To celebrate Europa-Park’s 50th Anniversary and their upcoming feature film releasing this summer focusing on park mascots Ed & Edda Germany’s largest theme park has officially opened a new interactive dark ride, Grand Prix EDventure.
Grand Prix EDventure is the world’s first Mack Rides Gameplay Theater attraction from Mack Rides and is located in the Luxembourg-themed area of the park.
This first-of-its-kind ride will be similar to the upcoming Ghostly Manor attraction opening at Paultons Park, UK in May.
During the experience, guests will become members of Ed & Edda’s racing crew and take place in a fast-paced car race around Europe.
Area and Queue-Line
After the usual grandiose ride opening ceremonies that Europa-Park are famous for which included fireworks and racing cars, we were greeted with a broadcasting van queue-line entrance which I think is a genius idea.
You step onboard the broadcasting truck and walk through to the other side. This new ride is in the same building which houses the rollercoaster restaurant (above) and the old Rulantica revolving theatre (below) which has been removed to make way for this particular ride.
As you exit the broadcasting truck you have to walk around the circumference of the round building to get to the entrance around the other side.
For me, as you walk around the outside of the building there isn’t much in the way of theming focused around the ride, you’re essentially walking around the outside of a building and whilst a few signs have been added saying ‘Backstage Area’ I didn’t feel immersed the second I stepped off the truck.
Whilst I get they’re trying to make it look like a backstage-type area it’s difficult to do so when you’re still outside knowing full well you need to head back indoors at some point during this walk.
Something like screens on the walls or even hanging from above with race commentators discussing the upcoming race or anything like that would have been a nice segway addition but as I write this review I must state that we got a very early preview of the ride so this could be something they add between now and its official opening date to the public which is later this month.
I can only review what I saw and this was the only queue-line issue I had because the second you walk into the main building you’re straight back into the beautiful designwork of Europa-Park artistry and craftsmanship as you enter the race workshop.
Lovingly created and with a beautiful full-scale replica of the car shown in the movie it’s such a lovely introduction to the ride and certainly starts that immersive process off once again that began inside the broadcasting truck.
When you approach the station you’re greeted with the new ride system but in terms of theming the workshop theming is now much more of a simplistic brickwork. I feel as though this is one area that they’re still working on (similar to the shop) so I can’t comment further on this as it was clearly not completed.
Once again, I must stress that we were seeing this ride VERY early indeed ahead of opening and this exclusive experience was certainly one I won’t be forgetting anytime soon.
Ride Experience
As the Mack Ride Gameplay Theatre revolves you around numerous screens you pull the back of the gun which launches digital projectiles on screen (think Toy Story Mania at Walt Disney World) these then tally up a score which is revealed at the end of the ride.
There were numerous screens but the ride system can be incorporated with physical sets too but Grand Prix EDventure was certainly a more screen-heavy attraction than I was anticipating.
An interactive ride system combined with the visuals certainly immerses you into the whole grand scheme of things but I did feel as though more physical sets could have been utilised within the ride experience to further compliment the immersion of the ride.
The Gameplay Theatre is smartly designed allowing a high capacity whilst revolving people through from scene to scene, it’s very clever and certainly does the job of aiding throughput quite wonderfully.
Overall
Grand Prix EDventure is certainly an improvement on the old Rulantica revolving theatre with state-of-the-art multimedia and a lovingly themed design that will transport guests to the heart of the feature film Grand Prix of Europe, a co-production between MACK Magic and Warner Bros. Film Productions Germany.
It’s a ride that firmly sits within the family demographic and is a fun ride to explore and enjoy as certainly more of a segway attraction within the park.
I feel as though with the film being released and with the Anniversary Europa-Park had to work extra fast to get the attraction ready and whilst there are some finishing touches still to be added I feel as though they have a nice little entry attraction here that is an improvement on what was there before.
The capabilities of the Gameplay Theatre are rather exciting and I’d be intrigued to see how Ghostly Manor at Paultons Park utilises the screen vs physical set balance compared to Europa-Park.
Grand Prix EDventure is more screen-heavy onboard the ride whereas I feel Paultons may want more of the physical sets balanced with screens in their iteration of the ride.
I want to express a warm embrace of gratitude to Europa-Park for allowing me to be a part of their 50th Anniversary celebrations and for letting us explore this attraction weeks before it opens to the public.
It’s a solid ride to promote the upcoming film release and I wait with baited breath to see the film in cinemas as the whole experience comes full circle (excuse the gameplay theatre pun).
For more information on Grand Prix EDventure please visit
https://www.europapark.de/en/theme-park/attractions/grand-prix-edventure
