Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Part Two of our Europa Park Deep Dive!
0 Playsin 7 hours
So much to talk about, we have a part two! (And inevitably, a part three at some point...) Jenn and Joey finish going through all of the themed areas, we talk a few other creative things about the park, and we finally get to all of our listener comments - and you all had so much to say!!
Follow Joey for some occasional Europa content lol: https://www.instagram.com/joeyschadenberg/
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
You are listening to the Inverted Creative Podcast. I'm Allison. I'm Bryant. And I'm Jen.
00:00:16
Speaker
Welcome back.
Hosts' Weekly Recap
00:00:18
Speaker
We made it for part two of Europa Park. Wow. It's been a week for everyone else, but it's been like three days for us between recordings. We never record twice in a week. This is wild.
00:00:30
Speaker
Yeah, it's going to be a wild Friday night. And by that, I mean, we're going to record this podcast and then I'm going to literally just lay down and go to sleep. um Mike and John Mike are at a soccer game in Kentucky
Food Talk: Cupcakes & Fast Food
00:00:42
Speaker
right now. So I have the night free.
00:00:44
Speaker
Oh, how fun. I actually will go downstairs. I have Lancaster cupcakes. If you ever make it, if any of our listeners ever make it to Lancaster, Lancaster cupcakes. Incredible. And I actually have one downstairs.
00:01:00
Speaker
but like What flavor are they? One, or there's actually three. um Two of them are strawberry champagne. So they're like yellow cake with the strawberry champagne filling in the middle and strawberry icing. And one of them is a pot of gold, which is yellow cake.
00:01:19
Speaker
And I think the icing is just like standard buttercream icing, but then the inside is Bavarian cream. interesting. Yeah, very good. Their cupcakes are fantastic.
00:01:30
Speaker
So...
00:01:32
Speaker
I enjoy them a lot. so Yeah. So not a bad Friday night at all.
00:01:42
Speaker
i had Chipotle for dinner. That's the extent of my exciting Friday night. Oh, wow I still have to try Chipotle. Yeah. We're going to get Chipotle next week. Oh, now I'm so long in the U S I want to try like all different kinds of U S fast foods options. We don't have in Europe.
00:02:00
Speaker
yeah I guess we have Chipotle, but I've never seen one. I don't know if we have Chipotle. We'll have to try. I don't know. Bring Chipotle to Europa Park. Put it in your suitcase.
00:02:11
Speaker
No, I meant open a Chipotle in Europa Park. well What area would it go into? chipotle spain spain wow that's a good kickoff that's a good start yeah so you still have a bunch of themed areas for these two to talk about because they know the park a lot better than i do and i will contribute sporadically yeah so um i guess we're starting with spain sp m yeah first off put a chipotle there Yeah, first put a Chipotle there.
Europa Park's Spain Area
00:02:43
Speaker
Replace the like not fantastic Mexican restaurant with a Chipotle. It's called to Bodega. First they had like Spanish food, like tapas and everything. I guess it's also Mexican tapas.
00:02:55
Speaker
Tapas can be Mexican, but it's more Spanish, I think. But now they changed it last season to Mexican food. So you have tacos and stuff. It's still nice. but It's still nice, but it's like German people do Mexican food.
00:03:11
Speaker
So like, it's fine. It's fine. Yeah. I haven't eaten there yet, but like... We had chips and salsa. The chips and salsa weren't like... They were fine, but like the salsas weren't great. The sangria, though.
00:03:27
Speaker
The sangria is amazing. um Yeah, we did have drinks that were really good. We did really like the drinks. um Yeah, so the Spain area has a Mexican restaurant.
00:03:39
Speaker
Also, the hotel entrance is there. yeah yeah And then they have these like... oh okay I feel like the Spain area to me is like where you notice most that Mok just like threw in their like prototype rides because they have those two rides that are like completely closed off that you would never know exist. So they have two rides in that area that you would never in a million years know exist. One is like, what is it called? A Himalayan?
00:04:07
Speaker
Oh, I don't know the ride names. no One of them is like a Himalayan, I think. And remember the one with the ships that you can shoot? Yes, and the ships is pretty cool. It's like a... Yeah, how is called? That's like the Music Express, right? Yes, kind of. But then you have a steering wheel on board. Yeah. and You can turn the steering wheel and then your car turns the rotation you are steering to.
00:04:29
Speaker
And then you can shoot at the other cars too. I was about to say, does the steering wheel actually do anything? Or is it like one of those like fake rides where you think you're in control? From forward to so facing the middle to turning backwards. Yeah.
Exploring Iceland Area
00:04:42
Speaker
So it actually does stuff. It's pretty cool. And you have a button. And there's like all projection mapping around the arena. It's indoors. And when you press the button, um a cannonball shoots and you will break a wall.
00:04:55
Speaker
Yeah, very nice it is very cool. And then they also have like, you know, those rides that are like circular that you sit and then it it like uses the momentum to like swing the thing out.
00:05:08
Speaker
Maybe. ah Yeah, I don't know the name either, but they have one of those too. Both of them are indoors and themed really well um and really cool. But like, it's for me, it's like these are two fair attractions that they just decided to permanently put here.
00:05:23
Speaker
um And then they have so they have the horse show. Which I've never seen. The whole show is pretty good. Yeah, it's a lot of fun. they last season, they constructed a... Sorry, I'm getting too distracted right now. is trying very hard to join the podcast right now. She just played on my lap.
00:05:54
Speaker
Oh, sorry. Poor Allison's going to have like the most edited episode right now. got three notes. Oh, I'm so sorry.
00:06:05
Speaker
Okay. So then they have those two rides and then they have the horse show. The horse show is in Spain, right? Yes. They made a new roof for the theater, if anyone comes to interest about it No, it wasn't like a Colosseum style show. Like you could sit all around and then in the middle there was a horse show. Oh.
00:06:25
Speaker
in the middle doesn't want just keep going ahsoka's getting more important in about these horses either way so in the middle like there was like the horse show and then you can sit all around and for the 20 25 season they made a roof on top of it so when it's rainy they still can do the show oh cool and i think we have architecture Yeah, I actually do. yeah but thats that's okay um Yeah, I think that's about it for Spain.
00:06:55
Speaker
yeah that's a bunch yeah Yeah, there isn't much small area. Sorry, I'm making fun of your accent. Spain. You said Spain. Spain. Spain. Espanol.
00:07:08
Speaker
Then we have two right there. um Super quick one to talk about is Portugal. Oh, yeah, that's right next door. um It's a small area. um Like, there's not much to do there. i did not realize that at Atlantica Super Splash was considered a part of Portugal. I thought they literally just had... There's, like, a giant pirate ship bar, which is super cool, which I guess it makes sense because that's the entrance to Atlantica Super Splash, but I don't know. It doesn't feel very Portuguese to me. However, the giant pirate ship with the cool pirate bar, that feels...
00:07:42
Speaker
yeah On top of the entrance for Atlantic Super Splash, it's a Muck Super push Splash, I guess. ah On top of it, there's the bar. you can overlook the entire area while you see like the rides go.
00:07:55
Speaker
Yeah. That's my favorite bar. like I like to just sit there and watch things. I love it. And then in the winter, they shut down the Atlantic a Super Splash and they have a giant Ferris wheel and an Erdinger winter hut.
00:08:10
Speaker
yeah Like ah like like a ski hut. Yeah, very cool. Yeah, I didn't do the Ferris wheel when I was there. I just ran out of time. Oh, it's so cool. Part of the reason that I went in winter was to do the Ferris wheel, but then, I don't know if you guys know this, but i lost my glasses on crazy bats.
00:08:27
Speaker
So then I was like, why would I get in a Ferris wheel when I can't see anything? So, we did not do it. But yeah, so, that's really all it is in Portugal.
00:08:39
Speaker
Those two things. Um, is Yeah, what's... I feel like Iceland probably the most makes the most sense to do.
00:08:52
Speaker
I think Iceland, yeah. I mean, Portugal like fades into Iceland. Yeah. so um This is the biggest area of the park.
00:09:03
Speaker
Yeah, I would think so too. Iceland definitely seems to be the biggest area of the park. And it has amazing two attractions. Three, actually, four. Four attractions even.
00:09:14
Speaker
Also the um like theming of the entire area, I think that they put such incredible like little things into this area. They have puffins everywhere.
00:09:28
Speaker
if you look hard enough, they're just all over the place. They're so cute.
00:09:34
Speaker
I love them. It's also home to Woden, which is... Okay, that answers my question. I'm like, there's an Iceland section. Yes. Yeah, has like a water boat ride, which looks really cool. I've never done it, but it looks really cool.
00:09:48
Speaker
um And then it has Wodan, Blue Fire, and what's the fourth you said? A monorail station. Oh, and the monorail station. Like the mini monorail. Oh, the coming back to Spain, the big monorail stops in Spain. Yeah.
00:10:02
Speaker
That's... Yeah. technique Yeah. Yeah. hu There's two monorails. We also, I don't think, have mentioned that. There's two monorails at Europa Park, which seems really wild to me. There are three ways of transportation. A train, a mini monorail, and a big monorail.
00:10:20
Speaker
It's insane. Yeah. It's kind of crazy. Yeah. So there's a mini monorail station in Iceland. That's kind of nice. And there's a hot dog place.
00:10:32
Speaker
It's terrible. I don't like it. It's the most theme park food you can get in Europe Park. I'm not saying something. Yeah. I don't like it.
00:10:43
Speaker
I guess it's... It's not terrible, but like it's like very like, oh, I go here for my quick theme park food. No, I was getting confused about the areas. Because also... Iceland...
00:10:57
Speaker
iceland It has all of that stuff. And it also has like a child's play area that's really cute. um But then also it kind of like leads into not Scandinavia. Where is the section with the coffee house you went to?
00:11:15
Speaker
That's Iceland. That is still considered Iceland? That's still Iceland. Iceland is huge area. Oh, yeah, I guess that's Blue Fire. I was thinking Blue Fire is quick access on the other side of the way.
Voltron & Blue Fire Rides
00:11:28
Speaker
Okay, so that cafe house is really nice.
00:11:31
Speaker
I also really... i really love that big open water before the... um When you're going into Scandinavia from Iceland, there's that water before the rapids with like all of the like Europa park. This is where the creativity is like just wild. And like, I don't, I don't, I feel like who is creating their budget? Cause they have a. The Mark family.
00:11:57
Speaker
Yeah. And there's no budget. Like I swear there's no budget in this park. They literally have just like animatronics and there's like a fisherman's hut that like catches on fire. yeah Yes.
00:12:10
Speaker
Yeah, that's already like outside. That's already in Scandinavia, I think. but It's like between the areas. Oh, I guess it is. It's right before the entrance to Iceland. It's like an animatronic that's ah fishing and talking and then the house.
00:12:23
Speaker
Yeah, like they have very silly animatronics. So I guess that's walking out of Iceland and into so Scandinavia. Yeah, but we missed on blue fire. We did miss on blue fire. So let's go back.
00:12:36
Speaker
Blue Fire. Blue Fire. Yeah. It's fun. You don't really glossed over Wodan, by the way. I did kind of forget about Wodan. Not forgot about it. I got distracted.
00:12:49
Speaker
um I love Wodan. That's actually one of my favorite rides in the park. um It's one of the few rides that I do every single time I'm there, at least a couple of times. like I really like that attraction. It's one of my favorite Wodan. The queue is amazingly themed.
00:13:07
Speaker
The queue is really cool. Yeah. We had a lot of fun taking photos in there. I've only done it once, unfortunately. The queue. I always get a virtual line. Yeah, I do always get a virtual line.
00:13:21
Speaker
um But it is, from what I remember, it was really cool. yeah um I also love the entrance. I think the entrance room is really cool. The entrance is really cool, yeah. It is. The entire ride, like, also the station building is cool, like, ah how it open it is and with the train going through.
00:13:38
Speaker
Train going through. It a fly through? Fly by. Fly by. Yeah. I also, one detail I really love about Wodan, again, Europa Park with the animatronics.
00:13:51
Speaker
When you're leaving the station, as you're leaving, the animatronics, like, one by one turn their head and watch you leave. I don't know if I noticed that. I only got to go on it once. it's um It took me two or three times to notice it, um but it's like there's animatronics, like the statues in the station.
00:14:09
Speaker
Their heads move as you're leaving and like a boom, boom, boom. That's creepy. They turn in the direction where you're leaving and when the train returns, it's also like looking at you and then... And goes to the middle. Yeah, going to the middle. Pretty cool. Yeah, it's very cool. It's a very cool detail that took me a while to to figure out. But once I saw it, I'm like this.
00:14:30
Speaker
Oh, it's so good. I'll have to watch videos for that. Yeah, it's a very cool it's pretty cool yeah um touch. And again, it's like little things like that. I think that set Europa Park apart.
00:14:42
Speaker
Also the only GCI, I think, with three trains. I don't know if Mystic Timbers have three trains. I don't know. That's an Allison question. Yeah, it does.
00:14:54
Speaker
Oh, it does. Okay. Then until Mystic Timbers, it was the only GCI with three trains. Well, technically Lightning Racer has more. Ooh. Okay.
00:15:05
Speaker
Yeah, well, then I go i go back to yours and the drag. They have five trains. Okay. You counted like that? Okay, sure. for Sure. I mean...
00:15:16
Speaker
um But another fun fact about the seats, they don't do the seatbelts like all the other GCIs. Oh, that's so nice. Yeah. Yeah. I never get the seatbelts like a GCI. They are always also ah awkwardly in your way.
00:15:30
Speaker
Yeah. They take so much time. Yeah. You sit down and then restraint drops and they don't have to check like the stupid seatbelts. Yeah. Or like Mystic Timbers it' seatbelts now that's like three miles long. So it's like the belt is friggin' in your side. Oh, no. That's so annoying. And the strap is just everywhere. Yeah, that's frustrating.
00:15:53
Speaker
m Yeah, that was it for Walnut, I guess. Yeah. Blue Fire. He's next. Yeah, now Blue Fire. Yeah, Blue Fire. I have never done the normal queue on Blue Fire. Never.
00:16:05
Speaker
It's nothing interesting. i do love... can run a launch track. Yeah, I love how close you can get to that launch track. I think that's really cool and really fun. um There's also, when you're going up the like little area of stores, like going over by the quick queue from the main entrance, on the right-hand side, if you go into the buildings, you can actually watch in the windows on the other side, like the indoor section of the launch.
00:16:28
Speaker
Oh, yeah, you can. You can see the launch. Yeah, so you can, like, so watch everyone in that indoor section of the launch. um
00:16:38
Speaker
That's really cool. I really enjoy that. I also just... i've I just got my first ride on that with audio. Yes. da um they Some trains do have audio, some trains don't. Most trains don't. And if you have a train with audio, you...
00:16:55
Speaker
need to have looked at it works. Yeah. know Sometimes also the audio starts and I'm like, oh my God, the audio works. And then you, know yeah like you're going on a launch and then it's restarted.
00:17:07
Speaker
e Yeah. i don't remember if any of my friends had it or not. I didn't even know it had audio for the first like seven or eight rides. I was on it until I was there like Viva and them and Viva was like, oh, this one should have audio. And then it didn't. Um,
00:17:24
Speaker
um Yeah, but some of the trains have like very visible audio i setups, and some of the trains don't. I think this is like a part of your Robopark mock with testing systems. I think they were like, okay, can we bring onboard audio to these kind of trains?
00:17:39
Speaker
And they tested it on Blue Fire. Yeah, that would make sense. I think it went like this. I'm not sure, but... I mean, it would make sense because some have it, some don't, and then some work and some don't. So my guess is they would be trying different things.
00:17:52
Speaker
um They also tested, ah because Blue Fire is a standard Mach launch coaster, they tested the spinning seats on this one. That would have been so fun. yeah I think they tested...
00:18:04
Speaker
both like the Enso variants, like the one from i um Icon. um Icon and I think the one in Australia has also been a steal. Steal something. Steal Taipan something. It sounds something like that. Yeah.
00:18:24
Speaker
Why can't we not think of it? I feel stupid. Steal Taipai? No.
00:18:31
Speaker
Steel Taipan. Yeah. Taipan. Okay. like Isn't that a city or something? don't know. Yeah. um Yes. And they also tested the extreme spinning coaster trains here. That's cool. Yeah.
00:18:42
Speaker
Did you get a chance to try any of those when they were on there? No, I was not working there yet. Okay. But it's still very cool that they tested it here and we're like, okay, we can make bigger things out of this. I've been on Enso, so at least I have that much. Yeah. Yeah, that's really cool.
00:18:58
Speaker
I never really processed that. like I knew that was like a prototype train and like pretty standard track for them. And obviously, it's a pretty simple layout. like I feel like you could test so many things on that without it getting too extreme because it's not that extreme of a coaster. yeah So like you don't have to worry about heartlining too drastically or oh because it's pretty tame.
00:19:22
Speaker
That's really cool. I had no idea they did that. Yeah. Blue fire. And just the roll at the end of the ride. Oh. Yeah. This is maybe my... How would you say it? My... Lieblings?
00:19:39
Speaker
No, my...
00:19:43
Speaker
Unpopular opinion. Oh, okay. couldn't find a word. You're not a fan of it? I prefer this role over the most sourest role. No, no. I really like this role because it comes out of nowhere. Yeah, it really did come out of nowhere.
00:20:00
Speaker
It's pretty tame the entire ride and then out of nowhere this role tries to smash you out. Yeah, that's true. It is the only thing on the ride that does anything. It's not a terrible ride, but it's like... It's the craziest element. It's one of the only rides I've ever seen, though, that has managed to valley on the top of an element.
00:20:18
Speaker
Anyways, let's go to Scandinavia.
Scandinavia's Attractions
00:20:25
Speaker
Scandinavia. I've actually been waiting to talk about Scandinavia because um that has the best coffee in the entire park. There's behind like if you go into the restaurant in Scandinavia, like behind the outside stand, there's a little coffee shop and they're like the one of the only places in the park that has an actual espresso machine.
00:20:48
Speaker
Noted for the next time I go. Also, the seating is amazing because you have like a seating over the view of Blue Fire. like With big looping, like where you always see the picture of Blue Fire, you can overlook over Blue Fire. yeah So you can sit there nicely, you can see the roller coaster run. It's like this little deck that has a view Blue Fire and you're like over top of the rapids. And if it's not a crazy busy day, there's always seating. I never had trouble finding seating there.
00:21:20
Speaker
I have a couple times, but not crazy. So it's a really cool place to get to sit and chill. And then it also is home to one of my other favorite dark rides that I forgot about last episode, Snorri.
00:21:33
Speaker
snory tourish but Snorri Snorri Touring. It's so cute. It's like one of the cutest attractions. I really like it. And for anyone who doesn't know, Snorri Touring is the, um like,
00:21:49
Speaker
Mascot of Rulantica, their water park. So yeah so of Snorri is a sextopus. Sextopus, I guess. So a a squid with six tails. Fixed-legged octopus.
00:22:04
Speaker
Yeah. yes I was just going to say an octopus, but... No, it's all about the details. Oh, sorry. All about the details. He's a sextopus. Sextopus?
00:22:17
Speaker
anyway Anyway. So ah they made a dark ride for him. yeah In the basement of the area.
00:22:28
Speaker
The entire area is like elevated. And underneath is the dark ride. yeah Yeah, that's pretty nice. It is pretty nice. Also insane again like how quickly they rebuild this because there was another fire in Europa Park in 2018 and they reopened this area in 2019 with the new dark ride.
00:22:54
Speaker
Yeah. That's kind of crazy. It is insane how quickly they can move. But I guess when you don't have people like it's just the Mach family doing their things and like figuring out what they want and doing it as quickly as possible and they're making everything. So I guess yeah they don't have to go through an entire board of like exactly like like and work with the manufacturer and like they just kind of they are being like, yo, priority up.
00:23:18
Speaker
Yeah. and but One thing I don't really love about that area, though, is like the isn't there like a isn't that where there's the Reeboks? Is it Reebok?
00:23:28
Speaker
No, Adidas? Puma? ah Yeah, puma Puma. There's a Puma store and then there's like two or three carnival games that feel really out of place.
00:23:40
Speaker
e yes yeah they just feel like they don't belong there also in the neater area again is uh again like a clothing store yeah camp david yeah it feels kind of like it feels weird it just feels weird in such a beautiful area i don't mind the shoe store necessarily but i don't mind that as much because it's hidden but the carnival i never liked the carnival games because it's like In general, I don't like it, but it's such a small area. And then they start to scream at you like, hey, do you want to play the game? And I'm like, leave me alone. Yeah. um
00:24:15
Speaker
Yeah, not my. That part of that might be the only part of the land that I really have anything negative to say, because I just don't understand. They don't fit. I don't understand why they put them there, but.
00:24:28
Speaker
Maybe they were there before the fire and they were like, oh, let's put them back. Let's keep them. That deserves to come back. Yeah, the rest of the area, though, it's it's so beautifully themed.
00:24:40
Speaker
um That's one of my favorite areas. Most days when I come into the park, that's like one of the places I go to work and just sit and relax. like yeah this This area is kind of split up in two sections. You have this small street.
00:24:55
Speaker
yeah like It's very thin. yeah And then you have the big okra area with fjord drafting. Oh, yeah, with the rafting, the animatronic I mentioned. yeah And then also, isn't that where the pirate, that pirate ship? Yeah, pirate ship There's like a big giant swinging pirate ship.
00:25:14
Speaker
um Also in that area and like this big open water spot. But also the queue to the rafting has this really cool, um like you have the regular line that you can go in, but then you also have this boat that they load people onto this like.
00:25:30
Speaker
yeah like tree yeah it's the exit You have three ways to exit. You have a normal walkway. You have like a barrel walk where you can walk over floating barrels on water. And you have like a... It's like a a flight a group float that you then have to use the rope to like pull it across. yeah, I've seen those. It's very cool. But the funny thing is there is an employee on board and once it gets at the other side, like when people pull to the other side, the employee just starts to motor him.
00:25:59
Speaker
ah she this pushes it back that's kind of funny always to see yeah yeah um i think yeah In the winter, like they have a giant lake in that area. In the winter, they pump away the water and make the ice course there. It's pretty cool. With thousands of Christmas trees. Yeah, they have all these Christmas lights and then they also do um like little huts with glue line little shops and stuff. So it feels like a Christmas village, which is really cute. I do remember all the trees.
00:26:32
Speaker
Yeah. I'm going that little Scandinavian street. Yeah, so normally that's like a lake with an animatronic and... Oh, yes. Oh, yeah. um She showed us. remember going through there. um Yeah, i think that's it. That's definitely it for Scandinavia, I think. They have really good Swedish meatballs, too.
00:26:52
Speaker
just okay I like them a lot. um now we have kind of a weird area coming up and it's Adventureland. Yeah, Adventureland, which I don't even know. Does Adventureland, like, is it even really?
00:27:07
Speaker
So, yeah, before the reteam of Josefina's, it was part of, Josefina was part of Adventureland and they reteamed it to Austria and I think they kind of planned on making that entire area Austria as well.
00:27:29
Speaker
But then the fire happens. So I think they kind of had to repurpose some budget to other places. So it yeah, now you have this weird two, three buildings. Yeah, Adventureland might be the weirdest spot in the entire park. So Josefina's used to be like an African, right? African-themed boat ride.
00:27:52
Speaker
um Even if you look up the original Josefina pictures. ah For people who have played Rollercoaster Tycoon, the boat ride you had with like the really wooden floats, ah those boats used to be at Josefina's.
00:28:07
Speaker
Yeah. Like, and even like some of the website photos I remember looking at before. Oh, it would have been in Austria. The first year that it was open, Josefina's was open as Josefina's. They used the same boats. So it was like really weird wood.
00:28:23
Speaker
You wouldn't like floats. Yeah. And then on an Austrian ride, it was very, very weird. Um, But yeah, now it's just, they even closed the one restaurant. It was like a bar. Oh yeah, Crocodile Bar. I think now it's extra seating for spices. So there used to be a bar. They closed the bar. It's now just extra seating. There's a restaurant. Yeah, spices. And that is, I think, the most beloved restaurant within the park. That is by far, I think, the best food I've eaten in the park. Yes, in my opinion as well. I also always hear animal pest holders like, oh my god, we went to Spices again. we're going to Spices. It was... Spices does like themed weeks. Like they do an Africa week and then have Bobodi and all kind of African foods.
00:29:14
Speaker
Thai weeks, they do... Another one I forgot. But like they do different time... During different time periods of the year, they do different teams of food and the food is always good.
00:29:27
Speaker
And I think reasonably priced. Yeah. For like 15 euro... Let's say $17, you like a great meal. Like it's very good. Yeah. say seventeen dollars you have like a great meal like it's very good yeah i I really like spaces. I think that's one of the better places in the park to eat. Yeah, but it's very weird because it looks like off place. Like it doesn't yeah feel like it belongs there.
00:29:54
Speaker
i also like didn't notice it was his own area for like months. I just thought it was like some weird African restaurant in the middle. Oh, there's also quick service like burger, fries. They have a quick service restaurant that serves German food. Mm-hmm.
00:30:12
Speaker
I have so little experience with like any of the food in the park. I ate so little there. That's so unfortunate because it does have some of like, we're theme park. It does have some of my favorite food. Yeah. I ate it at an Italian restaurant.
00:30:26
Speaker
I got some kind of pizza. Oh yeah. They haven't. Yeah. Yeah. I have not eaten there actually. I'm not a big fan of like, I like pizza, but I'm not a big fan of pizza. Like if there's other options, I'm probably going eat the other options. The pizza pretty good.
00:30:38
Speaker
yeah I think we had a lot of debates about where we were going to eat because we didn't have a lot of meals in the park. so Oh, yeah. So that makes it a lot harder. And I don't think spices would have been anyone's first choice. I feel like spices is something you go to after a couple of visits and you're like, that looks... You almost need to know that it's there. Yeah.
00:30:59
Speaker
Also, it has the most amazing terrace. Yeah. They have a terrace overlooking like the wave pool of the fjord rafting, of the rafting ride. Yeah. And You're sitting at the one side, then you have the rafting with a wave pool. And at the other side, you have a water cannon, what people can trigger.
00:31:18
Speaker
Yeah. A great water cannon, but like you can time it exactly that you make people soaking wet. And people love to sit at the terrace and just look at people getting soaking wet there. That's the kind of place that I would sit. and Yeah. on the yeah canns It's really nice to like have some of the best food in the park and then sit there and watch and like just laugh. Yeah, fight. It's very good vibes. um That's definitely one of the spots where when when we talk about vibes in the park, that's definitely one of the high vibes, like the good vibe spots in the park.
00:31:48
Speaker
um You're close, like you're you're removed enough to feel like really relaxed, but then like 30 feet away, you have all this theme park chaos happening that you can still watch. Like very far to, that is a perfect example of like the charm of why I love that park so much.
00:32:08
Speaker
Seating is always a fighter. Yeah. It's always full. um Yeah. ah Next area. Yeah. Another.
00:32:21
Speaker
yeah Well, i it's. it Yeah. How do we say it? Like, it's a charming area, but like. It's easily forgettable, I would say. Yeah. um Alison, do you remember the English area at all? No, there's an English area.
00:32:38
Speaker
yeah Exactly. that's a little bit There are like three flat rides. yeah I'm not a good person to ask, like do you remember this area? Because I don't remember most of the areas.
00:32:49
Speaker
Yeah, it's just three flat rides. It looks very English. It has a train station. um And then like again, a food place that offers German food.
00:33:01
Speaker
Just fries and no it's burger. it's bratwurst, currywurst, burgers and fries. Okay. I guess it's German. German. Yeah. um They have a Autopia, right? that a How is it called in the US? Speedway?
00:33:19
Speaker
i think Autopia. We used to, but yes. Yeah. um Yeah, a carousel. Oh, the arena, the football place I mentioned last episode is also technically in the English area. It's pretty fun. It's like ah a bumper car ride, but they have like two goals at both sides.
00:33:37
Speaker
And the cars are a different color, I think like black or and red. And then you can play football because they have a ball in the middle. Oh, Rocket League.
00:33:48
Speaker
Yes, exactly. it it is exactly like a Rocket League. Except that you're not flying. Oh, man. Way to ruin the fun. had no idea that I had the ball in the middle and the goals. That's kind of cool. Yeah, that's a lot of fun. Yeah. There's also for beer levelr lovers listening to the podcast, buy the football arena in the place. There's a food place like attached to it. And if you go in there for beer, you can get these beers that you like it with the cola. Yeah.
00:34:17
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Yeah. It's like a beer with like a little bit of cola in it. Yeah. Very cool. Very different. um Yeah. Yeah. yeah It's very nice. um Yeah. And you have like, you have two carousels, like one of those buses that go around. i don't know if you have them in the US.
00:34:37
Speaker
I don't think so. um And a small version of the Toy Story. The... then Why don't I know the name? Alien Swirling Sour thing. Oh, yeah. It's like a... That one's called Crazy Taxi. yeah It reminds me of Mater's Jamboree. For, like, the enthusiasts, like, all the attractions, you can basically skip on this area and have an amazing day.
00:35:07
Speaker
It's just one of those ah areas that, like... It's beautifully done. It looks gorgeous. But it just... It's more like it feels like a way like to get to your destination. Yeah, it's like a walkthrough area. I think it's a crime that this area exists and they don't have corgis in the... who There's an arcade in this area too. and about the arcade They don't have corgis available to win in the arcade and I think that's a crime.
00:35:31
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:35:34
Speaker
So I don't spend any time in this area until they put corgis into the arcade. They also have a theater. I've only been in there once, like four years ago. Is that this laser maze is? No. I just found out that there's a laser maze.
00:35:47
Speaker
Yeah. Interesting. Do you know about the laser maze? knew about laser maze. Joey knows everything. Well, I didn't know about the maze. went in there once and I was like, oh, really don't want to play laser maze and just walk through it. And it was like, er our er you got killed.
00:36:08
Speaker
I want to do it. We're making our way through. Yeah. yeah
00:36:15
Speaker
I feel like we're doing areas you didn't spend a lot of time in. I'm so sorry, Allison. Correct. That's why I'm like, I will give my input where I can. yeah So for the next one, you probably have a lot of input for the fairytale forest.
Fairytale Forest & Euromir Ride
00:36:32
Speaker
did Did you know they have a fairytale forest? I've heard about it. yeah We might have walked. I feel like we walked through it. but No, there's no way. Oh, is it like a separate thing kind of? No, like it's um it's also a true way and the entrance for Archer is there.
00:36:49
Speaker
Okay. um It's a pretty cute area. Yeah, it's cute. it's Yeah, I prefer, because I kind of grew up with it, the Efteling fairy tale forest. Yeah, I was going to say, it's literally just copied Sporky's bus.
00:37:04
Speaker
Well, yeah, it's it's the fairy tales are, of course, all the same. But um it's very like, building here, building here, building here, doesn't really feel like a forest to me anymore.
00:37:17
Speaker
Yeah, it's like a walkthrough with all the fairy tales jumbled together, whereas in Efteling, it's separated um by like patches of forest. So you truly feel like you're in a forest. They did a great job with like interaction and like you have with every fairy tale, there three buttons, French, English, and German.
00:37:36
Speaker
So even for international guests, like you can enjoy the fairy tales. Yeah. And you can trigger them to yourself. So you don't have to wait to story to restart. And for kids, there is a lot to do. Yeah. There's a little cinema there. There's yeah.
00:37:51
Speaker
There's a lot to do. I don't think for our age group is. Yeah. The area. It's just a walk. Yeah. We are not the target audience. No, absolutely not. We are not. But yeah.
00:38:03
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, we're definitely not that I started to appreciate more and more, but yeah. There's nothing to do for us. Yeah, I think we only have two more areas left.
00:38:16
Speaker
oh And they're actually two of my like favorite areas. um These are two I can give input on Yes, you can definitely give some input on these ones. So the first one we're going to talk about is Russia.
00:38:34
Speaker
I'll let you start, Allison, because we've talked a lot. It's fine. I mean, I wrote Euromir, of course. he um I know Nate had said and one of in his comment with like seven different bullet points on it. He said in all caps, Euromir was the start of our unbreakable bond.
00:38:54
Speaker
I love that. Because ah for whatever reason, when we ended up facing each other on the ride, we ended up holding hands and stayed that way as long as we could. And he was recording on his GoPro that whole time, too. So we got some good pictures from that. And something about that moment, like we attribute that moment to our friendship.
00:39:13
Speaker
Oh, I love that. Glowing so much. but yeah I don't know why that moment specifically, but. Yeah. Yeah. Euromir is cool.
00:39:24
Speaker
Like, it's an amazing attraction. Like, everyone ride it again, but we just ran out of time. Sorry? So we wanted to ride it again, but we just ran out of time.
00:39:35
Speaker
I think everyone in this community knows Euromir. Yeah. I talk about the... I was at Europa Park for the Summer Nights Party, which is they open till midnight. um And they do, like, a bunch of special things and one of them that they do is a silent disco and I was at the silent disco and I'm like talking to the people around me and all of a sudden the whole entire crowd is on the same color and screaming the EuroMir song it was like the craziest thing and every single person was on blue and screaming this song
00:40:11
Speaker
It's a like, also, we have it that other attraction, I'm working at another attraction, and then people come in the stage and then singing this song. Yeah. sharing like it's It's just such a unique ride. Yeah. That that spiral lift just goes on forever.
00:40:26
Speaker
Yeah. like You have no choice but to dance up the entire hill. It's so cool. And then it spins inside, and um it's, yeah. I also love the astronaut.
00:40:37
Speaker
Yeah. But, like, everything feels like... The ride is made in the 90s, but it feels eighty s Yeah, it feels very retro. But it's so cool. I love it. like It's one of my favorite attractions in the park.
00:40:51
Speaker
A lot of people complain about it being rough. It's little rough. Yeah. if you're on the back If you're on the back, if you go backwards down, oh you're in for a rough end of the ride. Yeah, that's true. But like, I don't really mind. The final break run is... ah Yeah. but Going into the final break run is really painfully janky. yeah But other than that, the but the rest of the attraction is so good. I almost don't mind.
00:41:20
Speaker
ah My only big complaint is... This is the most terrible queue ever. It's just like elastic bands kettle pan.
00:41:31
Speaker
Yeah. yeah It's a pretty bad kettle pan. Does the queue ever go up into the space station? Only when like 90 plus minutes. I don't know exactly the... I was like, I think someone told me that the wait time sometimes goes into the... Out front of Euromir to get with the theming, you have a Space shuttle, like a Russian space shuttle yeah that you can go look at. Yeah, a um space station. yeah Space station, sorry. No, but you know that's a real space station? That's um a real training space station. Yeah. The Russians use that to train astronauts to go to space.
00:42:10
Speaker
Yeah. And that's above of the queue. Yeah, very cool. So a real space station that you can go look at. And sometimes, yeah, when it's really, really busy, they use it as key.
00:42:22
Speaker
But again, that's like, this is what I mean. Europa Park has no budget. Like, a real space training station? That's crazy. That's cool.
00:42:33
Speaker
That's insane. or no but Or they had no budget and the Russians were like, we have this trash. Do you guys want this? could have been as simple as this trash. It could have been like, we don't use it anymore. Yeah.
00:42:51
Speaker
i like that area. There's some really, the food place has like burgers, but they also have this like Russian pasta. Oh, that was very good. That was very good.
00:43:02
Speaker
um And the best dark right in the park. Yes, I'll let Joey talk. ah Did you do this dark ride, Alison? Bench the ride? Yeah, I did do benchch the yeah bench yeah. What did you think of bench the ride? It was certainly a ride.
00:43:17
Speaker
it's we We went into it with no expectations. Oh, I went into it thinking it was going to be the best attraction ever because Joey told me it would be the best attraction ever because he wanted to see my reaction. yeah So this ride ran so it was a good walk.
00:43:34
Speaker
It's amazing. like He loves it. He hyped it up so hard. And we were like, what are we getting into? It's pretty fun. And once we went in, there was like one of the animatronics just laying on the ground. Yeah. like Someone had like taken the one penguin and just like placed it on the exit. like him I think they just picked the animatronic up and moved it to the exit. We were like, there is penguin right there. That doesn't belong there. Oh, okay. I will have a look. Yeah.
00:44:03
Speaker
Yeah, i think we ended up riding that because I kind of got a migraine after riding Voltron a few times. yeah And like a parade was going on. And we were trying to find medicine.
00:44:14
Speaker
and we ended up going by that ride. I think we just did that then, like, as the parade was going on, I think. Yeah, because you can't really get through that area. Yeah. Yeah. So there was no line because everyone was waiting or was watching the parade. So yeah there's also no line ever. Well, still. well Sometimes there's a little line. Like three people.
00:44:32
Speaker
Yeah. No, that's a good way to get to wait for the parade. I do love that the Russia area, though, I think they do a really good job with the buildings and the theming.
Russia & Voltron Highlights
00:44:44
Speaker
The theming is gorgeous. Even I think on busy days. Well, I don't know exactly when they do it. But on busy days they have in one of the buildings a woodcarver.
00:44:53
Speaker
Oh, really? And he's like making wooden sculptures. Or whatever he's making. I never went in there when it was busy. Yeah, no idea. Yeah, so that's pretty cool. Like a hand worker making things there.
00:45:08
Speaker
That's cool. um Yeah. Yeah, that's it for Russia. Yeah, I think that brings us to the star of Europa Park. Brings us to the end of the episode. Yeah, no. We're actually not going to talk about the elephant in Europa Park.
00:45:25
Speaker
I was about to mention um one of the comments that we got. Okay, i go for it. From somebody who said, Euromir is top tier and has the better operators compared to Voltron. o Joey, would you like to contribute to this? Well...
00:45:40
Speaker
I need to agree that Yuromir has an amazing crew. I was thinking about saying it before, but I forgot about it. But Yuromir operators are very good. I love the team there.
00:45:51
Speaker
The groupers at Yuromir definitely have a harder time than the group all my groupers at Votron. Grouping at Yuromir is horrible. they they But it's fun. ah They group, for anyone who's like a major nerd, they group each car into like one cattle pin.
00:46:08
Speaker
So you have four people. and Yeah. so So for each, like, um for for people who know how the seating is, yeah ah you're facing, you're back to back. And then you are grouped four, four, four, four.
00:46:26
Speaker
Yeah. And people don't understand. So when the gates open, they try to go two. Every time the gates open and then like trying to group that yeah attraction. Every time in there, it's like people fighting. It's wild. But it's a lot of fun. Like yeah if you are not every day there, it's a lot of fun to do the grouping.
00:46:46
Speaker
Now, Euromir crew is amazing. Not better than Voltrons, but Euromir is amazing. Okay. So. those volronops hu Yeah, I hear the Dutch one specifically.
00:47:00
Speaker
Gross. Yeah. I think that brings us to Croatia. Yeah. Yeah. Croatia has not so many attractions.
00:47:13
Speaker
Yeah, their attractions suck. Yeah.
00:47:18
Speaker
No, there's Wotron. Do I need to talk positive about my own attraction or are you guys going to it? No, I'm actually just to trash talk it the entire time we're on here. i hear it's rattly. I'm kidding. It's not rattly. I don't believe in that. No, we have Croatia, which of course has Wotron, which I think both, all three of us on this podcast right now are all very large...
00:47:43
Speaker
Large. Big fans. I have it at number two. I have it at number two as well. Brian has it at number one.
00:47:55
Speaker
What is it for you? I'm going to be one of those that say like I don't really rank my attractions. No, I think it's hard to say. My favorite roller coaster now is Guardians of the Galaxy.
00:48:07
Speaker
um But yeah, I don't really want to rank them because... I think rankings for losers, but I rank my top 10. Yeah, no, Fortran is very high up. Like it's one of my favorite roller coasters in the world. Yeah, it's an incredible ride. um for I feel like everyone listening to this podcast probably knows, but it is a like first of its type roller coaster from Moth. They had very specific requirements. They had a very specific plot of land and they essentially told someone to figure it out.
00:48:40
Speaker
And they nailed it. And they nailed it. It is fantastic. It eats capacity. I've never seen anything like it. um It barrels through capacity. 600 people an hour.
00:48:52
Speaker
Yeah. and because it's Mach, and as I've mentioned many times on this episode, I truly believe that they don't give themselves budgets. It has some of the most insane theming.
00:49:04
Speaker
It is very high up. I would say at some point it's matching with Well, I think it is matching with Universal and Disney. Absolutely it is. And I think that one of the differences, what I see a lot of the times at Universal, with the exception of Hagrid's and Velocicoaster, but when they're going for big rollercoaster capacity eaters, i I wouldn't say capacity eaters, but big rollercoasters, I feel like they tend to like lower the theming some. Yeah.
00:49:36
Speaker
um like stardust racers for example that's the least theme attraction in all of epic universe yes but there's something to say like that's a little bit of the style of like celestial park yeah yeah but but i get what you mean but to have a ride that big with the level of seeming as voltron is very rare i think um There are actual real Tesla coils in the queue that they use to play music.
00:50:06
Speaker
Oh my god, the first time that happened, I had no idea. Did you jump? I jumped every time it started because it's so freaking loud, but... Every time when I'm working, it's like we we sometimes don't even notice it starts again. And then you're talking to a guest and they jump on and the guest got a jump scare and we just continue talking. And they were like, do you guys not hear this? And it's like, oh, yeah. Yeah, we used to it. right Yeah.
00:50:33
Speaker
Yeah, we have two different soundtracks for that. That's pretty cool. Yeah, that's real life Tesla coils like that that cost a fortune. insane. I guess and like it's there. It's not behind a wall. It's not behind net. Yeah, they're in the ceiling.
00:50:55
Speaker
They are there like if you jump on someone's shoulders, you can touch them. There are safety precautions for that. but Yeah, but also you have to jump on four people's shoulders.
00:51:07
Speaker
That's okay. They can reach two meters. and I think it's about six feet. Okay. like there yeah Yeah. Just a fun fact about them.
00:51:17
Speaker
Four of them. Their reach length is two meters. Yeah. It's so cool. Actually, we do not condone people climbing on each other's shoulders in the queue to touch the Tesla coil. Yeah, no, do not try to touch them. They deactivate, but don't do it. They have sensors. yeah um There are sensors around in the building.
00:51:37
Speaker
Yeah. yeah You would have to, because if you're you're throwing real electricity between the coils, if anything goes between, like... Like if someone throws something between them or something. Umbrella. Yeah.
00:51:49
Speaker
So. um Also the animatronic. Incredible. um I think it's so cool. Like we went straight to a photo on the inside the building. um I think it's cool that you can see the real train entering the launch.
00:52:08
Speaker
And then the fact that it's teleporting away. Yeah. It's pretty cool. I don't know. Did we have to give a spoiler warning, actually? because no because this whole episode is kind of a spoiler. I'll put it in the episode description, too. yeah but But this whole episode is a spoiler to the park. So, um yeah. The first time I rode that attraction, i i absolutely I knew nothing about it. I actually, if I'm going to be so real, I was so disconnected from Europe that I did not even know that it was new.
00:52:39
Speaker
I like that's how little I knew about it because i've ah I was always so disconnected from Europe because for me I was like before I went to Germany for the first time and realized how accessible Europe was for me I was like I'm never gonna go to Europe why am I gonna care about their attractions and then there's me getting like 15 friends together specifically to go ride Voltron Yeah. So now, obviously, my tune has changed. I spend a lot of time in Europe and I care about the coasters there now.
00:53:11
Speaker
um But yeah, at the time, I did not even know it was a new attraction. I was like shocked. um So I knew nothing. So that the track effect at the beginning. That got me really.
00:53:24
Speaker
yeah So this ride really has like so many special elements. Yeah. Not only is it um anmit delays again not only it it is it an amazing layout, it has also so many special effects.
00:53:38
Speaker
Yeah. It has a moving station. It has the effect track. It has the turntable. Every time you think that you won't be surprised... um every time that you think you won't be surprised anymore, I feel like that attraction just keeps throwing surprises at you.
00:53:57
Speaker
Yeah. I just love, i have a very vivid memory of on the turntable on our first ride. I was with John Mike, or he was near me at least, and he completely forgot about the backwards part.
00:54:07
Speaker
So we're getting ready to to launch and then you just hear him go, wrong way! That's incredible. But it's amazing with this turntable, like We enthusiasts, I think, see these kind of things. Like, oh, turntable. Oh, I see two kind of tracks there. Oh, it might go backwards.
00:54:26
Speaker
But how many test rides I did and sitting to a complete stranger, like no team park experience at all, and be like, oh, this was a fun ride. And then, no, no, you're just halfway. Yeah. and Like when the rendering was first released, um Mike thought it was done at the turntable.
00:54:44
Speaker
And so i like I had said something like, oh man, that second half looks so good too. He's like, what? Second half? That's amazing. So he's like, okay, I got to pull this up again and actually watch the entire thing cause it's so long.
00:54:58
Speaker
Yeah. That's a long way out. It's one of those attractions that's really worth the wait. But also the the queue always moves. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, because of that, the moving...
00:55:12
Speaker
um station. It's like like the line is just consistently moving at every every moment. like It's very rare that you're stagnant. ah The seamless integration of the single router line as well.
00:55:26
Speaker
Yeah. that's yeah what What do you mean with that? It's just, it's very they're very quick. and Oh, yes. Oh, okay. yeah Because of where you guys group, there's plenty of time. It doesn't impact the actual station experience. Yep, and there's always just... just That single ride-a-line moves because of that.
00:55:45
Speaker
Oh, yes. Most of the times it moves, yeah. Yeah. We have sometimes like slower days that it's like... you have a lot of even groups and it's like, come on. gro I mean, that's just the nature of it though. Yeah.
00:55:57
Speaker
That happens everywhere. Yeah. Yeah. um I also like that in the whole entire area, like coming out of Voltron a little bit, um I like that they added in like the Nikola Tesla animatronics like across the way and he does that cute little show. Like it feels so, it just is unneeded, but very yeah cute. Another thing that's unneeded, but it's cute that's there. it's the anim That animatronic is made by the same people that did the animatronic for Jurassic Park.
00:56:31
Speaker
Really? Yeah. i think it's not Sally. Sally rides. No, I'm not sure. as No, don't call me on this, but it's the same people that did for Jurassic Park animatronics. Oh, cool.
00:56:45
Speaker
and For the movies. i didn't know that. Very cool. Yeah. The, um that like little show with the animatronic is very cute. Also the area is just cute to walk through.
00:56:58
Speaker
Yeah. It's, it's rough in the sun. Oh, yes. The sun like blares off of the marble. Yes, they have a marble-ish floor. It's a special floor from Croatia. What I heard, it's imported in.
00:57:14
Speaker
But like it's a really wide floor. so Yeah, it just reflects all of the sun. But it's absolutely gorgeous, the whole area. yeah My biggest complaint about the area is the big building in the background.
00:57:30
Speaker
yeah yeah They made a new office building right behind the area. So you're in the middle of the area and you see like this giant office building. It's like black with a Snorri poster on it. No, it's like with light stone bricks and plaster, like white plaster. Oh, I must be thinking of the other one. Yeah, and then you have next to it like a big building, like a show building.
00:57:54
Speaker
Yeah. and they They could have done some painting on it. Yeah. I hope they're still going to do it. I think my only complaint about the area is the two very temporary food and drink places.
00:58:11
Speaker
They're like um trailers that are set up in the area and then the bathrooms in the Croatia area on the other end past... Photon are like trailers. Yeah. They're not real bathrooms. But I don't really have complaints because like... Oh, I do.
00:58:29
Speaker
Yeah. I feel like this whole area feels very luxurious and then I'm walking into a trailer and I'm getting my drink from a trailer and it's like not painted. It's not like... It's just like a black and silver trailer.
00:58:43
Speaker
My feeling for it is like, it is very temporary looking. It's probably temporary. Yeah. My feeling says the area is not finished. I don't know. It's been two years. Yeah.
00:58:55
Speaker
It's been two years. um I also love that they build in like walkways and sitting areas and stuff and places to really view Voltron. Yeah. All those like trails right behind it are really cool.
00:59:08
Speaker
There's like a, like it goes a little uphill and there's a little water stream going down. Yeah. and I really like the one. Yeah. We spent a while up there. Oh yeah. Yeah. Great overview.
00:59:20
Speaker
My favorite spot is the spot right next to the swing launch. The last time I was there, the swing launch happened. I was so excited. I got a video of it. Yeah. We, we explored in that area for a while.
00:59:34
Speaker
Getting good pictures. Yeah. Yeah, it's such a good... Like, they did a really good job. Like, i'm I'm happy just, like, sitting... Like, walking around back there and just looking at it. Same.
00:59:47
Speaker
Yeah. So, Croatia, anything ah else about Voltron? I don't want to, like... no we there's still a lot of talk a lot to talk about um i was gonna say the one one thing i remember about voltron is i could smell onions from the ride i think it was onions or like something i guess it must have been some kind creation food from one of your trailers it's a very distinct smell it's just me for me i don't know don't know either oh interesting maybe it's just me There is a food place, but the Croatian food is like tomato-y. Yeah, but they have onions. Yeah, I don't know.
01:00:25
Speaker
I don't remember. Interesting.
01:00:30
Speaker
have Yeah, I have a lot to say about what's wrong. Okay, here is your platform. No. What I think ah what is cool about Fortran is that you can always see trains running. Like in summer they when they run with seven trains there are like three trains on the track. and so yeah It is incredible how close those trains are running. Like how close the block zones are. Like I don't, it's just crazy watching it.
01:01:04
Speaker
Every 36 seconds, that's you can dispatch. There was like one spot um on like those trails behind or whatever where I was just standing there and filming and just like trains were coming from every which direction. I had no idea which way they were coming next. Yeah. It was really cool shot.
01:01:21
Speaker
It just feels so chaotic. I feel like it makes the attraction feel scarier than it is because it's so chaotic and there's so many trains. Also, sometimes like guests waiting in the area for their family to come by and they were like, oh, they're on this train, so I need to wait for the next train. and I'm like, no, no, no. There are still three trains to pass this part of the track.
01:01:42
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. It's very good. um Music. Oh, the music is really cool in that whole area.
01:01:54
Speaker
Yeah. Also, you have nice ice cream place in the area. Yeah, another good coffee shop I really enjoy. They have a lavender drink in there. i think it's the only place. I think it's like the Croatian based drink.
01:02:07
Speaker
Yeah. So it's like a lavender spritz. It's very good. um Good coffee, with good ice cream.
01:02:16
Speaker
I also had some like Croatian little dessert things. They, yeah, they were good. I like the coffee shop though, because the coffee shop and the ice cream place are like downstairs, but they have steps and you can go upstairs and there they have like a, another little terrace that overlooks Voltron. So you can just sit out on the terrace in the sun and watch Voltron.
01:02:40
Speaker
So it sounds delightful. It's a very nice area. I like it a lot.
01:02:51
Speaker
I'm thinking about something. Okay. I want to say something, but then I forgot. Okay. now Oh yeah, um the local system. I think they do a good job after visiting Universal.
01:03:05
Speaker
Like... Yeah, I love the tap card. yeah i feel like the amount of money you guys... like and Not you guys, but the amount of money that Mox spends replacing those because people don't give them back is probably high, so I understand why everyone doesn't do them. But the RFID chipped cards to unlock and lock is just... That's game-changing. I always think at Universal it's kind of annoying to get to your locker because people are always blocking...
01:03:33
Speaker
Yeah. The locker. It's so nice to not have to use a station. Yes, it's so annoying at Unifert because always one family member is standing in front of that a specific scanner and it's like, I need to call here.
01:03:49
Speaker
um Yeah, I get it's annoying to take a card with you, especially when you don't have pockets. Yeah. um But yeah, it works.
01:04:02
Speaker
When you can keep your card, it's easier to get back your stuff. Yeah. It's very efficient. Yeah. I agree. Atra does the same thing.
01:04:13
Speaker
Same local system. Yeah. I like it. Yeah. Very efficient. I do like it a lot. I understand why parks don't do it, but I like it. Yeah.
01:04:25
Speaker
Yeah. I think that maybe is the end of our Croatia area. yeah Yeah, they have a 360 dome video. Oh, yeah. It's not that, like, if you're traveling from the US, don't bother to do it. It's still very cute. And air conditioning.
01:04:42
Speaker
Alison, did you even know it was there? 360 video? I didn't either until, like, I was probably 20 visits in.
01:04:52
Speaker
I once worked there for a day and it was like middle of summer and a woman from the US, I don't know where she came from, but went in the show like, I think it was eight times. So its she sat there foot t for hours.
01:05:11
Speaker
it's Just like she was like, yeah, my kids are like, this is AC. Oh my gosh. My kid is distracted. I can sit in the AC. So,
01:05:22
Speaker
So she just kept doing the show. That's incredible. yeah i was like, Stacy, that's okay. That's great. Yeah, that show's cute. It's just I didn't know it existed for so long.
01:05:34
Speaker
It's cute. yep yeah Okay, that was all the areas. i guess We made it through the park. It only took an episode and a half. yeah We were quicker this time. You were. i I'm proud of you.
01:05:48
Speaker
because I'm tired. I know. And we still have novels to read. Yeah. it's okay. we have we have time And i know we still talk about some other creativity things around the part, but we'll get there. going to start
01:06:19
Speaker
oh
01:06:22
Speaker
I see. oh Oh. All right. um so he writes, I went because it looked to have the perfect balance of an extensive ride lineup and immersive theming. I also found a cheap flight to Zurich and said, why not?
01:06:35
Speaker
That's where I flew through as well. was Zurich. was very convenient. ah The Dark Ride lineup might be my favorite aspect to the park. There are some I'd ride every time, like Pirates, Atlantis Adventure, Basement Dino, and Costello de Medici?
01:06:49
Speaker
It's the Ghost Kessel. Yeah. Oh, fun. Okay. ah Voltron is a world-class coaster in my top 10, and my favorite MOC so far. Bluefire and Lunen are my next faves. I could lap those three all day.
01:07:00
Speaker
Soberstar and Arthur after that. Eurostat and Euromir are solid, too. park has such a relaxed and inviting atmosphere it's easy to get lost but that's a good thing here i don't feel pressured to jump in line for a ride at any point but i know that when i do it'll be for a great and unique experience it's equal parts relaxing and exciting and i'm pretty sure it's my favorite park yeah that's exactly the reason that i love it so much it it just has such a weird balance of excitement and relaxing
01:07:35
Speaker
Yeah. Also with like not like pressure to jump in the queues. The queues are always pretty constant at Eurova Park. Yeah. They're very calculatable where, for example, with Disney Universal, it's like, oh, it's now 50 minutes, but then 10 minutes later it's at 120. Yeah.
01:07:54
Speaker
It's always like. They fluctuate. Yeah. Yeah. I heard that word wrong. that's Up during the day and then slowly two hours before park closes it goes down.
01:08:05
Speaker
Yeah.
01:08:08
Speaker
Yeah. And never like really long waits at Europa Park. Yeah. Except some days like um holidays. Yeah. I feel like Voltron's the main one that gets really big waits. Yeah. Blue Fire.
01:08:23
Speaker
Oh, Blue Fire too. Vodan. Yeah, think Waden had a decent line for us. Yeah. But overall, they're doing great job.
01:08:34
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. Okay, next we have Anne, Books and Roller Coasters. um She said, I left Europa Park with a double feeling. There were things I absolutely loved but and things that I thought were questionable at best. So here's a breakdown. I loved all the pieces of nature and all the fall decorations. I loved the tranquil places with no attractions like...
01:08:57
Speaker
around Schloss Balthazar? It's a castle up front in the park. I don't know if mentioned Oh, we did not mention that before. I guess it should be so Schloss.
01:09:08
Speaker
Schloss Balthazar. Yeah, i I figured it out after where I started to say, oops. Yeah, quick to get in between. Like, in the German area in the park, there is a real castle from, think, the 1500s? And it's part of the park.
01:09:21
Speaker
Yeah, it has, like a restaurant or something in it, right? Yeah, a restaurant. And, like, the castle gardens. yeah It's very beautiful. I don't know if I've ever looked at it, but yes. hu um She also loved Blue Fire, Voltron, and Woden. Absolute bangers of coasters. Agreed.
01:09:40
Speaker
um The accommodations I was able to use, they were practical and amazing. The service was so good. The operations of the attractions were amazing. The resort, after park restaurants, bars, and places. Really, really cool.
01:09:53
Speaker
um All that I agree with. no All of it. The resorts, we'll get to we'll have to get to that in a different episode. European Park Part 3. Yeah, but um the resorts are incredible.
01:10:05
Speaker
All of them. And all of the after park things to do. um Just great, in my opinion. Hot takes. um We had a hard time finding coffee places open in the morning, which was kind of frustrating. Yeah.
01:10:21
Speaker
That actually was my experience the first time too, because you have to know very specifically where to look. um The amount of non-Europa Park shops was immense. Clothing, jewelry, regular supermarket, an Oculus photography place. I thought that was not fitting at all.
01:10:40
Speaker
advertisements for Europa park things everywhere that broke the immersion of a theme area constantly. Even within volitarium, we got an advertisement for the new film through me off completely. i agree with this. Yeah. It, the, that's what I was talking about with the volitarium.
01:10:58
Speaker
It's like you have such a beautiful and for relaxing experience. And then they throw you into a race car bouncing off other cars experience for an ad. Yeah.
01:11:09
Speaker
I have it like they play, for example, at Silver Star and in the England area, there is like, they just play advertisements for the park. Like, hey, come visit your RoboPark. Yeah. it's Like, I'm already here. I'm already here. You already got my money. Yeah.
01:11:27
Speaker
I do agree. That is a little. Yeah. I'm not a. Yeah. Big fan. um The last two points make me compare Europa Park to Fantasialand, and the latter would never do such a thing because they don't want to break immersion. And to be honest, that was really disappointing because I thought Europa Park would be just as immersive. I feel like Europa Park just wants to do too much.
Europa Park's Core Business Question
01:11:50
Speaker
Like, ah oh, I guess that this is a different part it thought. Yeah, different point.
01:11:54
Speaker
Yeah, different point. um So her first, her two were about the... um the shops and then the advertisements and this one says i feel like europa park just wants to do too much like what is their core business efteling's core business is storytelling fantasia land's core core business is immersion toverland's core business is creating magical moments for all ages I just don't understand what Europa Park wants to give us aside from being a showcase of all the mock of all the mock family can do in the ah entertainment industry. I don't mind family businesses, but Europa Park is very on the nose about it. And that shows.
01:12:35
Speaker
I kind of, yeah. i've yeah Very valid points. I do see like a disconnect a little bit throughout that park in what the goal is for sure. I do think that goal, I think you can also see very clearly where that goal is changing throughout the years based off of older attractions to newer things. Yeah. At the other hand, they do the advertisement in the newer attractions as well. Yeah. So the advertisement thing's not as much, but like, for example, the Croatia area, I think is a huge turn in their immersion.
01:13:04
Speaker
Yes. Not turn as much, but... like ah Shift. yeah because I can't see them putting in, like... Like, there are other areas that are super immersive.
01:13:17
Speaker
There are other areas that are super immersive. um But then they put in, like, the Oculus place. Like, Italy. beautiful and immersive, but then you have the DM and the Oculus that are just out in the open. yeah true. But at the other side, the Croatia area, you now have a huge banner with Confidence of Rulantica. that's true. Yes.
01:13:38
Speaker
It's not inside the area, but you can see it clearly from area. But, yeah... um they just yeah I said like I'm not a big fan of like the advertisements in the park, but Europa Park stands for like having a great time with your family. It's like a very family destination, short destination vacation. Yeah, I feel like they want to do...
01:14:02
Speaker
everything so they can satisfy everyone, which sometimes that works for people and sometimes it doesn't. I think they do it in a really good way. Like I've definitely seen places that have tried to do that where I don't find any enjoyment in the experience. um But in Europa Parks, I do.
01:14:18
Speaker
Also, clearly all the advertisements they do is for quality products, I would say. They do like inside Fulton Q, we have advertisements for the comic about they have a ah Yeah, they have a comic book about the storyline of Voltron and Croatia.
01:14:36
Speaker
Yeah. And the books are really good quality. They have different books about different areas, kids' books, which are very good. um So it's not like they are selling bad products.
01:14:50
Speaker
Yeah. At the other hand, yeah, I don't like the advertisements, but I don't like it anywhere. Yeah. i don't know if anybody really does, but... No... But a lot of bigger parks do it. Like Disney proved themselves again with doing it with Test Track.
01:15:08
Speaker
Yeah. Look at the showroom. Yeah. The look at the showroom at the end is just wild. Yeah. I see definitely their her points are very valid. They're very... Yeah. Yeah.
Hotel Kronisar & Rulantica Review
01:15:28
Speaker
right. Next comment is from Keith. And I'm probably going to pronounce this hotel name wrong. Hotel Andalus? Yeah, that's correct. Okay, cool. It said, Chronosaur is popular because it's cheaper and has the water park, but something hits so hard about being able to walk feet from from your room into the park, standing at the gate with your insulated ceramic coffee cup from the breakfast buffet.
01:15:51
Speaker
See also breakers in what Disney World has lost over the years. That hotel has this great dimly lit bar too, and this tiny pool that is wedged in the tight courtyard right on top of the restaurant. The whole thing feels like a well-designed scene.
01:16:03
Speaker
I have no experience with that hotel. um I actually do not either. You do. You went to the party. Oh, is that the circus bar? Yes.
01:16:14
Speaker
Oh, I. And the rooftop bar. So I thought that that was Santa, whatever. And then the hotel was the other half. Okay. All right.
01:16:26
Speaker
Yeah. It is cool that the hotels are so close by. Yeah. It's really walking distance, except Kronis are. Yeah. We ended up staying at Kronisar just because they had rooms that worked really well for our group.
01:16:39
Speaker
Yeah, six people rooms, right? Yeah, we did the six person rooms. So we had the four bunk beds and then like the double bed. and then we had two of those with connecting rooms. So all 12 of us or the 12 of us at Kronisar were able to stay right there with each other. yeah And it was really good setup for just our group.
01:17:00
Speaker
I also love Kronisar. That's my favorite resort. um Joey does not agree. He has a different favorite resort, but that's my favorite resort. I would stay there. We'll get into that on part three. Part three. Yeah. I think it also doesn't help that my my window is literally over viewing Kronisar. Yeah. So Kronisar is like in my backyard.
01:17:23
Speaker
That's crazy. Yeah. um I just love Kronisar though. I like that one. We really enjoyed Kronisar. Yeah. um But the Spanish one is also really nice. I've gone to that um circus bar a couple times.
01:17:37
Speaker
That's a pretty nice bar. It is a nice little bar. It's quiet. It's like relaxed. It's actually my first entrance into Europa Park at all. We got off what we were thought was going to be a two-hour train ride, which was a five-and-a-half-hour, five-train train ride. Yeah.
01:17:56
Speaker
And the first thing we did, that's we just took the Europa Park bus. It was the first resort we could get off. And me and my friend got off and we said, we're going to go get ourselves espresso martinis. And we went to the bar.
01:18:07
Speaker
They do amazing espresso martinis. Yeah, they do really good ones. But we were like, we had a really long travel day. We're going to go get espresso martinis. And that's what we did. What was the rest of
01:18:22
Speaker
I do like the charm of being able to walk to the park gate with your coffee from breakfast and stand out front. Like, that is something that's really charming. Yeah. Yeah.
01:18:35
Speaker
you saying that? No comments? Okay. I'll grab Nate's next since we're down to two of his bullet points. All right. um Said Rulantica is incredibly confusing, but once you get in there, it's a fantastic indoor water park. We will get more into Rulantica next episode, or next Europa episode. But yeah, him and our friend Dakota were staying in a different restaurant, not restaurant, a different restaurant.
01:19:04
Speaker
Hotel. Oh, yeah. They had an amazing room. They did have an amazing room because it's like all that was available. So they spent a chunk of change. um But not the price they told us was still...
01:19:18
Speaker
Like not crazy for what kind of room they had. Yeah. It was really nice. We got to walk through it. um Yeah. So they got to Rulantica a little after all the rest of us. And they took so long to find us.
01:19:32
Speaker
I felt bad. And i I like went back and checked my phone and he had tried to call me a few times and I was off on slides. So. Oh.
Ride Debate: Voltron vs. Ride to Happiness
01:19:40
Speaker
Poor him. Poor guy.
01:19:42
Speaker
And then his other comment says Voltron is the goat. Changed my mind. None of us here are going to change your mind because we don't want to. he He does have it as his number one.
01:19:54
Speaker
Yeah. It beat a Ride to Happiness for his number one spot. who I don't know if it's going to... I think Ride to Happiness is going to knock it If I had to rank them, I would say actually Fortran over Ride to Happiness because Fortran is always a constant...
01:20:13
Speaker
Good. um As in like every ride is the same with Voltron where Ride to Happiness, if your car doesn't spin, it's a lesser experience. Okay.
01:20:24
Speaker
Well, I've never ridden it, we'll have to see. Okay. Next we have Mikhail. Um, okay, this is more like four to five questions in one more of a conversation topic, really.
01:20:37
Speaker
um With 21 theme lands, how do people not talk about that more often? Holy crap. Is there much variation in their size and how well executed they are? Absolutely. Yeah. If you listened to the last episode and a half, yes.
Themed Lands & Immersion at Europa Park
01:20:51
Speaker
Yeah. um Literally, like, talking about... We have Croatia, which is so beautifully done, and France, and huge. But it's... yeah Extravagant. But then you have, like, smaller areas. You have Liechtenstein, which is just, like...
01:21:07
Speaker
one carousel with with literally just an operator booth and that's the area yeah and luxembour and luxembourg luxembourg but then you have austria which is like almost half size of the park yeah austria is like yeah austria is definitely the largest because it has like a huge lake in the middle and yeah so absolutely there's huge discrepancies like yeah adventure land that has a restaurant in the middle like That's it.
01:21:34
Speaker
um Yeah, huge discrepancy in the size, yeah for sure. um Are the ter just transitions from land to land harsh or seamless? I think this depends on the transition. just transition That's a kind of good point.
01:21:51
Speaker
um Some lands, yes, but... There are not like any transitions that bother me because like it's not an immersion land almost.
01:22:05
Speaker
Do you get what I mean? like You are in a themed land, but you can still see other areas. But for me, it doesn't really bother. Yeah.
01:22:16
Speaker
yeah i feel hard to say Yeah, I feel like it's hard to say, but I do feel like that it depends on the areas. I do think they do a really good job of keeping similar-ish areas um near each other or like transitions really well. Like I don't personally think the transition between Italy and France is awful. No, but is it transition?
01:22:37
Speaker
It's like, oh, you can already see when you're working from Germany, you're already like, oh, there's Italy. Well, at some point, the buildings have to transition, yes, and and you don't really notice it. And to me, that feels like a very seamless transition. Yeah, yeah you have, for example, the France area.
01:22:51
Speaker
That of one side is France and the other side of the building is the Swiss buildings. Yeah. Yeah. So some of them are very seamless, but some of them are a lot more harsh. Like I think Russia, like I feel like I harsh, every time you walk into Russia, it's a very harsh yeah gateway in. But it's not really that it's bothering because it's not that for me. Yeah. It's not that immersive, like Fantasial and where you're like, oh, I'm in Klugheim, but you can see Chiapas. Yeah. Yeah.
01:23:20
Speaker
yeah It's not bothering me much. Yeah, I also just think the vibes are overall different, which make it not as important. Right? Like, don't know.
01:23:32
Speaker
What do you think, Allison? That's a good point. point I didn't really pay too much attention to the transition. yeah I was just trying to you know, get through as much of the park as I could.
01:23:43
Speaker
Yeah. I feel bad I can't really answer Mikhail's questions as well as y'all can. Yeah, I just, i don't know. I think sometimes it's done well and sometimes it's not. But I think that the fact that they're not fully immersive the way that Fantasialand is definitely benefits the harsh transitions. I think gym sessions the layout of the park just helps with it. Sometimes there's like oh yeah just already convenient a turnoff between Scandinavia and Iceland. And then it's like, okay, the tunnel is the transition.
01:24:15
Speaker
Yeah. um Yeah. Which is next one we kind of did talk about. Is there a feeling of total immersion in them? Or can you see attractions in the areas from when you're are in from the area that you're standing? I feel like that.
01:24:29
Speaker
Yeah. the only real immersive area is Switzerland. See, i think there I think there are more. Like, I think that when you're you're in the Netherlands, like when you're standing in the middle of the Netherlands, that's pretty... um Scandinavia, you can't really see the other things. on The indoor part of Arthur Count?
01:24:49
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, like you can't see... um so some of them... Yeah, okay, yeah. um But others, no. Yeah. For me, it's maybe immersion is more like it really feels like us around. And I only have that with Switzerland personally. Yeah.
01:25:06
Speaker
But yeah. I could see that. Yeah. I feel like it does depend on your level of immersion because Fantasialand level immersion, I agree. You're only getting that in Switzerland. um Or Mamoys. Mamoys. Mamoys.
01:25:26
Speaker
But i still think there is immersion in the other areas. But there are some that do it better than others. Like Adventureland. there's yeah You're not totally immersed. You're standing in a restaurant and then you're not in Adventureland.
Tips for Visiting Europa Park
01:25:40
Speaker
Yeah.
01:25:42
Speaker
So, um, I find it difficult to imagine a park with that many differing atmospheres and not feel bloated or overwhelming at times during any given day.
01:25:54
Speaker
How much is too much to process? Ooh, this is a difficult questioning, but I think Europa can be overwhelming.
01:26:06
Speaker
It really, it I did feel like it was a little overwhelming. There is so much going on. There is a lot. There are a lot of sound effects, a lot of music. Everywhere there are no real quiet parts of the park.
01:26:21
Speaker
See, i I feel like there are.
01:26:26
Speaker
Without music? without Yeah, like but where are you go to work a lot of the time. Some of the indoor areas that go to work, no music, nice and relaxed, calm. But is that what you want to go to if you are visiting the park for two days?
01:26:44
Speaker
I mean, maybe not. Not like sitting in a restaurant in a quiet area. um But then I also think like sitting... i think that what makes it hard is that there's... Like, if you're there for two days, I think what makes it feel so overwhelming is the need to do everything.
01:26:59
Speaker
where every time I've gone into that park, I'm not someone who walks into a park that has the need to do everything. I'm perfectly okay if I only do one or two credits and I still have a fantastic park day and I enjoyed my day. If I never get the rest of those credits, I'm fine with that. So I think that that might be why for me, I did not find that park overwhelming because I was able to sit with my beer in the lawn where it was quiet and sit there for 45 minutes.
01:27:29
Speaker
In between attractions and um sit in a restaurant and drink my coffee in the quiet. And I think that the vast number of attractions makes it chaotic if you're trying to do everything. Yeah. Yeah.
01:27:52
Speaker
yeah I feel like to me it's that panic of trying to do everything. yeah But it's a lot of small pathways. It's a lot of music. It's a lot of sounds yeah everywhere. Yeah. yeah There is also a lot of that. There's always something to see everywhere.
01:28:08
Speaker
yeah If you're not doing it like going in a restaurant.
01:28:14
Speaker
Yeah. I think whenever I go back, it'll be less overwhelming because I'll you know, gone through all the rides. Well, all the creds at least.
01:28:25
Speaker
Yeah. and So then you you choose what you want to do. Yeah. And then if you want to get a liter of beer and sit on the lawn and watch the train go by every five minutes, then you can sit on the lawn with a liter of beer and watch. I thought I was supposed to take it on Josefina's. You can also take it on Josefina's, another one of my favorites.
01:28:45
Speaker
um which I have not done yet. How many times we have been on the ride and always the same operators and every time they seem surprised that they don't, they still don't recognize us. Yeah, no, i don't think so. every time they're surprised like, oh, you're bringing a beer on the ride? And it's like,
01:29:00
Speaker
We have been here like almost yesterday. Yeah, one time we were on the ride and one of the operators left the other ride on the platform left the other up on the platform and and jumped in to talk to Joey the entire ride. And about football, he he noticed that I was there and he talked about he started about football and i was like...
01:29:20
Speaker
I have no interest in in football, but I'm still liking your company. It was so funny. He was like just operating the ride and then just jumped in with us. We were like, what is happening? Wasn't that with Brian and Megan?
01:29:33
Speaker
Oh, I'm not sure. Probably. Yeah, maybe. I think it was with Brian and them. Because I think me, Brian, Megan, and Barbara were at the table. oh and then... Yeah. Very...
01:29:47
Speaker
Very Josephina. Sorry, we're getting sidetracked. um But yeah, i I feel like it depends. Sound-wise, it can be. I feel like the bigger walkways that don't seem to be as crowded, I don't tend to get as panicky, like for me. um But I feel like the biggest overwhelming there is the is the need to get everything done in such a small time.
01:30:10
Speaker
I would recommend three days. Yeah, definitely. If you are like a little stressed about your credits and stuff, still want to have a good time, I would say three days. Yeah, you can get it done in two days, yeah but you're not going to get to enjoy these parts about the park that we're loving. You did now two days. Would you agree with three days or do you think two days will be fine?
01:30:31
Speaker
We got a lot done in two days, but I would i could have used another day. Yeah, because... you didn't get to experience the comm stuff yeah there's a lot i didn't do basement dino ride i didn't do josephina's yeah there's a lot we missed but we did we did the um twilight ticket the night before for uh relantica so we got two hours in there which was cool yeah i'm very glad we did that yeah i like the last two hours in relantica
01:31:04
Speaker
Rolantical in the evening is for sure a tip like During the day, it's sometimes unbearable busy. and then At night it gets chill. Also the sauna.
01:31:16
Speaker
well The sauna was like the best thing I've ever spent money This going to be for a Rulantica episode. Yeah, this is going to be for a Rulantica. It's like so good. um Okay, Guinness and Scotch next said, please share all the insider tips going for the first time at the end of May on a Tuesday and Wednesday. I feel like a Tuesday and Wednesday is good choice. Yes, if it's not during the holidays?
01:31:38
Speaker
Yeah. Question mark. Still, it's not going to be... If it's not on a holiday, then it should be fine. yeah Expect a lot of school trips.
01:31:51
Speaker
But most of the school trips leave at like 4 or 5 p.m.
01:31:57
Speaker
So after that, you can expect a better day. I feel like the biggest tip... Inside the tips. If you're going as a coffee drinker, the biggest tip is that in the morning when you enter the park, you need to get your coffee ah Italy. Italy.
01:32:15
Speaker
Or France. France, yeah. And they're the only two places that are open that early in the morning. um I don't believe anywhere else in the park. So if you go further, like if you head over towards Voltron to wait for Voltron to open, um that coffee shop isn't open. So, yeah. going A lot of stuff opens at 11.30.
01:32:37
Speaker
Yeah, well, ah this is even before park open. France and Italy. So when they let you in at like 8, 8.15. France and Italy. Italy is the number France is closed.
01:32:52
Speaker
is it yeah oh okay sorry from italy i thought france was open too okay so just italy yeah um more insider tips uh volatarium in the middle of the day oh yeah do not do volatarium volatarium in the morning let's say it's 45 minutes in the morning and if you go in the afternoon like at two it will be five minutes Also, don't save it till the end of the day because everyone's going to do it as they're walking in or walking out. yes Yes. It's really like going up, down, up, and then. Yeah. And a lot of people are doing it that way because they don't want to. It's kind of off the beaten path. It's like it is pretty far from everything else. So I also highly recommend in the middle of the day, hopping on the monorail, the big monorail. at greece or spain wherever you're at and then going to the front of the park so that way you don't have to deal with the walking all the way through and then you can hop back on the monorail back to where you started so a midday break hop on the monorail um i highly suggest that that might be one of the biggest time savers in my opinion
01:34:00
Speaker
Also, virtual queues. I've talked to a couple of people who had no idea virtual queues exist. So make sure, yeah, the virtual queues are free and in the app. so make sure you load up your tickets and then um you have to be in the park. Yeah.
01:34:20
Speaker
I think you have to be in the park. No, I think I made some for my bed. Yeah, but you're so close to the park. That doesn't count for you. Yeah, I think you have to be in proximity of the park. i Probably, yes. I'm pretty sure I made some reservations for my bed. Yeah, but get them nice and early. like get them early, but then after you use them, um just keep refreshing because things will pop up. So you can make only one reservation at a time. Yeah. Yeah.
01:34:48
Speaker
um once you use it, you can get a new one. Every 10 minutes, so and like at at an hour, normally then new tickets come free.
01:35:05
Speaker
yeah so look at those times like there there will sometimes pop up Yeah, so you can get lot of those. And don't use your virtual queue, especially the first one. Use it on something like Voltron. Do not use it on something like Pirates in Batavia because that'll be available most of the day. Oh, don't use it on Pirates in Batavia.
01:35:26
Speaker
Pirates like... um most of times pirates has 15 minutes and the future queue joins at the 15 minutes marker yeah so you wait all day for your future queue to enter at the same point as everyone else yeah i highly recommend the first virtual queue being voltron if you can get it and then if not maybe wadon or the fire Cancan doesn't have one? No, it doesn't. Yeah, Blue Fire is another good one, but one of the major coasters. not no Euromir also has virtual queue. I don't really suggest it for that.
01:36:00
Speaker
Normally, at the end of the day, Euromir slows down. like yeah like During the day, it's like minutes and then... ah almost at the end it's like five minutes yeah most times I don't even wait in the outdoor queue without a virtual queue we always join the queue at like an hour before park close and it's like almost welcome yeah if it's not a crazy busy day m I think that's... up up Yeah, I feel like those are the main ones, which also... um i feel like this answer is our next one, too. I'll be going... um Solar Coaster says I'll be going in June. How do I do all the coasters in one day?
01:36:37
Speaker
i i think all the coasters in one day is it's It is possible. but oh it's It's not. It's going to be really hard. And you're not going to have the most incredible day. In my opinion. I think what might be a very good hit.
01:36:55
Speaker
Is to the water coasters in the morning. Okay. what um Water coasters the morning. Because like. First hour of the day, they will always keep like five minutes yeah of waiting time. Oh, before it gets hot. Yeah. So and them immediately. Do them before they get hot.
01:37:11
Speaker
Makes sense. Yeah. That actually is really good. Yeah. I worked at Poseidon and it was like, oh, it's the first hour was dead. Yeah. Like the rest was 60 minutes and then Poseidon was still at 15 minutes wait. Yeah, that makes sense.
01:37:24
Speaker
But also the same exact thing we just said about the virtual queues. You really want to make sure that you're like, make sure you have a power bank, your phone is charged and you're utilizing the virtual queues throughout the day. yeah um But all causes in one day, that's ah that's a, it's possible.
01:37:40
Speaker
but it's going to be... it's right I wouldn't recommend it but yeah I don't know if I would recommend it either. i think that you should prioritize and maybe cut some of them out. um Just because you want to enjoy your park day as well. And if you're trying
Future Expansions & Coaster Offerings
01:37:57
Speaker
to get... There's like...
01:37:58
Speaker
way too many credits to get done in a day without feeling exhausted by the end you're going to have a really bad if you are not able to do all credits keep in mind your robo park is probably a park you want to go back to yeah can confirm yeah i want to go back
01:38:17
Speaker
um this is a good one chris leonard similar to wadon do you see the park getting something big outside of mock again That's a very good question. I would say, except flat rights, no. I agree.
01:38:31
Speaker
um So the kind of like the weird weird ducks or how would you say the weird attractions are Silver Star and Vodan because they are made by GCI and B&M. Yeah.
01:38:49
Speaker
B&M, why they went for Silver Star for B&M is because they were not able to do it themselves at that time. Which now they can. Yes. Which now they can. They have now the technology to make it.
01:39:00
Speaker
At that time they couldn't. And I think with Wodan it's like the same. like They are not able to make a wooden coaster. Yeah. yeah What do you think Allison. As you're drinking your water.
01:39:11
Speaker
no
01:39:18
Speaker
I would like to see them too. But I don't expect them to. ah Because we know that. you know Obviously it's the mock prototype park. They're going to keep pushing their boundaries.
01:39:30
Speaker
I also don't see the point why they would go for another because they have amazing quality attractions now. Like all the products they put out are great. That's what at this point in time, i don't see them doing it for the pure fact that their coasters are...
01:39:47
Speaker
now i' like arguably some of the best coasters on the market like i've said it a plenty of time this is mock and vakoma's time to shine also innovation wise yeah with the rocking boats i would like to see that coming um while we're seeing like while we're seeing bnm do the exact same thing over and over and decline in declining quality we're watching mock get better in quality and better in innovation so i don't see them going with another manufacturer they are at the top of their game right now Yeah. And I don't see them getting, I see it only going up from here. Yeah. And like, I don't see them getting any kind of Intamin or Vekoma just because the products are so similar.
01:40:28
Speaker
And why would you yeah go for another manufacturer when you have your own factory? Yeah. Half an hour away. Yeah. Yeah. I don't see them doing... Maybe they're going for a Samperla Zero again for... For a flat ride. Yeah. Because they have amazing flat ride products. um But yeah. Bar Express is, for example... i don't know exactly how it works. For my sister company.
01:40:53
Speaker
I think it's like... partially owned by Muck. Okay. I don't know what a manufacturer's got. I don't have my factory, but it's not or the trains are made by Muck. Okay. So the track is made by a different company, but I think... Trains by Muck. Interesting. You didn't need to do your own research for this. Something like that. That's also different. Well, that's another manufacturer and high quality.
01:41:17
Speaker
Yeah. Because it's Muck's. Okay.
01:41:22
Speaker
Okay. um I think this is bringing us to our last one. and So this was from Matt. He actually left this, i think, after we recorded last...
01:41:34
Speaker
um Not last week. We recorded three days ago. But after we recorded, I think he left this. um He said, I've been thinking about this for a while, and I seem to keep coming back to how easy it is to feel lost in the park and entranced by the beauty of it.
01:41:46
Speaker
Additionally, the coaster lineup feels well-rounded and features my favorite steel coaster, as we were just talking about, mock at the top of their game. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the fantastic operations, no thanks to Joey, and the number of attractions to really help disperse the crowds.
01:42:02
Speaker
Yeah, I think the number of attractions does an incredible job oh many making the park feel more relaxed. Shows, also shows. Shows, yeah. All these shows have like over a thousand people capacity almost. Yeah, the people flock to the shows.
01:42:17
Speaker
Flock to them. um Yeah. This is... Yeah.
01:42:26
Speaker
Very similar comment to some other ones we had. So people have the very similar sentiments about Europa. Yeah. I'm glad to hear everyone's thoughts about them. um And I liked reading everyone's novels about them. Yeah.
01:42:40
Speaker
I think what he also said, like Europa is the, it's hard to say, like the best surrounded park. I feel like it I feel like, is it the best? No, because it needs to do it in so many different coasters.
01:42:57
Speaker
But is it still extremely good? Yes, because of the sheer number of different coasters. But like imagine like you bringing your little toddler to the park, three years old, Bob Express.
01:43:10
Speaker
Next year, and can go on Alpen Express, Archer, I think, wait. Slime?
01:43:18
Speaker
I'm not sure. of Wait. i'm I'm not sure about Archer. Yeah, but... like ah You can take your kids on Archer. Year after, you can bring it on Eurasat. Yeah, so the way that I see this, though, is isn't well-rounded for the age groups. It's well-rounded as an enthusiast. It has all the different types of coasters that want. also, you can come back year after year, and there's a new attraction your kids can explore. New...
01:43:45
Speaker
Yeah, but yeah, I can see it I feel like when it comes to children the age that you're talking about We're there for the flat rides
Merchandise Opinions
01:43:55
Speaker
Flat rides? There are so many rides for them Also roller coasters, like brother goes on roller coasters Oh, I want to go on my on a roller coaster too Yeah, you got Battle Express, calm down but
01:44:09
Speaker
Best ride in the park, isn't that what you say? Stop complaining, little three-year-old.
01:44:17
Speaker
I have kids maratoning. One day I was working at Bar Express. I have kids maratoning Bar Express.
01:44:25
Speaker
it's I think that kid did like 10 rounds. That's impressive. i love that for him. Okay. All right. yeah I was going to I have one other quick thing to talk about real quick. Yes. Okay.
01:44:39
Speaker
one that we haven't really touched on very much, but I think deserves some a few minutes at least. Merch. Oh, merch. Oh, I didn't even process merch because the merch is like non-existent in my eyes. It's like...
01:44:55
Speaker
there' there's a lot of options like I know at the front store somehow my my trip to Europa I bought three mugs didn't even remember doing that literally got home I'm like what's what's the third mug that I got I got a Kronisar mug um a Voltron mug and then there was a Silver Star one that was on clearance good mugs would be proud yeah um Yeah, merch in Europa Park.
01:45:25
Speaker
um Focusing on kids, I think they do a great job. Yeah. Vulture merch is also very good. I think Vulture merch, though, is... I think it's hit or miss. I think it's, like, 50-50. Because some of it has, like, really...
01:45:42
Speaker
weird tacky detail decals and others like the off-white shirt the black like that one's great but then the black one has this really tacky huge ironed on oh yeah yeah like that's part of my issue with the voltron merch is i don't have a voltron shirt because those are the two main shirts and The off-white one that you have, I don't do light shirts. I just i i hate them.
01:46:09
Speaker
Can't wear them. And then the black one is just such terrible quality that I didn't get a Voltron shirt. Yeah, I actually bought mine with the intention to tie-dye it, and I have yet to tie-dye it. so I mean, like there's some cool stuff in there. I think Nate bought a ah Voltron like lamp and sucked out the bulb or something so that he can use it once he got home.
01:46:32
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, you have that too. go I have the lamp, yeah. um There's also some Blue Fire shirts I really like, but oh overall, I do not think the park does There are some good shirts. There's a couple. um Mike got one of those, I think, 50-year Europa Park ones or whatever.
01:46:52
Speaker
Oh, I have that too. The 50th anniversary March is fair. I did like the 50th March. He was wearing that shirt when he proposed. So it's in all of our engagement photos. I love that for you.
01:47:05
Speaker
the Europa Park shirt and then I was wearing inverted creative. so Love that. um I feel like when they keep their designs simple...
01:47:17
Speaker
They do really good. But they have... Whoever is running their merchandise, like, they get... They they want to do too much, and that's when the merch becomes very tacky and...
01:47:30
Speaker
simple is okay if not simple is preferred like we don't need the tacky like what are the ones that have like all the names of the coasters all over them the camp david shirts oh i do not like that shirt no but that's that's a camp david thing yeah that's like and that's not europe camp david is very like they have like Oh, that's their style. I did know that. That's Cam Davis style, yeah. Yeah, but there are still other ones that aren't. I really like, there's this Blue Fire shirt that I've been debating buying for a really long time. It's the Blue Fire on it, and then it it looks like groovy. like It's kind of molded. Yeah. I still have bought it, though. But at the other hand, like there are a lot of European parks that don't have great merch. I think it's some European music. But for kids, they have amazing merch at your rock park.
01:48:24
Speaker
Yeah, from the European parks I've gone to. I can definitely see that. it's not It's not like a Europa park thing. I feel like it's just a European thing. Efteling is kind of stepping up lately. but's Yeah, i didn't get anything at Efteling either because their merch wasn't very good. i got yeah Same with Fantasialand. It just doesn't have a whole lot.
01:48:45
Speaker
I didn't see anything at Fantasialand. I got nothing from them. They don't have a lot of merch up there. At least at Efteling I got a book and the cat.
01:48:58
Speaker
The Spokbuss. The black cat from Tantum Cabra. Yeah. yeah yeah um Merchandising further.
01:49:09
Speaker
But I think Europa could have done better is more themed merchandising like... um What I like, for example, in Walt Disney World, when you walk in a shop, you see completely different merging than when you walk in another shop in Walt Disney World. Yeah. Here in Europe, it's always like, oh, it's the same stuff. Same stuff over over. Same stuff. And Fultron Shop is a little different, of course, because it's all Fultron, Fultron, Fultron.
01:49:36
Speaker
um But like... Every other shop. where you have When you have seen one shop in Europe, you have seen all... Almost. Yeah. yeah Yeah. I agree.
01:49:50
Speaker
oh no I think they could up their... Yeah. Their mug game is good, I guess. Can we also talk about the Snorri? Oh, Snorri merchandising.
01:50:02
Speaker
The Snorri merchandising is so cute, but they sell this Snorri Plus. I don't know who approved it. it's it's my I have nightmares about it.
01:50:13
Speaker
or It's my favorite thing. We're going to post it on our story. This is going to be the episode art. Wait a second. i already have... Oh my god. who It's my favorite. you have access to the Instagram, just post it on the story right now.
01:50:30
Speaker
This is also one of them. It's like a shoulder plushie. Like, you can put them on your shoulder. It doesn't even look like him and his face is squashed. Oh my gosh. it's Like, every time when I once...
01:50:44
Speaker
some jump to jump scale some people are posting this on my story can you send it to me so i can post it on inverted creative or today's recording in a nutshell how recording's going today um because i already have the episode aren't figured out for this one so no snorries the episode drop everything snorri no it's gonna be me on your omir because i love that picture wow and that's And I gave you, you're on the episode art for the last episode.
01:51:16
Speaker
I want to be on the episode art the next one. I did see it, yes. Okay. I forgive you. The world has not seen it yet, but you have.
Episode Wrap-Up
01:51:25
Speaker
But as in Snorri, they made an amazing character for merchandising opportunities.
01:51:34
Speaker
Listen, we're going to have a part three. We can always make Snorri the cover for that. Oh, Rulantica. Yeah, we can. Or just use like a really vibey picture of Rulantica.
01:51:49
Speaker
Yes. Okay. Yes. I'm posting this on our story. I can't wait. You guys, everyone who's listening to this, it's gone. like you happened it to Like a week and a half ago.
01:52:02
Speaker
Comment on wherever you can comment if you saw it and you remember it. I'm scared. i see him in my nightmares.
01:52:15
Speaker
He's so good. He is so good.
01:52:20
Speaker
As I literally just refresh Instagram for you to post it. I know, I'm trying to remember how to tag people. Are you tagging the three of us?
01:52:33
Speaker
Yeah.
01:52:36
Speaker
Well, I'm tagging you two.
01:52:42
Speaker
I guess I should have tagged myself too. I didn't think about it. I'll add me later. Okay. Well. Oh, hey. Inverted Creative mentioned you in their story. Weird.
01:52:53
Speaker
Snorri. Snorri. He's terrifying. All right. Well, I think that brings us to the end of the episode. I've talked an awful lot in this episode.
01:53:06
Speaker
The last two episodes. But hey, we kept it under two hours. We did keep it under two hours if we can get off in the next five minutes. Yeah, I think we'll be okay. So the next episode after this one will not be Europa Park.
01:53:21
Speaker
We have a few other episodes coming up soon that we're excited about. Yes. And then we'll get back into Europa Park and maybe some other, i don't know, we need to do another like creative deep dive soon.
01:53:36
Speaker
Yeah, we do. We're definitely going to schedule one of those and um get that going. And decide on some kind of topic probably 10 minutes before we record, you know.
01:53:48
Speaker
Yeah, as we do, as we do. Yeah. But no, we got some, we, um our next episode, we kind of got it booked up. And I'm excited for that one.
01:53:59
Speaker
Yeah. Won't say anything yet, but. Yeah, it's a secret, but we're very excited it. Well, wait, when is this episode? This one will drop on the 16th.
01:54:15
Speaker
I don't know if we're recording before then or not, but we'll figure it out. yeah Anyway, thanks for listening us talking about to europa listening to us talk about Europa Park for two whole episodes so far. Yeah, for potentially four-ish hours, which is wild. I hope you like Europa Park content because that's all you're getting from the Inverted Creative Podcast right now. Yes. Sorry, guys.
01:54:40
Speaker
Well, until the next time, hashtag keep thinking inverted and we will talk you all soon. Bye, guys. Bye.
01:54:51
Speaker
was about to say, say bye, Joey. hi See you in Relanticat. Yes. Bye-bye.