[2026] Europa-Park General Discussion

[siralgenon]

I really hope this means they're going to finally build the monorail between the main hotel resort and Rulantica. I'd love to stay over there but the prospect of having to wait for a bus at the end of a long day in the main park really puts me off. If that bus became a Monorail it would be a different story entirely...



It's a perfect Mack thing. A loud, incongruent ad for the Ed Euromaus movie shoehorned in at the end of an otherwise serene ride

To be honest it's only a 20 minute walk and the buses run every 10 mins so you're not waiting any longer than you would for a monorail.

 

[venny]

I think there’s something about a monorail that would make the resort feel more connected and Kronasar less isolated.

On bus timings, I think there will be a difference between bus and monorail times. The bus normally run every 15 minutes, although the schedule changes based on time of day.

Assuming the monorail is built as the plans we’ve seen, it would be a double railed shuttle, running from the El Andaluz car park to Kronasar. That journey straight line is probably 4-5 minutes. Allowing for waiting times and assuming one train per track, that would mean a departure maybe every 6-7 minutes, which is a fair difference relative to the bus frequency.

I should of course say that I don’t think we know whether additional stops are planned down the route. One would assume there’d be a stop at Kronasar before Rulantica given the route. That stop may add a minute or so. The route doesn’t seem to suggest there would be a stop at Bell Rock.

Even if there’s weren’t a massive difference in transport frequency though, the monorail would add to that feeling of integration. From a personal perspective, that would make Kronasar a more attractive prospect as a resort hotel.

 

[Llama]

Exactly. In normal life a 20-minute walk is no problem, but at the end of a long day at a theme park it's the last thing I want to do.

And not just the feeling of integration that @venny mentioned but the, for lack of a better word, magic of a monorail. One of the most ridiculous and cool parts of an overnight stay at EP is visiting the cowboy town in the evening and getting back to the main hotels by summoning the EP Express to take you home. Hopping on a bus just doesn't quite have the same effect. A monorail feels very much like a continuation of your day at the park, which is much of the point: you stay in "the bubble," to put it in Disney terms.

Plus I do think the math is right, it would be 5-8 minutes between departures if the system is roughly what's been rumoured. That also means that if you walk into the station just as a train is departing you can be relatively sure the next one will be there in a handful of minutes. The EP buses are very reliable but there's always a slight uncertainty with waiting for a bus that is not a problem with the majestic monorail.

 

[Poisson]

The problem with the monorail setup is the fact EP Express has internal stations. If it didn't you could have it all loop around and interchange properly but whilst it has inside park access, it'll need to stay 2 systems and be a bit awkward.

 

[venny]

I think that’s a good point. I’m not sure it makes sense to extend the existing monorail all the way to Rulantica as it impacts the convenience of the monorail for journeys through the park.

That said, it is going to be awkward to get off the EP Express and then walk to the other end of the El Andaluz car park to jump on another monorail.

One possibility for better integration of the two systems would be to extend the EP Express track out to that side of the El Andaluz car park to create an interchange with the new monorail. That feels feasible and in fact they’ve done similar before with the extension for Voletarium.

 

[Skyscraper]

One possibility for better integration of the two systems would be to extend the EP Express track out to that side of the El Andaluz car park to create an interchange with the new monorail. That feels feasible and in fact they’ve done similar before with the extension for Voletarium.

I second this, I think it would make the most sense to extend the EP express and create a new interchange for both monorails.

 

[Poisson]

They'd need a pretty big interchange, as it'd have to be able to handle the trio hotel guests going one way and Kronosar guests the other as a minimum, plus other moves.

 

[Tim]

Here's what I'd do, and its surprisinly simple to implement:

Upgrade the track around the back of the Park (Park Entrance to Hotel Entrance) to be double rails (like Alton Towers).

Create two lines. One external, the other Internal.

External line:
Like Alton Towers this line will have a loop at either end. One around Rulantica. The other around the Camp Resort. Build a new station at both. From the camp resort head towards the park entrance. A new station to be created at the park entrance which is on the left hand side of the entrance plaza. Parallel to the park entrance and lining up with the existing track behind Voletarium. Trains can be boarded here traveling in either direction. The line then uses the existing route around the park. Stops at the Hotel Station. It then curves around Colosseo and Bell Rock before heading to Rulantica.

Internal Line:
Very similar to what exists now. Trains stop at the existing park station. A junction allows them to join the newly upgraded track but only heading in a clockwise direction (as they do now) so as not to interfere with Monorail coming in the opposite direction. Also stops at the Hotel Station, which is the only station that serves both lines. Then splits at anouther junction and heads on to Spain. Completing the loop as it currently does.

And there you have it. Straightforward upgrade that adds all the new stations they could need to future proof the system.

I suspect the Hotel Station wouldn't be able to be upgraded to accept trains heading in both directions, but I think that's OK, because the Monorail travelling towards the park doesn't need to pick up people from the main hotels as they have their own entrance, and Krønasår guests can choose either to walk to that entrance or get a ride straight to the main entrance. But when leaving the park it can drop people from the entrance off anywhere they want.

 

[venny]

I enjoy the ambition of that plan and it makes sense to link the entire resort too.

There’s need to be some serious thought about the El Andaluz station though, as the existing station already abuts the public road. There’d need to be some massive engineering to fit a second interconnecting station and platform in there.