2021 Year in Review
I was waiting until the return of the inaugural Christmas Tour before starting the year in review, however déjà vu strikes again with another tour cancelled due to the Omicron variant. I am now sitting down for what must be the 5th attempt at trying to get this out as trying to find the motivation without sounding negative has been a struggle.
The first 9 months of 2021 was terrible, let’s just say it how it was, it was SHIT! However the months of September and October were just perfect for that I am so thankful for finally getting Coaster Breaks of the ground. With three tours under the belt and getting ready for a brilliant 2022, this is the first year of Coaster Breaks in review.
Coaster Breaks was inaugurated with Companies House on August 25, 2020. This was after my personal 2020 consisted of European visits to Energylandia, Legendia, Parc Asterix, Toverland, Movie Park Germany and Phantasialand. With that in mind and with the emergence of vaccines being deployed, there was no way 2021 could be worse for travel than 2020 I thought. There were many difficulties in setting up a business in 2020, from travelling 2.5 hours to open a bank account, to the long process of applying for a start up loan to fund the key aspects, all helped with the 55-page business plan set out for Coaster Breaks.
With Alpha and Delta swarming through the country like a B&M wing coaster over Christmas, it was clear that tours will not start until at least April… May, June… ok surely no later than July, especially since during minimal cases throughout spring of this year.
When travel finally opened, a confusing traffic light system with more levels than Sonic the Hedgehog appeared. When vaccinated tourists could finally explore quarantine free, a new stage called the Amber Plus appeared consisting of only 1 country… France. when France returned to Amber, Belgium and the Netherlands have still banned British Tourists. The minefield of travel in 2021 has been challenging to say the least, however all opened in time for the September tour to go ahead, with some slight changes due to the flooding in Belgium forcing Walibi to shut until October.
There have been some very difficult times throughout the year without going into too much detail and the support of everyone has been fantastic. Without trying to sound too emotional, the best part of Coaster Breaks by a long margin has been talking to everyone of you on the phone as we complete the bookings. Every time I have started feeling beaten or another challenge has come afoot, this is what has made all of it worthwhile. The worst part has been cancelling the tours, talking to the same people again to say, “I’m Sorry”. Everyone who has booked and could not attend, I thank you for your support, but more importantly I thank you for being so understanding to the situation.
However there has been a lot of negativities this year, I will, and I am staying positive. I have met some awesome people and shown that Coaster Breaks works and will continue to grow. 2022 currently has 15 departure dates and these were announced last week. Click here for 2022 departures.
Now positive only. The first tour had a slight change by introducing Heide Park and Hansa Park as a replacement to Walibi Belgium and Movie Park Germany. These parks were fantastic and were also my first visits, even more exciting for myself. If all goes to plan next year, a new tour will be added for 2023 to include both these parks as we head north through Denmark and Sweden. Arriving in Gothenburg by ferry on our way to Liseberg sounds like a phenomenal experience I am looking forward to sharing with many of you.
I won’t go into too much detail on this tour as I have a full write up you can see here.
2 weeks after returning it is time to go again. This next tour was sold out and was the first tour of the original plan. Meeting the group, we spent the evening socialising at the Park Inn Brussels airport before heading to bed and visiting our first park.
The first day consisted of Walibi Belgium and finally along with the group, we got to ride Kondaa for our first time. A fantastic coaster and a much needed stand out required for the park, I will get into more detail on this in a dedicated review later.
The trip then consisted in order of Phantasialand, Movie Park Germany, Toverland, Walibi Holland, Efteling and Plopsaland de Panne.
The first two days are always full on, every visit to Phantasialand is. Movie Park Germany is really the park to catch your breath after the manic couple days and Toverland is when everyone lets their hair down, it’s a giant play park with some amazing coasters.
Walibi Holland was very different this time as the park was sold out for Halloween and open until 11pm! We all had Fast Pass Gold and so didn’t queue for a single attraction all day. With double figures on Untamed, yes this was worth it! It is when the sun goes down that the atmosphere completely changes at this park. The night rides, scare zones, lighting packages, Walibi Holland is a master at this event. To have the group stare in awe at the Enterprise of all attractions as it is spinning round with green lasers attached, phenomenal on how this park felt. Untamed at night is ridiculous with the incredible lighting, at one point, you even get disorientated and forget what is next. Lost Gravity felt like a whole new experience with a change in music blaring out louder than before, really elevating the whole experience. Walibi Holland Halloween is a 10 out of 10 event!
For this reason, the price for the two October tours have increased slightly to include the fast pass gold. This was worth the extra due to being a sold-out event and everyone on both tours really wanted the full experience.
Efteling is a lot more relaxing than some people may think. The day is constantly moving but with such attractions as Symbolica, Droomvlucht, Fata Morgana and the fantastic show Raveleijn mixed in with the coasters, this is a perfect all round park with the fairy tale theme. Plus ending the day watching the water show Aquanura is a great way to end.
The final day comes as a bittersweet at Plopsaland de Panne. Although not wanting the trip to end, the Ride to Happiness creates such a buzz as we pull into the car park for one of the best coasters in the world. Back across the Euro Tunnel and the final goodbyes at Ashford International which is always sad, but happy to experience the week with awesome people.
Greg who was on this second tour was actually a friend of mine. Throughout this tour, he did a lot of filming and if you are looking for something to watch, and a warning they are long, then please check out his playlist for his Coaster Break here.
The third tour again consisted of a different order as we fit Walibi Belgium and Walibi Holland as the first two parks. This time we had our night rides on Kondaa and spent Halloween Night at Walibi Holland. Unfortunately, the rain at Walibi Holland was relentless from approximately 7pm onwards and this forced all coasters to shut for the remainder of the night. A sad end to a fantastic event at Walibi and the whole group felt bad for this park more than themselves. This is the wettest I have ever seen at a park, however thanks to the Fast Pass Gold we managed all attractions throughout the day and included some night rides.
The theme for this week really was night rides as the clocks have gone back and the sun settles down early. Every park we managed to see in the dark including the last two rides of the evening on Taron at Phantasialand, Star Trek and Jimmy Neutron randomly at Movie Park, multiple laps on Fenix and at Efteling it was Baron and Flying Dutchman. This was the night riders group!
This was a great end to the year, although another cancelled tour for Christmas was a shame. 2022 dates are now live on the website and the pre-registration for these tours will go live on Friday 17 December. If you managed to read down this far in the yearly review, thank you and the pre-registration information is your exclusive reward!
Thank you all for your support this year, whether this has been booking on a tour, sending in an email to Coaster Breaks or even just liking a post on Facebook, it has meant the world to me.
Bring on 2022 and more tours!
