[2024] Geisterschloss: Castello dei Medici

[Llama]

I've only been going to EP since 2020 so I have no idea what the older iterations of this ride were like, but the recent version is one of the weakest in the park, definitely my least favorite dark ride at EP at this point.

Really hoping they bring it up to the level of Piraten in Batavia, which seems somewhat likely: the ride isn't huge, is mostly in the dark, and with the omnimover shell they only really need to theme half of each hallway. A handful of decent animatronics and modern effects tied into a slightly more cohesive narrative would go a long way, and the quality of all of EP's recent projects seems to indicate that they will, in fact, do it right.

 

[Dave]

I've only been going to EP since 2020 so I have no idea what the older iterations of this ride were like, but the recent version is one of the weakest in the park, definitely my least favorite dark ride at EP at this point.

Really hoping they bring it up to the level of Piraten in Batavia, which seems somewhat likely: the ride isn't huge, is mostly in the dark, and with the omnimover shell they only really need to theme half of each hallway. A handful of decent animatronics and modern effects tied into a slightly more cohesive narrative would go a long way, and the quality of all of EP's recent projects seems to indicate that they will, in fact, do it right.

The rides core hasn’t really changed but they kept adding crap to it (temple of trash).

 

[venny]

definitely my least favorite dark ride at EP at this point.

Worse than Bench?

Although I’m sure it’s also on their list for when EuroMir gets some love.

 

[Llama]

Worse than Bench?

Although I’m sure it’s also on their list for when EuroMir gets some love.

At risk of being ostracised or even banned from this forum, I still feel it's important to tell the truth... I like Bench. Is it a good ride? No. But it is the kind of kitschy and silly dark ride that holds a special place in my heart. Geisterschloss is on the wrong side of that line, I'm afraid... not silly enough to be silly, and not serious enough to be serious.

Also the fact that Bench 1) has an on-ride photo and 2) said on-ride photo is displayed to you on what appears to be a normal PC monitor sitting on the ground at the end of the ride is one of the funniest bits in all of Europa Park, if not in theme parks generally.

 

[Europa Matt]

Judging from old POVs and descriptions, Geisterschloss used to be a proper dark and spooky ghost train which used to loosely fit within the original Italian area.

My first ride 8 years ago on Geisterschloss was Certainly years after the ride’s original prime. However still better than the incoherent token mess the ride became upto recent times.

The video on the previous page is simple but sets a promising tone to the ride. I hope that the revised attraction takes on a more atmospheric form, tying into the adventure club whilst throwing back to the original eighties attraction.

On my previous visit a week ago, we could see work being done to the inside. The indoor queue looked completely cleared, so lots of updates could follow through.

As for Bench, it’s a random hilarious ride that reminds me of a Christmas grotto from the 90’s/2000’s in some ways. Once Croatia, Austria and everything else has been polished off, it’s likely to be high up on the list.

 

[Poisson]

Bench feels like they went to the Russian equivalent of Poundland (Rubleland?) and bought all the tat they were selling off after Christmas. Just needs the vehicles changing to brown sofas and an Ashens voiceover.

 

[Tim]

You ride Bench and Geisterschloss with different expectations. Bench is meant to be a simple children's ride, that is only enjoyed by adults because of its quirks. Geisterschloss is clearly based on the Haunted Mansion, which is a headline ride for Disney, therfore setting the same expectation here. And now that Batavia meets that expectation Geisterschloss feels like it's letting the park down by also not being up to that standard.

I would honestly be very surprised if they've managed to achieve anything close to Batavia with this refurbishment. The ride hasn't been closed for very long. Which by itself wouldn't make it impossible, a lot can be done off-site before the ride even closed. However in this case they couldn't have possibly had the resources to completely re-imagine and rebuild the ride whilst also working on Voltron and Austria. Not even mentioning that this wasn't planned, they had this refurbishment forced on them due to the improved fire prevention needed.

Take this from someone that builds animatronic attractions on this scale, anything less than a year to repopulate the ride would require a massive team working around the clock!
I expect we'll see a refreshed version of what was already there. Maybe see the removal of a few unnecessary effects and lean into the rides atmosphere. That in itself would be a massive improvement.

 

[Sam]

Can we have a reality check here? Schloss, in all its iterations (even recently), was a better dark ride than Madame Freudenreich, which is deathly dull.

 

[Dave]

You ride Bench and Geisterschloss with different expectations. Bench is meant to be a simple children's ride, that is only enjoyed by adults because of its quirks. Geisterschloss is clearly based on the Haunted Mansion, which is a headline ride for Disney, therfore setting the same expectation here. And now that Batavia meets that expectation Geisterschloss feels like it's letting the park down by also not being up to that standard.

I would honestly be very surprised if they've managed to achieve anything close to Batavia with this refurbishment. The ride hasn't been closed for very long. Which by itself wouldn't make it impossible, a lot can be done off-site before the ride even closed. However in this case they couldn't have possibly had the resources to completely re-imagine and rebuild the ride whilst also working on Voltron and Austria. Not even mentioning that this wasn't planned, they had this refurbishment forced on them due to the improved fire prevention needed.

Take this from someone that builds animatronic attractions on this scale, anything less than a year to repopulate the ride would require a massive team working around the clock!
I expect we'll see a refreshed version of what was already there. Maybe see the removal of a few unnecessary effects and lean into the rides atmosphere. That in itself would be a massive improvement.

I think there was some planning for this but my gut feeling is this was intended to happen 24/25 closed season but got pulled earlier due to the fire risk.

 

[venny]

There appeared to be a legislative requirement to complete the fire stopping works urgently, with the ride having stewards positioned in it for the last couple of weeks operation at the end of last season.

Since the fire topping works would have caused significant disruption to the internals of the ride anyway, it clearly made sense to bring forward the theming upgrade to complete them both at the same time and avoid rework

I’m guessing that last minute decision meant there has been little opportunity for any advance off-site prefab. Combine that with EP’s record of opening rides on time and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the refurb stretch beyond August.

 

[Islander]

So, contrary to what we've speculated in this thread, German newspaper Badische Neueste Nachrichten are reporting that Geisterschloss will reopen next week, on Thursday 25th July, with the new name Castello de Medici.

Facelift: Opening date for the haunted castle in Europa-Park has been set​

40 years is enough to make even ghosts look a little old. That's why Europa-Park has completely modernized its popular classic. We'll reveal when the horror in the haunted castle will start again.

With the opening of the ghost train at Europa-Park, a popular classic will soon be back on the road. The ghosts in the “Castello dei Medici” have had an extensive facelift. Photo: Europa-Park
by Sibylle Kranich

It is the classic attraction in Europa-Park, and many people associate it with childhood memories - the ghost train in the Italian area has been one of the most popular attractions in the Rust theme park for 40 years. But four decades are enough to make ghosts, zombies and other undead look pretty old.

In 1982, the haunted castle opened its rusty gates for the first time with a squeak. The entrance led through a chapel where the ghost hunter Giacomo Medaina welcomed his guests.

Criticism from Europa-Park fans became louder and louder​

After passing the spooky portraits of the castle's long-dead owners, visitors went to two elevators with a direct connection to the underworld. After a short waiting area, they reached the entrance area of the 70 gondolas, each of which carried three people through the realm of the undead.

The modernization will soon be completed. Photo: Sibylle Kranich

In the past, however, many fans had criticized the fact that the haunted castle had been neglected by the park management in recent years. A common narrative thread was hardly recognizable anymore, the haunted castle was "tattered" and full of stylistic inconsistencies.

Fire protection required renovation​

For park manager Roland Mack, however, this was not the only reason to finally tackle the renovation of the haunted castle. "We also have to adapt the attraction to new fire safety regulations," he said at a press conference in the spring.

The dark figure with the candlestick will probably continue to welcome visitors to the new, old haunted castle. Photo: Europa-Park

Europa-Park has already had painful experiences with fires. In 2018, a fire in the Scandinavia and Holland themed areas caused millions in damage. Restaurants, shops and the "Pirates in Batavia" ride were destroyed.

​

In June 2023, there was another major alarm in the park: At a brand in the Spanish themed area, several rides were completely or partially destroyed at the same time.

Construction sites in Europa-Park are slowly being completed​

The construction sites have been gradually completed over the last few months . As one of the last hunters, the popular haunted castle is now once again presenting itself to the hunters. The "Castello dei Medici" has not lost its old charm, but has been completely redesigned, the park promises.

A certain Lorenzo, whose story is based on the historical figure from the Italian Renaissance, "Lorenzo de' Medici", is now up to mischief in the new haunted castle and is providing visitors aged eight and over with scary moments. From Thursday, July 25, the first day of the holidays in Baden-Württemberg, the haunting in the haunted castle will begin a new round.

 

[Graeme]

Fingers crossed!

I’m there next week

 

[ItsAllGood]

I'm at europa tomorrow till sunday, fingers crossed for a soft open

 

[Gurkensalat]

You may get lucky in the afternoon, there are rumors of soft opening.

Trailer is released: https://www.veejoy.de/filme/castello-dei-medici

 

[Sam]

Have to say, not a fan of changing the name. Feels quite an un-EP thing to do.

 

[Gurkensalat]

The sign above the entrance says still "Geisterschloss".

 

[Rob]

I'd imagine it's a case of the ride is still the "Ghost Castle" (i.e. Geisterschloss), but Castello dei Medici is the story within. It is also still Ghost Castle/Geisterschloss on EP's website.

 

[Dave]

Hasn’t it always made reference to the castello dei medici?

Could have sworn there was a sign referring to it near the entrance but I always ran past it to avoid the spitting thing.

 

[venny]

There’s a family tree of the Medicis to the right of the entrance which is what you might be thinking of.

 

[Dave]

There’s a family tree of the Medicis to the right of the entrance which is what you might be thinking of.

Probably.

So the ride name hasn’t changed they are just making a bigger deal of the Medici family than they previously did I guess.