We arrived by car at Europa Park just prior to the big Halloween weekend. The resort and park were completely decorated for the holiday, including staff members in costume, scary music, and spider webs/pumpkins in every corner. The theming of the park and resort were impressive. Hotel reception pushed staying in the more expensive Collosseo or Andaluz, but after looking at the rooms we deciding against it because we might have had to move again after one night anyway. We got the keys to the originally booked Guesthouse and headed off on the other side of the park to our room (near the main park entrance). This was definitely the right decision. The room was large, clean, had a circus theme that the kids loved, bunk beds (which they loved more), and overlooked the park’s main street. We listened to more renditions of “This is Halloween” than we care to remember and the walls were paper thin, but other than that the Guesthouse worked out really well. Our 4 yr old spent almost every second we were in the room in the top bunk, and our 2 yr old took up his post at the window checking out the park action below. We originally ordered a baby cot for him, but had the hotel remove it when we saw that he claimed the bottom bunk his very own ‘big boy’ bed. Note: the hotel charges 15 EUR for even young children sleeping in their own beds, 5 EUR for a baby cot and nothing if they sleep in their parents' bed.

We got free tickets from reception for that evening in the park (4pm until closing) and took advantage of them after unpacking. By the time we rode the little trains and a monorail or two, it was getting dark and we were starving. We ate in the Spanish restaurant in the hotel. Maybe the food tasted so good because we were really hungry, or maybe it was because we had been eating snack food and sandwiches out of a cooler since the vacation started. Anyway, the meal was great and made even better by the fact that there was a kid’s playroom near our table where our kids got to play while we could keep an eye on them. They really have kid-friendly figured out. We actually got to finish our meal without having to shovel it in as fast as usual because the kids were entertained. The food in the resort and park wasn't exactly cheap, but it also wasn't unreasonable for this type of venue.

The next day we had a character breakfast in El Cid in the castle part of the resort (included in the room rate), the kids got their pictures taken with the EuroMouse/Cat/Whatever, and we headed off into the park again. Nine hours later, with tired, happy, little boys who had ridden every possible train, monorail, car, boat, truck, etc., we left the park and headed back to the room.

It was interesting that even with wonderful fall weather and perfectly clear skies, they still closed the park at 6:30pm. It took a while for everyone to saunter out of the park (they did this right below our window), but one would think it would be open later with a fireworks display or something… especially given the gorgeous weather.

It's necessary to arrive by car if you're staying at the Guesthouse because the building itself consists of only rooms. Breakfast, kids club, swimming, hotel park entrance, etc. are all located with the other hotels. We didn't find this to be a big deal, and actually preferred the location on the main park entrance. All resort amenities were still available to us, including early entrance (30 min) in the morning through the hotel park entrance. Also, we got a room (#10) that looked out onto the park; we would have not enjoyed our experience as much if we got one on the other side that overlooked the parking lot. We possibly had a little more park noise, but the ambiance was worth it.

As a final note, before making a decision, I would check out a new hotel that was built right across the street from the Guesthouse and the park. The hotel is called 'Hotel am Park' and I believe is located at Austrabe 1, 77977 Rust. We didn't stay there, but might have considered it if we were aware of it at the time we booked our reservation. I would imagine it lacks the theming that was prevalent in the Guesthouse, however, and this would have factored into our decision as well.