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[Walibi Belgium] Zombie Attack - 27/10/2012

KristofWB

Hyper Poster
I had my first Halloween visit at Walibi Belgium in 2002, exactly 10 years ago. While we had to do it with only one haunted house that year, Walibi Belgium promised us a 'Bigger, Harder, Better' edition in 12 years. Our turn to see if this was true. Was the event bigger than ever? Was the horror harder than before and did they lie about it being better? We would find out today during my 10th Halloween visit at my homepark.

You can not be called an enthusiast if you have never visited Halloween in Walibi Belgium. Compared to our other Belgian parks, they do have the biggest and most intense Halloween of them all. The late night openings, so called nocturnes, became so popular that the park welcomes about 20.000 or more visitors per nocturne. Thank god they introduced the RIP Pass in 2011. This RIP Pass is pretty expensive and exclusive, as there only are 500 per day. However, the price does not beat the advantages you have with this RIP Pass. Fast entrance to all 6 haunted houses, 3 fast entrances for any other ride you like plus a free cocktail at the Zombie Bar: the bar taken over by zombies at the center of the parks lake.

Let me tell you that if you don't buy this RIP Pass during the Halloween nocturnes, you are doomed. Today the queues for the haunted houses were massive. For example Insomnia, where the queue was spread over half a themed zone, with an average waiting time for 2 - 2,5 hours. Same for Virus-Z1, with the whole picknick-area next to Virus being overwhelmed by queueing visitors.

I could type a complete review of the park, but because even though the park was opened from 10 AM till 10 PM, we were in a lack of time to do the rest of the park. We decided to use our RIP Pass for Dalton Terror, which was terrifying as usual, Werewolf (I prefer to say 'Loup-Garou', sounds very mysterious), which was hilarious and Challenge of Tutankhamon, which I suck at shooting targets. The only queue we were brave enough for to conquer was Palais du Génie (Vekoma Mad House). All the other queues were so long they looked surreal, so we skipped them.

Now let's have a review for what we came for: Halloween at it's best! With 3 scare-zones (Far West, Zombie Cemetary and Zombie Invasion), 6 haunted houses and one special Halloween show, Walibi Belgium claimed to have the biggest Halloween event ever seen in Belgium.

Scare-zones
As I told, three scare-zones, which means the whole right side of the park was packed with pure horror,with over 180 walking zombies. During daytime, before 6 PM, everything was pretty peacefull, calm and nice, but after 6 PM the whole right side of the park was litteraly swamped with horrific zombies. No step you could take without being haunted down by some creep, popping up from every place you could never imagine. More than once we saw people running around screaming, chased by this living dead creature. With so many visitors walking around, sometimes it was very hard to see if you were walking into a zombie or another visitor. And not knowing what is walking next, before or behind you is pretty nerve wrecking. I can asure you.

Haunted Houses
I think the parks management must have thought "Let's do something extreme this year". Whilst other Belgian parks have one or two haunted houses to offer, Walibi Belgium offers six of them. With Mad House 3D for kids (adults after 6 PM), Zombie River for the whole family and Zoo Terror III, Insomnia, Virus-Z1 and Project Z for teenagers and adults, there was 'fun' for everyone. Kudos to Walibi Belgium for that. Underneath a review from each and every haunted house in the park.

Zombie River
Good old Zombie River. The Gold River Adventure, a boat tour on the parks lake, was transformed into a Halloweenspecial for the first time in 2008. Back in those days it was called Clown's River and themed like a circus. For 2011, the name changed to Zombie River and the clowns were replaced by zombies. Surprise to us this year was the addition of extra theming to the ride. No longer like a disfunct tire-shop/campsite, but wooden towers and voodoo props along the way. And having said that, that was actually all I had to say about this one. It's family orientated, so it is pretty dull. Only three actors along the way, but I never expected them to jump into our boat.

Mad House 3D
Though it was mentioned at the website and at the entrance, this ride was exclusively for kids under 12 years old and RIP Pass holders. However, when we were standing at the RIP Pass entrance, we were sent back and told that we had to return after 6 PM. A pitty, as we planned to do this one without scare-actors and one time after 6 PM.

So we returned after 6 PM, keeping in our minds that this would be a 16+ ride with the scare-actors inside. Such a shame that the park let in too many people in one time, so you could see every scare-effect from miles away. I believe that if this ride wasn't so crowded, the scare-effects would have been pretty effective, combined with this complete wacky and crazy Halloween haunt, with scent-effects. It was such a weird experience I can't actually explain. It was like the walls were coming at you, eyes from paintings were popping out of the frames, furniture was moving, mixed with rooms that were upside down...I did like the rides finale: walking through this sickening vortex that almost made me trip from being so dizzy. I don't know why, but I thought Mad House 3D could easily be a permanent ride for the park because I was so surprised by how original it was.

Zoo Terror III
A Halloween classic since 2009: Zoo Terror. Started in 2009 as a one-scene-haunt, they transformed into this complete walk-through in 2011. And hell, I like it. Zoo Terror is hidden in the former indoor queue from Dalton Terror, but end up to be a very long and very creepy and claustrophobic maze.

The concept behind this haunted house is simple; freaks and monsters took over an old house, killed the previous owners and they do hate intruders. What happens is that you are one of those intruders and they will do everything to get you out of their territory. Walking to very small passageways, the place is packed with scare-actors. I love how they have put obstacles in almost every scene, so it is really hard to run away from or avoid any of the actors passing by. The best scene was this cell with a man sitting on an electric chair. Their are two entranced to this scene, each of them guarded by bodybuilder-like and fat zombies, blocking your way and send you back to the other entrance. While you get send away from that entrance to, after 4 or 5 times walking around aimlessly, you get pushed violently into this scene. One of my favorite haunted houses in the park.

Insomnia
You can say anything you want about Walibi, they do know how to 'pimp'. When they said last year they would transform their bumper-cars into the biggest haunted house, no one could ever believe they would succeed. It was the first time the park confronted visitors with their own psychological fear. Not walking past cages...but lock them up inside cages. Personal encounters with an army of agressive and violent actors.

The start of Insomnia is pretty bizar. You get locked up inside this tiny, pitch dark cabin. Scratching on the walls, banging on the ceiling and a surprise pop-up from a zombie, that you didn't see coming at all. At this point you are burried alive and you will enter this kind of underworld, ruled by a bunch of zombies. What happens next is just crazy, like this whole maze is one, big scare-effect. Actors are brutal, agressive and violent to everyone: men, women,...no one will escape their terror.

I also witnessed some kind of mass-hysteria inside Insomnia. There is one scene with a V-shaped hallway, where you have these pinhead-looking, S&M, zombie-like actors. We already heard the motor of a chainsaw from behind the corner, but suddenly about 10 to 15 people stormed back, with nothing but fear on their faces. People were screaming to "turn back" or "Please, leave me alone", "Get the f*ck out of here". And what does an actor with a chainsaw mean in Walibi Belgium? An insane, brutal man running through a giant crowd, waving the chainsaw around, touching peoples legs, arms, stomach,...with this roaring and smelly machine. I must say...I have never ran so hard to get out of this section.

Virus-Z1
Marva, the host of Halloween is out for revenge. She is creating this lethal virus to destroy humanity and take over the world. In Virus-Z1 you are invited to her laboratorium, with a big risk being infected yourself. That is the story behind the ride and I'm pretty happy I knew this before I did Virus-Z1. If I didn't, I would never have a clue where this was all about.

Before you enter, they give you this mouthmask, wore by surgeons, in the hope you won't be infected by this awefull virus. Next you walk into this container port, wind is twisting around caused by a helicopter and of course, actors popping out everywhere. I don't know how they do it, but you never see them coming. After this sequence, you enter the laboratorium. You pass cells with cranky people suffering symptoms caused by the virus, fresh formed zombies, torture rooms to calm down 'newborn' zombies and such. And suddenly you are outside...the end of the ride. A missed chance I think for Walibi, because this maze had more potential than they have utilized now.

Project Z
I think that this was one of the most feared haunted houses by fans. The air of mystery the park created made Project Z sound like it was the most intense experience ever. I don't even know if you can call this thing a haunted house or maze...it was...weird, special and surreal.

First of all you have to sign this document that you agree to participate the project at you own responsability. Everything the drill-instructors will force you to do is at your own risk. Sounds pretty exiting and we passed Project Z about three times before entering the RIP Pass queue. It didn't help to see people coming out looking pale or crying.

The action already starts when you are just inside the house. This soldier in camouflage is forcing you to walk down this small and dark hallway. Next their is another soldier, drilling and forcing you to get down on your knees. If you don't or you don't understand them because of them yelling so loud, they push you down on your knees. You have to crawl into a giant hole in the wall, which suddenly stops and changes into this crooked slide-like thing. You get pulled of this slide by another drill-instructor and are forced into another tunnel on the floor. This tunnel was more insane than the other, as there were chainsaws cutting above your head. Up to this gas-chamber that is filled with dying zombies, trying to catch you before they actually choke into this gas.

The next scene was the strangest of them all. It was this giant, round hallway with doors everywhere. A loud alarm sounds, doors open and close, red lights flash and you just keep walking around and around and around. It was at this point where my friend was suddenly pulled inside a room and they leave you alone. I walked around this hallway for about ten minutes before I got forced into this room, which is the only way out.

I could go on about Project Z for a long time, but I won't do that. The one stranger and absurd scene after the other, you have to do gross and weird things, walk through some disgusting foam,... . All I can say is that Project Z made me feel so uncomfortable for the whole runtime. The drillinstructors are everywhere and are so brutal, they yell and scream the whole time and make you feel like you are not wanted there, you are useless. And even though you really try to succeed all the tests they ask of you, it was never good enough and they always lose their patience. A crazy and insane experience I have never had before!

The big question: was Halloween Zombie Attack 'Bigger, Better and Harder'? Hell yes, it was!
 

peep

CF Legend
Woah, that does sound like a great event. That last maze sounds terrifying, I don't think I could hack that. Did you take any pictures of the event?
 

KristofWB

Hyper Poster
I didn't take any, but there are enough pictures on the internet. Here are some pictures and some teasers from the haunted houses in 2012!

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Video Zoo Terror III

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IFIxKqeTls&[/youtube]

Video Insomnia

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6SE3iSOkDg&[/youtube]

Video Project Z

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJKVPsv-peo[/youtube]
 

KristofWB

Hyper Poster
I forgotten about Virus-Z1, which was one of the other haunted houses that belongs to the Halloween theme for 2012, which is Marva trying to destroy humanity with this lethal virus she has created.

At the finale show during nocturnes, the park has launched a massive cliffhanger again as they did last year. This time it ended with the a battle between the soldiers from Project Z and Marva's zombies. Humanity has lost to fight and at the end of the finale show, humanity was infected with this virus.

A video from Virus-Z1!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igBTe1_rw2o&[/youtube]
 

Ollie

CF Legend
I have to get to this event sometime. Sounds amazing.
What were the queues like for each of the mazes?
 

KristofWB

Hyper Poster
Ollie said:
I have to get to this event sometime. Sounds amazing.
What were the queues like for each of the mazes?

I know that the park had to close their doors today and yesterday cause the maximum capacity of the park was reached (about 24.000 visitors). So think about what the queues for the haunted houses might have been! If you know the numbers below were the one for a week ago.
Average waiting time for all the haunted houses last week were about 2,5 hours, with the highest queues for Insomnia (about 2,5 to 3 hours) and Project Z (which has a max. capacity of 500 pph.).

Underneath the Zombie Invasion Finale Show!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B654nLgnKzs[/youtube]
 
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