Tag: HUSS

A day in Walygator Parc

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Preface

On Easter Monday David and I originally wanted to go to Phantasialand, however, the park hadn’t yet closed its Maus au Chocolat competition and the entrance fee of 37€ wasn’t worth it in regard of the expected crowds. Therefore we searched for alternatives and somehow we settled on the idea to visit France to see the Monster of Walygator Parc in action.

Walygator Parc

Once arrived at the park we had to go to the ticket offices. This took some time, as the park unfortunately only has a small number of these. At the entrance most of the people waited on the the left side of the entrance. With our walk directly to the other side, we saved a lot of time.

The park, formerly known as Walibi Lorraine/Stroumpf, has been run by a French showman for some years now, which is why a lot of novelties moved to the park area, but also a lot of trashy rides has gone into the park. Thus, the park has a certain charm that is worth discovering.

Anaconda

The rides portfolio is quite respectable, you can find some classic rides as well as the worst wooden coaster in the world – at least if you believe this year’s Wood Coaster Poll. We went into the coaster with the lowest expectations, after all we were all familiar with Efteling’s former wooden coaster Pegasus and were positively surprised. Anaconda is just fun, even if you don’t have much speed on the hills. The descents are even better. The ride doesn’t beat you up nor rattles, yet it was described by some coaster fans as a massive physical injury…

Family Coaster

Since we are all interested in roller coasters, we drove the most gentle of all Wacky Worms soon after. We managed to create a good atmosphere on the Family Coaster, which probably caused confusion for some passers-by.

Waly Twister

Thereupon, we wanted to continue our journey towards the monster and therefore took a ride on the Waly Twister with us. Unfortunately, as with almost all flatrides in the park, it was operated on a budget. In the meantime we observed how the Monster had to be evacuated.

Waly Coaster

Instead of waiting, we decided to take a closer look at the rest of Walygator Parc. Thus we went to the Vekoma Hurricane Waly Coaster, which also was surprisingly good. Moreover, it was nice to sit in an Arrow train again, which unfortunately are getting rarer and rarer.

One more surprise came to us in the theatre of this section, where we watched a magic show. In three languages they presented a mix of magic and comedy on a stage that could convince solely because of its lighting technology. The magician, apparently having a dog fetish, presented many tricks that worked according to the same scheme, but this was well covered by her immense bust size.

Terror House

The next highlight of the park was the Terror House. I must confess that I am not a fan of such attractions and have no idea what Halloween is all about. But as the other guys wanted to take a walk through the Maze by all means, I couldn’t say no after all. A positive note is that you were sent in small groups of 8 people through the Maze, which led to a slightly longer waiting time.

Before you were allowed to enter the Maze one floor lower, you had to conquer the real terror: the Funhouse. You were sent through narrow corridors with various bizarre funhouse elements and numbers on the wall, which might also be found in Bobbejaanland. The only thing missing here would have been some clowns and the creep would be perfect.

On the lower floor there are some interesting rooms and effects, especially the butchery scene at the beginning has already given a girl in our group the rest. Instead of cheering her up, however, her boyfriend told her how funny the whole thing was and how much fun he had with it. Dulled as you are by some horror movies I found the rest very nicely done and quite amusing. The walk through the rooms of the maze took quite some time and showed off the park’s overall quality of doing stuff nice, when on a budget.

Rafting

In the immediate neighbourhood of the horror maze you will find the park’s rapid ride, which tells you the story of Odysseus and his ten-year odyssey. As only eight boats were in use on Rafting and the loading system is more than strange, we had to wait some “trains” until it was our turn. The rafting itself is really impressive and has a wonderful wetness level, as you can get pretty wet by the waterfalls.

Rivière Sauvage

In order to be able to really get soaked in Walygator Parc, there is also a wonderfully designed Soquet log flume Rivière Sauvage in Walygator Parc. In contrast to the one at Walibi Sud Ouest (formerly Walibi Aquitaine), there is even an outflow in the boat and the ride comfort is much better. The degree of wetness is quite good for just one drop.

Monster

As the main reason for our visit was still missing we lined up at the Monster. We were already in the station and had to wait only one more lap for our journey in the front row, however, the train braked A little bit too strongly and the whole ride went down. It took about an hour until they were ready to start a test run, but even there the train braked too hard. As we wanted to go at least once we had to wait. Since the ride operators for the day were dismissed at some point, our hope for a ride fell apart and we left the park.

Pictures Walygator Parc

Closing Words

Nevertheless, the day was not a disappointment, as we got to know a nice French theme park. Especially the design in the front area of the park can even blow you away and the shows are even recommendable. The rides of the park are great, even if the HUSS Topple Tower always stands still. Walygator Parc has a good mix of roller coasters and the world’ s worst wooden roller coaster, which is truly worth a ride.

When the Wild Mouse roller coaster arrives in the park next year, Walygator Parc will see me surely again. And I will start my day on the Monster, as I would love to ride this roller coaster at some point.

 

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Walygator Grand Est

Feel the Dizz at Bobbejaanland

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Preface

On Easter David and I went to the funny country of Belgium (Bobbejaanland) to test the novelty Dizz. As the experience always predict, new rides get fairly crowded within the first year of operation. Therefore, we headed straight to the new roller coaster. Unluckily, the ride itself would open sometime later. So we headed to (R)evolution for our first ride of the day.

Tour of the park

(R)evolution

(R)evolution is the wet dream of all left-hand curve fetishists and of course many roller coaster fans. This Dutch-made masterpiece not only boasts the longest roller coaster train in the world, but also offers a special visual experience during the lift hill climb. In addition, the ride enjoys a certain cult which is of course absolutely justified.

Dizz

Shortly after the ride, we queued up a few minutes before the opening at the roller coaster Dizz. It was not very long and a small crowd already formed right behind us. After a few test rides it was ready to go. The coaster has a clear potential, but it does not exploit it at the moment. Reducing the speed in the brake segments to nearly a standstill annoys tremendously and the takes away any pace. The spin during the ride is barely noticeable, as well as the theme of the ride. The queue line and the station are nicely done, the rest of the ride looks like it had to be placed somewhere.

El Rio

After work, we dedicated ourselves to the pleasure of Bobbejaanland. Unfortunately, we got a bad day on El Rio as the inglorious wave after the whirlpool section of the ride, was not there anymore. Since we left the ride surprisingly dry, we now headed to the indoor log flume Indiana River.

Oki Doki

We rode everything that came in our way, like the one-sided wild mouse Speedy Bob, which unfortunately was no longer wild – even the brakes were no longer as extreme as during my last visit in 2008 – , to the Desperado pedal monorail, to one of the most ingenious family roller coasters ever build: Oki Doki. Even the music express of the park did not remain untested, only the Vekoma Suspended Coaster had to wait a bit, after all, the waiting times for this ride was slightly too long for us.

Indiana River

Indiana River was able to live up to its reputation as a very, very, very wet log flume. The ride is just consistently soaking its passengers, even through the declines are not very steep nor high. The theme of the ride is also very impressive, especially when you consider the tight budget Bobbejaanland had back in the days.

Bob Express

In contrast to Indiana River there is the outdoor log flume of Bobbejaanland. The ride is very suitable for everybody, who wants to ride a water ride and get off the ride even drier than entering. The ride somehow interacts with the powered coaster Bob Express, which was somehow planlessly build onto the lake. The powered coaster offers a great ride with a small prise of airtime in the back of the train.

Don’t miss out the comfy chairs of the park’s 4D cinema. During this year they are showing a well animated movie with well used additional effects. The storyline of the movie is the only downfall of this overall great experience.

Typhoon

The big surprise of the day then hit us on Typhoon. I do not know what the Belgians did with this layout and how far Gerstlauer was involved, but the result is fantastic. The coaster now runs absolutely smooth, whether in the back or in the front row. It only jerks a little bit in the two helices at the end of the ride, but that’s negligible. The newly installed reduction brakes on the 97 ° drop are not noticeable and thus the valley and the loop are still a very intense experience – just as it should be.

Fly Away and Sledgehammer

Now to the small HUSS corner of Bobbejaanland, where the Fly Away – which is often referred by amusement park enthusiasts as a torture machine or a waffle iron – and the Giant Frisbee are located. The Fly Away is still just awesome and delivers a one of a kind flying sensation on the Enterprise style ride. The Giant Frisbee Sledgehammer on the other hand doesn’t hold up to the high ride standard of the Classic Frisbee. The ride is indeed a giant and therefore offers a fast paced ride cycle, which sadly isn’t as forceful as you would expect. Nevermind, it is a very thrilling ride for everybody who is afraid of heights.

King Kong

Next to the roller coaster (R)evolution you can find one of the latest HUSS creations, the almighty King Kong. A ride that looks like a B-movie and rides like a bad docu-soap on TV. I don’t know what the Bremen-based manufacturer had thought about when engineering this ride, but it must have been something greater. The only highlight of the rather tame ride was a Dutch boy who complained about the bad breath of the giant monkey – one of the many special effects of this ride, which actually looks quite stunning from the outside, but reveals itself as a very family-friendly ride when riding.

Banana Battle

Below the (R)evolution you can find the probably sickest of all Splash Battle ever built. As in the Lüneburg Heath you have to turn the effects on (instead of off) to get wet. In addition, the pumps on the Banana Battle have a very wide range which is why you can often reward the other passengers with the cool wet. In this Splash Battle you only need a single lap to get completely soaked and that’s a great achievement.

Dream Catcher

As the last ride in this park I would like to write about the Dream Catcher, who unfortunately belongs to a dying roller coaster type. Suspended Coasters are fantastic family coasters, although the Vekoma build ride can not convince me as much as the Arrow version from the Chessington World of Adventures nearby London. The theme of the ride is very nice and even features a water fountain which turns itself off when the train is approaching.

Pictures

 

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Bobbejaanland

The Skunx sign X

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Walibi Holland

Since my last visit in 2009 a lot has been done within the park which is now known as Walibi Holland. The whole Walibi group got a makeover and offers a new leitmotiv theme. Also, the park’s boomerang roller coaster was reactivated.

If you enter Walibi Holland before 10 am you will not be entertained by the ingenious opening ceremony anymore. On the main stage in front of the giant wheel there is a small welcoming by Walibi and Co, where they made a small advertisement for their new show Rockstars: The Battle.

Enterprise

Since the crowd made their way to Speed ​​of Sound right from the start, we were drawn to the SLC prototype El Condor. However, the ride had some start-up problems, which is why we moved on to Goliath. We didn’t know that our first ride of the day would take place in a HUSS Enterprise, which was clearly seeking for passagers. An interesting feature of the ride is that the gondolas are from the former Walibi Belgium version and the rest of the ride is still original.

Space Shot

After the ride we went to the S&S Space Shot nearby, which now have a suitable background music since last season. Experience has shown that these towers break down very quickly. Later in the day there was a ride with an unintentionally long ride program, where the car rose a few feet up and then came back gently to the ground and then stood still for 15 minutes in total.

Goliath

After referring to Goliath in the last report from the park, I have to change my mind in this report. The ride is just fun and offers the strangest kind of airtime  I could experience so far on a roller coaster. Back in 2009 only Stengel Dive could me, as the train was only able to creep along the track. This year  however even the curves could push one into the seat. A big compliment goes to the probably most batty operator of the world, who not only wishes you a good trip, but also wishes you a nice trip during the departure of the train.

Robin Hood

Another highlight in my opinion is the wooden roller coaster Robin Hood, which convinced me right away two years ago. In terms of wooden roller coasters Vekoma has actually done everything right, it’s quite a wonder that there are only three ever build. Riding a wooden roller coaster over and over again at the end of the visit is always a wonderful activity to end a nice day properly.

Merlin’s Magic Castle

In Merlin’s Magic Castle – one of the most beautiful Mad houses by Vekoma – everything was great. In addition to the wonderful preshow, as well as the atmospheric music, one of the best main rooms of this ride type awaits you in here. Be sure to try!

Crazy River and Rattlesnake

In the western area of Walibi Holland you will find with Crazy River one of the best log flume courses in the world, which however was slightly to dry. Next to the VISA SBF Frisbee with a really bad ride program you can find the roller coaster, which was formerly known as Woks Waanzin: The Zierer Tivoli Medium named Rattlesnake. The ride uses the old waiting area of ​​the Flying Dutchman Gold Mine roller coaster, which is now based in the french amusement park Mer de Sable (nearby Paris).. The train with a new front and new tail adapt well in its new place.

Splash Battle

Of course a rafting and log flume are not enough for water soakers, so the park offers a splash battle battle. Typically for a Preston & Barbieri Splash Battle Ride most of the water canons in the boats are not working. But, the ride itself even gets you wetter if you can’t defend yourself and that’s actually a good thing.

Spinning Vibe

Just like two years ago, the HUSS Magic did not lift its arms on the day of visit. Strangely enough, this feature worked wonderfully at the start of the season. The ride was long and quite intense, as the ride was manually controlled.

Speed ​​of Sound

Now we come to the former Italian theme area of ​​Walibi Holland, where we find next to a wave swinger with tight clearance profile (the trees are pretty close), a talking well – which also likes to get the visitors wet –, the Boomerang roller coaster Speed ​​of Sound. The roller coaster was completely re-branded this year and fitted with a new train. The result is overwhelming. Although the ride is not the smoothest of its kind – this is still the Cobra in Walibi Belgium – the new restraining system completely prevents you from any slaps of any kind. However,  you have to get used to the tight-fitting vest.

The sound system of the Boomerang initially struggled with some difficulties and so not all segments of the song were played. But this was fixed after some time and so you could enjoy the whole song. In addition to the onboard sound you are confronted in the station with a earworm producing sound. The Compagnie des Alpes has done everything right with this ride and so we can only hope that other parks will follow soon after.

El Rio Grande

Since the rapid ride El Rio Grande was still being prepared for the season in April 2009, I was looking forward to my first trip on one of the only two Vekoma rapid rides ever produced. From all rapid rides ever build, this one offers the more accurate sensation of a truly white water rafting. With a bit of luck, you can even get wet.

El Condor

Let’s move on to Mexico, where you can ride the prototype of all suspended looping coasters from Vekoma in addition to a bumper car and a rather weak flat ride with sombrero hats. The techno sound has left the station and so you are sonicated with a soundtrack suitable for the area. The ride itself is good, though not necessarily meant for tender minds.

Rockstars: The Battle

Now we come to the show Rockstars: The Battle, which was dominated by Themepark.nl, as the Dutch forum had a meeting in Walibi Holland. Unfortunately the show was not that good, even though the Skunx performed well. In general, you have to say that the costumes give the wearers a large degree of freedom., they even could break-dance. After all these changes, I foresee a very bright future for Walibi and his brother Squad.

Pictures Walibi Holland

 

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Walibi Holland