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Trip Planning 2023/24: Information, advice and questions!

If going for a hire car I'd recommend using a comparison like Rhino Car Hire. Using this and Perks at Work through my work saved me shedloads so worth checking if your work offers benefits.
 
I’ve flown in/out of Basel twice and used public transport to travel to and from Europa Park.

The German Regional (cheaper) trains which run up to Ringsheim usually start from Basel Badischer Bahnhof, which you can reach easily on a tram from outside Basel SBB (where the airport shuttle bus drops off)

The only issue I’ve had with Basel is dependant on your arrival/departure flight times I’ve had to stay overnight in a Basel hotel before then travelling up to Europa-Park on an early train.

Now Basel/Switzerland isn’t a cheap place to stay, eat / drink at all.

If I was to do the journey again and require an overnight stay, I’d consider travelling the short distance by tram into Germany and get a hotel near Weil am Rhein, which is only one stop up the line from Basel Bad. Then continue my journey up to Europa Park from there.
 
We always find Basel one of the easiest airports for hiring a car - specifically renting from the French side. Prices used to be very reasonable, albeit they’ve jumped like everywhere else since Covid.

Price per person is obviously going to be very dependent on how many there are of you travelling. The more going, the cheaper car hire/private transfers work out.
 
Car hire from Basel is also really easy, the desks are just as you come out the security, and the cars are parked just outside the airport, you also drop them off in the same place. Which makes it really quick and easy, compared to some airports where there is a fair walk or even bus to drop/pick up your cars.
 
The Silver Lake Saloon website says that the EP express runs until 9pm, but from searching this forum it seems like it's more like 11pm or midnight? Is there an official right answer? Asking in terms of getting back to the main hotels after having dinner there.
 
It was running until about midnight when we were there but it was Traumatica. Maybe ping them a tweet or email for exact times?
 
We ridden it gone 10pm back in April, something to bear in mind if it's anyones first time, is the stairs to the monorail station maybe locked but there is an elevator with an intercom where you can speak to the driver who when he arrives opens the doors to the elevator and then drives you back to your hotel absolutely incredible service! We only discovered it by chance after remembering the hotel receptionist mentioned something about pushing a button to call for the monorail. In all honesty it took us a little while to find said button but were mightily relieved when we did as the thought of more walking after a busy day on park wouldn't of gone down well.
 
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Something to note: sometimes you have to have an argument with them to actually send the monorail round. It's also not often that the staff operating it speak English, and over the intercom German can be even more difficult to understand. If you just utter something along the lines of "camp resort to Bell Rock/whichever hotel you're in", you should be good.
 
Does the EP Express not get busy, then? I didn’t use it at all on my visit earlier this year, but I assumed it would be like Towers’ Monorail, which is very popular indeed!
 
Does the EP Express not get busy, then? I didn’t use it at all on my visit earlier this year, but I assumed it would be like Towers’ Monorail, which is very popular indeed!

This is after park hours, mainly for hotel guests using the cinema in France I believe, not for normal daytime operation.

Onsite guests can also use it for travel between hotels and Camp Resort but it requires use of the intercom as explained above.
 
Does the EP Express not get busy, then? I didn’t use it at all on my visit earlier this year, but I assumed it would be like Towers’ Monorail, which is very popular indeed!
If you call the EP Express from the entrance after an evening at Silver Lake Saloon you'll probably find you're the only person on the train.
 
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Is there a guide or anything to going to Europa by train (from Dudley/Birmingham area)? Considering going on an adventure for a couple of nights in the next few months but never been there before and I don't usually use trains. Happy with a budget hotel as long as there is reasonable transport to Europa from there. Not looking to spend a fortune but happy to spend where it's genuinely worth it. Cheers :)
Currently heading back to the UK via Paris after doing EP and Phantasialand via train. Planning on writing something up in more detail in the next week or so, but give me a shout if you need a hand with anything. It's not really THAT much of a pain to book, fairly easy with English booking websites for all trains available :)
 
Apologies for the many small questions (though I suppose that's what this thread is for) but I try to prepare everything in advance so I can, to paraphrase Walt Disney, turn my brain off when I'm actually at the park...

I remember several times seeing a chart showing the combinations of button presses you could use on Arthur to change the direction your car faces during the outside section, but after a half hour of searching I'm only finding references to the fact that you can do such a thing, and not the instructions on how to do it. In searching for the info I found a tweet from the official account about how the buttons can also be used during the climax scene. Does anyone have the chart with the combinations off hand?
 
First I've heard of this however on most of my recent visits I've found the button to be unusable anyway as a lot of them are broken/jammed.
 
I don’t know what the combination is but I find the less you press the button, the more likely you are to face forwards. You are of course also dependent upon what others on your row do.
 
Ok, I managed to find it (in German) on the EP Board. I remember another post with 8 total combinations, but this one lists 5, with the source as the park's official social media page. Translated:

All buttons of a gondola are added together, after 5 it starts again at 0.

0x pressure: 0°, visibility straight ahead
1x Press: Seatshaker permanently on and 0°
2x press: Original turning program - i.e. 90° to the left
3x press: 45° to the left
4x press: 135° to the left
5x press: 180° to the left, drive backwards
 
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