You know, for a lot of park guests this is going to be a more engaging and inviting visual experience than what was there before.
I won't be one of them, and neither will many of the folks here. But plenty of people are going to like the pretty colors. Even if they don't know or remember what it looked like before, they will find the Wilkommenhaus and environs to be a happy and vivid place to spend some time. 🤨
Conflicted. So conflicted on this.
I adore the decades-established legacy look of the Rhinefeld hamlet. Even when Alpengeist (a ride I enjoy tremendously) eliminated the tucked-away idyll of the smaller Rhinefeld fountain, my favorite quiet nighttime BGW spot, back when late-night BGW experiences were easily had on most summer weekends... Rhinefeld still retained its classic look.
From today forward, it seems current and future generations will create their Rhinefeld memories in a more, uh... vivid setting.
Great experiences of any stripe -- film, TV, hiking, climbing, relationships, skiing, road races, trail rides, good books and other storytelling, historical fact or fiction, and the list continues for hours -- generally balance the emotional experience between intense and quiet or reflective. It can't be high octane all the time. Often, a sedate and grounded interlude is absolutely necessary to make the exciting "adventure" moments that much more unique. It is also necessary for its own sake, because that is what many guests actually want. Rhinefeld in its original brown-on-brown, shopping-heavy form was SO GOOD at this.
As with Spartan Pantheon and blue Alpengeist, I will reserve judgment on Technicolor Rhinefeld until I see it in person. In the meantime, I hope there is a clear and wise empirical justification for the visual changes being made overall to the park.