Scandinavia & Holland - Europa-Park (DE)
As you probably know, yesterday Europa-Park fell victim to a fire. The darkride Piraten von Batavia in Holland and Scandinavia's shopping street can be considered a complete loss. Because I visited the park, of course including the areas Holland and Scandinavia, I thought it would be fitting to discuss what once was.
Firstly I have to confess I did not ride Piraten von Batavia myself, but I watched some onride videos and of course I walked trough the area it is in. As someone who is from The Netherlands, it is very interesting to see a great level of detail in the area. Altough it is mostly based on stereotypical villages in the province of North-Holland, it is a nice 'gezellig' (cozy) area. Also the shopping hallway towards Scandinavia is spot on! The floor tiles taking the cake for being just like all floor tiles all over late 1900s shopping walkways near our beaches. As I mentioned, I did not ride Piraten von Batavia, but from what I can see in videos, it was a nice classic darkride and when I heard the ride caught fire, I was speechless.
While the fire was not under control yet, the Fire spread to the wooden buildings in Skandinavia. We walked trough many times during our visit and every time the atmosphere of this small street improved our day and appreciation for Europa-Park. The houses in this street and the façades next to Fjord Rafting made for one of the nicest skylines and one of the nicest areas in the park.
For the future I hope both areas will be restored to their former glory. For Piraten von Batavia, there might not be such a nice future, since it was an old and outdated ride, it will most likely not be rebuilt and probably replaced by one or two newer rides.
For now my thoughts are with the Mack family. They had to deal with a great setback, it is not easy when something this bad happened to your life work. Europa-Park is doing great and will come back from this tragedy better then before. They will recover and move on being one of the best theme parks in the world!