Europe

French lobby work at Europa Park

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Preface

It’s interesting to see that in a year when every major theme park in Germany has a new attraction, Europa-Park has been left out of the media hype. Fortunately, the situation was different for the park in France, so at least there is some interest in Arthur. In France, Luc Besson’s animated film series has always been very successful, whereas in Germany, Arthur and the Kingdom of the Minimoys has only been successful in the media thanks to the voice of Tokyo Hotel singer Bill Kaulitz.

Since nobody in Germany actually knows the films, it’s hard to understand why they decided to apply for these licences, because even without the film reference and the rather modest name of the actual ride, the ride could work. On the other hand, a lot of French people visit the park, and as has been shown all too often in English theme parks, you need themed areas licensed from popular children’s series to successfully attract the masses these days.

The new ride at Europa Park

Arthur

French Lobby – The ride is located in the Kingdom of the Minimoys themed area, a very compact hall similar to the Wuze Town themed area at Phantasialand, with some slides, a beautifully designed Zamperla Jump Around and a Zierer Family Freefall Tower. The coaster’s ride along the ceiling of the hall is the highlight of the public area.

As the ride is still ‘new’ this year, be sure to get on at the start of the day, although technical difficulties can delay the opening by a few minutes. You won’t have to wait that long during the day and you can queue for Arthur straight away. As the single rider queue is not visible until you pass through the entrance portal to the ride, it can be worth at least stopping there and not being distracted by the regular queue.

The Ride

Once you have passed through the well-designed waiting area, you take your seat in the appropriately designed vehicle, which is transported on a conveyor belt. One turn and a simultaneous film sequence later, you find yourself in the realm of the Minimoys and at the same time confronted with a new addition to Europa Park, but more about that later.

Surprisingly fast, the track climbs up the hill before passing some dark ride scenes at the right speed. Shortly after, the first real roller coaster section follows, where you leave the hall for a moment. One turn later and you are back in the hall, where ‘Paradise Alley’ shows its best side – an admittedly very original set. A few metres of track later, you escape from a rat and find yourself under the roof of the hall, whereupon the next scene involves a boss fight. The Mack company are demonstrating all sorts of features on their car, and the button on the bar, which seemed pointless at first, is used. This is followed by the second rollercoaster section of the ride, where a short combination of downhill and uphill curves provides some speed, but the following uphill helix slows things down massively, and the ride comes to an end.

The farewell of the protagonists, known and unknown from the film, shows a certain consistency that is lacking in many other themed rides at Europa Park, and Arthur also lacks the typical overloaded scenes. So it’s no wonder that Arthur – the Ride, which I had previously, and not jokingly, described as French lobbying work, is a very convincing dark ride. The ride is well made and has a certain symbiosis of well-designed scenes and almost old-fashioned animatronics, while modern design and a certain, but fortunately subtle, interaction is not missing.

Conclusion Arthur

However, as a coaster, Arthur is only a prototype and there is still a lot to be improved, such as the general smoothness of the ride, which is not very satisfying, and the way the gondolas turn. Still, there is a lot of potential in this system, so we will probably see more units in the coming years.

More important than the attraction itself, however, is its location. The Fairytale Forest, which has been less visited, will benefit greatly.

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Click here for the overview page of Europa Park

Europa Park

A safari park without anything

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Badoca Safari Park

The Badoca Safari Park is one of the parks I know mainly through Parkscout.de, because a few years ago there was a report about a new Hafema Rafting ride. A few years later, I missed the entrance to the Safari Park; but who would have thought that the area was not properly developed and that the sandy path at the side of the road is the entrance to the park? For kilometres there was no exit and my navigation system wanted to send me on non-existent roads. Eventually I was able to turn around and a short time later I was standing in the car park of Badoca Safari Park.

At the cash desks I was then confronted with the opening and show times of the zoo and actually I would have had to turn back immediately, because both rafting and the safari tour would not have been feasible according to my schedule. Nevertheless I wanted to have a closer look at the Badoca Safari Park, and interestingly enough I had already explored half of the park before the official opening of the park.

It is really not a good omen when you can hardly show any animals as a safari park. The situation is even worse if you simply don’t use any of your spacious enclores. The two small aviaries should be seen as the highlight of the animal park, as birds are generally interesting and macaws are great to watch. You can also kill some time watching lemurs and wallabies.

Safari

The way over the bridge to the safari only makes sense if you really want to start the safari within a few minutes. It has a length of 45 minutes and is therefore about twice as long as Chessington Worlds of Adventures Zufari; however, due to the wooded area it is not as densely populated. If you can see animals at all is a question I cannot answer. Of course the safari is the most important part of a visit to Badoca Safari Park – there is not much more to do around here anyway.

Ilha dos grandes primatas

Despite this fact, the park still manages to create very long paths. The Ilha dos grandes primatas, for example, was placed not far from the high street and thus at the end of the world. There, two of the three large enclosures were equipped with animals and only in very small populations. Also, the gardener had apparently not been out and about for a long time, because somehow everything was growing wildly around here.

Rafting Africano

Rafting Africano is now advertising Coca Cola and apparently doesn’t do much else. The two Euros you have to pay for the trip can certainly be understood, but an opening time of 14h00 – 15h00 is not really understandable. Unfortunately the layout of the ride is hardly visible from the outside. However, the rafting offers the whirlpool well-known from this manufacturer and therefore a promising ride.

Bird of Prey

Last but not least I watched the first few minutes of the birds of prey show, where a few birds were presented under a lot of Portuguese blah-blah. Annoyed about the bad sound quality of the show and because of my lack of language skills I left the show early and made my way back to Porto Airport.

Pictures Badoca Safari Park

Conclusion Badoca Safari Park

The Badoca Safari Park certainly had its best times far behind. Lack of advertising, even just outside the park, missing animals and stupid opening hours of the attractions do not speak for the park. The relatively high entrance fee and the numerous up-charge offers leave an extremely bland aftertaste. Sure, a Segway safari is certainly fun, but why not include it in the entrance fee? At least the park had some potential at some point.

 

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Badoca Safari Park

Exploring Lisbon

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Originally I planned to go exploring Lisbon with Sandemans New Europe, as I had done in Edinburgh before. But unfortunately I couldn’t find the meeting point and so after some back and forth through the beautiful streets of the city the bus tour of the Yellowbus company was used, as it was still comparatively cheap for 15€ and included the use of the local trams and the funiculars known as Elevadores and the Elevador de Santa Justa.

The three funiculars, all built before 1892, all overcome a difference in height of approximately 45m and were constructed to connect undeveloped parts of Lisbon to the public transport network, which at that time consisted of horse-drawn trams. Besides their interesting routes, the historic carriages are worth a look.

While the funiculars are somewhat hidden, the Elevador de Santa Justa, not far from the main square of the city, stands out. It is strange to find such a framework structure in a rather small square and not in the most prominent location as in other cities like Blackpool or Paris. What is interesting, however, is certainly its original purpose, because even today you can still use the 45m high lift as a lift and not just as a lookout tower, as most tourists do, from which, by the way, you have a very good view of the city. The old wooden-clad cabins will remain in your memory just as positively as the framework structure of the tower itself, and hopefully will remain for a long time to come as a sign of great engineering.

In general, Lisbon is a city teeming with large squares and even larger statues. Now and then, although the varnish on the cobbled houses seems to have worn off, the Portuguese capital presents itself as a very international and beautiful city. The topography of the city and the resulting buildings are just as interesting as the endless number of small alleys, which make you find something completely different at every corner. The historical buildings and monuments show the pride of Lisbon and the country of Portugal and the historical importance of this without being too showy, so a visit to this truly remarkable city is well worthwhile.

 

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Lisbon