Off to Ireland
In fact, the Irish theming area was last year’s novelty and it would be more interesting to talk about this year’s novelty, but just like the newly designed children’s area with the Ba-a-a Express roller coaster, the new Voletarium flight simulator will not open until the high season. As usual, it’s a shame when new rides don’t open at the beginning of the season. However, we’re talking about Europa Park here, and we’ll soon find out that despite all the self-congratulation about being the best amusement park in the world, the negative touch of this advertising campaign is only of interest to the brains behind it; the rest of us already know that Europa Park is one of the best amusement parks in the world.
In contrast to other theme parks around the world, however, Rust is surprisingly down-to-earth when it comes to the design of the children’s area. In fact, they are surprisingly independent and do not rely on the licensing of small children’s rides, as is the case with the British population who are lured en masse into these areas (be it Paultons Park, Alton Towers or Drayton Manor). Instead, they trust in their own concept and allow the former children’s world to have an extensive themed area with lots of humour and wit. St Patrick can at least be satisfied, the Irish themed area is quite nice.
Ba-a-a Express
The main reason for visiting the park on this Easter Sunday was to ride the Ba-a-a Express, the park’s newest roller coaster. Designed and built by ART Engineering GmbH, with the tracks themselves bent by Mack Rides, this small ride is aimed primarily at the park’s younger visitors, whose introduction to roller coasters could previously only be on Pegasus or the Alpenexpress, or perhaps the Wild Mouse Matterhornblitz or the Schweizer Bobbahn.
The compact layout is quick to set up and just as easy to ride. After gaining a few metres of altitude in a right-hander with friction wheels, the track descends into a leisurely straight. This leads immediately into a left-hander, followed by an equally quick change of direction and the completion of the backward turn. This is followed by a short S-curve and then the station. All good things come in twos, so you cross the track once more before coming to a halt.
The Ba-a-a Express is a nice children’s coaster with a surprisingly comfortable train and an admittedly very interesting technology; the floor of the station is lowered on both sides before the train can leave, but the railings at the ends of the station are not folded away. I didn’t quite understand this, but I suspect it’s for maintenance reasons, as it doesn’t really seem to be relevant to safety. Well, for the target group the coaster is definitely more than adequate and parents will certainly enjoy the ride as well. Also, the design of the ride is quite fluffy.
Pictures Europa Park
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