alexinla

The only major ride that is closed would be River Quest, otherwise, coasters should be open, even Chiapas. Some of the other water rides will be closed, but that is not a major loss. Christmas time in Germany is magical and Phantasialand is no difference, there will be a ice ring, lightshows, incredible decorations, special shows like that fire show by Chiapas that is amazing. The park is always worth to visit, but I think Wintertraum is very special and I know that I will be there

I enjoyed this tripreport too, thank you for sharing. River Cruises became popular some years ago, maybe try a Rhine River Cruise the next time. You can do Amsterdam to Basel thru the Rhine River Valley in Germany and visit some castles. It is a awsome trip. I need vacation, 5 more days to Montenegro,l am counting down the days.....

Maybe it is supposed to look like someones backyard so you will feel invited? I like it, good job and the food looks great!

I get a Mc D country credit to every country I go to. I was just in Israel and not only are they serving only Kosher Food, it is really good and they had a Mc Kebap with a spicy souce that was so spicy. I loved it! Slovakia is great, I am so happy that you are getting around a little and experience different countries. That is the fun part of travel.

I have to check with AMA, it depends if they only do a couple of cruises or all season long. I know there are Christmas Market cruises too in the winter that are awsome. Vikings always hires locals and pays really good. I am sure AMA is the same. I am living thru your pictures right now,lol. I have 10 more days before summer vacation in Montenegro. I need some beachtime right now!

On German Messageboards the rumor is that there might be a dark ride part first(which makes sense as why would they dig so deep and after that there would be a vertical launch into a pretzel loop. This might be just fanboy talk, we have to wait what info the park releases over the coming months.

You can not go wrong with food in Germany or Austria, Schnitzel for the win! Those Knödel(how do you call them in english?Dumplings?)look so good. I am sure you will be in Budapest soon, great city, one of my favorites. If you pass by Belgrade in Serbia, take the tour, it is one of these surprise towns that are absolute stunning that you do not expect that and they have a themepark in the middle of the city.(Kinda like a tiny version of the Prater, but set in a beautiful, stunning looking park) Ah man, I want to be on that trip right now,lol

I think in general the Americans who do European River Cruises are more financially stable. I worked for Viking a couple of years and let's say 95% of guests were awsome and also interested in European Politics, I was holding discussion roundtables that were interesting. But unlike Robb, I had some people I wanted to throw into the river,lol.(Never did it of course) The salt mine looks amazing, I never did that one as I hate going underground. Somehow a phobia of mine. Are these Disney Adventure cruises seasonal aka all summer long? Maybe I try to get a job there for next year as this looks great.

I am pretty sure it is mostly Americans. I never heard of Disney Adventure Cruises and I worked for Viking Cruises on pretty much the same trip. I could be wrong, but living in Europe, I never heard about this. I would do it in a split second though

Where do you get the idea that L.A. is bankrupt? In any case, SFMM is located in Santa Clarita. I am sure there were permit issues and the rain did not help either. It will open when it opens. I would think another month in construction and we can enjoy the ride

Pretty much every rumor in the past decade has come true when it comes to Phantasialand, even the launch flying coaster was laughed at and it came true, I have no clue how they finance it all, none of my problem, I guess money is cheap right now and the park is credit worthy. It also helps that it is family owned. For it's size, the park is rather incredible and so well themed, simply amazing what they did in the past decade-

I love river cruises as they are so relaxing. And you have luck with the weather. Somehow I missed what the route is, Passau to Budapest or further? I have a house on the dunabe river close to Belgrade, I should check if it is still standing,lol.

Currently it is really hot in Europe. Out here in Frankfurt/Germany they predict 41c for today and that is hot for Euro standards. I really like the concept of Kidzania, now I just need a kid,lol

There were permit issues that I find odd for a big business that has been in operation for almost 50 years. It is what it is, you can not really blame the park for the delay, I am sure they want the ride to be open by now.

The date makes sense as it is a long holiday weekend in Germany and the park will be packed

Croatia has been a hot spot for years and is not cheap anymore. The new "place to be" in the area is Montenegro, just south of Croatia. Beautiful country and beaches, plus still rather cheap.

Yeah, Phantasialand is not the biggest Park on earth, but it is a simply stunning and beautiful park. When it comes to theming, it can compete with Disney or Universal in my humble opinion. I love it!

What are you talking about? The park updates the surrounding of new rides for the past years. The only part that looks forgotten now is the back by Apocalypse and I am sure they will take care of that area in the next years

Totally agree with you on this. Last Saturday Batman was only running one train and it's line hovered anywhere from 90 to 120 mins. Just don't see why they can't utilize the three trains that they have on most coasters. Plus, during off season MM is closed Monday through Friday, which gives them more than enough time to preform maintenance on rides. Whereas, Disneyland is able to keep 5 trains running on Big Thunder Mountain year-round despite the fact that they're open 365 days a year. And yeah yeah I do realize that there is a huge price difference between DL and MM, but I wouldn't mind MM raising admission prices by say 20% if that meant increasing the size of their maintenance staff. Batman has only two trains and is always down to one train operation in February since the 1990's. Goliath was not down for half a year and in general the SFMM bashing here is getting tired

During summer, Sunset time in Germany is around 9.45-10pm. By the time it is dark, we are talking 10.30 pm(ish)

Beautiful pictures, thanks for sharing

Phantasialand is beautiful, did you had any time to take in a show. The nighttime shows like Fuego by Chiapas or The magic rose with Fireworks are amazing!

Phantasialand is beautiful this time of the year. But do not forget German Christmas food that is available.... Oh god, it is out of this World! My Gym will not see me until January

SFMM really did a good job with this event! I could just go for the food

Same here, I think this would be a perfect fit for Phantasialand, maybe this will be there new attraction?