Favourite Europa Dark Ride
- Thread starter MackMan
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- dark rides europa park polls
MackMan
Mega Poster
My vote goes to Madame Freudenreich Curiosités. This one is because it used to suck so hard before it got refurbed. It is a little clunky at points, but it does have a lot of charm and i really enjoyed my ride back in 2019. Probably pretty unpopular opinion-wise, the silver medal easily goes to Voletarium, which blew me away. The queueline is themed to the stars and back. The main ride itself is fun, has plenty of effects, and just overall is a fun and exciting experience. Easily my favourite flying theatre.
CSLKennyNI
Giga Poster
New Piraten in Batavia wins hands down. But a special mention has to go to Freundenreich for being such a unique concept and reimagining. Humorous and upbeat. Seriously who thought we've got some dinosaur animatronics - ah yes make it an old Grandmother's back garden and she bakes cakes for them.
Snorri Touren too is very cute and upbeat. Great soundtrack for the Party in Trolldal scene.
Voletarium and Arthur are great.
Geisterschloss, Schneeflocken/Bench and Jungle Rafts can get in the bin though. Very much looking forward to their rethemes/refurbishments in future. Can only hope such great transformations like Freudenreich saw are coming.
Snorri Touren too is very cute and upbeat. Great soundtrack for the Party in Trolldal scene.
Voletarium and Arthur are great.
Geisterschloss, Schneeflocken/Bench and Jungle Rafts can get in the bin though. Very much looking forward to their rethemes/refurbishments in future. Can only hope such great transformations like Freudenreich saw are coming.
Shoutout to this post for saving me having to type any more than this. Good man.
MackMan
Mega Poster
Honestly i can't wait to experience the new Pirates In Batvia, i'm guessing its miles better than it was (it wasn't even bad to begin with tbh).
Bench in my opinion is so bad its good, like it is shockingly outdated and cheesey. But that is kind of what makes it good. I hope they don't change it.
Schloss and Jungle Rafts certainly are both kind of meh, i am sure they will be seen to in the near future though (especially schloss)..
FistedColossus
Hyper Poster
New Pirates is tremendous aside from the part with the overwhelming bacon smell 
Snorri Touren is very impressive considering it was built as a 'bonus' ride after the fire. They knocked it up in a few months like it was no big deal.
Snorri Touren is very impressive considering it was built as a 'bonus' ride after the fire. They knocked it up in a few months like it was no big deal.
CSLKennyNI
Giga Poster
Schneeflocken is undoubtedly an embarrassment to the park. The Euro Mir refurb coming soon will most likely involve it and the Russian area in general too.
Matt N
CF Legend
Sorry to bump, but I recently went to the park myself for the first time, and I’d rank their dark rides as follows:
I didn’t include Arthur, as it’s more of a coaster, but if I did, it would be right at the top end for sure; probably 2nd or so.
- Piraten in Batavia: I never rode the old version of this, but the new version is a true triumph, and an easy steal for the top spot, in my opinion! The theming and sets throughout are absolutely phenomenal, other effects such as projection mapping are also used to great effect, and overall, I think it’s a truly stunning attraction! Interestingly, I actually rated this a fair bit higher than Pirates of the Caribbean at Disney’s Magic Kingdom; it really is a stunning ride!
- Voletarium: I thought this was a very nicely done attraction! The film was good, the soundtrack was nice, there were some excellent smells and extra effects in there that matched the film really nicely, and overall, I thought it was an excellent dark ride!
- Snorri Touren: Considering this was something we just stumbled across as opposed to a big-ticket dark ride, I thought it was a really excellent ride! The theming was done very nicely throughout, screens were integrated in alongside physical set pieces very well, the soundtrack is quite fun and catchy, the simulator section is very clever, and overall, I thought Snorri Touren was a really nice ride!
- Abenteuer Atlantis: I thought this was a very fun little attraction! The theming was quite nice, the interactive element was done well, and the ride overall had a very fun vibe about it, in my opinion!
- Madame Freudenreich’s Curiosities: This has possibly one of the strangest storylines of any dark ride I’ve ever done, but I think it overall works quite nicely. This ride is certainly very quirky, but I think it has an overall fun vibe, with some nice animatronics and theming throughout! It certainly has an… interesting vibe, though. It almost feels like a hybrid of Jurassic Park and Teddy Bears’ Picnic!
- Fluch der Kassandra: This was OK, and perfectly fine for what it was, but it’s definitely the weakest of the 3 Madhouses I’ve done (Hex, Haunted House Monster Party and Fluch der Kassandra), in my opinion. I do think it lacked something due to not having a pre-show (although that could well have been a COVID measure; does this normally have a pre-show?), and it also felt a bit more sickly than the Vekoma Madhouses I’ve done. Nonetheless, I thought the room itself was quite nicely done, with a decent soundtrack, some nice lighting, and some interesting effects in the seating!
- Geisterschloss: This has a very good spooky ambience about it, but it sits below some of the higher rides because I think it feels a bit inconsistent, for lack of a better word; there’s no real rhyme or reason to it. Don’t get me wrong, it was a perfectly fine dark ride, but I wasn’t really sure what the storyline was supposed to be, and the theming felt a bit… random. In one scene you had skeletons and apparitions at a banquet, in another you had mad scientists decapitating people, in another you had undertakers… it felt more like a “greatest hits of ghost trains/spooky theming” than something with a clear, cohesive storyline. Still, I do quite like ambient, spooky dark rides, and I think Geisterschloss does the overall ambience thing quite well; I can definitely see the Haunted Mansion likeness in sections. On another note, it’s also surprisingly gory; it has a bit of an obsession with decapitating people!
- Piccolo Mondo: This was a very… interesting ride. Certainly quirky, for sure! It felt quite fun in vibe and had quite a fun soundtrack, but definitely isn’t on the same level as the rides further up. It’s an OK ride, though; it has some fun sets, and it was overall quite fun and silly in vibe!
- Schlittenfahrt Schneefloecken: Similarly to Piccolo Mondo, this was quite a strange ride, and definitely not on the level of some of the others at the park. I would say this wasn’t quite as good as Piccolo, though; it just lacked something compared to that. Nonetheless, I thought it was all right; nothing particularly special, but had some fine theming and sets. It felt almost It’s a Small World-esque, but Christmas-themed and with an extra layer of quirkiness on top. I think “It’s a Small World on crack” would be an apt analogy! It’s definitely showing its age a tad now, though; I don’t know it’s exact age, but I’m guessing it’s one of EP’s older dark rides.
I didn’t include Arthur, as it’s more of a coaster, but if I did, it would be right at the top end for sure; probably 2nd or so.
Sandman
Giga Poster
I haven't done all of the dark rides (sadly the fire was a month before my only visit, so Pirates was a complete no go).
However from the ones I have done (excluding the delightful Arthur) -
1. Voletarium
2. Geisterschloss
3. Fluch der Kassandra
4. Snorri Touren
5. Madame Freudenrich's Curiosities
I enjoyed Voletarium and Geisterschloss enough to re-ride whilst quiet.
The rest are one hitters.
However from the ones I have done (excluding the delightful Arthur) -
1. Voletarium
2. Geisterschloss
3. Fluch der Kassandra
4. Snorri Touren
5. Madame Freudenrich's Curiosities
I enjoyed Voletarium and Geisterschloss enough to re-ride whilst quiet.
The rest are one hitters.
Howie
Donkey in a hat
Good list that, an indeed excellent ranking of European dark rides, but, uhm.. I think you may have misread the topic title a wee bit.
Slamming Coastercore
Mega Poster
Having finished my 3rd trip to Europa this past weekend, whilst I must say that objectively Piraten in Batavia is the best dark ride at Europa; I had way more fun on Atlantis Adventure. The theming is decent, all the targets work (seemingly a rarity for shooty dark rides at the moment) and it practically never gets a line! Being able to ride easily makes for some great competition, so much so that @Serena & I could complete our "best of 3" shooty dark ride tradition with ease 
... I think you can guess the winner
... I think you can guess the winner 
uwurawrus
Roller Poster
Having just spent 3 days at Europa Park, I'd like to drop my thoughts on the park's dark ride lineup in order from least favourite to favourite!
11 | Jungle Rafts
Going to be honest I didn't know this was there. No thoughts.
10 | BENCH
Sorry. It's cute, but it just doesn't really do much. It's quite charming though!
9 | Geisterschloss
It's a fun dark ride and a very obvious clone of a certain Disney dark ride but I like it quite a bit better. Very dark and some nice sets and effects!
8 | Fluch der Kassandra
Cool madhouse with some weird effects in the seats that I'm not a great fan of. It's fine for what it is but the lack of a preshow really lets this ride down in my opinion. Much prefer the other madhouses I've experienced including the one other mack I've done, Le Defi de Cesar at Parc Asterix
7 | Atlantis Adventure
I'm not usually a fan of these shooting rides but I really like the sets in this one. Really good fun solid shooting ride!
6 | Voletarium
It's fine but I've done Flight of the Sky Lion and this didn't wow me nearly as much as that did. Good smells and visuals but the lack of storytelling loses me quite a bit. I want to see more of the owls, darnit! It's also nowhere near as intense as that is and didn't captivate me nearly as much.
5 | Piccolo Mondo
Such a cute little attraction and I love the birdie on the back of the ride vehicles! Cute soundtrack, cute sets, so so so charming I love it to bits.
4 | Snorri Touren
I LOVE SNORRI TO BITS HE'S SO CUTE
Cool ride with some really neat projection mapping and nice mix of screens and physical sets. I love the party scene, banging soundtrack and again I just love Snorri to bits.
3 | Piraten in Batavia
Such a gorgeous ride with gorgeous sets, great projection mapping and that otter thing is adorable. I love this thing; it's gorgeous!
2 | Madame Fruedenreich's Curiosities
I knew absolutely nothing about this ride going in but it's so so so charming and I love the cute little dinos and the birthday party thing going on! This ride is absolutely hecking adorable and caught me so off guard by how lovely it is.
1 | Eatrenalin
Eatrenalin is an absolutely incredible experience and while not in the park, I'm still going to include it on this list- it's unfair not to with how crazy good it is. Such a cool use of trackless dark ride technology to bring a one of a kind dining experience to life, I'm honestly in awe at the endless creativity that Thomas Mack had in realizing such an incredible project. Not only is this my favourite dark ride at Europa Park, but I think it might be my favourite dark ride in the world. It really is that good. Such an incredibly cool concept. I'm usually pretty picky with what I eat but when you combine fine dining with a trackless dark ride, audio, story, effects and ride vehicles that feel so so so modern... i'll eat anything. Food was spectacular. It probably is one of the best experiences in the world.
11 | Jungle Rafts
Going to be honest I didn't know this was there. No thoughts.
10 | BENCH
Sorry. It's cute, but it just doesn't really do much. It's quite charming though!
9 | Geisterschloss
It's a fun dark ride and a very obvious clone of a certain Disney dark ride but I like it quite a bit better. Very dark and some nice sets and effects!
8 | Fluch der Kassandra
Cool madhouse with some weird effects in the seats that I'm not a great fan of. It's fine for what it is but the lack of a preshow really lets this ride down in my opinion. Much prefer the other madhouses I've experienced including the one other mack I've done, Le Defi de Cesar at Parc Asterix
7 | Atlantis Adventure
I'm not usually a fan of these shooting rides but I really like the sets in this one. Really good fun solid shooting ride!
6 | Voletarium
It's fine but I've done Flight of the Sky Lion and this didn't wow me nearly as much as that did. Good smells and visuals but the lack of storytelling loses me quite a bit. I want to see more of the owls, darnit! It's also nowhere near as intense as that is and didn't captivate me nearly as much.
5 | Piccolo Mondo
Such a cute little attraction and I love the birdie on the back of the ride vehicles! Cute soundtrack, cute sets, so so so charming I love it to bits.
4 | Snorri Touren
I LOVE SNORRI TO BITS HE'S SO CUTE
Cool ride with some really neat projection mapping and nice mix of screens and physical sets. I love the party scene, banging soundtrack and again I just love Snorri to bits.
3 | Piraten in Batavia
Such a gorgeous ride with gorgeous sets, great projection mapping and that otter thing is adorable. I love this thing; it's gorgeous!
2 | Madame Fruedenreich's Curiosities
I knew absolutely nothing about this ride going in but it's so so so charming and I love the cute little dinos and the birthday party thing going on! This ride is absolutely hecking adorable and caught me so off guard by how lovely it is.
1 | Eatrenalin
Eatrenalin is an absolutely incredible experience and while not in the park, I'm still going to include it on this list- it's unfair not to with how crazy good it is. Such a cool use of trackless dark ride technology to bring a one of a kind dining experience to life, I'm honestly in awe at the endless creativity that Thomas Mack had in realizing such an incredible project. Not only is this my favourite dark ride at Europa Park, but I think it might be my favourite dark ride in the world. It really is that good. Such an incredibly cool concept. I'm usually pretty picky with what I eat but when you combine fine dining with a trackless dark ride, audio, story, effects and ride vehicles that feel so so so modern... i'll eat anything. Food was spectacular. It probably is one of the best experiences in the world.