To begin my European road road trip we hit up Plopsaland De Panne! It is such a fabulous little park in such an accessible location. It only took us an hour and a bit drive in the UK, 2 hours on the ferry then a 35 minute drive from Dunkirk - De Panne. Probably an easier journey than Alton Towers from the south. The park was open 10-19 for the day of our first visit then 10-22.30 on the day of our second visit near the end of our trip. It was well worth the 3-4 hours we spent there for night rides on rth as it was stunning!
The Ride To Happiness in general and its area was by far the highlight of the park for thrill coasters. As a package of story, theming, intensity and airtime in a coaster i think it is the most perfect coaster I have ridden, but for the standouts of Shambhala's airtime and Formula Rossa's incredible launch, they still beat it in my rankings. Everything in this area was themed. From the shop to the food stall to the toilets to the disabled queue (made of a massive steep staircase ðŸ˜) nothing felt out of place from the coaster. It was so visually appealing at all times of day. The spinning made every ride different which also gives this another advantage being one of only 2 thrill coasters in this family park: it was very re-rideable. I think we did about 12 rides across the day and a half we spent at Plopsaland, but I bet i will do more soon!
Anubis was also really surprising! The launch was weirdly forceful and very out of nowhere because it was located behind the station; completely hidden. In the back 2 seats it strains your neck a tiny bit with roughness, but nowhere as bad as Saw or Rage, or even Smiler. It definitely isn't as good as Smiler, but I preferred it to Saw. The queue line was also very pretty when we looked, making it seem not boring to wait. Another quite good thing they introduced between the 10 days of our 2 visits was enabling disabled guests able to walk stairs to use the exit as a disabled queue! The ride was completely inaccessible on our first visit which was quite disappointing as if you couldn't queue the main queue, you completely just can't ride. So glad they've introduced this and i hope they create a fully accessible queue soon!
Heidi The Ride had such a sweet little Swiss area on the left side of the park near the car park. This was the only coaster on park that seemed to get long queued (40 mins+) so i'd suggest heading to it earlier rather than later as it also shuts early because of noise complaints. The food in this area was sadly ridiculously priced with tiny with what must've been an 8-9 inch diameter pizza for like £12. Heidi rode very smoothly and had great operations through the hours it is open
DinoSplash is an impressively themed log flume in the odd mish-mash area next to Heidi and opposite De Draak. I didn't use its main queue but it was cool how it interacted with the first bit of log flume path so visitors can see what they are riding. The smoke effects were placed well, the volcano structure seemed well kept but it just didn't... fit? Behind you is a castle with a dragon, to one side is Switzerland and the other side is a superhero land? It looks great and probably a lot better than it used to I just think it could've done with being a theme that made a little more sense than dinosaurs and volcanoes with a dragon.
De Draak was so cute and a perfect family coaster for this park. It wasn't ip'd, it had nice forces to make it rideable for children but still fun for others and the prettiest train front i ever did see. Make sure to wait the extra 2 mins for front row, very enjoyable :)
K3 was much the same as any family coaster except it had a theme that actually made sense relating to the K3 band and their tv series K3 Roller Disco. I wish it still had the iconic washing machine but it's lovely as it is.
#LikeMeCoaster had a fun layout and seemed to have detailed story explanation in the queue I understood absolutely none of. (it was in french... or dutch). Nachtwacht tower took 3 goes to go on as the first time the staff member took her 20 min break so the queue got evacced, the second time it was "too windy". There was no wind. And the third time we finally got on. The views of the park were perfect, especially at sunset when we were riding. We didn't ride anything else in the kids area but the hot chocomel from the coffee machines there was lush!
We actually got an evacuation with some British enthusiasts off Supersplash on the Monday which the staff made very easy and were super helpful. I think the tower could've had some more lights or some set pieces to add to the theming but it was very enjoyable as it was anyway. I did almost get shouted at by a visitor for being put in the front row from the disabled queue as it meant she couldn't get on, but i'd put that down to them not closing the front row batching bay when everyone in the disabled queue was put in it. Better communication across staff can easily fix something like this.
The park's viking area was done so perfectly. It was easy to get to from other areas of the park but because of where Big Wave was put and the use of pathways none of the theming clashed with neighbouring areas. It had a bit of a cartoonish feel, being based on cartoon characters like Vicky & Halvar. It felt a bit How to Train your Dragon-esque, which i didn't mind as it worked great. The splash battle was very nice to ride on a day as hot as the one we went and The Big Wave (a zamperla mega disk'o) was super relaxing.
Overall, this was such a pretty, well-rounded park! I'm so excited to get back in winter or early next year with my Fun-Card for another day of Ride To Happiness. I'd also love to visit the Waterpark next trip as Aqualibi was great (review soon). I think the park could be improved with a few dark rides for of the weather is bad (I haven't mentioned Het Bos van Plop because I don't want to spoil it for anyone, go and experience it for yourself ðŸ˜). Everything at this park was themed and looked so cute, as if it had been pulled straight off of tv. Have you visited Plopsaland De Panne? How was your visit? Thank you for reading, I'll see you next time!
Cleo x
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