Family Coaster

Great Shows and a Rapid River

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Zoomarine

After leaving the water park Slide & Splash nearby Lagoa, I reached the animal and theme park Zoomarine around noon. It exists since 1991 and should not be confused with the Mundo Aquático park of the same name near Rome. Like similar parks, Zoomarine is characterised by a large number of shows, so that despite the manageable size of the park, you can easily spend a whole day here.

When I entered the park I knew from the beginning that I wanted to see at least one of the shows, because the entrance fee is by no means low in this park either. Since the show called Flying Colours was supposed to start in about 20 minutes the time was enough to explore the park a little bit. Soon I noticed a peculiarity of the park, because the attractions in the back of the park opened staggered one after the other and so did the only roller coaster of the park.

The parrot show then turned out to be very entertaining, instructive and quite well produced. The transitions were fluid, the story was stupid, but parrots who destroy a flat are just very funny and more or less reflect reality. It’s a bit strange that Zoomarine attempts to deal with the dangers of the shrinking habitat, only to sell some animal welfare bracelets shortly afterwards. Last but not least, the tree that has been impressively chopped down is hydraulically lifted back up into the sky.

In general, animal welfare activists will not be very satisfied with the animal husbandry in this park, so a visit is not recommended for this group of people. The few animals that are shown here in the enclosures, however, have enough space for their needs. The animals shown for the presentations have just as much space in generous aviaries or basins and even the dolphins can have it worse elsewhere with their lagoon. Of course, with the best will in the world this is definitely not ideal, especially as the dolphins’ lagoon can also be visited as an up-charge attraction.

Buffalo Coaster

As a roller coaster, Zoomarine offers small Zamperla Powered Coaster called the Buffalo Coaster. The ride with the Twin Helix layout is beautifully designed and is a lot of fun due to its lateral forces during the two helices; luckily it was only a three laps special.

Harakiri

If you follow the path further on, you will come to a junction where you can either continue up the mountain and see this year’s novelty, or go down to the Harakiri dinghy slide or the almost non-existent rafting, which should open at 2 pm. At that time I had basically achieved my goal, but I decided to take the Rapid River as well. Because the Era T-Rex was not supposed to open for half an hour I took a closer look at the front section of the park.

Aceanus

Passing some animal enclosures I went into the aquarium Aceanus, which is quite inconspicuous from the outside. It is very close to the Sea Life centres, apart from the missing design and the very dark and exclusively blue corridors. The aquariums were all large and well populated, but the highlight here is the huge tank towards the end of the run, which can be seen from three sides. This is where you could spot some sharks.

Era T-Rex

Back in the daylight I quickly looked at the other enclosures before I decided against the pirate-style sea lion show called Wonderland and walked towards the rapid ride. Prior to this, I took a closer look at the tent of the Era T-Rex, which looked rather unsuitable from the outside. The inside turned out to be a quite solid museum with some animatronics in which guided tours take place regularly. Since I didn’t want to wait for the next group I joined another group that was already advanced in the guided tour.

Rapid River

Next, I headed straight towards the Rapid River, whose entrance is located halfway down the dinghy slide. You can only find it through the signs in Zoomarine, but not on the notes of the individual opening hours of the rides, nor on the park map. Nevertheless, the ride was actually open and so it didn’t take long until I was sitting in one of the round boats.

To be honest, I didn’t expect much and the waterfall visible from the outside only looked as if it would, like in other parks, wet the boat a little bit, if at all, by splashes. But as it turned out after the first few meters of the ride, this was a very wrong estimation, because in fact this small passage is enough to wet at least half of the passengers due to the rotation of the boat. The following curvy stretch is then unfortunately free of any rapids and surprises, but nevertheless, the beautiful design and the rather less beautiful foam tunnel provide enough elements to distract you and shortly afterwards to introduce the great finale. The similarities with the dark ride Bubbleworks from Chessington World of Adventures are not to be denied, but the water jets end here all inside the boat. Shortly afterwards the lift and the end of the ride is reached.

The ride, built by L&T Systems, is a magnificent and, above all, wet pleasure which, once you are in the park, should not be missed. A bit annoying is the late opening time of the ride and the resulting time spent at the park.

Zoomarine Beach

Apart from the individual shows, of which I unfortunately didn’t watch any more, you can also visit the small water park Zoomarine Beach and test the two water slides and the large wave pool. In addition to that, the park also offers a 4D cinema with a film about turtles, a nicely designed carousel, a small boat swing and a Ferris wheel.

Pictures Zoomarine

Conclusion Zoomarine

Zoomarine is a park that looks quite expensive in the first place, especially if you visit it just for its roller coaster. However, if you take the time to see the shows, the aquarium and the attractions that open later, Zoomarine is a good park where the price/quality ratio is good.

 

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Zoomarine Algarve

A place without magic

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Magikland

On a mountain near the town of Penafiel is Magikland, the country’s northernmost theme park. The calendar of the park indicated an opening time of 10-17 o’clock on the days I could visit, but with the addition of “mediante marcação previa”, which means “by appointment” according to the Google translator. Said and done, and I wrote to the park in English. Shortly afterwards I received the answer that the park was closed on that Monday. A change in my plans and another e-mail later I at least had the certainty of being able to visit the park the following Friday.

After I picked up my rental car at Porto Airport, I immediately went to Magikland, which is barely 40km away, but even this distance was enough to make the underbody of the rented Fiat Panda come loose and start swinging, necessary screws are simply overrated, as well as additional insurance. So my mood was not very good when I reached the park.

While the park management spoke quite good English, the language skills of the other employees turned out to be non-existent. It doesn’t matter, because one is used to it from many other European countries; especially compared to the rest of Portugal, where only the old people didn’t know the language, this is a rather weak performance. There is also a considerable lack of attractions, which had probably only recently been reduced further.

Montanha Mágica

In return, however, there were plenty of school children who actually enjoyed themselves in the park. Especially when queuing for the rides and hence also for the roller coaster Montanha Mágica. The waiting area was very manageable in itself, but it took about half an hour to get past the two short zigzags and stand in front of the station’s turnstile. Apart from the children jumping the queue, this was also due to the very slow speed of the lift.

When you finally get on the train, the train heads towards the lift hill, where you spend some time. In the shape of an eight you now complete the first drop and a subsequent turn, before approaching a longer straight in another right-hand bend. The transition is surprisingly rough, but the straight itself is quite nice due to the increased speed. Another right turn later a camelback is indicated, but it doesn’t ride particularly well. After another bend you reach the braking track of the ride, whereupon you slowly approach the station.

For a park like Magikland, such a ride from L&T Systems is certainly the right choice, especially since it was taken over from the former Bracalândia. However, I don’t really understand how one can let the ride deteriorate like this – despite the existing rush of visitors. The ride is a bit jerky due to the condition of the train, but basically not bad. Due to the long waiting time, however, I didn’t have another ride, be it on the roller coaster or the other sparsely seeded attractions of Magikland.

Pictures Magicland

Conclusion Magicland

Magikland itself is by no means a small amusement park with a rock-solid design. Unfortunately, many corners of the park are simply not maintained or even accessible. Why they tore down their log flume and simply did not operate a small children’s log flume in a closed-off area remains a mystery to me. The remaining attractions of the park are a ghost train, a Ferris wheel, a trabant, a western railway on elevated tracks and a few smaller children’s rides and thus basically nothing that justifies the somewhat higher admission price.

 

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Magikland

What a flashback on Psyké Underground

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Preface

Although I have described Walibi Belgium as a ghetto amusement park in my last report, I was always curious about new development of the park. Since my last visit in 2009 a lot has happened in Wavre. Starting with the Mise en état of the Intamin Rapid Ride Radja River and the associated reactivation of the long-forgotten water effects in 2010, the overhaul gradually moved through the rest of the park and the swimming pool Aqualibi. The whole park just got back to its former glory, a condition which only a few are likely to know. Accordingly, I’ve been wanting to revisit the park for over a year just to convince myself of the status quo, but a promising and long-awaited novelty kept me waiting until the end of this season: The roller coaster Psyké Underground.

Tour of the park

Vampire

After redeeming our Fort Fun season ticket coupons in the service centre, we went straight through the newly designed entrance area and directly followed the paths to our right in the direction of the roller coaster Vampire. Now in black and red, the coaster lost its typical Six Flags colour scheme. Although I have no negative attitude towards Vekoma Suspended Looping Coasters, the last ride on Vampire was just way too slow and the incompetent staff made the experience even worse.

Even Jan and Julian were not particularly euphoric about the upcoming ride. Interestingly, our expectations were absolutely wrong. Compared to other rides of this type, the Vampire is not only a good ride, but an absolutely smooth one too. You can’t even imagine how bluffed we were, when we finally hit the brake run. There is simply no major contact with the restraints, which is quite surprising, especially with the rather sturdy Vekoma over the shoulder restraint construction. However without all the flaws of a typical SLC, the ride is rather boring despite the very good layout. Even through the ride was smooth, the desire for further confirmation of our freshly gained experience was rather limited. Nevertheless, what ever Walibi Belgium did with the ride, it was the right decision.

Cobra and Palais du Génie

Starting with a ride on the Boomerang Cobra –which typically runs much quieter than most other roller coasters out there –, we now followed the paths clockwise around the lake towards the Palais du Génie, a mad house by the Dutch manufacturer Vekoma. As the music was barely audible and all the other sounds made it seem as if the ride was about to collapse, my last experience on this ride was not that good. This time, however, I was very satisfied. The story of the djinn transforming the house into a merry-go-round is effectively told. Considering this background story Le Palais du Génie is one of the better representatives of this very beautiful attraction, at least if you understand Dutch or French.

Loup Garou

Driven off our intentional path, which was mainly due to the search of something edible for breakfast, we now entered the queue for the wooden roller coaster Loup Garou. As many rides within Walibi Belgium this roller coaster is made by Vekoma and as long as you are no idiotic roller coaster enthusiast, who believes that everything coming from Vekoma is bad, you will love this ride! Like the sister rides in Tusenfryd and Walibi Holland, Loup Garou can be considered as one of Europe’s best wooden roller coasters.

Where in the old days the sparks flew around the curvy sections of track and the track fluctuated visibly a few centimetres back and worth during braking, the Weerwolf seems rather tame these days. The ride which still uses its original Vekoma trains turns out to be a very pleasant experience. Due to the well designed layout, the ride offers a lot of fun and a very high re-rideability. Especially on an empty day, you could easily do 50 laps in a row.

Rokken Roll

One of the more interesting things for me was a visit to the 4D cinema next door, where Walibi Belgium now runs a self-produced movie. The story is based on the excellent Walibi comics by Morvan, L’Hermenier and Wuye – which can also be bought in the parks or could be read online – and carries on the events on Shimeria a little further. If you understand French or Dutch, you’ll have a blast of a time, as the movie and its animation are absolutely fantastic!

Calamity Mine

Past the second novelty of this year, the Fanta Play House and through one of the two children’s area, we headed towards the Calamity Mine Train, a solid Vekoma mine train roller coaster. The layout of this ride was unfortunately copied over and over again, as it serves as the default layout by the manufacturer. Calamity Mine Train however was the first of its kind. With all of the effects working, the ride offers some great family fun.

La Coccinelle

Along the unfortunately closed boat ride we headed towards the roller coaster with the guaranteed longest waiting time for adults, the tivoli coaster La Coccinelle. During my visit in 2008 I was very happy to have taken my cousin to the park, after all a strict rule only allowed adults to ride with their children. Nowadays, the train can run with up to two adults per ride. This is particularly annoying when only a small queue exists, as for children who can not ride without an attendant or childless adults, this creates a fairly long queue. In the mean time, they are constantly overhauled by older children.

Octopus

As I watched Jan and Julian standing but not moving, I decided to take a ride on the Chance Wipeout Octopus (a variant of their old trabant rides, quite similar to a Hully Gully by the manufacturer Mack). Since this ride was always broken during my previous visits, I was very curious about a ride. This turned out to be quite fast in the early stages and was able to convince me with higher lateral forces than a Musik Express. With the inclination of the arm, the ride resembled more and more the well-known feeling of a Hully Gully.

Flashback and Psyké Underground

Although many adjustments were needed, Walibi Belgium was not right in every step of the reinterpretation. Where previously the color olive green outweighed the industrial looking theme area with its time travelling log flume Flashback and the magnificent shuttle loop Turbine, it is now drenched in colours. While the log flume currently adjust itself to the old state without giving up all the benefits of the overhaul, the sight of Psyké Underground is just uncommon and needs a lot of time to get used to.

The front on the covered shuttle loop Psyké Underground is the only negative aspect of the brillant renovation of this classic roller coaster. As soon as you enter the queue the positive impressions dominates. The queue now leads you to the ride’s former flywheel, which could not be removed due to construction-related reasons. By the music of the awesome soundtrack, the path unfortunately leads you outdoors, where you queue in a half enclosed waiting area. Back in 2008 you waited in this area for ages, as the ride was only operated every 5 minutes due to its ageing ride system.

In the station of Psyké Underground you are greeted by a new train built by Gerstlauer, the Münsterhausen based manufacturer and therefore true successor of Schwarzkopf. The comfort is very similar, but the trains offers additional supports which automatically bring you into the correct ride posture. Since the launch drive changed from a flywheel to a linear motor, the launch does not happen directly from a standstill.

When the ride spent its last season as the Turbine in 2008, the lights turned off the train was sent under the use of loud electronic music and strobe lights on the journey towards the looping. Nowaday a suitable and well-made video is played before the train leaves the station of Psyké Underground driven by friction wheels. In order to get the same velocity as the old system on a shorter launch distance, the ride now accelerates with a punch (which also explains the high power consumption of the ride). The adjacent looping pushes you mercilessly into the seat. Within the tubed spike you slowly lose your speed. With the gained potential energy, you now change direction. The looping is now approached backwards and turns you world once again upside down. But don’t be fooled after ¾ of the way, as the looping is not yet over. Surprised and thrilled, you enter the station once again. Slightly braked, we enter the rear peak about halfway up, before we come to a stop in the station.

Psyké Underground was a surprise beyond compare. Although the drive is now a new one, the ride lost nothing of its old glory and actually even got better. The higher number of launched per hour, the much more intense launch and the still surprisingly powerful looping ensure that this ride has found its way into my favorites once again. The overall theme of the ride is great and fits the Belgian roller coaster legend very well.

Pictures

Closing Words

Walibi Belgium has indeed changed to good in recent years. The Compagnie des Alpes has done a fantastic job in all of the Walibi parks. Every change was done with the right intension, although it has certainly cost quite a lot of money. The park developed from a former ghetto like park with an anti-social audience, to one of the best family parks in Europe. Walibi, please don’t stop :-).

 

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Walibi Belgium