Dragon Khan

It seems both of us share a common soft spot for dear old Khan. Trimming could have been worse if they had placed it sooner in the track. At least the bitchslap roll is unaffected and this is one of my favorite coaster part on the planet. As for next year I'm not sure about a new ride... Probably shows, events, celebrations. But we cannot complain too much because this is one of the rare parks that invests so frequently

Still...that dive used to be epic in itself: soooo surprising. As for the loop, I sometimes found it a bit too strong on marathoning sessions... Near black out experience on hot Spanish summer days. Let's try to be positive... This change might make repeat riding easier :/

Thanks. I had trièd thé Youtube way myself but really find it hard to judge from the on rides, especially without a properly mounted cam. For those who have ridden it in the past AND recently... Does it feel as disastrous as some have led us to believe ? Does it kill the ride for real ? I loved how the train used to jump on the right after that unused brake...

Going to the park with my family in late August. This will be my son's first rides on Khan, SHambhala and Baco , his first intamin. Has anybody been there recently, I mean in the last couple of weeks ? My question being.... People talked about khan's neutering in the beginning of the season when they used the mcbr rather hard. Is it still the case or can I hope to find my beloved looper the way I have always known her ? So. Braked to death or have they finally realized the coaster runs great the way it has since 95 ?

I have à feeling the coaster will belong to the Barth family for a while, despite all that has been said. I personally can see them kind of renting the coaster to some parks for parts or whole seasons. Oscar Bruch did just that with thriller one year. Not sure but I think that was at gronalund. I have already seen theme parks adding temporary coasters on their parking lot. Plopsa land did that with a spinning mouse a couple of years ago too... Look at it that way. They could still make money renting it, without the hassle of dismantling every other week... But they would still own it for big venues like Oktoberfest or any other big event near the park they have lent it to... The big issue being transportation costs, this makes sense

Whatever they build... make it exciting enough to make me come back to this park where I missed Irat in 2013 (Thank you Rosie).

Hmmmmm, hesitating but the very first that comes to mind is Expedition GeForce... I love riding it with real enthusiasts and see them start it with hands up, then all of a sudden grabbing the bar mid drop. It really does it with lots of people on their first ride (backseat, left side)

Although some years ago I would have sworn by coasters only, and ossibly the most extreme, this personal trend has changed and I tend to appreciate the theme park experience as a whole... maybe it's because I now visit with the kids and so on... but I would totally agree that this park is now very high on my list. It just has everything you want and is situated in an amazing village. I love it so much that I have decided to skip local season passes next year (fed up with wlibi parks who don't invest) to spend cash elsewhere where they deserve it. So, Rust, 2015, here I come again

200% agreed

Maybe this park doesn't have the craziest coasters, but at the very least, it doesn't rest on its laurels and invests every single year. I have a feeling it represents the future of amusement parks in Belgium... And not only for kids...

It just needs to be 206 ft tall to beat Stealth at Thorpe to achieve this, nothing more. So in the end it may not even be the tallest coaster in the park. We just have to wait and see what we end up with. I realise that, but given the support structure, I'm willing to bet it's going to be quite a fair bit taller. Ready to take the bets. I do not see Port Aventura breaking their tradition of "going BIG" with such a project, especially with drop towers attached to it...

^Maybe just for capacity ? Hurrakan Condor is one of the only major rides there which is not included in the Express pass, and queues tend to be long in the summer time. I'm in a state you cannot imagine at reading this. Those who know me also know the limitless love I have for Khan, I found Shambhala to be excellent, and not forceless at all, Baco is a beast of intensity, and now this ? I'm spoilt !!! Now, an RMC or intamin plug and play and I'm moving to Salou...

Just to add my 2 cents: My local Boomerang at Bellewaerde Park (Belgium) might have been the second to be built but if my information is exact, it was the first to ever open to the public, and IT WAS MY FIRST EVER COASTER !!! not only first looper, first coaster period. This is the one that started the crave for riding more and more, so you should be fine too. Admittedly, before I started riding coasters, I had been drawing coasters since the first time I saw one but was too short to ride ... my first coaster spotting triggered my fascination for them, but OMG that first drop in 1984... I remember that day as if it had happened yesterday...

Vekoma Corkscrews had AMAZING airtime in the front sea before heading right into the double inversion. there was even mild air in the hill before the hélix. OK they aged and turned rather rough but for old fashioned fun, they were awesome. I remember Walibi Belgium's old times when they still had the Jumbo Jet, the Tornado and the unmodified Sirocco... Nostalgia !

Has it come to anyone's mind that Walter Bolliger may just be hush hush because of what a HUGE majority of forumers say about them all the time ? OK, I'll admit being a fanboy of a lot of their coasters (not all of them) and I had the opportunity to talk to him on the phone some years ago. I can insure you this man was very patient, responsive and friendly with me. Consider me biased if you want... but in his place I am not sure I would be more talkative with media constantly bashing their creations. In French, we have an idiom saying "don't complain about your shoes getting wet if you pee against the wind". They DO read forums too, you know... Food for thoughts... Now let the flaming begin

Are you thinking the one from Kentucky Kingdom? That one was dismantled poorly, but last I heard i though the one from Astroworld was just sitting around and waiting to be put back together like the guy above me said. Also keep in mind that Gerstlauer just recently did a full refurbishment of both Sooperdooperlooper AND Turbine, so it's completely possible for us to see a rebirth of Greezed Lightnin'. Ha inv. Ridden PSYKE UNDERGROUND, my biggest hope is they do not go the lsm way. Please restore the flywheel launch, which IMHO is what makes the shuttle's charm. Admittedly what they did in Wavre is better than nada but I would kill to have an original closer to home... Hopefully that's what you texans get

No secret what my favourite is... just look at my screen name / avatar. Not only is it my favourite B&M looper, it is my all time favourite steelie, period. It has been since I first rode it in 1995, its opening year. I still have to find one that beats it. Not saying it will never happen, but I doubt any ride keeps the title in my personal charts for as long as Khan has. It's simply the perfect coaster imho... even with a bit of roughness these days, and I just have to go on pilgrimage on it every couple of years. I ADORE this baby ! (first out of a growing list of 356 coasters)

I Wonder if ageing coasters can have track parts repaired / replaced. Has every coaster a programmed "death" ? i hope not, and what gives me hope is the state Walibi's shuttle loop was in, before they decided to refurbish it. There are very old steelies still around so I'd guess B&M's are still here to stay for a bit. I really DREAD the day they'd remove my baby Dragon Khan. It's probably not for tomorrow but if they decide to dismantle it one day, I'll really be sad and in mourning for an undetermined duration... It was my first B&M ever and NEVER have I found a better one so far. Ruling my chart since 95. I'd also say one of the oldest stand ups as they tend to be rattly, but maybe this can be addressed just by changing the Rolling stock ?

For those interested and eventually in the area, tomorrow is the fair's last day and every ride will be running at half the price they normally demand. Very few of you are likely to be in the area, I guess, but if any French, German, Belgian or Brit members happen to be in Belgium...and are credit whores (lol) this is the way to complete the week end. Fireworks are planned for tonight too

^This is not the one in Brussels, Nick, but at my hometown, where you tasted Rabbit But there is a much bigger fair right now at the French border (Lille) and I might go and check that one as well next week end. Look for "foire de Lille 2013" on youtube... it's a bit like the one we did in Germany, LESS Olympia, unfortunately. But the beer is present too, as are the metalheads

And Jason, you know the girls of the family... every excuse is good to eat that kind of food !

http://www.7sur7.be/7s7/fr/1505/Monde/article/detail/1706587/2013/09/18/Un-parc-Spirou-en-France-en-2015.dhtml Today the French media started mentioning the possibility of a new park in the valley of the Rhone river, (not the Rhine) for 2015. This would be based on Belgian comics characters which are very popular in French speaking countries. I have no idea if those are translated in other languages, so feel free to google them. The central character would be Spirou, but the park would also feature others like Gaston Lagaffe or the infamous Marsupilami. This is not the first time Dupuis editions collaborate with a park, as indeed one of their characters appeared at Europapark in the past, the racing pilot Michel Vaillant (silver star area, Mercedes exhibit). This time they have been contacted for a full size park. Don't expect a huge park if this happens as the figures don't sound too impressive so far. Investment is estimated at"only" € 75M. The article mentions no specific ride but seems to indicate some of them would be "numerical", so I expect simulators or other movie based shows. Stay tuned, to see if it's another project that will never happen or if this one has a chance to see daylight one day

Yes, Ryan, it reminded me a bit of the Texas Statefair, where we practically had the rides for ourselves ! But believe me, the weather was VERY different lol. No sunscreen dispensers needed here !

Part 5, last update, with some more photos of my daughter getting a credit, other rides with nobody on them, operators desperately waiting for customers, a very unique (or at least to me, since I had never seen one in person) kiddie fun house. I really like this concept. They should put some at Mac Donald's restaurants. Last pictures are of my GIRLFRIEND EATING BALLS !

Part 4 Kiddie coaster credit for the kids. I honestly didn't dare... You never can tell ...one of my students may be around the corner... Some wouldn't care though...(would you, Laura ? Look ! It has a tail !)