Europa Park: The Imperfections

[Poisson]

Same withe the random unthemed pop up cocktail bar things blasting out random music, like the one near Blue Fire

 

[Vik]

The Wodan queue line toilets. They smell bad and covered in graffiti. But hey, after all these years finally got that toilet cred

2/5 not recommended

 

[The Big Mack]

Hmm.. the World of Jumanji style non-themed queue line fences in the outdoor chunk of Wodan's queue.

 

[Sam]

A couple of flaws, cross-posted from my trip update in the 2025 thread:

• Staffing issues: That perennial post-Covid EP bugbear, staffing, still seems to be affecting the park. On the first day I walked from Voltron to Blue Fire just after opening and was unable to get a coffee before Kaffi Hús as nearly all the little F&B outlets now seem to open at 11, when most of them used to open at 9 on the dot. Magellan Lounge, the upstairs at O'Mackeys and Bar Colosseo were all shut for the whole of my trip (the latter is a particular shame, given what a flagship space it is). The Italian Show was also cancelled all week – I assume a staffing issue, though I'm not sure. What they clearly have done is prioritise the rides over everything else, which is the right decision. But seeing all the construction over at Silver Lake on the new hotel made me feel uneasy: every year they seem to be adding developments that need dozens if not hundreds of new staff. But if they're struggling to find enough staff as it is, how are they going to avoid these new venues being mothballed?
  
  
• Self-aggrandisement: I've always loved the ridiculousness of EP and the flamboyance of the Mack family: the 'wall of Roland' in the hotels, the pomp, the pageantry, the pure showbusiness of it all. But on this trip (and maybe this relates to it being the 50th), I felt like the self-aggrandisement was getting a bit much sometimes. For the first time at EP, I found myself feeling bored or even a little irritated by seeing yet another photo of the Mack family or a display board trumpeting their achievements. I don't mind, and have always slyly enjoyed, a little bit of this sort of thing. But it feels like it's getting out-of-hand and they're in danger of coming across as arrogant, or even frankly, dislikeable. When I'm queueing for Silver Star do I really need to see a looping video of Roland hanging out with his pal the Prince of Monaco? Whatever happened to 'show not tell'? You've already built the greatest theme park to have ever existed, you don't need to tell us all the time!
  
  
• The shows: I'm not a big show person, so am not the expert here. But the ice show this year, ('THE RACE - Ed vs. Nachtkrabb') was probably the worst I've seen. It just felt tired. I also wonder if some of the top-tier talent has left, because it felt like there weren't as many impressive tricks as there used to be, and twice, skaters fell over while attempting them. The crowd didn't seem particularly impressed either, with just a smattering of applause at the end. It didn't help that the show was yet another ad for the animated film thingy, and skaters dressed as mascots are a little clumsy and ungainly. The Spain show ('The Legend of Zorro') was a lot better but nothing that'll blow you away. I wonder if it's time for a bit of a rethink of the shows, which are undoubtedly dated ("tits and teeth", as one person on here describes them). Watching the ice show, it's as if Cirque du Soleil never happened. It's all a bit artless and 1980s, and feels like it needs an injection of new life. As Soleil itself shows (at Disney, no less!) you can take these things in a more artistic, experimental, even avant-garde direction and still be family-focused and accessible. And maybe it's time to just ditch the 'ice' part entirely...?
  
  
• The bus: As a non-driver and non-flyer, it's great that there's been a steady increase over the years in rail services to Ringsheim, including the new direct train from Paris. But it remains the case that the most faffy part of getting from Sheffield to EP and back again on public transport remains the bloody bus between Ringsheim and the park. The timetable is hard to find, and confusing. It isn't clear how much it is, or whether you even have to pay at all. It's basically fine on the way there – it seems to be timed with the trains and they just wave you on without a ticket – but on the way back it's a nightmare, especially if you've got a connection you can't miss. For the second time in three years I found myself with a group of a dozen people with big suitcases standing outside Bell Rock, panicking about where exactly the bus goes from, confusing it with EP's own 'Hotel Shuttle' service, then only just making our train by about 30 seconds because the bus was ten minutes late. If the park are serious about wanting more people to come by train, they should replace the (state-run?) bus with a free EP-branded shuttle bus that just runs between Ringsheim, Rulantica and the park on a loop all day. If it was just advertised as 'every ten minutes' you wouldn't have to worry about the timetable and you could just turn up 30 minutes before your train – no hassle. It should have simple and clearly-marked stopping points. It'd be a relatively straightforward change in the scheme of things, but would make a world of difference.

 

[venny]

Can’t argue with any of this.

On the staffing point, it is noteable that Roland has been clear that the hotel developments around Rulantica will not be built until they can sort the staffing issues out, but at the same time Silver Lake is about to open a new hotel.

 

[CSLKenny]

The issues with staffing a hotel are why they have focused on the small guest house addition at Silver Lake rather than a large full sized hotel at Rulantica. But it is still a fair point of how will they staff it.

Sadly EP was already starting to struggle for staff pre-covid as fewer and fewer German and French locals apply or stay on long term. Working hours, minimum wage, few advancement options and treatment have turned people away. There is a German workplace review website Kununu, to see how different employers treat staff - while few theme parks come out well from it to be honest - for Europa only 55% of employee reviews would recommend them as an employer. Roland Mack often going to the press lately and insulting young people's work ethic these days and home office as the reasons for this don't necessarily help the impression.

As is the case across the industry of course then covid has really hit them hard on top of that problem. From what I've rather reliably heard it was decided rather than pay more in wages it was deemed cheaper to hire more people internationally and focus on investing in staff accommodation and German classes. But this strategy is no quick fix if it even works at all that is long term. I really do wonder how they can manage adding more and more to the resort at this rate without some major changes. They really do need the hotel capacity, and with the great additions being made to EP and Rulantica it would be a shame for things to slow down due to staffing also.

 

[RicketyCricket]

Completely agree about the bus faff. Always a relief when it shows up on time when leaving the park.

Taxis seem few and far between so a lot of people are rely on those buses to run properly.

 

[Llama]

Completely agree on the bus, have had the exact same experience. On the way into the park it's always waiting after the train arrives and I've never had to wait long at all for it to head towards the resort. On the way back it's indeed confusing and I usually try to catch the one before the one I need which takes some of the worry away but means we're waiting at the Ringsheim stop for an hour or so. In the future I may consider just booking a taxi for that leg of the trip and spending a little bit to not have to stress over it.