Very early in the morning (2:30am) on Saturday 23rd July I met my friends Danielle, Gio and Amelia. We all got into the car and drove to Dover. We were all surprisingly awake despite the lack of sleep and by the time we got to Dover the Sun was rising. To cut the story short a bit, we got on the ferry after a long wait in the rain and then got off a couple of hours later in Dunquerque. We then drove straight to the park just on the other side of the Belgian border. Journey from the ferry to the park was about 20 minutes.
By the time we got to the park it was all blue skies and sun with a nice breeze which was nice. We entered the park via the info office where lastminute.com ticket peeps enter. We were welcomed by a whole host of characters in the main street type area. I got my picture taken with the chef from the Pete the Pirate show (yeah I'm aware how sad I am for knowing this).
The only problem with getting a picture is the characters come with a photographer who kinda gets right in the way to take your picture and is very in-your-face. They also automatically print every picture out and place it on a board at the exit later in the day so my mug would appear on there several times, how fun. One of my friends needed the loo and the nearest one was in the fab new Maya land.
We wanted to grab a quick snack for breakfast so we went over to a small outlet in the main square. I got this awesome panini thing with ham, cheese and pineapple, it was nom. So after filling up we went into the K3 museum because we were right next to it. Here are some photos of the epiceness:
Lol, random museum is random. See what you missed out on Ciall?
Anyway I decided to kick the day off ride-wise with the best attraction in the park...Anubis
I love Anubis and now my friends are massive fans too, we had such a smooth ride on it too and had no queue, epic. My friends didn't want to really re-ride though so we continued onwards. Oh and I noticed something geeky, the food kisosk opposite is called Sibuna which is the name of the little club formed in the TV show. This made my day
We walked round to one of the kids areas. This area is themed to the Samson and whatever the blokes name is TV show. We came across this kids ride which looked awesome so we did it as there was no queue. Just as we got on a mass of families turned up, typical and the ride cycle went on for AGES, was very embarrassing, as the kids were all like "wtf are those adults doing on our ride"
Was it as fun and exciting as it looked? Not really, you pump water at flashing red lights and it doesn't seem to react or do anything once you hit the lights #hardtoplease
We then went into the forest of Plop, a dark ride which takes you on an odd journey into the World of the Plop peeps. I think it's hilarious and the attention to detail in the theming is amazing, my friends just laughed all the way round
In the shop at the exit (which I swear they've made bigger) we found Plop hats, my friends tried them on...
We then found ourself wandering around the farm for ages. The Amika horse!
One very relaxed bunny...
A model of a cow which is udderly ridiculous...
The sausage factory punch bags?...
Nandos chickens...
After our fun round the farm we went back towards the rides. Next up was Dongos race. Sat in the front with Gio, it still terrifies me, those headchoppers are just insane and it picks up some serious speed.
We then did the next coaster, Rollerskater, where you go through a giant washing machine
I love Plopsa and it's bizarre themes. We then found ourselves in the other Samson area where we did the log flume. We got on really quickly and we all got quite wet, good fun.
In the same area is the Dragon coaster which is usually pretty fast and goes round twice but I found it to be a little slow and we only went round once! Oh well, my friends enjoyed it. We were now starting to feel a bit hungry again and noticed an offer on the back of the park map. It was a cheap deal on a hot dog and drink at a stall in the main square at the entrance of the park. It was basically a bbq and omg the sausage was so amazing, no idea what they put in there but it was uber nom.
Although the food was surprsingly filling we noticed another offer on the map but we only had 20 mins left to use it so we went over to the food place at the farm and got our cheap pancakes! There were amazing pancakes but it could have done with a good dollop of nutella inside. I noticed some amusing things on the boards so I took pics and got weird looks
We then randomly decided to go through the petting goats area. The highlight was definitely seeing this 4 year old girl being obsessed with this tiny goat and picking it up several times, I actually feared for the life of the baby goat but at the same time it was so hilarious.
Outside the goat area was this mass of evil looking ducks...
And we went "wtf created that sort of spider-web?"...
As we were coming back into the main square area the train was arriving so we decided to go on that.
I never realised it actually goes through another animal section where you can feed them. That was pretty cool but at 2€ for a food bag we didn't bother. Several times we had to slow right down due to animals on the track lol.
It was then time to go and properly explore Maya Land. Hurrah.
Ok this has to be, by far, one of the best themed areas in the World. I think the only downside is the exposed roof but I don't mind, there are enough themed items all over the place to distract you from that, also means it'll be great in the Winter openings. Just the level of detail EVERYWHERE just sent me into theme-nut heaven and as I'll explain, even the rides are epic. First though we went via the shop entrance which has the rather camp Willy (Maya's friend) above the entrance...
The shop had Vicky the viking...
One of these K3 girls clearly isn't popular, can you guess which one?
This, well, I think the photo explains itself but we were laughing for a good couple of days after seeing this...
I think I look like a train driver in a Plopsa hat...
So, first ride was the jumbos type ride. All the cars are petals and I think it's one of the bigger models of this ride type, it's seriously huge. I don't know if it's just because it's new or if it really is just epic but it went so fast and goes up really high. Oh and the theming is just amazing, it's over water and as you go round flowers squirt water at you, we stayed too high for most of the ride but the moment I make the petal go down I got bitch slapped by this jet of water lol. <3
^Oh and that is Willy again, we sat in his petal and felt all happy inside lol.
All the signage in the area is pretty cool but I wish for this next ride it tells you the rules in English too because we would have then stopped the faffage that would happen minutes later....
We were about to get on the ride when the operator (who unfortunately didn't know much English, fair enough) tried to explain that only one adult per car (or, just like the other ride, petal). I took this as the WDS rule with the same ride system (cars race rally) as being one adult per row. However once he loaded everyone up he was all like "no", he meant one adult per car, per CAR! What a stupid rule, so we had to miss out on it.
Lets pause for a min. Just LOOK at how beautiful this area is...
Me and Danielle then went to do the epic slide...
Willy gets a bit too happy?
We both went down the slide so fast it was ridiculous. Danielle got to the bottom first but then I nearly didn't stop and ending kicking her accidentally in the backside
I then spotted two characters, clearly had to go get my pic with them. It's Maya and her random derpy friend that I have called, Derp. Simples.
The drop tower is one of Willie's rides However we didn't ride it, which is a shame as it's the same as the new ones at Phantasialand which are awesome.
Amelia and I then went to ride the log-themed ride similar to Griffins Galleon at Chessington. WOW OMFG, we both came off feeling ill, that hasn't happened to me on a ride for years. No idea what they've done but it has one mental cycle and goes soo fast and spins like mad. Fantastic! Oh and to top it off it has the best theming job ever, the actual ride looked (and felt) like a proper log (apart from the seating area). Such an amazing addition, simple yet excellently executed. Plopsa I love ya.
We then decided to do Supersplash which despite looking like a long queue, wasn't. It is still such an awesome sensation when you get to the top and the door opens to reveal the drop, pure epicness. Shame that after the splash it just meanders around aimlessly.
My friends were beyond tired and so we sat down in the main square for a bit. Just happened they started to do a soundcheck on the small stage set up for the evening's special Anubis-themed event. Hang on, who the hell is that on stage? OMFG it's the Anubis cast!!!!!
They sounded pretty good actually and the next part of the story still annoys me. After the soundcheck finished my friends were so tired they wanted to check in at the hotel and sleep. Fair enough I suppose as they're not used to silly sleep patterns like me. It's a shame because it means we missed out on the live performance and the fireworks, oh wells.
On the way out we found a board with the characters on, Danielle and Amelia do amusing poses...
Just what is Vicky the Viking doing? Oh and to finish the day off we posed in front of the door and the park entrance...
We then drove to Dunquerque to our Etap hotel for the evening. What happens at the hotel and in the evening plus the next day will be revealed in part 2 of this PTR! Thanks for reading
By the time we got to the park it was all blue skies and sun with a nice breeze which was nice. We entered the park via the info office where lastminute.com ticket peeps enter. We were welcomed by a whole host of characters in the main street type area. I got my picture taken with the chef from the Pete the Pirate show (yeah I'm aware how sad I am for knowing this).
The only problem with getting a picture is the characters come with a photographer who kinda gets right in the way to take your picture and is very in-your-face. They also automatically print every picture out and place it on a board at the exit later in the day so my mug would appear on there several times, how fun. One of my friends needed the loo and the nearest one was in the fab new Maya land.
We wanted to grab a quick snack for breakfast so we went over to a small outlet in the main square. I got this awesome panini thing with ham, cheese and pineapple, it was nom. So after filling up we went into the K3 museum because we were right next to it. Here are some photos of the epiceness:
Lol, random museum is random. See what you missed out on Ciall?
Anyway I decided to kick the day off ride-wise with the best attraction in the park...Anubis
I love Anubis and now my friends are massive fans too, we had such a smooth ride on it too and had no queue, epic. My friends didn't want to really re-ride though so we continued onwards. Oh and I noticed something geeky, the food kisosk opposite is called Sibuna which is the name of the little club formed in the TV show. This made my day
We walked round to one of the kids areas. This area is themed to the Samson and whatever the blokes name is TV show. We came across this kids ride which looked awesome so we did it as there was no queue. Just as we got on a mass of families turned up, typical and the ride cycle went on for AGES, was very embarrassing, as the kids were all like "wtf are those adults doing on our ride"
Was it as fun and exciting as it looked? Not really, you pump water at flashing red lights and it doesn't seem to react or do anything once you hit the lights #hardtoplease
We then went into the forest of Plop, a dark ride which takes you on an odd journey into the World of the Plop peeps. I think it's hilarious and the attention to detail in the theming is amazing, my friends just laughed all the way round
In the shop at the exit (which I swear they've made bigger) we found Plop hats, my friends tried them on...
We then found ourself wandering around the farm for ages. The Amika horse!
One very relaxed bunny...
A model of a cow which is udderly ridiculous...
The sausage factory punch bags?...
Nandos chickens...
After our fun round the farm we went back towards the rides. Next up was Dongos race. Sat in the front with Gio, it still terrifies me, those headchoppers are just insane and it picks up some serious speed.
We then did the next coaster, Rollerskater, where you go through a giant washing machine
I love Plopsa and it's bizarre themes. We then found ourselves in the other Samson area where we did the log flume. We got on really quickly and we all got quite wet, good fun.
In the same area is the Dragon coaster which is usually pretty fast and goes round twice but I found it to be a little slow and we only went round once! Oh well, my friends enjoyed it. We were now starting to feel a bit hungry again and noticed an offer on the back of the park map. It was a cheap deal on a hot dog and drink at a stall in the main square at the entrance of the park. It was basically a bbq and omg the sausage was so amazing, no idea what they put in there but it was uber nom.
Although the food was surprsingly filling we noticed another offer on the map but we only had 20 mins left to use it so we went over to the food place at the farm and got our cheap pancakes! There were amazing pancakes but it could have done with a good dollop of nutella inside. I noticed some amusing things on the boards so I took pics and got weird looks
We then randomly decided to go through the petting goats area. The highlight was definitely seeing this 4 year old girl being obsessed with this tiny goat and picking it up several times, I actually feared for the life of the baby goat but at the same time it was so hilarious.
Outside the goat area was this mass of evil looking ducks...
And we went "wtf created that sort of spider-web?"...
As we were coming back into the main square area the train was arriving so we decided to go on that.
I never realised it actually goes through another animal section where you can feed them. That was pretty cool but at 2€ for a food bag we didn't bother. Several times we had to slow right down due to animals on the track lol.
It was then time to go and properly explore Maya Land. Hurrah.
Ok this has to be, by far, one of the best themed areas in the World. I think the only downside is the exposed roof but I don't mind, there are enough themed items all over the place to distract you from that, also means it'll be great in the Winter openings. Just the level of detail EVERYWHERE just sent me into theme-nut heaven and as I'll explain, even the rides are epic. First though we went via the shop entrance which has the rather camp Willy (Maya's friend) above the entrance...
The shop had Vicky the viking...
One of these K3 girls clearly isn't popular, can you guess which one?
This, well, I think the photo explains itself but we were laughing for a good couple of days after seeing this...
I think I look like a train driver in a Plopsa hat...
So, first ride was the jumbos type ride. All the cars are petals and I think it's one of the bigger models of this ride type, it's seriously huge. I don't know if it's just because it's new or if it really is just epic but it went so fast and goes up really high. Oh and the theming is just amazing, it's over water and as you go round flowers squirt water at you, we stayed too high for most of the ride but the moment I make the petal go down I got bitch slapped by this jet of water lol. <3
^Oh and that is Willy again, we sat in his petal and felt all happy inside lol.
All the signage in the area is pretty cool but I wish for this next ride it tells you the rules in English too because we would have then stopped the faffage that would happen minutes later....
We were about to get on the ride when the operator (who unfortunately didn't know much English, fair enough) tried to explain that only one adult per car (or, just like the other ride, petal). I took this as the WDS rule with the same ride system (cars race rally) as being one adult per row. However once he loaded everyone up he was all like "no", he meant one adult per car, per CAR! What a stupid rule, so we had to miss out on it.
Lets pause for a min. Just LOOK at how beautiful this area is...
Me and Danielle then went to do the epic slide...
Willy gets a bit too happy?
We both went down the slide so fast it was ridiculous. Danielle got to the bottom first but then I nearly didn't stop and ending kicking her accidentally in the backside
I then spotted two characters, clearly had to go get my pic with them. It's Maya and her random derpy friend that I have called, Derp. Simples.
The drop tower is one of Willie's rides
However we didn't ride it, which is a shame as it's the same as the new ones at Phantasialand which are awesome.
Amelia and I then went to ride the log-themed ride similar to Griffins Galleon at Chessington. WOW OMFG, we both came off feeling ill, that hasn't happened to me on a ride for years. No idea what they've done but it has one mental cycle and goes soo fast and spins like mad. Fantastic! Oh and to top it off it has the best theming job ever, the actual ride looked (and felt) like a proper log (apart from the seating area). Such an amazing addition, simple yet excellently executed. Plopsa I love ya.
We then decided to do Supersplash which despite looking like a long queue, wasn't. It is still such an awesome sensation when you get to the top and the door opens to reveal the drop, pure epicness. Shame that after the splash it just meanders around aimlessly.
My friends were beyond tired and so we sat down in the main square for a bit. Just happened they started to do a soundcheck on the small stage set up for the evening's special Anubis-themed event. Hang on, who the hell is that on stage? OMFG it's the Anubis cast!!!!!
They sounded pretty good actually and the next part of the story still annoys me. After the soundcheck finished my friends were so tired they wanted to check in at the hotel and sleep. Fair enough I suppose as they're not used to silly sleep patterns like me. It's a shame because it means we missed out on the live performance and the fireworks, oh wells.
On the way out we found a board with the characters on, Danielle and Amelia do amusing poses...
Just what is Vicky the Viking doing? Oh and to finish the day off we posed in front of the door and the park entrance...
We then drove to Dunquerque to our Etap hotel for the evening. What happens at the hotel and in the evening plus the next day will be revealed in part 2 of this PTR! Thanks for reading
