Holiday Park, Germany

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Holiday Park
Holiday Park logo.svg
Holiday Park - Eingang.jpg
Entrance of Holiday Park
LocationHaßloch, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Coordinates49°19′11″N 8°17′41″E / 49.31972°N 8.29472°E / 49.31972; 8.29472Coordinates: 49°19′11″N 8°17′41″E / 49.31972°N 8.29472°E / 49.31972; 8.29472
OwnerPlopsa
Opened1971
Area40 Ha
Attractions
Total38
Roller coasters3
Water rides5
WebsiteOfficial website
Holly the Parrot - former park mascot

Holiday Park is an amusement park in Haßloch, Germany, owned and operated by Plopsa. It is one of Germany's most popular theme parks (receiving about 660,000 visitors per year) and is part park and part woodland.

History[]

Family Schneider[]

In 1970 the Schneider family bought the Märchenwald Haßloch, a fairytale forest. The family had a Liliputan Circus for several generations, where people could watch other people with dwarfism. The purchase allowed the family to give the circus a permanent place and the renewed park opened in 1971 with the Liliputaner town, a dolphin show, a Wild Mouse rollercoaster and a fairytale village.[1] The park was renamed Holiday Park in 1973. Initially the park covered 70,000 m², but nowadays it has grown to 400,000 m². The park grew - over the decades that it was run by the Schneider family - to become the seventh largest amusement park in Germany.[2] Under the family's leadership Germany's first Rapid River and Free Fall Tower opened. In the autumn of 1996 the Liliputaner town closed.[1]

Plopsa[]

In November 2010 Plopsa announced that it would take over Holiday Park. After the takeover of the park various characters from E.M. Entertainment - such as Maya the Bee, Tabaluga and Vic the Viking - were introduced, E.M. Entertainment has been part of Studio 100 since 2008. With the arrival of the Studio 100 characters in 2011 the old park mascot Holly the Parrot gradually disappeared from the park, however he made a comeback in 2016 at the 45th anniversary of the park.[3] With the acquisition Plopsa announced that it would invest €25 million in the park over a period of 4 years. The park received a renewed entrance in 2011, an outdoor Majaland with restaurant in 2012/2013, the Sky Scream rollercoaster from Premier Rides and a re-theming of the Teufelsfässer to Vic the Vicking in 2014 and Sky Fly in 2015.[2]

In 2018 the park opened Holiday Indoor - a hall with a theater and 7 attractions - themed after Heidi, Tabaluga and Mia & Me at a total cost of €10 million.

Future[]

In 2019 Plopsa announced that they were investing another €25 million in Holiday Park over a period of 5 years, with the investment they want to transform the park into a multi-day destination with more than 1 million visitors per year. Part of the plan is to transform the Rapid River into Dino Splash in 2020, build a Viking village with a Splash Battle & Disk'o Coaster in 2021 and open a hotel in 2024.[4]

In addition, Plopsa has the wish to open a Plopsaqua. For this the group approached the municipality of Haßloch to do this together with them, similar to their water parks in Belgium. However, the proposal was voted down by the population in a referendum. Plopsa then submitted an amended proposal, but this plan could not count on a majority as well.[5] In an interview with Plopsa Fans, Steve van der Kerkhof (CEO Plopsa) indicated that he still had the desire for a water park, but that at that time the group was focusing on the indoor park that opened in 2018.[6]

Attractions[]

Expedition GeForce

Roller coasters[]

Water rides[]

  • Dinosplash (until 2020 called "Donnerfluss")[7]
  • Tanzenden Fontänen
  • Rieseneimer
  • Tulpen-Splash
  • Plitsch-Platsch
  • Wickie Splash

Thrill rides[]

  • Annubis Free Fall Tower, Intamin Drop Tower
  • Lighthouse tower, Funtime Skyflyer
  • Majas Blumenturm, Flying Carousel
  • Verrückter Baum, Zamperla Rockin' Tug
  • Sky Fly, Gerstlauer Sky Fly
  • Die große Welle, Zamperla Disk'o Coaster
  • Bounty Tower, Huss Condor (closed in 2014)
  • Spinning Barrels, Huss Breakdance (closed in 2014)
  • Sturmschiff, Huss Pirate Ship (closed in 2020)
  • Wellenhopser (closed in 2020)

Family rides[]

  • Antikes Pferdekarussell
  • Bienchenwirbel
  • Burg Falkenstein
  • Laras Marienkäferflug
  • Schmetterlingsflug
  • Willies Flossfahrt
  • Splash Battle
  • Tabalugas Abenteuer (closed in 2017)

Child rides[]

  • Flip der Grashüpfer
  • Die Frösche
  • Holly’s Fahrschule (closed in 2019)

Trivia[]

  • Plopsa made a bid for the Air Force One to place it in Holiday Park. However, the offer was rejected as the plane was not allowed to leave the United States.[8]
  • The BigFM Expedition GeForce rollercoaster has received multiple awards, including the Golden Ticket Award for best roller coaster in Europe from Amusement Today magazine and several times the title of best rollercoaster in the world via Internet Coaster Poll.[9]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Krause, Till (2013-07-01). "Die »Liliputaner-Stadt« im pfälzischen Holiday-Park und ihre Bewohner". SZ Magazin (in German). Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "Plopsa koopt Duits pretpark". Het Belang van Limburg (in Dutch). Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  3. ^ Freizeitparks, 13 Januar 2016 von Thomas Frankin Deutsche; News, Freizeitpark; News, Top. "Holiday Park-Maskottchen „Holly" feiert 2016 zum 45. Parkjubiläum sein Comeback". Parkerlebnis.de (in German). Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  4. ^ "Plopsa Group kondigt investering van meer dan 25 miljoen in Duitse Holiday Park aan". Plopsa News (in Dutch). Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  5. ^ "Plopsa senkt Preis für Schwimmbad-Kooperation mit Gemeinde um 7,5 Mio. Euro". Plopsa News (in German). Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  6. ^ Wasserpark Haßloch: Interview mit Steve van den Kerkhof, retrieved 2021-04-06
  7. ^ "Homepage Holiday park". Holiday Park. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
  8. ^ "Plopsa mag Air Force One niet kopen". Algemeen Dagblad. 2013-05-13. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  9. ^ "bigFM Expedition GeForce". Holiday Park (in Dutch). Retrieved 2021-04-06.

External links[]

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