Piraten in Batavia

Piraten in Batavia
Pirates in Batavia

The attraction entrance at Europa-Park
Europa-Park
AreaNetherlands
Coordinates48°15′49″N 7°43′11″E / 48.26361°N 7.71972°E
StatusOperating
Opening date1987
General statistics
Manufacturer Mack Rides
Model Dark ride
Theme Pirate raid on Jakarta
Drop 5 m (16 ft)
Length 400 m (1,300 ft)
Speed 2.9 km/h (1.8 mph)
Site area 3,800 m2 (41,000 sq ft)
Capacity max. 2000 riders per hour
Vehicle type Boat
Vehicles 22
Riders per vehicle 16
Rows 4
Riders per row 4
Duration 7:30 mins
Handicapped persons Not suitable for handicapped persons, according to TÜV-restricitions[1]

Piraten in Batavia (engl. Pirates in Batavia[2]) is a water-dark ride at Europa-Park. The ride was built by Mack Rides in 1987 and is situated in a large hall at the Dutch themed area, which is designed as a typical Dutch clinker brick building from the outside.

In some aspects the attraction is reminiscent of the different Pirates of the Caribbean-Rides at the Walt Disney parks.

Story

The story is set during a pirat raid on Jakarta (until 1942 known as Batavia) in the 17th century at the beginning of the Dutch colonialisation of Indonesia.

Ride

The building of the ride is characterized with a banner labeled with "Piraten in Batavia" in golden letters and a Jolly Roger. The station is situated on the first floor. Along the way there, the visitor is going to be introduced into the story, and learns about the history of Dutch colonisation of Indonesia based on different animated scenes. Mural paintings are showing different maps of the Java Sea region, among others the maps of Sumatra, Borneo and Java.

At the station the visitors get on one of the boats, each of them has a capacity of 16 persons. The first scene shows a cave in the Indonesian jungle, which is inhabited by different animals and humans. After a wide bend, the boat goes down a water fall and passes trough a battle scene, in which the pirate ship attacks the nearby fort. The scene ist dominated by screaming pirates and gunfire. Trough a slapping of the fortification wall the boat arrives Batavia, which is full of marauding pirates. In the following scenes the visitor experiences how the priates win over the native women, staving off their hunger by eating exotic animals and get drunk. The ride carries on passing a hidden temple in the jungle, the burning fort, a fishermen's village and a jail.

Just before the end of the ride, the boats pass a show venue on the right, which is embedded into the setting, and the opposite restaurant Bamboe Baai.

References

External links