It's no secret that I love
Disneyland (and all things
Disney really). Being away from Disneyland this past year has definitely been a bummer. It's the first year I haven't had an annual pass since I was 12 years old. Crazy right? Definitely having Disneyland withdrawals (like quoting the Indiana Jones ride for fun). Being the loyal Disneyland guest that I am; I am very critical of other theme parks. I love other parks, I mean come on,
Six Flags roller coasters? The bomb. But it's still no Disneyland. Same goes for other places. I just have utterly high standards when in comes to my overall theme park experience thanks to Disney. So when I first heard of
Europa-Park, I knew it didn't stand a chance, no matter how awesome it was.
About a week ago some friends of mine (other au pairs) decided to plan a day trip to Europa-Park and asked if I wanted to join in. I had heard about Europa-Park quite a few times over the months, so I decided it would be worth a visit. I told Nacha and Ivanka about it, and they (and others) wanted to join in on the fun as well. Things were discussed, and plans were planned, and soon we had decided that July 1st would be our adventure day. Like I always say: "There's nothing like a theme park to start the month off right." Yeah. You're right. I don't really say that.
Sunday rolled around and we embarked on our adventure in the early morning hour of 7 a.m., which of course caused much eye rubbing and demands for coffee. Once properly fueled on coffee and baked goods, Nacha, Bernie, Albert, Ivanka, and I hopped on a train headed towards Rust, Germany (which is quite near the French/German border). We were to meet up with my au pair friends (who had left earlier than us) at the theme park.
As we jumped off the train and joined a queue to get on a bus that would take us to the park, the weather decided to show off by raining. But not a sudden down pour or thunderstorm, and not even a nice light mist. No. It was a steady "light rain" all day. ALL DAY. Needless to say we were drenched the whole time (water rides didn't help haha). It finally let up less than an hour before we left. Ridiculous, but typical. This German "Summer" weather is all lies. This is not Summer. Wearing pants and closed toed shoes is not Summer. I- Urgh. Okay. Deep breaths. No need to rant about how much I miss California Summer weather. Sorry. Now, back to my story.
After a very, very squished bus ride, we arrived. Europa-Park stood before us in all it's glory. And man, is it big. It's largest theme park in Europe actually. I still eyed it skeptically though. Because as we all know, size doesn't always dictate how awesome something is.
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| The entrance gate. |
We waltzed through the gates, grabbed some maps, put our stuff in lockers (best idea ever), and started to figure out a game plan for the day. Albert was the one that suggest we try to put off the best rides till later, and do all the less exciting rides first. That way we end the day off on a high note.
So we set off into the park. Like Disneyland, Europa-Park is divided into themed lands. Europa-Park's are, quite appropriately, different European countries (such as Germany, Spain, Iceland... you get the idea). Then there are three other sections that house the rides and attractions that didn't quite fit into the other countries themes. Those lands are: Children's World, Enchanted Forest, and Adventure Land. While the country themed lands tended to remind me more of a strange mix between
Knott's Berry Farm and Disneyland, the odd ball lands reminded me solely of Disney. Which was a cause of much giggling for me because I kept thinking what a big copy cat Europa-Park is. But then again, many theme/amusement parks copy each other, so I'm being slightly biased. Probably more than slightly. Tragically sorry about that.
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| Here's a map of the park. |
The first stop on our "world tour" was Germany, where we met Euromaus. Euromaus (Euro Mouse), the park's mascot, is a grey mouse. Can't help but think of another famous mouse mascot.... Mickey Mouse, anyone? Nacha and I couldn't get over the fact that they deliberately chose a mouse as a mascot, even when they knew that Mickey Mouse was a mascot for another, very famous, theme park. What were they thinking? Who knows. Well, all criticism aside, Euromaus is a friendly guy and we got a picture with him and his dolphin friend.
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| Me, Nacha, and Ivanka with Euromaus and his dolphin friend. |
Next we headed into Italy. Here we road Ghost Castle... an ever so "frightening" ride through a haunted house. Again, sound familiar? (Haunted Mansion). Then we frolicked over to France and rode on the Dinosaur Ride. It was another dark ride, which Ivanka and I enjoyed thoroughly. Especially the sign at the end that says "Please, get off", ever so politely. All around the park the translated English was quite the giggle. I even caught a few spelling errors here and there. But you have to hand it to them for having the signs in German, English, and French. That's awesome.
After visiting the dinosaurs, we made our way to Switzerland to ride the Matterhorn Blitz. I really wanted to ride this one, because I miss the Matterhorn Bobsleds at Disneyland quite badly, but sadly my dreams were crushed. The ride broke down due to technical problems while we were in line. Sad, sad day.
We left the Matterhorn Blitz and walked through Greece to get to Russia (surprisingly not as long of a walk as you'd think). Russia is where I first caught a glimpse of the park's monorail. Another typical Disneyland ride. And though the Europa-Park monorail was similar, it definitely had a European train flair. I especially liked how the different trains had different routes written on the side. Of course they all went to the same places around the park, but you could pretend you were going from Zurich to Frankfurt (or other locations in Europe) if you ever so desired. After ogling at the monorail, we rode the Euro-Mir, which is a roller coaster that simulates astronaut space training. I've never been on anything like it, definitely really cool. You are basically in a pod with four people sitting back to back, and throughout the ride the whole pod spins and it goes down the tracks. And along with the traditional roller coaster picture taking Europa-Park has added a twist: video taping. In certain seats there are cameras that tape all your screams and looks of pure terror. I found this to be quite entertaining. Though, just like the photos, I would never actually buy it.
Finally we were able to meet up with my au pair friends in Iceland. "Hallos" and names were exchanged. From there we went to Portugal and rode our first wet ride: Atlantica Super Splash. We amazingly spared getting drenched. Which didn't really matter at this point considering how wet we were from the rain.
Then we went back to Iceland and went on a super amazing roller coaster called Blue Fire. Well, not all of us. Bernie and Ivanka aren't big fans of the dizzying effects of roller coasters, so they avoided them the whole day. So anytime the rest of the group went on one, they went off on an adventure and did something else. But back to Blue Fire... ah man. It's just your typical roller coaster, sitting with shoulder restraints, but geez is it fast. And there are the wonderful moments were your adrenaline goes haywire from all the twists and flips. Roller coasters are just too much fun.
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| Blue Fire from a distance. |
Sadly after Blue Fire we lost my au pair friends and didn't end up reconnecting with them the rest of the day. But the five of us had fun anyways.
The next ride we decided to hop on was Wodan: Timburcoaster. The theme of this ride is about Norse legends. Which is legit. But they failed when it came to setting the mood in line just because of a few details in decor, like the really, really fake looking wood (which Albert and I rolled our eyes at). The coaster itself totally threw me off. Not literally, haha. It's a wooden coaster, and with most wooden roller coasters one gets used to the idea that all wooden coasters are a bumpy, "hold onto your head" adventure. This one was actually really smooth, a total shocker.
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| Letting out my inner viking. (Albert being a prankster in the background). |
Famished, we dug into our stash of sandwiches. Being the ever savvy people we are, we decided to bring food with us. Nacha, the magically amazing cook, made some legit sandwiches, which were devoured over the course of the day. We also had some snacky food, yummy, though not as awesome as the sandwiches.
While Albert and I ate our sandwiches, the other three decided to go on a quick ride nearby. While Nacha, Bernie, and Ivanka road Whale Adventures Splash Tours, Albert and I tried to find some shelter from the rain. We found a nice awning to sit underneath super close to the ride the others were on. One minute we were eating our sandwiches, and the next minute we were getting soaked from behind. Turns out the Whale Adventure ride is interactive... you can spray water at passersby from a tugboat and they can spray water at you from the docks. We jumped out of the way, grumbling about the bratty teenagers that had succeeded in getting us more wet, and then proceeded to sit in the same spot. Yeah, we are that stupid. The next boat came and what do ya know, it was our friends, and they were feeling pretty mischievous. The trio declared war on the two of us in a series of water canon blasts, and we both ran for it. I, to get a better view for pictures, and Albert to claim watery revenge. After much spraying and yelling, Albert came out the clear winner of the water fight; and the Bernie, Nacha, and Ivanka were whisked away in their tugboat to the end of the ride in shame.
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| Nacha and Ivanka getting thoroughly defeated in the water battle. |
Next stop on our world tour: Scandinavia. Here we rode the Vindjammer, a big swinging viking boat, which was hilariously entertaining due to collaborative efforts of all the riders to make sound effects. Then we decided to try our luck on another water ride, the Fjord-Rafting. Which is like a less tame version of
California Adventure's Grizzly Bear Rapids. At one point, to all the girls horror, we bumped into another raft and none of us could quite figure out if that was supposed the happen or not. When all was said and done, I was the only one that escaped getting drenched. Nacha, the wettest of us all, demanded that we go back to Portugal to a warming station (a people sized Barbie box with walls lined with heat vents blowing out hot air) we had seen earlier.
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| Ivanka making friends with a shark in Scandinavia... |
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| Albert and I on the Vindjammer. |
For our next destination I made a request. I wanted to go on the Vienna Wave Swinger (aka swings) in Austria. So went made our way to Austria by going through Spain. While in Spain, we took a little detour and rode the very county fair like Feria Swing (which isn't really a swing at all). Once we got to Austria I was very excited. I love your typical run of the mill playground swings, so the ones at theme parks are always extra thrilling to me (swings on steroids). California Adventure has swings that were recently updated from being inside a giant orange to being
Silly Symphony themed. So when I rounded the bend from Spain to Austria, I wasn't sure what to expect with the Europa-Park swings. Much to my giggles, I saw that they swings were mushroom themed. Yes, that's a theme. The main base was this huuuge mushroom and from the under part of the mushroom hung the colorful plastic and metal swings. Albert and I got in line, which really wasn't a line, since we were the only ones in it. Ivanka, Nacha, and Bernie decided to go on a nearby water ride and not join in on the fun. We got to go on the swings twice in a row because there were only a handful of people on the ride. So lovely. I love feeling like I'm flying.
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| Albert looking so stylish in his rain poncho. |
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| Footloose and fancy free. |
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| The swings! |
After the mushroom swings, we all met up again and traveled through the Enchanted Forest. Which was quite magical. We even saw the witch's house from Hansel and Gretel. Fancy stuff. Once we made it through the forest, we found ourselves in England. There we played soccer in bumper cars shaped like cleats. Truly something everyone should do at least once in their lifetime.
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| Ivanka in her cleat shaped bumper car. |
Once we were done perfecting our soccer skills, we headed back to France. This visit, we rode the Silver Star, a very hilly roller coaster. No flips or twists, but still very thrilling. Once off the ride, we filled up on some hotdogs and sandwiches, and were ready to hit the pavement again.
We failed in our attempts to ride the Volo da Vinci (Da Vinci flying machines) in Italy because of an extremely long line. But while in line we got to witness the most ridiculous on stage performance by Euromaus and his girlfriend. They were singing about the rain twirling their umbrellas while wearing a seriously lacking costume: raincoats, rainboots, jeans, and mouse heads. They looked so cheap! I couldn't believe it. You could totally tell it was two girls. I felt offended for the children, where was the magic?! Ahhhh. Disney would never do that.
Our time at Europa-Park was nearing it's end. Six o'clock was coming quickly, and we knew we had to be choosey about our last one or two rides. I made another request... I begged everyone to go on one of the most boring rides in the park: the Dschungel-Fahrt (Jungle Ride). Why? Well, I am a nerd of epic proportions of course! My favorite ride in Disneyland is the Jungle Cruise (cheesy jokes and all) and I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to go on a similar ride. So I dragged everyone back across the park to go to Adventure Land. Well, the ride did not disappoint. Of course, it's no Jungle Cruise, but it was close enough. Since there were no guides to give cheesy jokes, I had to resist the urge to not give the tour myself. I know all those jokes by heart, it wouldn't be too difficult haha. Probably the best part of the ride was the fact that it would be oh so easy to just jump off the raft. Safety at it's finest.
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| Me in front of my look-a-like Jungle Cruise. Life is good. |
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| Bernie being a silly goose. |
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| Floating through an African village. |
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| Silly nonsense. |
We decided that we had enough time for one more ride, so we rushed back over to Iceland to ride Blue Fire again. It once again was awesome. But, when we got off the ride we started to panic. We had about fifteen minutes to get across the park, get our stuff out of the lockers, and jump on the bus that would take us back to the train station. If we missed that bus we would have to wait another hour for the next one. So we had to book it across the park as fast as we could, tensions running high. The five of us hopped on that bus with a minute to spare. Now that's what I call perfect timing.
In the warmth of the train home we finally started to dry. Which was quite nice after a day of looking and feeling like we had taken a swim in a lake. Once we got home I was extremely glad to take a hot shower and jump into some warm pajamas.
All in all, I had a lovely day. Rain and a theme park always makes for an adventure. Add on top of that that I was with a great group of friends in a foreign country and you have a winning combination. Europa-Park will definitely be seeing more of me, there's still so many rides to ride! But, in all seriousness.... Disneyland still holds my heart. And that's not going to change anytime soon.
