Piraten in Batavia

Batavia is burning – and you want to go there?

itemprop="discussionURL"0

Preface

Who would have thought that Batavia would actually burn down one day? Two years after the disaster at Europa Park, we were determined not to miss the new iteration of the Piraten in Batavia dark ride, as well as some of the other novelties of the last three years.

The Novelties of Europa Park

Voletarium

The Voletarium in the entrance area of the park marks the beginning of our little tour. The ride is the first project under the guise of the Adventure Club of Europe, a fictional adventurer’s club that brings together the innovations of recent years and is intended to be a trademark of Europa Park. As with the new Rulantica water park, this is taken ad absurdum by various novels, making it difficult to follow the plot.

However, to cut a long story short, the Voletarium is a flying theatre made by Brogent Technologies. The flight simulator offers a breathtaking but very family-friendly flight over Europe. However, not all the transitions between the different scenes are successful or logical, so the film is a little weak compared to the really well done film of Fuji Airlines in Japan’s Fuji-Q Highland or that of Sky Voyager in Australia’s Dreamworld.

Nevertheless, the location of the Voletarium improves the front section of the park. Overall, the ride is coherent and ideal as an in-between ride.

Jim Knopf – Reise durch Lummerland

It’s the same with Jim Knopf – Reise durch Lummerland. In true Europa Park style, another licence has been integrated into the park – this time one that is mainly known in German-speaking countries. The children’s locomotive Old’99, which previously had a circus theme, was redesigned for this purpose. It’s old decoration has found a new home in a small pavilion of the neighbouring Marionetten-Bootsfahrt. You can now travel through Lummerland with Emma, the locomotive from Michael Ende’s book, which is a great experience, especially for younger children.

Snorri Touren

It’s a similar story with the hugely popular Snorri Touren dark ride, which was installed in the basement of the Scandinavian themed area when it was rebuilt. On this tour, Snorri – the mascot of the Rulantica water park – leads us through the legendary water world just outside the gates of Rust. The ride gets a lot of things right, thanks to its vibrant design and largely successful media integration – only the short slide sequence, in which the car hits a moving platform, is reminiscent of early PlayStation 2 titles in its spongy graphics, which detracts from the otherwise cohesive overall impression.

Madame Freudenreich

Although you can somehow forgive Snorri, you can’t forgive Madame Freudenreich – after all, the Energy Universe was once the most coherent dark ride in the whole park. Now it is a shadow of its former self, an attraction to be avoided at all costs. Younger children might still enjoy the Alsatian Gugelhupf Dinosaur Mash, but I can’t imagine anyone else being able to put up with this nonsense.

Eurosat CanCan Coaster

It’s a good thing the Green Fairy moved in right above it. Since its redesign, the Eurosat CanCan Coaster indoor roller coaster has been taking us on a sensory high. Driven by absinthe and the familiar sounds of In A Second Orbit, we climb up the drum lift in the familiar way before the Galop Infernal kicks in and we find ourselves on what is essentially a brand new coaster.

Like a cancan, we swing through the turns. Past huge black light backdrops, we race through the dome at an ever increasing speed and are even lifted out of our seats at times. The fact that the experience is absolutely smooth makes the ride all the better.

Eurosat has always been a good indoor coaster. A bit rough on the ride, but quite entertaining. The Eurosat CanCan Coaster on the other hand is one of the best roller coasters in Europe. Perfectly balanced, atmospheric and with great show value. Everything about this ride is perfect.

Eurosat Coastiality

But that only applies to the CanCan Coaster. There is also the Eurosat Coastiality. While one of them has been able to reach new heights thanks to its collaboration with the Moulin Rouge Variety Theatre, the other is betting on a VR experience based on Luc Besson’s Valerian – City of a Thousand Planets.

In principle, I think VR coasters are fun, and Europa Park has already shown what can be squeezed out of a rollercoaster with the Alpenexpress Enzian. Despite the outdated graphics, the first film was an unparalleled revelation. After that, many parks jumped on the VR bandwagon and there seemed to be no stopping them. Fortunately, the trend disappeared as quickly as it came, so it’s a little surprising that Europa Park is the only park in the world that continues to promote the technology. However, thanks to the resort’s own attraction, Yullbe, this is no longer actively happening in the parks.

Eurosat Coastiality is, at least in theory, a very passable upcharge attraction that, thanks to a separate station, has little or no impact on the capacity of the Eurosat CanCan Coaster, eliminating one of the main criticisms of VR coasters. However, the ride is tiring and the outdated graphics make it less than impressive. The show value of the coaster is completely lost, which is why there is no incentive to repeat the ride.

Piraten in Batavia

The Piraten in Batavia dark ride, which has been completely revamped thanks to the new construction, offers plenty of reasons to go on a ride. What used to be a lengthy rip-off of Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean is now much more independent, thanks to a consistent storyline around the adventurer Bartholomeus van Robbemond and his otter Jopie. The Pirates of Batavia ride is thoroughly entertaining and has a high overall show value, which is why it is not to be missed.

Pictures Europa Park

Closing Words

As you can see, Europa Park has been on a remodelling spree over the past few years. Some of the projects were long overdue, and some of the park’s attractions would actually like to see some changes. Not every upgrade is a success and not every licence is a plus for the park, but in general the Mack family’s drive is positive. They are trying to present a world-class theme park to an ever-increasing number of visitors, but unfortunately they often forget that great attractions do not need additional media integration.

 

What is your opinion about Eurosat CanCan Coaster, Piraten in Batavia and the other Novelties? Just write them in the comment field below the report or in our social media channels:

 

      

Click here for the overview page of Europa Park

Europa Park

A great weekend at Europa-Park

itemprop="discussionURL"0

My first visit to Europa Park

Blue Fire Megacoaster

As Blue Fire was new this year and the first roller coaster to open in Southern Germany, the ride was targeted right from the start. This approach was absolutely justified, because while the queue for Blue Fire was only about 20 minutes in the morning, it was much longer in the afternoon. Somehow everyone wanted to ride Blue Fire.

After taking your seat in the very comfortable trains of the Blue Fire roller coaster, you pass through a small, nonsensical dark ride section, where you are launched at a snail’s pace with all sorts of effects. This is followed by a very modest turn which, like the following element of a looping, is taken far too slowly. The steep turn before the climb up to the block brake can be seen as the highlight of the ride, as long as you don’t come to a stop in the block brake. The following corkscrew is a lot of fun at the right speed, but unfortunately you don’t get to enjoy it very often. The absolute outrage, which fans unfortunately call the highlight of a coaster par excellence, is the supposed and completely miscalculated heartline roll towards the end of the ride on Blue Fire.

Blue Fire is by far one of the most boring roller coasters around, nothing is right and one can only hope that Mack Rides will realise the potential of the following rides. Where the first part of the ride is far too slow, the second part on Blue Fire is unfortunately far too fast, leaving guests with a weak, boring and bad coaster that they will think is better due to their lack of experience with inversions and launches.

To wake up from this deep sleep, the café next to the ride was tested. The coffee served there is damn good and is the real highlight of the Icelandic themed area.

Atlantica Supersplash

After leaving Iceland and heading towards Portugal, you find yourself in front of the impressive structure of the Atlantica Supersplash. Unfortunately, like other rides of this type, it can’t do anything, but there’s a drench zone to get a little wet. The nonsensical backwards part of the ride can be complemented by an even more nonsensical 540° turn on the first turntable, as long as the capacity is not fully utilised.

Tiroler Wildwasserbahn

If you want to get really wet, make a pilgrimage to the Tiroler Wildwasserbahn, which lives up to its age. Especially on this ride you can see how much Europa Park takes care of its rides, as this log flume looks and rides like new, which is not the case in other parks. The level of wetness is excellent and the cave you go through is just great.

Alpenexpress Enzian

The Alpenexpress Enzian also makes its rounds through the same cave and is just as impressive as its slightly longer brother from Soltau Heide Park. But not only the Powered Coaster shows clear parallels to Soltau, you can also find a bigger version of the Seerestaurant in the Lüneburg Heath, as well as some smaller attractions that are more or less the same.

Fjord Rafting

Fjord rafting also looks like a small version of Mountain Rafting, but unfortunately the ride itself is not really exciting or even wet. The rapids, the waterfalls and the wave pool are particularly mild. The design is nice, but you can see the age of the Intamin ride.

Apart from the HUSS Pirate nearby, there are not many rides from other manufacturers in the park. Apart from the Zierer Wellenflug in Austria, the Zamperla attractions in the English themed area and the Chance C.P. Huntigton train, there is only the Intamin Gyro Tower in the French themed area and the biggest European roller coaster by B&M.

Silver Star

Silver Star is the quintessential car park roller coaster and makes perfect use of this fact with a fitting theme. The layout’s out & back design looks breathtaking due to the height, but the ride is relatively harmless. While in the front row you only get an unpleasant breeze during the ride, in the back row you get some nice floating airtime at its best. Unfortunately, the ride has the worst queue since the invention of the queue, so a 20-minute wait in the summer is definitely not worth it.

Eurosat

Not far from the steel giant is the dark roller coaster Eurosat, one of the best roller coasters of the park. Although the curves are sometimes quite borderline in complete darkness and the brakes are adjusted very strongly, but you wait no matter how long the queue is, at most 30 minutes, because it moves steadily forward.

Universum der Energien

Beneath the ride is one of the better attempts to copy Disney’s universe of energy. Even if very few people notice or even find it, this dark ride is definitely the most coherent one in the whole park. The dinosaur theme is a bit out of fashion, but should be back in fashion by the time the fourth Jurassic Park is released.

Schweizer Bobbahn

The Swiss themed area features the prototype of Mack’s bobsleigh run, which has nothing to offer other than an attractive design. The Swiss bobsleigh track is one of the most harmless and, unfortunately, boring rides of its kind. Unfortunately, the queue is usually the longest, as the capacity is not very exciting.

Matterhorn Blitz

Similarly boring is the second coaster in this area, the Wild Mouse with an extended layout and a lift instead of a lift. Matterhorn Blitz was my 100th roller coaster and unfortunately the ride and the longest queue in the whole park were not worth it. The extended Mice lack basically everything that makes the more compact and better standard Mice.

Jungfrau Gletscherflieger

Probably the best attraction in this area is the Jungfrau Gletscherflieger, a ride that is very reminiscent of a Zierer hang glider flight, but with the ground beneath your feet. Unfortunately, this very fast ride has never been widely available.

Fluch der Kasandra

In the Greek themed area there is a witches’ swing, which for once was not built by Vekoma. Unfortunately, The Fluch der Kasandra has no story to tell, and apart from the main room, there’s nothing more than some nice atmospheric music. The additional effect of the pop massage is a novelty, but completely unnecessary.

Poseidon

The nearby Poseidon water rollercoaster is a good example of how a water rollercoaster should be ridden, as if you are lucky you will get wet, or if you are unlucky it will happen before the ride as you wait under the Trojan Horse. The twisting rollercoaster section has some interesting strokes, but nothing to spoil the ride.

Pegasus

Pegasus is the most airtime-rich and family-friendly rollercoaster in the park. Named after the winged horse, the coaster offers a twisting track that finishes at a decent speed, perfect for young audiences.

Euro-Mir

In the Russian themed area you can visit the Russian space station Mir. Much quicker, though no less exciting, is the neighbouring Euro-Mir. One of the best soundtracks of all time plays as you climb up the harmonious lift. Once at the top, you take a few turns around the Mir towers as the gondola spins. Before the first descent, the gondolas lock into place, so that the next part of the ride is either forwards or backwards, until the gondolas turn 180° on the hill. The following part of the coaster is very intense and remains so as the radii get smaller and smaller. As on the Eurosat roller coaster, the brakes are very strong, but if you are lucky enough to hit them backwards, it is not too bad.

Schneeflöckchen Schlittenfahrt

Tucked away is the Schneeflöckchen Schlittenfahrt, a beautiful and harmonious dark ride with puppets and probably the most iconic car in the form of a sleigh with benches, hence the attraction’s nickname, Bench the Ride.

Piraten in Batavia

In the Netherlands you can visit the Piraten in Batavia dark ride. Like so many others, this dark ride tries to be like Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean. Unfortunately, the ride does not succeed at all and for me it is one of the worst and most boring dark rides ever. Not only is it an unparalleled waste of time, but it is also the perfect attraction to put you to sleep.

Magia

The Variety Show in the Italian themed area was equally successful to put me into sleep at the time of my visit. I did not see much of the show called Magia, but the clown at the beginning of the show was quite original.

Geisterschloss

Nearby are the dark rides Ciao Bambini and Geisterschloss, both of which are more or less copies of well-known Disney attractions. While Ciao Bambini was not tested by me, the completely trivial Ghost Train enjoyed a visit from time to time, as the Geisterschloss is not so bad after all.

In the Spanish themed area, there are two other smaller attractions, including a sea storm ride with a decent enough ride that you can usually just get on without having to wait. There are also a number of show arenas scattered around the park. The ice skating show is one of the best, although the clown before the show is always the highlight.

Pictures Europa Park

Closing Words Europa Park

In contrast to Heide-Park, Edeka Day at Europa Park is a very special day. Apart from free samples at every corner, there are many other activities. Strangely enough, this day was also much emptier than the day before and it was open longer. If you still have time in the evening, you can watch the latest films in the park’s own 4D cinema, which is mostly in 2D, but with the appropriate special effects.

What is your opinion of Blue Fire? Just write them in the comment field below the report or in our social media channels:

 

     

Click here for the overview page of Europa Park

Europa Park