Euro'26 part 2 - Plopsaland Belgium - 3Apr26

Euro'26 Tour part 1 here - https://coasterbuzz.com/For...ar261apr26,

After spending a few days in Germany, we cut through France and Luxembourg to spend a couple days up in Belgium. After seeing how close we were to De Panne, the wife suggested "why don't we go hit Ride To Happiness?" Uhh, gee, OK, twist my arm!

The park - 7.5

- very focused/geared towards families and kids, but still a nice place to spend an afternoon.
- much smaller footprint than Europa, so easy to hit everything in a day. With surprisingly low crowds for the start of a holiday weekend, we were able to ride everything we wanted in 4~5 hours.
- Lots of the smaller shops and food stands were still closed, so most of our time for that was focused on the main entry plaza. Food and merch were priced a bit high, but good quality. Try the Stoofvlees! (beef brisket over fries)
- Tip: T-shirts were expensive, like $45~$55 Euro instead of the $30~$35 Euro we saw at other parks. One perk though is if you buy a Ride To Happiness shirt or hoodie, you get a complimentary one-shot Fast Pass. We didn't need ours, but if you go on a busy day and want a shirt, buy it early....

The Coasters

Ride To Happiness - 10
- Holy crap is this thing BONKERS! It's in the same "what the hell just happened?" category as X/X2. I have no idea what this thing is doing sitting at a family park.
- the slow speed, spinning Jo-Jo roll out of the station is phenomenal, and just whets your appetite for what's to come.
- the spinning is just right.... not so fast that you get dizzy, but not so slow that you don't get wild forces and variations with each turn or inversion
- speaking of which, make sure to ride at least three or more times. My very first ride didn't get a ton of spin, so I initially thought that the coaster was overrated. However, the more laps I took, the more variation and insanity revealed itself.
- While I rank it up there with the world's best....Hot Take.... I still like Voltron Nevera better.

Anubis: The Ride - 7.5
- fun custom Eurofighter with a punchy launch
- a bit rattly on the transitions, which combined with the OTSRs to make for a couple of head-bangning moments. Ride defensively.

NOTE: for those with glasses, Plopsaland will not let you have them on Ride To Happiness or Anubis, even with a glasses strap on. Be forewarned.

Heidi: The Ride - 6.5
- nice family woodie. Not that forceful, but still an enjoyable ride
- very nicely themed station, with a tiny bit of dark ride section on the return from the brake run.

Draconis - 6.5
- another Mack powered mine train, but this time the dragon is the front car of the train.
- very elaborately themed castle as the station. Easy to miss the entrance for this one.
- interacts with the large log flume and over the pathways. Definitely prime for waving at non-riders

K3 Roller Skater - 4.5
- standard Vekoma junior coaster, but get a slight bonus for some whimsical theming elements scattered around the course.
- I'm just too damn tall to fit in these things, so it's hard to get comfortable. But hey, it's a credit!

#LikeMe Coaster - N/A
- the park's oldest coaster was not operating during our visit. Ahh, c'est la vie!

Super Splash - N/A
- while not listed on rcdb.com as a coaster, it sure looked like a Mack or Vekoma SuperSplash. We did not ride due to cold temps and not wanting to get soaked.

Other Rides/Stuff

Wickieland - 9
- In the back corner of the park was an area themed to what looked to be a viking-style cartoon show. Highlight was one of the best themed Giant Disk-O's I've ever seen called De Grote Golf. It ran right beside their Splash Battle ride....close enough that the kids riding it came close to hitting us on the Disk'O with their water cannons.

Het Bos van Plop - 8
- really cute boat/dark ride with the park's signature gnome mascots in scenes everywhere. Recommended, jsut for fun!
- given the size/length of the queue, this seems to be a popular ride.

Overall
We had a great time at Plopsaland. Of course, having minimal crowds meant walk-ons for all the coasters, and that never hurts your impression of a park! Later in our Europe trip, many of my Dutch cousins were surprised when we told them we visited Plopsaland. To a person, the common refrain was, "that place is for kids!". While I'd agree with that assessment before 2021, Ride To Happiness is a complete anomaly and game-changer. It definitely makes it worth your while to plan a visit if you're ever in this corner of the globe!

Later,
EV

5th grade RCMAC laughs every time he hears or says the name of the park.

Oh, believe me I hear you....my wife giggled going past almost every exit sign along the Autobahn in Germany.....

"Ausfahrt"

Later,
EV

That Autobahn though, right? I was stunned at how fast I was expected to go.

Oh, it's not that you're expected to go 120 or 130 km/h (usual limits on the Autobahn).

It's that you are expected to get the hell out of the way ASAP if someone faster is coming up quickly behind you. The American tendency to hang out in the leftmost lane is NOT tolerated.

I only had one instance this trip where I went to pass a car going about 115 km/h or so whilst I was going 125 km/h or so. Didn't see the approaching Mercedes before I switched into the leftmost lane. Next thing I know, he's ON my backside, giving me the headlamp flashes and everything. Got back over to the center lane and he just took off like I was standing still.
Made me kinda wish I had something with more power than the little VW Polo rental car I had.

If you hang out in the center lane and be cautious / make sure you check your mirrors before and during passing, you'll be fine.

Later,
EV

P.S. By the way? The BMW drivers in Germany/Holland don't use their turn signals either! I guess some things are universal....

I love the unrestricted portions of the autobahn... It only gets a little more 'scary' at dusk in my experience when the super cars tend to come out and the speeds in which you get passed increase.

But otherwise, if you can decently drive and follow basic road etiquette you are just fine. Just stay out of the passing lanes, or check carefully when you do go into them.

I was stressing the hell out of rental when on that thing! I was cruising often at 170-200 km/h the entire time I was able.

EchoVictor:

The American tendency to hang out in the leftmost lane is NOT tolerated.

I've never driven the Autobahn, but I've wished my entire life that its etiquette would somehow make its way over here. Or that I could legally drive a Phantom Wedge the way it's intended.

https://youtube.com/shorts/...hrdW7sDUZt