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Walibi Belgium, part 2: we headed over to the "western" part of the park. . a smallish area, with a bunch of shops, and two rides. . the drop tower, Dalton Terror, and the Vekoma mine train, Calamity Mine. I used to love this at Astroworld, and tho got to ride it at SFStL before it closed. .and earlier in the trip at Holiday Park. .so any chance to ride these, I take. you can see from the lines forming, it was really starting to get busy as we got into early afternoon timeframe. the mine train was only so-so, I thought. . .but I did like the look of this area. and was able to get James to do a photo op with me. i'm so pretty! we headed over to Buzzsaw, and wow.. what a line over here. with the fast lane it still took almost 20 minutes. and the cycle was really pretty bad. I mean, nothing could really compare with Talocan - especially the day right after. But this thing flipped, I think, maybe 3 times total? the rest was just rocking back and forth. i was sadly disappointed in this. tho it was very photogenic. phantom cars!!! it's a g-g-g-ghost driving!! ruh-roh!! we still had 3 coasters left in the parks line up, and I really wasn't looking forward to any of them (and didn't plan to ride two of them anyways, the kiddie and the Boomerang). . but to get up my nerve - and it was on the way - we stopped at the Carousel on the way to Vampire, the parks Vekoma SLC. lovely carousel. and all the effects were working: the spinning cups, the galloping horses, and the rocking carriages. see? my happy place. even rode twice maybe? Unless Jon fell off from the prior pic? while some went for a coffee break, I popped into the store up front to see if there were any shirts I might want later. i was surprised to see them selling merch from everyone in here! DC Superheroes (Six Flags parks), Harry Potter (Universal), Star Wars/Marvel (Disney), even cartoon network stuf fand Nintendo stuff! . . it's a copyright free for all up in here.. . LOL but eventually we had to face it. another "pretty to photograph, but it's gonna suck" ride. Vekoma SLC with some nice theming tho. but yes. . it suuuuuuucked. I haaaaaaated it. the only thing that even made it worthwhile to come over to this part of the park (near the front gates) was the Carousel. oh. .and passing these two inked Bears. . . hello misters! after the crapfest that was Vampire, we were starting to get hungry, but wanted to let stomachs settle. So we headed across the park to the one section we hadn't been in yet - and to ride Popcorn's Revenge - the other shooting dark ride. nature will find a way: although this seems like a huge waste of space - like SOMETHING should be in here for use? - it really is lovely to have a lake in the center of the park. and allows for some great views. this Elephant sculpture was adorable. and it "mists" you as you walk by. . LOL before we got to Popcorn tho.. most of the guys wanted to ride the boomerang. why? I dunno. .to get the credit I guess? I decided to just wait for them and watch. the best seat on a Vekoma Boomerang? the bench out front of the entrance THIS is what I was interested in. I had called this Mediterranean section. .but I think it's more going for an India street vibe, right? huge queueline, that was almost completely empty. for such a fun shooting dark ride. I think maybe just a lot of people don't realize it's over here? if you ever go to Walibi Belgium? don't miss this one. .it's great. and so well themed. (yes, it's basically Toystory Mania. . but it's still a good ride) this is all just the queueline theming! exit thru the gift shop. . . so you can buy a stuffed Popcorn. . . LOL he was cute - and it smelled wonderfully of buttered popcorn in here - but I couldn't fit that in my bag to get back home. this lil magnet tho, i could. . so grabbed him. Pink, of course. so photogenic. . .but so. . . boomerang-y the park has a flying carpet over here.. but no one was really riding it other than some small kids. i asked if adults were allowed, and the operator said "sure! come on aboard!" he said we could have cameras out so I got on with a couple of others, figuring I could get some good pics from the ride. catching Loup-Garou over the lake - and thru the trees and catching Kondaa on the 1st drop. for such a huge splash, it's so fun not more . . . wet. But I really liked Pulsar, and it too is very photogenic we sat to have a drink in the cafe across from the magic carpet and noticed these water jets. what's this? oh. .it's the parks rapids ride, "Radja River" - which I hadn't realized they had. I noticed this too over there.. . oh my! I convinced a couple of folks to ride with me. . but can't recall if we got really wet or not. I don't think we did? it was well done tho. . and like the rapids rides we saw in other parks? never in USA. . the boats were sent pretty closely together, making for a more fun time. across from it was the kiddie. and since I had talked some into riding the rapids - and the kiddie was a walk on basically.. . yeah. . I rode "Fun Pilot" oooo. .another Mad House? yes please.. I've gotten to like these, and happy that so many parks we visited had one. sorry so many pics of Pulsar. . I really DID edit out a lot of them! it's just so pretty with the sky behind it. it was time to eat. No idea what this was. I do remember it was good, tho the desert was a bit too chocolatly. but it was good. pic from Robb, that he sent out while we were stopped for lunch, so it saved in my camera in this spot. I guess from the top of the drop tower? But showing the full layout of Kondaa after lunch, we all wanted something "relaxing". . so we headed to that "slow boat" ride that's nearby Tiki-Waka feeeeed meeeeeeeee really do love how closely this ride interacts with the coaster (and vice versa) awww. . a pony ride, similar to what I got to ride at Dollywood (tho on bears there). we couldn't ride tho, as we were all too tall. so instead we went and rode the angry giant vagina monster ride. at least I'm guessing that's what this was called.. i honestly have no idea! tho I seem to recall that Ian got stung by a bee while in line? (or was that Jon?) and they went together to first aid to have it looked at while we rode? ZERO memory of this.. no idea what it was. . or if it was open, or if we did it. Took a picture of it tho, so I suspect we did it. . but sorry, no idea. Kondaa thru the trees! I do recall we wanted to ride it again, even tho we had end of night ERT on it. . so headed over that way for a ride tho stopping to ride this again along the way. . coming back into the Kondaa entry plaza area. . . we had talked about this ride and were planning to ride it. but we hadn't' seen it cycle, and watching it, it became clear that this is a very mild children's ride (good planning to put something over here for the kids, to keep them occupied so the adults can ride Kondaa). So we passed on this and went to the main attraction. another great ride, and before we had to end the night with ERT, we took another lap around the park to hit up anything we still wanted to ride, or to re-ride. NOT the boomerang (or the SLC). . but really, that boomerang is so tricksy. .it looks so nice! did we ride this breakdance? i really can't remember. after a few rides on things, we stopped at an icecream stand that had "Milkshakes" on the menu. So I tried it. OMG. . it was pretty disgusting. it's NOT what American's think of as a milkshake.. but it was very blue. and foamy. and not a consistency i liked.. it was sorta like "lumpy" milk. um. . yeah. . I didn't finish it. it was all good tho. . because by then it was almost time to meet up in front of Kondaa with the park rep, Valentin, and get our ERT on. So a quick stop in the shop near the front to pick up the Shirt I had seen earlier that I wanted, and then we headed back to meet up for ERT. not really any pics, because once we stored our bags in the station cubbies, we just rode and rode until the day was over. but I snapped this one before we went up to the station, while the park was flushing out the line from the General Public. such a gorgeous entry plaza for this ride. pic courtesy of Elissa (or Robb). and then sadly it was time to head out. We left around 7pm and had about a 3 hour drive to get to the hotel - on the beach in De Panne. so we had to say our goodbyes to Walibi Belgium to headed out. up next. . Day 8 evening on the beach in De Panne (still light out at 10pm!)

apologies for the weeks long break here. . . I know why I've been procrastinating in continuing on, but after talking thru it with my therapist, I'm ready to keep going now. Doesn't mean I'm not going to be sad, but there's lots more to see, ride, and share. . so continuing on. Day 8: Walibi Belgium, Part 1: we got up at the hotel, ate breakfast and checked out by 8:15. after loading the bus, we drove to nearby Walibi Belgium. we had stuff to do before park open: ERT on two coasters, and 1st rides of the day on their new Intamin, Kondaa. pulling into a mostly deserted parking lot. . tho it was a Tuesday, there were already buses in the parking lot, and it seemed it was a school holiday of some sort. very glad to be on this trip with TPR, because the extras - such as the skip the line passes. . it was certainly gonna help with what looked to be a busy day. not too crowded walking up - but it was still over an hour before park open. headed into the park, we see where we were going first: Loup-Garou, a kinda infamous Vekoma wooden coaster. Several of us had been talking and we reasoned that Anaconda at Walygator was vastly improved from what we had expected. . so perhaps it would be similar on this one? I was excited to see it regardless, as I love woodies (that's what he said!). . . but was prepared for 1 and done. I mean, it certainly wasn't warmed up 1st thing in the morning, so hoped for the best, but expected the worst. Still got excited to see it peeking up over the entrance plaza buildings tho. not as excited as I was to see the Park's Carousel front and center at the end of the entrance plaza tho, on the way to the coaster entrance i'd be back for you later! the coaster started testing as we approached it. apparently "Lupe Garou" means Warewolf in French . . so it had that "theming". . . in name and signage only, but hey, theming! it sure LOOKED pretty. . . .I felt my hopes slightly raise. Two hair-wolves (or are we both just Bears.. . Andrew???) ready to ride! they were running two trains during our ERT. . Green & Red. i really liked this train design. it was comfortable. . and you know what? it was a lot of fun, and other than one *really* funky transition that will realign your spine if you don't know it's coming and brace for it - which for some oddball reason is JUST before the photo snap (so everyone in the photos would be making a pained face. . LOL) - it was actually quite good. after the 1st ride, I knew when/where to brace, and I loved it. I think I rode it every cycle available during our ERT on it, which if I recall correctly was 1/2 hour, so I got 6 rides on it. (Pics courtesy of Elissa I think) I think most people on the trip liked it, and many of us kept riding until it was time to head to another coaster. walking from Loup Garou to our next stop - across the park - I snapped a few pics while walking (as usual). here's one of the spikes on Pulsar - one of only 4 Mack Powersplash operating in the world - at least until Aquaman at SFOT finally opens in 2023 ooo..a Top Spin? after Talocan the prior day, I was eager to try a "tamer" version. . so would come back for this later too. an Intamin drop tower, similar to Dungon Drop/Superman (Astroworld/SFStL) - which is now gone. . so wanted to ride this too. . . THRU THE TREES!!!. . that's Kondaa. . . wow, that looks amazing, but we weren't headed here yet. giant fries.. because. . . why not. Tho they didn't' entice me to want to eat any of them. we continued on into "Exotic World". . .. oooooooo kinky! down that way is Kondaa (angels singing). . . but not yet. Park Map THIS is where we were headed next for some quick ERT on the park's Gerstlauer Bobsled, Tiki-Waka really nice theming over here in "Exotic World" section of the park. and the Coaster itself really dominates this area, going around, and over, the walkways, and even interacting with the boat/river-raft ride next door. my turn! and pay attention, no voguing or dancing on this ride! Whee! as mentioned, it interacts with the river ride next to it.. really nice setting. after we all got a few rides on Tiki-Waka, it was time to head to the main event, as the park was opening up to the public. so we followed our Park Guide and Robb, over to the park's latest star attraction Kondaa if you've seen folks online complaining about the lack of theming around this Intamin coaster? yeah, they just haven't been on it. True, there's not a whole lot around the track (but really, what can you do to "theme" around a large, spread out Intamin coaster?). However the entrance plaza and surrounding area for the ride is beautifully done. I liked it so much, I bought yet another "ride" T-shirt - this time with the Kondaa dragon/logo on the front. the train design is so cool as well.. it's a dragon! yes, I waited to ride front row very "Aztek" looking stone design on the train. . . one of the better train designs I've seen. after we all got our opening of the day rides on Kondaa, we got our flash pass/skip the line bands, and then split off to enjoy the park for the day. a group of us - mostly the same folks I had hung out with at Phantasialand - headed to the 1st of the parks two EXCELLENT shooting dark rides. Challenge of Tutankhamon: full of pretty amazing animatronics, fire, and interactive targets. .this ride really is incredible. and the "guns" you shoot with are Ankhs: I think Andrew was shooting at a target and not me. . but who knows. . LOL oh, see that car in front of us? they are going to a "secret" bonus room. . that if the points in the car add up to high enough, you get an extra room with more fire effects and another scene! Oh yes, we immediately rode it again and really aimed, to make sure we got high enough points to do both versions. a photo op? Don't mind if I do. the park really was already starting to get busy, and we passed a LOT of people rushing past us towards the back of the park (where we were coming from Kondaa) and ignoring some of the flats. so when we passed this we decided to stop and ride, as there was no line. basically teacups. . we each got our own, and it became a TPR takeover! tho Ryan gets a separate picture, since he sat in a different "wing". . .:) after this spinning ride, we headed down a path against some oddly placed buildings. what is this? it seems so out of place. . . Gargoyle Hotel ?? I hadn't seen that on the park map anywhere. . what the heck is it? a walk thru? an unused Haunt? then I heard the muffled screams, and saw the sign on the side of the building. it's Psyke Undergound! a FULLY ENCLOSED Schwarzkopf Shuttle Loop ! loading station so cool. .I think we rode this twice too. .tho a line was starting to form and we used the fast lane wristbands for the 2nd ride. there are projections inside the building during the launch, and if you pay attention, the "ghosts" are pretty neat. from the exit queue. . it's a lovely park, with a large lake in the center of it. looking across at the Vekoma Boomerang (called Cobra) in the middle eastern area of the park. . we'd get over there later, as the park's other dark ride/shooting ride (Popcorn's Revenge) is over there too. one look back at the enclosed shuttle loop before we headed across the bridge. it was time to get wet. . . yup. . we were heading to Pulsar! this is what has delayed the SFOT Aquaman ride so badly. the design change to do what Walibi Holland has: a turntable so they can load a boat, while another boat is operating. unfortunately, on the day we were there, only one boat was running. . so the turntable just added extra time as it had to flip around to unload before the next group could load. (but again, luckily, we had Fast Lane/skip the line wristbands, so wasn't TOO bad.. tho think it was still a 10-15 minute wait). for as big a splash as it makes? it really doesn't get the riders wet (other than those sitting on the outer edges). it was mostly just a moist cloud of drizzle. not gonna lie tho.. it's a fun as hell ride. and at least at Walibi it has Single Rider line. . so yeah, I did ride this a few times. . next to it is the parks' flume. Which for the life of me, I cannot recall the name of (From the signage I see, looks like maybe "Flashback" ? ) I do remember that like most other flumes I rode in Europe, it has a backwards section, so that makes sense I guess. it was fun.. but I think I got more wet on this, than I did on Pulsar. . so this was 1 and done for me. back over to Pulsar for a few more pics (and I think I rode again. . figuring, I'm already moist, might as well) to be continued in part 2

Just got caught up on this thread. So sorry to hear of Nick's passing. I cannot imagine how much that sucks. Glad you're working through it with a therapist. Paris is a wonderful city, isn't it? You hit all the good stuff! European Knoebels...I had no idea this existed, and I've just added it to the ever growing list of places to go whenever I can get back to Europe. That Charles L******gh Hotel looks absolutely unbelievable. They really went all out on an incredible experience. If only they had chosen ANYONE else to name it after... Sheesh, can't we collectively agree white supremacists are bad? Absolutely every photo of Phantasialand looks like it could be framed. I don't know how they do it, but I'm glad they do! Lots of good stuff here, too much to comment on individually. Glad you had a great trip!

Reviving this 'cause I got myself a new skyline!

It's kind of like Knoebels when you finally get there and you're like "how are so many people here at a park in the middle of nowhere!?!"

^Robb said he loved that flume AND rode it, that should have been all the warning you needed!