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[2024] Europa-Park General Discussion

Some of you may have seen the ice show this winter, but I just wanted to mention it here.

Tony Marshall, schalger singer who is now a fair age, seems to have had a longstanding relationship with Franz Mack and the Mack family - during the show this song played - called 'The Final Dream' with the video, together with clips of Franz Mack's life and a simple dance on the ice to accompany.

Absolutely classic EP self-indulgence, but it's always part of the reason we love the place so much.


From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rKrUhqDHzU

Lyrics are sentimental, extract:

The Final Dream
If you believe that time never stands still
In the end, your path will lead you to your goal
When you believe the world is yours forever
The day is coming, it will be the last
I am still strong and free from heavy worries
I can still see everything beautiful in life
I haven't lost sight of it yet
Even if the days slowly pass from me
The final dream is still in color
There's still music in my world
And how I feel about life
It's so big my soul flies
The last dream will carry me for a long time


Tony Marshall also sang the El Andaluz song for what would have been Franz's 100th birthday:


From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J40THaFYeM


Lyrics - El Andaluz, Franz Mack's greatest dream. Includes lines including Goodbye Franz, my friend.
 
That section of the ice show was just wonderful. Absolutely nothing to do with the story of the show, complete self-indulgence as Dan says, but beautiful and rather emotional. No other park would have the audacity to try something like that, it is why I love EP so very much.
 
AT86 said:
odd that an adult 2 day ticket was cheaper than a 2 day child one?
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I can only imagine it’s a misprint given that children usually come first on a pricing list (as demonstrated by all the other lists there!) and that was overlooked?
 
That would be great. I do love Voletarium's film, but it's probably time for an update. I would like to see somewhere in the UK represented this time. As much as it's somewhat funny to laugh about the UK's absence, I did feel it was a bit glaring.
 
They are filming in Dubrovnik there; presumably for the new Croatia film which will act as a teaser for the new area & Voltron this year in the Traumzeitdome. Roland Mack mentioned such a project at an event recently.

Also means YULLBE GO will need to change locations in the park again
 
Second this. We tried Valerian, the Eurosat VR on our last visit and I have to say it was appalling. Poor graphics, daft story and terrible synchronisation which made it very nauseating.

Whilst I applaud the method for implementing VR to a coaster so seemlessly, I still don’t understand the park’s obsession with it.
 
I don’t think Valerian existing is overly problematic, personally. The queue for CanCan Coaster didn’t seem to move slowly at all on my most recent visit even with the VR station existing; without having done it, I wouldn’t even have twigged that the VR experience was there if I hadn’t known about it.

The only tangible benefit I can think of to Valerian going is that CanCan’s queue might move somewhat faster, as I’m assuming that the VR side takes up at least a small percentage of the ride’s throughput. CanCan did often seem to have one of the longest queues on park, so perhaps having the extra station allocated to CanCan rather than Valerian would make the queue for CanCan a little bit shorter on average.
 
I suspect that getting rid of Valerian on Eurosat would have a negligible impact on throughput, certainly not enough of an impact for it to become noticeable.

I do actually think Valerian works pretty well, I've done it two or three times now and enjoyed it on each occasion. Getting rid of it would also make the VR station building become redundant. Yullbe on the other hand I have little to no interest in. I would possibly try the full Yullbe experience (Pro rather than Go) if it was €10 less than it currently is.
 
Valerian worked really well on my go when you put the headset on, walk around etc. As soone as the train departed it went to pot. Jerky, laggy, out of sync mess with a crap theme. In terms of on ride VR Galactica was miles better in my experience simply as it was in sync and not jerking about.
 
Eurosat VR is here to stay; can only get better once it gets updated with newer tech and the difference for CanCan without it wouldn't be that great.

Meanwhile in the park only this weekend remains before the off season begins - however the pond in the English area has been fenced off, the steering wheels for the remote control boats in it removed and the water is being pumped out.
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I’m not suggesting Valerian is either going to be removed or that it affects Eurosat operations, I’m just saying that it’s a pretty terrible experience.

I fully expect Europa to continue to double-down on VR. I just find it inexplicable why such capital is ploughed into experiences when the real life park is far more beautiful, rich and enjoyable than anything one can see on a Samsung headset.
 
I too quite like Valerian. I don't do it every visit but once every few and I'm game.

Haven't Alpenexpress VR in years, though. And Snorri Snorkling was horrible.

Sent from my SM-G991B using Tapatalk
 
venny said:
I fully expect Europa to continue to double-down on VR. I just find it inexplicable why such capital is ploughed into experiences when the real life park is far more beautiful, rich and enjoyable than anything one can see on a Samsung headset.
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The capital is no where near the scale of actual analog attractions; and it's not exactly taking away from them given we are still getting plenty of normal investments. And it’s a cheap way to offer more regularly something new to market.
Plus there's also the whole showcase element to sell more VR products; and YULLBE has been selling well for them.

As for the park though the same as how not everyone enjoys coasters, or water rides, or shows, etc. it creates more variety for guests. Few parks have such a diverse variety of attractions on offer to guests as EP. VR isn't and never will dominate the park and it's rides; simply a few small additional offerings which can easily sit alongside the rest. It's not so dramatic.
 
When you say it’s not taking away from the park, it is.

If it wasn’t, I would have been able to ride the dodgems last year. And possibly experience the dream dome video again. And get on the back of Alpen Express more regularly.

Clearly it’s a subjective things as to whether you enjoy the experience or not, but my subjectivity would much rather those minor inconveniences were gone and the capital invested in something else.
 
But doesn't the VR pay for itself as it's a pay extra experience? Arguably it could be funding some of the other investments.
Regarding the things we lost:
- The Dodgems I agreed with but it's back open now.
- The Dream Dome closed for Voltron, If it wasn't for YULLBE it probably wouldn't have been relocated anyway. Initially they never said they were planning to keep it. Sounds like it might be coming back with a new film anyway.
- back seat of Alpen Express... is that really that big a deal? It's a powered coaster. I could understand if it was the back of Wodan.
 
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