• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

Is there anything I should know before going to Europa Park for the first time?

I haven’t read the whole thread so don’t know if this has been said…..

The advertised queue time IS the queue time. 98% of the time it’s bang on. Don’t be out off by what seems to be a large queue. Throughputs are amazing.
 
I haven’t read the whole thread so don’t know if this has been said…..

The advertised queue time IS the queue time. 98% of the time it’s bang on. Don’t be out off by what seems to be a large queue. Throughputs are amazing.
That's good to know; cheers for the pointer!

I guess with EP not having Fastrack, it's probably easier to work out... apart from RAP, the only people getting on the ride are the people joining the main queue.
 
There's very little RAP.

Sent from my SM-G991B using Tapatalk
Oh, that's interesting! I'd have thought there would be a lot given how much the Merlin parks have, and EP is three times the size... is EP's policy on that different?
 
Oh, that's interesting! I'd have thought there would be a lot given how much the Merlin parks have, and EP is three times the size... is EP's policy on that different?
Europa's disability policy is one of the few things the park can be faulted on. In general the rule is if you can't get on/off the ride unaided you can't ride. I think disabled guests can get in for free but that's not much of a consultation if you can't ride anything.
I don't think there's anything for hidden disabilities either, but given the short wait times that's not much of an issue.

Edit:
Just checked the website and as suspected that is their policy for blind and Wheelchair users.
https://www.europapark.de/en/theme-park/tickets-offers/visitors-disabilities
 
I'll admit I am looking forward to giving my Dispatch Timer app a good workout when I'm in EP's queues; given the park's alleged fast operations, I think I could well be logging the highest throughputs I've ever logged on that app before (My current record was somewhere around 1,250pph on Nemesis, but I'm not entirely sure as I've replaced my phone since my last theme park visit)!

Also, I wasn't asking about the disability policy for myself, for clarity; I was merely curious.
 
Last edited:
I'll admit I am looking forward to giving my Dispatch Timer app a good workout when I'm in EP's queues; given the park's alleged fast operations, I think I could well be logging the highest throughputs I've ever logged on that app before (My current record was somewhere around 1,250pph on Nemesis, but I'm not entirely sure as I've replaced my phone since my last theme park visit)!

Also, I wasn't asking about the disability policy for myself, for clarity; I was merely curious.
If you're feeling really geeky, head up to the EP Express Station Olymp in Greece. In the station, you will find a closed door on the loading side - if it's unlocked, open it and there is a hidden seating area. There you can see roughly 7 different coasters in the park clearly enough to track throughput all at the same time. Have fun! ;)
 
Sorry to bump this thread, but I have a quick question not related to Europa Park itself, instead being related to an idea I had for an add-on to our trip.

Essentially, we have a free day on our last day in Germany (Saturday 30th April). Europa Park requires us to be checked out of the hotel by 10am, and we have no park tickets for that day, but our flight home is not until 7pm at the earliest (I do remember discussing the time with my mum, and I remember it being quite late). My parents did suggest that we could possibly explore Baden-Baden on this day, but I don't think we've really got a concrete plan of what to do on this day, and we're still at an early enough stage where I could possibly interject ideas.

Assuming we'd want to be at Baden-Baden airport a few hours before (I'll say we'd want to be at the airport by 4pm, as they usually like you there a bit before your flight, from what I can tell), and we left Europa at some point between 9am and 10am, how doable would you guys say Holiday Park would be from Europa on this day?

I've had a look at Maps, and that suggests that EP to Holiday Park takes around 1h 30m, and Holiday Park to Baden-Baden airport takes around 1h, so assuming a very worst case scenario of us leaving Europa at 10am and leaving HP at 3pm, that would give us around 3 hours in Holiday Park (subtract a bit of time either side for getting into HP and leaving HP). This is in a worst case scenario, though; if we left Europa a bit earlier or didn't need to be at the airport until later, that time might increase to more like 4-5 hours. In the opinion of those who've visited Holiday Park; would Holiday Park be doable in 3-5 hours, or would 3-5 hours be worth it? Or does the park necessitate a fuller day, and would exploring Baden-Baden be a better option for this final day?

I wouldn't normally want to cram a park into such little time, but I'm led to believe that Holiday Park is a pretty small park that never gets super busy, and if I'm being honest, there's only 2 main attractions that are pulling me there, and they're the two substantial coasters; EGF and Sky Scream. Well, mainly EGF, but Sky Scream is a pretty nice add-on, as it's pretty substantial and I've never done an SRII before.

What are your thoughts? I'd like to stress that this is very much me spitballing as opposed to something being genuinely considered at present; I haven't even spoken to my parents yet, and to be honest, I feel a bit selfish even considering it, as I already feel a bit cruel dragging my parents to Europa for 3 days in the first place, but it was just an idea I had. I'll admit that riding EGF would be quite the cherry on top of this already amazing trip, and it would help to set the wheels of getting me towards a triple-figure coaster count in motion even further!
 
It's easily do-able and certainly wouldn't be too rushed considering its a small park. Makes sense given the proximity to the airport.

And you'll get to experience some proper ejector airtime on EGF.
 
That's good to know; cheers @RicketyCricket! Does the park get overly busy, from your experience?

I might run the idea by my parents next time we're discussing EP (which will be soon, as we need to do our pre-checkin and book dinner & breakfast reservations for our trip) and see what they think... this is just me spitballing, and I'll be perfectly happy if they say no and we go to Baden-Baden instead. As I said, it's probably quite selfish on my part that I'm even considering it, as I feel quite cruel dragging my parents to Europa as is...
 
Spending 3 hours at a park just to get a few extra credits feels more like a solo trip thing to do rather than with the family. No harm in suggesting it but I'd suspect it'll be a hard sell.
Matt.GC's suggestion of Rulantica is what I'd do. Cuts out additional travel time and would be a relaxing way to unwind before the flight.
But I seem to remember you had a reason for not including Rulantica originally?
 
Have a drive out to the Hasenhorn Rodelbahn! Some stunning views from there too and you could spend as much or little time in the area as you like, so it wouldn't be a stress. I'm sure your parents will get more out of that than rushing round a largely crap theme park (from what I've heard - never been) with 1 or 2 decent creds.
 
To be honest, my thought process behind it wasn’t solely based on the fact I’d gain 2 credits from it; that was merely a positive bonus.

If one of those credits (EGF) wasn’t almost consistently super highly rated, I don’t think I’d even have considered it, and the small size of the park also made it a better idea in my head (For instance, I know Tripsdrill is a similar distance from EP, but I wouldn’t want to cram that into a few hours because it looks like it would necessitate a much fuller day, and not just because it has 6 credits instead of 3; it looks generally like a much bigger park). Most who’ve been seem to suggest that Holiday is not a full-day park; I’ve previously heard it likened to a German Oakwood, but more upmarket and with a considerably more highly rated headline coaster.

To be honest, though, I’m starting to think better of even suggesting the idea, as I think it would be a bit mean of me to suggest to them going to a small park like HP for the sake of 1 or 2 rides, no matter how appealing EGF might look. That might be something for me to do on my own at some stage; I’d very much like to do EGF, and the rest of the park wouldn’t bother me, but I’m not sure if my parents would want to. My parents did also seem quite happy with the idea of looking around Baden-Baden, even though we haven’t really got a concrete plan, and I wouldn’t want to derail that for them, because as much as this trip is my delayed 18th birthday present (or early 19th birthday present; I’m not really sure), they would already have spent 3 days theme parking by this point.

In terms of Rulantica; the reason it got vetoed was because my parents didn’t really fancy it when it was advertised to them on the site, which I think is fair. I think my mum spoke for the both of them when she said “water parks lose a lot of their appeal when you’re not in 35 degree heat in Florida”.
 
One thing. You definitely don’t need to be at Baden Baden airport 3 hours before. The airport is tiny. And whilst it may not be tin shed in a field like some airports Ryanair fly too, it does have very few facilities. And once you go through the passport control to the gate area then it’s a vending machine,’a toilet and a few seats. Make sure you have plenty to keep you occupied if that’s your plan. Also if it’s a late evening Ryanair flight it will most be late too
 
One thing. You definitely don’t need to be at Baden Baden airport 3 hours before. The airport is tiny. And whilst it may not be tin shed in a field like some airports Ryanair fly too, it does have very few facilities. And once you go through the passport control to the gate area then it’s a vending machine,’a toilet and a few seats. Make sure you have plenty to keep you occupied if that’s your plan. Also if it’s a late evening Ryanair flight it will most be late too
That’s good to know; cheers @Vik!

I was mainly basing the 3 hours thing off of when I’ve flown transatlantic to Orlando. I know in those cases, Gatwick, Manchester and Orlando International have always required us to be there a few hours before our flight (although that may be a Virgin Atlantic policy as opposed to an airport policy).

Are things like security queues and the general process of getting in shorter in Baden Baden, then?
 
Have a drive out to the Hasenhorn Rodelbahn! Some stunning views from there too and you could spend as much or little time in the area as you like, so it wouldn't be a stress. I'm sure your parents will get more out of that than rushing round a largely crap theme park (from what I've heard - never been) with 1 or 2 decent creds.

As much as I love it up there, I wouldn't recommend cutting even remotely fine from the mountains to the airport. As I found to my own despair, with many routes when a road closes from a crash or works the diversions are literally around other mountains and can take hours!
 
I think Rualantica is your best bet. Your Mum can rest assured that it's perfectly warm and comfortable inside, and if you're lucky, you'll strike good fortune with the weather outside, too.

Baden Baden airport is a breeze.
 
To be honest, I might talk to them about HP and see how they feel. I do personally feel it might be a slightly tall order, but I’ve had numerous glowing endorsements of EGF, and I’ve been told that it’s not a full day park, so it might well be doable if they were willing.

I’m unsure on Rulantica, but they might be open to staying at Europa if HP is out, and Baden Baden might be an option too.
 
Last edited:
Top