Eurosat,
Europa Park
Europa
Park’s interpretation of France isn’t far wrong. It is completely
bedecked with delicate and ornate theming with cobbled streets and
street cafes.
The
pathway swoops dramatically over a rippling river, trimmed with wrought
iron railings, finished off with beautiful fountains.
What
is most unorthodox, however, is Eurosat, clearly the focal point of this
bustling area, but clearly something completely out of the ordinary. The
contrast between the fanciful Parisienne buildings and the spherical
silver orb of Eurosat is as spectacular as the ride itself.
Even
slow-witted visitors will see the similarities between Eurosat and Walt
Disney’s EPCOT globe, Spaceship Earth, although it would be foolish to
think that the inside harks these similarities.
A
fragile looking and almost skeletal conical archway supports a slowly
rotating globe with Euro Sat on a sash forms the entrance, with white
lights cascading down and across the street below.
In
the glow of an indigo blue neon Euro Sat sign, the queue swiftly
zig-zags to the main entrance.
Once
you’re let in, an escalator takes you into the building, with scenes
of astronauts in a space shuttle to your left. As if you’re at a NASA
space installation, you briefly queue inside a rather kitsch
interpretation of a space centre, with corrugated walls and a neon glow
of paladin lighting set into the ceiling.
Windows
look out into the stars and constellations outside, before you enter the
rather cramped station.
Here
it becomes apparent why the queue is so fast moving. Train number 7
rolls into the station, and departs with almost alarming haste.
Each
car seats two people meaning it is as bendy as the average slinky. The
sleek train is silver with an almost cylindrical front and restrains
excited cosmonaughts with individual lap bars.
Trains
come into the station with alarming frequency, and here is a good
example of German efficiency at it’s best, where before the train even
stops, the bars spring up and the gates open, and in less than
15-seconds, the train is dispatched.
Seated,
you will note that the seats are comfortable and the lap bar
unobtrusive. Legroom is adequate as opposed to generous, and if you have
long legs, your knees may rub against the padded front of the car.
Conditions
in space are reportedly choppy, so brace yourself as it will get rough.
The
train is dispatched not long after your bum touches the seat. Through an
archway into the gloom, the train pauses briefly. As if you’re on a
launch pad, an announcement tells us that the conditions on Jupiter are
stormy and that the temperature is 450-degrees.
Then,
a rich trance track crescendos as you are pulled onto a dark, spiral
lift. A cylindrical centre drags the train up, meaning that you pass the
wall on your left as the wall on your right follows you.
It
is dark, but the atmosphere is electric with upbeat German dance music
accompanying your hasty climb into deepest space.
At
the top, like an explosion of glitter, the darkened atmosphere bursts
into a glittery green light, and dulcet American tones count down from
five… four… three… two… one…
You
are thrown to the left and dive down in a perpetual spiral, coiling down
through the inky blackness throughout delicate white stars. The train
tightly snakes down through every turn, getting sharper and sharper.
As
you wonder whether this descent continues, an almost implausibly sharp
right hand turn sends you careering back in the opposite direction, once
again lunging down almost without end.
Again,
spectacular green lasers engulf the inside of the sphere in a delicate
twinkle before you skim through some mid-course brakes. These hardly
hinder the phenomenal pace, and you spiral towards meteors below.
You
slalom above these stricken balls of rock, before a swooping turn sends
you violently diving down and slicing right through the centre of these
black-lit obstacles.
The
ride gets quite violent at this point, the train shunting fiercely from
left to right as meteors pass on your left, right and above your fragile
skull. A climbing turn to the left offers respite as you climb back into
the darkness above, before another turn sends you through yet more
meteors.
Not
as violent, but hardly dull, once again you are thrown in all directions
as you avoid collision. A final and surprisingly sharp turn takes you
into a light tunnel, funnelling in on the train as you abruptly stop on
the final brakes and return to the station.
You
haven’t even left the station and the train is leaving the station
again as you walk quickly down the exit ramp and onto the escalator
down, turning to the left and passing through the shop.
Euro
Sat is close to being a perfect ride. The theming is a slightly
stereotypical interpretation of the future, but the spherical building
the ride is crammed into goes to prove that this rather brassy theming
is just as easily dated as Disney World’s Space Mountain and not
because of Europa cutting corners.
Euro
Sat is epic. Like many of Europa’s rides, music goes hand-in-hand to
create a completely immersive experience, this time combining some
startling lighting effects and a fast, attention-grabbing roller
coaster.
Lighting
effects abound. From delicate white stars twinkling above, to a rolling
plethora of lasers, the lighting effects are hardly missed by riders,
but are careful not to intrude on the darker sections of the ride.
The
meteors interact well with the flow of the coaster. You dive down into
them, and the train effectively jolts from left to right. It is hardly
smooth, but with only a lap bar, is 20-miles away from the town of
Discomfort.
The
ride delivers quality almost undiscovered by mankind.
The
coaster is fast, well paced, forceful and unrelenting. The downward
spiral to the right is beautifully highlighted by the sharp whip into
the opposing direction, and the scenery perfectly compliments the ride.
With
the ride being so steeped in highlights, and with such power until the
brakes, as an almost perfect example of a dark coaster, Eurosat is
almost everything we expect from a quality coaster.
MS Undated
Good points:
▪ Fast and frantic
pacing
▪ Music and lifthill
really set the mood
▪ Very high capacity,
and well operated
▪ Really sharp turns and
great special effects throughout
Bad points:
▪ Can be rough in places
▪ Not much legroom on
the trains
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