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Plopsaland Belgium: General Discussion

Burbs said:
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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This is correct. Shutters open just before 10am to let you into the main plaza. Then this rest of the park opens at 10am.
 
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 :(
 
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.
 
I would argue Towers, Thorpe and even BPB would be better coaster parks. Also the park doesn't have 1 world class coaster, not sure where the 3 are unless I missed them?
 
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Bowser said:
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).
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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.
 
Rob said:
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.
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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!

John said:
First time I've heard Heidi described as a thrill coaster, or a top class coaster of any kind. It's very much a low tier GCI for me
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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.
 
Heidi is fine for the park its in as that level before Anubis.

Wickerman for all its faults is slightly better.

Need to head back over after the post Christmas debacle.
 
D4n said:
Delighted that you had such a good time but Heidi is mediocre at best.
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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.
 
Bowser said:
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.
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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!
 
LF22 said:
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!
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Ha yeah that’s very odd!

LF22 said:
So that’s why we didn’t see the new ride when we visited at Easter! Thought I’d somehow totally missed it!
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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 said:
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
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Translation:

About 8 months ago we announced the new, big future attraction for Plopsaland De Panne in scoop: a flying theater near the village square.
In the past few days a lot of markings / posts were placed.
These markings can be found on the terrain of the traffic park, at the Panos catering point and on the platform in the train station (stop Dorpsplein).
These may be the first markings for the construction of the new attraction of Plopsaland De Panne.
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Flying theatre indeed!
 
Interesting, a Flying Theatre would be a good addition for the park. And no doubt an attraction Plopsa could roll out to some of their other parks.
 
In case there was any doubt, Plopsaland have put in the planning application for the new building including the Mack Flying Theatre.

Looks like a substantial project so would be surprised to see this open for the previously rumoured 2026.

One would hope they use their characters rather than the real world settings other models of this ride tend to use.

Also how does the rotating gondola work, doesn't that mean you often have passengers sitting facing a blank screen waiting once the ride has finished? Credit where it's due, the immersion on SkyLion at Legoland is excellent.



www.looopings.nl

Plopsaland Belgium vraagt vergunning aan voor bouw van flying theater

Het Dorpsplein van Plopsaland Belgium gaat ingrijpend op de schop. Dat blijkt uit openbare documenten die in te zien zijn via het Vlaamse...
www.looopings.nl www.looopings.nl
 
Bowser said:
Also how does the rotating gondola work, doesn't that mean you often have passengers sitting facing a blank screen waiting once the ride has finished? Credit where it's due, the immersion on SkyLion at Legoland is excellent.
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I would assume that the logic is that the ride cycle will be long enough to give enough time for the previous guests to disembark and the next batch to be loaded and secured. If there is a delay then yes, I guess you sit and look at a blank screen or just have a generic image projecting on to it.

It's a pity that F.C. De Kampioenen Café is to be demolished, as that is a nice place to sit with a drink!
 
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