Hi there have been a few threads on EP/Rulantica recently, you can look at my comments on those too!
“It seems that EP is open from 9am-6pm and R is open from 9.30am-10pm and you can buy evening-only tickets, so I'm guessing that quite a lot of people do this.”
In summer EP stays open later than 6pm depending on how busy the park is. They announce the closing time in the afternoon once they have a clearer idea of how big the crowds are. We were there last week for two days: one day it was open until 7.30 and one day until 8pm although we could still see people in the park past 8pm as they do a “soft close”. The weather was very warm and we were definitely ready for a rest by the end of the day. I would personally not have wanted to tack Rulantica on at the end of a long, hot park day, but if you’re a very high energy family and happy to cut a park day a little bit short then you could make it work.
EP is large and beautiful, at peak times some areas do feel busy but not horribly busy compared to other parks. For non-ride-people, there are some nice walks, gentler boat/train rides and some nice bars and restaurants to relax in.
In two days we only found ourselves stuck in one queue that was 40mins+, and my dd and dh packed in three big rides in 45 mins between 7.15pm and 8pm. During the day we all accepted there would be some “down time” while dad had a beer or mum insisted on a cute dark ride or two.
There are many rides and attractions you can just walk straight on to (assuming you’re not fussy) - the lack of a fast pass feels less tragic. In two days, I expect you could manage most of the big rides twice and majority of the small rides. The big rides will require at least some queueing but it’s nothing like a Merlin park… the queues are mostly in the shade and the theming is fantastic so there is plenty to look at whilst you queue.
Please don’t miss out on going inside the Mir2 space modules when you go on EuroMir: it’s amazing to see a real
spacecraft right there in the park. Most people seemed to ignore this!
The virtual queue app is a bit annoying. I understand why you can only queue for one ride at a time, that is fair. Slots go really quickly - you need to get on the app 9.00 sharp and get in a queue right away. As new slots open up all the time, you have to keep checking back. Sometimes one minute later, the queues will refresh. Often a slot opens up for “now” and if you’re too far away from the ride you obviously can’t get to it in time. And sometimes you check back and think “great, a slot has opened on Wodan at 11am, I’ll ditch my slot on Blue megafire at 3pm and grab Wodan” but by the time you switch, the Wodan slot is gone and someone has now nabbed your slot on Blue Megafire! I made that mistake more than once 😆 Also there is no point queueing virtually for Voletarium as you can walk straight on later in the day (after about 4pm) when the crowds have moved towards the back of the park. So don’t waste a queue space on that.
Rulantica is very nice, but can feel quite crowded. We did the early evening ticket from 5pm to 10pm on the day we arrived in Rust. I could see how people could spend a whole day there, lazing about. The pizza and pasta in the restaurant was surprisingly good. The evening was really nice because they have a little pool party outside with music and lights. And the indoor wave pool is really pretty when night falls. I reckon your teens would like it at night. Don’t expect it to be quiet in the evening though - it doesn’t really calm down and it feels much busier than EP.
I have been to a few European water parks (Siam Park in Tenerife and Tropical Islands near Berlin for example) and I think Rulantica was the best in terms of theming and I find all these water parks are v crowded in peak season.
Also don’t forget there is a “multi media” light show at the Coloseo hotel at 9.45pm for 15 mins each evening. That’s pretty nice to watch and you don’t have to be a hotel guest. And a light show at Kronosar hotel also.