IanB
TS Member
Just got back from one of the wettest weeks we have had at Europa Park. I thought the rain was bad in March/April, but it was a lot worse last week. The tent is back up in the back garden, and I am surprised I did not get stopped by customs for the amount of German rain water I have brought back. In hindsight, I should of bottled it up, and sold it was Europa Park Camp Water on ebay 
When we arrived, it was very busy, and you could see how wet the ground was from where we normally park being a giant puddle. The following morning, they were already putting rubble and stone down, to fix the issue. With the continuing rain, it only got worse, and Wednesday night, I ended up getting stuck in the mud, and having to get out and push the car. Not what you really want to be doing at 11pm at night, after a day at Rulantica (On my Birthday as well).
The camp site was also a lot busier than we are used to, even for a Saturday, and was not as water logged as the parking.
The free for all approach at the camp site is something I hope they look in to at some point. While there was a gap for us, when we were leaving, there was a tent on top of us. I had to go inside their yawning to take my peg out. There is a mixture of tent sizes at the camp resort and this can lead to a lot of wasted space. I do hope the new camping area has allocated spots for small tents and large tents, I don't mind paying a small premium for having a larger tent or spot, just as those with a larger campervan pay a premium for a larger spot.
The reason why it felt a lot busier, was the old playground has been moved to where the tents used to be setup, reducing the amount of space for tents. The play ground was not open, and still being setup, but it looks like its going to be an improvement on the old play ground. What I don't fully understand, is the playground does not appear in any of the plans above, so I am unsure if its just temporary for the summer, or until they build the hotel extension.
I was going to take some photos of the site before the construction work takes place, but the rain put paid to those plans, but there is not much to see. Most of the work is taking place in the old car park, and there was no signs of the current entrance road being close ready for the start of construction on the restaurant.
The construction work does start early in the morning, as soon as it hits 7am, you can hear the diggers and trucks moving around, so be warned if you want a lay in, don't book the camp site.
Not related to the camp site development, but they did introduce a wristband system for entry to the toilets and shower blocks half way through our stay. It sounds like people attending the football competition were coming on the camp site to use the facilities, so while the wristband was initially inconvenient, it was great that they were taking steps to ensure the guests were not being inconvenienced by the event taking place.
The final off topic comment was it was really good to see so many English speaking families at the camp resort. There was one other family camping, there was one family we see in an UK camper van, and a couple of other English families we overheard in the restaurant.
When we arrived, it was very busy, and you could see how wet the ground was from where we normally park being a giant puddle. The following morning, they were already putting rubble and stone down, to fix the issue. With the continuing rain, it only got worse, and Wednesday night, I ended up getting stuck in the mud, and having to get out and push the car. Not what you really want to be doing at 11pm at night, after a day at Rulantica (On my Birthday as well).
The camp site was also a lot busier than we are used to, even for a Saturday, and was not as water logged as the parking.
The free for all approach at the camp site is something I hope they look in to at some point. While there was a gap for us, when we were leaving, there was a tent on top of us. I had to go inside their yawning to take my peg out. There is a mixture of tent sizes at the camp resort and this can lead to a lot of wasted space. I do hope the new camping area has allocated spots for small tents and large tents, I don't mind paying a small premium for having a larger tent or spot, just as those with a larger campervan pay a premium for a larger spot.
The reason why it felt a lot busier, was the old playground has been moved to where the tents used to be setup, reducing the amount of space for tents. The play ground was not open, and still being setup, but it looks like its going to be an improvement on the old play ground. What I don't fully understand, is the playground does not appear in any of the plans above, so I am unsure if its just temporary for the summer, or until they build the hotel extension.
I was going to take some photos of the site before the construction work takes place, but the rain put paid to those plans, but there is not much to see. Most of the work is taking place in the old car park, and there was no signs of the current entrance road being close ready for the start of construction on the restaurant.
The construction work does start early in the morning, as soon as it hits 7am, you can hear the diggers and trucks moving around, so be warned if you want a lay in, don't book the camp site.
Not related to the camp site development, but they did introduce a wristband system for entry to the toilets and shower blocks half way through our stay. It sounds like people attending the football competition were coming on the camp site to use the facilities, so while the wristband was initially inconvenient, it was great that they were taking steps to ensure the guests were not being inconvenienced by the event taking place.
The final off topic comment was it was really good to see so many English speaking families at the camp resort. There was one other family camping, there was one family we see in an UK camper van, and a couple of other English families we overheard in the restaurant.
