Benelux 2025 Region Trip://Leg 4.2~ Belgian Thoosie Squid Game

               Date:5/17/2025-5/28/2025

Destination: Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg

Goal: Coasters, Culture

Distance: 4079 Miles

Means of Travel: Flight

Potential Credits: 39

Dag 5 / Jour 5

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A snake-themed roller coaster train races out from behind a palm tree and some bushes.

Oh my god I had a private room! And a bed! And a shower behind closed doors that my ass totally flooded the night before! But as comfy as the bed was, it was time to get up and get to the next park on the trip: Walibi Belgium!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: The entrance to Walibi Belgium features a large cake that has a W and a 50 as its topper, with garland hanging over school groups in fluorescent vests.

We drove from our cozy, cushy apartment in Brussels to Walibi Belgium, where we learned the hard way that it gets cold here in Belgium! Both of us were fucking freezing!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: An industrial brick building is boarded up and holds a rusty sign reading "DOCK 24", and below it, a bright turquoise door with a "DW" insignia on it, a spinning turbine blade and a window are on the right.

John had this idea to fast track it to the new Dock 25 area first and hit low capacity Turbine and New for 2025 Mecalodon first. So we began the day by getting sucked into the Turbine, maybe it's warm in there with the spinning blades!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Against a corrugated metal wall, a sign says "DOCK WORLD CITY COUNCIL INFORMATION; TURBINE STILL WORKING; HIGH VOLTAGE" on a poster depicting a sparking turbine.

"Turbine Still Working" read the signs up around this enclosed Schwarzkopf shuttle loop, a welcome sight considering this ride was kind of a close call. "Turbine still working" I know refers to this ride, originally Sirocco, having operated as Turbine before it was rebranded into Psyke Underground, and is now Turbine again. I wanted to ride it as Psyke Underground purely because it had one of the most banger soundtracks in the industry, then we found out it would be down for a retheme, and then only a few days before leaving we learned it would be operational! The new theme here, which isn't nearly as trippy or colorful as Psyke Underground was, is an abandoned industrial turbine that's been overgrown. Still cool, I'll take it!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A structure enclosed in sewage pipe rises to a 60 degree angle, supported with white metal.

Turbine is great! My only other shuttle loop was my 100th credit, Montezooma's Revenge, and the work done to this one is great! The new trains are great, the blades speeding up when it's active in the station looks so cool, and IDK how they made such a simple layout so disorienting by putting a box and some sewage pipes around the track. The loop goes on forever, and the freefall backwards in the dark is just weird. Solid ride!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Against a rocky embankment, a red and white lighthouses and several wooden buildings on stilts rise up behind a blue steel roller coaster.

Onto my first ever coaster in Europe that I've ridden in its opening year: Mecalodon! This is a Gerstlauer multi-launch family coaster with a lot of water interaction, think German-engineered Cheetah Hunt. I always loved the nautical aesthetic so I was all over this theme from the start. However, I wasn't expecting much from the ride, with YoY being the shiny new toy I was here to play with.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A hill of blue steel coaster track, with a train themed as a blue mechanical shark flying over the hill.

Color me surprised! John and I rode this in the back and it was way better than I expected it to be. There's some solid airtime around this little coaster, and the surfing along the water surface and dive under the queue is really cool. Fun ride to photograph too! This was an early contender for surprise of the day.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A single coaster car themed as a tiki race car dives down a curve of blue steel coaster track.

From there, we headed to another blue family coaster from Gerstlauer: Tiki Waka! I love this theme, I have a tiki bar in my home for god's sakes, and I wish more parks did Polynesian theming for those of us into it. The ride, sadly, did not impress me as much as the other Gerstlauer Bobsled I've ridden (Grona Lund's Wild Mouse), but I loved the theme so much! Also scared the crap out of a kid jumping up the ladder of this play structure to get this shot!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A type of tiki-styled race car sits under a map reading "TIKI WAKA CUP."

*picks up phone* Hello? Lost Island?...What is this, you want your theming back?...No, it's very far away it's in Belgium! Come get it!...Yes, Lost Island, your theming is in Belgium! You heard me correctly!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: From a foreground of green jungle leaves emerges a tall, dark green steel roller coaster with a green train at the top of the lift hill.

Alright, Walibi, and alright Exotic, playtime is over! We'd fast tracked it to the back of the park to nail the crowded shit already, it was Kondaa time!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A coaster station is made of mud bricks and sticks and features two clawed urns on either side of the entrance, over a large menacing snake statue.

First thing I noticed about this Intamin megacoaster, which runs as sort of a Pantheon/Velocicoaster ordeal but with a lift hill and no inversions, was that the theming here is sick! It's African theming, nothing novel about that, but it's dark African theming. Think the hyena pit in Lion King.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: An arch of driftwood and bones over some water, with a netted log beam running under it.

This thing is interactive! You can walk across it!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: An African-themed station has tattered burlap hanging down over a green train under orange light.

This would've been the most epic station on the trip had Ride to Happiness not been completely up my alley.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: From behind some trees, a snake-themed coaster train dives through a curve high off the ground.

Alright, Kondaa! Let's review the ride!

It's solid, very solid. It hits every airtime moment full force, the ride's cool, iconic non-inverting cobra roll thing was a bit of a letdown, but it does everything else extremely well. John and I took row one for our first ride and the back row for our second, and we were both satisfied with this Intamin that dragged us to Europe's most boring capital. Every hill on the ride hits hard, there are headchoppers hidden here and there, while the non-inverting cobra roll lacked the Mosasaurus Roll airtime I had anticipated, I still found it cool, and this snake slithers around very nicely!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Jarrett, a 30 year old man with green eyes and sandy brown hair, stands under a driftwood and bones ornament in front of Kondaa's station across some water.

Yeah, this thing took merch money from us both. And I walked across the little log bridge they had!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: An animatronic priest in an Egyptian ruin sits atop a statue of a pharaoh head, wearing a white cloak and holding a hook-shaped staff.

I knew this park had Popcorn's Revenge, but I didn't know they had another (less shitposty) dark ride in Curse of Tutankhaman! This dark ride was actually pretty impressive. A little dated, but everything was animatronic without any lazy screens where they didn't belong.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: An orange rocky canyon with railroad-themed coaster track running through it, a locomotive-themed coaster train dips down into water as a plume of geysers shoots up from the splashdown behind cattails.

"There's another credit whore credit," John rattled off RCDB when trying to play Hunger Games and tally up who's left to kill. But it wasn't just another credit whore credit, it was one of my favorite coasters in old school Rollercoaster Tycoon 2: Calamity Mine! Or, unbeknownst to me, "Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Roller Coaster Disney Family Thrill Ride" on Temu! Calamity Mine is just debranded Big Thunder, it's the exact same ride right down to the listing on the lift hill, but when you're 9, you don't notice. But it was cool to finally get to ride one of my favorite premade designs from the game!

We ate at the most disgusting theme park restaurant I'd ever had the displeasure of trying (got a disgusting chicken sandwich with lettuce on it, they can't make it without and I have a passionate hatred for that disgusting leafy vegetable) and then did Dalton Terror, their drop tower which provides amazing views of Kondaa! Not sure what kind of name Dalton Terror is, but the tower was fun.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Across the water sits a blue steel roller coaster with a single hill and vertical spike coming out of the water.

By now, John and I were freezing, so I headed back to the car to swap my cargo shorts for jeans and a belt. Meanwhile, we had seen on Queue-Times that Pulsar was open, but had yet to see it run. And frankly, we weren't sure we wanted to ride it in this!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A walkway flanked by two bat statues and signs reading "VAMPIRE" leads back to some trees and an SLC.

We got the SLC out of the way next, called Vampire and rocking some cool theming, but the (new) trains tracked so horribly the ride was unforgiveable. It was almost as bad as sitting through two hours of sparkly Robert Pattinson with your thirteen year-old sister. Almost.

While at the front of the park, we knocked out Loup-Garou, which absolutely annihilated both of us! This Vekoma wooden coaster rattles, shuffles, and is just generally nasty, mean-spirited, and horrible. Please RMC this pile of garbage! 

After this point, we realized that this was Belgian Thoosie Squid Game, and that all the remaining credits there were going to kill us. We had a boomerang to beat us, a kiddie credit to pummel us, and a water coaster to freeze us.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A beige shuttle coaster with a teal train rises up from behind some Indian buildings across some reeds and water, with a large building in the background.

With me now being slightly warmer and much more comfortable, we hit the park's really nice little India section for their boomerang coaster: Cobra. It's a standard boomerang, you take a beating and get a credit. Next!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: An Indian building is a theater sporting a sign for "Popcorn REVENGE" with cartoon popcorn attacking.

Next, however, was anything but standard. Popcorn's Revenge, their other dark shooter, is a high tech trackless marvel of engineering...and it tells the story of movie theater popcorn going full Pumped Up Kicks on moviegoers for eating popcorn during their favorite flicks. Legit one of the funniest rides I've been on, I was laughing the entire time! This thing is brilliant!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A shelf has various popcorn plushies, some of which are dressed like The Hulk.

Was dangerously close to taking one of these popcorn plushies home to my partner as a joke.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A blue length of steel coaster track goes up a lift hill near a wind sock, a windmill, and a sign reading "AIR MAIL EXPRESS DELIVERY; FUN PILOT" 

We went to knock out Fun Pilot next, a generic Vekoma kiddie coaster that I think might be another Disney knockoff in Goofy's Barnstormer. But it's a cute little coaster and I kind of enjoyed it! Anything with a plane on it is going to make me smile and think of Dad after 2025.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A body of water with boats in the foreground of a stilt house and some blue coaster track diving under the stilt houses, two coasters in the background and a lighthouse to the left.

Continuing the loop in a victory lap sans Pulsar, we decided to hit Turbine again, and then ran into a familiar face: Youri! Youri was our new Dutch friend we had met briefly at Plopsa, and he was here today as well!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A horseshoe turn of blue coaster track sends a blue train themed as a mechanical shark up through it, with a vertical spike of wide water coaster track in the background.

We took one lap on Mecalodon, then another when I realized my photos were taken with too low a shutter speed. We rode in the front the first time, and we both agreed it's weak up front and better off experienced in the back, which is unusual for this type of coaster. But going back to the back, I had a hell of a time on it and it redeemed itself. Ride Mecalodon in the back when you go!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A blue building has comical nautical puns on the signs, such as "BOATOX," "NETFISH," "THE CODFATHER,"  and "I LIKE BIG BOATS AND CANNOT LIE."

I laughed at this. I'm a degenerate.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A tall lift hill in the foreground of some muddy, bony, overgrown African ruins.

Youri had invited us for some thoosie action on Kondaa, so we get back there, wait in line, and my ass takes pictures to deal with the fact that there are now too many people around for my own sanity.

We're waiting, I'm shooting, eventually we make it to the station, and then I hear..."OOGA OOGA OOGA OOGA AH AH AH!!! OOGA OOGA OOGA OOGA AH AH AH!!!" And Youri just shrugs and says "School Trip!"

We are boarding the ride and hear, "OOGA OOGA OOGA OOGA AH AH AH!!!" And then disembark the ride, and hear behind us, "OOGA OOGA OOGA OOGA AH AH AH!!!" And then walking down the exit ramp, we hear on the train coming from the lift, "OOGA OOGA OOGA OOGA AH AH AH!!!"

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A dark roller coaster track rises up and twists in the cloudy sky, with a green train riding the rails.

Obnoxious schoolkids aside, this coaster is amazing! Of the new generation Intamins, I place it below Velocicoaster, and above Pantheon simply because the airtime is killer and the theming is super cool, and despite the lack of airtime in the non-inverting cobra roll, it still has some Raging Bull "lose speed and gain it again" fun to it. It's incredible, it's got good airtime, the theming is top notch, I'm a Kondaa fan! If the stoner chemistry project wasn't enough to bring me to Brussels, this definitely made the trip worth it!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A blue water coaster boat on blue track in a splash basin with reeds in the foreground and a blue station.

We were going to leave, but the sun was coming out, and we were missing a credit in Pulsar. So I took off my socks and shoes, put on my hiking sandals, and joined John and Youri in the queue for this really cool Mack shuttle water coaster.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Jarrett stands wearing a navy blue raincoat in front of a sign depicting a futuristic W insignia.

...and it broke down! Youri had seen the turntable do something funny, so we waited, they fixed it, we got in, kicked some shitty kids trying to line jump out of our dry row, and we rode! Unfortunately, Youri was not so lucky and got seated on a corner.

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Across some water from a field of flowers, a water coaster goes over a hump and raises a spike into the sky, with a brick station building rocking blue accents behind it.

We rode the ride, it was a ton of fun, we got back to the station fairly dry...and then Youri's Dutch ass gets up dripping with log flume water and declares in the thickest accent, "I got wet."

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Three men stand in front of Walibi Belgium's entrance, adorned with a red W with a white "50" inscribed.

We headed to the front of the park, as Youri declares he is going to strip off all of his wet clothing and drive barefoot back to the Netherlands. Meanwhile, John and I are off to a different country, as we prepare to blaze through Wallonia and make it to Luxembourg in time for dinner. So we parted ways, got in the car, and got ready for a road trip across an entire country that would only take two hours!

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Out a car window, rolling fields lead up into a forest with houses at its edge.

So we took off, blazing across the open countryside of Wallonia south towards the mountains, as the Benelux lowlands began folding up into hills and peaks. 

IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Across a mirrored waterway, a few French-styled buildings and an old arch bridge sit at the base of a mountain with a castle and Luxembourgish flag atop the hill.

UP NEXT: We storm the Castle On The Hill in the smallest country either one of us has ever visited! Luxembourg is an incredible, elegant, beautiful, and kind nation packed with culture, history, and postcard beauty everywhere you can point a camera!