Burbs
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I noticed this the other day when looking at opening hours. I’m absolutely certain that hours are actually 10-5pm and the website is adjusting them for UK time, before you rock up unnecessarily early!
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Plopsaland De Panne General Discussion
IDB
TS Member
This is correct. Shutters open just before 10am to let you into the main plaza. Then this rest of the park opens at 10am.
Bowser
TS Member
Well it's not looking great as the app (which i don't trust but we'll get to that) had been showing all coasters as closed... except RtH bizarrely. I can't imagine a scenario where that has the highest wind tolerance when even the kid coasters are closed?!
After a few hours most things claim to have opened (except the Star Flyer which i presume has the lowest wind tolerance). RtH never seems to change from 5 minutes which also is very suspicious.
The queue time websites are seemingly updating more regularly than the Plopsa app.... but i don't see where else they can be scraping data so that's odd too.
Hard to get any kind of accurate picture and the forecast seems to be getting progressively worse but also changes every few hours. Alas i think we're past the point of no return as my son is excited for PlopsAqua. We could try leaving really early tomorrow as that's currently the least windy day but that's not ideal. This might be a very expensive swimming trip
After a few hours most things claim to have opened (except the Star Flyer which i presume has the lowest wind tolerance). RtH never seems to change from 5 minutes which also is very suspicious.
The queue time websites are seemingly updating more regularly than the Plopsa app.... but i don't see where else they can be scraping data so that's odd too.
Hard to get any kind of accurate picture and the forecast seems to be getting progressively worse but also changes every few hours. Alas i think we're past the point of no return as my son is excited for PlopsAqua. We could try leaving really early tomorrow as that's currently the least windy day but that's not ideal. This might be a very expensive swimming trip
IDB
TS Member
Not particulary. It’s not that popular with the main demographic visiting the park. I could have rode on pretty much every dispatch when we visited this week, apart from a handful of times.
Bowser
TS Member
Well, what a rollercoaster that was, in every sense!
As we travelled on Monday, i was checking all the way and the rides were open but then as soon as i parked the car, Ride to Happiness closed! Anubis and Heidi were visibly operating (as was the Star Flyer much to my surprise) so there was still hope. By the time we got from the Village to Guest Services to collect our RAP, i asked if it would reopen and they said hopefully as it wasn't weather related. We started heading to Heidi but then just as we passed RtH a test train went past so we went over and the staff member was just opening the shutters so we immediately got in the queue! This was a double bonus as it meant i got to look at the main queue-line which i thought was quite cool!
In the end we managed to get 4 rides on it including 2 front row, though i'd argue this is a rare coaster where it makes no difference where you sit as you have great views in every seat and also have no idea where you are at any point. I can't compare it to anything else i've been on, just bonkers from start to finish. There's one point near the end where it's a little too intense but nothing painful at any point and more airtime than i've ever experienced which is really fun.
The new ARK swing, which i was tentatively hoping for a soft opening of.... is non existent! The plot is there and some cranes but no sign of the ride or any theming yet.
The village is great, very reminiscent of Efteling although there's clearly still construction work ongoing but nothing detrimental. It seemed completely empty (presumably as it's not half term here) and so we got upgraded to a 4 bedroom place! Everything is good quality and brand new. In fact the value here is completely absurd. We paid around £800 for this for 2 nights which includes 3 days entry for us all to both the park and water park (and parking everywhere). Compare that to AT where you'd be paying double for just the treehouse, it's mad!
There's also a private entrance to the park so from our villa it was approx a 3 minute walk and then you're in the Viking area! The only downside for us is you can only collect RAP from the main entrance so this benefit was negated. In the end due to the rain we ended up driving to the main entrance so our car was close for PlopsAqua and driving back after. (Another note is the water park stays open later but obviously you can't walk through the park to get back so you have to either walk round which is approx 15 min or drive back like we did. They said there was a shuttle but we never saw that and there was no timetable).
The park was actually much busier than i was expecting but that was due to it being full of school trips. I don't think i've been to a UK park in term time so i cant compare but the children were all so badly behaved! Running round everywhere, trying to push in on rides etc.
I don't know if the wind tolerances are higher than expected or the weather reports inaccurate but the rides generally stayed open the entire time. Star Flyer weirdly only ever opened for that one cycle when we arrived (there were people on it) and then said closed due to wind the remaining time. Yesterday afternoon got really wet and windy to the point we left about 2pm to go swimming but the coasters were still going round as we left. RtH went down a few times but seemed technical rather than wind as reopened quickly.
Hot take but i think the combination of RtH, Anubis and Heidi make Plopsaland a better coaster park than anywhere in the UK. Now i will caveat that i haven't been on The Smiler, Galactica or Icon but as a top 3 relative to anywhere else they're fantastic. RtH is so good it's worth two of anything else. It's quite mad that in a park predominantly aimed at young children with dozens of small rides they then have 3 world class thrill coasters too.
As we travelled on Monday, i was checking all the way and the rides were open but then as soon as i parked the car, Ride to Happiness closed! Anubis and Heidi were visibly operating (as was the Star Flyer much to my surprise) so there was still hope. By the time we got from the Village to Guest Services to collect our RAP, i asked if it would reopen and they said hopefully as it wasn't weather related. We started heading to Heidi but then just as we passed RtH a test train went past so we went over and the staff member was just opening the shutters so we immediately got in the queue! This was a double bonus as it meant i got to look at the main queue-line which i thought was quite cool!
In the end we managed to get 4 rides on it including 2 front row, though i'd argue this is a rare coaster where it makes no difference where you sit as you have great views in every seat and also have no idea where you are at any point. I can't compare it to anything else i've been on, just bonkers from start to finish. There's one point near the end where it's a little too intense but nothing painful at any point and more airtime than i've ever experienced which is really fun.
The new ARK swing, which i was tentatively hoping for a soft opening of.... is non existent! The plot is there and some cranes but no sign of the ride or any theming yet.
The village is great, very reminiscent of Efteling although there's clearly still construction work ongoing but nothing detrimental. It seemed completely empty (presumably as it's not half term here) and so we got upgraded to a 4 bedroom place! Everything is good quality and brand new. In fact the value here is completely absurd. We paid around £800 for this for 2 nights which includes 3 days entry for us all to both the park and water park (and parking everywhere). Compare that to AT where you'd be paying double for just the treehouse, it's mad!
There's also a private entrance to the park so from our villa it was approx a 3 minute walk and then you're in the Viking area! The only downside for us is you can only collect RAP from the main entrance so this benefit was negated. In the end due to the rain we ended up driving to the main entrance so our car was close for PlopsAqua and driving back after. (Another note is the water park stays open later but obviously you can't walk through the park to get back so you have to either walk round which is approx 15 min or drive back like we did. They said there was a shuttle but we never saw that and there was no timetable).
The park was actually much busier than i was expecting but that was due to it being full of school trips. I don't think i've been to a UK park in term time so i cant compare but the children were all so badly behaved! Running round everywhere, trying to push in on rides etc.
I don't know if the wind tolerances are higher than expected or the weather reports inaccurate but the rides generally stayed open the entire time. Star Flyer weirdly only ever opened for that one cycle when we arrived (there were people on it) and then said closed due to wind the remaining time. Yesterday afternoon got really wet and windy to the point we left about 2pm to go swimming but the coasters were still going round as we left. RtH went down a few times but seemed technical rather than wind as reopened quickly.
Hot take but i think the combination of RtH, Anubis and Heidi make Plopsaland a better coaster park than anywhere in the UK. Now i will caveat that i haven't been on The Smiler, Galactica or Icon but as a top 3 relative to anywhere else they're fantastic. RtH is so good it's worth two of anything else. It's quite mad that in a park predominantly aimed at young children with dozens of small rides they then have 3 world class thrill coasters too.
AT86
TS Member
School trip season at UK parks is very much like this. Best avoided really.
Rob
TS Team
Are there any food options at the new village, or is it just accommodation? From what I could tell it looks like you'd have to utilise the Plopsa Hotel if you wanted evening food or drinks, but I am not sure how convenient that is.
Bowser
TS Member
I didn’t see anything. The check in lodge had some tables and basic snacks for sale but the accommodation has a very well equipped kitchen. The supermarket by the main entrance is fantastic too!
Well it’s subjective based on what one has experienced (eg somebody above doesn’t rate Ride to Happiness which is generally very well regarded) but by wooden coaster standards it’s level with Wickerman for me.
Bowser
TS Member
Admittedly my sample base of wooden coasters is quite small but they generally tend to be horrendously rough to the point I feel like I’m going to break my neck.
Heidi and Wickerman are exhilarating without injuring you and plenty of airtime. Latter obviously has better theming but Heidi is nice enough.
My son also preferred it over Ride to Happiness! Just the right level of intensity.
Hopefully we will make it to Europa next year so I’ll have another comparison point.
LF22
TS Member
So that’s why we didn’t see the new ride when we visited at Easter! Thought I’d somehow totally missed it!
I love RTH - I love the way the restraints release a little after they’ve gone down, just before it goes which scares me every time!
Bowser
TS Member
Ha yeah that’s very odd!
The location is quite hidden anyway, it will basically be the first thing you see when using the Plops Village entrance but it’s otherwise at the back of the Viking area.
Forgot to say but 90% of the food places were closed! That was quite disappointing as was looking forward to a Pizza Hut slice. I only saw the waffle stands and the circus restaurant open. We ended up walking back to our accommodation and making lunch. I guess the school trips all bring packed lunches.
Having technically now visited 4 times, I still think overall it’s better than any UK park. It’s the little things mostly as I appreciate the actual rides are aimed predominantly at young children but everything looks and feels that little bit nicer. My wife tends to notice things like the flowers and decorations, which she appreciated a great deal more than her one go on Ride to Happiness which nearly resulted in a divorce.
Bowser
TS Member
So this looks interesting. I don’t have Facebook so can’t open the link to translate but from the little I can see it looks like the park is building a flying theatre? I hope that’s correct as it would be a perfect addition and I imagine they’d do an excellent job:
From: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1198652912056131&id=100057343004007
From: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1198652912056131&id=100057343004007
