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Part 4: Europa Park day 2 concluded: Traumatica so Traumatica is a separately ticketed event that is attached to the park, and in 2024 included parts of the park that allowed two coasters to operate (Pegasus and Matterhorn blitz) as well as the Kassandra's Kurse madhouse, that ran with a graphic horror overlay via VR goggles. There was also a brand new VR ride in a tent that had lots of effects, love music and performances, a large bar area with food stands, and the marquee attractions are the 6 Haunts that are long, and detailed and the good ones are REALLY REALLY good. oh. .and there's an added attraction where you can ask for a glow necklace, and that gives the scare actors permission for physical contact. Yeah. it blew USA haunts out of the water. no pictures allowed in the houses, but I can say that my favorite was probably the Circus themed one where it climaxed in a giant big top with 8 entrances/exits that looked exactly the same but only one of them led out. the rest of them either looped back into the center of the tent, or dead ended. Meanwhile the ringmaster clown stood on a pedestal in the center, twirling around and yelling at you in German. seriously, some folks were stuck in that house for a good 15-20 minutes trying to find their way out. others had some great ideas - like the zombie attack one, where you were sent thru in groups of 4-6 with laser guns, and you had to shoot them so they don't attack you in the giant murder dome. or an elevator that transports you thru the 13 levels of an office building that has descended to hell. they were all decent, and honestly the only one I didn't care much for was "the Hill". . which was a very long, outdoors in the woods, scare maze with spirits , ghosts, and spooks. it didn't' do much for me, but that could have been because it was all outside with a lot of uneven walking surfaces in the dark. still. . .excellent event. here are lots of pics from it to end our stay at Europa Park! the whole site has a spooky and creepy atmosphere. and the haunts are most all really impressive looking. Tarot House was another favorite of mine (one the left) as was the theming in Cinema Macabre (off shot on the right, tho the queue line is there) ' this is Wakala. . he's kinda the mascot of Traumatica, and I ended up buying quite a bit of merch with him on it. the main stage, that hosted sideshow acts, as well as band performances thruout the event. random ghouls all thruout the crowd, providing jumpscares, even if not in the houses. Wakala wandering Cinema Macabre obscured by smoke, as seen from the Tarot House queue Silver Star behind the trees. . to give you an idea where we are in relation to the park notice a glow necklace or two in the queue line. . means they are ok with being touched. one of the Traumatica Event managers. . she was very very cool, and I enjoyed chatting with her and telling her how much I was enjoying the event walking around with an active torch light.. that was shooting sparks everywhere. no way in USA. . but VERY cool here. Hans has made it to the Bar area even tho outdoors? very well done. more TPR folks joined Hans! Andrew goes "Rarrrrrrrgh" Jon making the long walk into up the queue (we had quick queue thank goodness, on the left is the stand by line) for the outdoor haunt int he woods. this one is so far up and out, you get a great view of Blue Fire from the Haunt. that polka dot tent beneath us is that big top with the multiple ins/outs, as you can see from the fabric-ed off paths to confuse everyone. TPR found Wakala! Grim's Funhouse was another really well done house. . with some great props inside. not part of the event (at least not in 2024), but a great view of Voltron. .and one would go this way for the VR ride, and to access the rides that were available in the park Jon enjoying spiraled potato at the Traumatica food court/bar area lots of photo ops around here too. it really is a fantastic event, and highly recommended the temps were really starting to drop.. . so the crowds were starting to thin. myself? I headed to the merch tent and ended up spending way too much money, but I did get a Traumatica jean jacket that I wore the whole rest of the trip, and still wear pretty often. so it was a great buy but then it was time to monorail back to the hotel and pack up. we were headed out tomorrow morning to continue the Oktoberfest trip. eventual final destination? Phantasialand.

Part 3: Europa Park day 2 Continued: with less of a crowd up here, as it wasn't opening time now, I was able to get closer to the Berlin Wall pieces and read the history of the display and snap a couple more pics of Silver Star doing it's thing although I didn't go out the main gate completely, I believe that's the Monorail station there on the left. I absolutely adore this statue. . . Viewed from the front: but if you look at it the other direction? I need to find a small model of this, as I'd love to have it. headed back towards the gardens/restaurant, as we had to meet in about 20 minutes, I stumbled across this behind a "storefront" on the main street. the Mack museum! with all kinds of history of the park, awards they've won, patents, and design concepts for the park. very, very interesting, and I was the only one in there! (as I had been in the mask museum too) as I was about to head out, I heard some commotion from outside. so stepped out and was treated to: the clock going off, and doing a presentation, that I hadn't even realized was an option here back inside for a couple more pics then on my way back over to the restaurant here's the full menu I ended up having the "Baden" set menu, and it was all excellent (tho the service was kind of a mess. (I think we confused them since we all ordered separately) cream of pumpkin soup (so good) pork shoulder and potatoes and apple bread pudding with black forest cherries. after our meal, I took a quick look around the rest of the restaurant, as it really was in theme as a Medieval home after finishing up eating, it was getting pretty late in the day, and we decided to head back to the hotel to change for Traumatica - which happened starting at 7pm since we hadn't yet taken the "big" monrail, we headed up to that station near Germany and hopped on to head back to Colosseo to change clothes for something warmer pretty cool station. map showing where the Monorail went from and to, that gives a good overview of just how large this park is. changed and back into the park, this was outfit for Traumatica the lady in Spain seemed to like it. we had some skip the lines for Wodan from earlier in the day, so we had all decided to meet up at that entrance, but first I decided to climb this lookout tower section that overlooked the splash battle ride really nice views from up here too. . . and even slightly higher than that other monorail we had ridden earlier in the day even tho it had gotten cooler? tonight, the splash battle WAS running, and had takers. great view of Blue Fire from here too and of course, Wodan. and even lots of theming up here - on a lookout that wasn't gonna get many folks bothering to go up to. I love this park. met up and rode Wodan (it was fantastic as always, and yes, my headgear stayed on as it has a chin strap) this is the skip the line entrance for virtual queue and then we headed over to the main Wodan entrance, as we wanted to check out that free haunt they had over here it was mainly just lots of smoke and a few scare actors. . but for a free house? it was ok. it wasn't quite time for Traumatica yet, so we decided to head over to the Arthur area to grab some single rider rides. passing thru Fairy Tale land stopping to use the restroom over here, I just about pissed myself laughing. there was a gnome urinal in these toilets over here. and yes, it actually "peed". . . hysterical. using single rider is the way to go on Arthur, we were on it in moments. and then started heading towards the direction of the Traumatica entrance. we knew it was over near Croatia (by Voltron), so we went over that way. and once it starts to get dark? it comes quickly. this was when we started walking. and this is when we got to Voltron. and the temps started to drop too. I caught part of this "Animatronic" show, it was about Nikola Tesla. to be concluded in part 4: Traumatica !!!

Part 2: Europa Park day 2 Continued: a peek inside the Roller Coaster restaurant (it opened later in the day and was booked solid. not a great loss, as I find the RCR food to be a bit "meh". . but it very cool to experience if you've never done one before). Then we continued on up to the loading platform for the other monorail. this one goes over an entirely different area of the park than any of the other "elevated" rides, and so gives different views. the carousel here (which I love). . and in the foreground are the racecars, that ride on a track similar to the old taxis in the other section. I say again, a slow moving, silly/stupid ride is what I love to do. Coasters and Carousels too, but I just love these type of things paddle boats, and a balloon ride. this is such a big park. a view from across the way of where we came from - that's the Roller Coaster restaurant under the blue top hat (which is the monorail station) the slow moving "Princess" boat ride. another of my favorites here. and those docks across the way in the back? that's where the larger splashboats come from that share this lagoon and you can spray the princess boats with handle powered spinning. (the splashboats were not operating today, probably because it was a little chilly, or perhaps being refurbed) That's not Amity down there, but there is a big hanging shark photo op and over here are the river rapids, that we'll pass over twice on this monorail yeah. . you'll get wet. you also pass right over Atlantica Supersplash the river rapids load station and Wodan. and if you're lucky with the timing, even get a train zooming by the park also has a swinging ship and lots of other rides tucked away in nooks and crannies. better view of the shark photo op that pirate is on the top of one of the park's TWO SeaStorm rides (one indoors in Spain, and this one outdoors) more characters just out and about. . TPR in a fairy tale village yurt because of course, I wanted to ride the princess boat ride next. first there is a photo op that both I (and Christopher) wanted the storyline on this had changed a little since my last visit. . oh, it still had a Princess marrying storyline, but they had shoehorned in troll type characters (I guess to make it fit in better with the fairytale village section on the other side of the lake). but the ride is basically the same, so I enjoyed. and there are still ducks in the lake that swim along side the princess boats we got divided among a couple of boats tho, as we were too heavy to all go in one. the monorail we had just ridden passes over us. lots of fountains and "squirting" things on this ride too and of COURSE it has an "indoor" section she has found her prince wheee! dogs are welcome in this park, and there were some really nice doggos here today. we were getting hungry, and looking at the park info, it appeared there was a park restaurant off to the left of the main entrance - I hadn't even realized there was anything over there. so we headed back towards the front gates, and passed by a popular show going on "Scary Movie Hits" with characters from horror films singing. apparently "Cruella DeVille" is a horror film icon? wow. . . it's just lovely over here!! a giant gardens area with fountains, walking paths. . and an old villa that housed the restaurant the menu looked really good, so we decided we'd check it out. I couldn't believe I had no idea this was even over here! we went in and asked and they had no seating available, but told us if we came back in an hour, we could make a reservation. so of those I was hanging with had wanted to shop, and we were right near the front gate shops, so we went ahead and made a reservation and then all split off, to meet back up in an hour. i had done all my shopping already, so I decided to explore the area over here. lots of cool art and installations over in these gardens a passerby offered to take this pic. I think it came out lovely. lots of pumpkins over here in these gardens too. these tree sculptures are QUITE judgemental! after wandering the area for 20 or so minutes, I decided to check out what else was near the main entrance. and I stumbled across this interesting Museum tucked away in a corner. there were some folks having a meeting inside, but when they saw me looking thru the window, they welcomed me in to look around and told me all about the masks and the traditions behind them. turns out this is actually listed as an "attraction" but it does appear that not many really realize it's there, as the folks in the meeting were VERY excited that I expressed interest. apparently it's not always open, and some of the masks on display are quite valuable. https://www.europapark.de/en/theme-park/attractions/carnival-barn The world of fools Carnival fans young and old can marvel at the precious and extensive collection of Carnival masks in the Carnival Barn. Over 150 Swabian-Alemanic masks have found a unique home in the rustic barn in the German themed area, heralding in the so called fifth time of the year. As well as the wide collection of Swabian-Alemanic masks, you will also find particularly unusual and rare samples from the south-west German Carnival clubs, like the yellow-blue Jokili of the ‘Krakeelia’ Waldkirch or the Balthasar Witch from Rust. Each area of the exhibition is organised by region, with pieces identifiable by a small sign containing names and origins. I ended up going into at least one gift shop, to check out the designs on the ceiling, but then headed back down the main street. to be continued in part 3. . .

Day 8: Europa Park day 2 what's crazy, is after a full day in the park yesterday? there was SO MUCH MORE that we hadn't even gotten to yet. in fact, I had made a point the prior day of telling the folks I had been hanging around with that "tomorrow I was gonna do a lot of the slow moving/stupid stuff that I love" and that they were welcome to come along with me to "enjoy" as well. So a lot of that will be in this update. a quick breakfast, and at the Resort Entrance gate before they even opened, as TPR had some ERT this morning before the park opened to the public. we passed Eurosat Can-Can coaster (for the moment), as our first ERT today was: Silver Star! the park's B&M Hyper thanks to Elissa for this pic then we headed right next door for some ERT on EuroSat: the Can Can Coaster TPR Morning ERT complete, we were let loose in the park, and since we were so close to Italy? I headed directly to Ghost Castle - as noted, one of my favorite dark rides in the park. Tho today, I had my phone out to snap some pics while riding. a great queue line. .. before you get into your "ghost cart" that rides you along thru the haunted castle. (I know this pic is a bit blurry, but the best I could get to grab the effect of the skeletons projected on top of the figures. . a fantastic surprise) "Ma-damn that's not Leota" and exit thru the gift shop. . which had this wonderful section dedicated to Traumatica. We'd experience Traumatica later that night, and I'd buy a BUNCH of merch. but no way could I fit this umbrella in my luggage, so had to just settle for a pic of it. next up was the first of many slow/silly rides that I love. this one is a suspended monorail that goes over a portion of the park, and is themed to Leonardo Da Vinci's "flying machine" sketches we flew over the boat ride we'd go to next. . the ride vehicles have pedals, but you do not HAVE to pedal, it's electric. an antique car ride we'd get to later one of THE most WTF rides in the park, that's also terrifying: the marionette / clown boat ride. and this was new since my last visit: the Jim Knopf train ride (that appeared to be based on a television show over here) the load station of that terrifying marionette / clown ride yes, it's called: marionetten bootsfahrt the observation tower (ridden yesterday) and a haunt meet and greet that was set up for later it is such a lovely park hi TPR, in the vehicle behind me. and then it was onto one of multiple "slow moving boat rides" that Europa has. all of them pretty long, all of them pretty bizarre, and all of them right up my alley. this one was themed to fairly land. NOTED! Fun TPR selfie on the fairly boat the other half of "our" TPR gang that were hanging out with me today. Christopher took a selfie on this too that he shared with me. . his is a bit crisper. . at least I think we look happier in this one. and then it was across to that new "train" ride the operator had absolutely no qualms about putting us one each in the train, as the line was so short. I guess this is the guy who's show it is. they were screening clips in the queue and it seemed to be an adventure type show with dragons and mystical village. the ride vehicle. . . but I think I probably snapped this pic for that sign that says a person is not allowed to ride in underwear. . .LOL you could pull that cord and blow the horn and make the stack smoke! pretty long ride, with indoor section (as many things here at Europa seem to have) Jonathan enjoying the ride Christopher Jon oooo. . .a train!!! know where I'm going shortly Nick Wilfried Hans and one of me to close it out. walking over to the WTF marionette ride, got a great view of the suspended Da Vinci ride that goes overhead in this area, along with some more pumpkin theming on marionetten bootsfahrt, the rafts are TINY. . . so we split up into groups of 2 or 3. Myself and Jonathan rode together it really is very creepy, and kinda charming but mostly? it's WTF??????? the Monorail passes thru the park as well (going between the Hotels, and the front gate, as well as a stop over by Greece). there are LOTS of ways to get great views of this park. more bewbs aha!. . here's one of the train stations, close to where we'd gotten off the prior ride. yes please. TPR tiny train takeover! this train really does loop around a very large portion of the park. not all of it, but a lot of it, and is well worth the time spent to ride. It has multiple stops thruout the park, but you don't have to exit unless you want to. a great way to see the park as well. wait. . the taxis are called "Oltimer Fahrt" ?? Oh, I'd ABSOLUTELY be coming back to ride this then. and offride view of marionetten bootsfahrt coming into the England section, you can see how this would NEVER go in USA. there are no track guards, and no crossing signals other than just a sign. They just expect people to not be stupid and be aware of a train coming as it crosses walking paths. a replica of the Globe theater. sadly in two days here, I never managed to catch the show in here. Paddington statue at the England station. ooooo. . ANOTHER elevated monorail? ok then, that's on my list too now. over by the Arthur section now, and a better view of that adorable kiddie mine cart ride I saw yesterday. you can see from the size of the child riding, that this one was a "don't even try to ride it" situation. but it was so cute! more people stopping because they are smart and know a train will hurt them. runes in the Arthur section, by the suspended track for the ride. there is a ton of theming for the train. .even when passing by areas that you can ONLY see from the train. hard to see here, but the swings are themed to a giant Mushroom again, theming just for the train riders passing by the rebuilt log flume / mine train area the "Spain" train station a great view from the train, showing how the flume interacts with the mine train and the walking paths there's also a great river rapids ride here in the park. lots of ways to get soaked here. while on the train, I spotted that the 2nd monorail station was above the Roller Coaster restaurant, near the station in Russia. So we exited the train there, and walked over to the monorail, stopping to get a couple of pics of Euro Mir as we passed it. To be continued in part 2

pics from yesterday's visit for "Feliz Fiesta" during Holiday in the Park. (and yes, they got TONS of lights from SFA - I asked and was confirmed that the Texas parks got things from several other parks as well that were no longer doing Holiday in the Park) the park is looking amazing, and the shows remain top notch! Majesty of Christmas, and the Dickens shows alone are worth price of admission, tho all the other shows are great as well. because of Texas Department of Transportation sending out a crapload of warnings about how I10 & Loop 1604 (ie: right were the park is) being closed all weekend for construction, we allowed just over 2 hours for the trip to the park from Austin today. so of course, we were so early that even tho the cones were up, they hadn't started any work yet, and traffic flowed - resulting in us being the first ones at the park, and stopped at the entrance gate. so we took advantage to get out of the car, and snap this pic which typically you only can get while driving by. but after about 15 minutes, the parking gates opened and we headed in (with all the other folks that had backed up behind us). of COURSE, this was right when the Six Flags app decided to update, and that made getting thru the toll booths a nightmare - how nice Six Flags stopped handing out physical (hard card) passes JUST before they updated the app and made it a huge mess to access your digital stuff. note: we did chat with mgmt about this during the day as lots of folks had issues, so it came up. they are aware of issues, and are working on solutions, so "please stand by" anyways, the park looks great. the Day ended up being PERFECT (low 70s after a week of temps in the 40s and 50s), and the construction kept many away from the area, resulting in a very crowd comfortable day. lots and lots of photo ops thru the park. as mentioned, I'm guessing some of them came from other parks no longer doing HitP and no trip to SFFT is complete without a stop in to say hi to "miss Connie" in Sangerfest halle. she's a celebrity, and my friends all know I tend to go there first to get a pic. after 1st rides of the day on Chubacabra, those of us attending Feliz Fiesta got to go backstage for a tour of the construction site that I posted yesterday. as part of that tour, we also got to go down into the Gully Washer reservoir (drained during the off season upkeep) for some fantastic shots of Iron Rattler's drops. and then it was time to eat something for lunch (as our dinner wasn't until almost 5). we headed into Blues BBQ, where here at Fiesta Texas, the Turkey Leg with stuffing is still included on the meal plan. and as it's Holiday in the Park? Santa was out all day, so we had to pop in and say hello. naughty bert! (and how fantastic that Santa played along) one of the shows in the main square. . I believe this was the Tinker-Belles and the wooden soldiers one of 3 large trees SFFT has on display. this one is at the end of the main avenue into the park (and the tinkerbelles stage is at the bottom) many, many characters were available today for Meet and Greets. not just the Looney Tunes in Holiday garb, but also multiple DC Heroes, and tons of Holiday themed characters. and the "handlers" are happy to take your phone to snap pics for you. this makes me laugh - this is what happens when they start snapping before you're ready for the picture. . . LOL durrrrrrrr. . . . . but we did get some great pics regardless another throne. .and I do love my thrones more characters. . a bit horrifying, I thought, but happy to take pics after this great meet and greet in DCU, I asked them how about an "action pose". .and that's the 2nd pic. they understood the assignment - particularly Flash walking back to the front for dinner in the picnic grove, caught the end of a Tinkerbelles & soldiers performance, and they were hanging around for pictures. and yet, ANOTHER throne. they must have gotten these from other parks. a night time shot of the tree at the end of the main corridor. here's the MAIN tree in the park, in Rockville, during the Tree Lighting ceremony (that includes fireworks, Looney Tunes characters, dancers, and Santa on the stage in front of it) .. oh, and "snow" Jim and I in front of the main tree, before heading into the Rockville High Theater to see the Dicken's show - one of the parks two signature HitP shows didnt' take any pics of the 1st part of the show, but it's a full on production with sets, dancing, and very good singing. the camera came out during Ghost of Christmas Future, as I love the design of it. ltr: Scrooge, Ghost of Christmas Present, Ghost of Christmas Past, Ghost of Marley, and Ghost of Christmas future. Scrooge seeing the error of his ways before he gets tossed into his own grave by Marley (oh. . "spoilers". . . LOL) after the show (and a few rides) we made our way up to the "big" theater in the park, for the amazing "Majesty of Christmas" - which, yes, includes live animals on stage in a wonderful production. after this show, the park was about to shut down, but attendees of Feliz Fiesta get some ERT on the CrackAxle coasters (Iron Rattler, Roadrunner Express, and Dr. Diabolical's Cliffhanger). . so we took the "Holiday Express" which is what they transform the train into, for a full loop around the park complete with Holiday songs and tons and tons of lights. including new this year, lights representing the 12 days of Christmas. . . that you pass on the train, AS the song is playing synched to what you are passing. so simple, but so effective and impressive. another photo op in front of Hurricane Harbor area and the 3rd and final tree, in Crackaxle, which I was told came from another park that is no longer doing HitP. it's a great event, and well worth going to.

Tinkers Toy Factory Christmas Show!

The sights and sounds of Holiday In The Park!

At the park now. Latest Tormenta construction pics!!

Jeffrey posted something yesterday with a full moon but the parks 35th anniversary is 2027 but the location is the edge of crackaxle where they removed several water slides and Jeffrey did tell me not to worry about the elevation or the road (which is not being removed) so lift hill so I really think we’re looking at a water coaster here

did they have any hints?

Mmmmmmm ....... lots of dirt.

The space cleared for the new attraction coming to SFFT in 2027 (?) is HUGE wonder if we’re looking at a MACK type water coaster coming to the park (as it absolutely seems like it is not part of the waterpark ) myself Robert (park manager) and Jeffrey Siebert at the construction tour

https://www.amusement-rides.com/product/multi-inversion-coaster-intamin

Embedded into a rocky mystical cliffy landscape The Emperors Firework Factory operates is business. One day the mine workers heard a big growl from beneath the deepest mines. Are these Forces of the Earth or is it the Great Dragon and its living mystery? The record rollercoaster Baozhu Factory Multi Launch Coaster catapults you though the Emperor's Fireworks Factory in the middle of an ancient high mountain village located nearby the Great Mountains. In the underground tunnel system firy creatures and surprising elements await! NEW SOON! I make nice progress. If you have instagram you can also watch a POV preview filmed during a testride. [MEDIA=instagram]C-DV3rFN4cI[/MEDIA] Source: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-DV3rFN4cI/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet And now some pictures of the construction process! Have fun! More construction updates very soon!

Says average afternoon temps for this time of year are in the 70's. Although heat will play into it in the warm months, I'm sure, I wonder if this is just a business decision. Like Garet said, it's not unusual in other countries. I remember seeing weird hours on a lot of TPR reviews... when people used to be active here.

Would you look at that the high today is 74 but the air quality is very unhealthy. Not sure what that means in terms of being out side. The weather seems made ups looks like Ohio weather in early summer later spring.

No, the high for the day is 70-80. Lows in the 50s and 60s.

Celsius 70-80 is Fahrenheit 158-176. Some facts: The highest recorded air temperature on Earth is 56.7 °C (134.1 °F), measured on July 10, 1913, in Furnace Creek, Death Valley, California. No. It's not Celsius. He was probably quoting the LOW temps at night.

There were a lot of places in Vietnam that ran only in evenings/late afternoons because of heat and humidity. All the outdoor markets usualy were only fully open at night.

Sir that is Celsius...

Most likely the reason why: due to the kingdom's scorching heat.

If some slick new trains draw people to a vintage slc headbanger from the lines of rides i want to go on, then it is a win!

While I'd normally be a fan of this kind of news, not in this instance as it seems to signal that the park intends to keep Flight Deck around for that much longer. The park could do better than a basic SLC and at say, Michigan's Adventure, these trains would be much more well received.

Great news! If I am not mistaken, these trains from SFA were only 8 cars long. I am curious if Canada's Wonderland is purchasing additional cars so this does not reduce Flight Deck's current capacity. We know Canada's Wonderland needs all the capacity they can get!

Sad to see Jet Star II leave. I applaud the park for keeping it around much longer than most other parks would have. The ride certainly made the park feel a little frozen in time. Nutcracker also looks great. I think these S&S swings are wonderful additions to basically any park that does not already have one. I am a little surprised it took the park this long to work with S&S again given their proximity.