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Eifelpark

Gondorf, Germany

“Typical German family theme park with beautiful setting”

More often than not, my focus is on large theme parks with spectacular rides. Yet, sometimes I also enjoy visiting a smaller-scale amusement park. That’s why we drove to the German village of Gondorf, where we spent a beautiful summer afternoon at Eifelpark. You’ll find Eifelpark just 50 kilometres east of the Belgian border, and the driving time between Brussels and the park is just two hours and thirty minutes. Therefore, it doesn’t come as a surprise that we see loads of Belgian (and Dutch) license plates in the parking lot. But… what are all these tourists from the Benelux actually looking for here?

ROLLER COASTERS

On its website, Eifelpark likes to brag with the fact that they offer “more than 60 attractions”. While that sounds impressive, we soon notice that they are getting creative with the word attraction. According to Eifelpark, the Main Street is an attraction. Even a diorama with two bear animatronics counts as a separate attraction on the park map. One of the first larger rides we encounter, is Eifel-Coaster. This is a Wiegand Alpine Coaster, a very common attraction in Germany nowadays. I really regret the fact that old-fashioned rodelbahn tracks are becoming increasingly rare, but this modern version is a worthy successor. And since the vehicles on these Alpine Coasters are attached to the rails, it’s also a lot safer. Eifel Coaster turned out to be an excellent version, by the way. The track length is decent and we managed to achieve a good speed. Nice!

Mice and worms… Nobody seems interested in having these animals in their house. Things are different in the amusement park industry, as the Wild Mouse and Wacky Worm are incredibly popular roller coaster models. Eifelpark bought them both and placed these rides in a pirate-themed land, where they’re known as Käpt’n Jacks Wild Mouse and Eifelpark-Blitz. In both cases, theming is limited to the (sparsely) decorated vehicles. However, the wild mouse managed to surprise us with its ride experience, as its mid course brakes were completely turned off. Vehicles were flying through the layout at a scorching pace and the typical hairpin turns suddenly felt very intense.

OTHER EXPERIENCES

Eifelpark offers a large number of flat rides and most of them are standard versions. There’s one notable exception with the name Seeräubers Kanonenritt. This carousel is located in a two-metre-deep pit and we initially didn’t understand why. When it began to turn, however, we discovered that riders are able to drive their vehicles against the side wall with a steering wheel. By doing this, the vehicles may reach an incline angle of up to 60 degrees, so it looks quite spectacular. The Eifelpark website states that Seeräubers Kanonenritt is unique in the world, but I sincerely hope that more parks will soon purchase a similar attraction from manufacturer Inno-Heege.

Another noteworthy flat ride is Platzhirsch, a 50-metre-tall Booster. The ride’s motors can clearly be heard throughout the park, so we suspected it to be a rather powerful machine. Our thoughts were immediately confirmed once Platzhirsch started to spin. The gondolas reach a top speed of 90 kilometres per hour and riders are subject to forces of nearly 4g. This is undoubtedly the most intense and thrilling attraction at Eifelpark, but please avoid it if you’re prone to motion sickness.

If you’re visiting Eifelpark on a hot summer day, two water rides may help to cool off. Those are Gondorfer Piratenschlacht (a Splash Battle) and Wildwasserbahn Pirateninsel. This log flume once travelled between German funfairs and little effort was made to hide that. Well on the contrary: when I look at photos from the past, Pirateninsel seemed to have more theming on the fairgrounds than it has now. Nonetheless, it is a fine water attraction that provided the refreshing splash we needed.

WORTH A VISIT?

Eifelpark made a fine impression. Despite the lack of world-class theming and extraordinary entertainment, the park turned out to be a lot larger and more versatile than expected. They may not have the 60 attractions they advertise with, but there’s a lot to do nevertheless. The number of family-friendly flat rides is incredible and Eifelpark also offers a medium-sized animal park, which is included in regular admission. Therefore, I believe that a family with young children could spend a whole day here. For amusement park fans, Eifelpark is just a nice stopover on the way to other German parks.

Have you been able to visit Eifelpark yet? And what’s your favorite attraction? Feel free to leave a message in the comments section at the bottom of this page.

This article reflects my personal experience at Eifelpark during a visit in July 2024.