The Strange and Defunct Attractions of Phantasialand

I've covered Phantasialand before and it's certainly an incredible and well themed park in its current state. However, it does does have a pretty interesting history of defunct attractions that range from shameless Disneyland knock-offs to strange and bizarre nightmare fuel. Today, we instead travel back in time to see what these attractions offered, breaking them down and offering commentary on what the park used to be like.
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[@FTChomp9980]

Dark rides are such an underrated gem at Theme Parks we honestly could use more nowadays.

[@PoseidonEntertainment]

Yeah for sure. I understand that they're expensive, but it's telling that they're located in the most popular parks.

[@princessmarlena1359]

And I wish they would stop using screens and such, go back to animatronics.

[@FTChomp9980]

@@princessmarlena1359 I agree.

[@Chichimee]

They speak to the soul

[@benm1414]

​@@princessmarlena1359 yes! Projections are useful and can definitely add, but At least don't rely on them 90% of the attraction... Focus more on the physical and lighting effects IMO.

[@mstrmren]

It's so interesting how Phantasialand looks completely different compared to 20 years ago. I went with some people who haven't been there since their childhood and after almost every attraction they mentioned they wanted to ride I had to tell them "That's where we are standing on right now" or "That's where that hotel is".

[@ItsAmaliaB]

20 years ago I wouldn't have bothered visiting, today Phantasialand absolutely wipes out its competition in one fell swoop, and it's reinventing what a theme park can really be. They're fundamentally changing the game and that's why they're the best. It's really crazy to think about how all of that happened so suddenly

[@mstrmren]

@@ItsAmaliaB 20 years ago Phantasialand was pretty much only visited by locals of course! I live 40 minutes away from it.. Another interesting thing is, around 35 years ago Phantasialand was still Europe's biggest theme park...

[@mikekaraoke]

@@ItsAmaliaB You wouldn't of visited the park 20 years ago, are you for real?? If we all thought like you then it would of shut down decades ago 😤

[@mikekaraoke]

@@mstrmren Not at all, remember first going there as a kid in the 80's, and me and my family spoke to many people from Belgium, France, Sweden, Denmark, and other people from the UK there as well!

[@mstrmren]

@@mikekaraoke Belgium, France and the Netherlands are local!? I live 40min away from it in Germany, right at the Belgian/Dutch border. Just because it's another country doesn't mean it isn't local.

[@demogorgens3715]

Thank you for covering the park of my childhood (which isn't the park of childhood anymore) again. It's a shame Phantasialand's management let their dark rides go to waste like that and I also fear the days of the Ghost Rikscha and probably the whole of China town are numbered. It wouldn't be first time they would remove an entire area from the park. I know their problems with the lack of space and having to compete with other parks but there is almost nothing left for people who are not in the higher, faster, wider game. Not to mentioned their decision to abolish a box office and their ridiculous entrance fee. I'm sorry to say that I would rather spend a couple of days in Efteling than drive an hour or so to visit Phantasialand.

[@dwitefry4157]

also, fun fact: the long gap between the Frankenstein scene and the next in Hollywood Tour was originally broken up by some zombies, but thier lights was turned off at some point. Fans made a 'game' out of riding the ride and using their flash to take pictures of the, still there, in the dark.

[@ez-ru3do]

this sounds TERRIFYING omg

[@dwitefry4157]

@@ez-ru3do you can find the pictures - it was! lol.

[@Snoop1000Skins]

While a lot of these rides are clearly inspired by Disney, I think it's cool that they seem more "inspired by" than direct copies. Ghost Rickshaw, for example, is a pretty creative way to use the Haunted Mansion concepts without just building a Haunted Mansion.

[@mstrmren]

Better than what Europa Park did (and still does for some weird reason)

[@PoseidonEntertainment]

@@mstrmren Ah see, I disagree. I actually thought that Europa Park did a better job of differentiating itself because it didn't directly rip scenes from Disney.

[@mstrmren]

@@PoseidonEntertainment Really? The literally copied everything from them. At least Phantasialand switched the ride system or something, but Europa Park used to literally translate Disney attraction names 1 to 1. They also kept opening ripoff Disney scenes in rides until 2017 when their Soarin' rip off opened with exactly the same pre show video as Soarin', just sponsored by a German airline. Some of the rides they directly copied were for example "Universum der Energie", I think you can guess what that ride directly copied. They also had a Country Bear rip off literally named "Bear theater" in German.

[@KleineKassiopeia]

@@PoseidonEntertainment I only ever went to europa park since I grew up around that area of germany. They 1:1 copied Pirates of the Caribean (Piraten von Batavia), have an exact copy of Spaceship Earth which only now received a different, unique theming that doesn't fit into the building whatsoever.

[@mario64remix]

I agree that Europa-Park is the worse offender when it comes to copying Disney. Then again it's also a bigger park with more rides so there are bound to be more similarities. One major difference though, is that Europa-Park has kept many of their old rides and rethemed them, while Phantasialand removed them entirely. So when doing online research, you're less likely to stumble upon the old versions of the rides at Europa-Park as they are technically still there.

[@kangstrom]

Recently did a small Europe tour and was BLOWN AWAY by Phantasialand. It was incredible! Thanks for the fantastic history lesson.

[@PoseidonEntertainment]

That park looks amazing today, but I very much like the history of places like this. It's so radically different that I may as well be covering an entirely different park.

[@mario64remix]

Oh hey, you actually ended up making a video on old school Phantasialand stuff, cool. Phantasialand simply are the masters of bringing unique rides and themed experiences. They've always been good at that, many of their rides were the first of their kinds in Germany or even Europe, even back in the 70s and 80s. But they used to be known as ''The Park of the Puppets'', sadly this is no more. One of the park's founders, Richard Schmidt, used to make films with marionettes and made them for the park too. He designed many of these old rides and helped program the animatronic shows. But the new owners opt to focus pretty much entirely on coasters and other thrill rides, which I think is a shame. I would love to see a Geister Rikscha or Hollywood Tour 2.0. I know the video is already 30 mins long but you could have gone in so much more detail. As a lifelong visitor, let me set some things straight and fill you in on some blanks. - The Seeräuberfahrt nach Carthagena, especially the outdoor section, was continuously updated with new scenes and figures. It was because of a storm in 1978 that the old pirate scenes (which did indeed have a few moving figures) got damaged and were (more or less) rebuilt. I'm sure that's why the jail scene for example was kept intact. - Schloss Schreckenstein, the haunted castle walkthrough, opened before Efteling's Spookslot. I wonder why no one ever accuses Efteling of ripping off Phantasialand? :) - Klimbimski being the first animatronic show in Europe is a fact in which often an important detail gets 'lost in translation'. They claimed it was the first animatronic *monkey* show. See, big difference. Europa-Park already had a show with bears in 1975. - The ''dragons'' you mention in Tanakra were actually crocodiles. They were moved to Geister Rikscha and are still there now, where they are in fact retrofitted to look like dragons (the figures at 22:05). - Hollywood Tour opened just a year after Great Movie Ride did and the ride had been in development since 1988. So I doubt it was actually inspired by that. Universal's Backlot Tour though? Yes, undoubtedly. Richard Schmidt was a movie fanatic and I'm sure he loved Universal and their parks. - The reason for the collapsing of the temple in the Sindbad scene is that it originally represented Samson and Delila. Phantasialand often changed scenes on their dark rides, but I wonder why they didn't care it made no sense here. Also, the ride randomly, one day, closed (instead of never reopening after a lock down closure). Long comment, I know, but I love Phantasialand history. :)

[@Colaholiker]

They indeed liked to change scenes. The "Oz" scene was Hitchcock's "The Birds" before. I never understood why they changed that, since "The Wizard of Oz" is nowhere near as well known in Germany or most of Europe as it is in the US.

[@PoseidonEntertainment]

Ah, extremely useful information! I'm going to copy and paste your corrections in the pinned comment.

[@mario64remix]

@@Colaholiker I would say it's still a fairly well known film. And they had to find something that could fit the scene with the house that was already there.

[@mario64remix]

@@PoseidonEntertainment Awesome, just fyi, it has not been pinned yet. Also I'm very impressed with the fact you take the time to read and respond to so many comments, that's something you rarely see with a channel of this size. Thanks!

[@PoseidonEntertainment]

@@mario64remix I made a comment myself that I pinned so that I can continue adding to it as more people post useful information or corrections. I've copy and pasted part of your comment in the one I pinned.

[@Mark_Hafer]

Quick correction that I haven't seen mentioned yet: Space center is still open, its just called crazy bats now. (its a vr coaster). The queue elements all still exist, but the windows have been painted over so you cant see them. Hollywood Tour was underneath space center. They operated simultaneously. Infact, the ride is still SBNO (although I think they have started taking it apart just early this year. Crazy bats continuous to operate to this day, and you can see Hollywood tour boats near the break run if maintenance lights happen to be on. And finally, the showbuilding these two rides were in was built by vekoma. Phantasialand is actually pretty unsure about what to do with this area of the park, as the city has already signalled they won't get permission to build a similarly large building there again. But re-using the old building is hard, due to the strange floorpan.

[@PoseidonEntertainment]

Wasn't Space Center the specific theming of the coaster though?

[@RunawayTrain2502]

@@PoseidonEntertainment YES. I Rode what was Space Centre (now Crazy Bats, it was also caled "Temple of the Nighthawk" at some point) in January and nothing of the old scenery is left. It's now a VR Coaster. I rode it without the glasses and there's nothing to see.

[@purzelblumek.3132]

​@@PoseidonEntertainmentin fact it was a "space battle roller-coaster laser-show" and great fun! Really loved that ride

[@sethanix3969]

I still hate to see one of the best and smoothest Vekomas I rode in Europe "rotting" away inside rhis empty husk of a building. The free VR-ride is decent, but a real retheme of the hall could do so much more to this iconic (and long!) indoor coaster...

[@EftelQuint]

I don’t know if it is mentioned already, but at least according to you, the dreadstone castle (if I remember correctly) opened in 1972. Efteling’s spookslot opened in 1978, so that would actually mean that Efteling ripped off Phantasialand with those monks. And this is coming from an Efteling fan

[@PoseidonEntertainment]

Oh that's a good catch, I had forgotten that Spookslot opened later

[@EftelQuint]

I must also say that I believe a year before Dreadstone castle opened, a Spanish movie called “La noche del terror ciego” released. It also featured monks like that and other elements that would appear in spookslot, so maybe it also was the inspiration for this attraction.

[@robert4travel]

I used to live an hour away from Phantasialand, and went there as a child and teenager, and remember all these old attractions. It's great to see all these videos in one place now, a real trip down memory lane. I especially have fond memories of the Monkey theater show, and no, it was not scary at all. It was very funny actually, with the two parrots commenting on the show. I remember one comment where they were asking why they have to see another bear in a monkey show? The original Tanaka theater show was a bit cheesy but still fun to watch. I only saw the new Tanaka show once and it was mainly about the water fountains then, and not as fun as the original show. As an adult now I live in the US, but once in a while I still return home, and now take my own kids to Phantasialand, and they love it! But it is now more about the thrill rides than the shows and dark rides. But the thrill rides are still themed very well. Thank you very much compiling this video! I love your channel!

[@SatazKonarix]

Welp, this video came right on time since im going to phantasialand tomorrow 😂😂

[@popfan5412]

I hope you have a wonderful time tomorrow!

[@annika.im.wunderland]

One of my fondest memories with Phantasialand: A friend of mine didn't like rollercoasters, so he would only ride "Silbermine" (a slow ride, themed about mining). One time there was a group of teenagers. After some time, they asked if the ride would go any faster. They thougt they were on "Colorado" (Rollercoaster). For them it must have been the most broing 5 Minutes after we said no 😂

[@RunawayTrain2502]

Colorado Adventure is such a good mine train. Long, many laterals, and just the right amount of 90's Vekoma jank.

[@PoseidonEntertainment]

Here is a list of corrections to fix mistakes I made in the video: - EftelQuint in the comments pointed out that while I made the claim that Dreadstone Castle took inspiration from Efteling, it actually opened in 1972 before Spookslot, which opened in 1978. - Ricky Davis made the correction that both the dimetrodon and Pterosaurs are not considered dinosaurs. Labelling them as such was a colloquial short-cut for the script, but in the interest of not spreading misinformation, I think it's important to highlight my mistake. - I'm also going to copy and paste corrections and facts pointed out by mario64remix in the comments: ---------------- - The Seeräuberfahrt nach Carthagena, especially the outdoor section, was continuously updated with new scenes and figures. It was because of a storm in 1978 that the old pirate scenes (which did indeed have a few moving figures) got damaged and were (more or less) rebuilt. I'm sure that's why the jail scene for example was kept intact. - Schloss Schreckenstein, the haunted castle walkthrough, opened before Efteling's Spookslot. I wonder why no one ever accuses Efteling of ripping off Phantasialand? :) - Klimbimski being the first animatronic show in Europe is a fact in which often an important detail gets 'lost in translation'. They claimed it was the first animatronic monkey show. See, big difference. Europa-Park already had a show with bears in 1975. - The ''dragons'' you mention in Tanakra were actually crocodiles. They were moved to Geister Rikscha and are still there now, where they are in fact retrofitted to look like dragons (the figures at 22:05). - Hollywood Tour opened just a year after Great Movie Ride did and the ride had been in development since 1988. So I doubt it was actually inspired by that. Universal's Backlot Tour though? Yes, undoubtedly. Richard Schmidt was a movie fanatic and I'm sure he loved Universal and their parks. - The reason for the collapsing of the temple in the Sindbad scene is that it originally represented Samson and Delila. Phantasialand often changed scenes on their dark rides, but I wonder why they didn't care it made no sense here. Also, the ride randomly, one day, closed (instead of never reopening after a lock down closure).

[@RonanLynch]

About the couple on the balcony at the Tanagra Theatre: The Muppet Show was first broadcast in Germany in 1977, four years before the show opened. It was pretty popular in Germany. I am pretty sure they ripped off the idea.

[@Koaster-Kritik]

The Phantasialand-Jet was actually a special model, able to reach 40 km/h (25mph). The idea was, that they could expand the tracks to the train station a few kilometres away to use it as a shuttle as well. It’s a shame that this never came to fruition.

[@TedsCoasterChannel]

Even after visiting the Orlando Parks, i still have Phantasialand as my #1 park. I think it’s because the park doesn’t feel like a big corporate cashgrab. Can’t wait to go back there!

[@PoseidonEntertainment]

Once I finally get the chance to plan a trip for Europe, it's very high on my list.

[@Mushroomandyou]

Have you ever considered covering the strange world of dark rides that exist OUTSIDE of theme parks? I can think of two notable UK ones, that being the Jorvik centre in York and the dark ride inside the Cadbury’s factory

[@PoseidonEntertainment]

I have, but it seems like they either work on a case-by-case basis (like with Hershey's Chocolate Tour) or if we're looking at old ghost trains, I would want to go and experience them myself and invest in a low-light camera.

[@prodoadramm]

It‘s so sad that nothing except for Geister Rikscha is there anymore Silbermine was such a good dark ride These fantastic rides had to leave for roller coasters Don‘t get me wrong the coasters are really good but I wish there would be more dark rides Efteling could be a example for Phantasialand

[@Elmerstudd007]

I am sad I didn't get to see these rides before they closed because I have a soft spot for really bad attractions that I affectionately refer to as "Craptastic". That being said I would love to see their creative energy pushed towards a new dark ride, but sadly it seems that dark rides are being produced less and less as time goes on... so I really wish these rides had been either maintained in all their confusing glory or had been updated into more cohesive experiences instead of just being torn down for more roller coasters.

[@PoseidonEntertainment]

Well, I wouldn't consider them bad by any means. I just think there was a fundamental lack of understanding of how to craft an attraction with a satisfying narrative flow and pacing.

[@samphonique]

This has been my favourite video of you to date! Even introducing me to stuff I didn't know about! As a European theme park fan, it's so refreshing to hear an "outsiders" take on that delightful 70/80/90's era when European theme parks got... weird. Well done sir 😁👌

[@PoseidonEntertainment]

To be fair, the "weird" part is really just embellishment to market the video to the KZbin algorithm better. All of these defunct attractions are really interesting to me.

[@JonnyCisero]

Yeah, I first visited in the 80's the old rides were great for the time. Most Europeans had never been to Disneyland. Luckily today, Phantasialand has created its own identity, and it's more original than ever. A unique theme park!

[@PoseidonEntertainment]

I suspect that Euro Disney probably led a significant shift in how people viewed these rides. I'm glad that it's branching out in more interesting directions as well.

[@DarthFlauschi]

It's my home theme park and big part of growing up. Fact for you. Phantasialand isn't really aloud to do much with the lake part because of regulation and noise pollution. And die to limited space Phantasialand has to find clever methods. Thank you for your video

[@PoseidonEntertainment]

I do find it fascinating how they manage to get around those regulations. Are there currently any plans for anything around the lake?

[@DarthFlauschi]

@@PoseidonEntertainment There were plans to expand the parc, but nothing around the lake that I am aware off. The Prolem with the lake is that close to it, people are living who don´t want the big theme parc noise. And it doesnt seem there are an plans for renovating. The whole section (The Kids Section+Lake) would be my first target for a big retheming, if I would be the Boss there.

[@eswesje]

When I was there for the first time this year, I found the part with the big lake around it (where the boat tour and the fairytale stuff used to be) was quiet, but you could still walk around it. It was basically an entire corner of the park that was unused, since nothing was open there, and it struck me as a bit odd, since they have such a high density of rides in the rest of the park. I really hope they can create something family friendly there, since most of their ride offerings seem to be rollercoasters nowadays.

[@baronvonlimbourgh1716]

Doing darkrides nowdays is just way to expensive. People expect lifelike animatronics like at disney, something these parks just can't afford. These things don't really lend themselves anymore to tight budgets.

[@PoseidonEntertainment]

I know they had a splash battle on the lake but even that generated too much noise and they had to remove the water nozzles. I think their only option is to build indoor attractions around the lake but I don't even think they have the space.

[@Soepsas]

@@baronvonlimbourgh1716 I think you underestimate the budget of Phantasialand. They have the amazingly themed areas Rookburgh (F.L.Y.) and Taron, there's also the wacky but insanely fun shooting darkride 'Maus au Chocolat'. If they wanted I'm sure they could create an insane darkride with animatronics.

[@baronvonlimbourgh1716]

@@Soepsas exactly. They made 2 lands with multiple coasters. Neither of them have these old fashioned physical dark rides in them. And i really don't see them do anything like rise of the resistance. Rolercoasters are just better investments for these parks. Coasters attract and boost visitor numbers much more then anything else. Perhaps that might change again when these parks get saturated with them again. I'm all for it.

[@yousaysilver]

always loving when you cover european theme parks

[@Soepsas]

I live about 3 hours from Phantasialand and it's definitely worth that drive! It's becoming a kind of tradition to ride 'Geister Rikscha' first; there's never a line and it's close to the entrance in China Town. It's old, it's weird but we love that. It also feels like it won't be around much longer, so I enjoy riding it while it's still there.

[@megurineluka7162]

Hey dude, thank you so much for this video!! This is actually my childhood theme park and one of the few I've ever been to, and it was both incredibly fun and fascinating to see it covered from the perspective of another, non-german theme park enthusiast. Having grown up in the early 2000's, I don't have any recollection of the really old rides/attractions, but gosh do I wish I had experienced some of them!! Also, fun fact, my very first visit was mere months before the silver city area caught on fire, and I never heard of it at the time, so you can imagine my surprise when I returned about a year later only to have the entire land be gone, I truly thought it hadn't existed and I'd just imagined it for a few years haha! The park feels a little disjointed in the old areas, with attractions like Mystery castle and Riverquest being somewhat "landless" and shoved into the asian area, (which in and of itself has some issues for sure), but it also feels like both the staff as well as the investors really do care about the park greatly, and all new additions have had absolutely incredible theming, so I'm excited to see how it'll develop from here!! Thank you again for the great video!! 💕

[@PoseidonEntertainment]

I do agree that the park is disjointed thematically, especially with Mystery specifically. If Hotel Ling Bao didn't exist, I don't know if Chinatown would still exist either.

[@megurineluka7162]

Totally agree, and I am quite excited to see if/when they'll replace it with something else, maybe something to tie the leftover medieval rides to Klugheim? Chinatown is quite old now, and as much as I like the preservation of those older aspects of the park, the ghost riksha, which at this point really is the only thing anyone goes there for except the food (sadly) is horribly maintained, so I feel like a fresh coat of paint could really help the area and just feels long overdue.

[@LauraBow]

People write off dark rides because theyre slow but (for me at least) seeing the cool effects is part of the fun.

[@rebeccaschneider5223]

Phantasialand had so much Charme in the Past. I'm a 90s Kid, I was almost every Year there. I miss the Animatronic shows and the Dark Rides and the Water Lillies from these days... today there are mostly Roller Coasters, and I am not an adrenaline junkie. I have no reason to return to this park again, because there is a huge lack of the calmer attraction, wich Phantasia Land had these days!

[@truly_dewey]

Despite the obvious inspirations I find this theme park fascinating. This is my first time watching a vid about it and i am impressed by the quality and design of a lot of the experiences. Sure some just feel like a jumble of references to existing disneyland/universal rides, but it tries a lot harder than most disneyland "ripoffs." There is a lot of quality and thought put into the effects and everything and i'm sure a lot of people have really amazing memories from visiting here ^.^

[@steelcurtain187]

This was super interesting and I had never seen any of these rides. Dark rides are fascinating to me and by far the most interesting at amusement parks. You did a great job!

[@letsroamaround2189]

Phantasialand is such a fun and intressting park. Been there 3 times now

[@DarthFlauschi]

I was there 3 times in one year 😊 it's amazing

[@weezyslob]

Fantastic video. Makes me feel nostalgic for a place I’ve never even been to. I guess I just miss the time when rides and shows like this were around more, they literally don’t make them like this anymore. Even the queues had so much detail, like the one part you showed here on their version of Star Tours with the robot and all the lights and such on the retro looking computer, so much detail for something most walk right past in seconds. Reminds me of old Disney, old Epcot, even old Knott’s. Thanks for preserving the memory of rides like this in videos like these.

[@PoseidonEntertainment]

People always seem to disagree with me, but I think that The Secret Life of Pets feels like one of these older style attractions.

[@weezyslob]

@@PoseidonEntertainment I would mostly agree with that, it’s definitely in that style. The queue is excellent, so much detail packed in, but the ride still uses screens here and there and I’m just not personally a big fan of that. Still, Universal is besting Disney a lot lately, I don’t think that can be argued. I’m interested to see what Disney does with Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, they have a huge canvas to work with now, there’s no excuse for that ride to not be top tier, especially considering it’s replacing what I’d consider a perfect ride, a masterpiece.

[@BerndBadura]

Yes, the Corsair cave was full of animatronics of Vikings having a blast of a time, drinking and enjoying therself. It was a lot of fun for me as a kid ride that ride.

[@nashwagemakers]

I really hope they dont close Rikscha i love it too much, Im from the Netherlands been to Phantasialand 2 times. And i truly loved the ride. Also they should make new darkrides yes. Mous Au Chocolat is already way better then their older rides (more cohesive) whilst not even being a darkride but a shooter. But i'd rather see them renovate and upgrade Rikscha

[@CoraBuhlert]

One thing to remember is that before Disneyland Paris opened in 1992, very few Europeans had ever been to a Disney Park or other US-style theme park. So very few people noticed that many rides borrowed ideas from Disney Parks. And Disneyland Paris was met with a lot of hostility both by other European theme parks and by theme park goers. A common comment was "We don't need this American crap here. We've got our own." I'm one of the fairly few Germans who got to visit a American Disney Park in the 1970s and 1980s and even talking about how awesome Disney World was was met hostility and telling me to shut up about Disney World. Phantasialand was always one of the best German theme parks compared to the likes of Heide Park or Hansa Park or Fort Fun and rides like Geister Rikcha were unique for their time.

[@MotemaTHEsweet]

when i saw this video in my feed i thought “no way this is about the phantasialand like 30km away from me” but i’m so excited you covered this park since based on the fact i used to live so ridiculously close to the park AND had an uncle who worked at an attraction and got us free tickets a lot when i was little, this park has always been very near and dear to my heart 🥺 thank you for this video 🥰

[@MotemaTHEsweet]

THE 1001 NIGHTS CABLE CAR OH MY GOSH I USED TO LOVE IT BUT I COULDNT REMEMBER WHAT EXACTLY THAT RIDE HAD BEEN 😭😭🥹🥹🥹

[@MotemaTHEsweet]

silver mine is also an atttaction that i miss dearly. i used to make my mom ride it with me like 5 times in a row. i don’t know why but those scenes and the glittering paint in the mine captivated a 6 year old me so much i wanted to see it again and again… it was one of my favourite things about the park when i was little!

[@MotemaTHEsweet]

oh ghost riksha is a TERRIBLE dark ride but gosh i love it. last time i rode it (in like 2020) we got stuck in there for 20 minutes. the animatronics are so uncanny and worn out. but that’s part of the charm of this ride. it’s bad and weird and disturbing and i actually always try to ride it when i’m in the park because it’s just part of the experience. last time i was there (last year) it was closed that day which made me very sad

[@MotemaTHEsweet]

a fun thing about hollywood tour is that it used to have a thing where some birds “fell down on you” in a scene that was supposed to mimick the birds by hitchcock. or at least i’m pretty sure about that because that area traumatised me as a kid. ive talked with multiple people about it. like 50% of them remember that element, the others dont. so i don’t actually know if it REALLY existed or if it’s a mandela effect thing. but gosh those birds dropping down on you are part of why i’m still scared of birds. i miss this ride. dorothy and the witch looked so so bad right before it closed - more terrifying than anything you could see in a haunted house. just in general this ride looked SO BAD in recent years. and yet i never not went on it. it makes me extremely sad that it’s gone actually.

[@MotemaTHEsweet]

i fully agree with you by the way that those dark rides all had rather poorly executed storytelling and the scenes looked SO BAD especially in recent years because of the lack of maintenance. i do love them so much though and also miss the ones that don’t exist anymore. however it’s definitely a good thing the park is moving in a different direction (i actually was never aware that they are basically ripping off disney attractions btw. as a german growing up in the 90ies, those parks were something that existed in the distant lands of america but i had no idea how those parks were like…). but gosh what i would give to ride the 1001 nights dark ride again or visit the fairytale forest once more. but yeah, thank you so much for covering my “home” theme park (i think the 30 km from my original comment was an exaggeration it is actually closer to my home town. by car i grew up like 20 minutes from the park.) and giving me the biggest wash of nostalgia there ❤

[@Steve-is-IT]

I truly get excited every time I see a new P.E. video uploaded. Keep up the great work.

[@PoseidonEntertainment]

I'm glad to have an excited audience lol

[@SvenTeirlinck]

I live in Belgium (west from Germany) and visited Phatasialand a few times. Rides like silver mine and that gondel in the drake are rides I miss a lot from when I was young (but too young to understand). Now that I am older its a shame I can't experience them again. I remember the train ride in silver mine? The tunnel turning, rock falling was a very fun effect to experience in the ride. The video doesn't do good credit to it. Also the gondel, monorail ride. You start on the grond, at the feet off the dragon, go up around the lake and then go in it. As a child it was phantasic. It is a shame there is only 1 dark ride (ghost castle) left now. (I am 45 today).

[@gameplayxtreme3389]

I've been on Geister Rikscha, Atlantis and Hollywood Tour. I remember liking Atlantis back then (Keep in mind, I was 10 at the time), but looking back now, it really wasn't anything special. As for Geister Rikscha and Hollywood Tour, I last rode both in 2018. I found Geister Rikscha to smell incredibly old, and it was very boring. As for Hollywood Tour, it has basically become a meme in the European theme park community to the point where people were leaving hilarious 5 star reviews on it on Google Maps that emphasized things like the creepy animatronic sharks, cobweb infested scenery and horrible lighting. That ride sucked. And I've recently seen some pictures of its props from during the demolition. It's nightmare fuel.

[@tarwod1098]

I went there with my parents when I was little. Specifically I loved the ride through the dragon mouth. I always expected it to close behind us. With these animatronic theaters I connect a strange smell that inhabited the rooms and ugly creatures that had creepy movements. It was so nice to be able to see the old attractions that I rode as a child und seeing the places how they once were, refreshing my memories. But there were also attractions I had no memory of. Maybe they existed in a time when I wasn`t visiting the park. I`m so happy Phantasialand moved away from these attractions creating a truly jawdropping experience that rightfully deserves the name Phantasialand.

[@PoseidonEntertainment]

I suppose it's something that no one really speaks about, but so many old attractions do have very distinctive smells. It could just be the old building, wood, paint or even mold, but there are so many ubiquitous smells that have a nostalgic factor to them.

[@tarwod1098]

@@PoseidonEntertainment can’t be. The attractions were quite new at the time. You see , I’m on my way to be a fossil 😂

[@bsicker]

as a european i appreciate you taking the effort to make video's about parks that i'm familiar with in my area, even though you usually cater to a mostly american crowd. really loved your video on the efteling aswell. keep it up!

[@mareekatz]

First time here 😊 this was awesome!!!! Gonna check out some more of your videos. ✌️🙂

[@stevenwarn4131]

I’m Australian and stumbled upon this channel. As a dark ride enthusiast, I found the content fascinating and immediately subscribed. I can’t wait to dive into these videos!

[@derralle5705]

I sure used to love Phantasialand in my childhood and teenage years. So thank you very much for the nostalgia. I believe I can tell you why there were a pirate ship and a temple ruin in the viking ride. It must have been the same reason why there was a Buddha in the 1001 nights or a sphinx and a pyramid in the Wildwasserbahn (white-water ride? Log flume ride?) : because they were CHEAP. In the 70s,whenever the creators of Phantasialand had the chance to buy stuff like movie sets and props they just couldn't afford to not buy them. (that's what the legend says anyway). Anyway, who cares? I was in love with the animatronics as a little child, including Klimbimski (which was not scary at all!), and when I was too old and too cool for those childish puppets I could still feed the fishes that were the secret stars in the viking pond. Talking about life animals: for many years, on top of the arabian ride (a plaster dragon on a plaster mountain) they had life goats just for the hell of it.

[@Yukendoit]

Another fantastic video!

[@rayrae204]

Thank you. Awesome content.

[@user-ye4lt5sb6v]

This summer I'm going to Phantasialand for the first time so it was very interesting to see how the park used to be and compare it to what it is now! i stumbeld apon this channel while researching Phantasialand and I love your content. keep it up!

[@SanDeeMcGeek]

this is my childhood right there, woooow, never thought i would see all these shows and rides again!!

[@RonanLynch]

2026 will be my 50 year anniversary in the park. Thank you for editing all those memories into one video!

[@DisneyMarkUK]

Love this park, we’re going on Wednesday as it happens. Fab video as always, thank you.

[@nashwagemakers]

11:44 The frogs and singing swans really remind me of Eftelings Indian Waterlillies...

[@PoseidonEntertainment]

I kind of picked up on that too, but it's different enough that I wasn't sure if it was a direct inspiration.

[@nashwagemakers]

​@@PoseidonEntertainment I don't think it is but its a very... Weird coincidence. I never really noticed how much phantasialand used to steal from other parks until this video. They really did some great rebranding.

[@Cuteyhoney57]

Ohhh many thanks to talks about the amazing Phantasialand !!! I just live about 2 hours from there (I live in France) and this park is a masterpiece !!! It’s incredible how this park is totally different compared at the beginning of the 90s or in the 2000s!! I love love this park !! The winter wonderland season in Phantasialand is also a pure magic !!!

[@EricMontreal22]

I'm dark ride obsessed--the weirder the better, and live for videos like this. Wonderful vid!

[@theGingerAutist]

honestly i love seeing how other parks try to recreate scenes from disney or bigger parks, especially when they put a whole new spin on it like the chinese mythos ballroom scene. it’s like fanfiction for dark rides.

[@jankleinpferd]

I used to love riding the darkrides with my first boyfriend. Revisting them through this video made me pretty nostalgic and a bit melancolic. Thank you

[@Rachael8989]

Thank you for a fascinating video about these ‘strange’ but in my eyes wonderful, attractions! I love animatronics so this was really interesting to watch. I think some of the attractions seemed really charming and kind of wish I got to experience them myself or that they still existed.

[@meganruchwatercolors7186]

I have to add another comment. I was thinking overall it was very magical and I loved the frogs and the monkey water skiing! I feel like animatronics are nesseasary, and there should be more in attractions because they are what makes the magic!

[@PoseidonEntertainment]

I agree for sure. Animatronic heavy dark rides are definitely a fading genre.

[@starsbookreviews]

Very interesting to see how other countries tried to make their own themed rides!

[@baronvonlimbourgh1716]

There was an explosion of these rides at the time all over europe. These parks mostly where just fairy tale forrests with some mary go rounds and other flat rides of the time, which where really popular after the war. Then in the 70s and 80s all the parks started competing with eachother with dark rides and early rolercoasters. And since this was a whole new concept and nobody really had any experience doing any of it they all started to copy what was already succesful At the time almost nobody even knew about disneyland or that these attractions where basicly rip offs of disney rides. They simply needed something fast that was guaranteed to be succesful.

[@zaryuezi-youtaylor2994]

Very cool video essays on theme parks 📹 🏰

[@rustyrobinson8027]

Thanks for the upload and best wishes from Columbus Ohio USA ❤️

[@lunagebehart8663]

It's hilarious that you said niche for your audience meanwhile i am from germany only an hour away from Phantasialand 😊 Though i have not seen most of these since i am quite young still. I did see the holllywood tour, Silver mine and Ghost Riksha ofc. Only Ghost Riksha is still open to this day but in super poor condition sadly

[@XjestR]

Love seeing new video pop up

[@tvlfansean6267]

i am local to phantasialand and i ride geister rikcha every time because it never has wait time and its really relaxing, also i dont know if you know this but there are images of the hollywood tours curent state from a local news letter

[@gameplayxtreme3389]

Those images are pure nightmare fuel. The original ride was already pretty creepy, its current state is something I don't want to come near.

[@PoseidonEntertainment]

Wasn't there some sort of damage to the ride? I tried looking for those photos but I couldn't find what you're referencing.

[@tvlfansean6267]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/rKDZimmfjdWKpM0 here is a link to a video comparing how it looks now to back then

[@mario64remix]

Yeah so long story short, Hollywood Tour *supposedly* suffered from severe water damages, but the park (like usual) refuses to communicate about anything. But considering the ride had sort of an infamous reputation for it's creepy atmosphere and bad maintenance, it's clear they wanted to get rid of it anyway.

[@Gigidag77]

you know you are getting old when you can fondly remember almost all the defunct rides "Hollywood Tour" closed mid-season because there was a major leakage that flooded the adjacent dinner show area "Fantissima" and caused a lot of damage. I wish you would have covered the history of "Space Center" a bit more though. It's a troubled an interesting "ugly duckling" story.

[@beccak3035]

I mean, I too love pirates but oh my god guys. I like how every ride on the list draws a random or direct line of inspiration.

[@natashastrigoica]

the fairytale forest reminds me a lot of a park I went to a few times as a child called Idle Wild, with those very old, pretty creepy characters

[@PoseidonEntertainment]

In Pittsburg?

[@natashastrigoica]

@@PoseidonEntertainment yes!! i have family in PA, going out there used to be a big thing for us as kids

[@albagoetz9123]

Thank you for this video and spreading nostalgia for all of us. I experienced the youngest of those attraction myself. It is really interesting to see the older rides. The problem with Phantasialand is, that they only have limited space, so it is more likely that they build faster but family friendly attractions. I like both types of rides, so I'm really glad to have the Geisterrikscha and Taron.

[@LiminalN0A]

Verry sad that i never could experience these rides. Phantasialand is an amazing park nontheless, love the theming and coasters there! Btw amazing video again!

[@PoseidonEntertainment]

If I had a time machine, these attractions would certainly be on the list.

[@politiekhistorie]

I completely agree with you, Phantasialand should build more darkride with the same level of theming they have done with their recent coasters. I don't go there often now since my wife gets nauseated easily but we both like the theming. The problem is that since they invest only in rollercoasters that there is less and less for us to do together. I hope somewhere in the future you will cover the original Movie Park Germany. That park had some great unique themed rides but sadly is a shadow of itself since they had lost the IP after Six Flags sold the park. In the early 2000s it could rival Efteling and Europapark in theming but now it's a so-so park. They had a great ALF and Gremlins darkride, a Batman themed simulator, Looney Toons boatride and Never Ending Story river rapids. The only great attraction of that era to remain is Bermuda Triangle (now called Area 51) but it's a bit tamer now.

[@PoseidonEntertainment]

I know very little of what that park really entails, but it's certainly an interesting video idea. I think it would probably be like Phantasialand, one video covering the contemporary park and the other focused on the history.

[@SpezyCoasters]

small correction: Hollywood tour wasn't built in the former space center building but rather in the same building under space center, space center is still standing to this day as crazy bats but the Hollywood tour has been closed for some time

[@queenmedesa]

Those rides looked great !

[@dwitefry4157]

this video helps explains why the lake area is such a barren dead end when I went, all the stuff that was there's been ripped out. That part of the park, which is otherwise wonderfully themed and seems to have spard no expense, wierded me out but now I get it a bit more.

[@PoseidonEntertainment]

I believe that the lake's proximity to residential areas caused too much of an issue. It also makes sense why they can't really develop it any further today.

[@KarlSturmgewher]

Phantasialand has had a lot of strange experiences. Scala Carnival of Animals, Tanangra Theater, Silbermine, Grand Canyon, Hollywood Tour (licensing issues) All of which has gone away.

[@baronvonlimbourgh1716]

You need to see these parks and their rides trough the eyes of the times in which they where created. All these parks pretty much originated as fairytale forrests. Places to relax in and see some diarama's, some contemporary flatrides for kids and maybe a lake with rowboats or floating bycicles. This was very popular after the war. Then in the 70s and 80s, probably because of the succes of disney world in the usa, all these parks started expanding and competing. That caused an explosion of these kinds of rides all over, together with the obligitory minecart coaster and indoor dark space rolercoaster. These parks needed something quickly that was proven to be popular and since nobody here had any experience with the concept they all ended up copying what disney was doing. Almost none of the people going to these parks would have been aware of the disney parks or their rides. They basicly brought a new experience to europe nobody new existed abroad. Once the 90s came around these parks started to develop their own identity. And now with 2 decades of experience as well they started to create their own identities and with it came a lot of creativity and much more unique experiences. But those early rides did end up hanging around into the early 2000s until it was time to replace them. It really was a bit of a gold rush at the time with everyone scrambling to get things built. Now places like efteling and fantasialand really are their own unique places with mostly very creative and unique attractions giving them their own distict character. But yeah, to us these wheren't rip offs. They where the new exciting concept of a theme park, we really didn't have any refference to other places like disney. Now because of the internet that information is widely available. And much much more people have the ability to actually travel and see what is happening around the world.

[@PoseidonEntertainment]

Do you think that Euro Disney played a big part in changing people's perspective? I suppose the park didn't do very well, so I don't really know how many people would have been exposed to Disney anyways, but do you think it was influential enough to make people lose interest in other parks emulating them?

[@baronvonlimbourgh1716]

@@PoseidonEntertainment euro disney certainly played a part in it. Once disney moved in these parks where no longer able to copy disney without visitors pretty much knowing it was a cheap disney ripoff. Disney and their rides had much more media exposure here obviously by that point. The disney renaisance movies made disney a lot more popular here and pretty much saved euro disney in my opinion. Without movies like aladin, lion king and beauty and the beast euro disney wouldn't have existed anymore. But i'm also sure that it also happened because of these parks and the people running it wanting to use their gained experience to create creative and unique experiences to set them appart from not just disney but also the rest of the competition in europe. By the 80s and 90s trips to other places then your local park became more popular as now every family owned a car, the highway systems being integrated and international borders disapearing started to make these trips much more efficient. And ofcourse the increased disposable income made people look for enternainment further away from home. That is also when these parks started to promote themselves more internationally to attract more visitors. This wasn't common at all in the 70s either, i doubt the general public even knew or really cared that these other parks existed because a day trip to visit them wouldn't have been anything as easy and straightforward as it is today. I do remember that it eventually became obvious that all the parks basicly all had the same list of rides that where common all over. Like the mentioned mine cart coaster, but also a log fume, a boat darkride, i remember some frog ride being everywhere just with a bit of different dressing up. Anyway. A lot has changed since the 70s, now europe has gotten a lot more international, back then europe was still very much a collection of seperate countries and popping over the border was only really done for summer hollidays. Dutch people went to efteling, germans went to phantasialand and belgians went to walibi world. By the 80s and 90s that started to change, also because of EU integration. Things changed a lot and rather quickly over the last 40 years. These rides originated in a very different era.

[@legend_oflouis9813]

This was amazingly informative! I’d love to here you talk about some of the charming UK dark rides of the past. Especially the ones at Chessington World of Adventures, like Prof. Burps Bubble Works and 5th Dimension! Toyland Tours at Alton Towers too! Something I’ve always loved about those rides is their ability to feel original and contain a certain British charm and humour, they weren’t just simple Disney wannabe clones! It’s a shame none really exist today though. Blackpool Pleasure Beach however does contain a few charming old dark rides that would be worth a look into!

[@deniu]

I still remember some of it. Mainly from my childhood. A really nice leisure park, just like the Europapark

[@nanart3438]

I was an avid Phantsialand goer, I’m looking forward to this!

[@aoilpe]

I had my only visit to the park in ‘84 and as a 13 year old it was impressive. I grew up with the Europapark…

[@GLJosh]

Thank you for branching out to other park's history.

[@PetstoUwU]

Oh boy a video of my home Park. Let me grab the Popcorn

[@PoseidonEntertainment]

What did you think?

[@PetstoUwU]

@@PoseidonEntertainment I love how you tried to make sense out of the different scenes. Especially in Geister Rikscha and thousand and one Night. For me these scenes never had a specific story or meaning. They were just cool to look at. All in all the Park is missing a quality dark Ride. While all the action rides are really well made and bring attention from other countries, the parks origins are the animatronics. I hope the next project will be a modern dark ride. Maybe in the old space of Hollywood Tour....

[@ShotofDespresso]

I love German theme parks. Phantasialand is great, but my alltime favorite is Tripsdrill. It's an older park that not a lot of people seem to know about, but it was one of my favorite childhood theme parks.

[@prinzkomi5490]

oh man, what a blast from the past! I went to Phantasialand once or twice with my family when I was little (afterward my parents said it's too expensive lol) and though I only remember the space-themed rides and the wild west and chinatown stuff this video is really nostalgic... I did have a plush of the green alien from the galaxy ride though lol

[@DarthBoardBVE]

That Elvis animatronic appears to be a very obvious ripoff of The King, an Elvis-inspired anthropomorphic lion that used to be at many Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theaters. That being said, its body movement is much better than the original.

[@memethyst]

yeah i noticed that too

[@PoseidonEntertainment]

Well, that's certainly interesting to learn

[@DarthBoardBVE]

@@PoseidonEntertainment There's actually an entire channel by a guy named Jared who restored a few of them and programs them to sing parody songs: kzbin.info

[@IntheLoopPodcast]

Excellent video, keep up the great work. Any idea if the Atlantis ridefilm that was at Phantasialand was the same one from Caesars Palace in Vegas?

[@mario64remix]

It was indeed the same movie as at Caesar's (except for the fact it was not in 3D).

[@PoseidonEntertainment]

Admittedly, I know little about the history of attractions in Vegas. I'm planning a trip there in September though, which hopefully will work as a jumping off point for further research.

[@IntheLoopPodcast]

@@PoseidonEntertainment have a blast. I tend to head over to Vegas about twice a year, feel free to shoot me a message if you have any questions

[@ianmason96]

This whole video chronicles Phantasialand's attempts to copy Disney's ideas, only to evolve into a creative park that in many ways surpasses Disneyland. It's a great look.

[@meganruchwatercolors7186]

I must say, I feel like this park is magical in a way! I loved the dancing frogs! They were my favorite.

[@stefanied3219]

I agree with you on the fact that their newer rides show that they have a team that is dope AF at detail and emerging guests into a realm of a ride.... I think if they were to let those teams (or teams like them) just create their own dark ride, telling WHATEVER story or theme with their great eye for world building within a contained space...... I bet it would be amazing AF. If I had the money, I'd invest in that park to continue to explore, minus the choke hold of intense profit hungry owners (yeah, Disney put profit before creativity..... you can at least have both ffs). Thank you again for sharing more details/videos about this place!

[@rmel8139]

This is by far my biggest bucket list park

[@DimeUhDozen]

The effect at 21:16 is actually resemblant of something that happens in Disneyland Paris's Phantom Manor, in which omnimovers move backwards into an open grave that leads directly into the Underworld and a set of catacombs.

[@PoseidonEntertainment]

I thought of that as well, but I didn't know if it was intentional or not.

[@mario64remix]

But Phantom Manor didn't open until years after? lol

[@RunawayTrain2502]

Phantasialand was European Discount Disney back in the day. After the 2002 Fire and EuroDisney opening up around the same time, they decided give Phantasialand it's own identity. The Space Centre coaster has gone by many names over the years, including Temple of the Nighthawk & currently operating as Crazy Bats with VR.

[@BlazeHeartPanther]

12:45 Ok, but seriously, that's a pretty impressive animatronic for the time.

[@mario64remix]

Ikr, Phantasialand was an animatronic goldmine. The Elvis dog was manufactured by the German company Hofmann Figuren.

[@merlingrisu]

Great Video, i am always happy seeing international recognition for our "small" local european parks. But i have a question: Can you point me to your source for the claim that the Phantasialand tried to license the Back to the Future Ride? As a huge Back to the Future and Phantasialand Fan i tried to find more info on this but i just couldnt find any.

[@thomashauchwitz6244]

I have ridden all the attractions, I am glad to have experienced them. Notes: The last season of Starparade was 1998; Schloss Schreckenstein 1972; Spookslot 1978;

[@TL_oS]

Great video! Love your channel, I just subscribed. Europeans are not shy about ripping off Disney at all, are they?

[@Happymali10]

16:07 The impact-damage to the bottom of the tunnel is somewhat concerning.

[@Milonoto]

This is a real nostalgia fest for me. When I was little my family and I used to always stop at the Frog Prince Fountain to eat lunch when we were there

[@sionatube]

Yep, the dog holding the keys was a recurring theme. I often when to Phantasialand as a kid, back in the 90s. I still remember the smell of those rides with the animatronics. I don't find this footage as creepy as it is very nostalgic.

[@deboralee1623]

🎶From out of his coffin, Drac's voice did ring. Seems he was troubled by just one thing: He opened the lid and shook his fist, And said, "Vhatever happened to my Transylvania Tvist?"🎶 (8:41-8:45)

[@memethyst]

such a shame that animatronic show burnt down, i wonder how long it wouldve been operating if the fire didnt happen, it looks pretty cool and i wouldve loved to see high quality footage of it...

[@PoseidonEntertainment]

At the very least, the fire led to Chiapas which looks fantastic.

[@katyesyes]

@@PoseidonEntertainment iirc the ride that replaced the burned attraction is RiverQuest (the other water based attraction besides chiapas)

[@PoseidonEntertainment]

@@katyesyes Ah I see, I thought that Mexico was part of the Silver City rebuild. That makes more sense though.

[@mikeblatzheim2797]

​@@PoseidonEntertainment Chiapas was the Silver City rebuild (replacing the two preexisting log flumes and the silver mine), but the Mexico-themed area was first created after the fire, along with River Quest. Before Chiapas the Mexico section was essentially a row of food stores, a show building and the Aztec-themed Phantasialand jet station to the side of the Western area. Later this was expanded with Talocan, before the full rebuild. The show building is the only part of the original Mexico area left today. Some western-themed sections also still remain, another show building and the roller coaster Colorado Adventure.

[@diggingattycho7908]

You have to hand to those behind Phantasialand, they did do quite an impressive presentation. I'm used to the off brand parks being pretty minimal.

[@NeonNijahn]

Woah. Flamboyance of flamingos is lit!