What's new in Europe's theme parks this month?

September 21, 2018, 12:44 PM · Two of Europe's top theme parks have opened new attractions this month.

Germany's Europa Park has opened Eurosat CanCan Coaster, a redesigned and reimagined version of the former Eurosat. An indoor coaster in a giant geodesic dome that looks awfully familiar to Epcot fans, the new CanCan Coaster theme celebrates the Moulin Rouge and Paris of the 19th century. But it's still a decided modern experience, with riders having the option of either the Eurosat CanCan Coaster or the virtual reality Eurosat Coastiality experience, on the same track.

For the VR option, which is themed to Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, Europa Park is attempting to address the typical load time and capacity concerns by creating a separate entrance and queue. Riders who choose VR will don the headsets in a preshow area, where the VR presentation will start. During the presentation, they will walk to a separate load area to board the coaster. Europa Park is using a track switch to load from two stations, like Disneyland does on Space Mountain for traditional and disabled-access loading, for example. This way, the VR crew can take the time it needs without slowing the ride's through-put for those who aren't riding with VR.

As for the coaster, it's a rebuilt Mack Rides production, using much the same layout as before, but with new trains and theming. You can see some on-ride video of the old and new versions, along with the VR production, in this "making of" video from the park. (It's in German.)

Over at Efteling in The Netherlands, Theme Park Insider readers' favorite theme park is now hosting a new separately-ticketed production at its Efteling Theatre, CARO. Themed to the park's Stoomcarrousel (steam carousel), the production features acrobatics, special effects, and music... but almost no dialogue, as to accommodate visitors from many countries with different native languages.

"Producing a theatre show in which speech and language are subordinate was a real challenge. Fortunately, the music composed especially for CARO by René Merkelbach creates a storyline that is easy to relate to and understand," Olaf Vugts, Creative Director, said in a release from the park.