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Plopsaland De Panne General Discussion

IDB said:
Didn't get my trip in this year, but did see that Pleasure Beach Experience visited last week and they commented on it being very quiet with Ride To Happiness being walk-on. I like the idea of a smash & grab visit via the Eurotunnel when I'm down South sometime next year.
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I went on the Thursday (I think PBE went on that Friday) and it was basically walk-on all day. The thing is though that RTH a bit too intense to truly session but there’s not a great deal else at the park you’d necessarily want to go on if you don’t have kids with you. I tended to do RTH in batches of three rides and then break it up with a spin on Anubis or Heidi.

Anubis is an interesting one, the theming is great (with a really nice walk through the building) and the launch has a hell of a kick to it, it really takes you by surprise the first time you ride it how forceful it is. I think Gertslauer are at their best with these smaller nippy coasters like this launch one and their Bobsleds.

Heidi was good, it’s a nice little family woodie and I could see one of these small GCIs going down a treat at somewhere like Paulton’s Park (or even LLW). But Supersplash, the Mack water coaster, was very meh. The indoor dark vertical elevator lift was nice but the coaster section was short very rattly and then it’s a long uneventful drift back to station.
 
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IDB said:
Didn't get my trip in this year, but did see that Pleasure Beach Experience visited last week and they commented on it being very quiet with Ride To Happiness being walk-on. I like the idea of a smash & grab visit via the Eurotunnel when I'm down South sometime next year.
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Yeah I thought of doing that too. Main problem is that the eurotunnel ain’t cheap. So you could spend £200 on the tunnel, park tickets, food and fuel and then get there and it’s closed all day or something. The rest of the park is alright, but not really worth making the trip for. That’s the problem. I guess if u can fill the car with 4 mates and split the cost it wouldn’t be too bad?
 
John_P said:
They didn't/don't include Pilgrims Plunge at Holiday World either.

I count Vikingar and the Water Chute from Rhyl as well.

Didn't Ghost Train briefly get added because there's a similar ghost train in America that was on RCDB. Then they changed their mind and removed both.

Droomvlucht at Efteling is equally puzzling to me, especially when something like Arthur which is a modern style of ride is included.
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I count Vikingar, Super Splash and Dreamflight in my count. I do not count Ghost Train though, as it clearly does not run on a track.
 
Enter Valhalla said:
Yep BPB’s Ghost Train was in there for about 5 minutes during the first 2020 lockdown. I was amazed it was ever included.

Having been on both the SuperSplash “non-coasters” that @John listed, I’m really in two minds as to whether I should count them or not.

It’s worth noting that I also class Fuga Da Atlantide at Gardaland as a coaster, I’d always just assumed it was (as it has literal coaster track) but it’s only in researching RCDB for this thread this evening that I’ve seen it doesn’t have an entry on Gardaland’s RCDB page. I mean, Fuga Da Atlantide is clearly a coaster, surely? Ghost Train at BPB, I would say is not.
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I personally don't count Fuga because it doesn't do anything that really distinguishes itself from a typical water ride. The track is there for.... I'm not entirely sure. Because Intamin I suppose.

I don't get the concept of counting some of one type but not all mind. The worst was when the removed the brand new version of the Tivoli though. Even though it was officially a brand new coaster as the binned the original.

Useful as a basis, but sometimes you gotta use your own beliefs. Like those who boost their counts with Butterflies.
 
Tommy85 said:
Main problem is that the eurotunnel ain’t cheap. So you could spend £200 on the tunnel, park tickets, food and fuel and then get there and it’s closed all day or something. The rest of the park is alright, but not really worth making the trip for. That’s the problem. I guess if u can fill the car with 4 mates and split the cost it wouldn’t be too bad?
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You raise a fair point - ever since the pandemic cross-Channel travel has soared in price, and Eurotunnel is now consistently the most expensive method of transport.

If you can bear an extra hour’s journey time either way, P&O will do you a day return for £69, slashing the price considerably - particularly if you factor in the Groupon Deutschland deal mentioned earlier in the thread.
 
Yeah used the Channel Tunnel this summer and couldn't believe how much more expensive it was compared to when I'd last went over that way in 2017.

Tripper.nl is really good for cheap European park tickets as well, used it loads in the summer, and in 2019.
 
John_P said:
Tripper.nl is really good for cheap European park tickets as well, used it loads in the summer, and in 2019.
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Plus 1 for Tripper! Wasn’t quite convinced of its legitimacy when I used it in the summer but got tickets for Walibi Belgium without issue (or great expense). :)
 
Tripper.nl has been my go-to site for park tickets in the BeNeLux area for years, they have decent discounts on loads of parks
 
I was thinking about Ride to Happiness by Tomorrowland being considered one of the best rollercoaster packages in the world, yet it uses an external IP. This kinda shows when an external IP is used right the results can be fantastic yet why is it every time Merlin use an external IP (perhaps excluding Saw) the results always seem to be disappointing. What are your thoughts?
 
pjanvil said:
I was thinking about Ride to Happiness by Tomorrowland being considered one of the best rollercoaster packages in the world, yet it uses an external IP. This kinda shows when an external IP is used right the results can be fantastic yet why is it every time Merlin use an external IP (perhaps excluding Saw) the results always seem to be disappointing. What are your thoughts?
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Having ridden it, it was clear that the Tomorrowland element of the ride only needed to be there if you wanted it to be. As someone with little interest, it just seemed like a really cool, ethereal, different theme/style for a ride. It’s not forced down your throat in the same way that other IPs around the world are.
 
I think it shows what can be done when you are inspired by an IP and use it to create something original and new using the spirit or ethos of the IP rather than just going down a more heavy handed and obvious route.
 
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The IP doesn’t feel like it’s forced down you either, eg there isn’t banners or adverts everywhere for tomorrow land, it’s only really mentioned when you get the ride logo. And the ride is more styled towards the IP than just forced adverts.
 
My personal experience differs. I had not been aware of the Tomorrowland festival IP before I visited Plopsaland for Ride To Happiness earlier this year. My entire family and I are now painfully addicted to repetitive big-room techno, each subsiding only on a diet of low-purity MDMA and bananas. It's an unfulfilling existence that has torn my life apart, but the ride is still easily my #1.
 
IPs aren't the problem, it's book report rides that are. What people are really upset about when they hear a ride Is using an IP is the fear that no creativity will go into the ride and it'll simply be a cut down version of a story that already exists.
There are many examples of rides where this isn't the case, RtH being one of them. That ride simply leans on the brand to be something unique in its own right.
Tower of Terror is another great one, a completely unique story with the Twilight Zone narrative style being the story's foundation.

Even some book report rides aren't bad. Most of Universal's rides are just that. But they kind of get away with it by throwing ridiculously large budgets at them. Even so when they have given the ride it's own story (Spiderman, Hagrids, VelociCoaster) they've turned out to be some of their best attractions.
 
Somewhat funny about the IP love-in at a park who constantly plaster random and different self-owned IPs on a number of their rides.

Think the Starflyer has had a different theme every 2 years.
 
It has to be said though that whilst RTH is a brilliantly themed ride the price of the Tomorrowland merch is shocking.

I’d imagine that whole days can go by without the person in the RTH shop selling a single piece of merch. Obviously I understand that the items in there are Tomorrowland licensed products and therefore sell at a premium over the regular Plopsaland merch but it’s incredibly expensive. €75 for a hoodie is a bit OTT.
 
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Shaggy_Dog_ said:
It has to be said though that whilst RTH is a brilliantly themed ride the price of the Tomorrowland merch is shocking.

I’d imagine that whole days can go by without the person in the RTH shop selling a single piece of merch. Obviously I understand that the items in there are Tomorrowland licensed products and therefore sell at a premium over the regular Plopsaland merch but it’s incredibly expensive. €75 for a hoodie is a bit OTT.
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I noticed this, they were selling a badly printed (iron on transfer perhaps?) t-shirt for over €50 iirc.

Even my Epcot t-shirt that I got the other month was less than $40, and that’s with Disney’s pricing!
 
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