Europe Theme Parks

[silenthillXD]

Basically next year I am planning to go on a holiday with two of my mates to some theme park in europe. I was wondering if any of you could help me figure out where to go for a reasonably cheap price (Don't know the exact price range, but cheapish.) I was originally planning on going to disneyland, but after a revelation at thorpe park, that i acctualy enjoy the bigger rides I am mildly put off by the fact the rides there seem pretty tame, bar tot (And seeing as I hate drop towers that one's off anyway.) So any ideas? The obvious would be europa park, but any other ideas will be welcome. Also are there any other parks near/ cheap to get to from europa?

 

[Martyn B]

I wouldn't put off Disney because you think the rides are tame. DLP does get knocked a lot compared to other Disney Parks, but I think the Disneyland Parc is very nice. And the Tower of Terror isn't the only thrill ride; Rock 'n' Rollercoaster, RC Racer, Indian Jones & Space Mountain. Then therre's the awsome family rides, like Pirates, Phantom Manor, Thunder Mountain, and Crush <3.

Anyway, its obviously upto you, but if you haven't been already, DLP has to be near the top of the list.

 

[khanage]

Portaventura is well worth a visit.

 

[Hixee]

This is like saying "I want to go to a theme park in the USA, but not a Disney one". You've got hundreds to choose from.

How are you planning on travelling, where do you want to go roughly (you must have some idea)? There are plenty of great parks in Europe.

 

[silenthillXD]

Well I would preferably be going by plane but obviously for disney it would be eurostar. Well I was thinking along the lines of europa, disney, phantasia, hyde, port adventura or possibly gadaland. Which one of them would you advise if any of them are really close/easy to get to from each other that would be awesome!

 

[Martyn B]

Well Disney and Port Aventura are probably the easiest to access.

And you dont have to go by Eurostar to Disney, you can fly.

 

[marc]

Forget about Spain and DLP and go to Germany as the parks have better rides and a better atmosphere.

 

[gavin]

^This.

Yes, PA is a very good park, but there's nothing else in the area. If you're going to go to Spain, go to Madrid. You've got Warner and Parque de Attraciones (if they bother to open the rides), which are both incredibly easy to access from the city.

Don't bother with France (personally, I LOVE Paris, but if you're looking for a "parks only" holiday, then no).

The Netherlands is a decent option: Walibi (relatively easy access from Amsterdam), Duinrell and Drievliet, while nothing special, are quirky little parks, Toverland (if only for Troy), and Efteling, which is a stunning place.

Germany: Phantasialand is amazing, fantastic rides and great theming/atmosphere. Haven't done Europa, but never heard a bad word about the place. Heide is great (nowhere near the others though) and Hansa (not far from Heide) is a fun, quirky park.

 

[silenthillXD]

Thanks guys, it seems Germany i the winner here! So how easy is it to get from europa to phantasia? Or whats the closest park to europa?

 

[SaiyanHajime]

Will you need to get public transport? Because if you do, the winner by far is Port Adventura when it comes to value for money and ease. It has several good rides, nice atmosphere, you can stay on site for relatively cheap and get a great breakfast, easy to get there from the UK, etc. It's a nicer "holiday" experience.

I've been put of Germany because the public transport looks like it's a bit of a pain when it comes to getting from the airports to parks. However, Peep has just done Phantasia on public transport, so he might be worth asking for help there.

 

[Nemesis Inferno]

^Germany isn't too bad when it comes to public transport, managed to get from Hamburg Airport to Hansa Park within 2/3 hours... Heide is more difficult as it's not within walking distance of the station (Soltau) but has plenty of taxis around and a bus...

Plus having their ticket machines with English language is amazing...

 

[Martyn B]

Thanks guys, it seems Germany i the winner here! So how easy is it to get from europa to phantasia? Or whats the closest park to europa?

There's a few smaller parks around Europa, Holiday Park (Expedition GeForce), Walygator (Monster, B&M Invert) and Tripsdrill (Mammut, Woodie + crazy Gerstlauer Bobsliegh).

 

[gavin]

Public transport in mainland Europe is soooooooo much better, cheaper and more extensive than over here. It really should not be a deciding factor unless you're a complete and utter moron.

 

[WDF]

We're looking to go to Europa Sept 2013 (for our Honeymoon :shock: ), our main reasoning being that my other half won't fly and it appears you can reach there by train all but a couple of miles

 

[caffeine_demon]

Public transport in mainland Europe is soooooooo much better, cheaper and more extensive than over here. It really should not be a deciding factor unless you're a complete and utter moron.

Ding ding!

German trains are great - and the bahn.de website's planner allows you to plan trips to theme parks, including bus journeys!

 

[Tony]

Well my favourite park is Port Aventura and it's quite easy to get to. It's located close to Reus airport which I think you can get a bus from? or by a taxi. It can also be easily accessed from Barcelona as there is a train station in Port Aventura itself. The park it's self has amazing theming, a fantastic atmosphere and 3 great rides in Khan, Baco and Hurakan and hopefully that new B&M next year :wink: .

Another possibility is a trip to Madrid so you can do both Parque Warner and Parque Atracciones which are both easy to get to by public transport. Parque Warner is a fantastic park and Parque Atracciones is decent.

 

[SaiyanHajime]

Public transport in mainland Europe is soooooooo much better, cheaper and more extensive than over here. It really should not be a deciding factor unless you're a complete and utter moron.

With several parks, airport to park requires expensive coaches... I wouldn't say that's better or easier or cheaper than the UK.

 

[peep]

As Joey has mentioned, I went to Phantasialand earlier this month by public transport. It's a very easy journey, just fly into Cologne airport and then get the train into Cologne and then to Bruhl. From there you can get a 1.50€ shuttle bus to the park, it's quick, cheap and very easy to do. If you want more specific details just ask.

I have looked into getting to Europa by public transport but it seems to be all by itself in the middle of nowhere. There are like 4 airports to choose from (1 of which you can only fly into from other airports in Germany) and then get a coach or taxi to the park which looked expensive. When I was looking into it I didn't see any option of how to get there by train but maybe there is?

Both are excellent parks and you can get away with being a typical English tourist and just ask them to speak in English. Benin got to Hansa and Heide park by public transport too, they seemed quite easy to get to. To be honest with whatever park(s) you choose you should have a great time, the locals always seem really friendly and the rides on offer are fantastic.

 

[WDF]

I have looked into getting to Europa by public transport but it seems to be all by itself in the middle of nowhere. . . . When I was looking into it I didn't see any option of how to get there by train but maybe there is?

We're looking at going to Europa by train from UK and have found we can get to a train station (Ringsheim) within a very short drive away from the Park. I know if you stay "AT" Europa they will collect you from that particular station bit it's quite expensive to stay on-site so we're looking outside the park in hope that we can get them to collect us too :?:

 

[cp23]

I've done Europa by public transport a couple of times - you can get the train to Ringsheim and there's a shuttle bus from Ringsheim to the park which takes about 10 minutes.