At the moment, @Slamming Coastercore and I don't get to see each other very often. We've both started big new full time jobs, I'm also writing 2 albums, playing shows and rehearsing with the band in a different city every weekend. Why yes, "hectic" is indeed the word you're looking for.
When my band rehearsals got cancelled last minute on Bank Holiday weekend, Alex and I had an idea: let's stop being ships in the night, lets board a ship in the night instead!
As our ferry trundled across to Calais, I stood on the deck, smiled to my teenage vampire self and uttered "I wanted those waters to be blue...but they were black."
Speaking of vampires, one sleep + a 2 hour drive and we were face to face with one. A Vekoma SLC by the name of Vampire to be precise. Welcome to Walibi Belgium.
We visited Walibi Belgium last year and got stuck at the top of Kondaas lift hill for AGES. It's a real testament to suffer a massive panic attack at a park and still want to go back there with no trepidation.
Fast forward 11 months, and we were skipping up to it's endearingly hideous entrance again.
We immediately purchased the excellent value Ultimate Speedy Pass (€45 for unlimited speedy pass for the majority of rides, including 1 x go on Kondaa)
Now we were ready for a day of serious competition on the shooty dark rides. The weather was warm but overcast, with dark clouds looming in the sky. This is my favourite theme park weather, I love a moody cloudy backdrop to a ride.
It would be rude not to ride Kondaa first though, wouldn't it? Wow. This beast was running so much better. Heaps of sustained airtime, relentless speed. Taking every element with such aggression and grace. Truly one of the angriest of Intamins. You only get 1 Speedy Pass for Kondaa, so we queued for about 30 minutes on our first ride and decided to save the Speedy Pass for when the queue got bigger. A wise move.
The story of Kondaa is tragic: villagers attacking a mummy Kondaa and stealing her egg, then torturing the egg. I really appreciate how this mural conveys the entire story before you enter the ride station:
Needless to say, Kondaa has shot back up into my rankings. Where though? I'm still pondering that. The more coasters you ride, the harder they are to rank. It's definitely a complete package ride for me though. The theme, the station, the story, the music and the ride experience itself all tie together perfectly in one dark, aggressive package. If Kondaa was a musical genre, it would clearly be Metal. (Perhaps that's why I love it haha)
Okay, it's bold statement time: Walibi Belgium is one of the best parks in Europe.
There's just so much to do and the line up has great variety.
- 2 fantastic, modern shooty dark rides
- The most thrilling water ride (Pulsar)
- High quality mine train
- One of the best drop towers (my beloved Dalton Terror)
- AIRTIME (Kondaa)
- A gorgeously themed family coaster (Tiki Waka)
- Brilliant rapids and log flume with cool effects
- Well-themed mad house
- A classic Schwarzkopf, enclosed with awesome lights
You don't even need to go anywhere near the Vekomas in this park to be entertained. I think the fact that we have been twice in the space of 12 months, with Speedy Passes both times, and never ran out of things to do speaks volumes. Also, many of the areas are beautifully themed. So many rides here are highly re-ridable too.
Enough of the enthusiasm, now let's get to the thing that really matters: who won on the shooty dark rides?
Well, we rode Popcorn Revenge twice. Alex won both. We rode Tutankhamen four times, Alex won 3 of those. And now let's never speak of it again.
If you haven't been to WB before, note that Challenge of Tutankhamen, (despite it's fairly unassuming entrance) is a v. high calibre dark ride. Expect fire effects, insane projections, amazing animatronics. Plus, it's trackless and you get a different ending room depending on how highly your car scores. Love it. Do not skip this ride!
Other noteworthy things from WB: the kebabs from stand near Dalton Terror are delicious. For €7 they really fill you up and felt like such good value for theme park food.
Launching in a massive lumbering boat on Pulsar is, and will always be, hilarious. Sit in the middle and you won't get wet so you can ride multiple times.
I rode many big drop towers in the States this year, but I'm pleased to report that Dalton Terror is still my favourite. It's just so floaty
Was pleased to get a healthy 4 rides in on this visit.
All in all, we had a brilliant time at Walibi Belgium. It was one of those theme park days where I just didn't stop smiling. Ride count:
Kondaa x 3
Challenge of Tutankhamen x 4
Popcorn Revenge x 2
Pulsar x 2
Dalton Terror x 4
Khali Rapids x 1
Flash Back (log flume) x 1
Calamity Mine x 1
The Vekomas didn't even get a look in! (P.S.Exotic World area is unofficially Crash Bandicoot themed, right?)
Now, I'm not going to split this report into seperate posts for each park day because I want the contrast to really shine through in one read.
----‐--‐----------------------------------------
Walibi Holland.
Ugh.
You may believe that the mascot for Walibi is this friendly guy. Do not be fooled. He is merely a secondary character, the proverbial Goofy to Mickey Mouse.
The Official Mascot of Walibi Holland is this:
It's Waspibi!
Let me tell you, Waspibi puts in a long shift. He makes appearances everywhere! He wants to meet and greet every single guest in the park multiple times!
Sometimes I even wondered if there was more than one person being Waspibi at the same time in different areas of the park. Otherwise, how did he get from the Untamed queue to the Goliath queue so fast? Perhaps there's multiple employees shrinking down through the quantum realm and donning a tiny wasp suit, as opposed to just one. Clearly, I didn't give it too much thought. It's just a guy in a costume after all.
The day started well with a waffle swimming in chocolate sauce and a nice chat with the guy at Waffle Stand about the new Meathook solo horror experience coming to Walibi Holland Fright Night this year. I relished every single gory detail he provided, and then it began...
the sadness. The sadness of not being at Walibi Holland during Fright Nights.
Everywhere we went in the park I found myself reminiscing about the incredible scare zones, effects and mazes that would have been in those spaces. I wondered if the lack of Halloween stuff was contributing to my overall disappointment with the park on this visit, but Alex, (who has never been to Walibi Halloween) expressed the same disappointment.
"Is it just me, or have we run out of things to do?" he asked, very early on in the day. (Note we didn't even buy fast pass for this day)
We rode Untamed 5 times (and I have the bruises to show for it), Goliath 3 times, Space Shot 3 times, Lost Gravity, Log Flume and the mad house.
Untamed is great, the 270° Double Inverting Stall is glorious. (I wonder why they haven't built more of that inversion?) But the second half has too many short sharp stupid little painful hills which prevent me being able to ride it over and over again. I much prefer an RMC with huge drawn out elements like Zadra.
Goliath is solid, some really good airtime. I prefer it to EGF.
Lost Gravity has aged badly. We used the single rider line, walked straight on, but my car full of guest were eerily quiet throughout the whole ride. It was a strange experience.
Space shot is fun but not thrilling. By lunch time, we were killing time. Wondering around aimlessly, getting ice cream and riding stupid stuff like the Splash Battle - where we got absolutely drenched. Oh great, now I'm soaking wet AND bored.
This park really needs a dark ride, something to add variety to the day. I won't be back until they build the single rail RMC, and even then, it's Fright Nights or nothing now. Sure, the park has 2 decent coasters, but it really lacks atmosphere and variety.
Thanks for reading! When you experience Walibi Belgium and Walibi Holland back to back it really highlights the stark contrast in quality between both parks. All hail the King of the Walibis...Walibi Belgium!
When my band rehearsals got cancelled last minute on Bank Holiday weekend, Alex and I had an idea: let's stop being ships in the night, lets board a ship in the night instead!
As our ferry trundled across to Calais, I stood on the deck, smiled to my teenage vampire self and uttered "I wanted those waters to be blue...but they were black."
Speaking of vampires, one sleep + a 2 hour drive and we were face to face with one. A Vekoma SLC by the name of Vampire to be precise. Welcome to Walibi Belgium.
We visited Walibi Belgium last year and got stuck at the top of Kondaas lift hill for AGES. It's a real testament to suffer a massive panic attack at a park and still want to go back there with no trepidation.
Fast forward 11 months, and we were skipping up to it's endearingly hideous entrance again.
We immediately purchased the excellent value Ultimate Speedy Pass (€45 for unlimited speedy pass for the majority of rides, including 1 x go on Kondaa)
Now we were ready for a day of serious competition on the shooty dark rides. The weather was warm but overcast, with dark clouds looming in the sky. This is my favourite theme park weather, I love a moody cloudy backdrop to a ride.
It would be rude not to ride Kondaa first though, wouldn't it? Wow. This beast was running so much better. Heaps of sustained airtime, relentless speed. Taking every element with such aggression and grace. Truly one of the angriest of Intamins. You only get 1 Speedy Pass for Kondaa, so we queued for about 30 minutes on our first ride and decided to save the Speedy Pass for when the queue got bigger. A wise move.
The story of Kondaa is tragic: villagers attacking a mummy Kondaa and stealing her egg, then torturing the egg. I really appreciate how this mural conveys the entire story before you enter the ride station:
Needless to say, Kondaa has shot back up into my rankings. Where though? I'm still pondering that. The more coasters you ride, the harder they are to rank. It's definitely a complete package ride for me though. The theme, the station, the story, the music and the ride experience itself all tie together perfectly in one dark, aggressive package. If Kondaa was a musical genre, it would clearly be Metal. (Perhaps that's why I love it haha)
Okay, it's bold statement time: Walibi Belgium is one of the best parks in Europe.
There's just so much to do and the line up has great variety.
- 2 fantastic, modern shooty dark rides
- The most thrilling water ride (Pulsar)
- High quality mine train
- One of the best drop towers (my beloved Dalton Terror)
- AIRTIME (Kondaa)
- A gorgeously themed family coaster (Tiki Waka)
- Brilliant rapids and log flume with cool effects
- Well-themed mad house
- A classic Schwarzkopf, enclosed with awesome lights
You don't even need to go anywhere near the Vekomas in this park to be entertained. I think the fact that we have been twice in the space of 12 months, with Speedy Passes both times, and never ran out of things to do speaks volumes. Also, many of the areas are beautifully themed. So many rides here are highly re-ridable too.
Enough of the enthusiasm, now let's get to the thing that really matters: who won on the shooty dark rides?
Well, we rode Popcorn Revenge twice. Alex won both. We rode Tutankhamen four times, Alex won 3 of those. And now let's never speak of it again.
If you haven't been to WB before, note that Challenge of Tutankhamen, (despite it's fairly unassuming entrance) is a v. high calibre dark ride. Expect fire effects, insane projections, amazing animatronics. Plus, it's trackless and you get a different ending room depending on how highly your car scores. Love it. Do not skip this ride!
Other noteworthy things from WB: the kebabs from stand near Dalton Terror are delicious. For €7 they really fill you up and felt like such good value for theme park food.
Launching in a massive lumbering boat on Pulsar is, and will always be, hilarious. Sit in the middle and you won't get wet so you can ride multiple times.
I rode many big drop towers in the States this year, but I'm pleased to report that Dalton Terror is still my favourite. It's just so floaty
Was pleased to get a healthy 4 rides in on this visit.All in all, we had a brilliant time at Walibi Belgium. It was one of those theme park days where I just didn't stop smiling. Ride count:
Kondaa x 3
Challenge of Tutankhamen x 4
Popcorn Revenge x 2
Pulsar x 2
Dalton Terror x 4
Khali Rapids x 1
Flash Back (log flume) x 1
Calamity Mine x 1
The Vekomas didn't even get a look in! (P.S.Exotic World area is unofficially Crash Bandicoot themed, right?)
Now, I'm not going to split this report into seperate posts for each park day because I want the contrast to really shine through in one read.
----‐--‐----------------------------------------
Walibi Holland.
Ugh.
You may believe that the mascot for Walibi is this friendly guy. Do not be fooled. He is merely a secondary character, the proverbial Goofy to Mickey Mouse.
The Official Mascot of Walibi Holland is this:
It's Waspibi!
Let me tell you, Waspibi puts in a long shift. He makes appearances everywhere! He wants to meet and greet every single guest in the park multiple times!
Sometimes I even wondered if there was more than one person being Waspibi at the same time in different areas of the park. Otherwise, how did he get from the Untamed queue to the Goliath queue so fast? Perhaps there's multiple employees shrinking down through the quantum realm and donning a tiny wasp suit, as opposed to just one. Clearly, I didn't give it too much thought. It's just a guy in a costume after all.
The day started well with a waffle swimming in chocolate sauce and a nice chat with the guy at Waffle Stand about the new Meathook solo horror experience coming to Walibi Holland Fright Night this year. I relished every single gory detail he provided, and then it began...
the sadness. The sadness of not being at Walibi Holland during Fright Nights.
Everywhere we went in the park I found myself reminiscing about the incredible scare zones, effects and mazes that would have been in those spaces. I wondered if the lack of Halloween stuff was contributing to my overall disappointment with the park on this visit, but Alex, (who has never been to Walibi Halloween) expressed the same disappointment.
"Is it just me, or have we run out of things to do?" he asked, very early on in the day. (Note we didn't even buy fast pass for this day)
We rode Untamed 5 times (and I have the bruises to show for it), Goliath 3 times, Space Shot 3 times, Lost Gravity, Log Flume and the mad house.
Untamed is great, the 270° Double Inverting Stall is glorious. (I wonder why they haven't built more of that inversion?) But the second half has too many short sharp stupid little painful hills which prevent me being able to ride it over and over again. I much prefer an RMC with huge drawn out elements like Zadra.
Goliath is solid, some really good airtime. I prefer it to EGF.
Lost Gravity has aged badly. We used the single rider line, walked straight on, but my car full of guest were eerily quiet throughout the whole ride. It was a strange experience.
Space shot is fun but not thrilling. By lunch time, we were killing time. Wondering around aimlessly, getting ice cream and riding stupid stuff like the Splash Battle - where we got absolutely drenched. Oh great, now I'm soaking wet AND bored.
This park really needs a dark ride, something to add variety to the day. I won't be back until they build the single rail RMC, and even then, it's Fright Nights or nothing now. Sure, the park has 2 decent coasters, but it really lacks atmosphere and variety.
Thanks for reading! When you experience Walibi Belgium and Walibi Holland back to back it really highlights the stark contrast in quality between both parks. All hail the King of the Walibis...Walibi Belgium!
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The way it's edited looks like they have Merlin going through some psychotic trip, his movements looking almost animated. Some of the ways he moves with the edits honestly look like he could be a boss in a video game (please make my dreams come true Elden Ring modders 
). Merlin's Magic Castle is yet another Madhouse with a superior pre-show to the ride itself, but it's so god damn worth it 
