The apple flight (Apfelflug) is one of the older attractions at the Family Park in Burgenland.
Austria is known for many things, except for its amusement parks. The most famous and third oldest amusement park in the world is the Vienna Prater. Many Viennese still proudly say, that it is the oldest, but this is not true. The two oldest parks are in Denmark. The largest amusement park in Austria is the Family Park in St. Margarethen on Lake Neusiedl. Since we have children who can walk by themselves, we go to the Family Park at least once every year. And one thing we could observe in the course of the last 8 years: The park has more and more attractions every year, which make a visit more and more interesting.
The journey from Vienna
From the center of Vienna it is about 70 kilometers to St. Margarethen in Burgenland. Without traffic jams, it takes a little less than an hour by car - which is still very doable for a day trip from Vienna. The big advantage that the Family Park has over the Vienna Prater, is the price. A day ticket for everyone over the age of three costs 30 euros. Online, you even pay only 27 euros for the day admission, and once you're in the park, you can ride almost all the rides as often as time allows. Only at a few (unspectacular) attractions you have to pay one or two euros extra. In the Viennese Prater there is no entrance fee, but you have to pay extra for each ride, which with prices around 5 Euros (Ferris wheel – the famous Riesenrad - 13.50 per ride!) gets very expensive very quickly. A day at the Family Park costs 108 euros for a family of 4 booking online. In the Prater, that would be only 5 - 6 rides for the whole family.
An impressive history
The history of Family Park shows great entrepreneurial spirit. The park has grown from a fairytale forest on 1.500 square meters, which opened in 1968, to a full-fledged amusement park on 145.000 square meters. We think it still retains its family charm. A day trip to the Family Park is always an experience, even if you have already been there several times, as we have. For some years now, the park has been one of the leading economic enterprises in Burgenland.
A flair like the big ones
Already the entrance area reminds of the big siblings, like Disneyland, the Europapark or the Heidepark, even if everything is a nice bit more manageable. Even in the waiting area in front of the ticket booths, you're treated to typical amusement park music. This creates a good atmosphere. Even if the park can't keep up with the big models in terms of size - the Europapark in Rust (Germany) is more than six times as big with 950.000 square meters - you shouldn't underestimate the walking distance you cover in the course of a day. We recommend starting right at the entrance with the rides before marching once through the entire park.
The themed areas of the Family Park
Family Park has attractions for small and big "kids" from 0 - 99 years. The park is divided into four themed areas:
Adventure Castle: themed world with attractions for younger visitors (e.g. balloon carousel, kite ride, vintage car Convey).
Fairy Tale Forest: oldest part of the park with tales and representations of well-known fairy tales
Adventure Island: Mediterranean-style themed world with roller coaster and larger rides (e.g. Leonardo's Flying Machine, Croco Train, Sea Dragon, Flash of the Gods)
Farm: petting zoo and attractions related to farm life (e.g. Rat Mill roller coaster, tractor ride, apple flight, forest animal race)
Our five favorite rides are:
Leonardo's Flying Machine (Leonardos Flugmaschine): it feels like you can fly. Definitely try it out.
Flash of the gods (Götterblitz): the roller coaster is just the right mix between thrill and fun.
Rat Mill (Rattenmühle): The two elevated roller coaster is a bit more bumpy, but also a lot of fun.
Stellarium: The new Stellarium attraction invites you to a wild ride. The four interlocking arms make for big eyes and loud screams (at least for us). Best not to eat before starting.
Beaver castle (Biberburg): Also very new is the water ride beaver castle. A lift takes the passengers up to a height of 17 meters. From there, you hurtle unchecked into the depths and land in an oversized splash! Be careful: You might get showered! However, there are full-body hair dryers to dry you.
Here are a few impressions from Austria's largest amusement park.
With rides like the Duck Parade (Entenparade), the Fairy Tale Carousel (Märchenkarusell), the Vintage Car Convoy (Oldtimer Convoy), the Tractor Train (Traktorbahn), the Forest Express (Waldexpress) and a few others, even the smaller visitors get their money's worth. Very funny are also the chain carousel apple flight (Apfelflug) the balloon carousel (Ballonkarusell) and the music-making and singing bears, of which there are even CDs for sale.
A few tips for the Family Park
If you want to save money, it is best to take some food and sufficient drinks with you as well. There are also boxes where you can store your things if you don't want to carry everything all the time. Some visitors also have small bollwagons with them, which make perfect sense. It also makes sense to book ahead, because there are days when the park is very crowded and the ticket booths won't let anyone in at some point. We recommend value days in the spring or fall. On these days there are sometimes so few people in the park that you can ride the rides several times in a row without having to queue again. But we have only experienced that once.
A special experience is the time around Halloween, when the park is spookily decorated. On these days, however, there are a lot of visitors at the site. Finally, from November 3 to March 31, the family park is on winter break. It would simply be too cold.
Our last tip: The beautifularea around Lake Neusiedl is also very interesting for a vacation of several days to several weeks. Especially in summer, there are many excursion possibilities around the Austro-Hungarian steppe lake. And not to forget: The wines from this region are excellent (but should not be consumed before visiting the Family Park).
We are looking forward to your feedback and are open for a lively exchange. You also want to travel, like to travel often and have a question, just write us and comment. Best regards, Steffi, Max and the kids (Author of this blog: Max)
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