Nine trains, a spiral lift and a Soviet-era space station module in the queue: Euro-Mir has had a good run, and Europa-Park has now said when it ends.
What happened
Europa-Park has confirmed that Euro-Mir will make its final runs during the 2026/2027 winter season and close in January 2027, after 30 seasons. According to the park’s own farewell page, a large send-off event is planned for 9 January 2027, before dismantling begins. The park says further details will follow.
In its place, the park says, will come a standalone space-themed family area on the same site, built around a new family roller coaster from Mack Rides, with completion scheduled for the 2028 season. Europa-Park added that it signed a partnership with the European Space Agency on 8 June 2026, which it says will shape the new area’s design and storytelling. It has not yet named the new ride or given any dimensions, and says more will be announced later.
The detail
Euro-Mir opened on 12 June 1997, according to the park, which says around 1.5 million guests rode it in its first season. The entrance area contains a genuine Mir space station training module that arrived at the park in 1995. The park’s own wording at the time called the ride a “galactic world first”; it does not say what the first was, and we would not take the claim at face value.
The enthusiast database RCDB lists the ride as follows. We have not been able to cross-check these figures against a second source, so treat them as RCDB’s.
| Spec | Figure (RCDB) |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer / model | Mack Rides, Spinning Coaster |
| Height | 28 m (92 ft) |
| Track length | 980 m (3,215 ft) |
| Top speed | 80 km/h (49.7 mph) |
| Inversions | 0 |
| Trains | 9, each of 4 cars, 16 riders per train |
| Lift | One spiral lift |
| Capacity | 1,600 riders per hour |
RCDB also notes that the park’s owner, Roland Mack, confirmed the ride’s planned removal in a 2025 interview with Welt.de, and that the park said in March 2026 that construction would begin in 2027. RCDB adds that the space theme and the mirrored towers are set to return on the new coaster. We could not find that tower detail on the park’s own farewell page, so it is RCDB’s account of a park announcement rather than something we have confirmed directly.
What it actually means
Start with the machinery, because it is why this ride is unusual. In a spinning coaster, the passenger cars are not fixed facing forward. Each rotates freely on a bearing above the chassis, so the track’s twists and banked curves, and the weight distribution of whoever is aboard, decide how much you spin. Nobody knows the sequence in advance, which is the point. A ride with a fixed layout becomes a different ride every lap. We covered the same principle when Legoland Windsor filed plans for a Mack spinning coaster.
Euro-Mir is a large, long-lived example of the model: a 980 m circuit with a spiral lift, rather than the straight chain climb most coasters use (our guide to lift hills covers the alternatives). RCDB’s figure of 1,600 riders per hour from nine trains is respectable, but note what that implies about ride capacity: with that many trains running, the ride is a queue-eater for a park of Europa-Park’s size, and removing it takes real throughput out of the system until 2028.
Then there is the ownership. Europa-Park is run by the Mack family, who also own Mack Rides. When the park replaces a ride, it is also choosing what to put in its own showroom. The park says the replacement is a family coaster, and says nothing about a spinning model. Forum speculation says it will be one; the park has not said so, and we are treating that as a rumour only. What the wording does tell you is the direction of travel: a gentler ride, with a space-agency partner attached, aimed at the family audience that fills the park’s calendar.
The ESA partnership is the other tell. A space agency is a better theming partner than a fictional one: it brings real hardware and real credibility, and a visitor learns something.
The Dispatch verdict
Euro-Mir is not being retired for being broken. It is being retired because it is nearly 30 and the site can do more. The park is promising to keep the space theme and swap the coaster for something built for 2028 audiences, and nothing announced so far contradicts that. What we do not yet know is the new ride’s layout, height or even its name, and until the park says so, any claim about those is guesswork. If you want a lap, the winter season is your window, though you should check the park’s operating calendar before travelling, since the page does not give dates for the winter runs.
Further reading: our guide to Mack Rides and the other manufacturers, how Legoland Windsor’s planned Mack spinning coaster works, lift hills explained and how parks calculate ride capacity, and Nigloland’s Mack shuttle coaster, Supersonic 1887.