He have plenty of bad news lately. Trump news. Ukraine news. Earthquakes, famines and wars. Now it’s time for some good news. Europe is on the verge of a big increase in fun courtesy of the people who build those crazy theme parks. From Poland to the United Kingdom, there are new and or improved parks for you and your kids to visit.
And by the way, this post will be updated through 2025.
The big trend we see this year is the move to indoor parks, which we believe to be driven by several factors including Global Warming, 12-month revenue instead of a limited summer season, a lower cost of construction, the emergence of advanced VR technologies and too many conventional theme parks and water parks across Europe.
Let’s start with new parks and rides opening and move to the conceptual.
Bommelwereld
This indoor theme park with its own castle has been promised for quite some time. But this being in the Netherlands, we can be a bit more certain Bommelwereld will actually open on the announced date of October, 2025. Plus Dutch local media are full of updates, so the developers appear to be working overtime, which doesn’t happen very often here.
Bommelwereld is based on Dutch comic characters Tom Poes, who is a cat, and Ollie B.Bommel, who is a very wealthy American bear (we’re not making this up) living in a castle. Which the developers – family-owned Marveld Recreatie – have built on-site. The 90,000 square feet are filled with rides and game Cearly, this Disney-inspired park is going to be a destination for the smaller kids.
This is totally a Dutch thing, but if you are expats living in the Netherlands with small children and they’re fluent in Dutch, they probably know these characters. The Dutch love their theme parks and their legends, fantasy characters and warm culture. This will be a big family draw, mark our words.
Groenlo itself is a tourist destination, a quaint fortified town with lots of cycling and outdoor activities in far eastern Netherlands on the German border.
Hossoland
Pruszcz, Poland
The British tabloids are raving over this new 2 billion pound theme park on the northern coast of Poland about a three-hour drive from Berlin. Now, here’s the thing: Hossoland was announced in 2017. Since then, who knows what happened, but it doesn’t look like much. Photos on the Hossoland website show half-complete rides and as of 15 January, it was a construction site covered in snow.
But owners are sticking to the opening date of 31 May.
The park will be centered around a lighthouse and its attractions are inspired by local Baltic legends and fairytales. Plans call for 50 rides on 4.3 million square feet, or 91 acres (400,000 meters2) and attractions across four themed areas.
The centerpiece will be a rollercoaster that towers 176 feet in the air and reaches speeds of 72mph/115kmph. You can see updates on construction here.
Disneyland Paris
Paris, France
Speaking of Disney, Disneyland Paris will get major, major additions in 2026 dedicated to two of Disney’s biggest movie hits. Pride Lands is inspired by African serenghti of Simba and friends frin “Lion King.” But first, a Frozen-themed park will open before Pride Lands, according to the most confusing media release we’ve ever read.
Anyway, the Pride Lands – already unders construction – “will push the boundaries of immersion with its unparalleled level of detail and a new, unique attraction, which will seamlessly blend a spectacular water experience with state-of-the-art Audio-Animatronics technology,” according to the release. Pride Lands will follow Simba from cub to lion using a combination of animated and CG live-action films.
This will happen only after The World of Frozen will open in 2026. Clear as mud.
All of these new experiences will add a second theme park, roughly doubling the footprint of Disneyland Paris, according to the release. All we can say is, we’ll update this when everything starts to come into focus. Gizmodo has a recent post quoting Disney CEO Bob Iger about Pride Lands.
Futuroscope debuts Mission Bermudes
Chasseneuil-du-Poitou, France
In June, Futuroscope near Poitiers in western France is set to debut Mission Bermudes, a brand-new immersive aquatic attraction.The ride is not a traditional water coaster, but rather a fusion of water elements and roller coaster, with 10-person boats taking guests on adventures in the mysterious Bermuda Triange.
The adventure begins in a tranquil setting, but as the expedition progresses, things become more intense and unpredictable, with visitors encountering thrilling and unexpected twists along the way. The entire experience will last approximately 10 minutes. Check out the vid because this looks totally cray … in good way.
Other than Mission Bermudes, Futuroscope is mostly a virtual theme park, with several 3D cinemas and a few 4D cinemas along with other attractions and shows, some of which are the only examples in the world.
Europa-Park
Rust, Germany
Europa-Park in Rust, just south of Strasbourg in Alsace, has unveiled its GRAND PRIX EDventure, a new 3D dark ride just in time for the huge park’s 50th anniversary. There is also a tie-in to GRAND PRIX OF EUROPE is the first major 90-minute cinematic adventure with Europa-Park mascot stars Ed & Edda. It debuts 24 July.
GRAND PRIX EDventure has 10 different scenes taking you to European cities. During the six-minute ride, you shoot at different targets. “But it’s not just about scoring points – with every hit, energy is stored, which allows you to reach your destination faster,” according to the website. “Together with your teammates, you are part of Ed & Edda’s racing crew and must demonstrate skill and team spirit during the game to collect as many points as possible.”
Europa-Park is gigantic, with a total area of 95 hectares, 20 themed areas and about 100 attractions, including shows and 14 roller coasters, according to Wikipedia.The park also includes six hotels, a camping site, a tepee village, a cinema, multiple restaurants and a conference center.
Gardaland unveils Animal Treasure Island water ride
Castelnuovo del Garda, Italy
Like Europa-Park, Gardaland in Castelnuovo del Garda near Lake Garda in Northern Italy is turning 50 years old. The park has invested about 12 million euros in Animal Treasure Island, which opens to the public on 12 April. The immersive water-based dark ride, which spans more than 6,000 square metres (63,000 square feet), takes guests on a underground adventure.
CRAZY French concept coming to the UK … some day
How do we miss this stuff? Le Puy du Fou in France modestly bills itself as “the best theme park in the world.” It attracts about 3 million visitors per year to Espesse, France near Nantes … and it has zero rides. It does have Roman chariot races, gladiators, Vikings, World War I battlefields and a huge budget to build historically accurate settings in which to stage all this drama.
The Puy du Fou resort has been huge in France for more than four decades with live shows and historical re-enactments. (Those French, right?)
Now, a Puy du Fou is coming to Oxfordshire just west of London with a 600 million pound version of the French park. The park has acquired 370 acres just north of Bicester Village where the company will build four “period villages” and 13 live shows in which visitors will be able to “immerse themselves in British history,” according to media reports.
Unfortunately the approval process is a long one, and there’s no projected opening date. Should it open, we’re assuming all the shows will be in English.
There’s also a Puy du Fou Espãna in Toledo, Spain.
Quick hits:
Work begins to revive Tivoli in Spain
The abandoned Tivoli World theme park on the Costa del Sol in Spain is under construction as part of a planned 200 million euro renovation. The park is projected to reopen in 2028. Tivoli in Spain (not the Copenhagen original) closed in 2020 during the pandemic (and because of a whole lot of legal issues) and has sat idle ever since, according to media reports. But, apparently this real estate is too valuable to ignore, with the local goverment actively going after an investor to reopen the only amusement park on the Costa del So. In fact, only 27 rides remain intact out of the 85 rides at the park’s peak.
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See more about theme parks here in Dispatches’ archives.
Co-CEO of Dispatches Europe. A former military reporter, I'm a serial expat who has lived in France, Turkey, Germany and the Netherlands.
