Movie Park Germany is a theme park located in western Germany that hosts many highly themed areas, rides and other attractions themed to well known TV shows and movies from over the years. With the park undergoing many ownership changes over the time of its existence, the park has had big names such as Warner Bros. assisting and owning the park. The park now is owned by an entertainment company which operates multiple other parks across the world.
We were kindly invited over by Movie Park Germany to come experience what they have to offer. We were shown some of the top attractions within the park, and told about some of the new developments happening later in 2019 whilst having our exploring time to see the park in it's normal operations.
Themed areas
The park has seven themed areas throughout the whole park, it was great to see how each area was completely different to the next giving great variety. Starting with the The Hollywood Street set as you walk through into the park, all the way through to Nickland, The Old West & Santa Monica Pier! The park is very photogenic in these areas with very clear themeing as you enter that part of the park to an obvious change as you leave that area to enter the next area.
We very much enjoyed all the areas of the park and it would be extremely hard to pick the best in our opinion. They all worked in their own individual ways and how the park has kept these clear divides of the park is impressive in it's own entity.
Star Attractions
The park is known for a handful of star attractions which we had to try out. With them having some incredible opportunities whilst working in partnership with AMC for The Walking Dead, Star Trek by CBS & newer themes such as 20th Century Fox & Nickelodeon!
Star Trek Operation Enterprise is one of these key rides. A Mack Rides launch coaster which opened in 2017 featuring a triple launch and three inversions. Based on the TV series Star Trek, the pre-shows and queue line take you through a story of what the ride experience will be like and giving the ride a whole completed themed experience. Our favourite ride we experienced at Movie Park Germany, it was great to ride one of the best Mack Rides created within Europe with a well known theme. Regardless if you know the theme, you could understand the story and some of the sets & characters. For people who don't enjoy the whole storyline experience, the ride itself was well worth the wait.
Van Helsing's Factory was our second favourite ride at Movie Park Germany. A dark ride created by Gerstlauer which opened with the iconic theme back in 2011 after it was re-themed from a previous attraction. Based on the theme of Van Helsings adventure of vampire hunting, guests get to join the adventure as they are recruited on the vampire hunt.
This highly themed dark ride is another completed experience from the outside of the warehouse, through to the queue line to getting on the ride. The queue line features multiple special effects such as a story being broadcasted on an immersive screen and strobe lights, which create an atmosphere and dark vibe before getting on the ride.
The ride itself is highly themed with so many different outstanding elements within. From a few interactive boards, animatronics, themed sets and segments of the ride in pitch darkness! All of this perfectly designed to create a terrifying Van Helsing experience to capture the vampire hunting story through a dark ride attraction.
The last attraction we wish to highlight would be The Walking Dead: Breakout. An upcharge all-year round horror attraction featured on the well known TV series, The Walking Dead. For €6 per person, you get to experience this through selected times everyday through the season at Movie Park Germany!
The attraction includes many authentic sets and scenes from the well loved TV show before Negan was introduced. Lasting around 4-5 minutes, the attraction hosted multiple actors within these scenes using a mixture of well timed random scares along with an American vibe of timed scares using lights & sounds, which could be reset.
We would compare this to Thorpe Parks Walking Dead Living Nightmare horror attraction, we would say it was not as intense however, the themeing was on another level of detail here at Movie Park. Overall, if you spent the money to experience this horror attraction, you would not be dissapointed!
Shows
Movie Park Germany includes many shows which can take up a big portion of your day if you wanted it to. With multiple meet & greets, music shows and much more, we have highlghted everything that we enjoyed and watched during our time at the park!
Looney Tunes 4D - Roadrunner & Wile e Coyote is the 4D show at the park. Using no words, this universal translated show can be enjoyed by all guests regardless of age and language. A nostalgic cartoon has been brought up to date in this attraction which has to be one of the most extreme 4D cinema's we've experienced. Using all of the typical effects you can find in these cinemas, timed perfectly with a high quality animation.
Another show that you should not miss is the park's parade. A short but powerful parade the park put on once a day, allows you to meet all the characters the park has to offer including several themed vehicle and characters included in all the themes the park has. All of this is captured with a catchy Movie Park Germany soundtrack that is played around the route of the parade.
The must see stunt show was one we were highly advised to watch. The award winning Crazy Cops stunt show, set in it's own arena of the park included multiple stunts and effects to put on a 30 minute show. When we walked in the arena, it did not look like anything overly impressive, with a quite small set space being available for all the stunts it would seem. Regardless of the space, the show surprisingly included so many stunts, effects and cars all packed with comedy and awe as we watched. We were super impressed by all of the hidden effects which you couldn't even think would happen when you first looked at the set and how many cars the park use in this stunt show!
Please note, the park host more shows on a weekend and during the holidays than on weekdays so therefore, timings and availability do change. We recommend to check before visiting to know the times however, these are easily shown around the park and given to you upon entry.
New for 2019
2019 at Movie Park Germany is an exciting year. As much as they have no new thrilling attractions being launched, the park is getting a new exciting partnership with Nickelodeon! PAW Patrol is the next big theme the park have launched with an exciting new themed section within the Nickland section of the park.
PAW Patrol coming to the park means you will be able to Meet & Greet the characters from the well loved kids TV show. Attractions being added will be a new playing area with some key themeing elements that will be noticeable from the show. Alongside this, PAW Patrol Adventure Tour will be the ride added to the area, which is a family adventure through some of the themed sets on a set track.
PAW Patrol Adventure Bay is expected to open in May 2019 with our last visit showing it almost ready for completion!
Also new for 2019 but launching slightly later (scheduled for June), Area 51 - Top Secret is a retheme of the water ride which recently closed called Bermuda Triangle. Not much work can be seen, though a large portion of the ride is inside, and not too much can be found out about this exciting re-theme however, we will have to wait and see what this re-theme will bring!
Overall, Movie Park Germany blew our minds with how everything came together. From the large selection of rides, to the offering of quality shows and the themed areas, we loved it. With every park, there is of course things that could be improved to increase enjoyment even more, which you can put aside depending on what you are after from the park. The operations were not as fast as some people would like leaving re-rides potentially impossible if you had planned to get everything else in the park done, as the queues would build even on a quieter day. Also, some areas of the park need some attention to bring it up to the high quality standard & condition of the other areas of the park.
With all of this said, the park is truly enjoyable, and certainly doesn't lack thrills. From all of the other attractions included that we did not mention, such as the stand up drop tower to the wooden monster, Bandit, as well some interesting dark rides, the park does offer a full and thrilling day out for the teenage to adult market, alongside a strong fun family offering for everyone.
We would like to thank Movie Park Germany for allowing us to visit and showing us in detail some of the outstanding attractions they have. We cannot wait personally to visit again and with another exciting Halloween season in store for them, we might have to see how this compares to other European / UK events we cover!
If you wish to visit Movie Park Germany which we would recommend if you have not been before, then head over to their website for further information. You can do so by clicking on the image below!
