Europa-Park (Germany) held a press conference earlier today to present their upcoming novelties, like they do every year near the start of the season. While the most time was spent on the new roller coaster Voltron Nevera and the redone Austrian area, both set to open soon, fans of Geisterschloss were not left in the dark either. The ghost train, which opened in 1982 as part of the Italian section, is currently undergoing an extensive renovation and 4 concept arts depicting new scenes were presented.
The main event of the press conference, a 15 minute video going over all of the highlights, could be viewed live on social media as well as on Europa-Park’s very own streaming service, Veejoy. It’s here where we get a good look at the presented concept arts. They promise a more sombre atmosphere, even more so than the attraction had upon opening. The accompanying voice over begins with: ”Fans of our infamous Geisterschloss (Ghost Castle) can look forward to a re-imagined spooky experience this summer.”
”In the venerable Palazzo of the Medici family, ghosts and other haunting creatures are sure to give goosebumps to visitors, big and small,” the narrator continues. Geisterschloss has always vaguely adhered to the theme of the Italian Renaissance, with explicit references to the De’ Medici family, a powerful dynasty of Italian descent, being added in 1996. Although in recent years the park has opted to somewhat neglect this theme and make it more child-friendly, it seems that with this re-imagining the Medicis will be put front and centre again.
All scenes presented depict figures and decor not yet present in the ride, proving the renovation is of a significant scale. It is currently not known how many or what scenes are being replaced. However, the concept arts do contain references to the existing ride. One artwork shows a painting which is present in one of the scenes. The monk-like figure with floating sphere somewhat resembles the character of Baba Yaga from Happy Family (added in 2016) found in the very first scene, possibly hinting at a reskin for this figure.
Europa-Park had hinted at wanting to refurbish Geisterschloss before. With a significant part of the park getting destroyed by a fire last year, this plan was seemingly pushed forward in the name of fire safety. In the weeks leading up to the closure, staff could be seen patrolling the insides of the ride, checking for anything suspicious. The original decors and animatronics were supplied by Heimo and the Omnimover system by Mack Rides will be kept intact. Europa-Park is set to open this Saturday, 23 March, but Geisterschloss will remain closed until sometime in the summer.
