Kevin's enthusiastic joy while telling all about your experiences is the best recommendation and commercial ever. Also, a very thorough, profound and helpful report about both places.
My sister visited Europa Park recently with her husband and their one year old baby. She told me,that after standing in line one parent can go on the drive while the other one waits with the baby and after that they switch without having to wait in line again. Perhaps this is in all amusement parks, I don't have much experience, but I really loved that.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife well you could have used it this time aswell :) I saw you went on the cancan coaster and Ella couldnt… so you show her to the worker at the beginning of the line and get your baby switch card :) baby switch works in Europa Park for all dogs and for kids that are to small no matter the age (for example at the Silverstar you can get a baby switch gar for a 10 yo that is just 135cm high)
If I'm being perfectly honest, I've never been to Europapark. 😂 Personally, the amusement park of my childhood was Heidepark Soltau. I made lots of good memories there.
You should check out Phantasialand near Cologn. It's the second most visited park after Europapark. It is smaller, but the attractions are better. There's a lot do do for all age groups. I spend the whole day there as a teenager riding rollercoaster, my parents took my niece and nephew when they were toddlers and they had a blast. It's magical in winter with all the lights and decorations, shows, Glühwein and you can even ice skate. I wouldn't plan two days there but Cologne has many other things to see like the Kölner Dom, the Schokoladenmuseum (yes you can eat the Chocolat as well), Kevin would love the Arithmeum in Bonn which is a mathematics museum.
I second that! It’s farther away but a fantastic park! And the stay can be combined with a visit to Brühl, the town Phantasialand is in, which has two castles that are UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and Cologne, with the Cathedral being another site. You don’t have to stay in the hotels in the park but if you do, I believe the entrance to the park is free.
I also think that one big plus of Fantasialand is that it is so small...they practically have to built the rides above each other, but this has the advantage that everything is close together. And yes, it is particulaly amazing in winter, last time I was there (which was admittingly pre-corona) I was really impressed by the light show over the water ride, and I am not easily impressed. Another plus is the huge indoor-area.
Nice watching about Europapark when I will go tomorrow again. I go there every year. My mom couldn't go for years, so this trip is a present from me to her.
Great video! I actually grew up half an hour from Europa-Park and went there at least 30 times, so I really know my way around the park. One thing I definitely recommend to everyone going there is the Voletarium. It’s Europe’s biggest Flying theater where you sit on moving chairs and because during the film you can’t really see the floor underneath, you actually feel like you are flying through these amazing landscapes. The Mack-family was actually originally a rollercoaster manufacturer and Europa-Park was originally only an exhibition of the rollercoasters for their clients and grew with time. The Europa-Park is actually closed from mid january to mid march each year to do repairs on the rides.
It’s funny seeing this compared because Disney Parks and German Amusement Parks feel so different for me and I’ve never thought of comparing them. which is probably why I never missed the characters and parades here, because that’s just a Disney thing for me. Granted , I‘ve grown up north and never been to Europapark but to Heide Park instead which seems comparable albeit smaller (and I think you guys would enjoy that too! plus there’s amazing nature around) And Heide Park does have a few more characters than Europapark, but they’re more of an addendum, the characters exist because the park exists, whereas the Disney Park exists because the characters existed first. You go to Disney to meet them and get a park on top of that, but here its the other way around, you go for the rides and get a character on top 😅.
I agree! Personally, I feel all the beautiful buildings, statues and lights in the Europapark make one feel like the princess themselves, without a need for other harcters to embody this magic... I still felt like I was living in a magical fairytale land when I first went to Europapark, and I was 15 !!!!
I love Disney & all the parks, but I was REALLY impressed when I went to Europa Park this summer! It was less stressful than a day at Disneyland Paris & it felt more natural like you said. Europa Park felt like it was more suitable for a family with people who can't walk or stand in lines too long cause there are lots of ways to get around the park & lines were super short! I love that I didn't need to check my phone & could be fully immersed, which Disney used to be like. The fairytale forest area was so cool to see. The rollercoaster restaurant was really fun & delicious too!
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife July! The restaurant is called FoodLoop. The salmon was really good! We didn't do coasters so I'm not sure how long the lines were, but attractions like Pirates, Ghost Castle, the boat rides, and Voletarium were pretty much a walkon!
Great video, really enjoyed watching your experience in Europapark! I have been there like 15 years ago and it was great back then as well. If you want to enjoy other great theme parcs in Germany try Phantasialand near the city of Cologne where we live. It is much smaller than Europapark but very very well themed and has rides for all ages including some stunning coasters. My kids would approve!
And if you plan to visit Phantasialand you can combine it with Movie World in Bottrop which isn't THAT impressive but worth visiting and not far away 😉
Well, there is a reason Europa Park has been winning the Golden Ticket Awards for the best amusement park for years in a row 😏. Their dedication to detail and offering something beautiful for everyone, no matter the age or wanted level of "exitement" (you want to go on rides? cool, we have them. you want to go look at people creating craft, listen to fairytails, watch shows and visit a things like a real space station and a norwegian wood church? we have that too!). I would like to experience Disney World one day, but for now my only experience with a Disney Park is Paris and as bad as it sounds, teenager me was a bit disappointed. It felt as if I was a bit too old to enjoy most of the attractions and I the food was really neither diverse nor very good (compared with my EP experiences). But, well, that was more than 10 years ago, and I guess giving it another chance would be fair.
Fun fact: All inhabitants of the town of Rust (where Europa-Park is located) do have free entry to the park whenever and as often they want. Children from there sometimes get the opportunity to experience new stuff first, like for example school-classes being invited to see the new 360 degree movie before everyone else or Kindergaten-kids being the first to play in the Castle-playground in Ireland. Almost everyone in town seems to have a room or an apartment for rent to park-visitors and the Macks don't try to prevent their profit. This leads to a lot of support from the locals. On the other side Disney in Paris didn't care about any support of any locals and bought a lot of ground around the park just to keep competitors away (Hotels and Restaurants). But they underestimated the relevance of the train-station that was built quite close to the park entrance. By train you can get out of the "Disney-zone" quite quick and cheap and many visitors preferred hotels in Paris over the more expensive Disney-hotels. Disney in Paris made loss for decades. That always sounds strange if you look up their prices and the high number of visitors. The main reason for this was that the Disney Corporation didn't pay anything to build the park. Instead a separate Corporation was founded and they had to build the whole park on a loan. Paying off that loan ate up the whole profit. In addition they had to pay license fees to their mother-Company. Guess this was just a concept by Disney to earn money without investing any money. The problem was based on many false calculations. For example european visitors spent much less on souvenirs than expected. They just went to a Theme-Park to have fun, not for a shopping tour. All this pushed Eurodisney close to bankuptcy. While all the other parks in Europe were building more and more stuff, there was very little to happen at Eurodisney because of the lack of money... On behalf of some stuff Disney seemed a bit naive too: They thought they could open a first class restaurant in France without serving wine with the meal! It wasn't too long that they had to give up their non-alcohol-policy and Eurodisney became the first Disney-Park worldwide to serve alcohol! I'm surprised to hear they started to serve alcohol in the US too.
In Europa Park you can also stay at the camp resort. There are log cabins or teepees and you can sleep there. For dinner you have the option to do a barbeque over a open fire. That is also a adventure for kids. As far a I know there is also a restaurant where you can eat dinner, but you can definitly get a good breakfast there. You don't have a separate entrence, but it is next to the main entrance. If you want to save money that would be a good alternative. We always stayed there. To be honest I don't miss the parades. When I visited Disney World, it was nice to watch them, but their would not be a reason for me to visit a amusement park. Sometimes they also were in the way when you want to go from one end to the other. But everyone has different preferences and it is nice, that there are different options.
I've been to Europa Park twice and really enjoyed the variety of rides they have. My favorite amusement park in Germany though is called Tripsdrill near Stuttgart. It is a lot smaller than Europa Park but it has a more familiar style. They have a section with vintage amusement park which is really fun. It feels less commercial than Europa Park or Heidepark and they do a really good job at telling stories with the park and it doesn't feel like a giant commercial.
Thank you guy so much for this side-by-side comparison. Europa Park brings back so many memories. I grew up about 100km away from it and as a child I've spent many days there until around 1998. Back in the days I have seen the park at a different stage and I am amazed to see how it has grown and how many country themes don't ring a bell for me. From what I remember of those days, you were able to ride about 80% of the stuff in one day and it was quiet more affordable, especially for larger families. At this time there were no hotel or maybe the first one was in the process of being built - if memory serves. The season ended by the end of the autumn school holiday in Baden-Württemberg, so around November 1st. It was quite a different experience and I am wondering if I would enjoy the park as much as back then as a kid. At least it will always be a cherished memory!
I guess most people who grew up near of either one of the parks enjoyed it. I grew up ~25km away from Europa Park, although a bit later than you. It has been enough years now of not having been there anymore because I was so often as a kid and lived further away for some time, that it now would start to be intersting to see the changes. But I kinda feel like you about the prices. Sure I could afford the day ticket, but it is not worth it for me. I had a year pass when I was 15 like many teenagers in the region, but with their system now the equivalent of the old "Jahreskarte" seems to be the gold pass at almost triple the price back then (When I was 15 in the late 00's it cost only the equivalent of 4 day tickets.). I do not think I am going anytime soon. With this prices they will probably have to add attractions for another 10 years for me to get a new year pass (If I have not moved away again by then.)
I worked for both, Disney an Europa Park as 'financial engineer', what is basically the guy who does the math how to earn most money with technical limitations. I don't want to speak to much about rollercoasters but more about the 'characters', like Mickey or the Euromaus walking in the park... Having those characters apear in the park is basically superexpensive. You got to pay the actor and the handler (security/health guy). And from one character, you get only a few interactions, so you spend a lot of money to entertain just a few people. But the worst factor is, that those 'characters' clog traffic. In an open area, you got people standing around them, people trying to reach them and long waiting times to get your photo. This all leads to so many issues, that do worsen the experience for guests. There are 2 reasons, Disney is keeping this characters. Most important is people expect them to be there. Kids go to Disney Parks to visit Mickey. And the second reason is, that Disney indentifies with those characters and refinances them with gigantic merchandise sales. Disney got their own universe, and they got to maintain it. But I wouldn't recommend to build on such IPs. To sum stuff up: It is a question for the park how to spend their money. There are better ways to spend a dollar and generate revenue than focusing on characters, if you havent got the corresponding IP. Entertain people, keep your paths open. Focus on stuff you are good at and that benefit the whole park.
being German and growing up with Europa-Park, I really enjoyed seeing everything again from your point of view. Laughed at your Alcohol comment... 😄Europa Park was meant to be a showcase for the Mack Rides products. Sure they had the American parts in mind when building it in the 70s. I like the fact that it grew naturally in the years and it is still family owned. The Hotels are off the chart, too. I highly recommend "De Efteling", Triberg and yes, Freiburg as your next adventure. Im sure you will love it and its pretty close 😉 And may I add that the prices in the US for theme parks are just crazy...😮 Glad you had a good time
I live just north of Orlando, so I'm familiar with all the Disney Parks including the Magic Kingdom, Seaworld and Universal. I have to admit, I'm not a huge fan of amusement parks, especially the endless lines for the rides. Disney has become cost prohibitive to a lot of families now and I hear they had a disappointing last quarter, so they are laying people off just in time for the holidays. It was cute, while I had a young child and seeing things through their eyes but honestly, I will leave that experience to the tourists now. Their employees are super friendly and courteous, and yes, the park is clean and the kids do love all the characters walking around the park and interacting with them. Disney during summer is BRUTAL though!
It‘s very interesting to hear that Disney‘s Magic Kingdom is more based on European folklore and architecture while in Europa Park you could find more American/Western themed places/rides. There is a theme park in the Sauerland which is dedicated solely to the Western theme called Fort Fun. And a few kilometers to the West there is a whole open air theater dedicated to plays based on the novels of Karl May who wrote some stories about the American West of the 19th century, despite never being there by himself.
About what American/Western themed places/rides are you talking? Europa Park is themed after the different European nations. There is no American themed section?
What a fantastic video, well done and thanks for all the details, the work and the research. Important is that you as a whole family had a lot of fun and had this feeling when you were talking with so much passion and happiness about your experience. Really cool and much appreciated. Maybe in the future you like to visit a couple of more theme parks in Germany and Europe and share your opinion about as well. Thanks again for the video and have a nice Sunday 🥂
OMG Kevin played in a Disney band! That’s so cool and even more reason to join a band in Bavaria! I‘m so happy that you enjoyed Europapark so much! It’s been so long since I went and I remember my horror ride on the roller coaster (I said never ever haha). But it‘s a great great park. My sister and her husband are regulars and go every year and always stay overnight. You guys did such an amazing job to create this video, absolutely amazing!xxo
Yes he does need to play in a band here! It’s so cool that your sister and her family go regularly. We would, too, if we lived nearby. It’s so much fun for kids!
I think the biggest reason why disneyworld or disney parks in general are so big are not necessarily the quality of the parks but just the brand and the nostalgia pretty much every one has with it. Very cool video! Also fyi. I think most europeans at least the "younger" generations grew up on disney movies aswell :D
Btw beer. I was in Europapark after opening of the Ireland section and said, just for fun, to the lady behind the counter; "There is such a nice Guinness advertisement on the building, but unfortunately I don't see any here." Then she smiled at me, pointed to the stairs and said; "If you go up there, you will find everything an Irish heart desires." So I went up the stairs and in the back there was a real Irish pub, above this great children's area, even with live music at that time. If I want to have a great holiday here in germany, Europapark is at top of the list. Next to Phantasialand, of course. I can agree with the characters, but Disney just has more access because there is a huge film industry behind it. (Looking forward to when the Euro Disney arendelle opens.) I think introducing new characters in Europapark is not that important for the operators and not that easy either, for most European film characters (Maya the Bee, Heidi, Tabaluga, Wickie, Mia and Me) Plopsa (In EU Plopsaland, here in Germany Holiday Park) has the rights of use. But I also think that for most visitors such figures are not quite as important as when you go to a Disney Park or to Universal Studios. That's more to be expected. But the park is just working more on bringing a continuous story with the AcE (Adventure Club of Europe), starting in the Voletarium, up to the new Batavia and in the new Croatia area it should continue with Tesla.
It was fun revisiting Europapark in your video. My personal favorite, however, is Playmobil- Park, near Nürnberg, so it is feasible as a day trip. There are very few rides, no roller coasters, it is all hands-on. So you only have to stand in line for very few attractions. They have tournaments for knights, a castle, pirate boats, tractor races, gold mines ... and the best play grounds. Huge slides, sand boxes and a Matsch-/Wasserspielplatz. They also offer cabins and showers free of charge, where you and your children can get cleaned up afterwards. I think they charge for washing machines though. There is so a huge indoor playground. I am not sure if your kids are into Playmobil, but the younger ones would love it. It is 16 euros per person per day, so it is quite reasonable.
Most funny thing about the irish part of Europapark is that while being mostly a little kids area it also serves the most alcoholic beverages in the park with the highest level of alcohol per drink. Seems like they know what parents want when their children are at the playground...
In 1998, just before we got children, we went 3 weeks to Florida. By accident we stumbled over an offer in German catalogs. There a 30 days "Florida Fun in the Sun pass". We paid 500 Deutsch Mark (approx 260 Euro) for 30 days free entry in all Disney parks (including the Waterparks) and many there attraction (excluding Universal). So we paid for a month what you pay now for a day. This is so insane. We have been to the Europa Park many times. We love, that we get in the greece part greek food. And we love how well connected all the parts are. Fun fact: in the old Pirates (there was a fire a few years ago) of the Batavia ride was a restaurant with Tai Food. What a fantastik idea. You saw the boats pass by.
It's really worth visiting theme park 'Efteling' in The Netherlands as this park was THE inspiration for the Disney parks back in the days. And NL is worth the visit anyways, no matter which part of the country you should choose to stay. It is different from Germany, yet very enjoyable! And of course you're also able to enjoy the differences between German and Dutch food.
Heyho. As I was lucky enough to experience those days with you, let me just say: It was was an amazing vacation for me as well. 10/10, 5⭐, would do again at anytime without hesitation. 😊 And I'm usually not so much of an amusement park enthusiast myself, but with such amazing company it's different. 😉
Thank you for this interesting video! Watching it and listening to all these details, I realized that amusement parks have never ever been part of my world. It was hard enough to persuade my parents to visit the annual fairground in the city. I also remember I spent a few days in Copenhagen in 1990 and I visited Tivoli, but just because I didn't know what else to do. So thank you for opening a new world for me :)
When it comes to the Parks origins, you forgot to mention that the Owners of Europa Park, the Mack Family, build amusement rides since 100+ years and also build rides for Disney in the 60s (and today also for Universal, Cedar and Six Flags ... you name it). One intention to open Europa park was for Mack Rides to have a Showspace for their products and potential customers can come to the park and check them out on daily operation. 90% of the attractions at Europa Park are build in House.
Hi there, I am so happy you liked Europa- Park! Now I feel inspired to go back and see it again. The open-air museum is a great idea, especially on days when they show original crafts or have a fair. I used to absolutely love that as a child. Also, if you would like to try one more amusement park, have a look at Tripsdrill. It's very lovely, in my opinion. And now that Christmas-Market season is upon us, I can only recommend you make a plan and check out as many as you can . Also, try to make some German christmas cookies with your kids, they will love it. Seeing your enthusiasm just makes me happy!😄
Das war ein netter Vergleich :-) Aber im Sommer, wenn Ferien sind, kann es im Europapark auch sehr, sehr voll werden. Sagt Bescheid, wenn ihr das nächste Mal in der Gegend seid - hier gibt es sooo viel zu entdecken
Europa Park is not a theme Park in its origin. It is an exhibition space for rollercoasters. The themepark came after the sucess of Disney for added Money. But they are still building rollercoasters all around the world. And Europapark always has the newest ones because they try them out there.
This is wrong. It was a theme park from the day it opened. And the park doesn't have any of the latest models of Mack Rides like Big Dipper, Power Splash or Xtreme Spinning Coaster.
The reason to open a Disney park on the East coast was that it wasn't as easy (or cheap!) to get to California from all parts of the US, so they opened Orlando. The reason for Florida was that corporation taxes was low and no income taxes, and the reason for Orlando specifically, was that land in the middle of Florida was so much cheaper, than land along any of the coasts. (Source: Bloomberg Corporate History 157:0006584)
I love your Europapark report ! I was very exited to hear about your experiences. They are very authentic. We visit Europapark at least one or twice a year since 2004. It is an inspiring experience every time. You don't write about the various shows. Didn't you joined them ? I strongy recommed to attend at least the Knights Show in the Spanish arena (Spain), the Ice show in the Ice Stadium (Greece) and the variete show in the Teatro de l' Arte (Italy). They are epic.
Ihr solltet auch mal das Phantasialand bei Brühl und Efteling in den Niederlanden besuchen. Wenn ihr dann schon mal in den Niederlanden seid, macht auch mal einen Abstecher zum Burger's Zoo in Arnheim.
Loved your fun and informative video! I went to Disney Florida and Epcot as a teenager in April and had a great time (weather was perfect). However, when it came to travel experiences with my kids (living in Atlantic Canada) we would rather take them to Europe than spend the same or more on the Disney experience and they had so much fun exploring all the different Spielplätze and outdoor adventure play areas. We went to Taunus Wunderland near Frankfurt which is geared toward small kids and they loved it. I have been to Europapark with my niece and nephew and liked the variety of rides and entertainment with virtually no lineups at an affordable price!
Great video, as always ❤ If you haven't bern there yet, you should definitely check out Legoland, which is in Bavaria (Günzburg), so probably not too far from your home :)
Hi Sara 🙋♂, hi McFalls 🙋♂, hi, as almost every Sunday morning 😃! Thank you one more time for getting presented your interesting comparison. And getting informations about your own experiencies. Even for me as an older guy, who thought, there`s no more need for such parks, your video is extending my mind.
You should try out the Ruhr area. In my opinion it's one of the most interesting regions in Germany, although it swims under the radar. A few of the sights would be the Zeche Zollverein in Essen (UNESCO World Heritage Site), the Gasometer in Oberhausen, the Tetraeder in Bottrop, the Landschafts Park in Duisburg (short LaPaDu), Tiger and Turtle in Duisburg and a few more attractions.
I can recommend Skyline Park in Bad Wörishofen & Legoland in Günzburg. They are both in Bavaria. Legoland has a stunning miniatur city build with leogs and amazing Playgrounds 🙌🏻
Another well done video from you guys, thank you so much! 😊 Btw: I think most Europeans also grew up with Disney movies, so that's not just an American thing. Have a nice start into the new week! ❤
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife I was in Orlando/Disney's Magic Kingdom in 2017. Orlando is the craziest town I have ever seen, completely designed for fun and amusement. On every corner somebody is flying through the air on a rope, jumps off a tower on a bungee-rope or is firing at something in a shooting range. I loved the huge "Mega Store", you and your credit card can have funny hours there spending A LOT of money (for Star Wars or Disney products, sunglasses, T shirts or candies. I still have my bath towel with Donald Duck's family). 😊 I liked driving in Winnie the Poohs honey-pot and the musical performances with Donald and Daisy. In the evening there is a big disco with all Disney characters (one of the weirdest things I have ever done in my life was dancing with Daisy Duck). The firework at the end of the day is fantastic. When you are "back to reality" on the parking spot (after 12 hours in this parallel-world you spent between fairy tales, fantasy houses and Disney characters) you wake up and really feel like after a wild dream...
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife I think the difference is more that we grow up on Disney movies AND the European adaptations of the same stories. Especially if you live in Germany. As someone who has been to the US and visited both Disney World and Disney Land I can honestly say that they are better than the European version, because those feel like they were done with love while Eurodisney feels kind of soulless. Thus said, I also love the German Phantasialand, which used to have a lot of rides similiar to the Disney rides, but has developed its very own identity over time. It's btw also open in the Winter (naturally without the water rides running).
Stimmt zwar, aber als Kind habe ich die Märchen der Gebrüder Grimm als aller erstes vorgelesen bekommen, natürlich die originalen Versionen, erst später sind sie abgewandelt worden und waren nicht mehr so brutal, erst mit 7 oder 8 kam Disney dann groß auf, vor allem mit Aladin, Arielle, König der Löwen etc... Trotzdem sind mir die wahren Märchen der Gebrüder Grimm in Erinnerung geblieben, weil sie einfach so viel düsterer und ehrlicher sind wie Disneys Filme. Disney hat doch gerade am Anfang ziemlich viel geklaut. Zu erst einmal das Schloss, wo dann jeder Amerikaner meinte sie hätten es erfunden 😂 Unser Schloss stand schon, da gab es die USA noch lange nicht 😅 Dann Schneewittchen und die 7 Zwerge, Cinderella und Co, alles geklaut, die Gebrüder Grimm haben ihre Geschichten schon gefühlt 300 Jahre vorher geschrieben und ich denke genau deswegen kann ich Amerika nicht für voll nehmen, denn ihre gesamte Kultur ist mehr oder weniger geklaut, was nicht schlimm wäre, wenn sie es nicht so verkaufen würden als hätten sie es erfunden. Sie machen so etwas immer und immer wieder. Ein deutscher erfindet das Radarsystem, zack klaut sich Amerika die Idee und selbst ihre größten Wissenschaftler waren entweder Diebe wie Edison mit der Glühbirne oder aber waren in Wirklichkeit Ausländer denen sie einfach die Staatsbürgerschaft schenkten und dann behaupteten sie seien Amerikaner 🤦♂️ Amerika ist für mich das Land der großen Fakes und vor allem haben sie eine Mentalität von vorne hui und hinten pfui, alleine deswegen kann ich diesem Land nix abgewinnen, was natürlich nicht heißt, dass die Bevölkerung nur aus idioten besteht, wie in jedem Land gibt es eben beide Seiten.
What I also find absolutely important, is that you can take your own food, my parents were certainly not stingy to us children, on the contrary, but my mother would never have gone anywhere where you could not have taken your own food or where there are reasonable and clean places with tables etc, where you could have eaten your own food as a family. What costs something is also more and more important for parents with children.If you are a family with several children, it goes very quickly in areas where it can hurt or is not to be paid for poorer families. and right! Good playgrounds are absolutely essential
I am a frequent theme park visitor and went to Magic Kingdom in my twenties. Back then us Europeans used to look to the U.S. theme parks with envy. But when I actually went there I was kind of disappointed to be honest. Magic Kingdom was a great, out-of-this-world experience, no doubt, but it didn't really lived up to the hype. One could argue that young adults are not the core audience for Magic Kingdom, as it is (seems) to be focused on families with small kids. However, now that I am mother myself I find this an odd place to visit with family. As you mention there are little to none picnic sites, it takes ages just to get there and standing in line for hours in the hot Florida sun now really put me off. And if it's not that it's the prices that are not family friendly at all. To my luck Germany and Europe have really caught up in terms of theme parks and imho are acutally much better than parks in the U.S. overall. They do a lot of things right to appeal to multiple audiences. Your experience at Europapark (that you can really enjoy it as a family and that there is really something for everyone etc.) is core to most European theme parks. Disney (also Disney Land Paris) to me feels like it's meant to be for kids, but it's designed to work like a perfect big machine and you pay more for the "act" instead, than for actual things to do. A couple of things to note on Europapark: - The number of visitors is smaller, I assume, due to the seasons. The park is usually closed from early January until end of March and also some weeks in between Halloween and X-Mas/Winter Magic. It's also a cultural thing, because in Germany and Europe there are so many other things to do and destinations to visit. People don't see theme parks as an actual holiday destination (this is probably slowly changing), but rather places you would visit while your're on holiday. This is also why Europeans would never spend the eqivalent of a full family holiday only for visiting a theme park. - The park is family owned and so is Mack Rides (an internationally successful rides manufacturer). The companys' headquarter and factory are located a 30 min drive from the park. Europapark has been built intially to host movable Mack rides during off-season (of the big festivals/Feste) and also as a testing ground for their prototypes, that's why many rollercoasters in the park used to be "world novelties" when they first opened.
You have to try out Phantasialand next! The best German theme park I would say and also regularly called one oof the best in the world! They have some amazing new (linearr induction) rollercoastes! :)
And it is also especially nice in the Winter season with their Wintertraum event. Lots if Christmas lights everywhere and a lot of very good food, too. Sooo beautiful. Phantasialand also has hotels in the park. And you could combine it with a stop in Cologne, to see the Cologne cathedral and the chocolate museum and take a walk along the Rhine etc
Kevins prowess in swedish is a big plus in pronouncing words the german/europe way. Europa would correctly sound something like "Oi-ro(w)-pah" for english speakers. 😎
I really enjoyed this video. Kevin‘s analysis of the parks was spot on. I can tell he’s an academic! At first I was worried your overall impression of Europa park would be poor- but it’s good to hear you had a great time. I grew up in Southern California and often went to Disneyland. I was also pleasantly surprised by Europa park! And I’d much prefer to go there over Disney. Also, culturally Disney has cultivated this cult like behavior in the USA where people spend all their savings on Disney and Disney events ( Disney adults) which I really don’t see happening with Europa park.
So with fastpass it’s a bit off of how you described it. With fastpass you could book 3 rides at a time with up to 90 days in advance. Now it’s with the genie plus app, which costs roughly 15-20$ per person per day. But there are very few rides not included in that payed system. These are the big e ticket attractions. With that you have to book a lightning lane. But these could be booked either with or without the genie app. With that said: it’s common to charge to skip the lines, but what Disney did with Genie is that they made it affordable. Universal f.e. Charges around 200$ per person per day. So that less people will use it and it would be a real benefit to buy it. With genie it’s different. People feel the need of purchasing the feature that they could have a guaranteed good time, because everyone does it. So it’s completely a cash grab. But things are probably changing again because Chapek is gone. Soooo. That’s that 😂 That topic alone could be its own separate video
Hello dear expanding Family: You don't need to apologize every video for your pronunciation or experience. It's your opinion, and People can go find out themselfe what they like best. Thank You for this very informative video, and Europa Parc looks very atractive comparing to the American Parcs. Have a lovely Sunday 😊
Let Kevin on the slide ! You go slide Kevin however much you want XD Im 40 and still love a good playground time XD and thx for this great video, great honest information on the parks.
If you are interested in amusement parks, then you should try Legoland Deutschland in Günzburg or Altweibermühle in Tripsdrill. Both are awesome and unique in their own way.
Heidepark in Soltau is also a good one - it's in Lower Saxony though so it is more suitable to go there if you're on vacation in Northern Germany. Hansa Park in Schleswig-Holstein is also nice. And when you're already in the North there's Legoland in Billund which is in central Denmark. Regarding visitors...well Florida has pretty much the same weather all year long - Germany does not and going in the middle of winter is not really all that much fun (not to mention that many parks are actually closed during winter). Most people don't realize how far to the south the USA (except Alaska) are. New York city is on the same latitude as Rome in Italy. If Florida would be magically moved eastward you'd end up in the Central Sahara for the northern parts of Florida and southern Sahara for southern Florida.
Personally, I love your longer videos in which you explain exactly the details.You also do a lot of work in the extensive research.Even if these videos are meant to be informative, you also put all your love into this work, and the viewer can feel that right.Although I never actually go to amusement parks, this video was also very exciting for me to watch.Great job and thanks for that;best regards Kelsea
Try Efteling next! It is a great comparison to Disney, because of the fairytale theme. Efteling is much more true to the original stories and is therefore a bit darker. Much better than Disney in my opinion, but try it out, it is a great park and well worth the trip. (Stay in the resort, entry to the park is included and take at least 2 days for your visit) Btw, 2 days in Efteling will cost you about €350 for your family (in a 6 person family room in Loonsche Land), that includes 2 days entry, breakfast on second day and parking. Can’t recommend enough
Yeah we definitely want to try out Efteling! And the kids have never visited the Netherlands so that would be fun for them. They really like going to a new country and hearing a new language.
Other smaller park options worth visiting for a day trip are Legoland Günzburg, Playmobil FunPark and Ravensburger Spieleland. Each of them connected toy brands.
Well, Disney may have started a few years earlier with its parks. But the Mack family has been in the business longer, since 1921 to be exact, when the predecessor company of Mack Rides built its first wooden roller coaster. It's also not surprising that Disney has fewer roller coasters in the Magic Kingdom than Euopa-Park. After all, it started out as an exhibition site for Mack GmbH & Co (now Mack Rides). Disney has to buy the roller coasters, the Mack family builds them themselves. As of February 2022, Mack Rides has built 156 roller coasters around the world. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mack_Rides
Yeah I was reading that the Mack family started making coaches for the wealthy in the 1800’s and also made circus wagons. And with their knowledge of wheels, they then began to make roller coasters. So cool!
re the hotels .., you CAN get even closer to the park in a hotel when you visit Phantasialand and stay in the Lindbergh Hotel... which is basically a part of the park and the roller-coaster flies by your face when you leave the room....,
Ich liebe, liebe, liebe den Europapark wahnsinnig. Er ist so voller Details und die unterschiedlichen Bereiche ... das einzige womit ich auch gar nichts anfangen kann, sind die Maskottchen. Ich war auch schon 14 als ich das erste Mal in den Park bin, also bin ich vermutlich auch nicht die Zielgruppe, aber sie wirken so willkürlich, so charakterlos. Natürlich hat Disney den riesen Vorteil mit den Filmcharakteren zu denen man auch völlig ohne den Park eine Verbindung hat, aber es ist so schade, dass die Europaparkmaskottchen so ungenutzt bleiben. Wobei ich das Gefühl habe, dass bei neueren Maskottchen (z. B. bei Snorrie für Rulantica) schon mehr versucht wird eine Verbindung herzustellen. Es gab ja schon vor der Eröffnung von Rulantica ein Musical mit ihm und wo auch Piraten eine Rolle spielten, die wiederum bei den Piraten von Batavia wieder vorkommen, die auch bei der Eislaufshow dabei sind. Da wird heute ein deutlich größerer Bogen gespannt. Trotzdem glaube ich, dass da noch viel Potential steckt. Was mir bei meinem letzten Europaparkbesuch besonders positiv aufgefallen ist, sind die vielen Toiletten. In jedem Land sind ca. 2 Toilettenräume, die aber selbst innerhalb des Landes unterschiedlich gestaltet sind. Da ich meine Tage hatte und deswegen viel auf Klos war, war das besonders auffällig. Und es es wurde auch über den Tag hinweg sehr häufig geputzt. Natürlich hatte man auch mal Pech, aber alles in allem wirklich toll! Gibt es in Disneyland eigentlich vergleichbare Shows wie im Europapark? Dort gibt es ja eine Eislaufshow, Zaubershows, Pferdeshows und und und ...
Hellooo, You definitly have to visit: Legoland in Günzburg. And if you're in the area of Stuttgart (the Captial of your neighbour federal state 'Baden-Württemberg') you should visit Trippsdrill (One day for the amusment park, and one day for the little zoo next by. The zoo entry fee is included in the amusment park entry fee. ) What also should be good, and is on my list: Heide Park in Soltau. :D
By the way: The Company Mack Rides, which builds rollercoasters, is a lot older than the Europa Park itself. Mack Rides was founded in 1780. Why do i say that: Europa Park was founded by Franz Mack, and is also used to have a life demo showing, what Mack Rides can do. At least... thats what i recall when they had a exhibition about the history of the Park... in the Park.
I still remember my first time at Europapark in the opening year.. I was 3 years old. ❤ (it was basically the „Märchenwald“ and a Playground back then)
You need visit EP in the Sommer Holiday Time, when Germany , France, Switzerland, the Benelux States have Sommerferien :) you have waiting times for some rides up to 150 min
I grew up in Freiburg so I visited Europapark many many times with my friends. Did you get to see some of the shows while you were there? they have so many different ones and they are a lot of fun and a good way to relax your legs and feet after all that walking and waiting and still enjoy some of the highlights of the park. Piraten von Batavia used to be my favourite ride but then it burned down a few years ago and while the new version is not really bad it does look a little bit too polished for me and I can't help but miss the old version xDDD
I went to Disney in Florida towards my late 20s. For all the hype that was made, I was mildly disappointed. Some rides were closed and others had such long lines. Most rides are definitely geared towards kids. I think adults with no kids go dor nostalgic reasons. Food prices were crazy and food wasn't anything special. Years later I went to universal in California. Rides were way more thrilling but lines were just as long. Food prices were the same as Disney.
As a Swiss it was one of our standard family trips destinations. I love the different foods. It’s like a vacation across Europe and people who don’t like rollercoaster can still enjoy all the shows and slow ride. And I have to add, I learned today that Von-Roll built ski gondeli 🚠 I had university classes in the old Von-roll fabric (and the old Toblerone fabric too)
Thank for the Video 👍🏻😃. My favorit Amusement Park is Disneyland/Anaheim ❤️😍. The Magic Kindom/ Orlando looks very old. Europa Park is s very nice Park but i miss the magic there like at disney.
I like it when you talk about the weather. I'm an ice hockey fan, and I like it when it get's cold - minus 20°C it's just fun. _ There is no wrong weather there is only wrong clothing. ; ) (We had the first snow this year a few days before - and I LOVE it - winter wonder land _ just magical. I can almost feel Christmas is coming. ♥)
While watching your video, I just thought that you would probably have a very different and unique experience at the Kettlerhof near Haltern am See. It is such a different amusement park for the whole family, where there are mostly only attractions where you can climbe up and down and be active. Almost no rides where you just sit in and enjoy. That would probably be something special to visit, too.
What a great video. I grew up close to Europa Park, went there several times a year and I also lived and worked at Disney World and your resume is spot on. While I do love Disney World, the prices are just ridiculous these days. I was at Disneyland in LA just 8 weeks ago and the "Fastpass", now called Disney Genie+ adds another $20 per person per day to the cost. The food was horrible, the burgers tasted like Microwaved. The only good food still is the Turkey leg, I love that one. The parade and the fireworks is what you pay for in my opinion. Those 2 are, hands down, best in the world, whereas everything else is actually better in Europa Park.
A great review of Disney. I just read an article that Disney now has a new CEO and many people are asking that he get rid of the new Genie program and lower all of the prices. They are literally pricing out the entire middle class at this point, which is sad.
I visited Disneyland on a trip to the US many years ago when I was around 12 and I remember how utterly disappointed I was - after hearing left and right how "magical" it was supposed to be and then it all being endless cues, weird dressed up people (again after endless cues), everything felt packed and full and much too loud, no where to retreat to - I really didn't like the experience. I had so much more fun at parks like at Tripsdrill - so much more laid back, ralexed and fun. I guess I'm just too german for Disney...
The holiday park chain seems pretty good as well, the hansa park is not bad as well 😊, but i think the Europa Park is pretty good, i live actually not far away, but I don't go that often sadly.
I‘ve growen Up near by Europa Park and we have often visit the Park 3-4 times per year. Still Love all the details. You should visit Freiburg - such a lovley City!
The first Hotel in the Europapark was El Andaluz in the Spanish part. The open air museum Vogtsbauernhöfe is a museum with many typical black forrest farmhouses. They were from diferent parts and were rebuild there.
When I was a kid in the 80s we chose a cloudy, rainy-looking day for Europapark and usually it would turn putto be a fairly sunny day with no queues at the attractions. Youcould just walk through for the next ride. Btw it was a lot smaller then…
I remember visiting Orlando in the early 90ties. Magic Kingdom, Epcot and MGM Studios. Very hot...we waited almost 2 hours for the *KingKongRide*. Very expensive....very cool! Like visiting Las Vegas! Its a fantasy world...and in our last day we visited the Aquarium....and we.... saw Shamu, the great orca whale. In this big stadium he looked like a small goldfish in a whiskey tumbler. So sad...!!! All is said! Carry on the good work with your vlogs! 😎
You should visit Efteling in Kaatsheuvel, Netherlands. It predates Disney, by a year or two, and they do have a nifty way to make the park clean. Basically by nice trashcans that actually thanking you for throwing things in the cans.
Never visited either one so far, but that's why your video is so interesting for me! (I hope I can return to Gardaland in Italy next month and possibly Disney Land near Paris next one)
I am completely shocked - by the amount of research Kevin must have put in there - including picnic areas - I am speechless!!! 👏👏👏
Right?! I was, too. 😂
Kevin's enthusiastic joy while telling all about your experiences is the best recommendation and commercial ever. Also, a very thorough, profound and helpful report about both places.
My sister visited Europa Park recently with her husband and their one year old baby. She told me,that after standing in line one parent can go on the drive while the other one waits with the baby and after that they switch without having to wait in line again. Perhaps this is in all amusement parks, I don't have much experience, but I really loved that.
Yes!! That is such a great service. We noticed that and would’ve loved to have had it when our kids were small.
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife well you could have used it this time aswell :) I saw you went on the cancan coaster and Ella couldnt… so you show her to the worker at the beginning of the line and get your baby switch card :) baby switch works in Europa Park for all dogs and for kids that are to small no matter the age (for example at the Silverstar you can get a baby switch gar for a 10 yo that is just 135cm high)
You can do this in the Disney parks too.. it’s called rider swap
As far as I know, almost all bigger parks offer this.
If I'm being perfectly honest, I've never been to Europapark. 😂 Personally, the amusement park of my childhood was Heidepark Soltau. I made lots of good memories there.
You should check out Phantasialand near Cologn. It's the second most visited park after Europapark. It is smaller, but the attractions are better. There's a lot do do for all age groups. I spend the whole day there as a teenager riding rollercoaster, my parents took my niece and nephew when they were toddlers and they had a blast. It's magical in winter with all the lights and decorations, shows, Glühwein and you can even ice skate. I wouldn't plan two days there but Cologne has many other things to see like the Kölner Dom, the Schokoladenmuseum (yes you can eat the Chocolat as well), Kevin would love the Arithmeum in Bonn which is a mathematics museum.
I second that! It’s farther away but a fantastic park! And the stay can be combined with a visit to Brühl, the town Phantasialand is in, which has two castles that are UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and Cologne, with the Cathedral being another site. You don’t have to stay in the hotels in the park but if you do, I believe the entrance to the park is free.
I also think that one big plus of Fantasialand is that it is so small...they practically have to built the rides above each other, but this has the advantage that everything is close together. And yes, it is particulaly amazing in winter, last time I was there (which was admittingly pre-corona) I was really impressed by the light show over the water ride, and I am not easily impressed. Another plus is the huge indoor-area.
Nice watching about Europapark when I will go tomorrow again. I go there every year. My mom couldn't go for years, so this trip is a present from me to her.
Great video! I actually grew up half an hour from Europa-Park and went there at least 30 times, so I really know my way around the park.
One thing I definitely recommend to everyone going there is the Voletarium. It’s Europe’s biggest Flying theater where you sit on moving chairs and because during the film you can’t really see the floor underneath, you actually feel like you are flying through these amazing landscapes.
The Mack-family was actually originally a rollercoaster manufacturer and Europa-Park was originally only an exhibition of the rollercoasters for their clients and grew with time.
The Europa-Park is actually closed from mid january to mid march each year to do repairs on the rides.
The Voletariun was one of our favorite rides! It’s so cool. We show it and talk about it in the video as well.
Ich liebe das Voletarium!! Die beste Attraktion im ganzen Park! 😍
It’s funny seeing this compared because Disney Parks and German Amusement Parks feel so different for me and I’ve never thought of comparing them. which is probably why I never missed the characters and parades here, because that’s just a Disney thing for me. Granted , I‘ve grown up north and never been to Europapark but to Heide Park instead which seems comparable albeit smaller (and I think you guys would enjoy that too! plus there’s amazing nature around) And Heide Park does have a few more characters than Europapark, but they’re more of an addendum, the characters exist because the park exists, whereas the Disney Park exists because the characters existed first. You go to Disney to meet them and get a park on top of that, but here its the other way around, you go for the rides and get a character on top 😅.
I agree! Personally, I feel all the beautiful buildings, statues and lights in the Europapark make one feel like the princess themselves, without a need for other harcters to embody this magic... I still felt like I was living in a magical fairytale land when I first went to Europapark, and I was 15 !!!!
I love Disney & all the parks, but I was REALLY impressed when I went to Europa Park this summer! It was less stressful than a day at Disneyland Paris & it felt more natural like you said. Europa Park felt like it was more suitable for a family with people who can't walk or stand in lines too long cause there are lots of ways to get around the park & lines were super short! I love that I didn't need to check my phone & could be fully immersed, which Disney used to be like. The fairytale forest area was so cool to see. The rollercoaster restaurant was really fun & delicious too!
Ooo we didn’t try the roller coaster restaurant! Which summer month were you there?
Ooo we didn’t try the roller coaster restaurant! Which summer month were you there?
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife July! The restaurant is called FoodLoop. The salmon was really good! We didn't do coasters so I'm not sure how long the lines were, but attractions like Pirates, Ghost Castle, the boat rides, and Voletarium were pretty much a walkon!
Great video, really enjoyed watching your experience in Europapark! I have been there like 15 years ago and it was great back then as well. If you want to enjoy other great theme parcs in Germany try Phantasialand near the city of Cologne where we live. It is much smaller than Europapark but very very well themed and has rides for all ages including some stunning coasters. My kids would approve!
Ah cool, we’ve heard good things about Phantasialand. Does it also have roller coasters?
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife search for F.L.Y. here on YT
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife Yes, they have several roller coasters. Just search for Phantasialand here on RUclips and you can find videos about it.
Just come here and you will see for yourselve...
And if you plan to visit Phantasialand you can combine it with Movie World in Bottrop which isn't THAT impressive but worth visiting and not far away 😉
Well, there is a reason Europa Park has been winning the Golden Ticket Awards for the best amusement park for years in a row 😏. Their dedication to detail and offering something beautiful for everyone, no matter the age or wanted level of "exitement" (you want to go on rides? cool, we have them. you want to go look at people creating craft, listen to fairytails, watch shows and visit a things like a real space station and a norwegian wood church? we have that too!).
I would like to experience Disney World one day, but for now my only experience with a Disney Park is Paris and as bad as it sounds, teenager me was a bit disappointed. It felt as if I was a bit too old to enjoy most of the attractions and I the food was really neither diverse nor very good (compared with my EP experiences). But, well, that was more than 10 years ago, and I guess giving it another chance would be fair.
I so agree - Europa Park offers something for all ages and has delicious and diverse food. It’s a huge winner in my book!
Fun fact: All inhabitants of the town of Rust (where Europa-Park is located) do have free entry to the park whenever and as often they want. Children from there sometimes get the opportunity to experience new stuff first, like for example school-classes being invited to see the new 360 degree movie before everyone else or Kindergaten-kids being the first to play in the Castle-playground in Ireland.
Almost everyone in town seems to have a room or an apartment for rent to park-visitors and the Macks don't try to prevent their profit. This leads to a lot of support from the locals.
On the other side Disney in Paris didn't care about any support of any locals and bought a lot of ground around the park just to keep competitors away (Hotels and Restaurants). But they underestimated the relevance of the train-station that was built quite close to the park entrance. By train you can get out of the "Disney-zone" quite quick and cheap and many visitors preferred hotels in Paris over the more expensive Disney-hotels.
Disney in Paris made loss for decades. That always sounds strange if you look up their prices and the high number of visitors. The main reason for this was that the Disney Corporation didn't pay anything to build the park. Instead a separate Corporation was founded and they had to build the whole park on a loan. Paying off that loan ate up the whole profit. In addition they had to pay license fees to their mother-Company. Guess this was just a concept by Disney to earn money without investing any money. The problem was based on many false calculations. For example european visitors spent much less on souvenirs than expected. They just went to a Theme-Park to have fun, not for a shopping tour. All this pushed Eurodisney close to bankuptcy. While all the other parks in Europe were building more and more stuff, there was very little to happen at Eurodisney because of the lack of money...
On behalf of some stuff Disney seemed a bit naive too: They thought they could open a first class restaurant in France without serving wine with the meal! It wasn't too long that they had to give up their non-alcohol-policy and Eurodisney became the first Disney-Park worldwide to serve alcohol! I'm surprised to hear they started to serve alcohol in the US too.
In Europa Park you can also stay at the camp resort. There are log cabins or teepees and you can sleep there. For dinner you have the option to do a barbeque over a open fire. That is also a adventure for kids. As far a I know there is also a restaurant where you can eat dinner, but you can definitly get a good breakfast there. You don't have a separate entrence, but it is next to the main entrance. If you want to save money that would be a good alternative. We always stayed there.
To be honest I don't miss the parades. When I visited Disney World, it was nice to watch them, but their would not be a reason for me to visit a amusement park. Sometimes they also were in the way when you want to go from one end to the other. But everyone has different preferences and it is nice, that there are different options.
I've been to Europa Park twice and really enjoyed the variety of rides they have. My favorite amusement park in Germany though is called Tripsdrill near Stuttgart. It is a lot smaller than Europa Park but it has a more familiar style. They have a section with vintage amusement park which is really fun. It feels less commercial than Europa Park or Heidepark and they do a really good job at telling stories with the park and it doesn't feel like a giant commercial.
Okay good to know! More fun parks for us to explore.
Tripsdrill is the best - so many happy childnood memories for me!
Thank you guy so much for this side-by-side comparison. Europa Park brings back so many memories. I grew up about 100km away from it and as a child I've spent many days there until around 1998. Back in the days I have seen the park at a different stage and I am amazed to see how it has grown and how many country themes don't ring a bell for me. From what I remember of those days, you were able to ride about 80% of the stuff in one day and it was quiet more affordable, especially for larger families. At this time there were no hotel or maybe the first one was in the process of being built - if memory serves. The season ended by the end of the autumn school holiday in Baden-Württemberg, so around November 1st. It was quite a different experience and I am wondering if I would enjoy the park as much as back then as a kid. At least it will always be a cherished memory!
I guess most people who grew up near of either one of the parks enjoyed it. I grew up ~25km away from Europa Park, although a bit later than you. It has been enough years now of not having been there anymore because I was so often as a kid and lived further away for some time, that it now would start to be intersting to see the changes. But I kinda feel like you about the prices. Sure I could afford the day ticket, but it is not worth it for me. I had a year pass when I was 15 like many teenagers in the region, but with their system now the equivalent of the old "Jahreskarte" seems to be the gold pass at almost triple the price back then (When I was 15 in the late 00's it cost only the equivalent of 4 day tickets.). I do not think I am going anytime soon. With this prices they will probably have to add attractions for another 10 years for me to get a new year pass (If I have not moved away again by then.)
I worked for both, Disney an Europa Park as 'financial engineer', what is basically the guy who does the math how to earn most money with technical limitations. I don't want to speak to much about rollercoasters but more about the 'characters', like Mickey or the Euromaus walking in the park...
Having those characters apear in the park is basically superexpensive. You got to pay the actor and the handler (security/health guy). And from one character, you get only a few interactions, so you spend a lot of money to entertain just a few people. But the worst factor is, that those 'characters' clog traffic. In an open area, you got people standing around them, people trying to reach them and long waiting times to get your photo. This all leads to so many issues, that do worsen the experience for guests.
There are 2 reasons, Disney is keeping this characters. Most important is people expect them to be there. Kids go to Disney Parks to visit Mickey. And the second reason is, that Disney indentifies with those characters and refinances them with gigantic merchandise sales. Disney got their own universe, and they got to maintain it. But I wouldn't recommend to build on such IPs.
To sum stuff up: It is a question for the park how to spend their money. There are better ways to spend a dollar and generate revenue than focusing on characters, if you havent got the corresponding IP. Entertain people, keep your paths open. Focus on stuff you are good at and that benefit the whole park.
I enjoyed reading your experience from having worked at both parks! Thanks for sharing, it all makes a lot of sense.
being German and growing up with Europa-Park, I really enjoyed seeing everything again from your point of view. Laughed at your Alcohol comment... 😄Europa Park was meant to be a showcase for the Mack Rides products. Sure they had the American parts in mind when building it in the 70s. I like the fact that it grew naturally in the years and it is still family owned. The Hotels are off the chart, too. I highly recommend "De Efteling", Triberg and yes, Freiburg as your next adventure. Im sure you will love it and its pretty close 😉 And may I add that the prices in the US for theme parks are just crazy...😮 Glad you had a good time
I live just north of Orlando, so I'm familiar with all the Disney Parks including the Magic Kingdom, Seaworld and Universal. I have to admit, I'm not a huge fan of amusement parks, especially the endless lines for the rides. Disney has become cost prohibitive to a lot of families now and I hear they had a disappointing last quarter, so they are laying people off just in time for the holidays. It was cute, while I had a young child and seeing things through their eyes but honestly, I will leave that experience to the tourists now. Their employees are super friendly and courteous, and yes, the park is clean and the kids do love all the characters walking around the park and interacting with them. Disney during summer is BRUTAL though!
It‘s very interesting to hear that Disney‘s Magic Kingdom is more based on European folklore and architecture while in Europa Park you could find more American/Western themed places/rides. There is a theme park in the Sauerland which is dedicated solely to the Western theme called Fort Fun. And a few kilometers to the West there is a whole open air theater dedicated to plays based on the novels of Karl May who wrote some stories about the American West of the 19th century, despite never being there by himself.
About what American/Western themed places/rides are you talking? Europa Park is themed after the different European nations. There is no American themed section?
ah yes the hill horror park
What a fantastic video, well done and thanks for all the details, the work and the research.
Important is that you as a whole family had a lot of fun and had this feeling when you were talking with so much passion and happiness about your experience. Really cool and much appreciated.
Maybe in the future you like to visit a couple of more theme parks in Germany and Europe and share your opinion about as well.
Thanks again for the video and have a nice Sunday 🥂
OMG Kevin played in a Disney band! That’s so cool and even more reason to join a band in Bavaria! I‘m so happy that you enjoyed Europapark so much! It’s been so long since I went and I remember my horror ride on the roller coaster (I said never ever haha). But it‘s a great great park. My sister and her husband are regulars and go every year and always stay overnight. You guys did such an amazing job to create this video, absolutely amazing!xxo
Yes he does need to play in a band here! It’s so cool that your sister and her family go regularly. We would, too, if we lived nearby. It’s so much fun for kids!
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife I guess the sousaphone is not really often used in Germany.
I think the biggest reason why disneyworld or disney parks in general are so big are not necessarily the quality of the parks but just the brand and the nostalgia pretty much every one has with it.
Very cool video! Also fyi. I think most europeans at least the "younger" generations grew up on disney movies aswell :D
Btw beer.
I was in Europapark after opening of the Ireland section and said, just for fun, to the lady behind the counter; "There is such a nice Guinness advertisement on the building, but unfortunately I don't see any here."
Then she smiled at me, pointed to the stairs and said; "If you go up there, you will find everything an Irish heart desires."
So I went up the stairs and in the back there was a real Irish pub, above this great children's area, even with live music at that time.
If I want to have a great holiday here in germany, Europapark is at top of the list.
Next to Phantasialand, of course.
I can agree with the characters, but Disney just has more access because there is a huge film industry behind it.
(Looking forward to when the Euro Disney arendelle opens.)
I think introducing new characters in Europapark is not that important for the operators and not that easy either, for most European film characters (Maya the Bee, Heidi, Tabaluga, Wickie, Mia and Me) Plopsa (In EU Plopsaland, here in Germany Holiday Park) has the rights of use.
But I also think that for most visitors such figures are not quite as important as when you go to a Disney Park or to Universal Studios. That's more to be expected.
But the park is just working more on bringing a continuous story with the AcE (Adventure Club of Europe), starting in the Voletarium, up to the new Batavia and in the new Croatia area it should continue with Tesla.
It was fun revisiting Europapark in your video.
My personal favorite, however, is Playmobil- Park, near Nürnberg, so it is feasible as a day trip.
There are very few rides, no roller coasters, it is all hands-on. So you only have to stand in line for very few attractions. They have tournaments for knights, a castle, pirate boats, tractor races, gold mines ... and the best play grounds. Huge slides, sand boxes and a Matsch-/Wasserspielplatz. They also offer cabins and showers free of charge, where you and your children can get cleaned up afterwards. I think they charge for washing machines though.
There is so a huge indoor playground.
I am not sure if your kids are into Playmobil, but the younger ones would love it.
It is 16 euros per person per day, so it is quite reasonable.
That sounds like a lot of fun! Ella would love it.
The Family of our Story to tell tested this themepark, but with a day of rain🤭
Yes, it is also more for younger kids, Grundschulkinder, you don’t have to be into Playmobil
Oh yes I also loved the Playmobil park but I also loved Playmobil. So maybe for me the Playmobil park was Disneyland
Most funny thing about the irish part of Europapark is that while being mostly a little kids area it also serves the most alcoholic beverages in the park with the highest level of alcohol per drink. Seems like they know what parents want when their children are at the playground...
In 1998, just before we got children, we went 3 weeks to Florida. By accident we stumbled over an offer in German catalogs. There a 30 days "Florida Fun in the Sun pass". We paid 500 Deutsch Mark (approx 260 Euro) for 30 days free entry in all Disney parks (including the Waterparks) and many there attraction (excluding Universal). So we paid for a month what you pay now for a day. This is so insane.
We have been to the Europa Park many times. We love, that we get in the greece part greek food. And we love how well connected all the parts are.
Fun fact: in the old Pirates (there was a fire a few years ago) of the Batavia ride was a restaurant with Tai Food. What a fantastik idea. You saw the boats pass by.
Yes! They rebuilt the Piraten in Batavia ride and the Thai restaurant, too! You can still sit and eat and watch the roller coaster go by.
It's really worth visiting theme park 'Efteling' in The Netherlands as this park was THE inspiration for the Disney parks back in the days. And NL is worth the visit anyways, no matter which part of the country you should choose to stay. It is different from Germany, yet very enjoyable! And of course you're also able to enjoy the differences between German and Dutch food.
Oh i heard of the park, my girlfriend lives close to the Netherlands 👍🏻, that might be worth a visit
The Dutch also created the song Europapa which is the perfect song about Europe and Europa Park
Heyho.
As I was lucky enough to experience those days with you, let me just say: It was was an amazing vacation for me as well. 10/10, 5⭐, would do again at anytime without hesitation. 😊 And I'm usually not so much of an amusement park enthusiast myself, but with such amazing company it's different. 😉
It was a lot of fun (and so helpful) to have you there! 😊
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife ❤
regarding the hotels: it CAN get much closer. In Phantsialand the rollercoaster is going THROUGH one of the hotels.
Oh very cool! It’s like that in Europa Park. The Spanish hotel is in the park.
Thank you for this interesting video! Watching it and listening to all these details, I realized that amusement parks have never ever been part of my world. It was hard enough to persuade my parents to visit the annual fairground in the city. I also remember I spent a few days in Copenhagen in 1990 and I visited Tivoli, but just because I didn't know what else to do. So thank you for opening a new world for me :)
I can understand - amusement parks are noisy, crowded and can be very overstimulating. They aren't for everyone, that's for sure!
When it comes to the Parks origins, you forgot to mention that the Owners of Europa Park, the Mack Family, build amusement rides since 100+ years and also build rides for Disney in the 60s (and today also for Universal, Cedar and Six Flags ... you name it).
One intention to open Europa park was for Mack Rides to have a Showspace for their products and potential customers can come to the park and check them out on daily operation.
90% of the attractions at Europa Park are build in House.
Hi there, I am so happy you liked Europa- Park! Now I feel inspired to go back and see it again. The open-air museum is a great idea, especially on days when they show original crafts or have a fair. I used to absolutely love that as a child. Also, if you would like to try one more amusement park, have a look at Tripsdrill. It's very lovely, in my opinion. And now that Christmas-Market season is upon us, I can only recommend you make a plan and check out as many as you can . Also, try to make some German christmas cookies with your kids, they will love it. Seeing your enthusiasm just makes me happy!😄
Stay tuned - we just made Vanille Kirpfel, Linzen Plätzchen and Zimt Sterne today and a video will be coming out soon for them!
I have to say It is refreshing to See Kevin Take the lead in one of your Videos.
Das war ein netter Vergleich :-) Aber im Sommer, wenn Ferien sind, kann es im Europapark auch sehr, sehr voll werden.
Sagt Bescheid, wenn ihr das nächste Mal in der Gegend seid - hier gibt es sooo viel zu entdecken
Europa Park is not a theme Park in its origin. It is an exhibition space for rollercoasters. The themepark came after the sucess of Disney for added Money. But they are still building rollercoasters all around the world. And Europapark always has the newest ones because they try them out there.
Very cool!
This is wrong. It was a theme park from the day it opened. And the park doesn't have any of the latest models of Mack Rides like Big Dipper, Power Splash or Xtreme Spinning Coaster.
@@svenlakemeiernow they actually have the newest and most complex MACK Rides Coaster out there.
There's a joke in the German amusement park fan scene that EPCOT stands for Europa Park Copied Our Themes.
The reason to open a Disney park on the East coast was that it wasn't as easy (or cheap!) to get to California from all parts of the US, so they opened Orlando. The reason for Florida was that corporation taxes was low and no income taxes, and the reason for Orlando specifically, was that land in the middle of Florida was so much cheaper, than land along any of the coasts. (Source: Bloomberg Corporate History 157:0006584)
Maus is also what many Germans call their children.
Try Phantasialand near Cologne. Also a great park but fewer people! And it has the "Black Mamba" ;)
I love your Europapark report ! I was very exited to hear about your experiences. They are very authentic. We visit Europapark at least one or twice a year since 2004. It is an inspiring experience every time. You don't write about the various shows. Didn't you joined them ? I strongy recommed to attend at least the Knights Show in the Spanish arena (Spain), the Ice show in the Ice Stadium (Greece) and the variete show in the Teatro de l' Arte (Italy). They are epic.
The diphthong "eu" in German is always pronounced OY (like in "toy"). So "Europa" would be OY-HRO-PA. 😊
Ihr solltet auch mal das Phantasialand bei Brühl und Efteling in den Niederlanden besuchen. Wenn ihr dann schon mal in den Niederlanden seid, macht auch mal einen Abstecher zum Burger's Zoo in Arnheim.
Loved your fun and informative video! I went to Disney Florida and Epcot as a teenager in April and had a great time (weather was perfect). However, when it came to travel experiences with my kids (living in Atlantic Canada) we would rather take them to Europe than spend the same or more on the Disney experience and they had so much fun exploring all the different Spielplätze and outdoor adventure play areas. We went to Taunus Wunderland near Frankfurt which is geared toward small kids and they loved it. I have been to Europapark with my niece and nephew and liked the variety of rides and entertainment with virtually no lineups at an affordable price!
Great video, as always ❤ If you haven't bern there yet, you should definitely check out Legoland, which is in Bavaria (Günzburg), so probably not too far from your home :)
Hi Sara 🙋♂, hi McFalls 🙋♂, hi, as almost every Sunday morning 😃!
Thank you one more time for getting presented your interesting comparison. And getting informations about your own experiencies.
Even for me as an older guy, who thought, there`s no more need for such parks, your video is extending my mind.
You should try out the Ruhr area. In my opinion it's one of the most interesting regions in Germany, although it swims under the radar. A few of the sights would be the Zeche Zollverein in Essen (UNESCO World Heritage Site), the Gasometer in Oberhausen, the Tetraeder in Bottrop, the Landschafts Park in Duisburg (short LaPaDu), Tiger and Turtle in Duisburg and a few more attractions.
The Bergbau Museum in Bochum is also a must see and if you are interested in soccer dont miss out the Deutsches Fussballmuseum in Dortmund.
Europapark doesn’t have the same yearlong weather like Orlando. Hence why Magic kingdom has so many more visitors.
I can recommend Skyline Park in Bad Wörishofen & Legoland in Günzburg. They are both in Bavaria. Legoland has a stunning miniatur city build with leogs and amazing Playgrounds 🙌🏻
Love your videos, your honesty and fairness! Thank you.
Another well done video from you guys, thank you so much! 😊 Btw: I think most Europeans also grew up with Disney movies, so that's not just an American thing.
Have a nice start into the new week! ❤
Thanks so much! Okay I didn't want to assume about the Disney movies. That's good to know!
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife I was in Orlando/Disney's Magic Kingdom in 2017. Orlando is the craziest town I have ever seen, completely designed for fun and amusement. On every corner somebody is flying through the air on a rope, jumps off a tower on a bungee-rope or is firing at something in a shooting range. I loved the huge "Mega Store", you and your credit card can have funny hours there spending A LOT of money (for Star Wars or Disney products, sunglasses, T shirts or candies. I still have my bath towel with Donald Duck's family). 😊
I liked driving in Winnie the Poohs honey-pot and the musical performances with Donald and Daisy. In the evening there is a big disco with all Disney characters (one of the weirdest things I have ever done in my life was dancing with Daisy Duck). The firework at the end of the day is fantastic. When you are "back to reality" on the parking spot (after 12 hours in this parallel-world you spent between fairy tales, fantasy houses and Disney characters) you wake up and really feel like after a wild dream...
@@MyMerryMessyGermanLife I think the difference is more that we grow up on Disney movies AND the European adaptations of the same stories. Especially if you live in Germany.
As someone who has been to the US and visited both Disney World and Disney Land I can honestly say that they are better than the European version, because those feel like they were done with love while Eurodisney feels kind of soulless. Thus said, I also love the German Phantasialand, which used to have a lot of rides similiar to the Disney rides, but has developed its very own identity over time. It's btw also open in the Winter (naturally without the water rides running).
Stimmt zwar, aber als Kind habe ich die Märchen der Gebrüder Grimm als aller erstes vorgelesen bekommen, natürlich die originalen Versionen, erst später sind sie abgewandelt worden und waren nicht mehr so brutal, erst mit 7 oder 8 kam Disney dann groß auf, vor allem mit Aladin, Arielle, König der Löwen etc...
Trotzdem sind mir die wahren Märchen der Gebrüder Grimm in Erinnerung geblieben, weil sie einfach so viel düsterer und ehrlicher sind wie Disneys Filme.
Disney hat doch gerade am Anfang ziemlich viel geklaut. Zu erst einmal das Schloss, wo dann jeder Amerikaner meinte sie hätten es erfunden 😂
Unser Schloss stand schon, da gab es die USA noch lange nicht 😅
Dann Schneewittchen und die 7 Zwerge, Cinderella und Co, alles geklaut, die Gebrüder Grimm haben ihre Geschichten schon gefühlt 300 Jahre vorher geschrieben und ich denke genau deswegen kann ich Amerika nicht für voll nehmen, denn ihre gesamte Kultur ist mehr oder weniger geklaut, was nicht schlimm wäre, wenn sie es nicht so verkaufen würden als hätten sie es erfunden.
Sie machen so etwas immer und immer wieder. Ein deutscher erfindet das Radarsystem, zack klaut sich Amerika die Idee und selbst ihre größten Wissenschaftler waren entweder Diebe wie Edison mit der Glühbirne oder aber waren in Wirklichkeit Ausländer denen sie einfach die Staatsbürgerschaft schenkten und dann behaupteten sie seien Amerikaner 🤦♂️
Amerika ist für mich das Land der großen Fakes und vor allem haben sie eine Mentalität von vorne hui und hinten pfui, alleine deswegen kann ich diesem Land nix abgewinnen, was natürlich nicht heißt, dass die Bevölkerung nur aus idioten besteht, wie in jedem Land gibt es eben beide Seiten.
I can't believe that Disney didnt pay their band... actually, knowing Disney, it's hardly surprising....
What I also find absolutely important, is that you can take your own food, my parents were certainly not stingy to us children, on the contrary, but my mother would never have gone anywhere where you could not have taken your own food or where there are reasonable and clean places with tables etc, where you could have eaten your own food as a family. What costs something is also more and more important for parents with children.If you are a family with several children, it goes very quickly in areas where it can hurt or is not to be paid for poorer families. and right! Good playgrounds are absolutely essential
I am a frequent theme park visitor and went to Magic Kingdom in my twenties. Back then us Europeans used to look to the U.S. theme parks with envy. But when I actually went there I was kind of disappointed to be honest. Magic Kingdom was a great, out-of-this-world experience, no doubt, but it didn't really lived up to the hype. One could argue that young adults are not the core audience for Magic Kingdom, as it is (seems) to be focused on families with small kids. However, now that I am mother myself I find this an odd place to visit with family. As you mention there are little to none picnic sites, it takes ages just to get there and standing in line for hours in the hot Florida sun now really put me off. And if it's not that it's the prices that are not family friendly at all.
To my luck Germany and Europe have really caught up in terms of theme parks and imho are acutally much better than parks in the U.S. overall. They do a lot of things right to appeal to multiple audiences. Your experience at Europapark (that you can really enjoy it as a family and that there is really something for everyone etc.) is core to most European theme parks. Disney (also Disney Land Paris) to me feels like it's meant to be for kids, but it's designed to work like a perfect big machine and you pay more for the "act" instead, than for actual things to do.
A couple of things to note on Europapark:
- The number of visitors is smaller, I assume, due to the seasons. The park is usually closed from early January until end of March and also some weeks in between Halloween and X-Mas/Winter Magic. It's also a cultural thing, because in Germany and Europe there are so many other things to do and destinations to visit. People don't see theme parks as an actual holiday destination (this is probably slowly changing), but rather places you would visit while your're on holiday. This is also why Europeans would never spend the eqivalent of a full family holiday only for visiting a theme park.
- The park is family owned and so is Mack Rides (an internationally successful rides manufacturer). The companys' headquarter and factory are located a 30 min drive from the park. Europapark has been built intially to host movable Mack rides during off-season (of the big festivals/Feste) and also as a testing ground for their prototypes, that's why many rollercoasters in the park used to be "world novelties" when they first opened.
You have to try out Phantasialand next! The best German theme park I would say and also regularly called one oof the best in the world! They have some amazing new (linearr induction) rollercoastes! :)
And it is also especially nice in the Winter season with their Wintertraum event. Lots if Christmas lights everywhere and a lot of very good food, too. Sooo beautiful. Phantasialand also has hotels in the park.
And you could combine it with a stop in Cologne, to see the Cologne cathedral and the chocolate museum and take a walk along the Rhine etc
Well I love Phantasialand aswell, but I would wait till the littler kids are older so they can experience the whole thing 😁
Kevin's "Europapark" is almost perfect
You guys are so gracious and warm in your comparison.
Thank you for yet another great video. 🌻
The mice in Europa Park remind of the Chuck E. Cheese’s mouse. 🐁
Kevins prowess in swedish is a big plus in pronouncing words the german/europe way.
Europa would correctly sound something like "Oi-ro(w)-pah" for english speakers. 😎
I really enjoyed this video. Kevin‘s analysis of the parks was spot on. I can tell he’s an academic! At first I was worried your overall impression of Europa park would be poor- but it’s good to hear you had a great time. I grew up in Southern California and often went to Disneyland. I was also pleasantly surprised by Europa park! And I’d much prefer to go there over Disney. Also, culturally Disney has cultivated this cult like behavior in the USA where people spend all their savings on Disney and Disney events ( Disney adults) which I really don’t see happening with Europa park.
Kevin you could write a paper „cultural comparison of theme parks, a qualitative analysis „
The engineering mind's compare/contrast analysis.
So with fastpass it’s a bit off of how you described it.
With fastpass you could book 3 rides at a time with up to 90 days in advance. Now it’s with the genie plus app, which costs roughly 15-20$ per person per day. But there are very few rides not included in that payed system. These are the big e ticket attractions. With that you have to book a lightning lane. But these could be booked either with or without the genie app. With that said: it’s common to charge to skip the lines, but what Disney did with Genie is that they made it affordable. Universal f.e. Charges around 200$ per person per day. So that less people will use it and it would be a real benefit to buy it. With genie it’s different. People feel the need of purchasing the feature that they could have a guaranteed good time, because everyone does it. So it’s completely a cash grab. But things are probably changing again because Chapek is gone. Soooo. That’s that 😂
That topic alone could be its own separate video
Yeah I had read that now that Disney has a new CEO that Disney fans are demanding they remove the Genie system!
You have to travel to the Netherlands, visit Amsterdam, Alkmaar, Rotterdam, Den Haag, Volendam, Kinderdijk and of course "De Efteling"!
Hello dear expanding Family:
You don't need to apologize every video for your pronunciation or experience. It's your opinion, and People can go find out themselfe what they like best.
Thank You for this very informative video, and Europa Parc looks very atractive comparing to the American Parcs.
Have a lovely Sunday 😊
Let Kevin on the slide ! You go slide Kevin however much you want XD Im 40 and still love a good playground time XD and thx for this great video, great honest information on the parks.
If you are interested in amusement parks, then you should try Legoland Deutschland in Günzburg or Altweibermühle in Tripsdrill. Both are awesome and unique in their own way.
44:55 Hahaha.... always some great little jokes from Kevin! ;)))
We are the McFalls with one mom, 5 kids, 2 hamsters and a cat 🙂
🤣🤣🤣 I think you got it! LOLOLOLOL
Just wait until you see the Europa Park vlog video we will have - Kevin is totally acting like a kid!
Heidepark in Soltau is also a good one - it's in Lower Saxony though so it is more suitable to go there if you're on vacation in Northern Germany.
Hansa Park in Schleswig-Holstein is also nice.
And when you're already in the North there's Legoland in Billund which is in central Denmark.
Regarding visitors...well Florida has pretty much the same weather all year long - Germany does not and going in the middle of winter is not really all that much fun (not to mention that many parks are actually closed during winter).
Most people don't realize how far to the south the USA (except Alaska) are. New York city is on the same latitude as Rome in Italy. If Florida would be magically moved eastward you'd end up in the Central Sahara for the northern parts of Florida and southern Sahara for southern Florida.
Thanks for the thoughtful and intelligent review: best I have ever seen
Personally, I love your longer videos in which you explain exactly the details.You also do a lot of work in the extensive research.Even if these videos are meant to be informative, you also put all your love into this work, and the viewer can feel that right.Although I never actually go to amusement parks, this video was also very exciting for me to watch.Great job and thanks for that;best regards Kelsea
Thanks so much, Kelsea! ❤
Try Efteling next! It is a great comparison to Disney, because of the fairytale theme. Efteling is much more true to the original stories and is therefore a bit darker. Much better than Disney in my opinion, but try it out, it is a great park and well worth the trip. (Stay in the resort, entry to the park is included and take at least 2 days for your visit)
Btw, 2 days in Efteling will cost you about €350 for your family (in a 6 person family room in Loonsche Land), that includes 2 days entry, breakfast on second day and parking. Can’t recommend enough
Yeah we definitely want to try out Efteling! And the kids have never visited the Netherlands so that would be fun for them. They really like going to a new country and hearing a new language.
Other smaller park options worth visiting for a day trip are Legoland Günzburg, Playmobil FunPark and Ravensburger Spieleland. Each of them connected toy brands.
Well, Disney may have started a few years earlier with its parks. But the Mack family has been in the business longer, since 1921 to be exact, when the predecessor company of Mack Rides built its first wooden roller coaster.
It's also not surprising that Disney has fewer roller coasters in the Magic Kingdom than Euopa-Park. After all, it started out as an exhibition site for Mack GmbH & Co (now Mack Rides). Disney has to buy the roller coasters, the Mack family builds them themselves.
As of February 2022, Mack Rides has built 156 roller coasters around the world.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mack_Rides
Yeah I was reading that the Mack family started making coaches for the wealthy in the 1800’s and also made circus wagons. And with their knowledge of wheels, they then began to make roller coasters. So cool!
A colleague just went to Europapark, and we live in Paris! He liked it very much. I'll have to go there some time with my nieces.
re the hotels .., you CAN get even closer to the park in a hotel when you visit Phantasialand and stay in the Lindbergh Hotel... which is basically a part of the park and the roller-coaster flies by your face when you leave the room....,
Very cool!
Ich liebe, liebe, liebe den Europapark wahnsinnig. Er ist so voller Details und die unterschiedlichen Bereiche ... das einzige womit ich auch gar nichts anfangen kann, sind die Maskottchen. Ich war auch schon 14 als ich das erste Mal in den Park bin, also bin ich vermutlich auch nicht die Zielgruppe, aber sie wirken so willkürlich, so charakterlos. Natürlich hat Disney den riesen Vorteil mit den Filmcharakteren zu denen man auch völlig ohne den Park eine Verbindung hat, aber es ist so schade, dass die Europaparkmaskottchen so ungenutzt bleiben. Wobei ich das Gefühl habe, dass bei neueren Maskottchen (z. B. bei Snorrie für Rulantica) schon mehr versucht wird eine Verbindung herzustellen. Es gab ja schon vor der Eröffnung von Rulantica ein Musical mit ihm und wo auch Piraten eine Rolle spielten, die wiederum bei den Piraten von Batavia wieder vorkommen, die auch bei der Eislaufshow dabei sind. Da wird heute ein deutlich größerer Bogen gespannt. Trotzdem glaube ich, dass da noch viel Potential steckt.
Was mir bei meinem letzten Europaparkbesuch besonders positiv aufgefallen ist, sind die vielen Toiletten. In jedem Land sind ca. 2 Toilettenräume, die aber selbst innerhalb des Landes unterschiedlich gestaltet sind. Da ich meine Tage hatte und deswegen viel auf Klos war, war das besonders auffällig. Und es es wurde auch über den Tag hinweg sehr häufig geputzt. Natürlich hatte man auch mal Pech, aber alles in allem wirklich toll!
Gibt es in Disneyland eigentlich vergleichbare Shows wie im Europapark? Dort gibt es ja eine Eislaufshow, Zaubershows, Pferdeshows und und und ...
Hellooo,
You definitly have to visit: Legoland in Günzburg. And if you're in the area of Stuttgart (the Captial of your neighbour federal state 'Baden-Württemberg') you should visit Trippsdrill (One day for the amusment park, and one day for the little zoo next by. The zoo entry fee is included in the amusment park entry fee. ) What also should be good, and is on my list: Heide Park in Soltau. :D
By the way: The Company Mack Rides, which builds rollercoasters, is a lot older than the Europa Park itself. Mack Rides was founded in 1780. Why do i say that: Europa Park was founded by Franz Mack, and is also used to have a life demo showing, what Mack Rides can do. At least... thats what i recall when they had a exhibition about the history of the Park... in the Park.
I still remember my first time at Europapark in the opening year.. I was 3 years old. ❤ (it was basically the „Märchenwald“ and a Playground back then)
You need visit EP in the Sommer Holiday Time, when Germany , France, Switzerland, the Benelux States have Sommerferien :) you have waiting times for some rides up to 150 min
😳 Yikes!
Europa park is not just a theme park. It is the showroom of the roller coaster builder Mack Rides.
Hello Sarah and Kevin, when you visit Freiburg, the Black Forest Family lives there. Maybe the two families could meet?
Die kennen einander! Du kannst sicher sein, dass sie sich treffen!😁
I grew up in Freiburg so I visited Europapark many many times with my friends. Did you get to see some of the shows while you were there? they have so many different ones and they are a lot of fun and a good way to relax your legs and feet after all that walking and waiting and still enjoy some of the highlights of the park.
Piraten von Batavia used to be my favourite ride but then it burned down a few years ago and while the new version is not really bad it does look a little bit too polished for me and I can't help but miss the old version xDDD
I went to Disney in Florida towards my late 20s. For all the hype that was made, I was mildly disappointed. Some rides were closed and others had such long lines. Most rides are definitely geared towards kids. I think adults with no kids go dor nostalgic reasons. Food prices were crazy and food wasn't anything special. Years later I went to universal in California. Rides were way more thrilling but lines were just as long. Food prices were the same as Disney.
As a Swiss it was one of our standard family trips destinations. I love the different foods. It’s like a vacation across Europe and people who don’t like rollercoaster can still enjoy all the shows and slow ride. And I have to add, I learned today that Von-Roll built ski gondeli 🚠 I had university classes in the old Von-roll fabric (and the old Toblerone fabric too)
Thank for the Video 👍🏻😃. My favorit Amusement Park is Disneyland/Anaheim ❤️😍. The Magic Kindom/ Orlando looks very old. Europa Park is s very nice Park but i miss the magic there like at disney.
I like it when you talk about the weather. I'm an ice hockey fan, and I like it when it get's cold - minus 20°C it's just fun. _ There is no wrong weather there is only wrong clothing. ; ) (We had the first snow this year a few days before - and I LOVE it - winter wonder land _ just magical. I can almost feel Christmas is coming. ♥)
While watching your video, I just thought that you would probably have a very different and unique experience at the Kettlerhof near Haltern am See. It is such a different amusement park for the whole family, where there are mostly only attractions where you can climbe up and down and be active. Almost no rides where you just sit in and enjoy. That would probably be something special to visit, too.
That sounds very cool!
I think you will really love the Efteling @Kaatsheuvel Netherlands. Also the hotel is very nice .
What a great video. I grew up close to Europa Park, went there several times a year and I also lived and worked at Disney World and your resume is spot on. While I do love Disney World, the prices are just ridiculous these days. I was at Disneyland in LA just 8 weeks ago and the "Fastpass", now called Disney Genie+ adds another $20 per person per day to the cost. The food was horrible, the burgers tasted like Microwaved. The only good food still is the Turkey leg, I love that one. The parade and the fireworks is what you pay for in my opinion. Those 2 are, hands down, best in the world, whereas everything else is actually better in Europa Park.
A great review of Disney. I just read an article that Disney now has a new CEO and many people are asking that he get rid of the new Genie program and lower all of the prices. They are literally pricing out the entire middle class at this point, which is sad.
I visited Disneyland on a trip to the US many years ago when I was around 12 and I remember how utterly disappointed I was - after hearing left and right how "magical" it was supposed to be and then it all being endless cues, weird dressed up people (again after endless cues), everything felt packed and full and much too loud, no where to retreat to - I really didn't like the experience. I had so much more fun at parks like at Tripsdrill - so much more laid back, ralexed and fun. I guess I'm just too german for Disney...
I think we are too German for Disney, too! Haha yeah all of the lines and noise is just not fun. And HEAT.
Influencers these days hype it up a lot too - no wonder, they probably get in for free or even get money for it.
The holiday park chain seems pretty good as well, the hansa park is not bad as well 😊, but i think the Europa Park is pretty good, i live actually not far away, but I don't go that often sadly.
i have the feeling that disney caters more to the "adult-children" these days where Europa-Park has families in mind.
I‘ve growen Up near by Europa Park and we have often visit the Park 3-4 times per year. Still Love all the details. You should visit Freiburg - such a lovley City!
I visited Disney at Christmas time. The weather was perfect! Love seeing the comparisons! Great video!
That makes the choice is Orlando make some sense...
The first Hotel in the Europapark was El Andaluz in the Spanish part.
The open air museum Vogtsbauernhöfe is a museum with many typical black forrest farmhouses. They were from diferent parts and were rebuild there.
When I was a kid in the 80s we chose a cloudy, rainy-looking day for Europapark and usually it would turn putto be a fairly sunny day with no queues at the attractions. Youcould just walk through for the next ride.
Btw it was a lot smaller then…
We were told that it's still that way now. The second day in the park it was cold and rainy and there were much fewer people.
I remember visiting Orlando in the early 90ties. Magic Kingdom, Epcot and MGM Studios. Very hot...we waited almost 2 hours for the *KingKongRide*.
Very expensive....very cool!
Like visiting Las Vegas!
Its a fantasy world...and in our last day we visited the Aquarium....and we.... saw Shamu, the great orca whale. In this big stadium he looked like a small goldfish in a whiskey tumbler. So sad...!!!
All is said!
Carry on the good work with your vlogs! 😎
Phantasialand near Köln is nice as well.
You should visit Efteling in Kaatsheuvel, Netherlands. It predates Disney, by a year or two, and they do have a nifty way to make the park clean. Basically by nice trashcans that actually thanking you for throwing things in the cans.
I love watching ur videos! I was like yep he looooooves magic kingom ❤
Never visited either one so far, but that's why your video is so interesting for me! (I hope I can return to Gardaland in Italy next month and possibly Disney Land near Paris next one)