2022 First Trip Report
The first tour of the 2022 season has been completed as Coaster Breaks travelled through Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands for the first time with no restrictions and a new group of enthusiasts.
I welcomed most of the group at Ashford where the majority of guests stayed at the local Travelodge the night before and then we headed through the Eurotunnel to the Park Inn Brussels Airport.
The group consisted of Andrew, Cory, Doug, Tom and Welsh couple Emily & Fabio for a group of 7 of us on our theme park adventures.
Day 1 Walibi Belgium
As we approached the main gate on the first day, it was great to see the corona check points and testing centres have been removed from the car park. The atmosphere felt great and the crowds picked up ready for the rope drop as everyone rushes towards Kondaa or Werewolf. The Vekoma wooden picked up a pretty big queue immediately and so we headed straight to the very low capacity Tiki-Waka as the first coaster to kick start Coaster Breaks 2022! This is a good fun coaster that everyone later on tour will compare to Van Helsing at Movie Park Germany. This was a good call as the ride kept a consistent 50 minutes throughout the day. It’s a one and done, but a decent one and done.
Next we ran over to the main event and got our first ride on Kondaa. This huge Intamin Mega Coaster is a real highlight of the trip and is a great way to settle everyone’s nerves as it regularly hits the number 1 spot for a few guests. The coaster was running surprisingly well for the morning as it does need to warm up to get the full impact later in the day. The area is great, the queue is very plain but the coaster is fantastic.
Next we got on the usual round of Pyske Underground, first shameless credit with Fun Pilot and the first of many log flumes for our fellow log flume enthusiast Emily. This was of course combined with another drenching in the single rider queue for Pulsar.
Walibi Belgium is a fantastic park and the investment over the past few years have made this one of the highlights of the tour and as always, a brilliant way to start.
The first and only McDonalds dinner of the trip featured in the evening as we made our way to our next hotel and the group recovers after the first day. A nightcap and good night sleep was in order.
Day 2 – Walibi Holland
The second Walibi Park comes directly after the first on this trip as a slightly different order due to the Dutch version being shut for the remainder of the week.
This was a chance for a few members of the group to get on their first Rocky Mountain Construction coaster (RMC) however our first stop is to Lost Gravity. This Mack Big Dipper is a surprise hit for all guests who are amazed by this compact and powerful coaster. I was more interested in the newly themed area Zero Zone as before the coaster had a massive mismatch in the middle of a Wild West section of the park. This new zone has seen the buildings replaced with a futuristic theme, however Tomahawk keeps the same name but now resembles a powerful battery.
Next on the list is the coaster that everyone is so desperate to ride, Untamed. It is very hard to describe how an RMC feels if you have not ridden one, but it is not for everyone. For myself, this is rated as my favourite coaster on this trip, but I also understand why so many people would struggle to even include this in the top 5 on tour. You cannot re-ride this again and again as this will be too painful but it is always great to see the reactions from everyone, good or bad.
The sunny day at Walibi continues as any other day at the park with the remaining coasters completed along with the log flume, rapids and Ferris wheel. The evening drive is the longest of the trip as we navigate to Germany to stay near Dusseldorf at the Crowne Plaza Neuss.
Day 3: Movie Park Germany
Only 45 minutes from the hotel, we visit Hollywood in Germany for a quieter day at Movie Park. We pace ourselves better as we recover from two hectic days at the Walibi Parks, while of course riding some great coasters and attractions.
The first mistake of the trip saw the mask rule reintroduced for Movie Park as the local government continues to reinforce this. I was unaware of this however was not a problem as I have boxes spare in the vehicle, the problem was, the car park was a bit of a distance and so it was time for a quick run this morning.
Back in the park and time to hit up the amazingly themed indoor coaster Van Helsing. Always a nice surprise for everyone followed by a not so nice go on the wooden coaster Bandit.
Movie Park Germany offers some great attractions including Star Trek Operation Enterprise and Movie Studios Tours, however the real hidden gem and the favourite attraction in the group was the exceptionally well themed Knights of the Round Table rapids ride.
After our day, we headed to a very cool and relaxed restaurant in the German countryside for dinner before back to the hotel for a couple drinks at the bar.
Day 4: Phantasialand
The bucket list park and the bucket list rides, this is an early start with the park opening at 9am and rides at 10am. Straight to FLY to experience this new for 2020 land that transports you into a different world. This park I am sure you have all heard so much about, it is the dream location for all theme park and rollercoaster enthusiasts. The day starts with Andrew getting a new Number 1 with FLY which was incredibly short lived after Taron takes the top spot only within a couple hours later. For a park with a top three like F.L.Y, Taron and Black Mamba with the exceptional theming, you will be lost for words on your first visit.
There is a few bits of construction at the moment with the steps in Berlin towards the Africa and Mexican areas under construction with a new building, plus a new jungle gym style attraction being built above and below Black Mamba which I cannot wait to run around when complete as I am sure will offer some very unique photo opportunities of the B&M Inverted coaster.
On the way back to the hotel in the evening, we head to a locals restaurant on the river Rhine for some Schnitzels before our final night at the Crowne Plaza.
Day 5: Toverland
If you don’t believe in Magic, you will at Toverland! I love this park, it is a giant playground with some exceptional theming, atmosphere and an incredible top 2 coasters with Fenix and Troy.
We started the day with Dwervelwind due to Fenix being down, followed by Djengu Rapids which was a walk on and then a 40 minute queue for Maximus Blitz Barn. This toboggan coaster always builds up a large queue but is so worth it. The queue must be one of the best themed in Europe and the ability to record your time means we can have a winner and more importantly, a loser. Fabio took the top spot whereas Tom finished bottom and the forfeit involved a face load from a fountain!
By the time we got to the afternoon, Fenix reopened with plenty of re-rides along with Troy, our slide creds increased greatly and as always, another fantastic day was had at Toverland.
At the moment the park is having a large part transformed around the log flume, Expedition Zork. This has made navigating the park quite difficult but when this is complete with the Toverland Magic, this will look awesome and is something I am very excited to see.
A Split dinner with half the group visiting La Place and the other half at KFC as they were both located next to each other, we then headed to Hertogenbosch and a new hotel was checked into, just down the road from Efteling.
Day 6: Efteling
Less than 30 minutes’ drive to Efteling, I ran off immediately after parking the vehicle to pick up my annual pass and met the group by the front entrance. Overall we had a fantastic day at Efteling, however there is a lot of construction ongoing. This has been a little bit of a theme the last few days, but nothing in comparison to the huge projects going on at the world of wonders.
The entrance is completely shut off except for customer services and a temporary entrance has been created for the left hand side. The new hotel has broken a lot of ground and is all boarded up, Aquanura the biggest water show in Europe is also seeing expansion for the new hotel. This did not give the same impact as normal when entering, but I am sure will look phenomenal when complete.
In the morning we hit up Baron first followed by a near walk on to Python and then the world’s largest pirate ship Halve Maen. Next was The Flying Dutchman when we noticed George and the Dragon which was due to be closed all day, started testing. After the awesome water coaster, we ran into the single riders queue for the racing GCI that has just reopened with a less than 10 minute queue.
Efteling has a lot of magical dark rides which we visited including Symbolica, Fata Morgana and Carnival Festival, we caught Raveleijn the impressive show and completed the remaining credits, the old carousel and a relaxing stroll through the fairy tale forest where a donkey poops out some coins… yes welcome to Efteling! Another great, but slightly strange as always day! Off to our final hotel and time to say goodbye to the Netherlands.
Day 7: Plopsland de Panne
A bit of a queue for my final annual pass to pick up so the group was sent in to hit up Heide the ride. This is the normal game plan as it was rumoured that The Ride to Happiness would be back to two train ops. Unfortunately this was not the case but we still managed 4 rides on what is a huge bucket list coaster and a great way to end the trip. All credits were completed and Anubis became a bit of a sleeper hit for a few members of the group. The Ride to Happiness went back to two train ops the following day, although the first group missed this, all future tours will get to experience a shorter waiting time.
The priority during the week was to get a birthday card for Emily who was celebrating hers today and was signed by the group. Of course, the log flume queen got her ride on Dino Splash!
We left Plopsaland just before 4pm to get back to the Eurotunnel and the final drop off point at Ashford international. It is very emotional saying goodbye to everyone after what was a great week. We almost became a small family and I am sure we will all see each other again in the near future.
I would like to say a huge thank you to Andrew, Cory, Doug, Emily, Fabio and Tom for an awesome first group and a great week away. I love meeting new people and seeing everyone’s reactions and this group was awesome as always.
I am back this Friday with a new group and then again on May 13 with another sold out tour. It has been a great reaction to Coaster Breaks this year and thank you to everyone who has booked on so far. If you are even considering, please do it and I will promise you will have a brilliant time with no regrets. We still have places available on May 28, July 12 and August 18.
