On the contrary, across multiple visits, I have never experienced the above described phenomenon at Phantasialand.
Seconded. In all my years visiting I’ve only ever seen a ride close earlier than stated in two situations:
- A late in the day breakdown (though I have also seen them fix rides to keep them running after close too. I’ve been in the queue for Taron at 9pm on a 6pm close where they kept having to revive it, just to make sure the whole queue got a ride, even though it meant going down to 1 train!)
- During their 50th Anniversary where they were preparing to launch fireworks
You can take the closing time with a pinch of salt though, as traditionally they’d just put 9am - 6pm on the park literature across the board as the minimum hours. I’ve been on days advertised at 6pm where the park has closed at 7/8pm. I do note that they now say 9am - 8pm throughout summer though, so extending in peak season may be much less prominent now.
In terms of opening there is some degree of staggering. While officially everything is open at 10am, some bits open at 9am (usually around focused the entrances such as the Dampft Carousel), so aim to hit them first. Maus au Chocolat can attract bigish queues in the day, but if you hit it first thing as soon as it opens you should be fine, as I’ve seen this opening around 9:30 before.
The biggest late opener is Fantasy and Wuze Town. That whole area opens at 10am, with a rope stretched across the entrance. Aim to get to the rope for about 9:45. This means as soon as it drops you can make a b-line for Winjas, another set of rides which attracts big queues (and have a rather unpleasant queueline on a busy, hot day). If your time things right you can get on Maus around 9:30, then it’s exit puts you right by the entrance to the Fantasy area where you can wait for it to open
Queue-wise as well, Colorado Adventure is a bit of an odd one. Don’t be surprised to see the queue out of the entrance. This is mainly due to the fact the whole queueline can only hold around 15 minutes worth of guests. It often looks worse than it really is. I also thoroughly recommend trying to get on the back row. There’s no dedicated front or back row queues per-say, but people will tend to form lines for those bays. It’s well worth it at the back.
If you’re planning on riding Mystery Castle save this for later in the day. As experienced several times myself, and explained by staff, the ride tends to operate on “Misery Castle” mode in the morning, which removes the whole first half of the ride sequence and much of the theatre from it. After around 2pm the ride changes to Mystery mode, and will normally stay like that for the rest of the day.
As you’ll be getting Hotel Quick Pass you’ll be able to jump a few queues. There’s no hard and fast rule of what to use it on if you ask me, and things vary a lot there. One minute Black Mamba can be walk on, the next it has a 45/50 minute queue (though the operations on it can often be quite lax, and I’ve had it on one train more times than I care to count). Maus can be a safe bet, but like I say, if you hit it when it opens you shouldn’t need it, unless you really want to re-ride... The same goes for Winjas really, except I can actually understand wanting to re-ride those! Talocan can be worth using QP on though, as that queue always seems unpredictable.
If you’re going to do water rides I’d also suggest not leaving these too late in the day, especially if you’re travelling after park close. River Quest can absolutely drown you, and there’s nothing worse than sitting in damp clothes!
Oh, and speaking of water rides, one final thing. Don’t make the n00bs mistake of riding Wakobato hoping to get wet and cool down. That ride isn’t even worth the boggy land it’s built on.
If you have time (and you’re into that sort of thing) it’s worth checking out a couple of the shows too. The Ice Show always tends to be a good one to watch, and Musartem is rather good too (though personally I much preferred Sieben which it replaced). Jump isn’t everyone’s cup of tea (I can take or leave it) but a lot of people do seem to enjoy it. Personally I see little appeal in grown men behaving like unruly youths (good god I’m sounding old)!
Those would be my key tips based on years of visiting and being an annual passholder, but ultimately, you do you! You know your own tastes best, so focus on having a good time and getting on the rides that appeal to you the most
Phew, long post! I’ll retreat back under my Phantasialand themed rock now 
