On a cold October day, some time after the death of my beloved father, I decided to unwind and de-stress after a difficult start to 2021. I had been to Zator several times, to the largest amusement park in Poland. This time, however, I decided to give myself a gift in the form of a year-long ticket.
I went to the Energylandia ticket office and asked for a regular ticket year-round ticket for the amount if I remember correctly 549 PLN. After filling out the purchase form and paying for it, I was directed to the entrance to the park office. There the nice cashier took a picture of me, which was later printed on a plastic proximity card that was a ticket. I was able to enter Energylandia for the first time with my first ticket valid for the next 365 days.

It’s time to start the fun by getting to know Energylandia
I have been to the park in Zator several times, but until October 2021 I had only done a dozen or so attractions. Among them were Formula, RMF Dragon, Speed, Boomerang and a few others. I was still far from breaking through Hyperiona, Zadra or Space Booster. I set myself a goal Get to know the park in Zator as well as possible. In addition, complete all available 123 attractions within those 365 days. Of course, more than once, but many times, in different ways. Without holding, with eyes closed, with eyes open, with legs raised wherever possible. Also In front rows, in the last, middle carriages, on the right and left side. In summer, in winter, after dark and during rainfall. An additional goal was to visit Energylandia at least once every 2 weeks throughout its opening period in 2022.

In 2022, I visited Energylandia exactly 33 times, and you have to add a few more trips in 2021. There were weeks when I played in the park in Zator even twice a week, but there were also 2-3 week breaks.
Part 1 – „People” – „I spent a month in Energylandia”
And so a series of posts entitled „I spent a month in Energylandia„. The first part touches on my experiences related to people we can meet while having fun in Energylandia. I achieved my goal, and you can read the conclusions from it below. I invite you to read.
People, people everywhere, good and bad.
After a month spent in the largest park in Zator, I have a few thoughts. One of them is the issue of people. Those already in 2021 Energylandia disgusted me so much that in 2021, during the summer, I visited the park only once. The amount of over 100 PLN for one person and the possibility of having fun on only a few attractions throughout the entire hot day was not the most pleasant.

On a hot July day during peak usage Tourist Voucher there were definitely too many people. The lines after 10am were already reaching 30 minutes of waiting, and it only got worse after that. 60, 80, even 120 minutes. What the heck. In the sweat, sun and crowds we stood just to have fun on the 60 seconds attraction. Hell! On a Formula or Dragon like that the ride doesn’t even last 1 minute!

The good ones in winter…
Discouraged by these experiences, I returned to Zator in the fall. Encouraged by the short waiting times, the decision to buy a year-round ticket was quick. Thanks to this, I could enjoy the attractions practically without a long wait. There were definitely fewer people there, lower temperatures, and queues for a maximum of 20-40 minutes.
The best is undoubtedly during Winter Kingdom. In 2021, there were no lines at all. The park seemed deserted, with employees and lost guests bustling around here and there. Attraction operators had to wait several minutes for the ride to start, just because I and a few other people were in the cars. However, Winter Kingdom is short-lived, and it’s hard to survive the whole day in the freezing cold.

… and in spring
Spring 2022 has arrived. April weather was not spoiling and was more like Winter Kingdom than spring fun in an amusement park. Thanks to this, there were still no people, and we had to dress in layers. Fortunately, the end of April and the beginning of May began to spoil us with warm rays of sunshine. Temperatures were rising, and fun even in water attractions began to be enjoyable. The best part of all this was the lack of guests.

There were single families with children, small groups of friends and individual school trips. There was also no shortage of foreigners. Larger there were practically no queues at all. Those that I found were created by rather cultured people who know how to behave even in a place like an amusement park.
The worse ones during the holidays
Everything changes 180 degrees right after the end of the school year, and the worst is in August. The rash begins „Grażyna and Janusz„, „Sebów” and families called pejoratively „Five hundred plus„I have nothing against people receiving the 500+ program or against people with a low financial status. For these people, a trip to Energylandia is the trip of a lifetime. However, among these people there is a large percentage of people who simply do not know how to behave.
To the above I must also include „Sebów„. Gentlemen with their life companions who have just made some extra money and decided to have some fun after a few drinks. The heat is never their ally.
Such people can effectively ruin an entire day of fun at Energylandia. From pushing in line for attractions, taking over other people’s seats, shouting obscenities at children, arguing with operators about attraction limits, and showing off in skimpy outfits or heavy make-up straight from an adult club. Add alcohol or other stimulants to the mix and you have a recipe for a bad atmosphere while waiting in line or on a ride.

On the other hand, guests who are often considered to be lower classes, who do not throw money around, usually behave more politely. Unfortunately, their loss in the crowd leads them to panic. They verbalize it through strange behavior, loud talking, and causing confusion. Even the operators of the attractions have to intervene. When the ladies try to determine who sits where, whether the child meets the limits, and the father panics with fear of the attraction.
I look at the former with contempt, anger, and a desire to throw them out of the park. On the other hand, I usually look at the latter with regret, concern, and amusement. However, it is the latter that I try to help. Especially when I see them arguing over a map or struggling with the door to a safety deposit box.
There is no such thing as a torso
Motion sickness is not the most pleasant. When you add adrenaline, heat, fatigue and junk food to that, there can only be one effect. Vomiting among guests is most noticeable during the months of highest attendance. We must therefore be prepared to see vomit at the exit of the attraction, and I saw the most of it, contrary to appearances, on RMF Dragon. This family rollercoaster is probably number 1 among children.

It’s not just kids who throw up. I’ve met adults on Formula, Mayan, Aztec Swing or Apocalypto, who they came off the attraction green, and after a while they let out a peacock. Two muscular men in tank tops particularly stick in my mind. They were under the influence of a large amount of alcohol. They decided to go on the rollercoaster with the most inversions. They were flexing in the queue and shouting over how great they were. And after a minute on the ride, their own stomachs defeated them. They didn’t even decide to go somewhere to the side. They simply decided to stop in a narrow passage and expel vomit. A lot of vomit.

The good thing about all this is that I’ve only encountered people vomiting after getting off the attraction. I’ve never had vomit in my face from the people sitting in front of me. However, I’ve heard of such cases and I’ve also seen staff cleaning the seats on attractions.
The following attractions are said to be the most vomit-inducing::
- Aztec Swing,
- Space Booster,
- Space Gun,
- Apocalypto,
- TOP 3 rollercoasters: Hyperion, Zadra, Abyssus.
You can also add Mayan, Formula and RMF Dragon among children.

Let’s measure our strength against our intentions
I realize that each of us has a different resistance to stress, adrenaline and overload. I meet people who are in Energylandia for the first time and are able to sit on Hyperion right away and enjoy it from the first ride.

However, there is also a large group of people whose fear paralyzes and generates strange defensive reactions among them. Usually, they manifest themselves as innocent panic while waiting for the ride, trembling voices and hands, or illogical speech. On the other hand, during the ride itself, they behave appropriately and have fun.
Others, however, attempt attractions they are simply not ready for. They cause a commotion in the queue, change entry boxes out of stress, push through, or argue with the staff about correctness of securing. Then they struggle with it. They shout to their fellow passengers that their buckles are too loose, and „is it normal„, „something is creaking„, „something is wrong” etc. etc. Later during the ride itself there are loud screams, even on weaker attractions, effectively making the ride more uncomfortable for other guests nearby. In turn, after getting off, they vomit or are overcome by ecstasy and the expression of their impressions as if they had returned from a flight into space. The fascination makes them run as fast as they can to immediately complete the attraction for the second time in a row. On the way, they push and ram slower guests and their children.

Kilograms of belongings have to be with us?
Among the guests of Energylandia, there is a large group of people who do not like to part with their belongings. Smartphone, e-cigarette, wallet, house keys, car keys, tissues, lipstick, hairbrush and change. If there are several of these, before the attraction is launched a large part of the time is spent putting all these items back on the shelves.

But they are there deposit lockers. You can take a backpack or a purse with you. Put all the things from your pockets in them. Then put them in a safety deposit box, and then go to the attraction with empty hands and pockets. This will increase the capacity of the queue, make the process of fastening the security locks and then exiting the attraction more efficient. In addition, more phones will remain functional. This is because many people, shaken after the ride, drop them when trying to grab their things from the shelf. Often then you can hear the sound of expensive iPhone screens cracking and other smartphones.

„Bombs„on a leash
Energylandia is a park for the whole family. Adults and children. We have dozens of attractions for the youngest, many family attractions and some really great extreme devices for the older ones. Such a large number of attractions for children makes during the holiday season and during high attendance school trips (especially in June and September), you can meet large groups of children in the park. We can distinguish those aged around 7-11 and older teenagers.
The first group usually spends time with their parents and does not create artificial crowds, so there is no greater chaos in their vicinity. However, if the family spends time with the second family, which gives us several children, the risk of encountering untamed „bombshells„. Dads are drinking beer and bragging about their achievements on the attractions, and moms are smoking one cigarette after another, while at the same time their children run among the guests without much control, push each other in the queues, create chaos in the booths and argue about who sits where. And then after the ride is over, they run as fast as they can, tripping and bumping into others, to get back in line for the second ride as quickly as possible. They also often ask the operators to let them stay in their seats for the second ride, completely ignoring the people waiting in line.

In addition, children often do not follow safety rules and advice from staff. They stand up on water attractions (such as Atlantis and Jungle Adventure), get off the boat for Splash Battle and play hide-and-seek among the decorations in the enclosed area, get on the trains with their phones in their pockets, and even take out their phones during the ride. These behaviors are extremely dangerous and irresponsible.

Older kids without control
The second group of older excursionists, away from their parents and under the supervision of 2-3 female teachers, do whatever they like. They have no control over themselves, and the teachers do not have the strength and courage to run with them to Abyssus, Aztec, or Zadra. Unfortunately, such groups of people generate artificial crowds and a lot of confusion. They do not sin with culture, dress and decency in the queues and on the devices themselves. Cigarettes, sometimes beer in a backpack, vulgarity, pushing and shoving and arguing with guests who decided to remind them not to swear in front of children and not to smoke in the queue.

Encountering the latter group in the queue for an attraction can seriously spoil the fun. It’s a pity that during this time their parents don’t see how their children behave. You can’t blame the (poor) teachers. I can’t imagine that 2-3 ladies in their late fifties would be able to supervise a group of 20 teenagers.

Energylandia in the summer yes, people no
Energylandia has a unique atmosphere during the holidays. It’s warm, the days are the longest, playing on water attractions is a lot of fun, and Water Park allows you to cool down pleasantly. However, in the period around the holidays and during the holidays themselves, we can come across many groups of people who effectively spoil our and others’ good mood, fun and simple faith in people.