When you think of massive theme park resorts, most think of Disney or Universal, but Europa Park…read morecan 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)
