A Rainy Day at Energylandia

About the park

Energylandia is the largest amusement park in Poland and one of the biggest in Central and Eastern Europe, sprawling across roughly 70 hectares (about 170 acres) in the small town of Zator, roughly 50 km southwest of Kraków. Despite being a relatively young park — it only opened on July 14, 2014 — it has rapidly become a heavyweight on the European coaster scene, now boasting one of the largest roller coaster counts of any theme park in the world.

The park is the project of the Goczał family, Agata and Marek, who previously ran the Energy2000 music club in Przytkowice near Kraków. The story goes that after a family visit to Gardaland in Italy, their kids asked the obvious question — why isn't there anything like this back home? Marek began scouting European parks, submitted an application for EU co-financing in 2009, and eventually secured around 42 million PLN in support. Ground broke in the fields outside Zator in 2013, and the park opened its gates the following summer with just three coasters: the Frutti Loop Coaster, Mars, and the Viking Roller Coaster.

Interestingly, Zator already had an amusement park when Energylandia was being planned — Zatorland, focused on dinosaurs and mythology. Rather than competing, the two parks agreed on complementary offerings, which helped turn the town into a genuine entertainment hub in southern Poland.

Since then, the expansion pace has been relentless. Formuła arrived in 2016, Hyperion in 2018, Zadra in 2019, the Aqualantis zone with Abyssus in 2021, and the Sweet Valley candy-themed area in 2024. By 2023, the year of this visit, the park was pulling in around 2.5 million guests annually, with a heavy international mix from Slovakia, Czechia, Ukraine, Germany, and beyond.

Getting there

Base camp was a hotel directly across from Kraków Główny, the main train station — which turned out to be an ideal setup. The bus to Zator leaves from the station area and takes about an hour, which felt shorter than expected given how much ground it covers. No car, no rental hassles, no trying to navigate Polish road signs.

The visit

The weather was not cooperating. It rained for most of the day, sometimes lightly and sometimes heavily, but to my surprise the rides kept running the entire time. No closures, no long operational holds — just wet seats and wet ponchos.

The upside of visiting at the very end of October, in the rain, on a weekday: the park was almost completely empty. The only other guests I noticed were a couple of small school groups, and even they seemed to cluster in specific areas. Walk-ons were the norm for every coaster I cared about. For a park that can easily hit capacity in the summer high season, this was the kind of day coaster enthusiasts dream about.

The highlights

Hyperion (Intamin Mega Coaster, opened 2018) — The headliner. At 77 meters tall and 142 km/h, this is the tallest and fastest roller coaster in Europe, and it absolutely earns the hype. The first drop is a gut-punch, and the ride keeps delivering floater air and forceful transitions all the way through.

Zadra (Rocky Mountain Construction I-Box, opened 2019) — The other world-class coaster in the park. A hybrid wood-and-steel structure topping out at roughly 63 meters with a 90-degree first drop, three inversions, and a top speed of around 121 km/h. RMC's I-Box track is known for pulling off things a traditional wooden coaster never could, and Zadra is regularly ranked among the top hybrid coasters on the planet. The airtime moments are genuinely unreasonable.

Abyssus (Vekoma Shockwave, opened 2021) — Anchor of the Aqualantis zone, themed around a mythical sunken city. A dual-launched steel coaster with four inversions, around 39 meters tall, and a top speed near 100 km/h. Smooth, punchy, great pacing, and visually one of the better-themed coasters in the park.

Formuła (Vekoma launched coaster, opened 2016) — The park's first "major" coaster, and still a solid ride. Racing-themed, with a strong launch and a compact but engaging layout.

Having these four back-to-back-to-back with essentially no wait was the making of the day. Hyperion and Zadra in particular are the kind of rides worth traveling specifically for, and getting repeated rerides on both without queuing is a rare treat.

Food

Park food was a genuine surprise — affordable and legitimately good. Not the usual theme-park markup on mediocre fare. The variety of sit-down and quick-bite options across the park meant there was no point in the day where eating felt like a compromise. Pierogi at a theme park has no business being that good.

Final thoughts

A rainy late-October day ended up being close to ideal. The rides ran, the crowds stayed home, the food held up, and the headliners delivered. For anyone considering Energylandia as part of a Kraków trip, the train-station-adjacent hotel plus bus combo is a painless way to do it, and shoulder-season weekday visits — even wet ones — can make a park of this size feel like a private playground.

Ten years after opening a small park in a Polish farm field, the Goczał family has built something that genuinely belongs in the conversation with Europe's best. On a quiet, soggy Friday, that was very easy to see.