Your development timeline

[AstroDan]

Many of us here love Europa-Park. I am happy that TowersStreet is one of the best places on the internet to find out about the park. In fact, I would even argue that on some occasions, we're quicker with the latest gossip than even some of the German forums! So yeah... go us.

This topic is just a bit of fun really. Plus it is half term and I have no marking to do.

In a realistic world, what would you do between 2016 and 2022 at Europa-Park? You need to keep in mind that there should be a water park and hotel opening around 2018. We know that EP like to invest, so do the hard work for them and let them know what to do!

Here is mine! I have indicated whether investment in the park is S/M/L/XL. Small would be under €10m, Medium €10-20m, Large €20-30m, Extra Large €30m+. With EP, I generally work on the basis that they will invest in a large ride (i.e. Blue Fire scale or Arthur scale) every 3 years on average.

2016: Large
B&M Flying Coaster behind Poseidon, themed around the Romanian legend... Dracula. This project represents the first phase in a 4-year Romania project.

2017: Medium
Romanian themed area built around the new wing coaster including new large restaurant and shops
Euro-Mir queueline fully refurbished
Eurosat refurbished

2018: Extra Large
Waterpark opens
Hotel opens adjacent to waterpark
New large show venue opens in Romanian themed area
Full refurbishment to existing show venues
Major re-launch of park shows

2019: Medium
New major family/thrill dark ride opens in Romania (modern technology, screens and audio-animatronics)

2020: Small
Complete refresh of the Viking/kids area. Replace some of the smaller rides with more modern kids attractions and a small kids dark ride. Overhaul of the show venue in the area, too. Focus on experience for the 45th birthday.

2021: Large
New two star themed hotel at the Camp Resort along with new facilities.
New slide added to the water park.
Portuguese themed area expanded with new small family ride.

2022: Large
Major new coaster from Mack. Ride will go from behind Gazprom hall along perimeter road and be the tallest coaster in the park with loops and multiple launches.

 

[Rob]

Good topic! Going to try and do my plan without it being too similar to Dan's which will be hard as a lot of what he says makes very good sense for the park.

2016: Large (mostly thrill)

• Start of major theme park expansion 1, Project Hora
• B&M launched wing coaster behind Greece. This would mark the start of a new area themed around Romania. Done in a similar syle to Wodan with a more mythological style utilising Dracula. Associated building to go alongside the new coaster including a shop and small eatery. The are would be small initially.
• Removal of the horrendous indoor kids play area in Portugal; replaced with a lovely Portugese restaurant.
• Addition of second Poppy Tower in Arthur dome if not already happened.

2017: Medium (family/kids)

• Expansion of Romaia to full country/area scale. Main area more 'authentic' than the mythologically themed coaster. Expansion would include a larger restaurant, more shops, some form of indoor walkthrough and a small family friendly flat/circular ride.

2018: Small Park/Large Resort (family/general)

• Waterpark and associated hotel open
• Revamp of ticketing system to coincide with second gate - all park turnstiles replaced
• Revamp/refurb of Russian area including a new Euro Mir queue. This would include a football festival in the summer for the World Cup, hosted by Russia

2019: Medium (family thrill)

• Dark ride added to Romania, something along the lines of DarKastle at BGW
• Refurb of Pirates in Batavia

2020: Small (kids)

• Revamp of Children's World including a small entry level kids coaster (i.e. smaller than Pegasus). Revamp would be very sensitive due to proximity to Rust
• New Europa Park Museum added to celebrata the park's 45th anniversary

2021: Large (family)

• 'Budget' hotel added near camp resort
• New large show venue added, potentially to Romania (end of Project Hora)
• Some form of waterpark expansion
• New boat ride on the lake where Jungle Rafting currently is

2022: Large (thrill)

• Start of major theme park expansion 2, Project Limerick
• New Mack inverted coaster behind Blue Fire to form the start of an Irish theme area. Station to be themed as a large Irish castle

I think that plan would work pretty well! I also think reality will be somewhat different to that for various reasons. The Mack family will have their own ideas and there about bound to be many surprises between now and 2022 as well as new innovations in the area.

If money dries up then there is a second option I have:

2016: Large

• SEND... IN.... THE BULLDOZERS!!!

 

[AstroDan]

Haha! Bulldozers ftl!

If anything ever destroys Europa-Park it will be the marauding Bison.

 

[siralgenon]

I can deal with a bulldozer!

 

[Sam]

I can deal with a bulldozer!

A wit.

I love 10-year-plan topics. Here's mine. It's not really my prediction of what I think will happen, as I believe Roland has already said 2016 will be a high investment year. It's more of a vision of a possible reality, hopefully as accurate as possible.

2016: Medium
Minor expansion of the Portuguese area underneath Atlantica including a new restaurant near the new stables.
New children's rollercoaster (like Octonauts or Troublesome Trucks) in the expanded Portugal under ASS as this is the one level of coaster the park sorely lacks.
Redesign of Feria Swing along the lines of the current renovation of Columbus.
Renovation of the 'Shopping Passage' with it's shop replaced by a glitzy new fashion outlet to tie into the 'Fashion World' area.
Refurbishment of Schweizer Bobbahn with new theming elements added including sensors and large displays in the long brake runs to show the time of the lap compared to the average and the quickest time that day/week/year. One of the helixes is completely enclosed with new lighting effects and fog like an ice cave.

2017: Major
New Megacoaster from Mack themed around Ottoman-era Turkey.located in the southern part of the free land east of Poseidon. The station would be a decadent Constantinople-era palace. The coaster would have a lift-hill of around 150ft and would then have an airtime-filled layout, running over rooftops and diving down through impossibly tight passages, before finishing with a horseshoe roll and an indoor 'secret' in-line twist before the station. Think elements of Cheetah Hunt combined with Alpina Blitz. The entrance to the coaster would be via a new pathway constructed from near the balloon ride. The coaster is a sandy-yellow.

2018: Medium
Enhancements to Turkish area to 'fill-in' buildings that weren't designed to interact with the coaster directly, and to allow guests to walk through the higgledey-piggledey streets of the new area.
Two medium-sized new restaurants open, one selling Turkish cuisine and the other a more family-friendly mix of different world foods.
A new walk-through opens on the second floor of many of the buildings, joined by bridges over the streets below, with scenes and animatronics similar to Le Passage Enchanté d'Aladdin at Disneyland Paris.
A new shop opens at the exit of the coaster, themed to a grand Istanbul bazaar, selling merchandise for the ride/area as well as beautiful Islamic-inspired objects made by craftsmen at work in the area. These craftsmen work in small workshops open to guests like in Russia.
New small stage at the northern edge of the Turkey area.
New 4D film in the Magic Cinema.

2019: Small (on park)
Waterpark and hotel open
Bench re-themed to German children's IP with a similar budget to Piccalo Mondo.

2020: Medium (45th birthday)
Removal of Jungle Rafting and nearby information point and ATM
Creation of a new limestone boulevard by the newly cleared lakeside, similar to Efteling's construction around Aquanura and Universal's around the lake at Harry Potter Diagon Alley.
Addition of a small permanent fountain show with regular performances throughout the day, similar to the fountains outside Bell Rock
Re-theme of both African Queen boats to a more simple, slightly fairytale look.
End of 'Adventure Land' area leaving the Colonial House as a lone feature.
Refurbishment of ice show arena and the Spanish arena with luxurious new finishes and new styles of shows.
Addition of a small new children's flat ride in the area left of the entrance to the Arthur hall.

2021: Medium
Complete re-design of EuroMir's queue-line, the first part of a major re-design of the ride over two parts. Second part to take place in 2023
EuroSat 2. All new track and a new layout, with a more exciting middle-half. New trains with high-tech effects on the lift and an expanded, world-class station with HD video behind windows as if the station is floating in space. This would include moving the outdoor queue-line to a new upper level on what is now a balcony over the ride entrance, and having everyone enter the ride up the escalator immediately.
Refurbishments of the Italian theatre and the Globe theatre with a new style of show in the Globe.
Demolition of stage in front of EuroSat to open up that by-now overly congested boulevard.
Refurbishments and 'plussing' of Pegasus, with new queue alterations made to accommodate a large new thoroughfare built towards 2022's addition.

Original Sat concept art serves as the inspiration for raising the queue a level.

2022: Large
New area north of Turkey themed to Croatia, specifically the old walled city of Dubrovnik. This area would be constructed with a new water ride running around it like a moat, with bridges and tunnels for guests to access the walled city in the middle. The ride would be the prototype river rafting ride shown off at PA. In the middle of the ride would be the new area, a fortified city full of red-roofed stone buildings. This would have an organic feel to it, with plenty of chances for guests to get lost amid cobbled streets and a seemingly random topography. There would be a handful of new shops, a small museum about Croatia and bespoke small restaurants. There would also be space left in a large empty building for a small new attraction like a cinema show or a little children's dark ride.

There we go, that took me a while. The spending might seem a little high but I've thought back and remembered all the years that we've thought the park were spending quite a lot, and then they announce three or four more little projects on top of that and surprise us even more, like this year.

 

[Gurkensalat]

Interesting to read in retrospect. On the whole perhaps a bit too optimistic, even not taking the fire and Covid into account which changed a lot, of course. Things often take more time than it seems.

Perhaps we could continue now for 2023 to 2030 and further?

my take:

2023: new coaster and Croatia part 1; use of Blue Fire hall for Yullbe (like Arena of Football now)

2024: Croatia part 2 with a rocking boat ride and a new theater location; ongoing retheming of Geisterschloss

2025: Tacumeon gameplay theater in the Historama (Amber Blake chase through Luxembourg??); new Voletarium movie (Flight to the jungle in the ice, see the ACE children's book)

2026: Retracking/Retheming of Euro-mir; connection between Croatia and Island behind Euro-mir

2027: New area adjacent to Croatia: Romania with castle and Dracula theming including trackless dark ride or flying coaster with dark ride parts like Arthur (alternative possible theming: Happy family, if the brand is still active then). Integrating Traumatica/Halloween event

2028: Romania part 2 with themed and housed free fall tower like Tower of Terror/Mystery Castle (Phantasialand). Maybe also an integrated new hotel.

2029: Expansion of Britain on the area between England and Ireland: Scotland – or if I get totally crazy, Harry Potter (I know, licences...)

2030: Parking lot becomes 3-storied parking integrated with Silver Star, showing Formula 1 theming on the roof; Silver Star gets its own area "Monaco".

2031: Extension of Voletarium area into the VIP parking area, perhaps with a restaurant or hotel offering exclusive access to Voletarium area before and after hours?