Spring also enters Europe's theme parks - from Gröna Lund in Sweden to Ferrari Land in Spain. Gradually, even those who have taken a winter break open their doors for the summer season. There are more than a thousand theme parks on the continent, and they are becoming increasingly popular. Last year, 39.5 million Germans over 14 visited one of the parks.
In part, the entrance is very expensive. As an evaluation of 25 parks on the website Travelcircus showed, a day for a family of four costs up to 432 euros. Visitors to the Disneyland Paris have to pay for this entry - without having eaten, drinking or buying souvenirs. Germany's most expensive amusement park is the Europa Park in Rust with 199 euros for a family. Fortunately, there are also the smaller, more family-friendly offers, which are cheaper, but not necessarily shine with roller coasters.
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News from Europe's amusement parks: Kreiiiiiissssch!But what do the most popular of Europe's theme parks offer in the new season? Here is a selection:
Europa-Park in Rust: Water world "Rulantica" and adventure hotel
On the 6th of April the Europa-Park in Rust starts the season. Even though the project "Cable Car of Friendship" to Alsace was stopped for the next five years, Germany's biggest amusement park has a lot in store: On the one hand, the areas that the fire destroyed in May 2018 will be rebuilt. On the other hand, on the 31st of May and at the end of the year, the sixth adventure hotel Krønasår will open the new water world "Rulantica" - both located a few kilometers away from the grounds of Europa-Park.
The Scandinavian theme has caused severe fire damage. At the moment it is still a construction site, but in the course of the season it is to reopen with colorful houses, a restaurant, an ice cream parlor and a large shop. The Fjord Rafting Tunnel has been redesigned.
The also destroyed attraction "Pirates in Batavia" between the Dutch and the Scandinavian subject area will be rebuilt in an altered form until the winter season 2020. Visitors will get an idea of what the Water Dark Ride will look like using models and animation in the "Schatzkammer" in the Deutsche Allee.
The opening date for the water world "Rulantica", which is accessible around the year, is still the 28th of November. The 32,600 square meter indoor park is based on a fictional North Sea island and its associated saga and divided into nine theme areas with a total of 25 attractions - most of them of course water slides. The hotel Krønasår on the grounds - also in Scandinavian style - is modeled after a natural history museum.
Opening of the summer season: 6th April 2019
Website: www.europapark.de
Disneyland Paris: Marvel Heroes and Hakuna Matata
The biggest makeover in the Disneyland complex is the Walt Disney Studios Park , where visitors can look behind the scenes of the movies. By 2025, three new areas are to be created here for two billion euros: Marvel superhero , ice queen and Star Wars.
Already last year, the super heroes of the Marvel cosmos raged in shows, festivals and in projections over the area - this year, new ones are added. March 23 marks the start of her second season: "Iron Man" Tony Stark and Agent Black Widow shine with their latest inventions in the "Stark Expo: Make Way for a Better Tomorrow" show, and in the 20-minute play "Marvel: Super Heroes United "fight the heroes in the studio theater against villain Thanos.
In 2020, the new superhero themed hotel is under construction : The Hotel New York will be converted into the "Disney's Hotel New York - The Art of Marvel".
During the summer months, Disneyland Paris will once again become the jungle of Mogli and Simba: from 30 June to 22 September, visitors to the "King of the Lion and Jungle Festival" will be able to enjoy Disney classic music as well as new shows with Timon and Pumba , Balu, King Louie and their friends, and in the village of "Djembe Joy" a touch of Africa. The stage shows "Rhythms of the Prides Lands" and "MataDance" tell the legend of Simba, Nala, Rafiki and Mufasa.
Opening of the summer season: open all year
Website: www.disneylandparis.com
Philipp Schulze / picture alliance
"Colossos": No date yet for the reopening
Heide Park Resort in Soltau: a roller coaster against giants
After a three-year break due to repairs, Europe's highest wooden roller coaster "Colossos" in Soltau goes back into operation - the exact date has not yet been determined. On three kilometers, 320 rails were replaced and 10,000 screws were used according to the park. New is the motto "Battle of the Giants", symbolized by a "creature that sits enthroned over the track and waits with fire and fog for its opponents".
Opening of the summer season: 6th April 2019
Website: www.heide-park.de
Movie Park: puppy alert in Bottrop
The Movie Park in Bottrop dedicates its own theme world to the puppy animation series "PAW Patrol" from Canada in May: The village "Adventure Bay" from the series is integrated into the Nickland. There, a small train of cars hung behind one another, shaped like Marshall's fire engine truck and Rubble's Bulldozer, is called "PAW Patrol Adventure Tour". The theme also includes a new children's playground with interactive beach-style elements. And the family attraction "Swiper's Sweeper" becomes "Zuma's Zoomer" - the hovercraft cruise then takes place on the beach of "Adventure Bay".
Thematically redesigned is the water-ghost train "Bermuda Triangle", there is the motto from the beginning of the summer holidays "Area 51 - Top Secret". The story: The US government invites to an open house in the fifties on the mysterious military base in the Nevada desert.
Opening of the summer season: 29th March 2019
Website: www.movieparkgermany.de
Gardaland on Lake Garda: magicians and fairy tales
Gardaland, the theme park in Castelnuovo del Garda on Lake Garda, has set itself the magic for 2019: On May 31, the new Magic Hotel opens with 128 themed rooms from the "Foresta Incantata" (Magic Forest), "Cristallo Magico" (Magic Ice Castle) and "Grande Mago" (House of the Wizard). The park has invested 20 million euros in its third hotel. The house for 20 million euros has a purple roof and a golden gate, a huge wizard's hat covers a garden with colorful flowers and mushrooms in large format.
From the roller coaster "Sequoia Adventure", which was closed since March 2017, is now "Sequoia Magic Loop". Here the cars drive in a zigzag course like balls on a marble track down - a rare type of ride. In a magical forest to walk through, visitors encounter elves and talking trees, the "Sequoia Magic Loop" and a magical show.
Opening of the summer season: 30th March 2019
Website: www.gardaland.it
JKR / TM & Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc / SRT
Wizarding Bank Gringotts: Largest expansion of the Warner Bros. Studio Tour
Warner Bros. Studio Tour near London: The Goblin Bankers
Lots of magic still in Leavesden, 32 kilometers northwest of the City of London: As of April 6, visitors to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour can dive deeper into the Harry Potter world. The Gringotts wizarding bank is with just under 1500 square meters, the largest expansion of the tour so far and includes not only the main hall of Gringotts but also the Lestrange dungeon.
Costumes and masks of goblins such as Bogrod and Griphook are exhibited in the entrance hall framed by towering marble pillars, and goblins, sickles and knuts are stacked on the goblin counters. In the dungeon, visitors can expect treasures such as Gryffindor's sword and Helga Hufflepuff's cup. Also on 6 April, a 500-seat café will open with magical drinks and food.
Opening of the summer season: open all year
Website: wbstudiotour.co.uk
Gröna Lund in Stockholm: With 80 km / h in the snake pendulum
The amusement park in Stockholm gets a so-called Chaos pendulum on the grounds for 2019, which probably softens the knees of many passengers. "Snake" whirls it up to 80 km / h and 4.3 G up to 40 meters - rollovers, changes of direction, rotations included. The ride will continue the following year. A suspended roller coaster is in planning for a permanent novelty in 2021, after the 95 meter high free-fall tower "Ikaros" went into operation in 2017.
Opening of the summer season: April 27, 2019
Website: www.gronalund.com
Tivoli
"Camel" train: Longer and more oriental
Tivoli Copenhagen: twice through new corners
The world's second oldest amusement park, Tivoli in Copenhagen city center, exchanges old roller coasters for 100 million crowns (13.4 million euros). Already on 4 April, a renewed version of the children's train "Camels" is on the rails, this is designed longer and in the Oriental style with domes and minaret. The "Odinexpressen" had 33 years in the style of a nostalgic train on the hump and is replaced for Christmas by the much higher "Mælkevejen", translated "Milky Way", with a space theme.
Opening of the summer season: 4 April 2019
Website: www.tivoli.dk
Amusement park Efteling in the Netherlands: forest full of fairy tales
In autumn Efteling brings the "Six Swans" of the Brothers Grimm to life as the 30th fairy tale. The Dutch amusement park is one of the most popular in Europe and lies between Waalwijk and Tilburg. In addition to the classic scene in a 350 square meter castle, there is also a mini-boat ride for children for the first time. In addition, construction of a new family roller coaster based on Wilhelm Busch's "Max & Moritz" will begin in spring 2020.
Opening of the summer season: open all year, only a few rides open in April
Website: www.efteling.com
If you do not want to go to London, Paris or Lake Garda, you will also find plenty of parks in Germany - here is an overview of the largest: