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Plopsaland De Panne General Discussion

Bowser said:
Has anyone done a day trip to Plopsaland from England? We live about 90 min drive from Folkestone and Google claims the entire trip will take around 3hr 15 but not sure how accommodating of train wait times that is.

Time difference isn't favourable either as even a 7am departure isn't going to get you into the park till around 12pm in a best case scenario but then they do stay open late. Anyway just wondered if anyone had done this, thanks!
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Yeah it's one of the most straightforward drives you will ever do. 40 mins from Calais to Plop down one straight motorway.

Wouldn't worry about getting there late as it's a small park and you can do it all in a few hours.
 
Plopsa is arguably the easiest notable European park to day trip with ferry or Eurotunnel.

Park is moderately sized and would say RTH, Anubis, Heidi, the flume and Plop dark ride should be top priorities.

Theming and areas are lovel, however operations are hit and miss. Food is costly and not great at all. My meal at the (now closed) Piraten Grill ranks amongst the worst theme park meals I’ve had.

Stayed in the hotel earlier this year and can it’s great. Charming theatre theme with parks & waterpark tickets included. The buffet was actually ok quality wise when I went.
 
RicketyCricket said:
Yeah it's one of the most straightforward drives you will ever do. 40 mins from Calais to Plop down one straight motorway.

Wouldn't worry about getting there late as it's a small park and you can do it all in a few hours.
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Matt Creek said:
Plopsa is arguably the easiest notable European park to day trip with ferry or Eurotunnel.

Park is moderately sized and would say RTH, Anubis, Heidi, the flume and Plop dark ride should be top priorities.

Theming and areas are lovel, however operations are hit and miss. Food is costly and not great at all. My meal at the (now closed) Piraten Grill ranks amongst the worst theme park meals I’ve had.

Stayed in the hotel earlier this year and can it’s great. Charming theatre theme with parks & waterpark tickets included. The buffet was actually ok quality wise when I went.
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Thank you both. Is the train/immigration process fairly quick/efficient (beyond unexpected traffic)?

And do the park announce planned ride closures in advance?
 
Bowser said:
Has anyone done a day trip to Plopsaland from England? We live about 90 min drive from Folkestone and Google claims the entire trip will take around 3hr 15 but not sure how accommodating of train wait times that is.

Time difference isn't favourable either as even a 7am departure isn't going to get you into the park till around 12pm in a best case scenario but then they do stay open late. Anyway just wondered if anyone had done this, thanks!
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We live about 2hrs away from Folkstone (Bedfordshire) and did a day trip 3 weeks ago. Was supposed to get the 08:15 train but the auto check in gave us the option of the 07:45, so took that. With the 1hr time difference we got to the park just after 10am. The drive is no issue at all and literally a straight road all the way from the train.
 
Adam H said:
We live about 2hrs away from Folkstone (Bedfordshire) and did a day trip 3 weeks ago. Was supposed to get the 08:15 train but the auto check in gave us the option of the 07:45, so took that. With the 1hr time difference we got to the park just after 10am. The drive is no issue at all and literally a straight road all the way from the train.
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Thanks. Yeah not worried about the driving itself, just the timings. So you must have left your house at 530am? What time did you get home?

Would be doing it with a disabled child for added fun.
 
Bowser said:
Thanks. Yeah not worried about the driving itself, just the timings. So you must have left your house at 530am? What time did you get home?

Would be doing it with a disabled child for added fun.
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Left at 04:30. Better to be safe than sorry was my thinking and grabbed a Mcd's breakfast at Folkstone (the one near the LeShuttle entrance). Think we checked in at 7am and it gave us the 07:45. Took about 10mins to get through both passport controls and security. We got the 20:18 train back but with the -1hr time difference we got back home at 22:00 on the dot. Considering the early start and a full theme park day, I wasn't that tired when I got back home. It's just like driving to Blackpool and back in the same day.
 
Adam H said:
Left at 04:30. Better to be safe than sorry was my thinking and grabbed a Mcd's breakfast at Folkstone (the one near the LeShuttle entrance). Think we checked in at 7am and it gave us the 07:45. Took about 10mins to get through both passport controls and security. We got the 20:18 train back but with the -1hr time difference we got back home at 22:00 on the dot. Considering the early start and a full theme park day, I wasn't that tired when I got back home. It's just like driving to Blackpool and back in the same day.
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Oof, a long day! Guess you left the park around 7pm? Was this a weekday or weekend?

I reckon we can shave at least an hour off that each end so definitely sounds doable!

Blackpool is a good reference point too! Haven't tried that yet as comes in around 250 miles/4.5 hours.. Our longest day trip is Alton Towers which is 150 miles, BPB is next on the list once my son is tall enough to enjoy more of the rides.
 
Bowser said:
Oof, a long day! Guess you left the park around 7pm? Was this a weekday or weekend?

I reckon we can shave at least an hour off that each end so definitely sounds doable!

Blackpool is a good reference point too! Haven't tried that yet as comes in around 250 miles/4.5 hours.. Our longest day trip is Alton Towers which is 150 miles, BPB is next on the list once my son is tall enough to enjoy more of the rides.
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We left the park around 5pm, but could have stayed longer due to the train time but wanted to play it safe. We also went to the supermarket near Plopsa to stock up on chocolate 👌 The journey back was about 35mins and ended up at LeShuttle with loads of time spare. Next time we go we'll either get an earlier departure time from France, or a later one from the UK. We had more than enough time to enjoy a day on the park. We went on a Sunday and it was generally busy, but not heaving. Longest wait was 10mins for Anubis. RTH was a station wait with 2 trains.
 
Poisson said:
Driving to Plopsa was easy. We did an early train, did Bellewaerde and the Menin Gate, hotel overnight, Plopsa and back to the UK in 2 days
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I think this is a good way to do it. Sure, you can drive to Plopsa as a day trip but I think it would be more enjoyable to do it as a two day trip. Drive to Belgium on the first day with Bellawaerde or say a trip to Ostend as an option, enjoy some nice Belgian beers in the evening, and then hit Plopsa at opening before driving back home later that day.
 
Shaggy_Dog_ said:
I think this is a good way to do it. Sure, you can drive to Plopsa as a day trip but I think it would be more enjoyable to do it as a two day trip. Drive to Belgium on the first day with Bellawaerde or say a trip to Ostend as an option, enjoy some nice Belgian beers in the evening, and then hit Plopsa at opening before driving back home later that day.
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Yep, would definitely be nicer but unfortunately not an option for us at present. Good to know day trips are feasible though.
 
Just giving this thread a bump as we were thinking of going in May. However I’m not sure my son will be 1.3m by then which means no ride to happiness.

Would people say that’s a bit of a deal breaker in terms of the park offering more of an experience than what we can get in the UK? Or are the remaining rides very good?
 
There's a lot of generic coasters but Heidi and Anubis are both very good.

Also a water coaster and a very fun dinosaur themed log flume.

Without Ride To Happiness I'd probably say it's closest UK comparison is Paultons Park. Nicely kept, mostly well themed, fun rides, and coasters.
 
John_P said:
There's a lot of generic coasters but Heidi and Anubis are both very good.

Also a water coaster and a very fun dinosaur themed log flume.

Without Ride To Happiness I'd probably say it's closest UK comparison is Paultons Park. Nicely kept, mostly well themed, fun rides, and coasters.
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Are they good in terms of reliability and availability?
 
Bowser said:
Just giving this thread a bump as we were thinking of going in May. However I’m not sure my son will be 1.3m by then which means no ride to happiness.

Would people say that’s a bit of a deal breaker in terms of the park offering more of an experience than what we can get in the UK? Or are the remaining rides very good?
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I know you said you can't do overnight, maybe visit Bellewaerde instead? Plopsa sans RtH is a bit pointless, the only things you'd miss at Bellewaerde are the Boomerang, Drop Tower, Pirate Ship and Rapids. Nice little park, easy to get to and then do Plopsa next year?
 
Poisson said:
I know you said you can't do overnight, maybe visit Bellewaerde instead? Plopsa sans RtH is a bit pointless, the only things you'd miss at Bellewaerde are the Boomerang, Drop Tower, Pirate Ship and Rapids. Nice little park, easy to get to and then do Plopsa next year?
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Thanks for the response. Actually this weekend we just had our first ever successful overnight trip at Alton Towers (which was even more amazing considering the debacle of the day but i digress) so i'm hoping we can now visit a European park (i've started a separate thread on the matter here if you or anyone has other suggestions of parks that might be more suitable: https://towersstreet.com/talk/threads/best-european-park-for.7130/

Hadn't heard of Bellewaerde so just had a look. It looks nice enough but in terms of it's offerings i don't think it has anything that's particularly more enticing than in the UK (though the water park is a massive bonus but then Plopsa has one of those too and arguably looks better).

My son has a hospital appointment next month so i'll get an official height measurement to see where he is at (i realise that isn't valid at a theme park but it gives me confidence if he's a documented height without shoes knowing we have a 1-2cm safety net). Do agree that Plopsa with RtH would be a shame but outside of that Anubis looks great and would be his first launched coaster, Heidi looks similar to Wickerman (another favourite) and a few other bits. Plus the shorter travel means we can do the park and water park with only a single night stay which might be more viable.

Also the Belle water park has one of the more baffling restrictions in not allowing shorts and pockets :tearsofjoy:

Edit: Actually PlopsAqua has the same rules, what's that all about?

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Bowser said:
Also the Belle water park has one of the more baffling restrictions in not allowing shorts and pockets :tearsofjoy:

Edit: Actually PlopsAqua has the same rules, what's that all about?

1711395925898.png
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That’s actually quite a common rule in some parts of Europe. It’s because they want to make sure that people are wearing a clean Speedo style pair of trunks rather than using a pair of baggy shorts that can be perceived as streetwear and that you may have been wearing around all day and so could have contaminants or dirt on them that you’d bring in to the pool. I think it could also be to stop people bringing things in with them in the pockets, either accidentally or on purpose.
 
It’s all to do with hygiene. Bathing shorts can be worn as normal clothes as well, thereby bringing outdoor germs into the water, the same reason that most pools ban outdoor shoes anywhere near the pools.

If your eyes sting in the water, this isn’t, contrary to popular belief, because the chlorine is high. Your eyes stinging is due to the Total Disolved Solids (TDS) in the water. This can come from germs on swimwear, clothing or shoes, and can also come from urine and sweat.
 
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