Jump to content
  TPR Home | Parks | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram 

Leaderboard

Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation on 03/27/2025 in Posts

  1. After the incredible day and a half we'd had at Europa Park so far, it was both reassuring and incredibly sad to know that we had only one day left. This park had lived up to the hype and then some, and I wished (as I still do) that more time could have been squeezed in to enjoy more of the vast property's many offerings. That said, we still had a full day ahead of us, capped off with an evening at Traumatica, a Halloween event hailed as Europe's most sophisticated Halloween event. Our morning started off with some exclusive ride time on the Can Can Coaster... I love that Eurosat had such name recognition, that the new version still retains its branding, even subtly. Not unlike the queue for the attached Phantom of the Opera Coastiality experience, the queue for the Eurosat - Can Can Coaster features lots of related props and decor to set the stage for the attraction. I love how the queue embraces different parts of the lore and history of Moulin Rouge. A few props from the former version of Eurosat have found a home in the new queue. I absolutely adore this station design. And to be honest, I appreciated the Can Can Coaster far more than I expected. What feels like it was originally built as Europa Park's answer to Space Mountain has become a really fun tribute to the iconic sounds and sights of the Moulin Rouge, right down to the famous Can Can song. Next up for morning ERT was a ride of Silver Star. Now, I will admit that I almost definitely set myself up for a let down with this one. For years, I watched Robb & Elissa's earliest Europa Park videos and this B&M hyper looked to deliver a really fantastic experience. One such video that would always hype me up: In the years that followed, I'd have a chance to ride some of the biggest B&M hyper coasters back home, even getting one in Orlando. None of this to say that Silver Star isn't a good, if not great, hyper coaster--because it is. It is just that, hyper coasters don't have the same effect on me that they did when they weren't such a commodity. I enjoyed this one, but nowhere near the levels of awe I had somehow built myself up to expect before riding. The moral of the story here? Sometimes it is best to just enjoy a thing for what it is, and be surprised with how it ends up being when you actually get to ride it. I absolutely adore this section of the park. It didn't hurt that the Euro-Tower was nearby to give us a chance to view the park from above. One section of the park that I had less time than I would have liked, was the Ireland area. So many great things in one view. Swiss Bob Run looks great from above! No, this isn't a Spaceship Earth knockoff... Nor is it the only park with a geodesic sphere in it. We got a sneak peek at Traumatica from up here... Such a neat place to watch Voltron Neverra in operation... Speaking of which. We simply couldn't stop. Wouldn't stop. This might be one of my favorite ride photos ever... The insane variety of facial expressions sums up just how wild this experience can be in every sense. Nearby we rode the Snowflake Sleigh Ride which... Exists. This could probably be replaced with something more modern. This on the other hand, I hope they never change. "Dubi dam dam, da dubi daba dibi dam..." I love that they have a replica of The Globe Theatre and I regret that I didn't have a chance to go inside. Similar but different. I know many poke fun at how Pirates of Batavia feels like a knock off of Pirates of the Caribbean, but there is a lot to the experience that is unique. It had moments that reminded me less of Pirates and more of Sinbad's Storybook Voyages at Tokyo DisneySea. I think they really did a great job recovering and revamping this attraction in the wake of the fire. Did you even go to Europe if you didn't get poffertjes along the way? Had to go back to ride Snorri Touren again! I'll admit I had a degree of FOMO about not getting the chance to dine at FoodLoop but gimmick seemed just fine to observe from afar without eating there. Still blown away by this section of the park. I couldn't help but to stare at the Stave Church in the park. The Scandinavian section of the park (and its similar-themed hotels) was among my favorite areas of the park. Blue Fire is a great coaster that lived up to the hype. There aren't many swing rides that look as good as Vindjammer. We spotted a bit of Traumatica history while waiting for the Voltron 4-D film. Taverna Mykonos had an awesome platter for lunch that was a fantastic value. Pegasus packs a punch despite it being a family coaster. Tesla gave me a bit of side-eye as I walked back up for more time to watch Voltron up close. But it was worth it. I mean, look at this thing! Less side-eye given, now that I was going back in to ride. The maneuver from the brake run into this corkscrew is practically a launch. The first and only time I was able to capture a shot of the inverted stall... What a masterclass in coaster design! Old meets new. Action shots in motion... I just love it. Still delicious. Still refreshing. Time to start making our way out of the park... But the day was far from over. Silver Star looking great from afar. Europa Park takes on a gorgeously different tone at night. I wish I had more time to explore the rest of the park in the evening. But it was time to be traumatized. Welcome to Traumatica! The park's houses/mazes are definitely lower-tech than you'd find in some of the stateside parks, but if anything, that challenges the park to be more imaginative and creative with their effects and scares. The event features a main stage with a rotation of themed acts including musicians, dancers and freak-show acts. The Hill is quite literally a maze built upon a hill on the edge of the property. It was one of the most basic experiences of the event, but I give them credit for leaning into the theme simply and effectively. Something that surprised me about Traumatica was the sheer amount of fire found throughout. These fire pits were found throughout the event grounds... Never in America could guests be trusted to openly access such fire, for a variety of sad ("this is why we can't have nice things") reasons. Roaming scare actors were some of the best parts of the event and some of them even carried sparklers and fire sticks as they moved through the crowds. How about an action shot? POP! The houses each had a unique way of approaching the theme--and to the park's credit, none of them really went the way you'd expect. The entrance experience in this house alone, sold me on the entire experience. My favorite house of the entire event! The event also featured a variety of food trucks and booths in case you needed a bite or some liquid courage. I highly recommend experiencing Traumatica if you have the time to experience Europa Park during the season! What an absolutely gorgeous sight upon which to end our final evening at Europa Park...
    3 points
  2. This was such a wonderful first visit to Europa Park for me as well! While not as fantastical in theming as other parks, the amount of detail and sheer beauty crammed in all over the place still makes it a sight to behold and explore. There are so many almost hidden things all over the place like the shooting dark ride I don't know if I would have found if Elissa hadn't shown it to us and the Cassandra madhouse. There are so many unique rides and coasters that I was pleasantly surprised by. I wasn't expecting Euro-Mir to be quite that intense and I fully understand why Blue Fire has been cloned so many times- it was a lot of fun. The colder weather seemed to help Silver Star since they weren't trimming it as hard since the airtime at the end was approaching ejector levels. Of course the star of the show for me was Voltron (which I am even more confused about the story of after watching the 4D movie in German) The ride manages to include some pretty intense forces, a slew of inversions, and some of the best ejector airtime I have experienced. As I said multiple times after hitting the brake run, it is A LOT of ride in a good way. The end of the last day for me was just trying to get on it as many times as I could before the park closed, which I think was a great way to end my time at Europa
    2 points
  3. Something tells me it's going to be a little busy...
    1 point
  4. Keep the discussion about the park itself please, anything else, take to the Random forum. Thanks!
    1 point
  5. Good to see a new coaster being added to the park. I hope that it can run 2 trains. I visited the park for the first time in January and was surprised how many low capacity attractions there are. It was a weekday and crowds were very light so it wasn't really an issue except for Pirate River Quest and Coast Guard Academy but on a crowded day it probably be frustrating.
    1 point
  6. Look up any trip reports to Dubai Parks & Resorts. These parks are mostly for the middle east billionaires to burn through mountains of cash so they don't have to pay taxes. As I'm writing this I'm realizing I have zero room to talk because I have no clue if any of these parks have seen significant crowds or not. I'm just under the impression that they're ghost towns. Edit - All that to say, if I see Falcon's Flight is actually operating reliably, I'm looking into flights. With the way things are going it's not like I'm caring about my retirement account anymore.
    1 point
  7. Oh I am so excited to visit! We will be there the at the very beginning of Oct. Figured that was the best compromise between kids back in school, a little past hurricane peak, and a little before the worst of the Halloween crowds; plus we'll get to do the HHN stuff as well. I bought the 3 day package that includes one day at Epic and then went back in and bought a single day Epic ticket. So, figured we would have 6 days counting check in and check out day with tickets for 4 of them and be able to go to Epic twice. Then thought we will just buy HHN tickets for a day and go to the park late and that we would probably pop over to SW one day. Not sure why you can't add on single day Epic tickets as an extra when getting a vacation package, that seems like an oversight, but you do have to do a separate booking on that. Then I realized I had made a mistake on line while booking (my fault) and had to call customer service right away to correct it. I had an excellent customer service experience and then icing on the cake she offered me entry into IOA and US for the entirety of the stay (so the two days I previously had not purchased tickets for) for a grand total of $48. Not per person but for the entire party. Icing on the cake for sure! However, for the first time we are not staying at RP but at Aventura. The prices really have popped up on RP which is 100% not surprising, plus I needed two rooms, so since the included express doesn't include Epic which will be our main focus for the trip and we can spend our IOA and US time on our favorites and that we are hoping crowds aren't too bad that time of year.......I'm opting to spend the savings on extras like HHN and/or express at Epic only.
    1 point
  8. I can’t wait for you all to experience the incredible dueling Stardust Racers
    1 point
  9. Tickets were up to $92 by end of last season.
    1 point
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use https://themeparkreview.com/forum/topic/116-terms-of-service-please-read/