Euro'26 part 3 - Walibi Holland - 8Apr26

Euro'26 Tour part 1 here - https://coasterbuzz.com/Forums/Topic/euro26-part-1---europa-park---31mar261apr26
Euro'26 Tour part 2 here - https://coasterbuzz.com/Forums/Topic/euro26-part-2---plopsaland-belgium---3apr26

Last part of our European tour was spending a week up in the Netherlands visiting family. Took a day to run up to Walibi Holland.

The park - 8.5

- this place has a very unique vibe. Instead of the traditional fantasy or fairy-tale theming, or trying to look like another part of the world, Walibi Holland does its own thing. The best way I could describe the theme is "Junkyard Art Chic".
- be sure to just walk around and enjoy. Lots of weird art sculptures, like a 40-foot tall mechanical spider-like thing with an actual VW Beetle as the body. The "Zero Zone" area of the park leans into the "things are not normal here" / Twilight Zone-kinda vibe.
- Again, lots of the smaller shops and food stands were still closed. It was early in the season, so I can forgive that. However...
- What I couldn't forgive was the weak merch for Untamed. I soooo wanted a shirt for that ride, but the only thing available was a simple logo on a plain white shirt. Boooooring!
- Tip: Make sure to indulge your sweet tooth here. They had both oliebollen (like a giant donut hole) and poffertjes (miniature pancake bites), which are traditional Dutch sweet snacks. Prices were surprisingly reasonable for park food.

The Coasters

Untamed - 10
- Oh, hell yeah! This is definitely one of RMC's best, with a great variety of forces and elements.
- The double 3/4-barrel roll into another 3/4-barrel roll is really unique.
- While all the ride is good, for me the standout moment was the whippy hang-timey last barrel roll at the end. Be ready, because there's a little surprise right after it...
- Best way I could describe this is a smaller scale blend of Steel Vengeance and Twisted Timbers.
- Didn't realize it at the time, but after I got home and did the math.... this was my #500! Booyah!

Goliath - 9.5
- proof that an Intamin hyper doesn't need to be hyper to be really damn good. This was my first one of the under-200 footers, and it didn't disappoint.
- wonderful airtime, and just more proof that SFNE's Supes would be better with the OG lap bars.
- Really odd to have all the theming be racing car / race-track kind of related, but then the name is "Goliath" in the standard Six Flags font that all other "Golaiths" are.

Yoy (Thrill) - 6.5
Yoy (Chill) - 7
- this was by far the largest "anticipointment" (anticipation + disappointment - a term coined by our dearly missed Moosh) of the trip. For something this new, it should not have been this rattle-y.
- while the forces and elements were cool, the "Thrill" side just didn't have the punch of the other Raptor I've ridden (WW:GLC at SFFT).
- both my wife and I found we like the "Chill" side better. I mean, if you're not going to be aggressive enough, you may as well have nice airtime, which it did.
- Tip: go get this thing first, as we did on our visit. Our first lap on "Thrill" was fine, but on our immediate subsequent lap on "Chill", the dueling was already out of sync. We tried for re-rides at several times later, but Yoy was a finicky b!+c# that day.

Lost Gravity - 8.5
- this was a surprise. Lots of neat pops of airtime and twists, and pretty smooth too.
- Very comfy restraints and trains. I like this Mack model a lot more than the Gertslauer EuroFighters.
- very wild theme. The queue entrance was made of cars nosed into the ground, like the Cadillac Ranch sculpture here in the US. Queue itself was made up of cargo shipping containers, one of which was a hall of mirrors. Very unique.

Xpress: Platform 13 - 7
- launched spaghetti bowl that starts great, but then falls apart at the end
- even if you don't ride, walk through the queue of this. It's a heavily themed haunted-house style walk-through of an old subway platform that is VERY Twilight-Zone-esque. Super cool. This ride would be a "5" rating without this queue.
- prepping for the launch, some really great lighting and sound effects.
- punchy launch....and then it all falls apart. Rough and headbanging. Premier definitely does this better on FoF.

Eat My Dust - 6
- fun little family coaster, well-themed to off-road ATVs.
- nice that you get to go around the course twice.

Speed Of Sound - 5
- your usual rough and tumble Vekoma Boomerang, but elevated due to the newer vest-style OTSRs
- really fun theming and a covered tunnel lift hill make this the best of a bad model.

Drako - 4
- standard kids coaster, but get knocked down due to the "nut-buster" post bump in the middle of the seat. Ouch!

Condor - 2
- speaking of pain....ugh. This is the original SLC and it shows. Rough and rattly everywhere.
- only thing keeping this from a dead zero is the newer trains with the vest OTSRs.

Other rides/stuff
- to be candid, there wasn't much else that we did other than get our credits, so can't really judge. They had a nice S&S combo tower, and a still operating Huss Enterprise. Really nicely themed log flume that looked like it would be fun on a hot day.

Overall
Walibi Holland is a fun park for the coaster enthusiast. Nice variety of rides, and has a really cool vibe with the odd theming and scupltures. While it's not as "nice" as other parks in Europe (it definitely shows some of its Six Flags roots), it's well worth a visit if you're ever in the Netherlands.

Later,
EV

Next time you’re hanging with the Dutch, try Efteling. If you haven’t already. Exquisite.

And that’s where I “discovered” your poffertjes. They were served out of their own beautiful little stand, complete with a big window through which to watch the chef expertly and quickly flip those little round pancakes in their special iron.
The ladies working there were so nice to this curious noob and offered my first batch without any flavorings, just butter and powdered sugar which I was ok with, God knows. They even gave me a bunch extra because the chef guy was so busy cranking them out on a slow day. Fresh is best, after all.

I was surprised at how much I love the Netherlands. Windmills are common there but the first time I saw one actually functioning out in a field somewhere caused me to stop and stare. And almost faint, I was so thrilled. Just marvelous structures and I found unexpected interest in the country’s expert water management system that has kept their heads above water for centuries.

That is all for this ramble.
Thanks for the great reports, EV. I’m envious.

Glad you like my father's home country! Now that my kids are all grown up, I try to get back to visit family over there every few years now.

It's funny that you bring up Efteling, because that's what every single one of my cousins (I have 30 over there, and saw at least a dozen of them on this trip) brings up whenever they hear that my wife and I are hitting up amusement parks....

"Oh, have you been to Efteling?"
"When's the last time you were at Efteling?"
"When are you going to Efteling?"

OK, OK, we get it! We have already decided that next trip over, we are going to Efteling!
:)

Later,
EV