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

Burbs said:
Yes and yes. I'm fairly sure we've covered all this already for you. :)
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Sorry… this is such a big thread that’s been going on so long now (going on 6 months!) that I guess it’s hard to keep track of everything!

I am starting to get cautiously excited (cautiously because there’s still a chance that Putin’s antics or COVID may stop us from going)… our trip is only 6 weeks away on Tuesday!

Sorry to be such a pain… Europa is just a park that I’m nervous to get right. It’s such a revered, major park that I really want to start my relationship with Europa on the right foot.
 
Just for reference Matt, on my first day at Europa (which was late April 2017) I rode all the coasters, all the dark rides, all the water rides and a handful of flats - without rushing. EP is a delightfully relaxed park, it's very difficult to feel stressed there. You'll be absolutely fine.
 
Charlie N said:
Just for reference Matt, on my first day at Europa (which was late April 2017) I rode all the coasters, all the dark rides, all the water rides and a handful of flats - without rushing. EP is a delightfully relaxed park, it's very difficult to feel stressed there. You'll be absolutely fine.
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I’ll admit that does reassure me… I guess I just naturally get a bit worried about doing everything when presented with a park as huge and expansive as Europa!

I’m conscious of the fact that I’m probably looking like a complete lunatic to you Europa regulars… let’s hope that I understand what you mean and am able to worry less when I actually get there!
 
I've been to EP when busy and when not and there was little difference other than more noticeable crowds on footpaths. Operations are so good there's little need to worry. Queues for Wodan and Can Can are sometimes problematic but we're not talking in terms of Merlin problematic here. Having a queue of 60 mins plus, which is normal for Merlin, just isn't really a thing in EP for the most part.

All you need to do is be sensible and not follow the crowds, as any sane person would do with any theme park trip, and 3 days will be fine. Jobs a good'n. Get these depressing thoughts of Thorpe, Chessington and Magic Kingdom out of your head because EP is not a military operation, it's just all round fun.

By the way, on your first day, by the time you've got (they'll be plenty of adding an E and an N on the end of words once you're in Germany so no need to do it here) your hire car, it seems like the perfect opportunity to get yourselves a cheap evening ticket for Rulantica. That's what we did when we got off the plane. We got the car, went to Lidl to get some nosh, checked in then straight off to Rulantica. It's a truly magical experience at night and great value for an evening ticket. So once again, I thoroughly recommend Rulantica. Even if you don't like water parks, I'd still say it's a place that's not to be missed.
 
I guess I did manage 14 rides at Paultons last summer, and that was with around 6 hours on park, with an hour of that spent just idly walking around and an hour of that spent eating a sit-down meal in the diner. So in reality, I managed 14 rides within about 4 hours of riding at Paultons.

And I did manage 16 rides at Thorpe in around 6.5 hours (could possibly have been 7, and I could have managed a few more, but I was stuck on Swarm for the last half an hour of the day, as it broke down when I was on the brake run) last September, and that was with the odd 40-45 minute queue during the day. Although I was alone for that one, so could perhaps navigate the park a bit more nimbly than usual… I’m told I walk very quickly when under my own steam!

And besides, I guess Europa is neither Paultons nor Thorpe; I’ve never really visited a park like it, and I’m not really sure quite what to expect in many ways.

I am excited, though, and about numerous different elements of it.

As much as you’ve all said “Europa isn’t a coaster park” numerous times, I am excited for some of the coasters, particularly the big 3. Europa’s big 3 aligns perfectly with my current top 3 in terms of ride types (both my top 3 and Europa’s big 3 consist of a B&M Hyper Coaster, a Mack Launch Coaster and a GCI Wooden Coaster), and seeing as Silver Star is the first B&M Hyper I’ll have ridden since I last rode my current number 1 coaster Mako back in 2016 (far longer ago than the other 2), I’m particularly intrigued, excited and possibly slightly nervous to see how that one rides; it might offer an indicator of how Mako would stack up nowadays if I were to reride it. Although I’ve heard a few say that Silver Star is quite rough and has very minimal airtime, so perhaps I should expect something more along the lines of the Big One at Blackpool… who knows, really? With that being said, though, Wodan and Blue Fire also look like really fun rides, and both of them are equally exciting to me as Silver Star; who knows which one I’ll enjoy most?

I am excited about Europa as a wider park as well, though. Some of the dark rides sound really interesting, the raw size and breadth of attraction lineup is very compelling, I have high hopes for the themed areas (even though I’ll admit I’ve purposely been avoiding any overly in-depth photos of Europa, I loved the whole world-style theme of World Showcase at Epcot, which bodes very well for Europa), and I’m just generally excited to see what this iconic park is like for myself!

In regard to Rulantica; it would be a tough sell, I think. My parents have already expressed minimal desire to visit (my mum’s exact words were “water parks lose a lot of their appeal when you’re not in the tropical climate of Florida”), and seeing as we likely wouldn’t arrive at Europa until at least 6pm, probably more like 6:30pm or 7pm (flight lands at 5pm, drive time is 45 mins, and I’d assume that border control, getting off plane, picking up car etc will take at least 15 minutes, probably more like 30 minutes to an hour), and we have a dinner reservation for 7:30pm, I’m not sure we’d really have enough time to dedicate to visiting EP or Rulantica that evening. Don’t get me wrong, Rulantica looks lovely, and I don’t dislike water parks by any means, but I’m not sure that trying to fit it into the agenda for this trip is the best idea, what with the time we have and my parents’ lack of desire. I think focusing exclusively on the 3 full days in Europa itself will likely be the way we end up going.
 
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Europa is definitely not a coaster park. If it was, it would be disappointing. Silver Star is certainly not "rough" by any stretch, nothing about it is remotely rough so not sure who told you that. It's a bit underwhelming but still fun enough. Wodan is brilliant and the best coaster on park in my opinion but likely not going to be the best woodie you've ridden. Blue Fire I found quite boring. The coaster type is beautifully designed, it has all the smooth well designed goodness and theming you'd expect from it but the layout is pretty much "by the numbers". It's comfortable, smooth and enjoyable enough but just kind of does what it does and is quite forgettable for me.

But it's everything else you'll enjoy. Can Can is hilarious. Arthur is unique and immersive. Batavia is very high in quality. There's a different ride type in every corner of the park. The whole place looks superb. The service and cleanliness of everything is top notch. The food options are varied. It's an experience and you should really just go in without a list and just walk through the entrances of attractions whether you know what they are or not. Maybe have a little list of things you won't want to miss but other than that just immerse yourself and get on whatever you can. There's not a single attraction there I wouldn't recommend (I never went on Bah Bah though).

I always leave a Disney Park feeling like I've been mugged by Mickey and Goofy at gun pointoint, I leave a Merlin park feeling like I've just bought and consumed a Tesco Value lasagne. Europa is neither of these.
 
If you go with the intention of just counting coasters then you'll be disappointed. It's not that kind of park.
 
For clarity, I’m not going into Europa expecting Cedar Point or anything. And I’m not going in with credit counting as my sole intention or sole thing I’m looking forward to either.

To tell you the truth, I’m not entirely sure what to expect from Europa, but I know that the coasters aren’t the sole thing exciting me. Far from it, in fact. I’m sensing Europa will be more of a full experience park in the same sort of vein as some of my other favourites over in Florida, as opposed to a coaster park like Alton Towers, and I am looking forward to some of those elements of it. The dark rides sound great, the theming sounds great, the relaxed atmosphere sounds great, and I am looking forward to experiencing some of the more unique elements of Europa. I’m not going to Europa with credit counting as my sole intention by any means.

However, I’ll admit that I do have my sights set on getting all 12 non-kiddie credits by the end of the trip. I am a coaster counter, and I’ll digress that I’m perhaps a bit more coaster-orientated than many on here (I have my top 10 in my signature, and I have a coaster-counting site profile in there too…); this site doesn’t really seem to like coasters that much, from what I gather, whereas they’re easily my favourite type of theme park attraction, and I would like to aim to try and ride all 12 of Europa’s coasters by the end of the trip. As much as I will try to relax a little and not rush to get all the credits at once (the fact I’ve got 3 days suggests that I probably don’t need to rush, and you guys have strongly advised against rushing), coaster counting is quite a hard mindset to get out of, and my mind will be hoping to get all 12 of those credits by the end of the trip, alongside the major dark rides Piraten in Batavia and Voletarium, which I’d also like to try. And as much as people seem to be downplaying Silver Star, Blue Fire and Wodan to me, I am excited for those 3 rides, because as I said, they align perfectly ride types-wise with my current top 3 of Mako, Icon and Wicker Man.

It has to be said, though, that as much as I love a roller coaster, my park rankings would suggest that a park doesn’t need a brilliant roller coaster selection for me to really like it. My favourite park is Islands of Adventure, which it must be said didn’t have the strongest coaster selection when I last visited in 2016. However, I liked that park a lot for the overall theming and experience factor (the place just has phenomenal theming and such a brilliant atmosphere throughout) and the brilliant non-coasters on offer; this is no slight against IOA’s coasters, as I do quite like Hulk, but I’d say I love IOA in spite of its coasters as opposed to because of them, if you get what I mean. And looking at the other parks in and around my top 5, quite a few of them are more “experience”-type parks from Florida as opposed to solely coaster parks, which does make me excited for Europa. Animal Kingdom’s in the top 5 without an overly brilliant coaster selection, and Epcot, which I’m led to believe is quite Europa-like in the brilliant World Showcase section, isn’t far off the top 5 with no coasters at all! Put it this way; as much as I probably come across in this thread like a total coaster person interested in nothing else, my top 5 parks list would look very different if I rated parks solely on coaster selection.
 
rob666 said:
All this planning.
Whatever happened to spontaneity?
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It must be said, Rob, I am at heart a planner who likes to have a basic idea of what sort of things I want to do when I visit a park. And I don’t tend to visit new theme parks with a mindset of spontaneity; I usually like to go in with some sort of plan or at very least some knowledge of what I want to do. Each to their own, of course, but I think visiting a park with the mindset of complete and total spontaneity would scare me a bit, to be honest!
 
A really simple piece of advice that negates a lot of the planning is this;
See a queue that looks to be longer than half an hour, just walk away. Try again later.

I've seen Blue Fire, Wodan and sometimes the lower capacity coasters like Materhorn Blitz occasionally gain a queue during the day. But they rarely stay consistently busy.
As you are there for 3 days if you take this approach for day 1 you'll easily get an impressive ride count and explore large areas of the park. Make a mental note of any rides you miss and aim for them either on the way out of the first day or in the morning or evening of the other days.
Never worry that you've missed a credit on the first or even second day. You'll be more annoyed if you queue an hour for something only to see it's walk on an hour later, which due to the way EP can work through a queue is quite common.
 
Matt N said:
Cheers for the informative post @Gurkensalat!
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Your are welcome. I visit the park since 2016 every year and wanted to share what I had learned.

As others said, no worries, 3 days are plenty to do all the coasters several times. Even in August we manage normally around 20 attractions including 1 or 2 shows per day. Crucial is the use of the early morning time (until about 10.30h) as I said before. In this time you can make lots of rides without long waiting times. But as said, end of April should not be as full as in August, so even less a problem.

Perhaps a last word regarding food: I found most food quite good in the park except the fast food take away burgers, e.g. at Burger Bär. If you want a burger, take the time to order in the Rock cafe or Mackays (Irland), they are very good. Other good places to eat are Spices (oriental) and Fjord Restaurant (fish, Nordic); both have nice Terrasses with good views on the Fjord Rafting (another recommended ride that I forgot in my last post). Seehaus-Restaurant is also not bad and has nice view over the large lake. In Switzerland you get original Raclette. For smaller hunger I recommend Atlantica in Portugal, they have also a nice Terrasse for eating. If the park is full, best avoid the times from 11.30 to 14h because then everybody wants to eat. This time is best used eg for Silver Star or Voletarium which have less waiting time over noon.

Tim said:
A really simple piece of advice that negates a lot of the planning is this;
See a queue that looks to be longer than half an hour, just walk away. Try again later.
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Yes, excellent advice, this I also always do. And this is for the larger coasters and rides with nice waiting queues. For smaller rides my limit is rather 15 min. :)
 
Thank you all for the advice; I do really appreciate it.

To be honest, I think I’m possibly less nervous about planning Europa than these posts imply. To tell you the truth, I actually quite like planning and having some ideas before I visit a park, and having some basic ideas of what to do and what to expect is helping me feel more relaxed about Europa; I think I’m just a planner at heart. I’m trying to plan in a way that doesn’t reveal too many of the park’s surprises to me, as I get the impression some of Europa’s best elements rely on the element of surprise. I don’t even really know Europa’s park layout, to tell you the truth, and I haven’t even seen that many photos of it beyond the big coasters and hotels, so when I step into the park for the first time, I guess I’ll just turn a certain way, walk and be surprised by whatever I find! That isn’t how I’d usually approach a new park visit, but I’ve been advised numerous times now that this approach works well at Europa, so I’ll give it a whirl!

And based on how my planning for these things has usually worked; while I do of course have a plan in my head and take any advice on board, I usually end up being less regimented and plan-orientated when I actually set foot into the park itself. While still there, the plan usually dissipates to the back of my mind, and I start to enjoy the park itself as I come to it without really worrying too much about the plan. I’d hope that will be particularly apparent at Europa, as I’m spending 3 days there; it’s not like I’ll be rushed for time here. I think I’m simply coming across more neurotic about planning Europa because I’ll admit that when you’re doing internet planning, being presented with a park as huge and attraction-laden as Europa is mildly overwhelming to try and plan, even with 3 days there. I know you’re all probably laughing at me for being so neurotic, though, and I’ll probably laugh at myself when I’ve been!

When I usually visit a new park, I usually tend to have a set plan of action in my head and things I want to hit before I do anything else, but I guess I could try “going with the flow” a tad more… with 3 days, it’s not like I’ll be short of time.

Sorry to be such a pain… I guess I’m just excited, and wanting to get some very basic plans and ideas in my head. I’ll shut up now, as we’re kind of going round in circles here…
P.S. Cheers for that queue times tip @Tim; that’s a pretty handy and easy-to-remember rule of thumb for me to use that will probably save me a lot of bother! Does Europa have advertised queue times like Towers, or do I have to guess and hope for the best like at Blackpool?

Also, cheers for the food advice @Gurkensalat; we’ve been thinking about places to eat lately, so that’s good to know!
 
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Have you booked any of the hotel restaurants? It's something I would recommend discussing with your parents and booking if you haven't done already. You can book, amend and cancel them online.
 
Alsty said:
Have you booked any of the hotel restaurants? It's something I would recommend discussing with your parents and booking if you haven't done already. You can book, amend and cancel them online.
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We’ve booked the Castillo Alcazar restaurant for the night we get there, but we’re not really sure other than that. We were thinking we’d quite like to try the pizzeria in Hotel Colosseo on at least one night, but you can’t book that online.

My parents also suggested we could maybe eat in the park some days.
 
Matt N said:
Does Europa have advertised queue times like Towers, or do I have to guess and hope for the best like at Blackpool?
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The waiting times on all the major rides are shown at the entrance and mostly quite accurate. Also, I recommend downloading the app which will also show all the waiting times while you are in the park. This can be useful for deciding if it is worth it to go to another ride with shorter time. But do not overdo that because otherwise you will be running from one end of the park to the other all the time in your quest for the shortest waiting time, and that isn’t relaxing.
 
Gurkensalat said:
The waiting times on all the major rides are shown at the entrance and mostly quite accurate. Also, I recommend downloading the app which will also show all the waiting times while you are in the park. This can be useful for deciding if it is worth it to go to another ride with shorter time. But do not overdo that because otherwise you will be running from one end of the park to the other all the time in your quest for the shortest waiting time, and that isn’t relaxing.
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I take it the app could also be filtered by distance as well as wait time, right? So if I have GPS on, the app might tell me nearby rides with a short wait time a bit like Towers’ does?
 
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