Europa-Park was opened in 1975 and it covered 16 hectares (40 acres) of land. It is run by the Mack family, who have produced vehicles since 1780, circus wagons since 1880 and roller coasters since 1921. It counted 250,000 visitors in the first year and 700,000 in the second. By the year 2000, the number of visitors had risen to 3 million, and its hotels had been booked to nearly 98% of their capacity.
As the park expanded, country-themed sections were added.
The first one was "Italy", opened 1982. The Alpenexpress "Enzian" and Schweizer Bobbahn rides opened in 1984 and 1985, respectively. The "Europe" theme was pursued further with the opening of "Holland" (1984), "England" (1988), "France" (1990), "Scandinavia" (1992) and "Spain" (1994) sections.
The park opened during the winter season for the first time in 2001/02.
In 2011, there were 4.5 million visitors, and, by 2012, the park had expanded to encompass an area of 90 hectares, featuring eleven roller-coasters, five themed hotels, and more than 3,000 employees. In 2012, Roland Mack announced investments in excess of EUR 60 million, the largest yearly investment in the park's history. The total sum invested in the park is estimated at close to EUR 700 million.
On 3 June, 2017. Europa-Park opened the 'Voletarium' attraction. The attraction is the biggest flight motion simulator theatre in Europe. It features a queue line with multiple pre-show elements culminating in the main ride section: a film showcasing European landmarks which lasts for 5 minutes. The ride is the most expensive single ride investment to date at the park.
In May, 2018, a blaze broke out at the park in a backstage area and quickly spread to the adjoining "The Pirates of Batavia" attraction. The ride is a dark, enclosed water ride that opened in 1987 and was built by Mack Rides. It is located in the "Netherlands" section of the park, which, along with the adjoining Scandinavian section was severely damaged. The park reopened the following day with the Pirates attraction, as well as the Scandinavia and Netherlands sections closed. They are now currently being reconstructed.
Rust, where the park is located, isn't far from where Sue and Keith live. You just have to take the 5 minute ferry (free) across the Rhine and drive about 7 km from there to the park. As we approached the park, and even from a fair distance away, the main thing you see is an enormous roller coaster. Further, as we had arrived around 11 am, it wasn't too far to walk from the car to the entrance. And, there are rolling walkways, like you see in airports, if your car is parked a long way from the entrance. There must have been 15 ticket booths at the entrance but only three were open that morning.
The entrance fees are relatively affordable: 45 Euros (about $60 CAD) for children and seniors and 52 Euros (about $75 CAD for adults (age 12+). The entrance fee includes all the attractions and rides so, essentially, once you are inside, the only additional costs are for food, drinks and souvenirs. By comparison, adult tickets for Disneyland Paris range from 58 Euros to 87 Euros depending on the day or level of ticket you want.
The only problem with our visit yesterday was the weather. It began cool, which was fine, but, after about 2 hours there, it started raining and that made it most unpleasant and certainly curtailed what we managed to see. Thankfully, even after noon, the crowds weren't bad. We continually remarked what a nightmare it would be to come here in the summertime. We were lucky as most of the things we did had no line-ups at all.
On arrival, we took the EP Express, basically a train (and not express at all!) which goes completely around the park. It was a good way to orient ourselves. The train station at the park entrance is Alexanderplatz and, upon returning to it, we got off and found ourselves in the German-themed section. There is actually part of the old Berlin wall there (Roger remarked that it was probably the only authentic thing in the park!) This area is also where the Voletarium is located (the flight simulator experience). The consensus among the five of us (three adults and two children) was that it was the best "ride" of the day. I had no idea what to expect but it is thrilling and spectacular. You get the sense you are flying over Europe - dipping and swooping high into the sky and then back down to the ground. I would come back to the park just to have that experience again! We had planned to go back at the end of the day but one of the kids ran out of energy so we didn't get to it.
After that, we just wandered around the park - and there is a lot to see. You certainly need more than one or two days here. Mind you, because of the weather we didn't manage to get to some of it. The France and Italy-themed sections are very pretty and reminiscent of those countries. In fact, all of the sections we saw, the designers seem to have identified all the iconic things one would associate each of the countries. For example, there are the striped poles (Venice) and the Printemps (department store in Paris) roof in one of the restaurants in the France section. The Greek section is blue and white; there are thatched buildings in the England part and, of course, a mountain chalet in the Swiss part.
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| The entrance to "Ireland" - to damp to visit, however |
There were other attractions that we took in including an ice show called Paddington. It was okay but not fabulous. We also visited "Piccolo Mondo", a ride intended for kids that takes you through Italy - seeing references to Leonardo da Vinci, Michaelangelo, and Venice Carnival. Another one of the good attractions was a 4D movie that took you on an animated night tour of the park. I had seen 3D movies but didn't know what a 4D one was until. as we were watching it, the seats dropped or tilted, air was misted or blown at you. .I guess the 4th D is sensation.
By the time we had taken in those and a few other attractions, the kids were getting tired (stimulus overload, probably) and we were all damp. So, about 4 pm we headed back to the car. It had been a very good day! In the parking lot, near the car was another car from CH, I was surprised to see a BC licence plate in the side window. Further, the registration had only expired in 2018! It seemed strange to see it here.
Back "home", we snacked on Swiss cheeses and a baguette before having another tarte flambee dinner. So Alsatian!
By the time we had taken in those and a few other attractions, the kids were getting tired (stimulus overload, probably) and we were all damp. So, about 4 pm we headed back to the car. It had been a very good day! In the parking lot, near the car was another car from CH, I was surprised to see a BC licence plate in the side window. Further, the registration had only expired in 2018! It seemed strange to see it here.
Back "home", we snacked on Swiss cheeses and a baguette before having another tarte flambee dinner. So Alsatian!
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