Europa Park & Disneyland Paris thread

[Pluto777]

I wanted to start a thread featuring DLP and E.P. . Particularly the best strategies to see both parks since (by American standards at least) they are not too far apart.

Our plan is to land somewhere near Rust (Frankfurt, Strasbourg not sure), rent a car and stop at E.P. (if anyone has some good recommendation for family themed hotels large pool/waterpark etc) near Rust that give a great value that may be a good start.
DLP hotel recomendations in the thread are welcome, but I think there are enough official & partner DLP hotels so it's not that necessary.

Assume for the thread the visitors have never been to France or Germany. Our plan was EP, a drive to DLP and then a round trip return to the original airport to return the car, We estimate approximately 2 weeks to be more than enough for both parks at a leisurely pace. Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome and I hop this thread can become a refernce tool for the first timers (like us) for both parks with tips and recomendations for transport, hotels and ride/ticket strategies!

 

[mikalkwin]

I wanted to start a thread featuring DLP and E.P. . Particularly the best strategies to see both parks since (by American standards at least) they are not too far apart.

Our plan is to land somewhere near Rust (Frankfurt, Strasbourg not sure), rent a car and stop at E.P. (if anyone has some good recommendation for family themed hotels large pool/waterpark etc) near Rust that give a great value that may be a good start.
DLP hotel recomendations in the thread are welcome, but I think there are enough official & partner DLP hotels so it's not that necessary.

Assume for the thread the visitors have never been to France or Germany. Our plan was EP, a drive to DLP and then a round trip return to the original airport to return the car, We estimate approximately 2 weeks to be more than enough for both parks at a leisurely pace. Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome and I hop this thread can become a refernce tool for the first timers (like us) for both parks with tips and recomendations for transport, hotels and ride/ticket strategies!

Frankfurt is further away from EP but you will have much more choices in terms of airlines and dates/times than Strasbourg (Strasbourg don't have any direct flights with the US) . You might want to check Basel too.

If you are only doing EP and DLP, you don't need really need a car. Or maybe just for the EP part if you are not staying on site. How big is your party? Do you only intend to visit the parks?
EP has now an aquatic park (Rulantica) which I did not visit yet but you might want to.

 

[Pluto777]

Frankfurt is further away from EP but you will have much more choices in terms of airlines and dates/times than Strasbourg (Strasbourg don't have any direct flights with the US) . You might want to check Basel too.

If you are only doing EP and DLP, you don't need really need a car. Or maybe just for the EP part if you are not staying on site. How big is your party? Do you only intend to visit the parks?
EP has now an aquatic park (Rulantica) which I did not visit yet but you might want to.

Hey there! We are 5, considering private shuttle (the train(s) are definately out since we have 2 small kids plus an elderly grandparent). Yeah Rulantica is something we want to try also along with the VR attraction ('youlbe'?). I thought the rental car prices seemed reasonable - maybe cheaper than a private shuttle with the flexibility to go out for meals, shop etc. Plus I wouldn't even know how to find a reliable shuttle/taxi that could go from one country to another with 5 people plus luggage, but if the numbers work it might be a better move...

It's all still very tentative in the early planning stages - hence the thread ; ) Thanks for your input!

 

[mikalkwin]

Hey there! We are 5, considering private shuttle (the train(s) are definately out since we have 2 small kids plus an elderly grandparent). Yeah Rulantica is something we want to try also along with the VR attraction ('youlbe'?). I thought the rental car prices seemed reasonable - maybe cheaper than a private shuttle with the flexibility to go out for meals, shop etc. Plus I wouldn't even know how to find a reliable shuttle/taxi that could go from one country to another with 5 people plus luggage, but if the numbers work it might be a better move...

It's all still very tentative in the early planning stages - hence the thread ; ) Thanks for your input!

I am French, originally from the Paris area and I now live in Germany, in Frankfurt.

Your answer shows how much of our travel habits come from our cultural backgrounds/habits My parents or myin-laws exclusively take the train Paris/Frankfurt when they visit us. Driving is so NOT worth it (especially in Germany). I was also traveling with the train with my 2 months-old daughter to visit my family (up until she was 8). But indeed, financially, for 5, it might not be the best option if that is a criteria (you can check train prices with Trainline, it will give you the best prices).

In any case, here is what I would do, even with 2 small kids and an elderly (if you are not visiting other places in France or Germany):
- outbound flight for Strasbourg (open jaw/multi stop flight)
- rent a car and spend 2 days to visit / adapt to the timezone
- spend 3 nights in an Europa Park hotel and 2 nights in the Rulantica hotel or 5 nights in the same hotel (2 full days in EP and 1 full day in Rulantica, 4th day tbd)
- leave the car in Strasbourg depending on where you rent it (FFM/Stras)
- take the high speed train from Strasbourg to MLV/Chessy (~2hours compared to 4/5 driving)
- spend 5 nights in a DLP Hotel (4 days in DLP, even with the new Marvel area is more than enough)
- visit Paris if you wish (I would spend 5 nights in a Parisian hotel for this)
- inbound flight from CDG (taking a shuttle or train).

This would also work if you really want to drive (but German highways are scary and French ones have tolls). Driving lanes and cars are much smaller than in the US. You'd have to rent a 7 seater to make sure you have enough space for 5+luggage (cat. Monospace in French, example VW Touran). Also you have to have (rent) carseats for all children under 10yo/150cm.

 

[Pluto777]

I am French, originally from the Paris area and I now live in Germany, in Frankfurt.

Your answer shows how much of our travel habits come from our cultural backgrounds/habits My parents or myin-laws exclusively take the train Paris/Frankfurt when they visit us. Driving is so NOT worth it (especially in Germany). I was also traveling with the train with my 2 months-old daughter to visit my family (up until she was 8). But indeed, financially, for 5, it might not be the best option if that is a criteria (you can check train prices with Trainline, it will give you the best prices).

In any case, here is what I would do, even with 2 small kids and an elderly (if you are not visiting other places in France or Germany):
- outbound flight for Strasbourg (open jaw/multi stop flight)
- rent a car and spend 2 days to visit / adapt to the timezone
- spend 3 nights in an Europa Park hotel and 2 nights in the Rulantica hotel or 5 nights in the same hotel (2 full days in EP and 1 full day in Rulantica, 4th day tbd)
- leave the car in Strasbourg depending on where you rent it (FFM/Stras)
- take the high speed train from Strasbourg to MLV/Chessy (~2hours compared to 4/5 driving)
- spend 5 nights in a DLP Hotel (4 days in DLP, even with the new Marvel area is more than enough)
- visit Paris if you wish (I would spend 5 nights in a Parisian hotel for this)
- inbound flight from CDG (taking a shuttle or train).

This would also work if you really want to drive (but German highways are scary and French ones have tolls). Driving lanes and cars are much smaller than in the US. You'd have to rent a 7 seater to make sure you have enough space for 5+luggage (cat. Monospace in French, example VW Touran). Also you have to have (rent) carseats for all children under 10yo/150cm.

Very intersting idea and worth considering. I should have also mentioned we were considering also a trip to Gardaland with the car, but perhaps this is too ambitious? It seems some type of car service (like they have in Florida) that has van service could work also..

 

[mikalkwin]

Very intersting idea and worth considering. I should have also mentioned we were considering also a trip to Gardaland with the car, but perhaps this is too ambitious? It seems some type of car service (like they have in Florida) that has van service could work also..

I personally think that Gardaland is too far away. That is 600km from Europa park and 1000km from Disney (and you have the Alps that do not make the driving very smooth).

If you want to add theme parks, especially with young children and an elderly, why don’t you consider Efteling and/or Phantasialand instead?

For a little more than 2 weeks, with only a rental car, you can do something like:
- Arrive in Paris, rent a car
- spend 3 nights in the north of Paris and go to Astérix for 1 full day in the park and a rest day before (jetlag etc). If you don’t like / know Astérix, you can go check the Normandy beaches and museums commemorating WWII
- spend 3 nights near Efteling for 2 days in the park
- spend 3 nights near Phantasialand for 1 rest day and 1 park day
- spend 4 nights near Europa park for 2 EP days, 1 rulantica
- spend 4 nights at DLP for 3 days in the parks. You can drop the car before visiting the parks.
- leave from Paris.

 

[Pluto777]

Asterix seems very close, but efteling seems a longer haul. Maybe I am being too ambitious and will just stay in France , shorten the trip to 7-10 days and save a few dollars.

In fact if we only do Asterix & DLP we could probably stay onsite and skip the rental car completely - just relying on taxis. Seems a more relaxing pace.

 

[mikalkwin]

Yes, it is a possibility. But Astérix is really small and Europa park is much much better (even better than DLP if you ask me but Avenger campus might bring DLP back high in my ranking ).

I was suggesting Efteling because theming is great and closer / better than Gardaland if you ask me.

 

[Pluto777]

I understand.. EP does seem much bigger and has other options outside the parks as well (waterpark, VR ride etc). In fact, we have never been to any theme park in the EU ever. DLP is a 'must do' for the kids and when I saw E.P. on youtube it looked like a lot of their rides were a just a wee bit 'similar' ; ) to many WDW rides. I am afraid my kids are very spoiled and will find themselves making comparisons to the original WDW rides & the similar attractions at E.P.. We liked the look of Gardaland but you are correct in that it is quite a trek from Verona to Chessy France across the alps, and I don't know if there is any option that makes sense besides a flight with several transfers or a long trek with a rental car. In addition (and I don't know if this is true), I heard that people sometimes smoke inside EU theme parks (maybe even in DLP also) and as someone with lung damage that could be a real issue.
Asterix looked really nice - we saw some show with dolphins at Asterix or something on youtube that reminded us of Seaworld and it is so close to DLP it seemed an easier option.

Thanks for all your ideas!

 

[mikalkwin]

There is no dolphins anymore in Astérix.

EP was originally created by the Mack family as a showroom for their attractions. It was later transformed to be opened to the public.

Some attractions are indeed (very) similar to some Disney attractions (I won’t wait more than 15’ for Soarin in WDW because I ride the Voletarium every year in EP). But you will have the same type of comparison when you go to DLP (our BTM is better by the way ).

You could also only visit Paris and DLP. Besides theme parks, I am sure your family would enjoy a boat ride on the Seine, the view from the Eiffel Tower and see the Parisian architecture for real and not only in Epcot

 

[Pluto777]

Sorry to hear about the dolphins : ( I actually swam with one once and I'll never forget it - incredibly playful, intelligent and sweet creatures. Asterix does look very nice at least on youtube with a good mix of rides for our little ones. It is also so close to DLP that we could probably stay in the same hotel for both which is a plus.

I know it's not an even comparison, but would you say E.P. is a bigger park where you actually would need more time than DLP? Does you think it has more family rides and attractions than DLP? As an American they do seem pretty close (3-4 hours by car)..

 

[mikalkwin]

Sorry to hear about the dolphins : ( I actually swam with one once and I'll never forget it - incredibly playful, intelligent and sweet creatures. Asterix does look very nice at least on youtube with a good mix of rides for our little ones. It is also so close to DLP that we could probably stay in the same hotel for both which is a plus.

I know it's not an even comparison, but would you say E.P. is a bigger park where you actually would need more time than DLP? Does you think it has more family rides and attractions than DLP? As an American they do seem pretty close (3-4 hours by car)..

It is ~500km, which is a ~5 hours drive without bathroom breaks. Definitely doable for sure. Have you ever driven in Europe?

Yes, E.P. has definitely more attractions / rides (and lower waits) than DLP for all ages. There is also the water park (European style, ie with a large part indoor but I never went yet). Bear in mind that you don't have the Disney touch, no known M&G, character dining etc. But EP and its hotels are very nicely themed, the hotels buffet are great.

 

[Woodview]

As a follow up to posts 4 & 6

Fly to Frankfurt

Take free Shuttle bus to The Leonardo Hotel & relax after your long day

Next day Take Shuttle Back to Car rental at the Airport and you start your drive fresh

Look up Sixt rental cars or use rentalcars.com#

You Will need as pointed out a 7 seat van a VW Sharan ,, Ford Galaxy

You will need Unlimited Km & Fuel Full to Full & 2 Child seats

Your drive to E.P is on the A 5 or A 67 and is approx 250 km ( 3 hours + )


If staying outside of E.P look up Holiday Inn Or Logis Post Hotel

The Drive to Disney land Paris is by N 4 and 450 km ( about 6+ hours )

You could drive , as pointed out , to Phantasialand at Bruhl


............................................

We have been going ,and driving , to Europe for 40 years

We are in Brittany in 2 weeks time & In Avesnes sur Helpe in August + Floursies

 

[Pluto777]

As a follow up to posts 4 & 6

Fly to Frankfurt

Take free Shuttle bus to The Leonardo Hotel & relax after your long day

Next day Take Shuttle Back to Car rental at the Airport and you start your drive fresh

Look up Sixt rental cars or use rentalcars.com#

You Will need as pointed out a 7 seat van a VW Sharan ,, Ford Galaxy

You will need Unlimited Km & Fuel Full to Full & 2 Child seats

Your drive to E.P is on the A 5 or A 67 and is approx 250 km ( 3 hours + )


If staying outside of E.P look up Holiday Inn Or Logis Post Hotel

The Drive to Disney land Paris is by N 4 and 450 km ( about 6+ hours )

You could drive , as pointed out , to Phantasialand at Bruhl


............................................

We have been going ,and driving , to Europe for 40 years

We are in Brittany in 2 weeks time & In Avesnes sur Helpe in August + Floursies

Very useful info! Thanks so much for that post! One of the things I noticed in the EU is that unlike the USA, there is a huge difference between a 4 and 5 person family in terms of price and even availability for hotel rooms

 

[erider]

Visited all those parks many times. Actually a lot of Europeans prefer EuropaPark to DLP. I love them both and don't really have a preference. I am not a big fan of Parc Asterix myself, it's mainly coasters. Efteling is great too, a little over 4 hours driving north of DLP. Those are my 3 favorite European parks.

 

[Irishbhoy188]

First off , Europa park has many many more attractions than DLP from hypercoasters to family dark rides, it's amazingly themed with the food there a much higher standard than not just DLP but most Themeparks . (Check out its rollercoaster restaurant)
When for example you eat in the French themed area you get legit French cuisine not just the theming.
The only thing DLP has over Europa is it's films, IP characters to meet and see on attractions and Disney's new age animatronics are cool.
DLPs Big thunder mountain is much better than wdws version and so is our pirates attraction and mk in general .
We are actually leaving for Europa park next week on holiday , I'm Irish and we will board a ferry in Dublin and exit in Cherbourg france , then drive approx 4 hours to DLP , stop over there for 3 days then on to Europapark for 11 night's , then head to walibi Belgium ( which used to be a six flags park ) spend 2 nights there and then back to get the boat home.
Also traveling within the EU is simple and you won't need to worry about borders, you won't even notice them really , you can travel freely without getting stopped.
We plan on spending our days in and out of the parks and rulantica but also their is plenty to do in the surrounding area.
It's located in the black forest area in Germany which is very picturesque with lots to see , also the Germans love their alpine coasters and one of the best in the world is located really close to Europa, have a look at this badboy and it's only 10 euro to ride

if you want to skip straight to the ride its 9.42mins in .
This coaster is 8 thousand feet long and the ride lasts about 5mins !!!
Check out a site called steinwassen park , it's in the black forest also with lots of one if a kind attractions in it along with mountain chairlifts and animals to see , they also own that alpine coaster i linked above and you can find info on it on their site.
I would disregard gardaland , its too far away and phantasialand is way waaaay better on par with Europa, Disney and universal.
You should research all the following parks im going to name as they are generally within the same area (generally )
None more than 5 hours from the next but if you plot your trip from one point to the next closest park you could be only 1 to 2 hours away.
1 Phantasialand Germany , 2 efteling Holland , 3 toverland Holland , walibi Belgium , moviepark Germany, tripdrill Germany, bobbjaland Belgium, parc asterisk france , and obviously Disneyland resort Paris .
Tag all their locations in your Google maps account and when you scroll out you will get a great understanding of what's where.
Also download Europa parks app for the parks and their hotels app which is separate.
Best place to research is YouTube to get an understanding of each place.
It can be overwhelming, just like a first timers trip to WDW .
Tip , Check out a YouTube video of Europa park at Christmas and Halloween.
Any questions let me know ,

 

[zavandor]

Europa park is really the best park in Europe for Roller coaster fans. I've lost count but I think there are 13 or 14. Every type you can think of it's there: mine, spinning, launched, wooden, indoor and outdoor and I don't know how many I'm forgetting. It's a feast The park even has over 100 attractions but... if you remove the coaster you're left with a few rides that are a clone of Disney attractions (some so blatant that they're funny, like the Hunted Mansion clone), some rides that are so old to be embarassing and some new rides that are worth it because they've been built recently with good budget. So the park is exceptional if you like coaster and good if you don't, just to set the right expectations.

I agree with avoiding Gardaland (I'm sad.to say this as I'm Italian). I don't think there is anything worth the trip. It was a great park once, Merlin management really ruined it.

Efeling and Phantasialand are great. The themeing in both is really well done and both are magical with unique attractions worth a visit. If you can manage to add one or both I'm sure you'll enjoy them.

Speaking as a Disney fan who doesn't like anything more intense than a family coaster, my personal favorites are:
1) DLP
2) Efteling
3) Phantasialand
4) Europa Park

 

[Irishbhoy188]

Europa park is really the best park in Europe for Roller coaster fans. I've lost count but I think there are 13 or 14. Every type you can think of it's there: mine, spinning, launched, wooden, indoor and outdoor and I don't know how many I'm forgetting. It's a feast The park even has over 100 attractions but... if you remove the coaster you're left with a few rides that are a clone of Disney attractions (some so blatant that they're funny, like the Hunted Mansion clone), some rides that are so old to be embarassing and some new rides that are worth it because they've been built recently with good budget. So the park is exceptional if you like coaster and good if you don't, just to set the right expectations.

I agree with avoiding Gardaland (I'm sad.to say this as I'm Italian). I don't think there is anything worth the trip. It was a great park once, Merlin management really ruined it.

Efeling and Phantasialand are great. The themeing in both is really well done and both are magical with unique attractions worth a visit. If you can manage to add one or both I'm sure you'll enjoy them.

Speaking as a Disney fan who doesn't like anything more intense than a family coaster, my personal favorites are:
1) DLP
2) Efteling
3) Phantasialand
4) Europa Park

Rulantica, outdoor phase 2currently in opening , another new Coaster currently getting built , snorri touren adventure dark rides ain't a clone .
Every every themepark has a haunted and pirate like attractions and parks have always copied each other , you can say the same for Disney because they have unfortunately went and copied Legoland (ninjago ride)with the disaster that is web slingers .Also when people see Europa in a picture, especially Americans they see the Epcot ball like attraction and think it's a Epcot clone , ok it looks like it but inside it's a Coaster nothing like the Epcot ride at all.
It's Another dark ride based on moulin rouge in France .
Voletariam is night and day better themed than soarin queue line .
Also I'm only really talking about DLP compared to Europa , all of DLP attractions are really old in MK , that's my point , they haven't added a new attraction there in over 20 years !!
These other parks are knocking out new parks , rides and waterparks regularly , DLP has just opened Avengers campus and the reviews for the actual 1 brand new from the ground up attraction (web) are getting the same terrible review's as the one in Cali got , then we have the rethemed rockinrollercoaster into iron Man, with rumours already of a upgrade on it because chapek and JDMaro where horrified with it when they visited for the opening (which says alot).
DLP doesn't get the new out of this world lands or attractions that the US, Japan or China gets , you won't find a carsland or Pandora here with new age technology, don't get me wrong i love going to Disney but I'd more likely go to Florida and only stop over for a night in DLP if in the area because not enough changes there to keep going all the time.
DLP is Great for first timers but not a revist regularly park which i wish it was and still could be if they just have me a reason to go back.
Imagine in the States of you never got galaxy's edge , runaway railway, avengers campus (meh) , Tron, guardians coaster , Epcot upgrade , Pandora, and everything else in between over the last 20 years and they dished out cars road trip , flight force , Web and eh that's it really oh the Rat area is good tbh but Epcot also just got that .
Then you'd see where us European fans are coming from regarding DLP.

 

[zavandor]

Rulantica, outdoor phase 2currently in opening , another new Coaster currently getting built , snorri touren adventure dark rides ain't a clone .
Every every themepark has a haunted and pirate like attractions and parks have always copied each other , you can say the same for Disney because they have unfortunately went and copied Legoland (ninjago ride)with the disaster that is web slingers .Also when people see Europa in a picture, especially Americans they see the Epcot ball like attraction and think it's a Epcot clone , ok it looks like it but inside it's a Coaster nothing like the Epcot ride at all.
It's Another dark ride based on moulin rouge in France .
Voletariam is night and day better themed than soarin queue line .
Also I'm only really talking about DLP compared to Europa , all of DLP attractions are really old in MK , that's my point , they haven't added a new attraction there in over 20 years !!
These other parks are knocking out new parks , rides and waterparks regularly , DLP has just opened Avengers campus and the reviews for the actual 1 brand new from the ground up attraction (web) are getting the same terrible review's as the one in Cali got , then we have the rethemed rockinrollercoaster into iron Man, with rumours already of a upgrade on it because chapek and JDMaro where horrified with it when they visited for the opening (which says alot).
DLP doesn't get the new out of this world lands or attractions that the US, Japan or China gets , you won't find a carsland or Pandora here with new age technology, don't get me wrong i love going to Disney but I'd more likely go to Florida and only stop over for a night in DLP if in the area because not enough changes there to keep going all the time.
DLP is Great for first timers but not a revist regularly park which i wish it was and still could be if they just have me a reason to go back.
Imagine in the States of you never got galaxy's edge , runaway railway, avengers campus (meh) , Tron, guardians coaster , Epcot upgrade , Pandora, and everything else in between over the last 20 years and they dished out cars road trip , flight force , Web and eh that's it really oh the Rat area is good tbh but Epcot also just got that .
Then you'd see where us European fans are coming from regarding DLP.

I understand all of that and it's why I've said Europa park is good. To be honest, it's been a while since I went so I haven't seen the most recent attractions. But you have to admit that the ghost house in Italy is a shameless copy. Sure the way it mocks Italians with stereotypes is new, but there are scenes completely identical. And piraten had many identical seems to Pirates (I don't know if it's still the case after they rebuilt it).
And you cannot deny there are attractions that are embarassing as old they are. Sure it's 100 attractions, but some are a trip on a boat amidst garden gnomes.

Mu judgment in putting it 4th is purely personal. I do not like contemporary themeing, in the same way Epcot is my second least favorite theme park in Orlando (only Sea World fares worst). So while Europa Park is a good park by anybody standard and excellent, probably the best, if one likes Roller coasters, I simply don't have much desire to go back.