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A Golden Milestone: Europa-Park's 50th Anniversary
The pioneering Mack family marks 50 remarkable years of Europa-Park while planning for the future
Roland Mack, the formidable co-founder of Europa-Park, is a difficult man to keep up with—even at age 75. After a full day of Europa-Park’s 50th anniversary celebrations and media interviews, he’s off again, setting the pace. Tall, tanned, and urbane, he heads for his golf cart—reputed to go faster than everyone else’s—and speeds through the park he knows like the back of his hand. His next stop is a meeting about Europa-Park’s latest addition, a Monaco-themed area set to open in 2026.
Despite the glitz and glamor of the day, Roland Mack, a former IAAPA chairman and member of the IAAPA Hall of Fame, remains grounded and refreshingly frank. When asked what his late father, Franz Mack—who launched Europa-Park with him—might think of the project 50 years on, he replies without hesitation: “I think he’d say it’s become too big.”
The Mack family name has always been synonymous with quality. Behind that reputation lies a belief that mastering all the details is fundamental to good management. For the Mack family, the challenge has never simply been about growth, but about finding the right balance: expanding enough to seize opportunities while maintaining tight control to preserve quality.
Going For Growth
Franz and Roland Mack’s tour of the United States in 1972 sparked their bold plan for a theme park. The Mack family was already renowned for its superior engineering and rides, which all started in 1780 when Paul Mack began building wagons in the German town of Waldkirch. In the 1970s, the Macks saw the potential to create a showcase for their rides and a small family theme park with strong entertainment value. They laid the foundations on the castle gardens in the fishing village of Rust. Europa-Park opened on July 12, 1975. Today, the family-run entertainment empire is still expanding.
Looking at Europa-Park now, it is hard to fathom the early skepticism that greeted the project. Both Roland Mack and his brother Jürgen, who joined the business later, recall the financial risks their family faced. News headlines predicted bankruptcy. Banks weren’t willing to back the project. “My father and I were the only ones who believed in our success,” Roland Mack says. The Macks put everything on the line, including the family home, to get the deal done.
They quickly proved their critics wrong. Around 250,000 visitors came in 1975, 700,000 a year later, and Europa-Park hit the million-visitor mark in 1978. Daily attendance now exceeds 20,000. The 16-hectare site has grown to 130 hectares that now includes six resort hotels and the indoor/outdoor Rulantica water park.
Europa-Park is now among the world’s top theme parks, offering “limitless adventures” and the opportunity to experience Europe in one day. Nearly 150 million people have visited the park since its debut, eager to experience rides like the Blue Fire Megacoaster, Silver Star, the Pirates in Batavia ride (rebuilt after a 2018 fire), and the Voltron Nevera powered by Rimac roller coaster, one of the park’s newest sensations. Monaco will be Europa-Park’s 21st themed area.
Europa-Park offers a stunning variety of live entertainment. There are food and beverage offerings to suit every taste and budget, including two beacons of gastronomy, Europa-Park’s two-star Michelin restaurant Ammolite and the Eatrenalin experience, which fuses fine dining, dark ride technology, and immersive media. The park has expanded its seasonal offerings. The HALLOWinter event in November connects the successful Halloween event to the Christmas and winter seasons.
2019 saw the launch of the Nordic-themed Rulantica, one of Europe’s biggest water parks. This second gate, costing 180 million euros, strengthens Europa-Park’s year-round appeal. The park’s playful mascot, Snorri—a six-armed octopus—welcomes guests to a water wonderland filled with Norse gods, trolls, and a sea serpent that swallows unwary sliders.
A footbridge links Rulantica to Krønasår, the four-star museum-themed hotel that opened the same year. Honoring adventurers, the hotel brims with exhibits, from a towering sea snake skeleton in the foyer to a replica Viking ship suspended above the Bubba Svens restaurant. The themed rooms feature museum-style displays.
With Krønasår, Europa-Park operates six hotels, that have a combined 5,800 beds. With occupancy rates above 90%, Roland Mack believes the resort must continue scaling its accommodation capacity. The park’s extensive entertainment value is driving “solid growth in hotels,” he says—a trend that reflects guests’ desire to stay longer and experience more. “Confertainment” is also big business.
Europa-Park is expanding and rebranding its Camp Resort, the Western-themed Silver Lake City. The property will offer accommodation for over 2,000 guests beginning in 2026. A new 120-room Riverside Western Lodge will also launch next year.
The master plan provides space for an additional pair of hotels located near Rulantica. Jürgen Mack predicts that a new hotel with 250 to 300 rooms will open in the next five to 10 years.
The Family That Innovates Together, Stays Ahead
Managing such rapid growth brings challenges. Besides the parks and hotels, the Mack multiverse encompasses MACK Rides, MACK Solutions’ creative services, MACK Animation, MACK Research, 2112 Studios, and MACK Connect—all managed under the MACK One umbrella.
As the business grows, the eighth generation of Macks are making their mark. “My brother and I are happy that we have children who want to work in the company. It’s ideal when the older generation can help the next, just as our father did for us,” Jürgen Mack says.
The Mack women have long played an integral role in the family business. This year, Roland and Marianne’s daughter, Ann-Kathrin Mack, joined her brothers Michael and Thomas as a managing partner. She is the first woman appointed to the management board in almost 250 years. An architect who has overseen many construction projects, she aims to continue developing Europa-Park as a leading resort destination. “Whether this is your first or 50th visit, we want it to be memorable,” she says. Following in his father Jürgen’s footsteps, Frederik Mack will steer human resources, finance, and controlling.
Michael Mack is expanding the family’s digital entertainment offerings beyond the park. MACK Magic has teamed up with Warner Bros. Film Productions Germany for its first cinema release this summer. The “Grand Prix of Europe” animated movie stars Europa-Park’s mouse mascots, Ed and Edda. Guests can join the adventure in the park’s Grand Prix EDventure, an interactive 3D dark ride based on MACK Rides’ Gameplay Theater. “You need storytelling—books, videos, and games—so people can experience parts of the park at home,” Jürgen Mack adds.
Thomas Mack is the driving force behind hospitality innovations, including Eatrenalin, the immersive restaurant that opened in 2022. Visitor numbers and feedback have been “amazingly positive,” he says. Up to 160 diners a night can savor Eatrenalin’s culinary delights. Tickets start at 255 euros and the menu changes regularly. The Mack family is discussing overseas expansion with investors from Asia, the U.S., and Latin America. “I am sure Eatrenalin will go international this year,” Thomas Mack says.
At IAAPA Honors 2025, he revealed a new Eatrenalin-inspired product, EatX. This dark ride dining attraction concept features the FlowDiner—a floating table with benches that carries diners through captivating worlds. “We have a high capacity of 120 people per hour for a 44-minute experience,” he explains.
Diversification Pays Off
For more than half a century, Europa-Park has steadily evolved. “We do have space in Europa-Park and the water park to grow,” Roland Mack says. Rulantica’s new outdoor pool with a swim-up bar opened in May. Fresh events such as the Nordic Festival of Lights at Rulantica (from January to March) are driving visitor interest.
Doubling the park’s size is not Roland Mack’s goal. Building parks is an increasingly difficult and expensive business, with rising costs, regulatory demands, environmental scrutiny, and limited land availability. “Each attraction is far more expensive and complicated to build now than 20 years ago,” he says. Robust finances and reserves are essential.
Diversified offerings are vital, Frederik Mack believes. “Having variety—the hotels, Rulantica, YULLBE [virtual reality experience], Eatrenalin—enables us to keep guests for longer, and that helps from the revenue side. It’s also important to keep up with innovation and bring new technologies into the park. We are just at the beginning of this artificial intelligence wave.”
Team Spirit
Recruiting and retaining staff is an ongoing challenge. Europa-Park is looking farther afield for its workforce and has to accommodate them. “We have about 1,500 rooms now, and I think we’re going to need 2,000 plus,” Roland Mack says of their employee dormitory complexes. Europa-Park aims to make newcomers feel like part of the family. Milestone investments, including the Welcome Center 75 and MACK Academy, facilitate the onboarding and training of new employees while fostering a social environment. The Europa-Park Talent Academy, founded by Katja Mack, nurtures performing artists.
Roland Mack and his family members have witnessed many events: from the entry of major players like Disney into Europe to waves of consolidation, fires, and pandemic-related park closures. Throughout, they have stayed true to their roots, listened to their guests, and focused on their guiding principles—family, quality, and innovation—to set the gold standard in entertainment and hospitality.
Compassion by Example
Extending their commitment for developing people and highlighting the importance of wellness, the Mack family will spend the remainder of 2025 building a facility catering to families with a child facing a life-threating illness. The new Little Heroes Children's House is a central charity project of Europa-Park that will generate good well past the resort’s 50th anniversary year.
“The target group is children with cancer who are slowly returning to normal life after their serious illness. Staying with us at Europa-Park and the Rulantica Water World with their families for a week is intended to give them back their zest for life and help them find their way back to normality,” explains Roland Mack.
The children's house featuring five large apartments—with each unit providing space to host a family of four—will be centered inside the resort’s new Camp Resort. Each child and their family will be provided a complementary five-night stay, with admission to the theme park, indoor water park, and excursions to the Taubergießen Nature Reserve, Freiburg, and Strasbourg provided at no cost.
Retired employees of Europa-Park will serve as volunteers at the Little Heroes Children's House. The former employees will receive training that includes an education into to childhood illnesses and how to anticipate the needs of children recovering from cancer treatments.
Europa-Park developed the new facility in cooperation with Stiftung RTL - Wir helfen Kinder e.V. (an organization supporting projects in Germany benefitting children) and the German Childhood Cancer Foundation in Bonn, along with a patronage by Swiss musician and DJ BoBo.
Roland Mack believes the new Little Heroes Children's House (slated to open in 2026) is of “great importance,” not only for the recovering child, but also the child’s siblings and parents once they have the “great burden behind them.”
Roland Mack—the heart and soul of Europa-Park—remains dedicated to his life’s work, securing the family legacy for future generations. With a smile and a nod, he disappears into a meeting with Monaco’s officials about the upcoming themed land. He remains relentless in his pursuit of perfection.
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