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[2024] Europa-Park General Discussion

venny said:
I’m struggling to understand this one. Isn’t the point of VR that it synchronises to the forces experienced on a ride system? With a trackless dark ride, surely the forces are going to be pretty negligible for any VR to sync with.
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I’m going to have to eat my words on this one.

Europa Park are currently testing the new ride technology in the Dream Done in Croatia. It’s part of a Traumatica upcharge called Eden Manor, which is available to the regular perk guests late in the day from 5:30pm. The ride system operates in the Dome itself with a small marquee at the rear grow entry, exit and the fitting of the VR goggles.

The story itself is unintelligible - revolving around being transported to different places, which gives the ability for the ride system to show its many capabilities. You walk into the ride in your headset, similar to Can Can VR. The vehicles are dynamic enough to produce quite a considerable force to coincide with the screen movement shown and even small movements are more perceptible than I thought. There are some really quite large jerks, acceleration and deceleration than I expected could be achieved. In addition there are smell pods, fans and heat lamps on the cars to add to the sensory experience. Graphics remain a little 2000s computer game-y.

It’s a fascinating bit of technology. I’m personally not a VR fan and so it’s not really up my street, but I was surprised in the motion of the vehicles and the heat lamps in particular was a nice touch. Thinking about how the technology might be used, it feels like an evolution to a simulator attraction.

Intriguing stuff from Mack.
 
This incarnation of the vehicle is the toned-down version. They can accelerate and turn much quicker if required.
 
A few observations from last week: -

- Traumatica is a great event, but you need the Shoxter pass. The show in Silver Bullet Bar is not a replacement for the Vampire Club, but it’s decent.

- My perennial complaint of park audio being inconsistent is only exacerbated by the change to Halloween music. I don’t enjoy the change and the fact the music is played so quietly in so many places only makes it worse.

- The Austrian area and specifically the adventure trail continues to see additions to theming and features. There are a fair few bits we saw added since June.

- Ride availability and operations were, as always, impeccable. Blue Fire continues to bewilder me with how well it’s operated.

- The Halloween parade was excellent, but other than the shows the Halloween offerings outside Traumatica were slim on the ground.

- The park, as expected, was packed every day.

- I really do not like the changes to the winter garden of El Adnadaluz. The patio area really impinges on the hotel and it’s not used often enough to merit the changes. Please bring back the old water feature, planting, and charming atmosphere. The prison fences need to go.

- The turnaround on Voltron has seen some more additions which improves the aesthetics of that section a little.

- Spook Me is good if you like musicals (in German, although there is simultaneous translation), as too the Halloween ice show.

- Rulantica gets better with every visit. Amazingly, Svalgurok was open until 7pm.

- There are a couple of new cider-based cocktail options.

- The screen ordering terminals at Snekkjas remain off - they need turning back on to avoid the numerous ordering problems we saw at the till.
 
As per an email to members of the Hotel Friends programme, you can now check in online via the app on the day of your visit and download your digital tickets. I would hope that you can still check in at the desk and receive paper tickets, as a) it will be my first ever visit and b) I find it easier to give everyone their own tickets as opposed to scanning all the tickets on my phone.
 
You can definitely still check in at the desk, although I’m not certain about tickets as we have a Resort Pass, I’m sure I saw people receiving paper tickets last week.
 
After years of hoping to visit, I went to Europa this weekend. Honestly, the quality of the theming, landscaping, operations, the number of fillers and the atmosphere amazed me more than any other park I've been to in Europe. It's pure overload in the best way possible. Unfortunately we only had one smoother ride on Voltron. My second ride on it put a downer on the latter three rides we had on it later. This will be controversial to many, but I found Blue Fire to be the superior coaster for smoothness, comfort and sustained floatyness. Voltron is the better all package, but when its roughness has been addressed it'll be one of the best coasters in Europe. Hyperia is the better Mack coaster of 2024 ;).

Other thoughts - Wodan is the best GCI coaster I've ridden, and it's not even close. Great queueline theming, music, and a truly bonkers coaster experience, there's some incredible ragdolling throughout the latter portion of the ride, a fantastic ejector filled first drop and great pops of airtime. Silver Star - everyone I speak to says this coaster has no airtime, but it delivered some truly exceptional floater and a really fun moment of ejector. The rough kink on the first airtime hill is bothersome however. Piraten in Batavia is outstanding, one of my favourite dark rides. There is a slightly frustrating pacing issue from the Batavia city scene to the first scene in the jungle, villain appears again too quickly after falling through the ceiling, but putting that one niggle aside, it is a truly world class dark rides.

Bench: The Ride - get rid of it.
 
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I’d have to agree on those observations, although I’m trying to figure out what you mean by the rough kink on Silverstar’s airtime hill?
 
venny said:
I’d have to agree on those observations, although I’m trying to figure out what you mean by the rough kink on Silverstar’s airtime hill?
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There was a noticeable bump on the first airtime hill, but this only seemed to happen once, which was peculiar...

I forgot to add that Voletarium, CanCan Coaster, Arthur, Madame Freudenreich and Geisterschloss/Castello dei Medici were all wonderful also and really put anything in the UK to shame (except maybe not The Curse at Alton Manor in Castello's case..)
 
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I visited last week as well and had an amazing time -- definitely the best set of coasters of any park I've been to. Voltron and Wodan particularly were incredible. I did think that all of the dark rides left a lot to be desired, though, unless we're counting Arthur as a dark ride. The best dark rides otherwise were all carbon copies of Disney rides but half the length and missing some of the drama from their stories (and Cassandra which I was hoping would be more than simply the spinning room).

Also I found it incredible how few of the gift shops have drinks available. We'd often have to walk for a while to either find a big gift shop that has drink cabinets (most of the ones around Germany do) or join a big queue for a café/takeaway. Was also quite disappointed with the theming for some of the restaurants, but again perhaps I only looked at the cheaper options as they all shared exactly the same takeaway counters and the workers didn't wear themed clothing.
 
benpicko said:
Also I found it incredible how few of the gift shops have drinks available. We'd often have to walk for a while to either find a big gift shop that has drink cabinets (most of the ones around Germany do) or join a big queue for a café/takeaway. Was also quite disappointed with the theming for some of the restaurants, but again perhaps I only looked at the cheaper options as they all shared exactly the same takeaway counters and the workers didn't wear themed clothing.
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This was a major gripe we had also. Various stalls for refreshments and hot drinks appeared to open a lot later in the day so it could be a case of cutbacks?
 
They have struggled ever since Covid to adequately staff quite a few areas, first amongst which is F&B. That said, long queues at quick service restaurants were even an issue before Covid. It’s an area the park really needs to look at, as there are times where it is really quite difficult to find something to eat or drink without a large queue.

There are a few options which can be a little better on busier days, for example the Rock Cafe and burger place on Deutsche Allee and O’Mackays can often be more manageable.
 
Think for staffing it was the double whammy of covid and Rulantica fully opening. End of the day there's only a finite amount of people in the area who want to work at theme parks.
 
They’re definitely trying to recruit staff, with adverts across the park and continuing significant investment in staff accommodation, because as you say John they’re not just drawing from the local area. There has been a big shift in recruitment to further afield, supported by those accommodation investments. One would assume that sort of recruitment is a lengthier process which means they’re less adept at responding to their creasing demands. That’s quite transparent when you witness the better availability of F&B locations at a weekend, where I assume they can draw on part-time workers in the local area much more easily.
 
AstroDan said:
They've a really good recruitment ad playing on the EP TV channels across the resort.

I love the glass polishing bit.

This current visit marks my 20th anniversary of my first (30th September 2004). What a place.20241031_064829.jpg20241031_064837.jpg20241031_064835.jpg
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I'd love to see Alton do a version of this. A well-dressed Aramark staff member handing you the wrong drink vessel for the drink you've ordered, with a thin layer of crust from the previous drinker that managed to hang on from its brief stint in the potwash.
 
benpicko said:
I visited last week as well and had an amazing time -- definitely the best set of coasters of any park I've been to. Voltron and Wodan particularly were incredible. I did think that all of the dark rides left a lot to be desired, though, unless we're counting Arthur as a dark ride. The best dark rides otherwise were all carbon copies of Disney rides but half the length and missing some of the drama from their stories (and Cassandra which I was hoping would be more than simply the spinning room).

Also I found it incredible how few of the gift shops have drinks available. We'd often have to walk for a while to either find a big gift shop that has drink cabinets (most of the ones around Germany do) or join a big queue for a café/takeaway. Was also quite disappointed with the theming for some of the restaurants, but again perhaps I only looked at the cheaper options as they all shared exactly the same takeaway counters and the workers didn't wear themed clothing.
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Re the dark rides - Voletarium, Piraten in Batavia and Arthur were the best three out of the four we rode. A number of jaw dropping scenes in Batavia, that and Voletarium have queues that put even Disney to shame. Caste dei Medici did begin feeling like the Haunted Mansion ripoff it once was, but after boarding the omnimover, it really felt anything but. I liked it but it definitely wasn't the strongest dark ride... the lack of themed ceilings, slightly cheap looking animatronics... wasn't as impressed as I was hoping to be, but it was fun.

Bench: The Ride on the other hand... goodness knows why that's been allowed to remain there. We didn't have time to experience the rest of the dark rides sadly, but we enjoyed most of the dark rides we did get to experience.

I do feel that the dark rides at Efteling and Disneyland Paris have superior pacing than Piraten in Batavia has though, and animatronics with more fluid movements than Europa's in general.
 
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Europa-Park have today unveiled what they have lined up for their 50th anniversary season in 2025! The motto for the year is "Experience. Europe. Together." Highlights include:
  • 2 midnight openings! One on 12th July which is the park's 50th anniversary, and one on 23rd August to celebrate 10 years of Junior Club.
  • A brand new parade.
  • New shows across the park.
  • Themed festivals celebrating Europe's cultural diversity, include music and food.
  • A new 50th anniversary merchandise collection.
  • The return of the Europa-Park Zeppelin!
  • DJ BoBo's 2026 arena tour will premier at the Europa-Park arena in January 2026.
Speaking of DJ BoBo, he has created the park's 50th anniversary anthem, a preview of which can be heard here:



Full details of the 50th anniversary celebrations can be found on Europa-Park's website.
 
Rob said:
Europa-Park have today unveiled what they have lined up for their 50th anniversary season in 2025! The motto for the year is "Experience. Europe. Together." Highlights include:
  • 2 midnight openings! One on 12th July which is the park's 50th anniversary, and one on 23rd August to celebrate 10 years of Junior Club.
  • A brand new parade.
  • New shows across the park.
  • Themed festivals celebrating Europe's cultural diversity, include music and food.
  • A new 50th anniversary merchandise collection.
  • The return of the Europa-Park Zeppelin!
  • DJ BoBo's 2026 arena tour will premier at the Europa-Park arena in January 2026.
Speaking of DJ BoBo, he has created the park's 50th anniversary anthem, a preview of which can be heard here:



Full details of the 50th anniversary celebrations can be found on Europa-Park's website.
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Am I the only one that’s a bit… underwhelmed?
 
Islander said:
Am I the only one that’s a bit… underwhelmed?
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I think it's pretty much what I expected. A new parade was always on the cards, and hopefully all venues will have new shows for 2025.

I wondered whether they might do some sort of spectacular show for the anniversary, but I am not sure what they would do or where. They don't have a large open space, and any sort of night time spectacular would not really work as the park closes before it gets dark for most of the season.

The themed festival stuff throughout the park with different food and music offerings sounds the most exciting thing to me, I'm looking forward to seeing how that turns out. And no doubt there will be lots of other little touch ups etc. around the park, as is usual for EP!
 
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