The Phantom of the Opera Is Coming Back... as a German VR Roller Coaster

Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera is taking a leap from the stage to theme parks, with a VR roller-coaster experience inspired by the long-running West End and Broadway musical set to debut at Germany's Europa Park this spring. Yes, you read that correctly.

The experience, part of the park's Eurosat Coastiality attraction, will invite riders to wear a VR headset, allowing the dark ride experience to be digitally augmented. The ride's official description shares that the experience mixes the "mystery and intrigue of this gripping love story" with "the thrill of a rollercoaster ride."

The park released a preview trailer on Instagram. Watch below.

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Though the upcoming experience is certainly unique, Disney's theme parks make it far from the first Broadway-theme park crossover. The Europa Park ride, however, would appear to be the first time musical theatre has inspired a thrill ride.

The Phantom of the Opera has music by Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Charles Hart, additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe, and a book by Stilgoe and Lloyd Webber, based on the novel Le Fantôme de l’Opera by Gaston Leroux. The musical first premiered in London's West End in 1986, coming to Broadway in 1988. The original West End production closed during the pandemic shutdown in 2020, reopening in 2021 in a slightly revamped iteration. The Broadway production played its historic final performance April 16, 2023, and is still the longest-running production in Broadway history.

Eurosat Coastiality - The Phantom of the Opera is expected to begin welcoming riders this spring.

More information is at EuropaPark.de.