Europa-Park

When you think of massive theme park resorts, most think of Disney or Universal, but Europa Park can easily cope up with them and even beat them in some categories. And its still growing.
To my review:

I visited the park on the 1. September (monday). So I expected the park to be not too crowded. I arrived via bus from Luxemburg shortly before the park opened. The entry price is under 50€ , compared to Disney Worlds Hollywood Studios which costs over 100$ for entry, its pretty great.
As the parked opened I quickly rushed to Silverstar (a 70m tall B&M hyper coaster which you already see from the parking lot). I managed to do 4 rides in a row without waiting. Amazing ride! After that I went to Can can coaster, the queue line is amazingly themed with much details. If you watch closely you can see some scenery object that remind of the old space theme. The ride features a rare spiral lift hill and is all indoor. (sadly didn't try the VR)
Next I went for the water coaster Poseidon which had no wait at all. Still a very cool and nice themed ride, very long too and with 2 splash downs.
I also tried Pegasus, a family coaster, was pretty ok. Its a bit hidden but also a very short ride.
Then I tried that laser shooting ride (don't remember the name) in the Greek area. Was pretty cool but seemed a bit abandoned and the queue line was partly pitch black (almost fell once).
Matterhorn blitz is a very cool coaster too, even though its a bit smaller. Its a custom layout wild mouse with a vertical lift, so pretty unique. The swiss Bobbahn on the other side has some heavy theming but I didn't really like the short layout. Also had no wait.
Good old Euromir was next. The coaster is also unique. There is just one of its kind (Spiral lift spinning coaster). The ride begins slowly and gets quicker with sharp turns at the end. It became a bit rough though.
Next was the inverted powered dark ride / coaster Arthur. This one is the only one not themed to an European country but to a movie. The ride is (now) also a one of a kind ride and is pretty well themed and very entertaining.
For a refreshment I went to Fjord Rafting, a decent rafting water ride. Was a bit too standard for me. The ride could use a drop in its course.
My next ride was Wodan, a thrilling wooden coaster with a very nice layout. The wait was 20min but I used the single ride line and didn't wait at all. (note: only Wodan and Blue Fire have single rider for now)
Blue fire is a cool launched coaster with inversions. The last roll is pretty intense.
If you are into water rides there is also a log flume in the Austrian area and another but shorter water coaster (Atlantica Supersplash) in the Portuguese area which had also no wait.
I also checked out the restaurant where the food you ordered is coming to your table via a small roller coaster through the restaurant. The restaurant mostly very packed but worth checking out.

Conclusion:

The park is very beautifully themed with love to detail and quality (like you know from Germans). You always discover new areas and details when revisiting the park. But it doesn't cope up with Disney's Galaxy's Edge or Universal's Harry Potter. Don't rush when at the park but admire its beauty. The queue lines are heavy themed so it mostly doesn't get boring.

There are areas for everyone: quieter places to walk around, large playing areas, amazing shows, roller coasters from tame to thrill etc. Everyone finds his place and the variety of rides and theming is enormous. Its in my opinion the best park for families (not so much for thrill seekers). But its also time for the park to get a new thrill attraction.
If you look for good quality food, you don't get disappointed. As the parks different areas represent European countries, you find that countries best dishes in its areas restaurants. If you want to overnight in the resort, the hotels have top reviews, sadly I haven't overnighted there so I can't say more.
Also a very important note is that the ride dispatches are insanely fast compared to other parks. The trains are sometimes only 35s in the station before they leave. again.
Another interesting fact is that they allow gopros on roller coasters (only with a chest mount of course), you can even rent them there.
And very important is: check which countries around have holidays, and avoid weekends or bridge days. On packed days the lines can get up to 90min for the main rides. On quieter days you can almost enter each attraction with 0-15min wait.

If you need longer than 3h to drive to the park, go overnight there. There is so much to see and to too, and you don't need stress. The hotels are great and since the park is growing and now has a water park its worth it. (they already have expansion plans for it)

This was a super fun little park to go to in the summer. They have some decent rides, shows, and animals.

In the winter they have a winter wonderland, and it's a little creepy and cheesy. Some of the rides smell like mildew, so I guess they are super old. If you're living in Germany and looking for something to do, I would check this park out.

The Park itself is clean and well organized. It's a large amusement park so plan on spending 2 days if you want to visit all attractions. And it helps to bring you own snacks and purchase your entry tickets in advance. They have maps of the park to navigate around and it's definitely lots of walking but worth it for adult and kids to have a fun full day out.

My wife and 2 kids went with our extended family and their kids as well. The park is divide into sections based on some popular European countries so this review serves to particularly review ONE ride and the staff member attending that particular ride.

I'm melinated meaning of dark skin, born in Californian but of Afro Caribbean ancestry. My wife is French and our kids are mixed. I took my son to ride the "Spinning Dragon" little kids twirling cup ride. Their was an obvious height requirement (my son was 2cm too short) so before I took my son on the ride I watched all the other "white" parents and the their kids in line to see if the staff member was checking heights of the kids shorter than my son. The lady did not check a single child and 2 kids were obviously shorter than my son. I thought okay great! So my son excited to go, hopped in line. We were immediately stopped and his height checked and told to go away. I compiled immediately because technically those are the rules but I let the staff person know that I saw her let on all the children without checking their heights and also that 2 kids sitting idly on the ride were shorter than my son. She blatantly lied and said they were all the appropriate height and I responded by saying what your doing is not right and you are a liar as well as prejudice.

It's not a good look for a popular German tourist attraction to employee bigoted and prejudice employees considering their country's history. I was thoroughly disappointed and this was the second ride of the day...it put a taint on our experience at the very start. We were able to salvage the day and have a great time with the rest of our family but all of my wife's family had a immediate first had interaction with prejudice and systematic racism. They were mortified by the experience and all I could say was this is what happens often when some prejudice white people see "black" people and chose to use their authority to oppress others. I hope this park does the right think with this employee and reprimands her for not simply following the rules for everyone.

Ahhh! Who doesn't love an amusement park? Seriously, who? Point them out so we can ridicule them!

Ok, I get it, lots and lots of walking, spending an hour in line per ride, insane food and beverage prices, but you know what they say about Rome, right? Just accept it, roll with it, embrace the suck! Coz let's face it, a bad day at an amusement park beats a good day at work any day!

But hey, it's not a bad park, it's an amazing park! In fact, I'll go on record as stating it beats Disneyland any day of the week! Now for full disclosure, I haven't been to Disneyland in an easy decade, but to the best of my recollection, hands down. 49 Euro entrance fee for adults and 12 and under kids are 42, so clearly not cheap, but reasonable. Grub wasn't as scary as I had anticipated. Good beer everywhere and top notch coasters everywhere you look!

Absolutely great time! In fact, if I believe what I read it beats the pants off of Disneyland Paris, as well! If you find your way in these parts, add this to your itinerary, you'll be glad you did.

Cheers

This is the largest amusement park in Germany. Hands down waay better than Disneyland Paris any day of the week! My husband wanted to take the kids to do something after the all the shut downs from Covid. Rust is only a 2 hour drive from our area. We booked the tickets online the night before and off we went. We arrived just as the gates opened and it was a massive flood of people - all wearing mask and abiding to Covid protocol. It stated that were only at 60% capacity but it looked like it was nearly 90%! The rides took a little longer because the same person operating the ride also had to wipe down the seats before the next group of people could get on. They did have a few rides for toddlers but I feel like this is more geared for teenagers and young adults. I took my 3 month old & 4 year old in a double stroller and it was hard to navigate with the crowd of people. I did like the park however I think we will wait until the kids are much older to enjoy the full experience. Next time, I would like to come back and stay on the property and visit the water park.

Amazing Amazing Amazing Europa Park is is simply Amazing we watched the Fire Tiger show on ice and we didn't know any bit of Dutch but the show was still amazing lol the park is huge make sure u down load the Europa app so u can stand in virtual lines and get on rides faster food options where not all that but the burger spot right at the entrance was

I love a good roller coaster and themed destinations, so my love knew we needed to make a visit to Europa Park! A very reminiscing theme park for him, he brought me here so we can experience an adventurous day together, and something that he always remembered as a child.

The theme park is themed per European country, hence, the name, Europa Park. I loved that each district had their own uniqueness in foods, architecture, and theme rides that truly made Europa Park as different and exclusive. I expected the theme park to be much larger, according to the theme map, but it was very quick to get to one destination to the next. The best roller coasters were in Iceland and Scandinavia so do not miss those destinations if you're an avid roller coaster enthusiast! I loved the wooden ride and anything that is fast!

As each district had food relevant to the country; the United Kingdom had fish & chips, the Nordic regions had smoked salmon or herring fish sandwiches ready to be consumed, and Switzerland had raclette!

Initially, we planned a two day visit to Europa Park, but take our advice: only plan for one day! We were able to finish everything by the closing time!

As an avid theme park goer, I do not think it is fair to compare Europa Park to Disneyland as they are both very different in theme and idea. I had my fun share here and hope to bring my future family here x

Spent the day here at Europa Park with the tour group back in April 2011. It's a decent amusement park with good rides. We came here on a weekday and there were practically short lines. An average wait time for a ride was probably less than 20-30 minutes. Here are the list of things I did:

1) EP-Express Station: A mini train ride touring around Europa Park. (Stations at Germany, Greece, Spain section)

ITALY SECTION:
2) Ghost Castle: It's a 2-person haunted house theme little car ride. Not scary at all.

FRANCE SECTION:
3) Eurosat: The facade of this ride looks like Disney World's Epcot center. It's dark indoor roller coaster ride and it was great! (MUST DO)
4) Sliver Star: Roller coaster ride similar to Six Flag's Great Adventure's Nitro in NJ. Great ride and I personally like this better Nitro because I didn't feel nauseous afterwards. Less scary than Nitro even though both rides are scary. (ABSOLUTELY A MUST DO!!!)
5) Magic Cinema 4D: Cute animated movie in 3D and a little bit simulated seats. I think it was about 30 minutes long.
6) Euro-Tower: You'll get to a 360 view of Europa Park from this observation tower.

SWITZERLAND SECTION:
7) Swiss Bob Run: Bob sled theme ride.

GREECE SECTION:
8) Ice-Show: You'll see an ice skating performance. It was probably 30-45 minutes long.

ENGLAND SECTION:
9) Monorail: The monorail will take you to the Iceland section.

RUSSIA SECTION:
10) Euro-Mur: A semi spinning roller coaster ride. Not that scary. (MUST DO)

HOLLAND SECTION:
11) Pirates in Batavia: Indoor cruise ride. It was probably 15-20 minutes long. I don't remember.

ICELAND SECTION:
12) Blue Fire: A launched roller coaster ride. It may not look scary at all. It was an amazing ride! It's very fast too. There a few twists and turns. I kinda felt nauseous afterwards and good thing I didn't eat anything huge before hand. ;D (ABSOLUTELY A MUST DO!!!)
13) Monorail: The monorail will take you to the England section.


ADVENTURE LAND:
14) Jungle Rafts: A boat ride. Maybe 15 minutes long. I don't remember.

Overall, like I said earlier decent amusement park. I had a lot of fun because I was able to go on a lot rides. Highly recommend the Sliver Star and Blue Fire rides. The only down side was that smoking was permitted. I don't know or remember if the area was a designated smoking area. But, I actually saw a cigarette vending machine though. =X

This is my favorite theme park in Europe and also the only one I have been to. As roller coasters go the ones you need to ride are Silver Star, Woodan, and Blue Fire. Another very fun ride is Voletarium where you fly through the air. The theming is very great. Overall this is a great theme park.

Do you remember when theme parks were magical? When they had an element of quaintness about them? A time before they were all overrun with "IP" and movie tie-ins, and "brand"?

If you yearn for those days, then Europa-Park may please you.

Part botanical garden, part theme park, part natural preserve, Europa-Park reminded me of my childhood visits to Disneyland in the 1960s and '70s. It is well-designed, but still just a little rough around the edges. Innocent, in a way.

What struck me most during my visit was how much laughter I heard throughout the day! No kids having a meltdown, no quarreling families, just everyone having a good time. I think it's because unlike other theme parks, Europa-Park is not about sensory overload: It's about enjoying a day with your friends or family, in a fun place.

I'm not going to review the rides, as I'm sure that has been done to death elsewhere. Just know that the Mack family, which owns Europa-Park, (yes, it is still family-owned), builds roller coasters and rides for other theme parks around the world, and they are very good at it. There is a level of design perfection that is equal to what you've experienced at the top parks around the world, because the Mack company probably built those rides, too.

So what's wrong with Europa-Park? Well, it is a bit derivative in some places: Their mascot is a mouse. They have a pirate ride, a geodesic sphere, and a haunted castle. They have a monorail and a people mover. They have a new ride where you soar over Europe.

A lot of stuff that may feel familiar if you've been to other theme parks.

But there is still a lot of originality and charm, and for that I give them credit.

Also, the food is notches above what you will find at most theme parks outside of Europe. EPCOT quality and selection at prices more suited for mere mortals. Lunch for four is closer to €50 than to €150.

If you are anywhere in the area (an easy drive from Frankfurt, Strasbourg or Basel) and are a theme park aficionado, Europa-Park is definitely worth spending a day or two.