Most European-Styled American Park

[Jarrett]

I remember a while ago, there was a thread on the most American-styled UK coaster, so I was wondering about the opposite. What do you find to be the most European-like park in the US?

I have a few candidates:

*Knott's Berry Farm- Knott's Berry Farm is very different from any Cedar Fair property I've visited. Instead of building steel giant after steel giant over grass and making it look presentable, Knott's has a plethora of rides, some with more theming than others, lined up in a fashion that makes them seem presentable. Jaguar has an indoor queue, they don't seem to care that much about the appearance of the rides themselves, and for SoCal, there's a lot of foliage around. It also has the bad clientele and weird, almost stupid park additions I've heard you can encounter at Merlin parks.

*Busch Gardens Tampa- This one seems way more European than KBF in my opinion. There seems to be the same level of emphasis placed on theming and making the rides interact with the landscape (very noticeable on Cheetah Hunt, Kumba, and SheiKra). Clearly defined themed areas, narrower paths through wooded areas, a few third-party contracts here and there, and areas that look considerably nicer than others really made this park seem like I would expect Alton, Thorpe, or C:WoA to be. I would seriously think I was in a Merlin park if the climate was more dreary and they painted everything black.

What do you think?

 

[GuyWithAStick]

Well, I guess Disney World looks like DLP.

For real, I think both Busch Parks(mainly BGW) have very good theming, up to European standards(specifically Alton Towers'). Very detailed and elaborate, and just an overall good looking park. Not only do they have good theming, they proved that big steel giants can be themed well, without needing a parking lot.

Dollywood. The theming on this park is just phenomenal. It doesn't really have defined areas(they all seem Smokey-Mountainey), but they're good areas. Just look at the Christmas Event, and a lot of European parks just can't compare.

 

[Hyde]

Before we start throwing out parks, can we back up to what exactly "European-Style" is?

Are we thinking park layout? Theming? Ride variety?

 

[Jarrett]

Before we start throwing out parks, can we back up to what exactly "European-Style" is?

Are we thinking park layout? Theming? Ride variety?

Yes, overall. Ride variety and execution, theming, park layout, experience, anything! This was kind of something I tried to leave open to interpretation. Let your mind run wild and knock **** over with this one!

 

[ThomVD]

I've always felt that Busch Gardens Williamsburg seems like America's equivalent of Europa Park. Aside from that, I don't think there is any park in America (or even in the world) quite like Efteling, Phantasialand or Toverland. All unique in their own way.

 

[Pink Cadillac]

Interpreting "European-styled", criteria would be:

• A smaller coaster (size & number) collection
  Theming and of good quality
  A Less flashy colour pallet
  Less IP (tbf that's debatable)

The Herschend parks fit this the best followed by Busch, whose coasters are a bit too "big" compared to most European parks.

 

[nadroJ]

In all honesty I don't think there actually are any? The difference is that US parks have very few limitations when it comes to building rides, and so they don't have to be as imaginative with layouts or theming etc to make them more thrilling - the coasters do that by themselves. I've never been to a US park that has the magic (which for me defines what a European park is) of somewhere like Alton or Phantasia or Efteling. Sure they have their own fabulous parks like the Herschend parks, but those are themed to good old fashioned Americana, so I find it quite difficult to liken them to a European park.

In fact, thinking about it, I'd probably most likely go with a pier or seaside parks, but even then I suppose that's more a UK thing than a European thing.

 

[CookieCoasters]

In all honesty I don't think there actually are any?

This. Obviously there is a lot of ambiguity over what constitutes a European/American style of park as you can't categorise them into two definite styles, but if we are going by the stereotypical features of both (e.g. big coasters in US, smaller coasters integrated into theming/landscaping in Europe), then there isn't really a European styled one in America that I can think of.

You would think Busch Gardens Williamsburg would fit the bill, but it doesn't really. It still has three steel giants that expose its 'America-style.' In fact, one park that hasn't been mentioned yet is Knoebels, which in some ways is comparable to the Danish Sommerlands in terms of atmosphere and that sort of 'bring your own food' type mentality. However, the arguably 'tatty' look of the place does not comply with the idea that many European park 'equivalents' would be very well-maintained and smart in appearance. It still feels more American.

 

[Crazycoaster]

Problem is Europe isn't one country like the US. There's no such thing as "European Style" because each country is completely different. A British style park is completely different to a German style park, and it's such a pet peeve when naïve americans group Europe all as one big place. That's the mistake Euro Disney made.

 

[owentaylor121]

^But then a park in California would be completely different to a park in Tennessee.

 

[Crazycoaster]

I'm not saying that they'd be the same, all I said was that the US is one country. The whole thing doesn't really work as a comparison tbh.

 

[TilenB]

One more thing about comparing European and American parks is the number of wooden coasters in the parks. While even the smaller American parks are crazy about wood, there are only 2 parks in Europe that have more than 1 woodie in them; PBB with 5 and PortAventura with 2 (theoretically there's also Wiener Prater, but the smaller cred can hardly count as a coaster, IMO).

 

[nadroJ]

One more thing about comparing European and American parks is the number of wooden coasters in the parks. While even the smaller American parks are crazy about wood, there are only 2 parks in Europe that have more than 1 woodie in them; PBB with 5 and PortAventura with 2 (theoretically there's also Wiener Prater, but the smaller cred can hardly count as a coaster, IMO).

Holy ****, that's actually kind of appalling when you think about it!

I think there is perhaps a misconception about those who haven't visited the mystical land of 'Europe' as to how unique each country is to its own style and heritage, making it a lot more difficult to define a style. Although re-reading Jarrett's comment about Knott's, I do remember walking around the place and thinking it was the US answer to Thorpe.