James F
Hyper Poster
Here I am, sat in Charleroi Airport. I've been waiting in the terminal for 90 minutes and still have another 2 hours to wait for my flight. Now that I have left the tyranny of retail I finally have a job with normal hours. A normal life for a not so normal bloke.
With this I have been very selective with my time off, why book a week off when I can get 3 days off for the price of one?
So this is, what I hope to be the first of many quick weekender trips to parks in Europe. And while I feel I have spent half my holiday in the airport, it's all been worth it to get on some new creds.
Why Walibi Belgium?
Other than the obvious K word, it was a great deal with flights from Manchester at £30 and the Ibis hotel was reasonably priced as well. This was also my first solo abroad trip, so I felt it was best to go somewhere not to far, because knowing me something is going to go **** up.
So please try to enjoy this poorly written trip report as I fight with the auto-type on my android (I will come back and edit when I'm on my computer)
The Travel Advice bit (skip to the pictures for the park stuff)
As I don't have a car (despite having a licence) I used public transport during my trip.
Most of it is pretty straightforward. If you're flying to Charleroi all you have to do is get a bus and train.
Get the "A" bus from the airport to Chareroi-Sud. It costs €6 and you'll need to get a ticket from the machines at the stop.(but you don't need to do this on the way back)
Then get the train to Ottignies, where you can either get the train to Warve from there or you can walk it. I walked it, it is a bit of a trek for some as it's an hours walk, but all you have to do is turn left out of Ottignies station and keep following the road. The only issue is that when you get near the park the pavement disappears. Luckily it's a quiet road and it's only a short stretch, but it's still unpleasant when you have cars whizzing past you on one end and cows giving you side eye on the other.
Still beats waiting another 40 minutes at the train station.
The actual park report bit
Tension was high as all the geeky enthusiasts inched towards the gate.
Kondaa was the first ride of the day - because it had to be, what I am gonna do run to Vampire?
My immediate reaction to my morning rides was that it felt like a B&M hyper, floaty and graceful. Of course the first two airtime moments are great, but what I was surprised by the most was how powerful those little bunny hops were at the end. I was sat near the back and it was a great coaster all in all and while I had my minor criticisms such as the non-inverting colbra roll not being whippy enough I still thought it was a world class coaster and I was thinking of putting it at my number 6.
But good gravy does it warm up. Even on my second ride I felt the difference. On my 3rd ride in the afternoon I was battling whether it was better than Shambhala and it was my 4th ride on the front row that swung it for me. I was just felt like the ride was trying to kill me with it's airtime. That first hill feels like your going to be ejected out of the park. And by the time I reached the brakes I was speachless. Probably the best coaster for airtime moments that I have been on, although it hasn't made my number 1 as I think Helix and Karnan are just a bit more varied.
And now for the rest...
//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220425/4302a8fbce9100f6031b29d54cb47c60.jpg
Tiki Waka was fun, although admittedly not very thrilling, but the theming is cool and heading a tiki version of MJ's "Heal the World" playing is always a bonus.
[IMG]//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220425/bd04c926dbea41c74957f48555346898.jpg
Challenge of Tutankhamon was much better than I expected, it was quite scary actually. There was a scene in there that felt the same as the "bring you riches" scene from Revenge of the Mummy, I think this came first though.
Psyke Underground made my 150th Credit. No I didn't bring a sign. The clapping is what makes it.
Pulsar was a nice surprise! A surprising amount of airtime for something that looks like a glorified pirate ship. The backwards pop of airtime was a sure highlight for me.
Next up was Colbra, which happens to be my first Boomarang. I had read the horror stories about how painful this one was. I didn't think it was too bad, but the fact that you have to brace yourself throughout the entire ride is telling.
Speaking of discomfort ... again it's not so bad, it rides the same as Infusion, who would of guessed?
Loup Gurou/Werewolf was the most boring wooden coaster I have experienced, it wasn't that rough (at least not at the front) but what a slog. It didn't help I had some girls behind me screaming so loud that my ears started bleeding.
I didn't get any good pictures of it, but Calamity Mine was good fun and well themed, however the sharp breakes slammed my legs into the car.
Popcorn's Revenge was the perfect little dark ride for me. I am a big film buff and while it's no universal ride and enjoyed the attention to detail this ride had. The projector in the centre of the layout was a cool idea.
I got my final rides on Kondaa I happened to bump into a couple of UK enthusiasts. We had a nice chat, geeking out about Kondaa and Ride to Happiness. It made for a great end to my day.
Well that took up my time nicely. I'm going to end this report here as it's time to board my plane back to Manchester. Walibi Belgium is a solid park, which was much better themed than I expected it to be. The operations were great, the Kondaa crew were absolutely killing it so credit to them. All in all I had a great time here and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a quick break without breaking the bank.
With this I have been very selective with my time off, why book a week off when I can get 3 days off for the price of one?
So this is, what I hope to be the first of many quick weekender trips to parks in Europe. And while I feel I have spent half my holiday in the airport, it's all been worth it to get on some new creds.
Why Walibi Belgium?
Other than the obvious K word, it was a great deal with flights from Manchester at £30 and the Ibis hotel was reasonably priced as well. This was also my first solo abroad trip, so I felt it was best to go somewhere not to far, because knowing me something is going to go **** up.
So please try to enjoy this poorly written trip report as I fight with the auto-type on my android (I will come back and edit when I'm on my computer)
The Travel Advice bit (skip to the pictures for the park stuff)
As I don't have a car (despite having a licence) I used public transport during my trip.
Most of it is pretty straightforward. If you're flying to Charleroi all you have to do is get a bus and train.
Get the "A" bus from the airport to Chareroi-Sud. It costs €6 and you'll need to get a ticket from the machines at the stop.(but you don't need to do this on the way back)
Then get the train to Ottignies, where you can either get the train to Warve from there or you can walk it. I walked it, it is a bit of a trek for some as it's an hours walk, but all you have to do is turn left out of Ottignies station and keep following the road. The only issue is that when you get near the park the pavement disappears. Luckily it's a quiet road and it's only a short stretch, but it's still unpleasant when you have cars whizzing past you on one end and cows giving you side eye on the other.
Still beats waiting another 40 minutes at the train station.
The actual park report bit
Tension was high as all the geeky enthusiasts inched towards the gate.
Kondaa was the first ride of the day - because it had to be, what I am gonna do run to Vampire?
My immediate reaction to my morning rides was that it felt like a B&M hyper, floaty and graceful. Of course the first two airtime moments are great, but what I was surprised by the most was how powerful those little bunny hops were at the end. I was sat near the back and it was a great coaster all in all and while I had my minor criticisms such as the non-inverting colbra roll not being whippy enough I still thought it was a world class coaster and I was thinking of putting it at my number 6.
But good gravy does it warm up. Even on my second ride I felt the difference. On my 3rd ride in the afternoon I was battling whether it was better than Shambhala and it was my 4th ride on the front row that swung it for me. I was just felt like the ride was trying to kill me with it's airtime. That first hill feels like your going to be ejected out of the park. And by the time I reached the brakes I was speachless. Probably the best coaster for airtime moments that I have been on, although it hasn't made my number 1 as I think Helix and Karnan are just a bit more varied.
And now for the rest...
//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220425/4302a8fbce9100f6031b29d54cb47c60.jpg
Tiki Waka was fun, although admittedly not very thrilling, but the theming is cool and heading a tiki version of MJ's "Heal the World" playing is always a bonus.
[IMG]//uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220425/bd04c926dbea41c74957f48555346898.jpg
Challenge of Tutankhamon was much better than I expected, it was quite scary actually. There was a scene in there that felt the same as the "bring you riches" scene from Revenge of the Mummy, I think this came first though.
Psyke Underground made my 150th Credit. No I didn't bring a sign. The clapping is what makes it.
Pulsar was a nice surprise! A surprising amount of airtime for something that looks like a glorified pirate ship. The backwards pop of airtime was a sure highlight for me.
Next up was Colbra, which happens to be my first Boomarang. I had read the horror stories about how painful this one was. I didn't think it was too bad, but the fact that you have to brace yourself throughout the entire ride is telling.
Speaking of discomfort ... again it's not so bad, it rides the same as Infusion, who would of guessed?
Loup Gurou/Werewolf was the most boring wooden coaster I have experienced, it wasn't that rough (at least not at the front) but what a slog. It didn't help I had some girls behind me screaming so loud that my ears started bleeding.
I didn't get any good pictures of it, but Calamity Mine was good fun and well themed, however the sharp breakes slammed my legs into the car.
Popcorn's Revenge was the perfect little dark ride for me. I am a big film buff and while it's no universal ride and enjoyed the attention to detail this ride had. The projector in the centre of the layout was a cool idea.
I got my final rides on Kondaa I happened to bump into a couple of UK enthusiasts. We had a nice chat, geeking out about Kondaa and Ride to Happiness. It made for a great end to my day.
Well that took up my time nicely. I'm going to end this report here as it's time to board my plane back to Manchester. Walibi Belgium is a solid park, which was much better themed than I expected it to be. The operations were great, the Kondaa crew were absolutely killing it so credit to them. All in all I had a great time here and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a quick break without breaking the bank.
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