Europe

The Ride to Happiness

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Since summer 2021 Tomorrowland invites you to enjoy the Ride of Happiness – a Mack Rides Extreme Spinning Coaster. 

Simply said, the oddly licenced ride located in a family theme park by Studio 100 intrigued me. The park normally home to characters like Tabaluga, Heidi, Vicky and Maya the Bee surprised everyone by investing into a fantasy themed area based on the popular Tomorrowland festival which features one of the most interesting roller coasters so far.

After leaving the station, the train immediately enters the first inversion. Due to the odd shape of the heartline roll, the cars slowly roll into every imaginable position. A brief stop in a block section follows, before launching into new heights. On top of the hill, the train slowly takes a dip, before plunging down nearly vertically in a surprising rush. This is followed by a completely mad Banana Roll and an absolut insane vertical Loop. While the sequence of elements cannot get any better, it is nevertheless followed by a Zero-G roll, which completely whips you around in any position. This is followed by a bend directly above the Super Splash roller coaster. After a change of direction, we now enter the second launch section. Without hesitating, we move straight into the next element: a Step-Up Under Flip. This element basically resembles a flying snake dive is just insane. Lost in orientation, the ride now changes a bit in tone and the train enters a mild section consisting of several airtime hills before finally hitting the brakes. 

In total, Ride to Happiness is an absolutely awesome experience and so far the best roller coaster Mack Rides has ever produced. It is one of the top tier roller coasters in Europe and worth a visit to Plopsaland De Panne. Interestingly, it also has one of the shortest waiting times in the park, as it only caters to a niche market of the family theme park, aimed at younger guests.

Pictures Plopsaland De Panne

 

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Plopsaland Belgium

A first visit to Dennlys Parc

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Over the years, the small family amusement park Dennlys Parc has grown up around an old marble sawmill. The name of the leisure park is a combination of the village name Dennebroeucq and the river that flows through it, the Lys.

Nitro

The first attraction we encounter on our tour of the park is the Nitro double roller coaster. The ride, built by Preston & Barbieri, offers two intertwined tracks on a very compact footprint, which are designed as a Möbius loop – so it is just one roller coaster with two sections.

Once all six cars have been loaded at the same time in the station, the wild ride can begin straight away. Once you reach a height of 10 m, you have enough time to enjoy the view on a long straight section before the first shot ride begins. Both sections immediately go over an airtime hill and then into a very tight upward spiral. This is followed by a leisurely zigzag course into the block brake. While the original right-hand side of the track now completes a leisurely right-hand turn and crosses the first descent, the original left-hand side immediately plunges towards the ground. A more or less undulating left-hand bend follows on both sides before the next block brake is reached. Shortly afterwards, you enter the station. As you are now on the other side, the second lap through the layout soon follows.

In principle, the Möbius roller coaster Nitro is kind of cool, if it weren’t for the generally uneventful ride and the rather poor ride characteristics. The compact design doesn’t really do the concept any good; there are now basically two very short roller coasters, but neither of them is really convincing.

Squadron 33

Directly opposite the Nitro roller coaster is the entrance to the Aerobat Squandron 33 by Technical Park. Compared to the prototype from the Parc des Combes, the ride is less cumbersome and, with a bit of luck, you can experience a very interesting ride without necessarily being upside down.

Furio

As in any good family amusement park in France, Dennlys Parc is not short of a Soquet roller coaster. The ride on Furio begins with a left-hand bend, after which the lift hill is reached. Once at the top, we enjoy the view of the surrounding area, including the Azteca dinghy slide, before plunging down into the valley. Following the left-hand bend, we climb a hill and, after a short change of direction, plummet rapidly to the ground in a 540° helix. Now we shoot over a small hill, which is followed by a very long right-hand bend in a shallow Bayernkurve style. After another change of direction, we are drawn into another dip, whereupon we reach the station again. This is immediately followed by a second lap on the generally very nice family roller coaster.

Voltigo

The last roller coaster in the park is located in a Mexican-inspired corner of the theme park, where you will also find the small interactive cinema where the film Desperado 4D is shown.

Voltigo is a compact spinning coaster from Gosetto. Like other compact spinning coasters from other manufacturers, the layout consists of a simple figure of eight. As you would expect, the gondolas get off to a good start and create a nice, leisurely spin.

Crazy River

The last major ride at Dennlys Parc is the Crazy River. This is a spinning raft by Reverchon. The ride itself is refreshing and takes you over several rapids after the initial shot, and with a bit of luck you can get quite wet.

Alcion, Icarius, Temp’O, Baie des Pirates und Vigie

The other rides at Dennlys Parc are largely from Zamperla. The Alcion boat swing, the Icarius wave swinger, the Disk’o Temp’O, the Baie des Pirates ride and the Vigie freefall tower are particularly worth mentioning, all of which have been staged very harmoniously.

Bilder Dennlys Parc

Conclusion Dennlys Parc

Dennlys Parc is a very nice, albeit very small, family amusement park in the middle of the Pas-de-Calais. Just getting to the park is a great experience and, combined with a visit to the nearby Bagatelle theme park or a day at the seaside, it makes for a really nice day out for the whole family.

 

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Dennlys Parc

The exotic additions of Walibi Belgium

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Preface

When I visited Walibi Belgium last year, I unfortunately experienced the most crowded day due to an event by the Belgian Red Cross. Walibi themselves did a great job in managing the crowd level, yet as you can imagine, I did not experience many rides. Although I managed to ride most of the new additions, I missed a ride on the Gerstlauer bobsled coaster Tiki Waka, due to its limited capacity and a resulting wait time of more than two hours. This year however, I basically started with a ride on the exotic racer.

Tiki Waka

The ride on Tiki Waka immediately starts with a tight left curve, whereupon we enter the ride’s lift. High above the park’s paths we then take a small dip and dart directly into the first block brake in a slightly winding course. The second drop of the ride is a bit more defined and is followed by a valley at lofty heights. Several turnarounds follow. After passing the second block brake, we finally go down to the ground in a curvy drop. We then pass the boat ride Gold River by a twisty hill. A likewise twisty ascent then leads us into the fourth block brake. A small dip then leads us into a series of airtime hill, which guides us into a very tight helix at which end we hit the final brakes.

Tiki Waka is a very nice addition to the park, yet it is a rather family-friendly ride which lacks a bit of the speed, lateral forces and airtime for which the model is actually known for.

Popcorn Revenge

Right next to the roller coaster Cobra there is the entrance to the interactive dark ride Popcorn Revenge. Located in an old cinema in the Indian-inspired Karma World themed area, the ride tells the story of Popcorn attacking the Cinema goers. The guests themselves are equipped with sirup cannons to calm the corn down. The trackless vehicles make their way through the theatre with brief stops in front of the screens of the highly themed cinemas, where most of the action takes place. Overall, the ride is very enjoyable and extremely entertaining. Well done, Walibi!

Fun Pilot

Located right next to mad house Palais du Genie and adjacent to the large children’s area Fun World, you can find the small family roller coaster Fun Pilot. The ride made by Zierer consists of two back-to-back helices and is a very fine entrance level coaster for all future enthusiasts out there.

Kondaa

Since 2021, the highlight of Walibi Belgium is the roller coaster Kondaa. The ride built by Intamin features an absolutely fantastic layout, as well as some very wacky elements.

The ride on Kondaa starts with a quick ascent to a high of 50 m. Here we take a very twisty drop to the ground, which is directly inspired by the first drop of Holiday Park’s famous Mega Coaster Expedition GeForce. The drop is followed by an airtime hill, which let you fly out of your seat. In the next valley, we drop onto our seats again before climbing a rather crocked hill, which bends to the right and impresses the riders with a unique airtime sensation. This is followed by the world’s only non-inverted Cobra Roll – an interestingly looking ride element, which offers a variety of great twisting sensations. A speed bump then leads us into a series of low to the ground curves and turnarounds followed by multiple twisted airtime hills. With a good smile on our face, we then hit the brakes.

Kondaa is an utterly brilliant roller coaster. The ride quickly became a fan favourite. The fast pacing, the high number of one-of-a-kind ride elements and the low to the ground airtime hills speak for themselves.  

Pictures Walibi Belgium

 

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Walibi Belgium