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Flee to Walibi 2 - The Dutch Boogaloo

James F

Hyper Poster
Walibi Holland has always held my attention from when the park was in it's Six Flags years. It felt like the excitement of American "thrill" parks where making it's way over to Europe and rides such Goliath seemed like world class experiences.

While it might no longer have the Six Flags name or the aggressive expansion of the early 2000s, it is a park which has still kept me interested thanks to 'Lost Gravity' and of course 'Untamed'.

It has long been a bucket list park for me so it didn't take long to decide where to go next after Energylandia this summer.

I was also curious to see how it compared with it's sister park in Belgium, since I had less expectations of that park, but I was impressed with the quality and atmosphere that park provided, could this park match that quality?

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Looking at the entrance it feels as if they had planed this to be a movie studio park, I am not sure if this was Six Flags decision or if this entrance was here before, If anyone knows, I am interested to find out.

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Looking at photos of this park, I originally felt that the "hipstery urban" look came off as an eyesore, but in reality it works really well for this park, the colours pop and make the area feel fresh.

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Of course - The main reason to visit. The mighty Untamed! I really dug the whole look of this ride from the huge logo out front, to the waterfall below the station and the general rustic/modern aesthetic they've got going on.

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Untamed: Review
To put it into simple terms. Untamed does everything you expected from an RMC. From weird outerbanked stalls to fast paced inversions and of course many, many moments of ejector airtime.

After experiencing Zadra, I knew that that ride was not airtime focused, so it had me curious of how much airtime is in your typical RMC and wow this thing is killer. Every time the train hit the break run I was just laughing at how bonkers the experience is. There is so much airtime that it feels silly, but of course in a good way.

I genuinely believe this is one of a few coasters that were built for enthusiasts. The finale is the real highlight for me, it's just an onslaught of ejector airtime underneath a wooden structure so you can't really tell what's going on and that final barrel roll is the icing on the cake.

I think I will slightly give the edge to Zadra, just for giving you that breathless experience when you slam into the breaks. I met up with a fellow enthusiast later in the day who stated that "Zadra is a more serious, intense ride, while Untamed is more of a laugh" and I think this sums it up well.
Untamed is defiantly a world class coaster in my view and one that I hope to re-ride sooner than later.

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The next ride of the day was Lost Gravity. I should mention for those who don't know, this park features single rider queue's for most rides, which is well worth doing for Lost Gravity as it seemed to often get the longest wait.

The park also has a upcharge fast lane option where you can skip the line, I picked the "4 shot" option which gives you opportunity to skip the line on 4 rides, which was well worth doing and was pretty reasonable.

Lost Gravity: Review
I got to be honest here, Lost Gravity did disappoint me a little, I know not everyone is a fan of it, but I heard good things about it's airtime and heard it was a forceful ride. There was airtime, yes, but it was weaker than I expected and the layout just didn't do much for me.

It starts well with it's steep twisted drop and bunny hill, but after that it just lulls out until you get one pop of floater at the end. Not a bad ride at all and I am sure if I didn't just come off Untamed I may of viewed it more positively.

I will admit that my second ride later on in the day was an improvement, but not enough for me to put it in my top 20.

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The Wasp Situation:
Now you can't do a Walibi Holland TPR without mentioning those little b******!!, you just can't.

Oh, you want to sit down on a park bench and have a relaxing meal?

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You would think after reading Serena's TPR I'd have better sense than to sit down outside with a kebab and a can of coke, but noooo. As soon as a bit into my donor a swarm of wasps flew into my face. It was like a scene out of Nick cage's Wicker Man.

I believe I actually leaped into the air out of sudden fear, with half of my kebab hurtling towards the ground.

If you have food/drink on you, either stay indoors or just keep walking. I thought being in October I was safe, but no "Waspibi" (to quote Serena) is just gearing up for Fright Nights.

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After that scare it was time for Speed Of Sound. The pimped up boomerang.

Speed of Sound: Review
I don't have a lot to say about this other than the new trains are an obvious improvement and the soundtrack, while a bit cringe is a lot of fun.
It rattles quite a bit though, which put me off a second ride, but a decent coaster all in all.

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Xpress: Platform 13: Review
Xpress for me is the underrated gem of this park. I have a lot of sentimentality towards WDW's Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. It was my first upside coaster and my first real thrill coaster. It still places in my top 20 today.

Now if you were to strip Rock 'N' Roller Coaster and give it a horror theme you would have Xpress. This ride felt like more than "outdoor rock 'n' roller coaster" due to the great theming and atmosphere in the queue line.

It almost feels as if you are getting a haunted walkthrough and a launch coaster in one package and that combination is a winner for me.
The coaster itself has a fairly punchy launch and still feels fast, even if it isn't as impressive as it's Florida counterpart. I would still take it over the Paris version now, especially with the state that ride is in now.

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Goliath: Review:
Goliath rode exactly how I expected it to, good airtime moments in the first half, a great sense of speed on the low turns and fun pops of air on the bunny hills, while I don't think it close to the awe of newer Intimin mega coasters, it still delivers a solid ride and makes for my top 20.


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Condor: Review

While we can always debate about which coasters are the best on this forum I don't think that many people would disagree with the claim that Condor is one of the worst.

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Merlin's Magic Castle: Review
I think Vekoma madhouses can sometimes go under-looked, but whenever I visit a park I do seek them out, while yes it is basically the same experience with every installation you ride, it's always amusing to see people's reactions as they see the floor spinning above them.

Merlin's Magic Castle is surprisingly well themed and while the video during the pre-show seems dated, I was surprised how well kept the owl animatronic was. While it might be similar to Hex or Villa Volta it's worth checking out as a change of pace from all the thrill rides.

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Crazy River: Review
I am never one to turn down a good log flume and while Crazy River was just a clone of Flashback at the Belgian sister park, it was still quite fun to relive the old days when your local park had a log flume. *cough**cough*
- okay It's not really a review at this point.

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I not going to bother reviewing Drako, It did it's thing. It's a +1 and I rode it without restraints.

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The Big Wheel at the centre of the park is worth doing for the photo/video opportunities.

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I ended my day with some final re-rides on Untamed and it's safe to say that it is a top 5 contender for me and made the trip out to the Netherlands worth it (despite all the waits at airport security - that's another story)

Untamed has left me excited for rides like Steel Vengeance which I hear feels similar, whenever I get out to Cedar Point that is.

I feel that both Walibi parks level out for me. Belgium has the better line up of attractions outside of the coasters and I would say is the prettier park, but Holland has a solid coaster collection and an in-your-face attitude I weirdly admire.

I feel as if I need to get down to Rhone-Aples now, just to complete the trilogy.
 

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