Recommendations for a Europe Trip

[diesal11]

Hey Guys,

I'm heading over to Europe in a month with friends and i've decided to stay on for a week or so by myself to check out some parks!
I've never really keep up to date with the theme park industry outside of AUS. I thought this would be a good place to ask what I should check out.

We're already doing Disneyland in Paris for a few days. All I really know outside of that is Movie Park and Europa Park in Germany. I've heard of a couple in Switzerland and the UK. But i'd rather recommendations if anyones done a similar trip 
Im way more a Thrillseeker than a general park lover. So i'd be more interested in parks with bigger and more interesting rides/rollercoasters. 

Please merge or move this thread if i've posted in the wrong place.  I wasn't quite sure where to put it.

Thanks!
 

[Guest 239]

Germany has a couple amazing parks. Whilst I haven't been too many in Europe, I know that Alton Towers and Thorpe Park are the standouts in the UK. In Germany you have Phantasialand which is spectacular and nearby is Efteling which has received numerous awards for being one of the best theme parks in the world. Also your already mentioned Europa and Movie park are very good from what I've seen.

I always like to check out http://www.thethemeparkguy.com/ for a good idea of some of the most noteworthy parks in the world. He seems to share my taste in parks, so I always check him out before adventuring.

[diesal11]

Thanks for all that @CaptainLazerGuns, although upon further inspection it seems Germany & UK shut their parks for Winter. So looks like just about everything's gonna be closed. That sucks.

At least Efteling is open.

Edited October 20, 2017 by diesal11

[Guest 239]

2 minutes ago, diesal11 said:

Thanks for all that @CaptainLazerGuns, although upon further inspection it seems Germany & UK shut their parks for Winter. So looks like just about everything's gonna be closed. That sucks.

At least Efteling is open.

A week at Efteling it is!

Man, I'm not used to seasonal parks. Did not take that into consideration!

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

@Gazza @Gazza@Gazza @Gazza@Gazza @Gazza@Gazza @Gazza@Gazza @Gazza

[diesal11]

Yeah, it really makes you stop and think how lucky we are down here.

On the plus side, now i have an excuse to come back via the Goldy and give Rivals a go 

[Theme Park]

Forget germany and the UK because spain is where it is at with theme patks what with Warner Bros Movie Worlds sister park Parque Warner in Madrid and Port Aventura (Interstingly it was formely a Universal Park) and Ferrari Land near Barcelona and Terra Mitica (Which was also interestingly formely a Paramount Park) near Valencia.

Edited October 20, 2017 by Theme Park

[diesal11]

5 minutes ago, Theme Park said:

Forget germany and the UK because spain is where it is at what with Warner Bros Movie Worlds sister park Parque Warner in Madrid and Port Aventura (Formely a Universal Park) and Ferrari Land near Barcelona and Terra Mitica (Formely a Paramount Park)

I totally forgot about Parque Warner! That's why i had Movie Park Germany on the list too.

Unfortunately though, all closed during the week in November

At least I'm building a good list for my next trip!

Edited October 20, 2017 by diesal11

[XxMrYoshixX]

Alton Towers is a must visit, I went there with an old friend from school last year - as a note, unless you are desperate, don't do Smiler, the queues are very long for that. Nemesis, Rita and Oblivion on the other hand have substantially shorter lines than Smiler, and Galactica has slightly longer lines but not as long as Smiler. Note I went to Alton Towers in the peak of summer on a weekend so it may be different for your visit.

Another park I can recommend is Blackpool Pleasure Beach. They have a few good coasters, but nothing really outstanding. They have some one of a kind coasters though that are rare credits.

Thorpe Park on the other hand has some good coasters. I like Swarm, Nemesis Inferno, Stealth and Colossus, but can't say the same thing for Saw.

Also, if you can - do Sweden. Particularly Kolmarden, Grona Lund and Liseberg. Liseberg has two standout coasters (Balder and Helix), Grona Lund has two great little coasters (Twister and Jetline), and Kolmarden has an insane RMC woodie (Wildfire).

All the UK parks close for the season by the end of November, so if I were you, I'd hurry the visits up.

 

 

Edited October 20, 2017 by XxMrYoshixX

[Santa07]

15 hours ago, Theme Park said:

Forget germany and the UK because spain is where it is at with theme patks what with Warner Bros Movie Worlds sister park Parque Warner in Madrid and Port Aventura (Interstingly it was formely a Universal Park) and Ferrari Land near Barcelona and Terra Mitica (Which was also interestingly formely a Paramount Park) near Valencia.

I disagree. UK and Germany both have multiple fantastic parks. While Port Aventura is one of the best parks in Europe, I've only heard "ok" reviews from Spain's other big 3. Meanwhile in Germany you've got parks like Europa Park, Phantasialand, Hansa Park, Heide Park, even Holiday Park for EGF alone. Similarly UK has Alton Towers, BPB, and Thorpe Park. Italy has two or three decent parks as well from what I've heard. If you're doing the Netherlands don't forget Walibi Holland and Toverland (which apparently is very underrated) if you can in addition to Efteling.

I'm also heading over to Europe in a month, and while I'm not doing many theme parks (just DLP and Phantasialand), a lot of the parks do have Christmas events where they're open in winter. Just remember that at a lot of parks the major rides will still be closed in winter (which is why I'm heading to Phantasialand - where they aren't). I always find this website super useful: http://www.coast2coaster.eu/

[pushbutton]

In addition to all the Gold Coast parks I've been to Disneyland California, and several parks in Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

In my honest opinion the very best theme park I've ever seen anywhere in the world is Alton Towers. It's more than just a theme park too, so if you were able to stay there a few days (either in one of the 2 impressively themed hotels, or one of the new themed chalets) you could also spend time exploring the waterpark, adventure golf course, and the incredible Alton Towers gardens (not only spectacularly beautiful, but also themed and incredibly good fun too)!

[Gazza]

On 20/10/2017 at 3:15 PM, AlexB said:

@Gazza @Gazza@Gazza @Gazza@Gazza @Gazza@Gazza @Gazza@Gazza @Gazza

@Coaster Hipster @Coaster Hipster @Coaster Hipster

[Coaster Hipster]

It's awesome to have some Aussie coasterfans coming to Europe! I hope you'll love it.

When exactly do you plan to visit amusement parks? Most parks are open the first week of November (Monday 31th Oct to Sunday 5th), and some do open the final week of November as well.

Sweden has the best quality/quantity ratio in Europe imo, for reasons discussed above (also Lisebergbanan is considered one of the best Schwarzkopf by some!) However, while Liseberg will be open for some days in November, its high profile rides will be closed. Helix, Balder & co only open during Spring, Summer and Halloween. During the Winter and late Fall, Liseberg is more of a public garden, since it is located close to the city centre - I believe it's right next to the city college!

Toverland has the same issue from my understanding. After November 4th, only the indoor section is open... you would then miss on Troy (fab GCI woodie from what I heard) and more

Which transporation will you use btw? Some parks like Holiday Park, home of Expedition GeForce, are quite challenging to reach by public transportation - and it is closed during all but one day in November anyways. Phantasialand however, has a 40 min shuttle from Koln.


Here's a list of parks in mainland Europe, open in November I suggest visiting:


- PortAventura, Spain  Shambhala is worth the visit alone, considered by some to be the best B&M and the best coaster in Europe, so much floater air! Great looking park as well. Open during the whole month

- Phantasialand, Germany  Really unique park and one of my favourites. They have to work with a tight footprint and are really, really creative with it! Taron is an intense, very snappy Intamin LSM launch coaster. They have a €15 fastpass which you can use 4 times on most major rides except for Taron. Also, if you are a hotel guest, you can have excusive rides on Taron after park closure for one hour! It is really a treat to experience this coaster at night  Open November 1->5th and 24->30

- Europa-Park, Germany  No need to introduce this one. Lots to do, but the operations are super efficient so you should be able to do most thrill coasters (and perhaps every coaster) in a day. Might ask for the optimal order to ride the coasters and reduce waiting to some of my more knowledgable friends if you want. Open November 1->5 and 24->30

 
I'll post more if I think of more. Issue is, as other said, is that most parks are closed by November 5th  About Disneyland Paris, both parks are doable in one day, especially if the park closes late. You might want to start with the Studios, which is quite underwhelming imo, and then enjoy the rest of the day at Disneyland Park itself.


Enjoy your visit to Europe!
Bon voyage !

[Gazza]

On 10/20/2017 at 10:18 PM, XxMrYoshixX said:

Alton Towers is a must visit, I went there with an old friend from school last year - as a note, unless you are desperate, don't do Smiler, the queues are very long for that. Nemesis, Rita and Oblivion on the other hand have substantially shorter lines than Smiler, and Galactica has slightly longer lines but not as long as Smiler. Note I went to Alton Towers in the peak of summer on a weekend so it may be different for your visit.

I don't get this advice. If you have spent 24 hour on a plane to Europe, you should aim to ride every flagship attraction at every park you visit, even if this means spending money on a queue jumping pass.

Visiting in November limits your options as Coaster Hipster says, though I saw that Parque Warner is open on weekends in November too,  and some weekdays.

 

Parque De Attractiones, also in Madrid, has similar operating days.

Portaventura for good measure

/www.portaventuraworld.com/en/dates-times

[Coaster Hipster]

Never actually been there, but a little disclaimer about Parque Warner in Madrid: while the park is open on weekend in November, their Vekoma GIB (Stunt Fall) is generally shut down during Fall/Winter because of the colder weather from my understanding. Not that you're guaranteed a ride in Summer anyway since that thing is notoriously unreliable, but if you're really aiming for maximum creds that piece of info might be valuable to have in mind.

For Parque de Atraciones de Madrid, the Intamin Invert, Tornado, only runs with enough people aboard the train. Which means you might miss the cred if the park is too empty (irony). From what I've heard the coaster isn't nothing outstanding though!


PortAventura is the safe bet however. Everything should be open and running fine, although you might get both Intamin launch coasters breaking down from time to time. The park is very, very busy in the Summer, but you should be fine visiting in November!