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Phantasialand | F. L. Y. | Vekoma Launched Flying Coaster | 2020

I feel genuine sympathy for other parks in Europe when i look at what Phantasialand is doing. This park proves the formula for success is constant, well thought out investment. None of this papering over the cracks business, none of these half arsed rethemes and no bodged recycled rides just consistent high quality investment. And low and behold it ****ing works. I bet they are rolling in it. If Nick Varney ever visited i bet he'd hang his head in shame.

Can't wait to get back to this place.
 
What I do find fascinating is how different Phantasialand appears to be to other parks in Europe, and how different Europe appears to be compared to other regions in the world. I’ll try to give a few examples.

China – we’ve seen a huge amount of growth in China, but besides the odd ride here and there, they’re all reasonably similar. One or two big steel coasters, a big woodie, a handful of flats and some big shows, all with some reasonably good theming. It’s a formula that they mostly appear to stick to, and it works. Really well. There are loads of these parks seemingly being really successful and plenty more starting up. They’ve obviously hit a formula that works well.

UAE – similar to China, we’re seeing massive growth here, but again they’re all very similar parks. There will be environmental factors here too (i.e. it’s too ****ing hot most of the time), but look at the new parks out there. They’ve all got a couple of mid-size steel coasters (likely one or two clones), and a load of flats and simulators. They’re all fastened to big franchises (WB, Ferarri, Lego, Marvel, CN, DreamWorks, Lionsgate, etc), with a general focus on all round, family attractions. Again, a formula that seems to be working well.

USA, Florida – Florida is a bit different to the rest of the USA, with a very similar arrangement to the UAE (as I’ve touched on above). These parks are all competitively adding new rides, new areas and new themes. They’re clearly competing with each other, and it’s proving to be a good thing as we’re seeing some really nice investments from Harry Potter to Mako to Avatar.

USA, other – the regional parks in the USA are generally very different to the Florida parks. With a generally larger focus on big coasters, big numbers of coasters and midways. Whilst yes, they are all different, in a generic sense could you really identify the difference between most of them? Cedar Point – midways with large coasters on each side. Kings Island – midways with large coasters on each side. Carowinds – midways with large coasters on each side. Six Flags Magic Mountain - midways with large coasters on each side. They’re all basically the same. This is fine, as they’re catering for that market, but the promotional material for these parks often revolves around “tallest on the east coast”, “fastest in the south”, “wildest in the west”, meaning they’re clearly competing with each other. This is also helped by the big chains, driving massive amounts of investment.

I don’t feel like this is the case in Europe. There doesn’t appear to be very much competition, with parks like Phantasialand and… er… hmm… let’s just say Phantasialand, really leading the way. It’s interesting to see how far ahead of the curve Phantasialand are, and it’s clearly working as they’ve got bucket-loads of money to be spending on these upgrades and new rides/areas. I wonder why we don’t see other parks trying to compete with them? I think there are small glimmers of it happening here and there, but it really doesn’t feel like the other areas mentioned above.

Obviously, there are plenty of exceptions to these examples. Please don’t start saying “but what about Dollywood”, “but what about Shanghai Disneyland”, “but what about Disneyland Paris”, etc. :p

Ask people for the best park in the USA and I guarantee there’s a big debate to be had. Do the same in Europe? I doubt it…

Can’t wait for my visit in a few weeks!
 
River Quest is looking incredible. Love Phantasialand, continuously going above and beyond with their theming.

Very excited to see what they put on the site of the old simulator, that piece of land is huge.

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Glad they got rid of Race For Atlantis, I just remember standing in a small, hot room with 10 other people for 5+ minutes and then led onto an awful simulator...

Hoping for a new modern dark ride but whatever they put there, it'll be fab no doubt! River Quest is looking fab as everyone is saying already, can't believe how much better the entire ride looks. I might actually ride it again now that it looks all pretty, it's just a little too wet for my liking. I do love Phantasialand though, definitely still my No.1 park!

Hopefully they'll do something with Mystery Castle in the coming years. I love the ride anyway but if the main ride chamber had a little more to it I reckon it would be fabulous! But first, Feng Ju Palace and TOTNH need to be ripped out and thrown into a fire.
 
ROOKBURGH
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Rookburgh has been officially announced.
It will be a new steampunk themed area!
No word yet on what attractions will be inside.
 
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Thank **** for the new Chiapas entrance, got very lost trying to find it last time.
This park will be the death of me if it can continue to improve itself.
 
Phantasialand are just doing everything right at the moment.

Taron's only just opened and they're already cracking on with their next attraction.

A few other parks could learn a thing or two!




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Phantasialand doing steampunk is perfect. Very hyped. Look forward to keeping up to date via Tobi's insane digital recreation.

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So the park opened today for the summer season.
The new stall in Klugheim is called the Humpenbude and it sells cool beer from the keg and soft drinks.
River Quest's tunnel and lifts have received new audio. And in the tunnel are some water effects in the form of fountains alongside the side of the trough.
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The new River Quest entrance is not yet in use as the internal work isn't finished yet. No word when it will be finished.
Also it is believed that the sailing boat in the River Quest basin used to be Herr Loffelhardt's (the park's owner) private boat he kept in Lake Konstanz in south Germany.
 
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Phantasialand + Steampunk = THE ULTIMATE HEAVEN.

They really are going to do the theme justice, I can't wait to see what they come up with. Something in my mind is telling me that they're going to get a Flying Theatre style attraction for this area - it would fit quite well with the theme and I have faith that the park could work it into something amazing.
 
Phantasialand's final video in their Mission Off-Season is a look at the new River Quest. Some good shots and drone footage in the video.

I'm looking forward to seeing it for myself in a few weeks!!!
 
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^That's the same photo you posted a few hours earlier. :confused:
 
Oh my god, Steampunk is beyond perfect for Phantasialand. Even with high hopes, I'm sure they'll be blown out of the water.

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I don’t feel like this is the case in Europe. There doesn’t appear to be very much competition, with parks like Phantasialand and… er… hmm… let’s just say Phantasialand, really leading the way. It’s interesting to see how far ahead of the curve Phantasialand are, and it’s clearly working as they’ve got bucket-loads of money to be spending on these upgrades and new rides/areas. I wonder why we don’t see other parks trying to compete with them? I think there are small glimmers of it happening here and there, but it really doesn’t feel like the other areas mentioned above.

Obviously, there are plenty of exceptions to these examples. Please don’t start saying “but what about Dollywood”, “but what about Shanghai Disneyland”, “but what about Disneyland Paris”, etc. :p

Ask people for the best park in the USA and I guarantee there’s a big debate to be had. Do the same in Europe? I doubt it…

Can’t wait for my visit in a few weeks!
I feel like you kinda forgot Europa-Park in your calculation. If you ask for the best park Europe, you will probably end up with a debate whether EP or PL is better, because both are excellent parks, and compared to EP, Phantasialand is not that far ahead. I'd even say EP is ahead, if you just look at the visitor numbers.
 
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I feel like you kinda forgot Europa-Park in your calculation. If you ask for the best park Europe, you will probably end up with a debate whether EP or PL is better, because both are excellent parks, and compared to EP, Phantasialand is not that far ahead. I'd even say EP is ahead, if you just look at the visitor numbers.
Good point. I had overlooked Europa Park! Whilst you do make a valid point, I do wonder if Europa is generally ranked as highly as Phantasialand though? It may have high visitor numbers, but I suspect it's less well rated overall. I haven't been to Europa (or Phantasialand for that matter), but you don't often hear it praised for it's immersive theming? I've always pegged Europa Park as more akin to the better regional parks in the USA.
 
^While Phantasialand's individual rides are more themed, many feel that Europa Park has some better themed attractions and is a better themed park overall. They're two of the best themed parks in Germany, if not in the whole of Europe.
 
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