The most popular theme park in Europe is, obviously, Disneyland Paris. Everyone knows Disneyland, everyone wants to go to Disneyland… it’s the best.
But number two? That’s Europa Park, a Disney-style theme park in Germany that was built by a ride manufacturer in the ’70s as a showcase for their own rides, and eventually evolved into something that can almost compete with Disney.
It’s an impressive park! Is it on Disney’s level? No, absolutely not, but it’s quite enjoyable to just wander around, and it’s got a whole bunch of great rides.
(I should note that I’m not a fan of roller coasters, so I wasn’t really able to experience the best of what the park has to offer on the rides front.)
The park is divided into several areas themed to various European countries, so it’s kind of like a cross between Epcot and Disneyland.
They have a few rides that are clearly inspired by their Disneyland equivalents, with the most blatant examples of this being Ghost Castle, a Haunted Mansion knockoff, and Pirates in Batavia, a riff on Pirates of the Caribbean.
Ghost Castle is a little bit too low-rent to give Disney anything to worry about, but Pirates in Batavia is shockingly impressive. I rode it several times, and I was noticing new things every time. It even has a restaurant inside the ride, just like the versions in California and Paris.
The food in the park isn’t great, however. I tried a few things, and nothing is even worth mentioning; it’s not terrible, but it’s not particularly good, either.
I also saw a couple of impressive shows; there was a flamenco show that was quite enjoyable, and a stunt show that involved some swashbuckling and horse riding.