viking86

^Yes, it really is a beautiful park! Everything seemed to be in top condition. All the rides looked really good, despite some giving a less than stellar ride experience. I also liked the theming on the Boomerang, it looked good and the tunnel definitely added to the ride experience. The park is also very green, with lots of trees, bushes and grass. ^^Making a prototype is one thing, that's fine. Making a bad prototype and thinking "Yes, this is a good product, let's sell it to more customers" is a sin! Thank you for the explanation, quite interesting. It makes more sense now, but I still cannot help but feel that they could have done a lot more then just plopping the locomotive in the empty field under the ride.

^Oh I didn't realize that more than three videos had been posted. All I can say is HOLY CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just had a look at the videos of Pirates, definitely looks interesting. The projections in the third video looks spectacular, would love it to see it in person. I also had a look at the comments on various sites on facebook after they posted the Tron video. Seems like there are a lot of dissappointed people who expected a high-intensity thrill ride. I think many of these people forget what Disney is about.

I LOVE these trains! I'm also looking forward to see the new theming, during my last visit I definitely felt it was in need of an update (I never found the ride itself rough though). Also great use of the old track, love it when parks do these things!

Meet'n Greets should be interesting!

That looks really fun! Well done to Mack and Walibi Belgium for coming up with such a cool and unique concept!

Well that came out of nowhere, sun and 24 degrees C (75*F). It's like summer!

That looks really fun!

This is probably nothing, but I believe the chain dog that "catches" the chain is on either Car 3 or 4 (the ones that derailed). From the SFStL (Arrow) video, you can see just how much the train wobbles at those two cars when it catches. Any link? That is a very interesting observation, and I could easily see it causing additional stress on the train. Whether it has any connection to yesterdays incident or not will be pure speculation at this point, but it's definitely interesting. On a semi-related note, I got to try the new Vekoma trains with west restraint on the Boomerang at Walibi Holland last weekend, and I must say it was one hell of an improvement. No it didn't magically turn it into a fantastic ride, but it was far less uncomfortable. I could see a lot of rides benefiting from these trains.

Last night I dreamt that a rider was ejected from Lost Gravity, on the turn after the zero-G roll. I remember I was so happy that I actually got to ride it since it vallied the day before I visited (this actually did happen), and a rider was thrown from the ride a couple of days after I rode it.

^I think it's fair to just say "This is a Boomerang, I don't want to ride it".

Great trip report, sounds like you had an amazing time!

^Look at the wheel boogie between the 3rd and 4th car, it definitely seems to have come off the track. You can see that the 3rd car is also at a slight angle.

I think the correct question is what took you so long to make an appearance in this thread?

It definitely goes a lot faster through the turn than the other dive machines. I'm enjoying watching everyones legs fly forwards when they hit the first set of brakes after the turn. Sound ridicilous I know, but I just found it amusing to watch... Not going to lie, I find it amusing if not oddly pleasing too. Haha good to see I'm not the only one!

^Now that actually is newsworthy!

It definitely goes a lot faster through the turn than the other dive machines. I'm enjoying watching everyones legs fly forwards when they hit the first set of brakes after the turn. Sound ridicilous I know, but I just found it amusing to watch...

I finally found some time to go through the entire report. Animal Kingdom - Based on the video I'm not sold on the Rivers of Lights show. This however is only based on my (somewhat limited) experience with water screens, which I'm yet to be amazed by. But I would definitely watch the show on my next visit to AK, and then I would be able to give a full judgement. The Tree of Life Projection Show however, holy crap that looks fantastic! I'm also looking forward to see the new Avatar land when it opens. While the storyline of the movie left a little to be desired, the world they created was stunningly beautiful and I'm very interested to see how well they manage to capture that feeling. Disney Springs - The only thing I can say about this is that you are definitely taking me here for my next trip, whenever that might be. That food looks so yummy! EPCOT - Great to see a little more of the new addition to the Norway pavilion. I also liked that they have moved the Anna & Elsa topiaries to Norway. As for the photo with the real girls I have already expressed my opinion on that on facebook lol! Great report, really enjoyed it!

^Damn that lift structure is amazing!

^Wow that looks fantastic, great work!

Thanks for the nice comments! Goliath is a very good ride! There's nothing crazy about it, but it's just a plain fun ride! The first third of the ride is very good. For me it's just one of those rides I could ride over and over! Yeah, I loved the theming for Lost Gravity. I wasn't sure about the theming when seeing the pictures, but after seeing it with my own eyes I can definitely say that it works really well.

Awesome to see the progress, all the best wishes for Jack for the upcoming physical therapy!

Thanks everyone! Lol that's not surprising! The ride was absolutely terrible and went straight to the bottom as possibly the worst rollercoaster I've ever ridden. No, I didn't ride it. My head was already spinning a little from the combination of little sleep and rollercoasters with high G-forces, so I wasn't sure how my brain would handle it. I therefore decided to give it a pass. I did get a picture of it though.

Amazing photos, thanks for sharing! Looks like a great ride.

Life as a coaster enthusiast in an area where there is not a single rollercoaster nearby can be hard, particularly when reading about all the new coasters opening. Having not ridden a rollercoaster since August last year, I had for the last couple of weeks been thinking about flying somewhere for a weekend, just to get my ‘coaster fix’. Well, by a massive stroke of luck I had to go on an urgent business trip to the Netherlands. Work started on Monday, so I would be flying down on Sunday. But instead of flying down in the afternoon/evening I decided to take an early morning flight to Amsterdam and stop by Walibi Holland on the way. After just a few hours of sleep I got up at 4 AM to catch the 6:15 AM flight to Amsterdam. The weather on the flight was beautiful. After a short wait in Amsterdam I was on a train crusing through the Dutch countryside. Another train journey later I made it to Harderwijk. When you see a bus that says “247 Walibi” on it you know you are in the right place. I spy rollercoasters through the trees! Yay I made it to Walibi Holland! I arrived at the park about one hour after opening. Now THIS is a great way to start a business trip! Walibi Holland main street. I went straight to Goliath as it was the ride I wanted to ride the most. At the start of the day it was running only one train. Fortunately it was only a 5-train wait. Happy riders returning! So my thoughts on Goliath? It’s a solid, fun ride! It’s nothing mindblowing, and the middle section is a bit weak, but it’s a very fun ride that I could ride over and over again. The part from the top of the lift to the first S-hill is really good. Great airtime over the second hill. After Goliath I headed over to Robin Hood, the first Vekoma woodie. This area of the park was quite nicely themed. The entrance to Robin Hood. Transfer track action! They added a second train while I was standing in line. My experience on Robin Hood was not the best. The layout was quite fun, and it wasn’t any rougher than your average wooden coaster, but my restraint tightened quite a lot during the ride. Unfortunately this made the experience rather uncomfortable. It’s a beautiful ride in a great setting! Here’s a first look at Lost Gravity. The line was quite long so I saved it for later in the day. I will come back to this ride later in this trip report. Time to ride Rock’n Rollercoaster.... I mean Xpress Platform 9 3/4..... Damnit, I mean Xpress Platform 13. The story of the ride is about a subway station being closed due to paranormal activity. You enter through the ticket office, and then you go in groups down into the subway tunnels. Overall I thought the theming was quite well done! A look at the ticket office part of the queue *Please note that all the following pictures were taken after the ride had stopped, and that my phone was in a zipped pocket up until this point.* So my first ride on Xpress didn’t go quite as planned. We had the FULL launch, immediately followed by a FULL stop accompanied by the loud rattling of friction brakes! So this is as far as we made it. Does this count as getting the credit? Since I already have the Rock’n Rollercoaster credit I give the experience a thumbs up! Well, at least being stuck on Xpress gives you the opportunity to get some views of the ride that you don't normally get. Hey Goliath, care to give us a helping hand over here??!! After about 5-6 minutes they reversed the train back a little, manually released the restraints and evacuated us off the ride. Xpress backstage area! They gave everyone a single-use fastpass, which would be very handy shortly after. Walibi Holland is actually quite a beautiful park. The setting is great! Okay, with a fastpass in hand it was time to check out Lost Gravity. First of all, let me say that I LOVE the theming for this ride. It’s so bizarre and unique, but it helps to create a fantastic atmosphere around the ride. There is a DJ booth inside the upside down helicopter. Yes, the fastpass line actually goes through a bus. It's not tall people friendly! The first drop just looks ridicilous! The first drop is great, and the small hill after it has some great air. The ride is a little shaky right in this spot, but nothing major. The wave turn is a funky element! Riders zooming by! The trains are great, as expected from Mack. Diving out of the MCBR. The ride is not very fast after the MCBR, which produces plenty of hangtime. I’m more of a speed person, so it wasn’t my favorite ending. It was still good though. Because F#CK SLOW! Lost Gravity is located right next to western town. I have no idea what the story is behind the theming on this ride. The train looks awesome, but what’s up with the random locomotive just sitting there in the field? I had a burger here. It was alright. Yay, more Vekoma rides! The tunnel on the backwards lift is actually an awesome concept! It makes it feel like it’s a lot steeper than what it actually is. The new vest-restraints are brilliant! It doesn’t magically turn a Boomerang into a great ride, but it makes it far less uncomfortable. There are many rides out there which would benefit from these trains. My head was already spinning after riding the Boomerang, so I easily skipped this one. Walibi Holland has a classic log flume. I didn’t ride it, but it looks great! They got Xpress up and running again so I went for a ride. Since I’ve been on Rock’n Rollercoaster, there weren’t really any surprises in store. The launch felt a little stronger on Xpress, but other than that the Disney version is far superior. The layout just isn’t very exciting when it’s outdoors and you can see everything. Also I didn’t like the trains, they were very cramped and uncomfortable. Again they are much better on Rock’n Rollercoaster. This is the best view of Xpress from inside the park, taken from the exit path of the rapids ride. Oh great, another Vekoma! And not just any Vekoma, but THE VERY FIRST SLC! The ride looks great, but it’s complete CRAP! Even this part is jerky! These are NOT faces of joy This is also NOT a face of joy! At least I didn’t have to wait in line for it as the ride was a walk-on. The most incredible thing I saw were numerous people doing rerides without leaving their seat. I guess some people enjoy being tortured... The park has a great sense of personal responsibility. No fences around the paths, anyone can hang around on the grass or go down to the water. I think this guy was dead. Probably rode too many Vekomas... Talking about personal responsibility... In order to recover from getting my head and body bashed around I ended my day with riding Goliath. The ride is located at a dead-end at the back of the park, so there are not many good views of the ride from inside the park. The dead guy was gone when I left the park. Great to see that the cleaning staff at Walibi Holland are doing a good job of removing dead people from their park. While waiting for my pickup I took a stroll outside the park to get some final pictures. You can get some great views of Xpress and Goliath from outside the park. Overall I had a great day at Walibi Holland! Weather was beautiful, crowds were fairly low and all the staff were super friendly. Great atmosphere around the park also. The park has a good amount of rides, but ride quality is lacking a little. Thanks for reading!