Walibi Belgium Discussion Thread

[Beeja]

^I also hope the ride gets fixed... C'mon Van Damme!

 

Although most people say it's nothing amazing, I still want to ride it! I think it's a unique experience.

 

But on the other side I think it's a pain in the eye (is that a correct expression?!). The supports are so damn ugly and you see them everywhere!

 

And it took over the lovely island where my first true love stood (Tornado)... Hmpf!

[Zen Coaster]

^ "Eyesore" is the expression.

 

Yeah, even just to ride for the concept would be good. Oh well, wasn't to be.

[Shockwave]

It's been two years now since this thing was built and I can't believe it's still having the problems it is! This has got to be the most unreliable ride ever made.

[coasterdude5]

This coaster never really appealed to me. It seems out of place. I'm not sure if I could see this at any park. Maybe a highly-themed version at Epcot? But that would only ruin the rest of the park.

[DBru]

 

Look closely at the transitions from piece to piece...OUCH!

[Groteslurf]

 

Look closely at the transitions from piece to piece...OUCH!

 

Though it's not a thrill coaster, I had fun when riding Vertigo last summer. It is really not rough at all, even not in the transitions. They guy you hear on the youtube video, is btw saying that the ride is comfortable/smooth.

Too bad for WB. They just officially opened the ride after 3 years and now this.

[Dark Vampire]

Update:

After seasons of problems Walibi Belgium has finally made a decision about Vertigo. The coaster will be removed from the park after lots of testing and 2 years of problems. Vertigo was planned for the 2006 season but because the attraction had a lot of technical problems (and was more closed than open they closed the attraction for the season. In 2007 the track was being reworked and the opening was rescheduled to 2008. A few weeks after the official opening the coaster was closed down again and now the park decided they had enough of it.

 

Hopefully the park will put something better now. Vertigo had no thrill and there wasn't a single day the coaster didn't had a malfunction.

 

B&M of Intamin Hypercoaster would be nice as new ride for the park, but for the next season we don't need to count on anything.

[alpengeist04]

Very sad, such a waste of time and money on this thing.

[robbalvey]

This is probably the best decision. That ride looked completely stupid IMO.

 

--Robb

[Capitalize]

Looked like a pretty cool ride, or at least different, but with all the delays makes sense to say peace out.

[robbalvey]

What exactly about it looked cool just out of curiosity? It looked like a giant Batflyer, which are not really cool, and seeing the videos of it in motion that's exactly what it looked like.

 

I've only ever heard two different types of stories about this ride -

 

#1 "I'm one of the few people who have EVER been on it and OMFG it was amazing...too bad you missed out!"

 

#2 "Yeah, I rode it, meh, whatever, it was pretty lame."

 

I tend to trust opinion #2 over #1!

 

It's a low capacity, pointless money pit and on top of that an engineering giant EPIC FAIL! I don't see anything "cool" about this ride at all.

 

--Robb

[Dragon Khan]

^ I' not even sure what to think of the ride itself. OK, I would probably have ridden it now and then if it had been operational, to relax and enjoy the view ( FROM the ride, not OF the ride, which looked ugly). I think it was courageous (but not clever) for walibi to try to trust a new concept. I just can't understand it took 3 ( THREE !!!) years to remove it. I just hope next time they'll rely on a proven receipe like a good B&M looper (guess which I'm thinking about ) or an Intamin like Dutch Goliath or something like Stormrunner if they ALSO have to remove Turbine (I HATE the thought but my beloved shuttle loop won't last forever)

Now, Robb, I can understand some people believe this ride to be cool, even if you don't. (I wasn't too excited about this project myself either), because sometimes, everybody seems to praise a coaster or a concept, and I'm totally indifferent to it. (best example: Flying coasters: they are simply useless and overpriced to me)

[HPComet]

Looked like a pretty cool ride

 

I agree.

It was an original ride and would have been fun to ride at least once.

 

I'm just gonna assume that none of these will ever be built again so those people who have ridden it are pretty lucky.

[ginzo]

I think the decision to remove this surprises nobody. From what Erik was explaining to me on the Europe trip, there were some serious design problems with this ride. Fundamental stuff, like drop angles being wrong causing the coaster to grind where it should have coasted.

 

I vote for calling this one "Eurobat".

[kalvin]

That sucks it looks like it could have been a fun ride.

[robbalvey]

I agree.

It was an original ride and would have been fun to ride at least once.

 

I'm just gonna assume that none of these will ever be built again so those people who have ridden it are pretty lucky.

I guess I really just don't understand this train of thought.

 

The ride was a FAILURE on all levels! What exactly is "cool" about that? I just don't get it. Why give a FAILURE any support at all?

 

And why should someone be "lucky" that they rode it? I mean, I rode the FAILED Sky Trak at Granada Studios, which, oddly enough looks VERY similar to Vertigo and I don't feel "lucky." That ride was also pointless and stupid.

 

I'd say someone should be "lucky" if the ride was like freaking AMAZING and very few people got to ride it. But if you have a ride that's stupid and pointless, yay, goody...some people got on it, but really, what's the point in getting all bummed out about missing a BAD ride? I think I'd be more bummed out about missing a GOOD ride!

 

PS. Here's the Granada Studios Sky Trak:

This thing lasted one year... Why can't parks and engineers learn from past projects mistakes?

 

--Robb

[DrJazzDDS]

I agree.

It was an original ride and would have been fun to ride at least once.

 

I'm just gonna assume that none of these will ever be built again so those people who have ridden it are pretty lucky.

I guess I really just don't understand this train of thought.

 

The ride was a FAILURE on all levels! What exactly is "cool" about that? I just don't get it. Why give a FAILURE any support at all?

 

And why should someone be "lucky" that they rode it? I mean, I rode the FAILED Sky Trak at Granada Studios, which, oddly enough looks VERY similar to Vertigo and I don't feel "lucky." That ride was also pointless and stupid.

 

I'd say someone should be "lucky" if the ride was like freaking AMAZING and very few people got to ride it. But if you have a ride that's stupid and pointless, yay, goody...some people got on it, but really, what's the point in getting all bummed out about missing a BAD ride? I think I'd be more bummed out about missing a GOOD ride!

 

--Robb

 

Not everyone is going to agree with your opinion, just as you're not going to agree with their opinions.

[robbalvey]

Not everyone is going to agree with your opinion, just as you're not going to agree with their opinions.

Gee...THANK YOU captain obvious! You have contributed SO MUCH to the discussion.

 

I wasn't asking anyone to agree with me. But it would have been nice for people to explain their opinions the way I've explained mine so I could have a better understanding of why they have stated as such.

 

Sorry you find that so difficult to comprehend.

 

--Robb

[coasterdude5]

I'm not too surprised. I didn't think it would last too long. I didn't ride it, but it doesn't look like it would be one of the must-rides for me...

 

It was ugly too.

[DrJazzDDS]

Not everyone is going to agree with your opinion, just as you're not going to agree with their opinions.

Gee...THANK YOU captain obvious! You have contributed SO MUCH to the discussion.

 

I wasn't asking anyone to agree with me. But it would have been nice for people to explain their opinions the way I've explained mine so I could have a better understanding of why they have stated as such.

 

Sorry you find that so difficult to comprehend.

 

--Robb

 

They did, in fact, explain their reasons; albeit, they weren't as wordy as you. Those who were fortunate to ride it were lucky because this type of ride may never be built again. So, in essence, they can admit that they rode a one-of-a-kind ride. So what if you didn't find enjoyable? Just because it may have been a 'failure' doesn't mean that it doesn't warrant any sort of positive support. To each their own. You didn't enjoy it, but that doesn't mean someone else couldn't.

 

I don't quite understand the overly-sarcastic tone and why you're trying to undermine my intellect. It would be nice if the facetiousness were removed.

[Dragon Khan]

Not everyone is going to agree with your opinion, just as you're not going to agree with their opinions.

Gee...THANK YOU captain obvious! You have contributed SO MUCH to the discussion.

 

I wasn't asking anyone to agree with me. But it would have been nice for people to explain their opinions the way I've explained mine so I could have a better understanding of why they have stated as such.

 

Sorry you find that so difficult to comprehend.

 

--Robb

 

Robb, I think the people who say it would have been "cool" to ride this piece of cr*p ( half joke ) just want to express the fact it can be fun to have the privilege of being one of the rare people to actually have a go on one ride, be it good or bad... The parallel with KI's bat is obvious... this ride didn't work, was destroyed very quickly, but finally, Arrow gave us great rides like BBW or Ninja (or Eagle's Fortress, since I know you like it) I don't agree or disagree with the opinions above, since I always think the best way of rating a ride is ... well, riding it. Imagine we had had the surprise to ride Flying Turns on the ECT... I'm absolutely SURE everybody would have applauded before even boarding one of the bobsleds. And who knows ? Maybe this ride will be a failure too. ( on a side note, don't misunderstand me, ECT was my best vacation EVER, with or without FT, and I really don't care we didn't get to ride it) Other example: I remember seeing a rare video of the Pipeline ridden by some ACErs. I also read some comments -both good and bad- on this Arrow prototype. Maybe it was nothing cool either, but to be honnest, i would have LOVED to try it because it looked so "different". So I think I can understand both points of view: yours because indeed, probably this ride was no big deal, but also the people who like to try new things, even if just to dismiss the ride just after.

[Gav]

What exactly about it looked cool just out of curiosity?

 

For me the way it had massive spans of unsupported track was pretty cool....Had the ride not suffered it's technical problems the potential could have been there for it to be installed in parks with difficult terrain, or in environments normally reserved for things like skyrides/gondolas (Imagine one of these rides going over a deep gorge for instance)

Of course, it would never be a particularly intense sort of ride, but swooping through the air at speed would be a pleasant experience.

 

That said, I'm not too bummed I missed out on this since it was never on my must do list, I feel sorry for the park though given they had the guts to try something new, but have had nothing problems as a result.

[robbalvey]

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah....

You do realize you are arguing about an argument, right?

 

--Robb "Please stop wasting our bandwidth!" Alvey

[ECZenith]

With the coaster taking so long to open with repeated long term downtimes I'm not surprised they went and removed it. It's a shame for the park's regulars that they only had the ride for a little while.

[robbalvey]

It's a shame that they didn't spend the money on something that didn't suck!

 

Is this Europe's "Rocket Rods?"

 

--Robb