We got up at the crack of dawn (literally) on Wednesday morning to head to the roller coaster capital of Germany... Europa Park! We purchased a two day pass so that we could spend most of Wednesday and ALL of Thursday there, before heading into the Alsace region for the rest of the weekend. I didn't bring my good camera to Europa Park, so pardon the crappy iPhone photos. But we really had a blast!
Who's ready to go to the largest theme park in Germany!?
The drive to Rust was fairly uneventful. Parking was no trouble and we even saved about 50 Euro by using our VAT form to get in and buy two-day tickets. And what do we see almost immediately as we step inside Europa Park? A freaking creepy baby doll head MECCA!!!! Seriously. A museum FULL of creepy baby doll heads. I can't even.
Since Grant is the newest member of the fearless Bailey's club, he got to pick the first ride. He chose Eurosat, an indoor, dark roller coaster. Europa Park is HILARIOUS. It is trying so, so, so hard to be Disney World. Eurosat was built in 1989, and definitely looks like Epcot on the outside and mimics Space Mountain on the inside.
Europa Park also has themed country areas, much like Epcot. Notice across the bridge in the picture above, the fake children in Switzerland on the see saw. (I really resisted writing teeter totter right there!)
We visited Europa Park on two of the hottest days of the year. So we definitely enjoyed the water rides, like Poseidon, above. It was a cool mix of a roller coaster and a water ride.
And that drop was INSANE! These are all our real faces ha ha! Normally we make funny faces for the camera, but we couldn't even.... (Please notice my daughter. She's fearless!)
One of my favorite rides at Europa Park was Pegasus. They have a Coastiality feature which allows you to wear 4D goggles and enjoy the ride VERY differently from when you don't have them on. The 4D follows this family from the movie "Happy Family" as they turn from regular people to monsters! The Alpine Express was another one that featured the 4D Coastiality. I think I liked the Pegasus coaster better, so I liked this one better.
It was hot so we let the kids stand in the path of the spray from Poseidon. Awesome!
Playing outside of the Silver Star coaster (which we didn't go on until day 2). The kids thought the monorail was fun!
She's a winner in my book too, folks.
I was taking a selfie of me and Natalie and Todd had an awkward face in the background so he made me take another. We are so sweaty! And no, Natalie isn't taller than me. I know that will happen some day, but for now, she was just standing on the railing as we waited for the Swiss Bob Run.
My kids in the Switzerland portion of Europa Park.
Natalie and I took off for EuroMir, a roller coaster that neither Grant nor Todd could ride due to height restrictions on both ends. (We figured out later that Todd COULD indeed ride EuroMir, but we didn't know this at the time. He rode it on Thursday). Grant and Daddy went to drive some cars around!
Ed Euromaus, the theme park mascot. ("Hey, I've got an idea! Let's have our mascot be a mouse! Nope! That's never been done before!")
Natalie and I found a BEN AND JERRY'S stand and got some ice cream cookie sandwiches while Todd and Grant rode yet another car ride. Fill 'er up!
Our last ride of the day on Wednesday was the Wodan timber coaster. It had great drops! Grant loved this one.
I mean really. Just look at his face! (I also like that Todd has a hand on Grant!)
We stayed about a half hour away in Offenburg at the PRETTIEST AirBnB place with a fantastic yard. The apartment was clean and huge and look at this lovely little pond in the backyard!
But alas, the apartment was just for sleeping. Because on day two, we were back at it! This time, armed with bathing suits!
The kids (read: Natalie) were already complaining that it was "SO HOT" so we rode the Atlantica Super Splash first. This was awesome. You went up, rode part of the ride backwards, then they turned you around and went down a double hill. Super Splash was Super Fun.
We also rode the Vindjammer, which is a lot like the Phoenix at Busch Gardens, only the Vindjammer doesn't go upside down. HOLY COW. I wish we had gotten pictures of the kids on this. Todd tried to take a video but it didn't come out. They were laughing SO HARD. I wish we had gone on it again! But there were so many rides to ride... so we headed next door to the Fjord Rafting (much like Congo River Rapids at Busch Gardens). This was located in Scandinavia so all of the little displays had a Scandinavian feel to them. Here, this man fishes while his house is on fire. Wait, what? Grant says, "Daddy, do you think he knows his house is on fire?" And Daddy responded with, "No, Grant. He's too drunk to notice."
Natalie wanted to spray the riders on the Whale Adventures ride, so I stayed with her while Todd took Grant to drive the boats, which he had been begging to do.
But now it's afternoon and it's really warming up. So we stopped at the water playground so the kids could cool off.
And this is how Mommy and Daddy cool off. Beer in the shade, overlooking the water playground. It doesn't get much better than that! Smart thinking, Europa Park!
I didn't have any clear pictures of the swings because the iPhone 5c doesn't TAKE a clear action shot. But Natalie, Grant and I rode first... as they miscounted and Todd didn't get a seat. I love love love swings!
Then Natalie and Todd ran off to ride EuroMir again, and Grant and I went to Ireland to play on the slides, the Tower Tow (tow: meaning you need to pull yourself to the top of the tower. Thank goodness for CrossFit because that was exhausting) and as you can see above, the Old MacDonald's Tractor Fun.
Natalie spotted a parade on her way to EuroMir!
I don't have any pictures of it (although to quote Todd, "I wish I had gotten a picture of that!") but we used the Baby Swap card and rode the Silver Star without the kids. I waited with the kids in the lobby where they had a bunch of cool Mercedes race cars and some interactive PS4 racing games that were free. So the kids waited. And waited. And waited so patiently. Grant got a turn for a bit, but as Natalie sat down to take her turn, some jerk guy (must have been about 18 or so) and his mom told Natalie to get out (even though she already had her foot in the ride and her hand on the wheel) and waved her off. So she immediately started crying. I had been waiting with them for most of the time we were standing there and I knew these people hadn't been waiting as long as us. So I yelled at these people (ineffectively using my worst German, "Dreissig minuten! Meine tochter!" Translated to: 30 minutes, my daughter!" because that's all I know!) The guy was being a total jerk (as was his mom) so I went and got someone from Europa Park. They were SO nice and helpful. The guy tried to tell the woman working there that my daughter had been SO MEAN and even gave them the middle finger (LAUGHABLE!!!!). Natalie was really embarrassed and upset by the whole situation. Don't you mess with this mama bear! I'm definitely one for having the kids solve their own problems, especially among their peers. But when an adult (who knows better) makes my kid cry... you'd better watch out!
At the end of the day, each kid wanted to ride their favorite ride ONE LAST TIME. So Natalie picked Blue Fire, which was far and away the best roller coaster there. Even better than Silver Star. I would have loved to ride this one again. Instead, Grant and I rode Eurosat TWO more times and the Universe of Energy Dinosaur Ride! The lines were much shorter for us.
Finally it was time to go. But not before a SWEET Elvis performance.
Until next time, Europa Park!
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