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.
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