After Plopsaland, we headed over to Bellewaerde to get on their new coaster Wakala and also experience their other coasters and rides! It's such a cute, family-friendly park suitable for children of all ages - probably more aimed at younger children as it doesn't have so much for thrill seekers, but we still thought was also really worthwhile for us. I'm gonna mention a couple slight spoilers in here so if you want to go into these rides blank I'd just head to my final thoughts at the end. Let's get into it!
The first area we visited was Far West to ride Keverbaan as the Boomerang said it going to be closed all day. Keverbaan didn't have any theming in the ride, although the area around was well decorated, but it was such a cute little coaster and it's sad to see it closing at the end of the year. They even had a 'ride close countdown' outside the queue 😭.
We then tried Europe's only operating Topple Tower, El Volador. It looked so satisfying from off-ride, although it felt a bit simple while riding, but was still a unique ride experience you won't forget and it even had a little bit of hang-time on either side. Once we got off, Hurucan was also broken down (the only problem we saw that day) so we hopped back into Far West to try out the Log Flume! River Splash was a satisfying mini log flume. It felt very much like a classic, loggers leap - the flume type with only one drop and some simple theming, but I think these log flumes still have their place alongside the newer, flashier ones like Chiapas 😳. If they fixed the claustrophobic cattle-pen queue experience then it would be even better.
Hurucan ended up re-opening reasonably quickly (the log flume had a bit of a queue) so we went straight to it. The queue and station were great and I am a SUCKER for an indoor coaster and this one was done so well. The soundtrack and theming were great and the lighting reminded me of X so much! It's quite difficult to see the circular laser light show thingy at the end of the final brakes if you're anywhere further back than the front row and this is a real shame when it was a main feature of the ride and felt like the end of the story, which most riders miss. Other than that this coaster is an enjoyable mix of lights, speed, sfx, theming and comfort!
We can't be sure whether it was poor communication across the park or it was magically fixed, but we were grateful that Boomerang opened at 12 and we were able to get another cred. Boomerang actually wasn't too rough and the track colours looked so cool against the sky! The trains weren't very comfortable, but are any old Vekomas? Keeping it in the park is obviously beneficial as it provides a major thrill ride in a park mostly barren of scares for older children but I feel like it could eventually do with replacing.
Jungle mission is a Jungle Cruise-type scenic boat ride through a river passing lots of animals and lush planting. The entire ride was so relaxing and pretty, with loads of easy photo opportunities. The last cave section was probably the best with all the random water jets providing some good jump scares. Some of the theming looked a little outdated and dusty but a little paint and some cleaning would make it great again. If you forgive it being a copy of another famous ride, they should be given credit for the effort with the animals and the boats.
The India area was a bit of a disappointment in that it didn't have the same theming that the others did but it had one of the standout rides of the trip: Bengal Rapid River! The boats on this just made it so much more fun than your average rapids as it was easy to get obliterated by waves when the 3 sections of the boat moved towards and away from each other. Flexible boats add so much more excitement and unpredictability than you feel on an average rapid ride. The Bengal Express was also such a unique attraction giving you the best views of some tigers, but beware of riding on a hot day - there are even signs warning how hot the glass of the trains can get.
The Canada area was by far my favourite with an incredible family Coaster in Wakala and an absolutely soaking water ride - Niagara. Wakala is probably my new favourite kids coaster as its layout was so interesting and it had surprising speed whilst still being comfortable! It was themed, just without a clear story, but what it had was great and being only 2 years old, it felt quite fresh! The backwards section and the spike were my favourite but the second lift hill is quite entertaining too 😂 . Further into the Canada area is Dawson Duel, a duelling Wiegand mountain coaster. The location of it amongst the trees looked so atmospheric and the racing element (especially against strangers) is always amusing. Be sure to ride both tracks for both creds.
On a hot day, Niagara was a really welcome drenching and a comfortable ride. With large boats, their capacity is good, but the excitement of drowning spectators (like on Tidal Wave) was spoiled by plastic screens on the observation bridge. I think they could partially remove those.
Screaming Eagle is well worth riding, but with a 1.4m minimum height restriction, it didn't get a long queue at this mostly young family park. They were able to run the ride cycle twice for us (as the queue wasn't long) and because of the shape of the queue, you might not see this from the line and it could be an extra surprise.
From all the detailed theming I think Het Huis Houdini would be great for someone who could understand the pre-show. Sadly, I couldn't really follow the plot myself and a few signs in other languages would have sorted this. The physical theming in each room was very immersive though :)
Overall, I was impressed and surprised by how much I enjoyed my day and how many things I wanted to re-ride. I admit that of all the parks in my Belgium/Netherlands tour, this had my lowest expectations and actually I was wrong. We left with so many unique memories. A couple tips if you visit: 1 - head to guest services outside the park gates before you enter and pick up an English park map, they don't display them anywhere else. 2 - Be prepared to queue. It is a very busy park, especially in the first 2 hours so don't be surprised if you only just get in every ride you want in the park hours. 3 - Don't be scared to ask staff for help or for anything you need, they are really accomodating. 4 - check out all the park's animals, especially the lemur walk through, they are so cute!
Have you been to Bellewaerde recently? What did you think of Wakala if you've ridden it? Thank you so much for reading, I'll see you next time.
Cleo x
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