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Phantasialand: General Discussion

I'm afraid I've come across a similar problem in Germany - what's on the menu is what you get and that is non-negotiable.

It was frustrating in Spirit of St Louis to have a conversation with the chef and be told that none of the meals on the menu could be adapted to be made gluten-free. Something as simple as taking the croutons off a Caesar salad apparently isn't doable apparently!

To be fair, since Phantasialand refuses to make reasonable accommodations for common disabilities, it's not really surprising that they would refuse to do the same for dietary requirements as well.

It's a great park, but the inflexibility is a barrier to making it a part of any of my trip plans in 2026 or beyond (that and the lack of any significant new attractions since 2022...)
 
Its one of the positive problems of living in the UK in that there is usually fairly decent level of accommodation for disabilities and allergens, so you get used to it.

A lot of countries have a long way to go sadly. It’s why Mrs doesn't want to go back to Phantasialand.
 
I think some European countries do just have a different cultural attitude to these things to us.

Whereas the UK is quite accommodating and willing to mould to people’s differences, I think some countries are a bit more “if you don’t like it, tough luck” in their general attitude.
 
Matt N said:
I think some European countries do just have a different cultural attitude to these things to us.

Whereas the UK is quite accommodating and willing to mould to people’s differences, I think some countries are a bit more “if you don’t like it, tough luck” in their general attitude.
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To be precise, there's a difference between "not liking it" and "if I eat this I'll vomit all over your shiny polished floor".

But I get what you mean. In the UK, if you have a disability or dietary need, the onus is on the service provider to meet your needs. In Germany it feels more as though the onus is on you to go along with the norm as best you can. Can't eat anything off our menu? Go somewhere different. Can't stand in a queue? Don't ride then. Your problem not ours.

I would point out that the UK had very similar attitudes as recently as 10-15 years ago.
 
NuttySquirrel said:
In the UK, if you have a disability or dietary need, the onus is on the service provider to meet your needs. In Germany it feels more as though the onus is on you to go along with the norm as best you can. Can't eat anything off our menu? Go somewhere different. Can't stand in a queue? Don't ride then. Your problem not ours.
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I live in Germany, albeit without much in the way of specific dietary or health requirements, and can confirm that this is the case.

For all of it's many faults, the UK is, in comparison ,a hugely progressive society when it comes to meeting diverse needs. And while the standard of living in Germany is altogether higher on a collective level, it is ultimately a fundamentally more conservative society. Still, things are undoubtedly changing as they did in the UK, just not as rapidly as a more progressive person might hope. And probably even more slowly at Phantasialand.
 
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Plastic Person said:
I live in Germany, albeit without much in the way of specific dietary or health requirements, and can confirm that this is the case.

For all of it's many faults, the UK is, in comparison ,a hugely progressive society when it comes to meeting diverse needs. And while the standard of living in Germany is altogether higher on a collective level, it is ultimately a fundamentally more conservative society. Still, things are undoubtedly changing as they did in the UK, just not as rapidly as a more progressive person might hope. And probably even more slowly at Phantasialand.
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This was certainly our experience on our visit but overall I didn’t have too much of a problem with it. The disabled accessibility (or lack of) was advertised (and clarified upon request) and we built our trip around it.

This made it incredibly expensive compared to anywhere else we’ve visited as we had to book accommodation that included fast track but that was our choice, it was that or don’t visit.

Admittedly it’s easier to swallow when it’s a special trip compared to somewhere we visit regularly. Hopefully they can make progress in this regard over time without descending into the Merlin RAP farce which I’d argue is too far in the other direction but that’s for another thread.

I am still somewhat annoyed by the sheer lack of compassion and adherence to arbitrary rules though. I think I regaled at the time how we were forced to use the lengthy FLY queue rather than the short FastTrack despite both being empty up to the merge point. In fairness that could have been individual discretion and could easily happen at any park (eg Nemesis which I believe is comparable) so perhaps I should get over it 😂
 
Bowser said:
I am still somewhat annoyed by the sheer lack of compassion and adherence to arbitrary rules though. I think I regaled at the time how we were forced to use the lengthy FLY queue rather than the short FastTrack despite both being empty up to the merge point. In fairness that could have been individual discretion and could easily happen at any park (eg Nemesis which I believe is comparable) so perhaps I should get over it 😂
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Sorry, I’m confused. You were trying to use the fastrack lane for FLY when you didn’t have fastrack. Of course you weren’t allowed to do so if you didn’t have fastrack, regardless of if there was a queue or not.

You would have experienced the exact thing at any UK theme park, or anywhere in the world for that matter.

I previously worked at two different UK theme parks and there’s no way we’d have allowed you to use the fastrack lanes without a fastrack ticket, even if the queue was empty. If our managers saw us allowing that, they’d have definitely pulled us up on it, even the more relaxed managers. Many of the guests would also call the staff out for it, if they’d just walked through the entire queue line, only to see you jumping ahead of them.

Yes ok there may be one or two staff members who might allow it, but the vast majority wouldn’t, and if their managers caught them doing it, there’s no way they’d have turned a blind eye.
 
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Bowser said:
I am still somewhat annoyed by the sheer lack of compassion and adherence to arbitrary rules though. I think I regaled at the time how we were forced to use the lengthy FLY queue rather than the short FastTrack despite both being empty up to the merge point. In fairness that could have been individual discretion and could easily happen at any park (eg Nemesis which I believe is comparable) so perhaps I should get over it 😂
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Arbitrary rules are usually less arbitrary if you think about it for two seconds. Like if people are walking into the main entrance why are you allowed to skip that and get ahead of them. So maybe you say it's quiet so everyone should use the fast track entrance but then it's getting busier and the line goes past the split, now someone has to manage when to send people back to the main entrance and sort people out at the split point and in the mean time people with fast track are blocked by other people getting stuck in the fast track queue. Alternatively, no one can use fast track queue unless they have fast track, simple.

But I can sympathise that queue is sooooo long. I remember walking through it at opening the first day, the lot of us from the hotel stomping through passages, across bridges, around in a circle, up the stairs, down the stairs, up more stairs, down even more stairs. I'd like to know how long it actually takes, it'd really benefit from a shortcut at the point where you cross over/under the earlier queue line.
 
coastercoaster said:
Arbitrary rules are usually less arbitrary if you think about it for two seconds. Like if people are walking into the main entrance why are you allowed to skip that and get ahead of them. So maybe you say it's quiet so everyone should use the fast track entrance but then it's getting busier and the line goes past the split, now someone has to manage when to send people back to the main entrance and sort people out at the split point and in the mean time people with fast track are blocked by other people getting stuck in the fast track queue. Alternatively, no one can use fast track queue unless they have fast track, simple.

But I can sympathise that queue is sooooo long. I remember walking through it at opening the first day, the lot of us from the hotel stomping through passages, across bridges, around in a circle, up the stairs, down the stairs, up more stairs, down even more stairs. I'd like to know how long it actually takes, it'd really benefit from a shortcut at the point where you cross over/under the earlier queue line.
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I wonder what the longest that queue has been. There must be several hours worth of potential line there. And it is a wonderfully designed queue as far as queues go!

I do see your point and have thought about it for more than 2 seconds i assure you. We were seeking an exemption for a disability in the circumstances, not proposing everyone use the FT entrance when quiet, so i'd hope anyone who did see (not that that would be possible) would have been empathetic too. It wasn't a point i contested with the host.
 
They don't want people with physical disabilities to ride FLY at all, so in that sense the queue line is almost an eligibility test.

Some of us queued out the entrance during covid but people were a bit more spread out back then so I think it was only about 90min. They'd put tape markings running out the area and down the main street wrapping round Wellenflug but I don't think the queue stretched out of Rookburgh when we were there.

I've always felt that with Fly's queue line that they overcompensated after screwing up so badly with Taron's but at least that one can be adjusted for crowd levels so you rarely have to walk all of it unnecessarily
 
Phantasialand’s ops director teasing an announcement re: Wuze Town in 10 days:

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Visited Phantasialand for Wintertraum on 28/29 December.

The Berlin area of the park is lit up beautifully at night. Liking all the new buildings and improvements to certain areas to give a more cohesive feel. Found many new untrodden paths, couple of which helped escape some of the crowds exiting at end of day.

Ate in the restaurant in Rookburgh, had a delicious Steak Burger. Also got chatting to an English family who were sat next to us after we heard them mention Europa Park. They were also planning to visit for New Year as we were, and indeed, we did bump in to them near Arthur a few days later. Rutmor's Tavern following day was equally enjoyable but a bit chilly as we were sat right by the door.

Didn't bother with Chiapas, it was way too cold.

Generally operations did seem pretty good.

I had noticed a few days before that the 'Sorry, The Dragon Bar is currently closed' was no longer being displayed on the website. Sadly never got to check if it was actually open as we were not stopping on resort this time and never got round to venturing in to the hotels, instead heading off after park close and spend as little more time as possible outside. Last time I went to this bar was in 2017. Every subsequent visit since then its been closed.

Nice to see that rides tend to close with park close now, though Taron was closing 30 minutes earlier.

Overall very enjoyable, but a few negatives :

We were unable to board the first bus of the day at Bruhl station on 28th. Only let about 10 people on and the rest, of which there were many had to wait 30 minutes for the next bus, by which time many had sauntered off for alternative transport, IE local bus, Taxi. Of course, the next bus then got caught in traffic going in to Phantasialand, and took 45 minutes, meaning we didn't get to park until 12pm as opposed to 10:45 had we been on the first bus. Maybe need to run additional busses in the morning? They seemed to do it in the evening after park close.

It got very crowded on the first day, not so bad on second day, but it does take to overall experience down a notch or two.

Whilst not a massive negative, more of an observation, the queue times advertised still feel like they think of a number and stick it on the screen. Black mamba advertised at 45 mins, we waited 5. Fly at 30, waited 5. Colorado Adventure 45, waited 30. Following day, Black Mamba 20, waited 40. Fly 30, waited 70. Colorado 45 waited 15. Talocan 25, walk on.

Lots of Quick Pass being sold. Big queues at Guest services in Berlin and another outlet selling them. At one time these were pretty much a dirty secret. The Taron quick pass queue was spilling out of the entrance at one point.
 
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