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[2024] Geisterschloss: Castello dei Medici

Haha, of course they've got a flashy Veejoy short film about a CEA member investigating the matter. Also, Ulrich Damrau cameo at 2:38? 🧐
 
If I can just get on my soap box for a moment, I wish Enthusiasts would stop claiming soft openings when there's no evidence one will happen.
I've been burnt before by visiting a park days before a ride has been announced to open (due to the opening date not being set at the time of booking). It sucks, but what makes it worse is being told "you'll probably get lucky and it'll soft open". Then wasting hours of your trip going back to the ride on the off-chance it could be open. When realistically the park know it's not going to be open. I'm glad in this case EP have been blunt about it.
 
Geisterschloss is generic German name like how we use "Ghost Train". Strangely there's no consistent name for the ride, it was first called Spukschloss on signs and Spukschloss / Geisterschloss "Castello Leone" on some brochures in 1982. The Castello Leone part was just rarely used. Now it's called Geisterschloss Castello Dei Medici but people will probably call it the same as always.

This seems like another cool project they've pulled off in such quick time in true Europa fashion!
 
There's some initial POVs just gone online. Fair to say all the kitsch stuff has been removed and any references to other IPs gone. The singing heads have also gone, reducing Disney comparison.

It looks macabre, sinister and quite serious.

It's definitely changed.
 
Rowe said:
l don't expect the ride to become narratively coherent via Medici family curse or something brand new and take out the IPs entirely. Nor do I expect the park's creative team to flex into all out silly weird spooky territory to make Geisterschloss truly unique beyond unrelated vignettes and nostalgic obligations. But it would be great fun if they did.
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Oh, thank the Macks, my wishes mostly came true! For Geisterschloss has finally become consistently ominous in both style and substance!

I do love how the Spook Me! characters are still present though, with Ghost King in the reflections and the couple in the ballroom, seeing as Spook Me! 2: Eerie BOO-galoo is coming back for Halloween this season.
 
This is a decent POV that I've just watched:



Obviously it is always difficult to get the feel for a dark ride from a POV, but it does look to be much improved. Gone are the totally random scenes and random characters (looking at you Happy Family). It comes across as far more cohesive and certainly quite sinister.

And it has even opened on time, so good work all round!
 
It's great to see this. Many parks (looks at you, Phantasialand) just let their old rides get so bad they remove them entirely.

That's two lovely spooky Mack dark rides in Europe that have new leases of life in the past couple of years.
 
Now this looks much better and largely encapsulates what I was hoping for in this reimagining.

They‘ve removed many of the cliche ghost train and shoe-horned elements, such as the Happy Family characters and Haunted mansion busts.

I am glad they have retained not only the ballroom, but the original soundtrack too, arguably the two strongest aspects of the 1996-2023 version. I love that they have brought back the hitchhiker ghosts.

Not only does this version feel like a more modern and cohesive version to the original, but feels more like a standout ride with its own identity.

The overhaul feels comparable to Alton Manor and EP’s other older dark rides, such as Piccolo Mondo. Its welcoming to see and I wish more parks would carry out these updates to their older dark rides rather than just closing them.
 
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AstroDan said:
There's some initial POVs just gone online. Fair to say all the kitsch stuff has been removed and any references to other IPs gone. The singing heads have also gone, reducing Disney comparison.

It looks macabre, sinister and quite serious.

It's definitely changed.
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If anything I think we've upped the Disney comparison, it's now gained the mirror scene and the head that follows you 😂

A fab upgrade to the original although am I rightly thinking it's lost a few jump scares?
 
Just watched the pov. Shame the camera was so gained up, I'm sure it's much gloomier to the eye. ;)
Seems just as disjointed and random as before, though I do like the final "descent in to hell".

Am I imagining it, or is it faster than before? I'm sure it felt much longer than that when I last rode it.
 
Dave said:
I like what they have done with the actual ride, it’s a good refurb.

Wish they had got rid of the stretching room, it’s still really really naff.
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That's the one bit I was disappointed about. I thought they'd have done something to differentiate it from the mansions. So projection mapping or effects. The stretching doesn't really add anything as you can clearly see (and hear) it moving. It's not subtle.
 
Just watched a POV of the new version! Wow, they out did themselves on this! The ride segment looks amazing! The figures look great for the most part, and thank goodness they kept the iconic music! The end scene might be my favourite part of the ride now. Shame the mechanics for the stretching room can be heard. Hopefully that'll be rectified in the future!

I really need to visit Europa Park one day! Looks like a really ideal Ghost Train. Near to no screens or projections, good lighting, and very detailed scenes with lots of movement!
 
Hey guys ! Was at the park yesterday and had my first ride on the updated GS. Just wanna share my opinion that this is a case where the POVs don`t do the ride justice IMHO. I liked it a lot more in person....will be a must ride in the future when I`m at the park...wasn`t like that before :)
 
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