Plopsaland De Panne
Previously known as Meli Park
LocationAdinkerke, De Panne, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
Coordinates51°04′47″N 2°35′49″E / 51.07972°N 2.59694°E / 51.07972; 2.59694
OpenedApril 21, 1935 (as Meli Park)
April 20, 2000 (as Plopsaland)
OwnerPlopsa/Studio 100
Operating seasonApril to January
Attendance1.3 million in 2017[1]
Attractions
Total37
Roller coasters7
Water rides2
Websiteofficial website

Plopsaland De Panne is a theme park located in Adinkerke, Belgium - part of the municipality De Panne - owned and operated by Plopsa. The park reopened on 20 April 2000, before that the park was known as Meli Park from 1935 until 1999.

History

Meli Park

In 1935, Alberic-Joseph Florizoone opened Meli Park, a place where he could sell his own produced honey, but also teach the visitors about the process and the bee itself. Over the years - to keep up with competition - the park opened several attractions, turning it into a theme park.[2]

Plopsaland

The family Florizoone sold the park in 1999 to Studio 100 and VMMa. The park received a make-over during the following winter season, to reopen as Plopsaland on 20 April 2000. During the renovation several characters from Studio 100 were used - such as Samson en Gert and Kabouter Plop - to theme new and old attractions.[3] The new park had some issues at the reopening with parking capacity and catering, these issues were fixed in the following years.[4]

Studio 100/Plopsa bought out the shares of VVMa in 2005 and became sole owner of the park, with plans to turn it into a multi-day, all-weather resort. In that same year, Plopsa opened Plopsa Indoor Hasselt and bought Telecoo, to avoid confusion with the other parks Plopsaland was renamed to Plopsaland De Panne.[5]

Besides expanding the site into a resort, Plopsa also kept expanding the theme park with Anubis the Ride (2009), Vic the Vicking-land (2013), Heidi the Ride (2017) , The Ride to Happiness (2021) and Circus Bumba (2023) in order to appeal to a wider demographic and become a destination not just for families with younger children.[6][7]

Attractions

The park consists of 55 attractions, including 7 rollercoasters.[8]

Rollercoasters

Name Official English name[9] Type Manufacturer Description and additional information Opened Specifications Photo
The Ride to Happiness by Tomorrowland The Ride to Happiness by Tomorrowland Extreme Spinning Coaster Mack Rides This is the first Mack Extreme Spinning Coaster in Europe. 2021 Speed: 90km/h

Length: 920m

Height: 35m
Anubis The Ride Anubis The Ride Launched coaster Gerstlauer 2009 Speed: 90km/h

Length: 600m

Height: 34m
Heidi The Ride Heidi The Ride Wooden coaster Great Coasters International 2017 Speed: 71km/h

Length: 618m

Height: 22m
De Draak The Dragon Powered coaster Mack Rides 2004 Speed: 36km/h

Length: 450m

Height: 14m
SuperSplash SuperSplash Super Splash Mack Rides 2006 Speed: 70km/h

Height: 30m
K3 Roller Skater K3 Roller Skater Junior coaster Vekoma 1991 Speed: 46km/h

Length: 335m

Height: 13m
#LikeMe Coaster #LikeMe Coaster Tivoli Large Zierer Renovated in 2022 after the youth series #LikeMe. The station is now designed as a school from the series. 1976 Speed: 34km/h

Length: 360m

Height: 8m

Darkrides

Name Official English name[9] Type Manufacturer Description and additional information Opened Photo
Op Reis Met Bumba Bumba's World Trip Darkride Metallbau Emmeln Based on the popular Belgian children's tv show "Bumba". Part of the new for 2023 "Circus Bumba" indoor area. 2023
Het Bos van Plop Plop's Woods Darkride Metallbau Emmeln Boat trip through a forest full of gnomes. 1979 (Apirama)

2000 (Bos van Plop)

Other attractions

Name Official English name[9] Type Manufacturer Description and additional information Opened Photo
Bumballoon Bumballoon Samba Balloon Zamperla Part of the new for 2023 "Circus Bumba" indoor area. 2023
De Dolle Busrit The Crazy Bus Crazy Bus Zamperla Part of the new for 2023 "Circus Bumba" indoor area. 2023
Tumbi's Ballenbad Tumbi's Ball Pool Ball pool Part of the new for 2023 "Circus Bumba" indoor area. 2023
Poppa's Klimtoren Poppa's Climbing Tower Playground Part of the new for 2023 "Circus Bumba" indoor area. 2023
Bumba's Speeltuin Bumba's Playground Playground 2008
Tik Tak Tik Tak Free flow boat ride Mack Rides Renovated in 2022. Previously known as "De Vaat" and "Kaatje zoekt Eendje". 2000
Balloon Race Balloon Race Balloon Race Zamperla 2001
De Tuin van Big Big's Garden Playground 2005
DinoSplash DinoSplash Log flume Mack Rides Renovated in 2019 to a dinosaur theme. 1989
Mega Mindy Jetski Mega Mindy Jet-ski Jet Skis Zierer 2008
Nachtwacht-Flyer Nachtwacht-Flyer Starflyer Funtime 2006
De Ploptuin Plop's Garden Playground Renovated in 2010. 1984
Plopsa Express Plopsa Express Train ride Chance Rides Has 2 trains and 4 stations around the park. 1983
Safari Safari Car ride Sartori Montagnana 1992
Storm op Zee Storm At Sea Music Express Mack Rides 2001
De Dierenmolen The Animal Carousel Farm Animals Carrousel Wooddesign 2017
De Doorloopweide The Animal Farm Petting zoo 2007
Het Ballenbad The Ball Bath Ball pool Part of the indoor area "Mayaland", based on Maya the Bee. 2011
Big & Betsy Hoeve The Big & Betsy Farm Farm / zoo Meli Park bought the farm in 1986. Unknown
De Grote Golf The Big Wave Disk'O Coaster Zamperla Part of "Wickieland", based on Vic the Viking. 2013
De Emmer The Bucket Splash pad 2007
Scooter The Bumper Cars Bumper cars Bertazzon Unknown
De Glijbaan The Chute Slide Metallbau Emmeln Part of the indoor area "Mayaland", based on Maya the Bee. 2011
De Klimboom The Climbing Tree Playground Part of the indoor area "Mayaland", based on Maya the Bee. 2011
De Koffiekopjes The Coffee Cups Teacups ride Mack Rides Renovated in 2015. During this renovation, the attraction was completely covered by a castle. 2003
De Dansende Fonteinen The Dancing Fountains Splash pad 2001
De Eenden The Ducks Duck Roundabout Metallbau Emmeln 2000
De Valtoren The Falling Tower Family free fall tower Zierer Part of the indoor area "Mayaland", based on Maya the Bee. 2011
De Bloemenmolen The Flowery Merry-go-Round Flying Fish Zierer Part of the indoor area "Mayaland", based on Maya the Bee. A special song was written for this attraction. 2011
De Vliegende Fietsen The Flying Bikes Magic Bikes Zamperla 2008
De Kikkers The Frogs Jump Around Zamperla 2007
Carrousel The Merry-go-Round Carrousel Wooddesign 2004
Waterfietsen The Pedal Boats Pedal Boats In 2012, the standard boats were replaced by pedal boats in the shape of swans. 1995
De Piratenboot The Pirate Ship Pirate Ship HUSS Park Attractions 1981
De Piratenspeeltuin The Pirates' Playground Playground 2006
De konijntjes The Rabbits Ponytrekking Metallbau Emmeln 2007
Het Vlot The Raft Raft Part of the indoor area "Mayaland", based on Maya the Bee. 2011
Het Spinnenweb The Spider's Web Playground Part of the indoor area "Mayaland", based on Maya the Bee. 2011
De Hangbrug The Suspension Bridge Suspension bridge Kaiser & Kuhne 1995
De Swingboom The Swinging Tree Kontiki Zierer Part of the indoor area "Mayaland", based on Maya the Bee. 2011
De Tractors The Tractors Car ride Metallbau Emmeln 2002
De Buurtpolitie Verkeerspark The Traffic Park Driving school 2000
De Waterlelies The Water Lilies Demolition Derby Zamperla Part of the indoor area "Mayaland", based on Maya the Bee. 2011
Wickie The Battle Wickie The Battle Splash Battle Mack Rides Part of "Wickieland", based on Vic the Viking. 2013
Wienerwalz Wienerwalz Wave swing Wooddesign 2015
Willies Speeltuin Willy's Playground Playground Part of the indoor area "Mayaland", based on Maya the Bee. 2011
Mayaland Indoor

De Panne resort

Plopsaqua and the Proximus Theater in the background

The theme park is part of the larger Plopsa resort that consist of an indoor theme park (2011), the Proximus Theater (2013), Plopsaqua De Panne (2015), a hotel (2021) and a camping (2021/2022). The resort also houses the headquarters of the Plopsa-group.

Visitor numbers

Below is an overview of the development of Plopsaland visitor numbers, as stated in the annual report.[10]

Year Visitors
2011 1.221.108 Increase
2012 1.176.639 Decrease
2013 1.222.169 Increase
2014 1.280.947 Increase
2015 1.276.302 Decrease
2016 1.353.162 Increase
2017 1.398.172 Increase
2018 1.209.512 Decrease

Trivia

Koning Plopsa on the backdrop
  • The name Plopsaland is an aggregation of the first two Studio 100 characters Plop and Samson. Another name that the new owners thought of was Pannadine after the town De Panne, this name was abandoned after the new owners discovered it was a medical creme.[11]
  • From 2000 until 2012 the park - and the other parks of the group - had Koning Plopsa as icon. In recent years the character was taken out of the logo's, parkshows and as a walk-around character. At various places around the resort the icon can still be found.[12]

References

  1. ↑ Antoine Dié (May 15, 2018). "Plopsaland entre dans l'ère des grands parcs européens". La Voix du Nord. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  2. ↑ Steen, Gudrun (2016-07-15). "Meli-park herleeft weer (even)". Het Laatste Nieuws. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
  3. ↑ "Meli-park wordt thuishaven van Samson en Plop". De Morgen. 1999-06-10. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  4. ↑ Steen, Gudren (2020-07-24). "Gert Verhulst blikt terug op 20 jaar Plopsaland in 20 vragen: "Op eerste dag vergaten we tank van treintje te vullen, waardoor het na 50 meter stilviel... gênant!"". Het Laatste Nieuws. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
  5. ↑ "Plop heerst alleen over zijn land". Het Nieuwsblad (in Flemish). 2 February 2005. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  6. ↑ "The Ride to Happiness coming to Plopsa De Panne in 2021". Thrill Nation. 2021-01-15. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
  7. ↑ "Als de kinderen gaan slapen, ontwaken de griezels in Plopsaland De Panne". Het Laatste Nieuws. 2019-10-11. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
  8. ↑ "Attractions". Plopsaland De Panne. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  9. 1 2 3 English names as found on the official park website.
  10. ↑ "PLOPSA NV STAATSBLAD PUBLICATIES en JAARREKENINGEN (BE0466400051)". www.staatsbladmonitor.be. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  11. ↑ Decker, Karen De (2017-06-14). "AHA: daar komt de naam Plopsaland vandaan". Flair.be (in Flemish). Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  12. ↑ "Nieuws / Koning Plopsa verdwijnt uit Plopsa-logo's / PlopsaFansite". PlopsaFansite. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
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