Tag: Walibi

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

Welcome to the Ghetto

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Preface

Unfortunately, the Compagnie des Alpes decided to not operate their Shuttle Loop roller coaster model (Turbine) just some days towards our visit to Walibi Belgium. Fortunately, I had the honor to ride the ride back in 2008.

Lot has changed in the park since my last visit to the worse. Although this time the Flashback ran without any problems, there was a great potential for improvement on almost everything. Positively, the remains of the roller coaster Vertigo could not be found everywhere in the park.

Tour of the park

Cobra and Palais du Génie

Since the crowds in the morning are always go in the anti-clockwise direction around the lake, it is recommended to start the round tour with the most gentle of all Vekoma Boomerangs, called Cobra. If you follow this path you can ride the really beautiful Vekoma Mad House Palais du Génie without any queues. Unluckily, the music was quiet, so that we could hear the drum doing some cracking noises.

Radja River and Flashback

Radja River was as drenching as always. When it started to rain, we rode this ride and flashback alternately. There is only one point in the ride where you could get soaked, but it is a quite efficient one.

The log flume Flashback is one of the best, albeit also one of the strangest, log flumes out there. The tunnel after the first descent can get you very wet, especially the people who are sitting in the front of the boat. While the people in the back of the boat should worry about their clothes on the last drop. The industry look of the ride is just brilliant and very well harmonised with the nearby roller coaster turbine. This theme is truly different and special.

Challenge of Tutankhamon

The dark ride Challenge of Tutankhamon is a very great ride by the American company Sally. The different paths of the cars make this rides to one of the best of its kind. Especially the end is just awesome, as long as you are able to defeat the boss. However, the building is a bit out of the way and can easily be overlooked, especially if you are not allowed to ride the small Tivoli Coaster on the forecourt.

Calamity Mine, Dalton Terror and Buzzsaw

If you follow the round tour past some broken rides you reach the western area of Walibi Belgium, where you can find the mine train roller coaster Calamity Mine. The ride itself is gentle, but the overall theming is just great. The adjacent Intamin Drop Tower Dalton Terror can be skipped, especially since some tracks are always broken. The Top Spin Buzzsaw is among the worst rides ever build, but celebrated by the anti-social public within the park. The screeching French gits make it quite an amusing one to watch.

Loup Garou and Vampire

The two remaining roller coasters Loup Garou (werewolf) and Vampire were a lot worse than in 2008. It may have been due to the lack of care. The suspended looping coaster was operated extremely slow. You spend quite a long time in the lifthill and went through the track so slowly, that you could have been happy to arrive back into the station at the end of the ride.

Closing Words

Later in the day, we only switched between Flashback, the Darkride Challenge of Tutankhamon and Radja River. Walibi Belgium itself clearly has a bigger problem with its guests than the Movie Park Germany, and incidentally has got into a disastrous condition. Let’s see how the future for the park will be like.

 

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Walibi Belgium

A day in Walibi Aquitaine

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Walibi Aquitaine

After I spent a year in France in the years 2005/06 and did not come to count except for a trade fair for agriculture, where among other things a Reverchon spinning mouse, a Mondial TopScan and some other funny rides could be found. I had to make up for this during my visit in the lower Saxonian easter holidays in 2007. The destination of the excursion was the Walibi Aquitaine amusement park.

As the season always starts late in France, we were able to visit the season start of the largest regional amusement park in the southwest of France shortly before my departure. Walibi Aquitaine is well known to everyone but this does not automatically mean that there is something going on in the park during the low season.

Coccinelle and Boomerang

The park itself is only medium in size, but has some good rides for the whole family. In the front part of Walibi Aquitaine you will find, besides a children’s area with the Coccinelle roller coaster, the biggest roller coaster of the park: Boomerang. This Vekoma Boomerang was the first one I saw and I was thrilled from the beginning. The ride through the three inversions is incredibly fun in the forward direction, but in the backward direction the whole thing is skilfully topped once again. The original HUSS-Arrow trains did their best, especially when it came to repeat runs.

Bateau Pirate

Not far from the Boomerang you can carry your dinghy up the steps of the dinghy slide yourself or slide down the carpet slide on a scratchy carpet. This only depressed the mood a little, the southern French could make up for it in the nearby boat swing Bateau Pirate. The slogans during the ride were simply too divine.

Radja River

Also the Intamin rapid ride Radja River enjoyed a visit. The ride through the beautifully designed course could offer a good moistening, which we gladly took up more often thanks to the short waiting time.

Splash Battle

The situation was somewhat different in the rather young Splash Battle. The Preston & Barbieri ride, built in 2006, was able to soak without any resistance (after all, almost all water cannons were broken), but most of the effects were switched off, which really spoiled the fun.

Drakkar and Zig-Zag

However, if you want to get wet, you can go on the Soquet log flume Drakkar in the northern area of Walibi Aquitaine. The boats had no outlet for the water, which was therefore accumulated in the back of the boat during the lift ride. Also the splash was so big that even with only two lightweight people in the boat you got completely soaked. Luckily there is an Italo mouse from Zamperla right next door, which could blow you dry again in a very short time. The layout of the Zig-Zag doesn’t come close to a Wild Mouse of German manufacturers, but convinces with its smaller drops on the lower levels of the ride.

Tam Tam Tour

The sea lion show is definitely worth a visit for many French people, as the park suddenly became deserted during the show times. Also worth a look is the boat trip Tam Tam Tour, which was taken over by frogs during spring. The otherwise quite nice African themed ride becomes quite eerie due to the loud frog croaking, especially since you cannot even see the frogs so quickly.

Apart from a water fountain show, Walibi Aquitaine also offers some good flatrides, such as a tea cup ride, a wave swinger and Chance Chaos, which unfortunately was broken on my visiting day. The park also has a long ride in a vintage car, which is nicely situated in front of the old building in the middle of the park.

 

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Walygator Sud-Ouest