Massive renovation and re-theming in Walibi Belgium

[KristofWB]

In 2006, when CDA took over Walibi Belgium, the park announced that they will work really hard to renovate the park after the years of 'bad management' by Six Flags and StarParks, they said they will try to fix the damage that has been made. After the complete renovation from Radja River, Calamity Mine and the re-painting of Cobra and Dalton Terror, the park did alot of work this winter.

1. Vampire make-over
After Cobra, the Vekoma Boomerang in the park, another coaster in the park will be re-painted this winter: Vampire. The red track of the coaster will remain, but the blue supports are now painted black to fit the vampire theme of the ride.

2. A complete new FlashBack
If there was one ride in Walibi Belgium that could be named 'disgusting', it must have been the logflume FlashBack, themed after a huge anti-age machine that should make passengers younger after a treatment, but because of the backwards first drop, they got alot older. The ride had suffered from its age and the neglecting by aswel Six Flags as StarParks. This year, a complete make-over has been done on FlashBack. Not only did the park buy new boats (yellow and pink boats instead of blue and yellow) for the ride, there will also be a new color and new special effects. Note: after its opening in 1995, FlashBack was awarded as the best themed ride!

3. New rocks for Radja River
Although Radja River was completely cleaned up in 2007, the ride will be cleaned up again this year. The ride will get new rock-theming and the park has worked on the special effects on the ride. In 2007, the ride got cleaned up and old special effects were brought back to life, new boats and an onride soundsystem.

4. Egyptian entrance for Challenge of Tutankhamon
The best themed ride of Walibi Belgium; Challenge of Tutankhamon, will get a complete new and themed entrance. To fit in the theme, Egyptian decoration will be added to make the ride even more attractive for visitors.

5. Face-lift for 4D Theater
Another ride that will get a complete new themed entrance will be the SpongeBob SquarePants 4-D theater, that opened in 2005.

6. New themed restaurants
In 2006, Walibi Belgium invested over 5 million EUR in the restaurants of the park. Not only fastfood anymore, in 2006 Walibi opened a Chinese take-away, a Mexican restaurant, a grill & BBQ restaurant and an Italian restaurant (with the best lasagna ever). This year, the Italian restaurant will be completely re-themed in an Italian 'plaza'. For Rocky's Grill, a new waiting system is installed and the menu from the restaurant is renewed. I only hope the heavenly spare-ribs will stay!

Walibi Belgium opens its doors on april 3d 2010!

 

[Pokemaniac]

This sounds very good. I like to see parks bring in new things, but I absolutely love to see parks fix what they have up to a proper standard. "Bringing in new guests"-wise, it might not be the best thing to do, but it surely will help guests to enjoy their stay and probably return. And they've already got the Aqualibi renovation for a "guest magnet", so they have something new to market as well.

Now hoping for a new coaster soon!

 

[nadroJ]

It's always good to see a park getting some TLC, can't wait to visit in the summer and see the work they've put in first hand. Do CDA also own Walibi World then? Because when I visited last year I felt the place could do with a bit of a tidy up and maybe even some new attractions, it just seemed to have gotten scruffy.

 

[KristofWB]

It's always good to see a park getting some TLC, can't wait to visit in the summer and see the work they've put in first hand. Do CDA also own Walibi World then? Because when I visited last year I felt the place could do with a bit of a tidy up and maybe even some new attractions, it just seemed to have gotten scruffy.

Yes, Walibi World is also under CDA! They do have some extra maintenance this year and they are pimping up themed zones this winter, by adding extra decoration.

Anyhow, Belgian/French TV-channel RTL-TVI was invited along with other press and parkfans to see what's going on in Walibi Belgium. I must say, for us it was already stunning (as Walibi Belgium was screaming for this for about 8 years in a row...), the video makes it look even more stunning. It is like Radja River is built up again after 22 years, the whole Lukcy Luke City area is being redone,...

The video is in French and you can find it by clicking HERE

 

[KristofWB]

Today, Walibi Belgium invited press and fans to the park to present season 2010. Of course, a massive load of pics are made and published on Belgian sites and extra news is send.

* Vampire will get extra vampire-theming, going from props to theme music.
* Extra theming and props will be added in the French area of the park to create a "Paris 1900" feeling. The annoying paying "Aqua Shooter" is also gone to make room for a French kiosk.
* The Italian section of the park will get extra Italian theming, such as statues, benches,...the ugly Spike & Suzy/Willy & Wanda statue is finally removed. The rides in the Italian section are also re-painted in fresh colours.
* The oldest, still operating ride in the park; Inferno, the Huss Enterprise is removed from the park.
* A complete new Italian 'plaza' look for the Italian restaurant in the park.
* Re-tracking from Werewolf.
* Radja River rocks are all redone and new rocks are added. Some rocks are re-shaped to make the theming look more realistic.
*Challenge of Tutankhamon got work done on the animatronics, a new look for the building will come very soon!
* FlashBack looks almost brand new thanks to bright and flashy colors. The ride also has ALL (and there are alot of them) its special effects back (keep in mind FlashBack used to be known as best themed ride in Belgium), plus extra light effects and props that finally move again.

Pictures?

More pictures can be seen at the following links:
http://www.walibifriends.be/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=386
http://www.flickr.com/photos/40950076@N06/sets/72157623640422860/

Pictures by: Matthias (WalibiFriends), Jonathan (WBA-fansite) and Fox (ThemeParkVision)

 

[Martyn B]

It's always good to see a park getting some TLC, can't wait to visit in the summer and see the work they've put in first hand. Do CDA also own Walibi World then? Because when I visited last year I felt the place could do with a bit of a tidy up and maybe even some new attractions, it just seemed to have gotten scruffy.

Yes, Walibi World is also under CDA! They do have some extra maintenance this year and they are pimping up themed zones this winter, by adding extra decoration.

Anyhow, Belgian/French TV-channel RTL-TVI was invited along with other press and parkfans to see what's going on in Walibi Belgium. I must say, for us it was already stunning (as Walibi Belgium was screaming for this for about 8 years in a row...), the video makes it look even more stunning. It is like Radja River is built up again after 22 years, the whole Lukcy Luke City area is being redone,...

Its just a shame that they still aren't willing to invest in their UK park anymore

 

[KristofWB]

Not only re-theming and renovations in Walibi Belgium this year. Steven Putzeys, Operations Manager from Walibi Belgium announced on podcast 'Ochtend in Pretparkland' that the Amfitheatre in the park will be used again after 5 years. The Amfitheatre used to be the location for 'Batman Thrill Stunt Spectacular' from 2001, 'Atlantis Mystery' from 2002 till 2004 and 'Star Idols' in 2005. In 2006 and 2007, the 2000-seat building was used as location for the Halloweenride 'Hotel Fant'ôme'. The show will kick off in May this year. He couldn't give any much information about the show, but he said it is expected to be 'spectacular' and 'never seen before'.

The park will also open a brand new website pretty soon!