Bet that at the beginning of summer you asked yourself: “Hey honey, aren’t we taking the kids to the amusement park this year? » After a quick look at the budget, it’s clear that the whole family will be riding the roller coaster. Yes, but which ones? Thanks to a remote control from RMC Découverte, you might think of crossing the German border to discover Europa-Park this Tuesday evening.
The channel is dedicating a new issue of its Mega Loisirs: Constructions XXL magazine, which was shot for ten days last May, to this park created in 1975, which today covers almost a hundred hectares of land divided into fifteen European districts such as Iceland, Portugal and Greece… Or even France if you don’t want to be too out of place. A total of one hundred attractions have been tested by the 120 million visitors who have walked the aisles since opening.
Two million nails for a single attraction
The park, which has been voted best amusement park six years in a row, was originally intended to be a showroom presenting the innovations of the Mack Rides company, founded by… the Mack family. Roland, 73, laid the foundations of the park with his father in the 1970s and looks back on that time when Europa-Park didn’t show the same level of ambition as it does today. Back then there were only fifteen acres in the country and a few drives away from the thrills offered by the Silver Star.
Thanks to archival footage, viewers will learn how the park looked more than forty years ago. For example, we will observe the old handcars of the Enzian Alpen Express, which have been revitalized thanks to virtual reality, but also the construction of the quarters. The first inauguration was dedicated to Italy and it took seven years to see the light of day in 1982. We couldn’t afford them at first,” says Roland Mack in the report.
This documentary might also reassure people who think they may be ejected mid-air during a loop. Magnetic field, energy, magnets, the mechanical principles that work in attractions like Blue Fire are explained. Is it more the wooden aspect of Wodan that scares you? You might change your mind when you count the two million nails or see the maintenance workers at work. They take place twice a day from six in the morning, with technicians checking each wheel on the trains.
Under the waves of Rulantica
The documentary also focuses on Rulantica, the latest project that sprung up in 2019 with a twenty meter high hall, thirty slides and the largest wave pool in Germany in a universe inspired by Nordic mythology. What visitors don’t see, however, is the subterranean world where they can swim, jump and splash around in water that is at least 30 degrees warm all year round.
Twenty experts take care of the maintenance of the site, which can count in particular on an underground water reservoir from the Rhine Valley, an almost inexhaustible source. “We have around 6,000 cubic meters of water, which may seem like a lot, but thanks to our water technology system we can reuse 80% of it, which is the legal limit. We could technically do more, but German law requires us to bring in 20% new water,” testifies Michael Kreft von Byern, Managing Director of Rulantica.
On the other hand, if you go to the water park, you may develop a new phobia: that of seeing a trap door that opens under your feet when you take a shower, like the Vildfål attraction. Not practical in everyday life.