Last weekend it was time for the second theme park trip of the year. This time, the pretpark.club meetup was on the agenda. And with two new roller coasters just opened in the park, it was a great opportunity to travel to the Flevopolder for a visit to Walibi Holland.
Q without A#
Despite the park having a fun lineup of roller coasters, a visit to Walibi Holland is always a bit of a challenge. Not only is it quite a long drive from where I live, but also because my last few visits weren’t exactly pleasant. An overabundance of rowdy youth, combined with a park that doesn’t always look its best, left a rather bleak impression.
You can’t really do much about the youth, but the décor, well… The direction the park has taken with its Festivalization—you either love it or you don’t. I think it’s pretty obvious which category I fall into. To me, they really missed the mark. Though I’ll admit, the Wilderness theming of Untamed is very well done.
Alright, let’s start the day at the beginning. After a round of “hi, hello” with familiar and unfamiliar faces in the parking lot, we headed to the BizNiz Center. There, the 187 pretpark.club members who had traveled for this meetup were welcomed by director Mascha van Till and the always cheerful Scott Bravenboer. With a cup of coffee and a brownie in our stomachs, we sat down in one of the rooms for a presentation and a short Q&A.
During the presentations, we got a brief look behind the scenes of how the park’s newest additions—the roller coasters “YoY Chill” & “YoY Thrill”—came to be. We also got an idea of what a day in the life of Walibi Holland’s directors looks like. Unfortunately, the following Q&A didn’t yield much of note. When asked about future plans or for a sneak peek at the upcoming Halloween event Fright Nights, lips remained tightly sealed. So no scoops, unfortunately. Nevertheless, it was a very enjoyable session thanks to Scott’s anecdotes and jokes.
Go hard!#
During the meeting, people’s attention occasionally drifted away from the front of the room. Heads frequently turned to the right to watch “Speed of Sound” thundering up and down the lift hill, with its oh-so-recognizable Vekoma sounds. With the meeting now over, the decision on how to continue the day was quickly made. Not long after, our group was going both forwards and backwards in this now classic Boomerang. Sadly, without “sound” in the train.
From there we headed to the park’s smallest coaster. But when we arrived, the little dragon “Drako” didn’t feel like running its laps. The reason was actually pretty hilarious. “Uhm yeah, the fault light isn’t working,” the operator told us, “so I don’t know if it’s malfunctioning or not.” Of course, safety comes first. But it got us thinking: is there also a fault light for the fault light…?
Anyway, luckily one of the park’s better coasters is right next door. Mack’s Big Dipper “Lost Gravity”. It remains a gem—at least the ride itself. Sure, the queue theme is decent—shipping containers, stuff turned upside down, defying gravity. It works well. But now that those containers have been exposed to Dutch weather for quite a few years, they’re starting to look a bit grimy. A cleaning and paint job wouldn’t hurt. Ultimately it doesn’t take away from a great coaster—but still, appearances matter too.
After braving those gravitational forces, we headed straight to the park’s next top ride. As I mentioned in the intro, “Untamed” is still looking great, and it’s the only area where Walibi Holland’s theming truly works and shines. We did have to wait a bit though. Unfortunately, “Untamed” was only running one train that day, and despite the park being relatively quiet, it had the longest queue of the day. No complaints here though—I’d gladly wait longer for my number 1 wooden coaster. It’s just a nonstop sequence of amazing elements and airtime. Especially just before you hit the brakes—dangling upside down, arms outstretched in joy, almost brushing the grass below, big grin on your face… pure bliss.
YoY is joy!#
With the first rides under our belts, it was time for a quick bite at “Cock-a-Doodle-Doo”: fries and a handful of chicken nuggets. With those finished, the afternoon was rolling in, so it was time to tick off a few more rides. To give our full stomachs a break, we went for a spin on the park’s second kiddie coaster “Eat My Dust”. Gotta stay on theme with the lunch, after all.
Then it was time for the park’s tallest beast. “Goliath” had a bit of a wait too before we could once again experience what was—until 2021—the fastest, highest, and longest coaster in the Benelux. It was also running only one train. Still, a solid ride. Those bunny hops on the return trip are just delightful. One side note: I felt like there was more vibration during the ride than in previous years. I remember it being smoother. But hey, maybe it’s just my imagination.
Since the day was already winding down, we decided to skip the old Vekomas “XPress: Platform 13” and “El Condor” this time. Instead, we aimed to check out the park’s two newest additions before dinner. However, upon arriving at the entrance of “YoY”, both coasters were down. We took a chance and decided to wait near the entrance with a refreshing drink. And it paid off! Before we’d even finished our bottle of Coke Zero, the two steel stallions sprang back to life. We rushed into the still-empty queue of the “Chill” track and were able to hop on almost immediately.
And with that, our very first experience on an RMC Raptor began. Starting with the seat—probably the most uncomfortable coaster seat I’ve ever encountered. Not that it’s painful, but having to sit with your thighs together and lower legs apart isn’t exactly relaxing. And you had to be careful getting in and out because of the restraint. Several people in our group ended up going home with a bruise on their back from bumping into it. Luckily, I managed to avoid that.
Once seated, we climbed the lift hill to the signature deafening RMC anti-rollback. At the top, the ride began. Sadly, still no train on the “Thrill” track beside us, since it was still down. But that didn’t ruin the fun—“Chill” is a more than decent little coaster. For the family-friendly version of “YoY”, it’s got some serious punch with a few great airtime moments. And it’s impressive how this type of coaster never seems to lose speed. Right up to the final brakes, it’s classic Walibi—go hard.
With “Thrill” now running too, we went for another ride on “Chill” right away. That’s when you really notice how much the rides benefit from each other. While the solo ride was good, the dueling effect with the other train brings it to a whole new level. Especially in “Chill”, it’s amazing to see the other train zooming just meters above and below you as you’re being launched into one airtime hill after another. Because you’re so focused on the other train, you’re less prepared for what your own ride will do. That makes for some great surprises—especially if you don’t yet have the layout memorized.
After two rounds on “Chill”, it was time for the real deal. Judging by the queue that had formed, “Thrill” was clearly the more popular ride. With zero inversions on one, and six on the other, that’s not too surprising. The easiest way to describe my experience is probably the first thing I said after hitting the final brakes: “Uuuuhm, uuuh, what was that?!?”
Where “Chill” offers some delightful airtime, “Thrill” is an inversion machine to the max. The dive loop at the start and the top gun stall a bit later are phenomenal highlights. Especially that last one, where you’re hanging weightless, upside down, directly over the “Chill” train—just wow. As I said before, it’s the interaction that makes these two coasters shine.
But did I think everything was perfect? Definitely not. Because “Chill” and “Thrill” are so different, they each lack something. The dueling makes up for a lot, but they’re missing each other’s elements. I get Walibi Holland’s thinking—one beginner-friendly, the other for thrill-seekers. But I honestly think both rides would have been better if “Chill” had just one inversion, and “Thrill” had some airtime. That would’ve made them even more complete. Also, both tracks lacked a bit of smoothness. Not uncomfortable, and it was more noticeable in the back than the front—but in some spots, the track transitions were very rough. Let’s call it Guus Meeuwis level: Kedeng Kedeng. Did not expect that.
ERT Time!#
With the general park visit over, the day still wasn’t done. An excellent American buffet was waiting for us, with hamburgers, chicken wings, spareribs, and more. After enjoying all that and having plenty of discussions about “YoY”, it was time to head back to the new area for the ERT.
Given the large group and the relatively low capacity of “YoY”, I wasn’t expecting too many rides during the hour-long ERT. But hey, every ride is a bonus—and it’s also about the vibes. I figured three rounds should be doable. Since I’d already done “Chill” twice and “Thrill” once, the plan was simple: ride “Thrill” again, then repeat it, and finish the ERT on “Chill”. And wouldn’t you know it, with just minutes to spare, we were heading up “Chill’s” lift hill for what we thought was the final ride.
After finishing that round and preparing to get off, the operator brought great news. “The queues are closed, but we’re clearing out the remaining riders.” There was still quite a line for “Thrill”, but no one on our side. “So if you want,” he said, “you can stay on as long as we’re still running over there.” We didn’t need to hear that twice—it was a high five to the operator, lap bar down, and five more rides on “Chill” followed!
Thanks to Walibi Holland for the warm welcome and a perfectly organized ERT. And of course, a big thank you to Pretpark.club for organizing the event and to the members for a fantastic day.