Please buckle up – the amusement park season is about to begin! And this is new

Attention roller coaster fans and adventurous families: Many amusement parks heralded the summer season at the weekend - with new products, but often also higher prices than last year. An overview of some of the largest parks:

Germany's largest amusement park is expanding its Rulantica water world (which is open all year round) to include what it says is the largest racing slide in Europe. Visitors aged ten and over can slide on mats in eight tubes. In addition, adults have the opportunity to relax in a new relaxation area.

The program in the park, which started the summer season on March 25, has also been expanded: Among other things, there are two more films in the cinemas, the new ice show "Surpr'Ice presents GalaXia" and a new VR experience called "Amber Blake : Operation Dragonfly". In addition, the park set up a country area for the Principality of Liechtenstein.

The long-planned new roller coaster is not scheduled to start until the start of the 2024 season. At the same time, the new country area "Croatia" is being set up.

Europa-Park is located in Rust between Freiburg and Offenburg, near the A5 motorway.

Further information: europapark.de/de

There is something new for little visitors in Germany's only adventure park by the sea: the "Carrousel Baltique" is in the Hanse in Europe themed area, which, according to the operators, is to be further expanded in the coming years.

The Hansa-Park is located north of Lübeck between the A1 motorway and the Baltic Sea. He starts the season on April 6th.

Further information: hansapark.de

For roller coaster lovers, Heide Park is the first port of call in Germany. What they have to do without first, however, are rides on the Limit hanging looping track. According to the operators, the route will be corrected, it will be called Toxic Garden in the future and will be thematically adapted to the Transylvania theme. It is not yet clear when exactly the train will run again.

The program in Heide Park will be expanded by two new shows: "Time" is about a journey through time and "Smile - It's magic" will be conjured up with wit.

Heide Park Soltau is located between Hamburg, Hanover and Bremen and can be reached via the A7 motorway. The season starts on March 25th.

Further information: www.heide-park.de

A new water playground with slides and interactive play elements awaits in the park in the Palatinate - themed after the children's series "Super Wings". Here, too, the season started at the weekend.

The park is located near Mannheim and Ludwigshafen and can be reached via the A65 motorway and the B9 federal road.

Further information: holidaypark.de/de

In Legoland, the Lego Mythica theme world opens with a roller coaster and a playground with fantasy creatures made of Lego bricks. According to the operators, the new theme world is the largest expansion of the Legoland park to date.

With this innovation and inflation, they justify the price increase of ten euros compared to last year: Day tickets bought on site cost 64 euros for adults and 58 euros for children in the new season. If you want to save, buy the tickets online in advance – then they cost from 39 euros per person.

However, Legoland is not alone with the increase: the entrance fees have been raised in all the amusement parks mentioned here.

Legoland Germany is located near Günzburg in Bavaria on the A8 motorway. The season started on March 25th.

Further information: legoland.de

If you like Hollywood films, you've come to the right place - and you can look forward to an expansion of the show program. For example, Movie Park announced the new stunt show “Operation Red Carpet”. There's also a new character roaming the park's streets: a walking clapperboard. Well then: shut up and action!

The Movie Park is located near Bottrop on the A31 motorway and opened its doors on March 24th.

Further information: movieparkgermany.de

In Phantasialand there is a new adventure tour with wobbly suspension bridges, rocks and gorges in the Africa theme world. The amusement park starts the season on April 1st.

Phantasialand is located in Brühl near Cologne, directly on the A553 motorway.

Further information: phantasialand.de/de/