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Planning a Phantasialand trip - any tips?

Alexsniff7

Alexsniff7

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So later this year (sep or oct) I might be heading on a solo trip to Phantasialand for my first European park but I am nervous because I have never done it before.

I want to know of any good accommodation recommendations along with how many days I should spend on the park, and just any other tips you think are helpful
 
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Alexsniff7 said:
So later this year (sep or oct) I might be heading on a solo trip to Phantasialand for my first European park but I am nervous because I have never done it before.

I want to know of any good accommodation recommendations along with how many days I should spend on the park, and just any other tip
]s you think are helpful
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I’ll be following this thread with interest, I’ve got my first ever trip to Phantasialand coming up at the start of October and as a solo trip as well. For accommodation I’ve booked in to Hotel am Stern in Bruhl. Was the cheapest place I could find for a solo traveler and breakfast included as well. I’ve got two days booked at the park, I think that should give enough time for lots of rerides and to enjoy the park at a nice pace hopefully.
 
If you've never visited before you'll want two full days at the park to allow for time to explore and re-ride things as much as possible.

Getting to the park on public transport you can get the tram or train from central Cologne (there's a direct train to there from the airport) then get off at the relevant station in Bruhl and get the shuttle bus to the park. There'll be a Phantasialand themed bus stop to stand and wait at.

For accommodation if you're doing multiple days you'll want to stay in Bruhl. I've previously stayed at the H+ Hotel which is a short 20 minute walk to the park, that'll include breakfast and they have a nice bar which serves food in the evening.

However the park themselves also have three hotels, I've stayed in Charles Lindbergh and Matamba and both are beautifully themed experiences. They can be expensive but I'd still reccomend checking the three of them as staying the one night might be the easiest option. Plus they do have off peak deals and you can buy a 2 day ticket from the park also.
Lindbergh is expensive but you're getting 2 days park entry, 2x FLY fast tracks, an evening meal, and breakfast the next day. Plus access to the bar, and Rookburgh itself after park close so you can walk around and take in the ambience.
 
John’s post above has explained it very well. But as a solo trip you shouldn’t have any worries at all.

I’d also recommend at least a couple of days at the park, with maybe another day tagged on to explore Cologne.

Presuming you will be flying into Cologne Airport, if you then take train into Cologne centre itself that offers an array of options of accommodation if you wanted to commute to Phantasialand each day.

But if you wish to stay closer to the park you will need to look at staying either onsite at a Phantasialand hotel or in Brühl itself. Brühl is easy enough to travel to from Cologne by either tram to Brühl Mitte, or you can take the train to Brühl and walk through the Schlösser Brühl castle grounds into the town.

I’ve also stayed at the H+ Hotel Köln Brühl and then taken the uphill walk to the park, but there are cheaper options in the centre of Brühl, which you would then use the dedicated shuttle bus to travel to/from the park on.

If you can stay onsite the Hotel Charles Lindbergh is amazing. As again mentioned above the offpeak two day package worked out great value for us.
 
IDB said:
John’s post above has explained it very well. But as a solo trip you shouldn’t have any worries at all.

I’d also recommend at least a couple of days at the park, with maybe another day tagged on to explore Cologne.

Presuming you will be flying into Cologne Airport, if you then take train into Cologne centre itself that offers an array of options of accommodation if you wanted to commute to Phantasialand each day.

But if you wish to stay closer to the park you will need to look at staying either onsite at a Phantasialand hotel or in Brühl itself. Brühl is easy enough to travel to from Cologne by either tram to Brühl Mitte, or you can take the train to Brühl and walk through the Schlösser Brühl castle grounds into the town.

I’ve also stayed at the H+ Hotel Köln Brühl and then taken the uphill walk to the park, but there are cheaper options in the centre of Brühl, which you would then use the dedicated shuttle bus to travel to/from the park on.

If you can stay onsite the Hotel Charles Lindbergh is amazing. As again mentioned above the offpeak two day package worked out great value for us.
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how much was the off peak package? Whenever I look at Charles Lindbergh it's always very expensive
 
I thought fantissima was really excellent if you are interested in that kind of thing. Do consider it for one of the evenings.
 
Jumping on this thread as I have a couple questions for a first time trip coming up. I believe we'll be staying at the H+ hotel in Brühl. Going on a Monday in September so hopefully the crowds should be pretty light.

1: Is there a recommended plan of attack for non-hotel guests? I suppose head straight to FLY in the morning, but maybe the queue is worst then and it lightens up a bit later in the day? I'm only going one day so any amount of queue for FLY and Taron is fine with me, but would prefer to minimize waiting if possible

2: Is there an easy taxi stand at Phantasialand for the end of the evening?

3: Best food in the park?
 
Llama said:
3: Best food in the park?
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Rutmor’s Taverne! Situated in the Klugheim area, but make sure to get there as close to it opening for the day as possible, as it is very popular whilst not having many covers.
 
The square pizzas served near Wellenflug are good too if you want to grab and go, as is the kiosk near FLY
 
I did exactly this as my first solo trip last September, so I hope I can be somewhat useful.
I found the cheapest accommodation was an AirBnB in Brühl. I know there’s issues with AirBnB but for a solo traveller it often works out as very cheap. I paid ~€90 for three nights.

I was pleasantly surprised by Brühl, it’s a sleepy commuter suburb with lots of food options and quiet verdant streets. The shuttle bus station was only a 10 minute walk from my AirBnB.

As for the park itself, I don’t think there’s a particularly good or bad way to approach it, particularly when it’s off-peak. What I would say is that all of the park (except fantasy) opens up before the rides do, so it’s worth getting to the park a bit early to absorb the atmosphere, ride the chair-o-plane and start hovering outside the entrance of one of the big rides. I’d recommend two days in case of downtime, but truthfully you can ride all the biggest attractions comfortably in one day if it’s quiet.

The best food I found to be the jambalaya in Africa, which made a nice change from the greasy stuff we’re used to in the UK.
 
Burbs said:
Rutmor’s Taverne! Situated in the Klugheim area, but make sure to get there as close to it opening for the day as possible, as it is very popular whilst not having many covers.
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And if you can't get in to Rutmor's, the tapas restaurant by Chiapas is also excellent.
 
Another vote for Rutmors Tavern, though I loved the restaurant in Rookburgh from memory it's a bit pricey for lunch.

Last season they were still opening the park about 9am with the majority of the rides opening at 10am. (regular season). If you use the main entrance that'll put you closest to FLY.

I'd heard the single rider queue for Taron was back open now as well so that'll help with that.

One other thing is monitor the queue closing times as they'll usually be shutting the queues of the bigger rides probably 30 minutes before park close.
 
I’ve just got a couple of quick questions that hopefully you guys can help me with.

Which rides currently have single rider queues? I think it’s been mentioned that Taron has one but does F.L.Y have one as well?

Also, how wet should I expect to get on Chiapas and River Quest, are they proper Stormforce 10 style soakers?
 
Hmmm I can't actually recall if Fly has a single rider queue. I'm sure someone else will know for sure though.

Chiapas you can get fairly wet on, but it's not a complete soaker. River Quest all comes down to luck, last year I came off sodden from head to toe and went back to our hotel to change my clothes.
 
F.L.Y. does not currently have a single rider queue. It looks like there's a spot for one, as there are four individual queues now but they only use three up until the wristband distribution (hotel guests, front row, all other rows). Taron does, and I think Chiapas has one as well.

As for the water rides, I think it's a bit of a gamble in both cases. On Chiapas the bottom of the boat can fill with water, which then sloshes back and forth throughout the ride, so if your feet are on the floor they can be properly soaked. I avoided that on my last ride but still got off soaking wet from the rest of the ride.

River Quest is also a gamble (they have signs at the entrance comparing it to "Russian roulette"). I rode once and got mildly splashed, while the person in the next seat over was fully drenched, like soaking wet head to toe, just after the first rapids.
 
Are the front row queues back open again for Taron and Fly? I last went when Covid restrictions were in place and you could not choose your own row.
 
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