Energylandia

Energylandia opened in 2014 on flat farmland at Zator and expanded fast into the largest amusement park in the country. It is organised into zones by intensity, from a fairytale area for small children through family rides to an extreme section holding the large steel coasters, including a hyper coaster and a launched model that draw enthusiasts from across Europe. A water park area with slides and pools operates in summer on the same ticket. The scale is the point: the site covers tens of hectares and a serious visit means a full day of walking, queueing and riding rather than a couple of hours.

What you actually see

• The extreme zone - the large steel coasters, including the tallest and fastest rides in the country.
• The family zone - lower intensity rides that most groups actually spend the majority of their time on.
• The fairytale area - a section built for small children, with height limits low enough for them to ride.
• The water park - open air pools and slides included in the ticket during the summer months.

When to go

The park runs from spring to autumn, with July and August by far the busiest and the queues at their longest. Late May, June and September have shorter lines and comfortable temperatures. Arrive at opening and go straight to the biggest coasters, since queues build within the first hour. Weekdays are consistently better than weekends.

Honest expectations

In peak summer waits of well over an hour for the main coasters are normal and the day becomes mostly queueing. There is very little shade and the walking distances between zones are long. Food and drink inside are expensive, height limits exclude younger children from most of the interesting rides, and thunderstorms shut the coasters down at short notice with no refund.

Nearby

Krakow is about an hour east, and the fish ponds and small castle of Zator are close to the park.