From Warner to Walibi - Spain & Belgium - Completed Trip

[Niles]

Lets start if off with a bang at Parque Warner Madrid.

6th Sep


On my annual trip to go see GFs family in Spain it was time for the final big park, GF had said this was the worser of the two Madrid parks but she says since she last went years ago its become a great park now and i agree.

Thankfully with us we had GFs best friend who was nice enough to drive us and brought a great lunch for our day. Like GF shes not to comfortable with bigger coasters but by the end of the day i was proud of them both.

Rolling up it seemed not to busy and looked like we had a lovely warm day ahead of us.



First off along with all the runners we went for BGCE and it was just me as the fact it just has lap bars was to much for them, we waited about 15mins to go into the building and were at the back of the group let in, being moved to the right of the room the secret door opened and we skipped quite a lot of people.

I went into detail in the Last Cred Review topic but ill just say it was fantastic and i think its one of my favourite coasters ever, GF and friend liked the pre-show and queue but ran through to the exit as fast as they could.



While BGCE was to scary for them sicky flats are fine apparently, as we headed towards Coaster Express GF and friend ran to the near by flat to ride, i would 100% have skipped this but it was quite nice to not just focus on the coasters. Recently when i go to new parks its coaster coaster coaster but we took it slow and mixed things up, since i will now do it this way, much more fun especially with non coaster nuts

After we came off feeling sick GF was determined to give the woodie a go, i did warn her it has a bad reputation, while friend waited we gave it a go.


Ouch.. moments of smoothness but mainly a rough hard ride, did not help we were sent to the back. While we were both a bit beaten she enjoyed my pain, i did like the speed and size but me thinks an RMC retrack would be the thing to do.

At this point the friend was up for a coaster so we headed to Batma.....oh i mean Shadows Of Arkham.


This was kick ass, really throws you round, done a few of these Batman clones and this is my favourite so far. GF and friend came off with tears in their eyes but laughing, slowly i was winning them round

I will say at this point while it was getting more busy so far queues were around 15-20 mins and it stayed like this for everything so we were never waiting to long, ops were fast and while i heard of queue jumping before coming we saw none.

Next up was Superman, as a 5min wait the girls got a snack while i went on as they were not quite ready for this, sadly i did not get a pic of this, its way outside the park but sad i did not get one, i have Superman though.


The coaster was definitely the best before BGCE, its a decent looper with a great sustained air time hill and a pop at the end, all round a very nice coaster.

Meeting back up we went to the ghost house.


Classic Vekoma madhouse, nice little pre-show and was a bit of fun, the story ends a bit flat but its ok.

Now next was a coaster i have wanted to do since i saw a closed one at Magic Mountain years ago, the Vekoma GIB Stuntfall.


This sadly freaked both of them out so it was just me, it was a walk on and for the whole day.... no idea why as i really liked it. Forcefull and fun, i sat in the back and i love the falling sensation, going backwards you get pushed through the corse and its rapid, i liked it but come later i would love it.

Next we went for lunch and went back to the car, she had made a lovely pasta salad and brought Spanish meats, cheeses and more yummy things.

Heading back to the park it was stunt show time.




This was great, like a must do if you go, they did some great tricks and showed some great skill. I was not expecting something so well done.

After the girls waited as one of there old friends was in the show, while they waited i went over to ride the Mack family coaster.


Preety decent for a family coaster, fun little layout.

After i got off the girls had made their way to the rapids, they did not get to wet but it looked like a fun rapids.


Final coaster of the day was the Tom and Jerry Zierer coaster.


We all rode this and it was a twee little ride. After we headed for the log flume.


This was a soaker and has a great little backwards section, love the big drop but it also has a nice bit of theming on the chill sections to, really rounds out the line up having a great flume.

At this point we had done everything i had wanted but now it was time for re rides. The park had stated to get quieter.


I got another go on BGCE while they watched a Batman show they said was just ok.



We all did SOA again and then while they were nervous we all did Superman, they came of laughing/crying but said it was great fun.

We headed for the drop tower which while very very tall is actually quite chill.


We then headed round to Stuntfall as it started to get dark.


While they queued with me when a girl same off crying they decided to skip it, i sat in the front this time and i think it was a good thing they did.

While the forward bit was great and forcefull as i went up the second spike staring up at the sky i got to the top and . I have not been scared on a coaster for a while but it took me by surprise, falling backwards to earth from 170ft was crazy. I came off with tears in my eyes but i loved it, took my breath away.

We had a go on a little car ride and then went to have one final ride on BGCE but it had broken down and we were out of time as the friend had to go, got myself a fridge magnet and that was our day.


I really like this park BGCE is the stand out but the park has a great supporting line up of other rides and coasters. Of the two Madrid parks i do prefer this one and i hope they get more investments in the future, theming is quite nice, stronger in some areas than others but in general yea, a fantastic place where we had a brilliant time



Next up..... honestly its just food

 

[Niles]

So for the rest of our time in Spain/Madrid we met up with GFs family and friends, so its just food coming up.

2nd-9th September

On our first day we went to a buffet called Running Sushi In Market.


This was very naughty, unlimited well made sushi and many more yummy things, honestly i rolled out . As well as great food its also themed quite nice would recommend.


Did make me feel bad seeing my plates stack up high but it was all so good.



Next up it was Popolare looking at the signs out front its "50 Top Pizzas" best pizza in Spian from 2020-22, dont know of 50 top pizzas but i went in expecting something good.

GFs sister took us and she said we would love it.


Now it is good pizza, crust is a little big but the flavours were very interesting, very nice toppings with a nice flame cooked flavour.



I had a three cheese, olive and pepperoni pizza, Gf had this cheesy meaty mess that was firey. Her sister had a pesto, ham and mozzarella pizza. We gave each other a quarter of our own and all were very nice, i would again recommend this if you have a hankering for pizza.

It was also GFs mum birthday and said i would do a english roast as they have never had one, at first i was cooking for six but as the day got closer it went to eleven, here is what i did, do you approve?

- Roast lamb
- Roast potatoes & carrots
- Roast parsnip (they have never had parsnip)
- Cheesy Broccoli (chedder does not exsist so i used gouda, i prefer it )
- Peas and brussel sprouts
- Gravy
- Bread pudding (new to them, they liked it but found it odd)
- Yorkshire puddings, i had to make them myself, a little small but they worked
- I also found mint sauce which was apparently the worst sounding thing ever but now they are fans

It was a lot to do and i was a bit late but they seemed to really enjoy it, GF also made Pimms which was new to them, if there was anything wrong this definitely helped

The final restaurant worth talking about was Piscomar, definitely a bit pricey and a bit more would be nice but tbf, im still lost on what i had in a good way.


I had a passion fruit and salmon ceviche, as u can see only half the bowl had it in, once you break the salmon wall it flows in, but....come on fill my bowl.

But yea it was very nice, flavours ive never had, ive been trying to follow recipes myself but its not the same

But that was preety much Spain, coasters, food and family. It was a nice little trip.

Next up was our big trip to Beligum.

 

[Niles]

24th Sep - Plopsaland De Panne

Beligum is a country i have never been to, it was allways somewhere i wanted to see and finally we got to go.

Just me and GF for this one and we woke up at 2am, dragging her out the bed we had a long drive to LeShuttle, first time ive driven outside the UK and i was nervous. All went well through customs and are train departed at 6.30am


Getting used to driving in France and Belgium took a bit of time but thankfully all went well, mabey its the UK sticker on the back of the car but everyone gave us space and were nice.

We had timed our train so with 30mins to spare we got to Plopsa.


As you arrive you are greeted with Heidi, the entrance also looks very nice.



Walking in was i surprised with how pretty it was, other than RTH i had not looked into the park so the main hub was fantastic.


These little carts to put your kids in are also adorable.


Getting GF a coffee to wake her up before RTH we waited at the rope for the park to open, people started to pile up but as the rope dropped maybe 10-15 people turned to go to the RTH.

We both thought the theming, music, planting and coaster looked brilliant.




Walking up to the station it was about half full, looking at queue times throughout the day it never got more than 10mins, if you come here dont worry you feel like you have an ERT for the whole day

We went to the back for our first ride however whether back or front to me it brilliant no matter where you sit.

Gf found it a bit to much but its easily the best spinner i have ever done by a big margin.

Next up was the woodie, heading back on the main path the kiddie area before the castle/heidi area was packed. Going over the drawbridge these areas are a bit smushed together with a dino area also in there that does not look nearly as nice, its a bit much.


The Heidi area is very cute and the woodie had a 20min wait.


This was our one and only ride as the crowds from the kiddie land descended behind us, as we queued i watched the time jump to 40, 60 and then 80mins which it stayed at for the rest of the day.


One train ops and small trains are not great, was is great is this rapid airtime GCI, it was crazy, a fantastic little woodie that even has a little end scene.



After we did the powered coaster Draak that was pretty dull, the castle its in is nice but it goes over and overlooks the Heidi and the dino area which just feels a bit odd.

Due to the times rising on the kiddy coasters we tried to ride them quick, K3 Roller Skater was first, basic Vekoma junior but it was themed to a girl group? We saw in the evening they had a show on TV, just googled they have been around since, wow 1998.


Next was #Likeme Coaster a Zierer Tivoli themed to a high school show, the station is a high school with a rave room and doors with screens in the windows of teens, i think talking/laughing/judging you, to be fair mabey it just felt like that as we were riding a kiddy coaster .

Both coasters were ok, just some creds and a bit of a chill for GF.

Walking round the lake the RTH is stunning and you allways see people watching it.


Having a lake in the park is allways nice, as a whole its a very green park full of trees and has some pretty areas.



At this point i realised i had forgot Anubis was even here, no idea how but as we walked up to it i checked RCDB to see what it was.


Ummm this is great, like really really good, im not to much of a intense Gerstlauer fan. I like their thrill coasters, Cobra at Paultons and Firechaser i really like, im surprised to say this is my favourite "Extreme" coaster i ridden from them.

Theming is nice, throughput is not great but these six seat trains are interesting, a bit uncomfortable in certain areas but no head banging at least.


Launch has a great kick (best launch in the park ) the layout is glass smooth full of strong negative and positive force. Its a great ride and was a real surprise, GF skipped this as she was not ready to go upside down for a bit.

After a little lunch we went to the farm, GF got some pats in with the animal, some of the animals could do with a bit more space though.



Saw this poor little worm while walking .


At this point the park was quite busy with most rides having long queues so we walked round Bumba the clowns and Vicke the vikings land. Both were packed but themed nicely.


While walking i realised pretty much most of the rides and lands here are IP based, its definitely works for them as it seems to draw families in but its a bit much to see so much IP.

We went for a ride round the park on the train, it has four stations and is a great way to get around and chill.


SuperSplash was next and its a fun water ride, for me i cant say its a water coaster, it has a bit of coaster track but naaaaaa does not feel "coastery" enough for me. Lift is fun and its a nice drop that gives a nice sprinkle of water.

We then did a lap of re-rides and rode some of the flats, the star flyer gives a fantastic view of the surrounding area but it was getting near the end of our day, we had not done a dark ride so we went to do plops woods. Wait this is the Plop in Plopsaland??


Now all the TV show IP make sense after reading about the park, in our hotel room we saw a bit of the show. Never heard of it but it looks very 90s, the ride itself was looking a bit old but it had its charm/oddness.

The crowds stayed as the day drew to an end, we looked round Maya land which looked like a lot of fun for the kids and was well themed, i may have rode down the big slide.


And then as GF chilled while i got 5 rides on the RTH, its great when you can just go round and round, amazing how busy everything gets apart from this.


As we left i got a fridge magnet and GF Miffy rabbit plush, we were then given a free milkshake by some sales people as we left, im a strawberry guy myself but a chocolate milkshake is fine by me.

Some areas of the park need some work but they have a nice line up of coaster and rides. The log flume looked good but it was very busy all day so i missed it, the RTH is world class but Anubis and Heidi are great supporting coasters. The park is for families and it was quite busy but we were still able to have a great day. If you are in the south of england definitely get in a car and go, as for me its the same distance as Blackpool so not to far and its well worth it.

We went to a local supermarket to get some food for the rest of are trip and that was it, after a very long day we passed out on the bed before unpacking and had a nice sleep ready for are next day .

 

[Niles]

25th - Bruges



We love this city, out of the city's we went to this was our favourite. Its really pretty and there is loads to see and do.



Its very walkable and everything is spread around but not to far, if you want you can take a tour by house ride or boat.



We were knackered from the day before so today we took it easy. We were a little hungry so we got our first waffle in Belgium and we grabbed a drink where the brewery had pipes sending beer out the city.


There are cute shops, lots scenic sights and historical buildings throughout.


We had a little snack of Flemish stew on chips, like the waffles and beer all is very yummy.



One interesting place is the Basilica of the Holy Blood, it has two chapels the lower being all dark and stoney.



The one on top is more grand however once we entered we were guided to sit where they did a small ceremony and brought out the blood in a gold cylinder. We were then told to rise and guided to the front of a line. We did not know this was a thing and nervously walked up the alter to go see it. Not sure why but In the silence i said "wow they got quite a bit" the priest gave me a .....yes.


Leaving feeling silly we ended up in the main square and had a look around.


I swear we did not just spend all day eating but we saw something we really wanted to try so for lunch we had mussels, we had them in the "Bruges curry style" and it was delicious.


Waddling around we did all the sites we had not seen yet and just enjoyed the city, its just a great place to get lost in.




We spent ages here and had a great time, next time we come to Belgium this is on the redo list definitely.


Next up is Ghent.

 

[Niles]

26th Ghent



Unlike Bruges this city feels like everything to see is close together, its very walkable and a nice place to visit.

For Ghent we used a park and ride and it was free to park and cheap to get in and out.

After getting gf a coffee we met up with a free walking tour (See here) and it was great, they gave lots of great info, had a passion for the city and a funny fella.



First we went down to the river to see and learn about the city's history of trade.


And that the Marriott used to be a brothel haha, apparently the swans face away from each other to let passing sailors know what you can get here.


We looked round the castle.



We saw this sculpture on the old jail house depicting a old legend in which a daughter had a creative way of keeping her starving farther alive in prison


We then saw the churches, cathedral and Belfort of which all are a small walk from each other.





Finally are guide took us to the most hated building in Ghent, what was nice is there is a piano for people to play and a lady started to play with another coming over to sing, they were both fantastic.


With our tour over we went to look around ourselves, my friend had told me to try Smurf ice cream as he said it was lovely when he visited and i made the mistake of trusting him.

He said it was vanilla and other flavours, mabey i was unlucky but it tasted like chewed gum, honestly awful. Last time i trust him

With dyed blue tongues we went for a drink and a snack.


And anouther.


Cider, beer, cheese, sausage, cheesecake and a berry tart this made up for the ice cream.





We had a good look round and popped into some shops and as it got late we went for Thai dinner.


Happy and full we headed out, while not a full day there is still loads to see and do and as we had a long drive to Walibi the next morning we had an early night, we also packed as it was our last day in our first hotel.

We liked Ghent, the tour gave us loads of info and things to see that we would have missed otherwise.

Tommrow Walibi
(And a hotel disaster)

 

[Gavin]

Bruges and Ghent are both such nice little cities. It's kind of weird how Belgium's capital is such a s**thole, but the rest of the country is lovely.

 

[Niles]

I will consider us lucky then @gavin , Brussels was are final full day and true if i had to rank the cities it would be last but we enjoyed it

 

[KristofWB]

Brussels might be terrible, though it has some nice places. You just have to find them!

Ghent on the other hand is one of my favorite places in Belgium. It is young at heart, great places to eat and the dialect of Ghent is so lovely. Love to hang around there. Did you try the 'little nozes' or cuberdons? Something typically from Ghent and they are sold on the street.

Thanks for your tripreport. Can't wait for your Walibi Belgium tripreport!

 

[Niles]

So @KristofWB we were given one to try on our first night when we went to a supermarket, it turned out to be banana, i hate banana . We saw the vendors but thought we should try other things, next time i go ill get a proper one

27th Walibi Belgium



We woke up bright and early for our long drive to Walibi, it should have been about an hour and a half, but with traffic round Brussels and a pee stop it was more like two and a bit.

So as we arrived ten minutes after opening to a massive crowed, i had wondered why the park was open this day while no other mid week days around it. Turns out it was a national holiday so it was packed.

Checking queue times as we entered the SLC and Woodie were at 30mins, but there was only ever going to be one coaster i went on first.

........Tiki-Waka



I had heard of horrible queues and by the time we got to the back of the park it was at 30mins, we got in line and started the long wait. At this point GF asked how come they dont have single riders?......I then wondered if they did, could not find anything on the site however there were some trip reports about one on here. So we left the now 45min wait and YES! There was one, with no queue, and they put us on together feel bad for anyone who had to wait.

It was, fine, but the only other Gerstlauer Bobsled ive done is the Cobra and i think this is no where as good. However the coaster and land are themed brilliantly.

Ok now its time for KONDAAA!


I did a full breakdown in Last cred review but ill just say its fantastic, one of the best coasters ive ever done, theming is also quite nice and i like the little area it has, also anouther cheeky single rider line is always nice.


GF avoided Kondaa as strong airtime is not her thing and i thought i should test in case and yes, very strong air.

We headed over to the challenge of Tutankhamen and this is a great little ride that does not need the blasters, some great effects and different endings apparently but we got the same one evey time.


Looking at times the park was packed, shortest line was Psyke Underground so that was next.


Thankfully this was our longest wait of the day at about 30mins, checking times ment we avoided the big queues.

GF skipped this as shes not a fan of going backwards, i then remembered this park has quite a few that do that.

It was very megh, especially compared to Montezooma, just lacked the punch and force i thought it would have but hay ho.

Walking between the lakes are next stop was the wild west area and mine train.


What a great ride, mabey im just a sucker for mine trains but this was my 3rd favourite coaster at the park, love the theme and its not rough but....wild. Also there is some great dueling train interactions along the long ride, GF also found this great, so much so we went on again as the line was so short.


Pulsar was up next and oh another single rider line, GF sat it out while i went straight on, as i sat down and the table span it broke down. Was there for a good 10 mins but it got going, a pretty fun coaster, oddly only my back and butt got wet while my front stayed dry.



At this point outher than the woodie that for the whole day seemed to have an hour wait the front of the park got quiet so we headed there.

Vampire......is trash


GF likes inverts so even with my warning of possible pain we went on, just dam, this was one of the worst coasters i have ever done, never got the SLC hate but i get it with this. Its a rough headbanging marathon.


We stubbled off and needed a rest so we went for a snack.

We brought some subs and salad we made but wanted some chips, for not much we got the below, under the mountain of chips are some sausages and a bun. Nothing amazing but for the size it was pretty cheap.


Keeping some for later we walked round the lake.


Popcorn Revenge had no line and anouther nice dark ride, not as good as Tutankhamen but the shooting makes this one, i really like the popcorn smell and different rooms, each time we saw something new.

Just across is Cobra, sadly after waiting 15mins we had a breakdown, once again while on the ride, i was taken off but after a few test runs i got on and well yea, creds a cred.


Passing the closed rapids we did the final dark ride.


Your standard Vekoma madhouse, but nice however to have three fun dark rides in the park. Considering GF did not do all the coasters she liked all of these and they definitely round out the parks lineup.

Also we picked up the kiddy cred, it said 10min wait but turned out to be 20.


GF next wanted to see Pulsar splash people, no idea why but we watched as people went to the end of the platform, tried to run but not fast enough and got soaked over and over, great fun .


At this point we had done everything apart from the woodie but like the whole day the line was massive and i was considering a skip the line pass, GF convinced me otherwise and im happy she did, still have never bought one and i hope i can hold out for much longer.

The line dropped to 30mins as we got there.


I had wondered while the park has a nice ride lineup, coaster wise there was no standout before Kondaa to really bring people in, the woody cannot be that good.

Well it was fantastic, a complete suprise, we loved it, its wild, has some frantic air pops and great laterals, this Vekoma was brilliant, honestly an RMC would be cool but a GCI refresh like Ghostrider is what i would want.

As the day came to an end it was time for Kondaa rerides



Even in the middle it packs a wallop, i only got one ride as it seemed to take ages with only 5 people in front of me in single riders.

We then got some more rerides on Tutankhamen, mine train and did the 4D as the day came to an end. The park had closed yet queue lines were still open? Online and in the park it said it should be closed yet we got two final rides entering 15mins after closing for Popcorns Revenge.

I grabbed a fridge magnet on my way out and that was that.

All in all a great park Kondaa and the woody are great but there is a great supporting line up and the ops seemed decent, i allways like lakes in parks and theming is either good or great so its nice to walk around. I missed the log flume and drop tower and i hope that a new coaster will come soon, will have to come back some day.

Next up,

A lady in our room??

After this we drove to are hotel, back towards Brussels it was dark by the time we got there and all we wanted was sleep, this did not happen.

Here is the hotel: Click

Dont go, seems nice but this is what happened. No one was there working so we called the number in the lobby.

Guy picks up and says oh hi your in room one key is in the door, we head to the room and theres the key but i can see the lights are on, he says go on in, i knock and no answer so i open.

Room is a mess and in the centre of the room on the bed is a lady, wearing all i can describe as a ribbon wrapped round "some" of her, as she turns spreading....legs she goes, "hi sweetie oh......did not know you were bringing a hottie with you".

I closed the door, it was promptly locked seconds after and she called someone. The man had no idea and said no one should be in there. He found a different hotel that we went to.

We had to pay and it was quite a bit, he said he would pay us back for the other hotel, spoilers, he did but it was a ****ing pain.

A funny story now but at the time we were pissed and yes turns out the room was double booked, by a guy who was cheating on his wife. His present was waiting i guess but the owner would not say more, i have many questions but i guess we will never know.

Well up next is Brussels.

 

[Niles]

28th Brussels

After not enough sleep we drove to a train station on the outskirts and took the tube in for a day in Brussels.

We met up with anouther free walking tour and once again the guide had great knowledge of the city gave us loads of history and was funny.


We started off in the centre and worked are way further out.



We saw the little peeing statue fella, the guide told us a bunch of silly legends about him. But he said he finds it odd hes so famous.

We continued are way round the city, we saw the galley, cathedral and palace.





After are great tour it was time for food, we also did some shopping and got some gifts.

For food we got a make your own poke bowl and we went a bit overboard with things.


Later in the day we got a waffle and these beef fat chips, very, very cubby, but pretty great especially with their own sauce. Did feel my arteries clog tho .



We looked around more and had a nice time, furthest we went from the centre was the botanical gardens and we went a bit further on but the area became a bit dodgy so headed back.




We made are way to the station to finish are day. Of all the city's we went to in Belgium this was our least favourite but we still found it interesting and had a great day

We did go back to our hotel we were ment to be staying the night previous, they did give us a different room as they were still cleaning the one we were ment to have .

The owner said he would meet us for a refund but did not show so he promised he would see us in the morning.

Next up is are final day.

 

[Niles]

29th Bergues and a Dragon

Today was are final day and we took our time stopping along the way before heading back through the Euro tunnel.

First however was the refund, we had waited till 10am for him, we waited then we called and he could not make it. However we had seen a man from the house next door keep looking out the window, we walked over called and listened and turns out he was hiding.

He refused to come out and sent a cleaner instead, they said we would get a money transfer but after all this we said we cannot trust him. So calling him again he relented and sent the cleaner with a refund for the more expensive hotel. So while we got our money back the wasted time and hassel was not great.

Anyway the rest of the day was great, we drove through france and Beligum looking at the nice scenery and finally stopped in Bergues.


It was ment to be a short stop but we spent quite a while here, quaint little place and some interesting old structures.





They have these two buildings a few meters apart on a hill, but i feel like they need to be put together right?



We walked round the walls of the town, got a drink and a snack really nice little place.

Heading off we got some gifts along the way and we still had some time so we looked round Calais. Never actually stopped here before but there was quite a bit to see including a dragon.


Looks like a cool attraction, shoots fire, water makes noise and its pretty big. I would not pay to ride however it seemed to takes ages to do a lap


Had a walk along the beach.



We looked round the town.




And with that we headed to the tunnel, nice to have a chill day with nothing set. It was quite nice to just walk and take it slow.

Heading through passport control i have no idea what happened but all the lanes seemed to stop, time went by and when we finally got through we had barely any time before our train went. As we lined up to get on, there were cars queueing behind us. We were lucky as we were the last car, once they closed the door behind us we headed off in no time. (Sorry other cars)


After a long day and drive home that was it.

All in all it was a fantastic trip, Belgium is great from the parks to the towns and people. We managed to do so much in such a short time, driving was also interesting. While it can be tiring its nice to be in control and you can take more with you.

Definitely will have to go back to Belgium at some point.

Thank you for reading