Belgiqueeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!

[Nemesis Inferno]

Day 1 – Walibi Belgium

So after a month of going to all the Merlin Halloween events the ‘last’ weekend of the month needed to be something different. As such, discussions were had and plans put in place for a quick jaunt over the Channel on a Friday afternoon to enjoy a weekend of Belgian creds and scary things.

The Saturday was at Walibi, which has had an interesting life it must be said, and recently rebranded itself to a rather different park theme of a music band.

They also hold one of Belgium’s premier Halloween events, including a character who has a 5 year history as part of the event, roams the park hurling abuse at people and is on Facebook. The event is so popular that the two days prior to our visit the park had to close early due to capacity reasons. Fortunately, as John had been talking to local enthusiasts, we had purchased the R.I.P (in peace) passes.

These were €35 (or €25 on other days depending on opening hours) and got you Fastrack on 5 rides of your choosing, all the scare mazes, a visit to the Zombie Bar, priority seating area for Fireworks and 10% off in shops. Limited to 500 a day, this certainly screamed value for money, especially when there are 2 hour queues involved.

The park opened at 10 to begin the 11 hour day, and we headed right to the opposite end of the park to the most famous ride in Belgium…

Psyke Underground

It’s a Schwarzkopf Shuttle Loop! Yaaaay! This has had a chequered history as well, including stalls, being put semi-indoors, noise complaints, closure, etc. But this year the park enclosed the entire thing and added a bit of theming to make it fit the ‘music park’ theme. They also turned the launch into LSMs, which made me happy.

The queue was non-existent, so we were straight on and ready to go. A small pre-show occurs (although little context is provided to what’s going on) and we’re slowly set off on our way to a countdown.

The launch then kicks in.

Chalk another win up for rolling LSM launches above the other types, as you are propelled into the darkness and through the classically intense loop before heading up the first spike and then repeat the loop backwards, dash through the station with strobes going off and slightly up the backwards spike before returning back into the station.

It’s simple, effective; it’s rather good in fact. I do hope that the park’s plans to continue improving the experience (the outdoor portion of the queue is dull, and could be turned into a disco scene, more lights and a requirement to play the rather epic soundtrack are also required) come to fruition, because it really is the best coaster on the park.

7/10

We rode it a second time in the front (because the ride experience really differs on your row), before heading off in search of other rides. Firstly, we hit up the Zierer Tivoli for 3 laps of +1, whilst next door was a dark ride I was quite interested in experiencing.

Challenge of Tutankhamon

A Sally trackless dark ride with multiple (3) possible endings and lots of awesome effects? Where do I sign up?

This in the end was quite cool, and we managed to get the super-secret bonus ending first time around. Horray for us! There was however no fire which was disappointing. However most of the animatronics and other effects were very good. Be interesting to see what they do with this considering how it doesn’t fit in at all to the new branding.

We next headed into the Wild West area, where Calamity Mine awaited, a Vekoma Mine Train of the standard two lift hill clone type. It was alright I guess; nothing really special to write home about. With the rumours surrounding the Western area in general however the ride could look damn awesome next year.

Continuing our walk back to the park entrance we went into the 4D Cinema in French as we thought we might understand it better.

We didn’t, but it was quite a decent show unique to the park’s brand. Decent level of effects without resorting to the burdenous leg ticklers either. Good.

We then met up with Kristof, local Walibi enthusiast extraordinaire before deciding to go on Cobra, which he quickly backed out of. It is a Vekoma Boomerang after all, but certainly not the worst one I’ve ever done. Again this area of the park had a strange Arabian theme going on, a reminder of the park’s Six Flags days. Hopefully the park will get to a stage where all of the park is themed to WAB.

We ventured ahead into the Palace of the Genie which was unsurprisingly a Madhouse. It made no sense at all as to what was going on, which is always a problem with Madhouses and their stories, more often than not they are too wordy to get across to us ignorant English people. However the alternative effects inside were decent and quite subtle in a way to finish the story. We’re still spoilt by Hex though.

It was then time for the Music Battle Show, which was new for this year. There was a lot of pre-show pissing about due to some technical issues but eventually the show did start and it was pretty awesome. With awesome projection mapping and standard stunt show stunts before a decent finale. It was certainly worth watching and makes me wish we could have such things.

Nic is SUCH a goon

We broke for lunch at an Italian place, which was ok, before heading off to the Zombie Bar which was literally located on the park’s lake, to which you had to cross a bridge to access it. There we met Jeroen, another enthusiast who works quite high up on the park. We had our free drink and nattered for some time, being interacted with the Zombies as well for a good while. A very entertaining and unique idea, and probably the best part of our day, especially when one zombie led us on a conga line off the island.

The mazes had opened and John, Kristof and Jeroen went onto their first, Project Z, which included a disclaimer and going around alone. After their go through, the report was that John got locked in a cage for several minutes, and there was lots of touching and weird things going on. It even ended in a waist high foam party for some reason.

The vote for next things were for creds, so we went to the last two of the park, firstly, a SLC. Vampire wasn’t very good, and had some minimal theming. Others enjoyed it but I found it to be burdenous and juddery. Next door though the Wooden coaster Loup-Garou (or is it Weerwolf?) was much better, even with the set-square corners it had an abundance of airtime and generally I found it to be quite a fun ride.

We wandered over to the Zombie River, which normally is a Jungle Cruise style affair, but for Halloween it has actors (3 of them) around to ‘scare’ you. It didn’t have a high scare rating and for good reason, it wasn’t very good. A lot of milling around doing not a lot where 1 actor sat there doing nothing, whilst the other 2 were a simple diversion and scare tactic. They are limited due to the nature of the ride, but they could’ve done better I’m sure.

The scare maze doers did Insomnia, which was located on the Dodgems and had a tonne of actors inside, and it was rated as pretty good. We caught the magic show a second time because of being told of another show which unfortunately didn’t exist. We decided that we should head back towards Psyke and thus got the epically themed train over there.

Off the train we suggested John and Kristof do the Virus Z1 outdoor maze, which they did, before we rode Psyke again closer to the back and received an even more forceful ride. Horray!

We headed back towards the entrance via Villa 13 (which had way too many people going through at once to be effective), did some shopping with our discounts before settling down to watch the fireworks show.

It was pretty cool; it had fire, explosions and lasers. What’s not to love? Standard fare really although it had be toned down from last year as they shut the mazes and brought the actors out for it. Made sense to not do that this year. At the point we bid Kristof a farewell as he needed to go home.

After that we rode Loup-Garou again in the dark since it was the only other coaster we wanted to re-ride, before me and John headed towards Madhouse 3D but it was shut because of security reasons. On the way out we decided to ride the Breakdance, which we got 2 goes on because the ride op was being lazy and wanted to close his queue early by 5 minutes. Fine by us, because it was on a really epic cycle.

I didn’t take any photos of the Breakdance, so have the epically lit Wave Swinger instead…

And that was it. My thoughts on Walibi are that it is a park with great potential, but limited due to neighbours, hence all the issues with Psyke. They have a decent line up of rides if rather mediocre in a way, and a very unique theme and brand which they are pushing into the parks they own. I had a very enjoyable day at the park and it seemed to have very good intentions towards the future, and I hope that it succeeds.

The Halloween event was good as well, with a fair amount of park theming and LOTS of actors roaming about most of the areas. I mean LOTS. More than our parks have in total numbers. It certainly was the most Halloweeny event I’ve been too this year, and they deserve plaudits for that. Well done.

 

[Hutch]

I might be going to Belgium sometime next year, and this is one of the parks I might want to stop by for a visit. Great report!

 

[Gavin]

I missed out on Walibi Belgium by a couple of days due to weird opening times/days. It looks ok I guess, but it's not enough to make me rush back to that awful dump Brussels anytime soon.

I guess Belgium's small enough that it's doable as a day trip from a more interesting city, like Antwerp, though.

 

[KristofWB]

The park was way too crowded that day...with queues from 1,5 up to 3 hours. Too bad for the mazes, which are always very good but not when they stuff it with people.

Anyway, thanks for a great day!

Oh yeah, for those who care; the official Halloween After Movie from Halloween 2013!

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

 

[peep]

^^I think it's worth doing. It's a park with a nice atmosphere and has a selection of solid attractions, they just need that extra something to make it feel more complete now.


I best interrupt Benin and show my opinion on things....

Friday 1st November

A small journey from Benin's house to the Eurotunnel went by without a hitch. I then spent the time from once we were in the tunnel to nearly at our hotel in Gent writing out a superhero story for Nicky to mark for lolz as that is what she had spent the car journey doing for her class. Yeah, it'll never appear online, sorry to disappoint

During our journey we stopped off at Cite Europe for some food and to have a quick shop in Carrefour. We ate at Flunch which we all approved of so if you ever stop by at Cite Europe give it a go.

Our hotel in Gent was a Holiday Inn Express and was a bit more luxurious compared to most of the hotels we stay in. The rooms were rather large and we had a really great breakfast in the morning. The free wi-fi was awful though. We played the House of Anubis board game which was great fun. Emotions ran high as we kept trying to spite each other (pretty much the idea of the game) but in the end Nicky was victorious. Bern.

Saturday 2nd November

We set off very early for the park despite only being around an hour away from the park. Why? Well Kristof had informed us that the previous two days had completely sold out and I know the park can have traffic issues so we got there before all the crowds. Like, well before. Only us and a smattering of other groups were already present. We joined the queue at the gates and had a little faff with getting a parking ticket sorted and working out where we got our R.I.P. E-tickets sorted and exchanged into a proper pass. The main park gate opened around 9:30 where we proceeded to be at the front of the queue for the R.I.P. passes. A few minutes later and we all had our special passes...

A zombie says hello

Our special pass

While waiting for the secondary park gates to open we grabbed some wristbands which allow you to 'check in' and take photos at certain kiosks in queues and around the park. I think this is a great little idea, if you're waiting forever in a long queue it can help break it up and introduce some amusement while you wait. Unfortunately as you'll discover due to our R.I.P. passes we didn't get to check in very often due to not waiting in the main queuelines.

Once the gates opened we briskly walked over to Psyke Underground. I really enjoyed riding it back in July and was excited about riding it again and seeing what the others thought of it. We walked straight on and unsurprisingly everyone was very happy about re-riding straight away. The launch is gradual but fun and that loop is so intense and disorientating that it makes for a really fun ride.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-2pLVTyrh8[/youtube]

We then hopped over to the little kids Tivoli so the other three could grab the cred. No one else around meant we waltzed straight on again.

It was also raining which was a little burdenous but predicted. We were near Tutankhamen shooty ride so that was up next. I loved it back in July and I still love it. Unfortunately we didn't get the fire effects which was a shame, it would have been nice on a chilly day like that. Oh well, we all did really well which meant we got into both of the "yay you're awesome at shooting lights" rooms. Go us! Well, mainly Nic who did exceptionally well compared to the rest of us.

We then meandered over to Calamity Mine. We did want to ride the Intamin drop tower, Daltons Terror. However it had a really burdenous queue so we just skipped it. Calamity mine had a bit of a queue but it wasn't long before we boarded. It also had one of the Facebook check in screens so we all added that 'badge' to our list. The ride is good, fairly standard Vekoma Mine train. The first half is really well themed and the effect on the second lift hill is subtle and nice to see on one not in a Disney park. Unfortunately the second half isn't as well themed but overall it's still a good solid attraction.

We headed to Loup Garou next but due to the size of the queue and not wanting to use up our R.I.P passes just yet we decided to wait for the next French screening of WAB 4D. While waiting we saw Jeroen (webmaster for Walibi Belgium) walking around the park with a TV crew asking people in the Loup Garou queue questions. We didn't want to interrupt their filming and we would be seeing him again later in the day. So, the film. I enjoyed it, the animation is really nice, has a cool style.

We then got distracted by some actors by the small outdoor stage. The woman had an owl. Owls are cool.

The small stage and the surrounding area was turned into the child-friendly area for the Halloween event. One of the shipping containers had some cement mixers and lots of UV paint and kids were throwing balls into the mixers. If they got one in they got a small bag of sweets. Awesome. I love little things like this.

I then got in contact with Kristof who was now at the park after an awful journey via the trains. We met him over by Cobra which is where we were heading next. The queue was really long and Kristof not wanting to ride we decided to use our first fast pass. We were on in no time once we figured out where we had to go. I think this is one of the better Vekoma Boomerangs, it's not rough, just a little snappy in the transitions in the cobra roll.

We then went over to Le Palais du Génie, a Vekoma Madhouse. Being a huge fan of madhouses I was annoyed with myself when we missed out on it earlier in the year so was glad to finally be in the queue for it. The pre show was very wordy but had some nice effects, the same goes for the actual madhouse room too. After leaving the attraction Kristof was good enough to tell us the story of what actually just happened lol.

It was then nearly time for the Music battle which I also missed out on back in July. Due to a technical issue they kept running through the audience and dancing to current chart hits. It provided us with some amusement while they tried to fix the issue. After about a 10 minute delay the show was finally up and running. It's a little basic in places but the stunts and projection mapping effects were cool and provided an enjoyable spectacle. The finale which basically takes place in the middle of the seating area was cool.

The cast are really cool and hang back to say hi to all the kids and goons...

This is probably a good time to mention how awesome their costumes are, they are designed really well that they can do all sorts of acrobatics etc in them and some of their mouths move which is a nice yet subtle touch.

We were getting peckish now so we headed to the Italian place. Service was slow but the food was decent and very filling. Then it was time to go over to the Zombie bar. The zombie bar is only for R.I.P pass holders and provides you with a free drink. Where was said bar? On a tiny island in the middle of their lake of course! It's a little nerve wreaking walking over to it via the floaty bridge. Still, it was awesome fun. The zombies in the area were highly amusing. They were either dancing to the music, attacking guests with bizarre plastic things "made in China!" or just generally walking around amusing the guests.

Dancing zombies are the best kind

Fun on the bridge

We made it!

Kristof and Jeroen and the thing from China

Zombies wanted us to keep eating the peanuts so we would fatten up lol

Walking back off the island the zombie at the front decided to start a conga line. Much amusement was had. We all absolutely loved the zombie bar and due to it only being accessible with the pass meant it would never get crowded. Definitely the best thing I've seen at a park's horror event. The staff were clearly loving it too. You may have noticed that Jeroen had now joined us.

He tried his hardest to convince Nic, Nicky and Benin into at least one of the mazes but they weren't having any of it. Still, I was well up for it so Jeroen, Kristof and I headed into the queue for Project Z. You have to sign a waiver before entering as the actors can literally do whatever they want. There was a little bit of a wait as the throughput is random and just made up lol. I ended up entering the maze alone which was a little weird. There were a few moments where I had to crawl through very small tunnels. As I entered one someone set off a chainsaw which I have to admit was shocking and brilliant. I then found the cage that I had been warned about. There were already about 6/7 people in it. I was chucked in and someone was dragged out and forced into the next room. A few others left before I saw Kristof and Jeroen appear. The actor in the room then decided to make everyone do press ups lol. Oh gawd that was embarrassing but funny. The others were long gone before I was in the next area where the actor seemed really annoyed with me and kept just blowing his whistle in my face. He made about 8 of us stand against a wall before starting to let us go up the stairs which led to another staircase downwards. At the bottom we were handed goggles because there was a ridiculous wind tunnel. I couldn't stop laughing by this point, it was all so random and amazing. Handed the goggles back before entering the room of foam. I think they must have just re-filled it because it was up to my waist, me and the guy in front were well and truly covered lol. And then I finally exited the maze. Oh it was good fun, so glad I did it.

Jeroen left us at this point and we headed over to Vampire for some SLC action. Yet again there was a very long queue so we used the passes to walk straight on. I did actually ask Kristof how long the queue actually was and his reply was something along the lines of "I don't know, I've never seen it that long before". It's actually a very smooth SLC, it does seem to do this weird judder at various points throughout the ride but it doesn't cause any pain or discomfort.

We then headed for Loup Garou next which still had a burdenous queue. Yet another R.I.P. pass used and we were straight on. It's a good ride, plenty of air time but it has the issue I have with a lot of wooden coasters which is that the corners are straight and the train struggles to get round them in a friendly manner. Oh well, small problem on a decent coaster.

I think we saw the magic show next where the man was setting things on fire like a book.

We then headed over to Zombie river next. This is a fairly standard, slow, boring attraction but during the Halloween season they add a few actors to make it more interesting. I don't think it worked, I think the idea has masses of potential though and they could totally enclose the section with the bridge and do something with that. Still, it was nice that we could skip the queue for that too.

I'd like to point out all the awesome Halloween theming around the park, even varying the style occasionally. They've clearly put in a decent amount of effort into it. I love the sheer mass of pumpkins under their top spin.

Jeroen then met up with us again and the three of us went into Insomnia. What I love most about this horror attraction is that it takes place on their dodgems. They theme the exterior so much that you'd never recognise it too, brilliant. It started off by the three of us being locked in a pitch black room. Jeroen's phone went off which I thought was amusing but it also meant I knew where he was lol. Some random character then opens the door and we were on our way. My memory is a little blurry with this one but it was quite long and it even has an upstairs section. There was one corridor which I really liked but I wanted to just stand and admire it rather than continue. It used forced perspective in a way that I thought was really effective and when a character opened a random door and headed in our direction it really added to it. I was amused by how weary Kristof was before turning any corner. There was definitely a lot of actors inside and at times there were some pretty powerful strobes. Once again I really enjoyed myself. The others were missing out

BEFORE:

AFTER:

We then said goodbye to Jeroen again. We decided to take the train over to Psyke Underground. The train was nice and relaxing but there was so much faff when boarding. We used our passes to get straight on Psyke and we sat towards the back which was awesome.

We were going to ride Tutankhamen again but there was a silly queue. Instead the others waited while Kristof and I went into the Virus walkthrough. I was shocked to learn it was all in the backstage area of the Tutankhamen ride. It's impressive of yet again, how much they've squeezed in. This one had a much more industrial theme to it and had lots of cool moments. I think my favourite moment was when a wrecking ball sans Miley came crashing towards us. Very impressed by that. Annoyingly shortly after was when we had to wait on the staircase into the next bit for ages as there were too many people too scared to go forward. This then meant there were so many people in front that we knew when every scare was coming. I felt sorry for the actors because there's not much they can do in that situation. Still, it was all quite impressive and I enjoyed myself.

It was then back towards the front of the park so I could experience their latest horror house, Villa 13. You know I was impressed with the other locations? Well, for this they went and purchased a house that sat on the park's border. So you actually leave the park and enter a random house. I loved this concept so much. Unfortunately yet again there were too many people being let in. At some points we tried to hold back so there wasn't so many people in front but the actors forced us through. Burdenous. It's a shame because the crowds pretty much ruined this one. I can imagine this one being excellent when in very small groups. There was a genius scene in a car garage complete with car and exhaust fumes. On the whole the characters in this one were really creepy, some girls in front were proper freaked out.

It was then time to waste loads of money in the shop at the entrance. I really like the quality of their merchandise and the reasonable prices. I would personally like to see more ride-themed items though as it's maybe a bit too focused on the WAB and Skunx characters.

We grabbed some barbecued sausages and grabbed a bench in the R.I.P pass area for the fireworks. The sausages were nom. The fireworks were really decent.

Random confetti at the end

Kristof then had to say goodbye to catch more burdenous trains. We continued our time at the park by riding Loup Garou again. There was a bit of a queue for the passes this time but we didn't mind.

Chairswing of awesome

I had managed to convince Benin to go into the 3D madhouse walkthrough but by the time we got there and walked through the ridiculous mud we discovered that it was now closed due to an incident. They told us we could come back because they were going to try and re-open but instead we gave them 10 minutes, gave up and moved on. Instead we ended the day with two goes on the breakdance. The ride op was awesome and let us go round twice as he was closing up the ride. It wasn't the most insane breakdance I've been on which was probably a good thing due to the long time we were on it but it was really enjoyable. Hurrah.

It was then time to leave the park. Yet again I had a really awesome time. The park may not have any outstanding rollercoasters but what it does have is a really good group of well looked after attractions that are fun to ride. It's Halloween event is also fantastic and I think I may just have to go back again next year! It was also fantastic to finally meet Kristof and to meet Jeroen again.

I'll post up Plopsaland at some point over the weekend. Thanks for reading!

 

[Nemesis Inferno]

The park was way too crowded that day...with queues from 1,5 up to 3 hours. Too bad for the mazes, which are always very good but not when they stuff it with people.

Anyway, thanks for a great day!

Oh yeah, for those who care; the official Halloween After Movie from Halloween 2013!

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

That was a good video too, captured the event well I think...



Day 2 – Plopsaland

In what will probably be an unsurprising development, our 2nd park of the weekend was Plopsaland, because we all love it to bits.

It also has an immense amount of new things at the place this year, from a new MASSIVE theatre, two new rides in a newly themed area, and two rethemed rides (the kiddie cred and onion boats) which is really fantastic to see. Add this to the hotel development which is on-going and it does seem like the park is going places.

They had a good amount of Halloween stuff going on as well, and numerous walking characters because why not? We faffed about the entrance area and K3 Museum before the park opened and we headed over to Vleermuis, the Batflyer since I had only the one side of it and both are separate creds (cue arguments). I forgot how much of a burden it was to get into it and I eventually sat in the child seat. Urgh. Still, plus 1.

After this we meandered a bit and found the Lapins, a bunny variant on the infamous porn ponies, so naturally we had to ride them because they’re FAB.

It was then time for our favourite ride on park, Anubis, which has led to us becoming quite massive fans of the TV show (Nickelodeon’s version, not the Dutch one) and very goony about it. Hell, we even played the Board Game in the hotel on the Friday night. Either way, the ride is still very good, aside from the awful rattle you get off the launch; everything else is pretty damn smooth. It also gains points for finale in-line times.

Up next was the brand new Wickieland and its two new rides. On my last visit this was but a circus tent, but now it’s a lovely themed area with one of the best themed flat rides I’ve ever seen. We first did the Splash Battle of Burden, as the queue is unfinished and people waiting to get off can just fire at you without fear of retribution. In addition to that, you can also get people on the Disko Coaster, which is a hilarious concept indeed. The ride itself was a Splash Battle though, so nowt special really.

The Disko was next, and unsurprisingly that too rode like one, only sans bouncing which disappointed me slightly. However it does look immense and puts Kobra to absolute shame.

We fancied a bit of dark ride action so went to the Forest of Plop, which is still as fab and weird as before. We also petted a moody cow in the farm area before electing to have some food because hungry times were abound. This resulted in Waffles of JOY <3

After the waffles we went into Maya Land, which is a lovely indoor themed area. We did the Slide before the Waterlillies (a Demolition Derby) and finishing on the Flying Flowers of Burden, which were Dumbos but with annoying water fountains. Mergh.

We decided for another 2 goes on Anubis before heading off towards the newly partially rethemed area. It so far looks a lot better than it did 2 years ago that’s for certain, and hopefully when they finish doing the other coaster and the Teacups it’ll look even better. We did the Onion Boats and found a rubber ducky before Victor’s Race, a Zierer Tivoli with very happy planets and a dinosaur control box.

It was then time for the first show in the new Theatre, and the entire park seemingly decided to go and see it. It was our first glimpse into the new building and all I can say is wow. There is a MASSIVE reception area which can be used for business functions and probably the hotel in the future. Then inside the theatre itself it looks fantastic, with comfy seats and just all modern stuff. Pete the Pirate was the show in question with a Halloween theme, and the guy doing it was the same who appears in the TV show and epic looking Film. Chalk another for the European park shows, as it had catchy shows and typical kid-friendly amusements.

We then went in search of other shows, but this led us to the amazing doughy balls of sugary joy! They even had raw dough within them! OM-NOM-NOM!

The Roller-Skater was next, with it’s weird theme and covered in old theming from the rethemed Zierer. The painting techniques on the back of the washing machine were fab though.

Into the Castle area and we watched the Witches show, which involved dancing, interaction and sweeties! After a quick run around on Draak, the Mack powered coaster of epic music and weird layout, we sat down for the Ron and Jon show. This was basically a lot of slapstick between two guys which was then exacerbated by a giant monkey of WHY?! It was still quite funny though and it was nice to see a show we could understand.

After that it was 2 more goes on Anubis, a bit of shopping and the journey home. We could’ve stayed for the last show, but I think Walibi took a lot out of us the day before.

Unfortunately our trip home was a disaster, as we were turned around from the EuroTunnel due to a stuck train to the ferry, which was delayed so we had to wait around 2 hours to even leave the country, by which point the trains had started up again. Then the ferry was a burden as well. And the rain, the constant miserable rain. URGH. Got back at 12:30 Monday morning and went straight to bed, making a disappointing end to a fantastic weekend.

 

[peep]

Sunday 3rd November

Another stupidly early start meant we were all pretty tired. After getting ready and having a decent breakfast we checked out and made our hour long drive to Plopsaland de Panne. Once again we had arrived very early, unnecessarily early you might say. It was just us and about 3 or 4 other families waiting to enter the theme park on it's last day of it's Halloween season. The main entrance area opened up 30 minutes before the rest of the park where we got to meet some of the characters. The photographers were quite in our faces in regards to letting them take out photo etc...

The area was nicely done up for Halloween though with pumpkins, scarecrows and random halloween people walking around.

The K3 museum/disco was already open so we had a little look in there. Nic danced on the cool dancefloor.

It was then time to head over to rides so we went straight over to Vleermuis as it has awful capacity. I like this ride, it's simple and fun if a little too short and ridiculously hard to get in and out of.

We then discovered the gyrating porn bunnies of amusement. They had to be ridden.

The Plop peeps have a sense of humour

We then headed over to the other side of the park for some walk-on Anubis times. We found JOY and managed 3 goes before deciding to move on and just come back later.

Next up was the amazing new Wickieland area which the others hadn't seen yet. We went on the Splash battle where we only got a little bit wet due to the lack of people in the area. Good times as it was freezing. Next was the disko-coaster. We had timed it so well we got sprayed at by the peeps on the splash battle <3 Added so much to the ride, love things like that.

We decided to go and visit the forest of Plop. A family dark ride which is full of little plop people. It's a nice little ride but it needs updating, it was quite sad to see so many of the animatronics broken or just not working.

For some reason we were getting hungry for something naughty so we grabbed some waffles/pancakes from the amazing restaurant on the main plaza at the entrance. Tasty. It was then into Mayaland for some fun thrills. We started with the giant slide which is fun.

Willy was having too much fun

It was then over to the waterlillies attraction, a well themed demolition derby family ride. Lots of spinning was had which was also fun.

Then we rode the amazing flower themed dumbo-esque ride. I love it, it goes up and down pretty fast for a kids ride and the random water jets add to the amusement of the ride. Yay for Plopsaland.

Being pretty much next to where we were it was obvious that it was time for some more rides on Anubis. I love sitting in the front, that launch is just so much more ridiculous, so quick. We then made our way over to the newly re-themed Kaatje area. It's really livened the area up with lots of bright colours and fun characters. We rode both the little boat ride and Vicktor's race (a Tivoli cred).

We then made our way back to the main plaza for some barbecued sausages in rolls. They're pretty tasty. After we had finished our sausages we made our way into the brand new theatre for the Halloween Piet the Piraat show. I did get to go inside the theatre back in July but it was nice to go in to see an actual production. Apparently the Miss Belgium contest will be taking place in there next year

The foyer was set up for some sort of event

The screens either side of the stage showed off the latest TV shows and films and had some of the musical numbers from the latest Piet Piraat film which actually looks awesome. I still can't get over how amazing this theatre is though. Not only does it look great, the seats are extremely comfortable, the little star light effects around the entire auditorium adds a really nice atmosphere and then the show started...

Not only was the actual people from the TV show and films actually there to perform this show but the sound system was the best I've ever heard. I've never experienced such a clear sound system in any venue before like it. I would have suggested that it was all pre-recorded because it was so good but thanks to a little slip up near the end it was obvious it was live audio! The show itself was actually great entertainment. Basically like going to the panto, the kids got so into it and were all singing the songs (Nic included), doing the dances. Aww, it was brilliant. It was a 30 minute show but it flew by due to it being so entertaining. Loved it <3

It was then time to head back over to the back of the park for rollerskater which was just it's standard self. I sat in the front with Nic so both times we went through the washing machine we got quite moist. Another Halloween show was starting shortly afterwards in the castle themed area. The area theming was really nice and the show was a bit odd. It was pretty much just a group of witches just getting all the kids to dance around with them. Still, they seemed to be enjoying themselves.

We then rode Draak which was walk-on. Yay. I did pay for the on-ride video (2 euros) but it still hasn't been sent </3

We then waited around for the Ron and Jon show. It was very entertaining, it was like a Morcombe and Wise sketch. They timing was brilliant throughout. The monkey coming in and messing around with them was odd. Still, I had a smile on my face throughout their performance.

On our way over to Anubis they drove by...

So yep, a couple more rides on Anubis was had. Afterwards we started to click what had been going on all day throughout the park. As it was the last day of the Halloween season people were allowed to just pick up the pumpkins and sweetcorn and take it home. This amused us so much, especially the way in which they would work in teams to take home as many pumpkins as possible.

As we were leaving the park we saw one family where each kid had at least one pumpkin and the mum was pushing the buggy with another 5 or 6. I've never seen something so hilarious.

And that was that, we got in the car and proceeded to have a dreadful journey home due to broken trains and stormy waters. Oh well, at least the rest of the weekend was absolutely amazing.