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German Theme Park Trip in July

dumbdumb

dumbdumb

TS Member
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Voltron
I'm in Germany for six days at the start of July.

The plan is to have two days at Phantasialand, two days at Europa Park and one day at Tripsdrill. Is Phantasialand a two-day park or would one day be enough? Deciding if it is worth a visit to Holiday Park en route or sticking to more time at Phantasialand instead.
 
If you're limited to 6 days, personally I'd do the 1 day at Tripsdrill, 1 at Phantasialand and 3 at Europa. If water parks are your thing you could do 2 days in EP and 1 in Rulantica. For a first time visitor, Phantasialand is probably worth 1.5 days but even when busy there's no question that you'll still be able to get on almost everything! Of course, only you can do your own research and prioritise what you think is best for you and what appeals more. I would just advise that Europa is about 3x the size of Phantasialand (citation needed) and generally requires more time. Phantasialand is also a bit easier to get to from the UK to do a revisit.

Hope this helps! :)
 
John_P said:
I'd say if you've never been to Phantasialand before it's definitely a two day park if you want to experience and explore everything the park has and get plenty of re rides.
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Personally I'd agree. I managed to get everything done in a 1-day visit in May last year but only because the weather forecast had been awful and the park was pretty dead. In July I would expect it to be substantially busier. Definitely prioritise a second day at Phantasialand over Holiday Park (which is fine, but really only worth doing for EGF).

Two park days at Europa Park is workable, if you have never been before it will be just enough time and not much more to do all the rides once. You would want a third day to be able to do the park at a more leisurely pace and enjoy the eateries, bars and shows. And of course, another day again if you wanted to do Rulantica, but not essential for a first visit.
 
Thanks so much, all - really useful information - I will definitely be going for the 1.5 days+ in Phantasialand and ditching the Holiday Park idea. Hopefully there will be some extended opening hours for Europa. Will do a report when I'm back :)
 
You say 6 days, but Phantasia x 2, EP x 2 and Tripsdrill x 1 leaves the 6th day free? Holiday Park is a 1 (very) good coaster park so time dependant could drop that in if the full day isn't available.
 
Photos not on my laptop yet, so instagram reel of the trip at the bottom of the report - will remove if not allowed :)

Just got back from our six days in Germany for 1.5 days in Phantasialand, two days at Europa Park and a day at Tripsdrill. We just couldn’t quite fit in Holiday Park this time without rushing the others (day one was just travelling there).

I was in awe at all of these parks and while each of them offer a very different experience, they were all so beautifully presented, photogenic, and offered a great overall experience. The maintenance, upkeep, attractions, catering and retail on offer at all parks was like nothing I’d seen before. We were in awe at every turn!

Closed attractions were minimal (Talocan in Phantasialand was down for an unknown reason and the scenic boat ride behind the fantasy area was long term closed with the area fenced off, and Geisterschloss was obviously still closed for refurbishment at Europa). The only downtime we saw in five days was Taron and Blue Fire for 10 minutes each.

Phantasialand

They are not mucking about when it comes to theming for every ride - WOW! Each area is so immersive and contained. All areas were amazing but the Klugheim part of Mystery and the Rookburgh part of Berlin were particular insane.

Maus au Chocolat - great theming but not into screens and firing, although this was well done.
Crazy Bats - first VR coaster. More intense than expected but ran out of time to try it without the headset.
Winjas Force - awesome surprise.
Winjas Fear - better overall coaster of the two. Best spinner I’ve been on.
F.L.Y. - amazingly dressed and airtime flying!? Best flying coaster I’ve been on (beating Galactica and Superman at SFGAd).
Geister Rikscha - needs updating desperately but there is something there.
Feng Ju Palace - bonkers pre-show, good ride.
Black Mamba - intense and relentless Nemesis beater. Best invert I’ve been on.
River Quest - best rapids I’ve been on with loads of unique effects.
Chiapas - best water ride I’ve been on - this was absolutely stunning.
Colorado Adventure - best mine train ever and towards the back, an out and out thrill coaster - the surprise of the park.
Taron - possibly the best themed coaster in the world - and thrilling to boot - except for one airtimeless airtime hill.
Mystery Castle - so exciting and well themed. Best drop tower I’ve been on (there’s a theme here).
Adventure Trail - a really nice addition that enhances Deep in Africa and gets you VERY close to Black Mamba.

In summary, Phantasialand has the best examples of their ride types (except for the dark rides)

Europa Park

Stunning. And my word people really mean it when they say how fast the operations are. The staff are all so friendly and efficient. And there are so many of them collaborating across the park to give a seamless experience. And the mix of quality nostalgic and modern attractions is ridiculous.

Eurosat Can Can Coaster - loved this. The music. The lift drum. The scenery. Not particularly thrilling but lots of fun.
Silver Star - had low expectations of this but was pleasantly surprised by the style and the airtime was wild later in the day. It wasn’t that far behind Nitro.
Eurosat Coastiality: Phantom of the Opera - a really good use of VR but not loud enough to drown out Can Can.
Matterhorn Blitz - fun but underwhelming.
Kassandra’s Curse - lacking a decent pre show but a good example of a mad house, delivering the effect well like Hex, but less stylish.
Poseidon - really good fun and a thrilling finale, despite an uncomfortable bit of profiling at the half way point.
Pegasus - I’d heard good things about the Youngstar coaster but it was just ok, even for families.
Voltron Nevera - Knocked El Toro from my No. 1 spot. What a ride. What an end-to-end experience. Had five rides - none were glass smooth, and one was a little bumpier but nothing was night and day different. It is ridiculously thrilling and so much fun.
Arthur - Another total surprise. A stunning little dark ride/coaster hybrid.
Alpine Express ‘Enzian’ - looked great but not a patch on the version at Alton Towers.
Tirol Log Flume - great log flume - unbelievable that it was rebuilt in such a short time.
Atlantica Supersplash - I was quite nervous on this! It’s huge. And fun!
Fjord Rafting - another great rapids - the theming was great and the ride’s choppiness reminded me of what the Alton rapids were like back in the Grand Canyon/early Congo days.
Wodan - another surprise. Only a couple of airtime moments, but generally a much larger, faster, wilder Wickerman - one of the best.
Blue Fire - I had relatively low expectations but the launch, soaring top hat, loop, run off the mid-course block, and final inversion were awesome.
Snorri Torren - delightful.
Pirates in Batavia - wow - so much to take in and atmospheric.
Euro-Mir - great first half and then it got uncomfortable - looks great though and felt on the edge :D
Swiss Bob Run - Love these rides but Avalanche provides more thrills.
Euro Tower - lovely experience.
Voletarium - my first flying theatre and I loved it.
Volo Da Vinci - stunning little suspended monorail and such a lovely setting.
Piccolo Mondo - cute.
Madame Freudenreich’s Curiosities - much better than expected.
Atlantis Adventure - a great little surprise and probably the best interactive ride I’ve been on.
Luxembourg/Iceland Monorail - parks in the UK really lack these transport rides with views and routes that can’t be seen on foot.

In summary, Europa is an amazing place. The best park I’ve been to. One niggle; the dark rides have a smell which made me feel a bit queasy - couldn’t tell if it was smell pods, old cloth or fire proofing! They were all fun though - not world beating compared to some I’ve seen on here and on YouTube (Disney, Universal and Efteling namely).

Tripsdrill

Tripsdrill is quirky, quaint, and very picturesque with a chilled out vibe, and still has an offer to compete with the big boys.

Karacho - A great ride and a huge surprise overall - especially the first 30 seconds! A couple of elements fell flat but it delivered.
Mammut - looks stunning but rides like a glorified runaway train.
G’sengten Sau - I thought Gerstlauer Bobsleighs were meant to be fun - this looked great but hurt a bit!
Jungbrunnen - a fine example of a log flume with a number of surprises.
Waschzuber Rafting - a unique and exciting rapids with loads of great features.
Volldampf - great setting and fly through. Perfect family coaster.
Hals Uber Kopf - Another surprise - exhilarating and glass smooth Vekoma STC - loads of young kids riding despite the intensity - Drayton Manor should order one immediately!
Wilde Gautshe - a really fun almost top spin - Drayton Manor should order one immediately!
Razender Tussenefussler - Zierer Tivoli’s are still fun.

Unfortunately after a beautiful morning, the thunder and rain came all afternoon so we grabbed ponchos and skipped the flat rides and barrel rides but they looked fun.

I would recommend all three parks for different reasons. Between them, there are amazing rides and experiences with a bit of filler. Not many thrill flats though. Each park has outstanding coasters and the rest are still good, and the water rides are where all three parks excel too. All rides are beautifully dressed and maintained.

Best Coasters on the trip (fine lines between them)

Voltron
Taron
Black Mamba
Wodan
Silver Star
Fly
Karacho
Blue Fire
Hals Uber Kopf
Colorado Adventure

If you got this far, thanks for reading :)


From: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C9Klc8jC8SB/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
 
Great write up, think you were right to skip Holiday Park. Was in that area recently myself and the full day at Tripsdrill was well worth it. So many fun little things to do on top of the coasters. Can't complain with a park that has a winery were your ticket gets you a free glass, then you go downstairs to buy the wine.

We paired Holiday Park with an hour or so at Schwaben Park in the morning so still got about 5 hours at Holiday Park. Though with their planned additions for the next 2 years I think it'll move into being somewhere new visitors will definitely need the full day at.
 
John_P said:
Great write up, think you were right to skip Holiday Park. Was in that area recently myself and the full day at Tripsdrill was well worth it. So many fun little things to do on top of the coasters. Can't complain with a park that has a winery were your ticket gets you a free glass, then you go downstairs to buy the wine.

We paired Holiday Park with an hour or so at Schwaben Park in the morning so still got about 5 hours at Holiday Park. Though with their planned additions for the next 2 years I think it'll move into being somewhere new visitors will definitely need the full day at.
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Thank you. Yes, Tripsdrill was delightful but I did not see the winery! Although I drove straight to the airport afterwards :)
Holiday Park certainly look like they are going places so will go back in a couple of years.
 
Tripsdrill is a great park, easily overlooked. I'm glad you chose to prioritise it over Holiday Park.

One thing I didn't realise about the winery at Tripsdrill was that it's cash only. We had come straight from EP which is basically cashless and it was kind of embarrassing to pick up our free glasses and then have to scrape together some cents between the three of us to buy a thimbleful of wine 😄 Lots of coin operated sideshows etc as well that looked fun but we didn't get to try out. Don't be like us. Take cash!
 
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Toverland and movie park germany are both within reach of Cologne within around an hour and if your driving possibility popsaland de panne for ride to happiness even if only a few hours on travel day if your driving.
 
Rob F said:
Toverland and movie park germany are both within reach of Cologne within around an hour and if your driving possibility popsaland de panne for ride to happiness even if only a few hours on travel day if your driving.
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Toverland next time for sure. Netherlands/Belgium are next on the list. And Poland, Spain and Sweden at some point. Also incase not everyone is aware, Phantasialand do early bird special rate tickets, so we only paid €27 for a day ticket as I booked in January, which I thought was an absolute bargain.
 
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