“WODAN” – name of the new wooden rollercoaster revealed and excellent results for the 2011 season, with far over 4 million visitors
Related: The Major New Theme Park Rides for 2012 / Great honour for Europa-Park: Roland Mack is the new Chairman of IAAPA
Europa-Park is ending its 37th season with excellent results once again and visitor numbers totalling far over four million.
As the new year gets off to a start, Europa-Park’s managing partners, Roland and Jürgen Mack, have also finally revealed the name of the new wooden rollercoaster: “WODAN -Timburcoaster”. This new high-tech rollercoaster is set to open at the start of the 2012 season on 31 March. “WODAN” was the name put forward shortly after Europa-Park’s official online call for ideas for a name for its new major attraction. It was a firm favourite among all those involved in the project right from the outset and was subsequently chosen from a final shortlist of potential names. The more than 1, 000-metre long and over 40-metre high wooden rollercoaster is the most state-of-the-art rollercoaster of its kind worldwide.
In addition to its new wooden rollercoaster, which can be seen from miles around, Europa-Park will also be opening its fifth themed hotel, “Bell Rock”, in summer 2012. The theme park’s new rollercoaster and new hotel, with more than 1, 000 beds, also represent the biggest ever investment in the history of the long-established family business. Roland Mack: “Our hotel resort has reached its capacity. After all, Europa-Park generates a total of more than 1.8 million overnight stays in the region every year.
The 35 metre-high lighthouse of the park’s new on-site 4-star superior hotel “Bell Rock” is symbolic: Europa-Park is both one of the biggest driving forces for jobs and the economy in Baden-Württemberg (the new hotel alone is creating 260 new jobs) and an absolute beacon for tourism throughout the Switzerland, France and Germany border region.
More and more visitors are spending increasingly more time at Europa-Park, and consequently also in the region, benefiting local shops and restaurants too. Guests staying several days spend on average around 2.3 days at Germany’s largest theme park. Scientific studies on visitors’ behaviour confirm top marks in quality for Europa-Park once again in 2011. Whether in terms of rides, shows, hotels or restaurants, Europa-Park’s growth goes hand in hand with highly satisfied visitors. An excellent example of this is “FoodLoop”, the world’s first looping restaurant, which opened at Europa-Park in 2011 and which guests love.
In addition, the first 4D film to be produced at Europa-Park, “The Secret of Balthasar Castle”, was seen by more than 150, 000 people within just the first few weeks. Due to the huge success of the film and to meet visitor and fan demand, the makers of the Mack Media film have decided to produce a summer version of the film which will be screened during the summer season 2012. In all reviews, Europa-Park continues to be praised for its family-friendliness: The new family attractions “Enchanted Forest” and “Volo da Vinci” are two of the theme park’s most popular attractions. The results of the visitor survey speak for themselves: 98% of all guests plan to return to Europa-Park, 70% of whom next season.
Furthermore, Europa-Park is attracting increasingly higher numbers of international visitors. After visitors from Germany, the majority of visitors to Europa-Park come from France and Switzerland – with just under one million visitors from each country. More Swiss visitors stay overnight at the Europa-Park Hotel Resort than at any other location in Germany. In particular in winter 2011, the percentage of French visitors on some days – sometimes totally over 60% – was significantly high, contributing considerably to the season’s excellent results. Europa-Park is also seeing increasing numbers of visitors from Austria, the Benelux countries and Arab countries.
The “Art at Europa-Park” series has also proven a highly popular winter event. The exhibition “Mobility”, featuring art-work by Alsatian artist Raymond E. Waydelich, has been the fifth large art exhibition to be held in recent years, attracting some 100, 000 visitors. A large number of Waydelich’s original paintings and drawings have been on show at the exhibition, alongside a wealth of hands-on activities for children.
With more than 5, 000 guests, Europa-Park was also the venue for one of the biggest New Year parties in south-west Germany. More than 10, 000 additional visitors also turned out to visit the park on the last day of the year.
Europa-Park’s gates will be closed until 31 March. The hotel resort, with its spa and wellness areas and restaurants, will, however, remain open and will also continue to be available out of season for conferences and corporate events, an area which has again seen high growth rates.
In the coming weeks, Europa-Park will host a number of major events, including the final of “Miss Germany”, which is taking place at Germany’s largest theme park for the tenth year now. In addition, the highly popular dinner show “Burlesque” will continue to run until 4 February.
The park will reopen for its summer season on 31 March 2012. Roland Mack: “We also have an extremely strong position internationally.” Europa-Park is one of the best theme parks in the world. A few weeks ago, the Managing Partner of Europa-Park was also the first German to be elected Chairman of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA). Some 4, 500 companies in more than 90 countries, generating a total annual turnover of over $30 billion, are represented by the organisation.
