourite spaces just to escape the crowds and enter an immersive space, the music and smell in there too...perfect!
I know people would rather something more exciting, but having these side spaces, are essential to what I see as the 'Europa' experience, it's also something I wish more parks had! I'm on the neurodiverse spectrum - and that relaxing, multi-sensory space was just essential! Its also one of my friend who isn't an enthusiasts favourite spaces when we visit!

I'm happy for them to build back different (i.e. not an exact replica) but hope they recreate that same cool, dark, twinkling, magical space and retain some sort of walk through.
 
Repair of train station has started.

Picture from epfriends.de, sent from Insta: Coasta_Luca
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I'd forgotten just how funny those Marx and Mundi videos were, clearly where the inspiration for the Voltron Construction Documentary came from!
 
emmerse2891 said:
I really really hope they rebuild the Gem/jewel mine as an indoor walkthrough space. It was one of my favourite spaces just to escape the crowds and enter an immersive space, the music and smell in there too...perfect!
I know people would rather something more exciting, but having these side spaces, are essential to what I see as the 'Europa' experience, it's also something I wish more parks had! I'm on the neurodiverse spectrum - and that relaxing, multi-sensory space was just essential! Its also one of my friend who isn't an enthusiasts favourite spaces when we visit!

I'm happy for them to build back different (i.e. not an exact replica) but hope they recreate that same cool, dark, twinkling, magical space and retain some sort of walk through.
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It’s not that big a building when you consider that a rollercoaster and a flume ride share the space. Never say never but I suspect it will be rebuilt as a walk through.

In other news you do have to wonder if this will accelerate the Geister refurb. It’s probably the only big building with combustible scenary and outdated fire protection left on park.
 
Dave said:
It’s not that big a building when you consider that a rollercoaster and a flume ride share the space. Never say never but I suspect it will be rebuilt as a walk through.

In other news you do have to wonder if this will accelerate the Geister refurb. It’s probably the only big building with combustible scenary and outdated fire protection left on park.
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I'm surprise the Vogal show hasn't gone up to be honest (which is attached to so many other buildings inc Geister) - as when I visited in 2018 before the POB fire, one of the animatronics by the fountain started sparking & the operator came and fished out a wire... it was unintentionally hilarious!

And when i heard about the fire soon after I kind of assumed it was there haha!
 
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