ThomVD
Giga Poster
I'll leave it up to you to decide what "best" means to you. In which parks do you enjoy just walking around or sitting down taking in the atmosphere, without necessarily riding anything? Whether it's because of the park having massive thrill rides everywhere you look, because of its nature or because of anything else. Which park has the best atmosphere?
Atmosphere is as important to me as rides. There are many ways in which a park has atmosphere that I enjoy; it doesn't necessarily need to be because of theming.
My favourite park when it comes to atmosphere is Efteling. I'm a bit of a fanboy :wink: , but I just can't help being amazed by it even when visiting it so often. From the moment when you walk towards the entrance with the music playing until when you leave the parking lot after a long and fantastic day, it just genuinely makes you feel like you're in a different world. Everything is so consistently themed and decorated with charm that it never loses its magic. Never done it before, but I'm sure you could spend a whole day in the park without riding a single ride, and still have a wonderful time.
The atmosphere is at its best during the winter. A good example of the niceness was yesterday evening. I grabbed a hotdog; they give you a free orange warm and comfy Efteling hat along with it, which literally everybody in the park wears <3. Went to sit down next to the campfire to warm up a bit during the freezing temperatures. There was a little band (accordion, drums, guitar and violin) playing some of the well known Efteling tunes. The park's mascot Pardoes was dancing with his "girlfriend" right next to it, surrounded by children having the time of their lives. The parents were sitting next to the campfire enjoying their hot chocolate en watching their kids being happy. In the meantime the surrounding areas are gorgeously lit up in the dark. While eating my hotdog, I could also enjoy just watching the nearby Python and Joris doing their thing, and people just re-riding as soon as they get off. Especially at Joris everybody comes off with a smile and I honestly can't think of a bigger crowd pleasing coaster in the country. At times like that I just feel so happy to be at the park. I could sit there for ages. We have a word in the Netherlands (which doesn't quite have an English equivalent) for this feeling. "Gezelligheid" is sort of a combination of coziness and niceness, and there is no better way to describe Efteling (aside from magical maybe, but that's so cliché).
A close second is Phantasialand, for a very different reason. While it doesn't have the niceness as much as Efteling has, it has mindblowing theming that immerses you like no other park I've visited. The highlight of this is the African part. You genuinely feel like you're "deep in Africa" and completely forget that you're actually in a human-made theme park in Germany. The Berlin area with the chairswing also has a nice atmosphere, which is more like Efteling's "gezelligheid". Just enjoying a bratwurst while taking in the atmosphere is great. So in terms of atmosphere Efteling ranks slightly above Phantasia, but as a park overall the latter ranks just a bit better because of its fantastic ride selection.
A park that surprised me when it comes to atmosphere is Gröna Lund. The park has little theming, little nature and is very small, with rides crammed in everywhere. It still manages to come in third in my ranking. The staff was very friendly, the location is brilliant and there was just something about the chaotic-ness in the Jetline/Vilda Musen/Twister part (which is basically half of the park
) that I really liked. I bet it's even better during a sunny day.
I think Europa Park likely has a nicer atmosphere than when I was there, but due to circumstances it was harder to enjoy it. The first day the weather was nice, but it was so extremely crowded that I couldn't relax properly. The second day it was pretty quiet but it rained a lot all day. I still had a brilliant time but I think it would rank higher with better circumstances.
I'd like to give Liseberg a mention for having a really nice traditional amusement park feel to it. It especially comes to life at night.
Atmosphere is as important to me as rides. There are many ways in which a park has atmosphere that I enjoy; it doesn't necessarily need to be because of theming.
My favourite park when it comes to atmosphere is Efteling. I'm a bit of a fanboy :wink: , but I just can't help being amazed by it even when visiting it so often. From the moment when you walk towards the entrance with the music playing until when you leave the parking lot after a long and fantastic day, it just genuinely makes you feel like you're in a different world. Everything is so consistently themed and decorated with charm that it never loses its magic. Never done it before, but I'm sure you could spend a whole day in the park without riding a single ride, and still have a wonderful time.
The atmosphere is at its best during the winter. A good example of the niceness was yesterday evening. I grabbed a hotdog; they give you a free orange warm and comfy Efteling hat along with it, which literally everybody in the park wears <3. Went to sit down next to the campfire to warm up a bit during the freezing temperatures. There was a little band (accordion, drums, guitar and violin) playing some of the well known Efteling tunes. The park's mascot Pardoes was dancing with his "girlfriend" right next to it, surrounded by children having the time of their lives. The parents were sitting next to the campfire enjoying their hot chocolate en watching their kids being happy. In the meantime the surrounding areas are gorgeously lit up in the dark. While eating my hotdog, I could also enjoy just watching the nearby Python and Joris doing their thing, and people just re-riding as soon as they get off. Especially at Joris everybody comes off with a smile and I honestly can't think of a bigger crowd pleasing coaster in the country. At times like that I just feel so happy to be at the park. I could sit there for ages. We have a word in the Netherlands (which doesn't quite have an English equivalent) for this feeling. "Gezelligheid" is sort of a combination of coziness and niceness, and there is no better way to describe Efteling (aside from magical maybe, but that's so cliché).
A close second is Phantasialand, for a very different reason. While it doesn't have the niceness as much as Efteling has, it has mindblowing theming that immerses you like no other park I've visited. The highlight of this is the African part. You genuinely feel like you're "deep in Africa" and completely forget that you're actually in a human-made theme park in Germany. The Berlin area with the chairswing also has a nice atmosphere, which is more like Efteling's "gezelligheid". Just enjoying a bratwurst while taking in the atmosphere is great. So in terms of atmosphere Efteling ranks slightly above Phantasia, but as a park overall the latter ranks just a bit better because of its fantastic ride selection.
A park that surprised me when it comes to atmosphere is Gröna Lund. The park has little theming, little nature and is very small, with rides crammed in everywhere. It still manages to come in third in my ranking. The staff was very friendly, the location is brilliant and there was just something about the chaotic-ness in the Jetline/Vilda Musen/Twister part (which is basically half of the park
) that I really liked. I bet it's even better during a sunny day.I think Europa Park likely has a nicer atmosphere than when I was there, but due to circumstances it was harder to enjoy it. The first day the weather was nice, but it was so extremely crowded that I couldn't relax properly. The second day it was pretty quiet but it rained a lot all day. I still had a brilliant time but I think it would rank higher with better circumstances.
I'd like to give Liseberg a mention for having a really nice traditional amusement park feel to it. It especially comes to life at night.
