Photo TR: Viking86 goes to Walibi Holland

[viking86]

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!

Edited May 5, 2016 by viking86

[BDG]

Nice report!

 

Looks like you had a great day. Nice weather, short queues.

 

Did you ride the mad house (in the medieval castle)? No mention of it?

[DoinItForTheFame]

Nice report!! I loved the photos from Xpress! Thanks for sharing!!

[Nrthwnd]

Great trip report! I too, took the train and that bus to get to the park, from Amsterdam.

And I too, had a burger to eat at Friar Tuck's, and it was 'okay' too. Nothing special.

 

And I remember actually hearing people crying out (in pain?) on that SLC, when you stood at a certain

spot near the coaster. It was all the influence I needed, NOT to go on that thing ever again, lol.

 

I hope to get back there in time, for a ride on Lost Gravity. Thanks for all your great photos of it!

[viking86]

Thanks everyone!

 

And I remember actually hearing people crying out (in pain?) on that SLC, when you stood at a certain

spot near the coaster. It was all the influence I needed, NOT to go on that thing ever again, lol.

 

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.

 

Did you ride the mad house (in the medieval castle)? No mention of it?

 

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.

Edited May 5, 2016 by viking86

[PKI Jizzman]

Goliath has been high on my 'wish list' ever since I learned about theme parks outside of Ohio. It looks stellar! Thanks for the photos.

-Zach

[RyanTPM]

Very nice pictures! I hadn't seen that upside down tree next to Lost Gravity before now, nice little theming touch. I also really like that the fast past line goes through a bus, brilliant!

[Nrthwnd]

Very nice shot of Merlins Castle. It's one of my favourite mad house-haunted swing attractions,

besides the ones in Parc Asterix (about who else?); Efteling (Fairy tale gone wrong);

Alton Towers (A cursed tree); and Phantasialand (Asia!)....whew!

[azza29]

Thanks for the report, I'm looking forward to visiting this park for the first time next month. The Lost Gravity theme and queue looks great - very unique!

[Nrthwnd]

The train boxes hanging over the gp in that queue looks totally insane!

 

In a good, scary way, LOL!

[viking86]

Thanks for the nice comments!

 

Goliath has been high on my 'wish list' ever since I learned about theme parks outside of Ohio. It looks stellar! Thanks for the photos.

-Zach

 

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!

 

Very nice pictures! I hadn't seen that upside down tree next to Lost Gravity before now, nice little theming touch. I also really like that the fast past line goes through a bus, brilliant!

 

Thanks for the report, I'm looking forward to visiting this park for the first time next month. The Lost Gravity theme and queue looks great - very unique!

 

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.

[_koppen]

Sweet, looks like you had a great time!

[cfc]

Lost Gravity looks like fun--and a little messed up.

[Chiptwister]

About the "Drako" coaster (Zierer Tivoli) and it's little locomotive.

 

It was part of the WAB/Skunx theming they tried to integrate in the park between 2011 and 2014. Drako should have been a figure in that world.

 

The Locomotive is if I'm not mistaken part of the history of the park. Back in the days when the park was "Flevohof" and later "Walibi Flevo" it used to be part of the railroad in the park. There where 3 trains. (the track was back then about 5km long when the park was "Flevohof". "Walibi Flevo" made it as it is now: to small to be a effective transportation system.) When Six Flags Holland opened the park they bought a new train (as far as i know a Change train) and one of the locomotives became part of the Roadrunner Express and later Wok's Waanzin roller coaster (Drako in a other spot in the park. Roughly where Lost Gravity is now) It was blue back then and Coyote was in it and when you left the station it was on your right.

 

When the park removed The Flying Dutchman Gold Mine a MACK Wild Mouse (a mistake. They should have kept the coaster) they replaced it by the Zierer Tivoli (Roadrunner Express/Wok's Waanzin). Named it Rattlesnake for a year or so. And they placed the locomotive where it is now.

[Nrthwnd]

...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.

 

Well it was the first SLC to be made, so for it to last that long, we should give it some respect...

 

Naw, it's still crap and IMMENSE PAIN in a coaster!

[coasterkid124]

Walibi Holland looks like a really nice park. They even themed a Boomerang, which is pretty cool. They really take pride when opening an attraction, which is something I wish that more American parks would do. You don't need to go over the top to be a theme park; sometimes the nice little touches can really spruce things up.

[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!

 

About the "Drako" coaster (Zierer Tivoli) and it's little locomotive.

 

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.