Plopsaland De Panne

Plopsaland De Panne

Previously known as Meli Park
Location	Adinkerke, De Panne, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium
Coordinates	51°04′47″N2°35′49″E / 51.07972°N 2.59694°E / 51.07972; 2.59694
Opened	April 21, 1935 (as Meli Park) April 20, 2000 (as Plopsaland)
Owner	Plopsa/Studio 100
Operating season	April to January
Attendance	1.3 million in 2017 [1]
Attractions
Total	37
Roller coasters	7
Water rides	2
Website	official website

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

History

Meli Park

See also: Meli Park

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

Plopsaland

The Florizoone family sold the park in 1999 to Studio 100 and VMMa. The park received a makeover during the following winter season, to reopen as Plopsaland on 20 April 2000. During the renovation several characters from Studio 100, such as Samson en Gert and Kabouter Plop , were used to theme new and old attractions. ^[3] The new park had some issues at reopening with parking capacity and catering, though these were corrected 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
Het 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
2012	1.176.639
2013	1.222.169
2014	1.280.947
2015	1.276.302
2016	1.353.162
2017	1.398.172
2018	1.209.512

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. 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.

External links

• Plopsaland Official Website