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We've been trying to figure out was there any notice to this removal and we just missed it or was this kind of out of the blue? Seems like they could have made an easy years worth of rent had they announced this and all the coaster people would have made the trek! I will add to what others have said, it was an amazing and crazy intense ride. I do have to wonder though, can you imagine in this day and age had a roller coaster derailed and killed three people I can't imagine it would be back open six months later!!?? And then stayed open another 30 years after that! Here's our video from our one visit a long time ago featuring the even more insane backwards car as well!

Day 10: Bellewaerde ! we were up and checked out of the hotel and on the bus by 7:30 (but not before having breakfast). I was in Belgium, so about damn time I had some waffles: it was very overcast, and was supposed to be a bit rainy and chilly. . .but we were headed to Bellewaerde today. . a kind of funky park, that I thought reminded me very much of Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Animals, and very "green" pathways, with many of the rides hard to see as they are buried among the trees. starting out not too badly tho. . just slightly overcast, but still clear on the bus ride there: oooo. . this park be kinky!!! apparently there's a waterpark here too. . . tho I can't recall ever seeing the slides. (as noted, a lot of stuff is hidden by greenery) I believe we came in the back gate (we exited later from the front gate). . .but we came in back here, because we were going to get some ERT before the park opened, and Robb was going to film on the parks funky indoor/outdoor/dark ride coaster, "Huracan" - which is close to this entrance. we were greeted by a Boomerang on the left (yay?), but on the right? yeah, that's what I was most excited about - another brand new ride for me, a Topple Tower! I was so excited to see this. I've never been on one, and it was one of my 'must do' at this park - once it opened. oh look, they have an "El Toro" here too but we were headed to Huracan 1st. I really loved this coaster. .it had a fantastic theming thruout, and a really fun dark-ride section with lots of lasers and lights, that hid very well what was just a pretty basic layout (for the inside portion of the coaster). It's a great family coaster with pops of fun on the outdoors section. speaking of theming. . . I mean, look how amazing this station is! I got to sit in the front row with Robb during one of his filming sessions (pic courtesy of Elissa) after riding this a few times, our park guide gathered us up for the trek to the other side of the park for our next ride (we came in by the Mexico Section, and we were next going to ride things (Wakala & Dawson Duel) over in the Canada Section. . so you can see the route we took on the park map below) along the way, he pointed out things of interest - including this ladybug coaster that had a countdown clock on it. what was going on? this classic coaster was going to be closing forever shortly after our visit. He urged us to take a ride on it, for historic purposes, if we got the chance today, as this was a beloved coaster that had been in the park for decades. noted! I snapped pics of ride signs as we passed.. tho often it was hard to get a pic of the actual rides, because of all the greenery. River Splash - the parks flume ride I mean, look how beautiful and green this park is! and lots of animals to look at as you walk the pathways in the park. LEMURS! so cute!!! as I keep saying. . just lovely. tho I don't recall actually riding this teacups ride here. or this Carousel (I know!!!). I may have ridden it and just don't recall, but I don't have a pic on it, so I think I might have just not come back to it, as it was a smaller children's Carousel (not that that ever really stops me). Took a pic of this as we walked by tho lots of flowers and topiary thruout the park too, even in the more "open" areas I believe this is a meet and greet location for the park's mascots. . tho I didn't see any out today. Probably just because it was overcast and did get colder and start to drizzle shortly after park open. we are passing by the main front gate now, and this is the entrance to the gift shop. as we looped around to the Canada section, there was a photo op for the soon to be closed Ladybug coaster. so did I stop to take a pic? I mean. . . of course! Bengal Rapid River - the entrance to the park's River Rapids ride. didn't ride this today, as you'll see in later pics, this sucker got people SOAKED. (and I was already moist enough from the drizzle later) and they aren't kidding with the "rapids" part of the name one of the few pics of Dawson Duel - the first "Mountain Coaster" I'd ever ridden. but wait, you ask. . I don't see any "mountains" at Bellewaerde. and you'd be correct. They built massive towers to support the mountain coaster and hid them in the forest around the park. So the result is a pretty amazing racing Mountain coaster - with a super long climb via ramps/steps to get up to the start. but you truly can't see most of it, or get a good pic, because it's so well hidden. but we walked under it for now, as we were headed to Wakala . . a pretty unique shuttle type launch coaster, with a spike over the big lake near the park. again, some really cool theming here. as it has thruout the whole park. the group coming back from the first ride, surprised by that unexpected "spike" over the lake, and then backwards before switching over to come back into the station. look at those smiles. . we all loved it. pic by Robb or Elissa after a couple of rides on Wakala, we headed across the walkway to Dawson Duel & checked all our bags/cameras/etc, it didn't really matter, as it's so hard to get a decent pic of it - but wow, highly recommended, as the views while climbing up to the start are spectacular and worth the climb up. and of course, had to climb up twice - I mean, it's a dueling mountain coaster - you've GOT to ride both sides Luckily Robb shared a pic on his instagram (which I borrowed to use here), of the empty "carts" making the lift back up to the top so we could load in for the rides. (I wish they let you ride up in them tho. . LOL) from the top of the Dawson Duel tower, we had a clear view of the parking lot, and tho it was mostly empty as the park was just about to open, we did see several school buses full of kids pull into the lot and park by the front gate. after Dawson Duel, we were let loose in the park to enjoy until it was time to head out ~4pm (as we were headed back to Paris after) since we were right over here, some of us decided to hang out and wait for Screaming Eagle, the drop tower to open. there was a shoot the chutes over here too.. tho I can't recall if it opened. I THINK it did, but had no desire to ride it. nice theming tho. it took them a seemingly long time to get this open, as there was one operator, and he was having trouble getting the balance correct between the riders on each side, and it kept throwing a red light. so there were a number of "get on, get restraints on, check them, then everyone off". . . cycle the ride. . and do it again. eventually, tho we got a green light, and we went (against my better judgement, since it was so hard to get the "green light". . but I got on). i have to say, probably the most underwhelming ride I was on in Europe. A drop tower with zero forces? no airtime on the drop down, and no G's going up. it was so weird how forceless this was. I think most of us felt silly we had waited for it to stop operating. passing by, I think we may have hopped back on Wakala for another ride. Managed to not get the trains (sorry), but a some good pics showing how well the ride is integrated in the trees. thru the trees!! this walkway seemed to go out to a dock that appeared to be either a swimming hole, or possibly a paddle boats ride. . . but didn't see anything here, other than the long bridge, and what appeared to be a Tom Sawyer Island-like attraction with cabins to explore over there. we didn't explore it any further than looking at it tho, as I was determined to get on that Topple Tower, so we headed back over towards where we started. we popped into the Lion exhibit - again, really well done. you can climb into the "crashed" vehicle, to get a slightly better view of the animals. and going this way, finally got a good view of the river rapids ride, and made me decide hell no to riding: yeah. .the animatronic elephants made SURE everyone in the rafts got soaked! I believe the Tiger exhibit. . . there's one laying up there on the perch on the left. Some very nice design work in this park. even the food stands are nicely themed to the area they are in (not open, but still nice) ooooo..another madhouse. I believe this one was themed to Houdini ? (it looks like it based on the statues and locks on the outside) and the inside show room before the ride. still headed back to Mexico for the topple tower credit for me. . . . thru the trees! but we were passing thru the Wild West area. . and the Ladybug coaster. I honestly had not planned to ride it. . . . tho everyone else in the group I was with wanted to, so I joined along. glad I did too. . it's another one of those that looks like a kiddie coaster, but is a fun family coaster, that moved pretty fast and pulled some forces. and as you can see. . it had started to drizzle, a bit heavy. this is my kind of ride too.. where's the entrance??? ah. here it is. . . if I'm recalling? that snake was animatronic, and spit water out at people coming into the entrance. . the first group of kids from the buses we'd really bumped into today. . . but they filled the whole boat before us, so we got the next one. lots of animals to look at on the Jungle Cruise. . . oh crap..really? we're gonna get wet on this too???? yep. . . sheesh. . LOL it's a.. . . um. . . hell, I can't remember what these are called. it's a giant rat thing. . . (but without a monkey riding it) and if we weren't already moist and cold, it started to drizzle harder. . . great. .more spitting snakes. . and some "slightly problematic in 2022" Natives. . . but the chief was toking! the pic I have of the smoke POURING out of that window came out blurry. . but funny as hell. and . . .yeah. . MORE water on the boat. a fun, and great family ride. . but anyone in an outside seat is gonna get a little wet. the rain had paused by the time we finally got back over to Mexico. so I went right away to the topple tower, El Volador, even tho I had been getting warned it was going to underwhelm. I mean, it LOOKS amazing. . . was it "thrilling" ? no but did I really like it? heck yes! it was a fun, mid level ride, and when it does the full tilt thing, I really liked the feeling of being about to slip out of the restraints. is it my favorite flat? not at all, but I will ride one if I'm in a park that has it. I enjoyed it that much and was able to get some pics of Huracan's outdoor section from the exit - which meant had to go ride that again after. I kinda wanted to ride this. . but really can't recall if we did? I don't' think we did? but maybe? everyone else wanted to ride the Boomerang. called "Boomerang" here. I took my favorite seat on it - the bench out front - and took pics of them riding. and this singing phallic thing with a unique speaker opening. . . hmmmmm. it made odd noises, so I wanted to get a pic with it . . LOL it had been a fairly light day, so even tho it had gotten a little chilly, we took a spin on the flume ride - and we each got our own log . . whee! I don't recall much of this flume, but I didn't hate it (or would recall I didn't like it). . I guess? we'd waited long enough to eat. . and it had started drizzling again, so we headed up towards the front of the park to the big restaurant to eat a late lunch. I THINK this was a breaded fish and fries? I seem to remember it was fish, and I found it odd there was a brown sauce with fish. I do remember the cake was good. Not very sweet, which I liked. this tho? this just looked gross. . so yeah, didn't try this. while eating lunch, with most of the TPR group in there at the same time, there was discussion on if we should stay until we had planned to at 4, or if we wanted to leave early to get to Paris earlier. I THINK it was at this park? the overall voting was that since it was so chilly and overcast, and since most everyone had ridden everything they wanted, that we'd leave at 2pm instead of 4. (I could be mistaken, but I think that was here). the only thing I still wanted to ride was the train, as it went thru the Lion & Tigers exhibit . . and we knew it had been swamped with kids earlier, and likely still would be busy. So after eating, we headed over to the train. tho there were still a bunch of school kids, we got super lucky and they all crammed into the other train cars, and the TPR folks ended up in a mostly empty car at the back of the train - which let us move from side to side to take pics. so it worked out really well. . . . you get really close to the tigers and lions! Smart cats. . they know to stay just far enough away from the tracks . . .but they are watching. . . oh yes. .they watch the cars full of food slowly go by I'm not sure what everyone else broke off to do after the train. (I think they may have gone back to ride Wakala again?) but I wanted to do some shopping, so headed up to the front entrance to hit the main gift shop. such a pretty park. .a shame it was a little nasty today. but I really enjoyed it. so pretty. cold and wet, yet still some folks were riding the rapids! as you can see from the wait times sign, the weather REALLY kept the crowds away. and as the School Kids had left around 1:30, the park was really very deserted . . I mean. .this is the main entrance area. . a few folks here and there on some rides. LOVED these strollers. If I were small enough, I would love to be pushed around in a Kangaroo all day in the gift shop, they were selling some "questionable in 2022" souvenirs for the kiddos. . . tho I don't have any issue with it. Maybe that's just a thing (the Cultural appropriation stuff) in the USA and not so much in Europe? I was so tempted to buy this . . .LOL but (t) I didn't. (yes, I have a dirty mind) but I did end up getting a Lemur sweatshirt.. which is so cute, and comfortable. I put it on right away. ah. .here, out front of the main entrance, is one of the Park Mascots you can pose with: and then it was back on the bus, and starting the ~4 hour drive back to Paris. look how cute that Sweatshirt is! even tho it was a bit too chilly and drizzly for my preference? I still had a fantastic time at Bellewaerde, and really recommend this park. if you get a chance to visit? it's well worth a stop for the rides, the animals, and the atmosphere. we rested on the bus, and I texted back and forth with Nick a bit (who was up as the nurses kept waking him up) and he told me that he was doing much better and would talk to me that evening on the phone. so I settled in after a full and fun day, and just enjoyed the ride as we headed back to Paris airport and our hotel for the evening.

^ Mikey doesn't realize M&Ms are owned by Mars, not Hershey.

This is news is definitely a little surprising but apparently it has not been running for the last little while. I kind of want to say that when they moth balled it due to COVID they just didn't want to put in the money to get it up and running again. @SharkTums I really don't think they gave it even the slightest consideration they maybe making it known would attach anyone here to make sure they got a ride in on it. Knowing the company that is responsible for the Mall (Triple 5), they are not known for going above and beyond. It is possible that the structure is still in good shape, it has been indoors all it life after all. But I would bet good money that it is just going to the scrap heap. Really a shame.

you're right, my mistake, I thought M&M's were Hershey. I apologize.

I asked about this at Winterfest. . and the park rep I was speaking to did not know if SF had a version that could operate year round (when I told him that Pulsar can operate without the splash to keep it going year round). he agreed that it would be great to have it running year round and said he'd ask that question when he got back to Dallas. not sure what the end answer was tho. and yes, Pulsar barely got the riders wet. . it just misted us every time I rode.

From what I have heard, the powersplash model ride can also operate year-round as a dry ride by simply emptying the splash pool. It is basically a roller coaster with a splashdown option. But as far as water rides go, I like the idea of not being completely drenched (unless I want to stand by the splash pool area). At any rate, I look forward to riding this in the next year or two.

It's a capybara and it's amazing!!! World's largest rodent!! I definitely want to go back to this park. I think a lot of us just weren't in the mood for the cold and rainy weather at the end of the trip. The park was beautiful and had some really interesting ride. I think one full size coaster to replace the boomerang and we'll be back for sure!

From reviewing pictures on RCDB, it doesn't look like there's any special structural considerations for the location. Given that this appears to be a mirror image of Quimera, maybe IB could put them back to back?

And the both boats will have plenty of open seats since there's no grouper and the ROs are only allowed to open the gates for 3 seconds.

Holy crapsnacks, lap bar restraints?! Gimme summadat Gerstlauer insanity!!!!

You know as well as I do (and the rest of the y'all wackadoos here) that the turntable will be used for the first year until they take one boat into permanent "maintenance" (read - parts bitch) and they're stuck with one boat that still needs to be spun around every single cycle, resulting in even longer cycle times and lower capacity. It's the Six Flags Way*. That being said, we also all know that when your ride is complete you're still going to be sitting in the boat for five minutes until they finally check and clear the second boat to rotate you back into the station. It's the Six Flags Way*. * - Does not apply to SFFT.

Please enlighten me how the Disney Springs M&Ms store adding characters based on Mars chocolate characters has anything to do with Hersheypark?

Hersheypark has removed their atrocious Whip. If you're tempted to kind-of care because you assume that it's a classic, it was built new in 1997 and it absolutely sucks.

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

Well, I guess Kristen is going to demand a TPR Trip to Spain now to ride Tom Holland!!!!

Hate to see this. I was really hoping to ride this. One of my most wanted. https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/mindbender-roller-coaster-closed-after-37-years-at-west-edmonton-mall-1.6252033