We slept in our 2nd day because the part didn't open until 11am which was WONDERFUL. We got some much needed extra sleep & played some board games as a family before the park opened at 11. Then we walked to the entrance like we did the day before (our hotel was a 4 minute walk to the park.)
Again, our first ride of the day was a car ride. The boys loved this one.
The boys found a really big shark in Norway that they had to get a picture with.
The big kids LOVED the Blue Fire roller coaster. Trek rode it first with them while I played with the smaller kids at one of the playgrounds, & then we swapped. It was a crazy fun coaster. It had the most upside downs & loops of any ride in the park. We loved it.
After riding the big roller coasters again we headed to the side of the park we hadn't even explored yet. We couldn't wait to see Spain!
Every single land had open fires. It's hilarious to me because in America, that would be a lawsuit waiting to happen, but in Europe it's a great way to warm up & meet other people as well. We loved taking time to warm our hands throughout the day.
In Spain there was a fun ice palace. When we walked in, the sheer freezing cold air hit us & we almost didn't go. It was FREEZING inside. But we bundled up & explored & we're glad we did. It was a whole castle made of ice full of amazing ice sculptures. The kids loved it.
So there were a few rides in Spain, but they were very "small kid" rides so we almost skipped some of them. Never ever judge a book (or a ride) by it's cover. There was one called the Christopher Columbus ride that looked like a bunch of little kid boats that went around in a circle. . . we almost skipped it, but Canyon really wanted to ride it so we rode it. HOLY COW YOU GUYS. This was the absolute best ride in the entire park. We rode it three times in a row & even then the kids were crying that they wanted to ride it more. Trek & I were even getting into it. You have to watch the videos. . . the first one was the first time we rode it & Trek was videoing because he totally thought it was a calm little boat ride that went around in circles, I love hearing the surprise in everyone's voices when the boats started spinning!
It started out innocent enough, boats going up & down in a circle, but then the room gets dark & stars appear on the ceiling & then all of a sudden the boats go REALLY fast & when you spin the steering wheel of your boat, you start spinning in circles. There's a castle to your right with fountains & a castle wall is projected on your left side. We soon realized there was a button in the boats that shot cannons at the castle & walls. . . so while you're spinning at high speeds & spinning in circles, THEN you get to shoot targets with the cannons & destroy the castle & it's walls. Towards the end of the ride, the whole thing is on fire while thunder & lightning go nuts above you. It's quite the sensory experience & really truly we could have just ridden this ride for the rest of the day & been completely happy. If you ever go to Europa Park
RIDE CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS!!!
We made our way through the Netherlands & stopped to ride the swings. Canyon was very unsure of this one until we got going, then he loved it. It was raining so we were getting some pelting rain in the face, but we still had a blast.
After the swings we rode the BIG pirate ship.
I loved all the playgrounds scattered throughout the park. It allowed the kids a break from rides & let them be creative on their own a little bit.
Back behind the Netherlands & Spain we found the cutest little storybook village where all of Grimm's Storybook characters lived. Each building celebrated a different fairy tale.
Trek liked the gold spitting donkey
Cadence even got a visit from the prince!
"If the shoe fits!"
Tucked behind the storybook village we found a whole other section of the park we hadn't been to yet. The whole area was based on the cartoon "Arthur" (the cartoon where the kid shrinks to the size of bugs). The roller coaster there was a ton of fun & even Taya rode it with us & enjoyed it.
We also ate there in the Arthur area. I had some fabulous Goulasch Soup & the kids had pizza & sandwiches. We also got a gross green drink from a giant fly.
The boys were obsessed with the drop ride. They rode it too many times to count just because there was no line. They thought it was SO much fun.
Lorien & Bladen wanted to ride that dreaded wet Poseidon ride again so we let them. Trek got a great video of them getting wet:
Next we decided to go tubing on the snow. It's been a while since my kids have seen real snow so they LOVED this.
After sledding it started getting dark fast, so we made our way back to France & re-rode a few of our favorites on our way back. We wanted to ride the big tower in France at night so we could see all the lights in the park from above. It was beautiful.
Amazingly, from the tower we found a HUGE set of slides in an area we hadn't found yet, so we ran quickly to that side of the park & played on the slides for a bit before heading out of the park for good.
On our way out, there was a sweet lady trying to get a gaggle of geese off the pathway. It was quite funny actually.
And the Christmas market was beautifully lit as we left the park. So many twinkle lights.
We loved Europa Park. It was definitely one of the best Thanksgiving vacations we've ever had. We can't wait to go back again someday.
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