Walibi's back!

This year, the grounds are immaculate and the park looks in very good condition. Unfortunately there were a few problems still; most notably the Turbine wasn't running at all. The Werewolf and Radja River were closed until the afternoon, with the Werewolf running only a single train, creating enormous queues.

The Calamity Mine was also not running at peak, with only one of the three trains in operation, along with the Dalton Terror only running two of its five carriages. Fortunately the Cobra and Vampire were still in perfect form.

Having been completed nearly a whole year ago, the Vertigo it still not yet operational, however I know the Walibi staff tried it out last year. It turns out it's still being tested, and should be opened during this coming summer, but I can understand the teething problems as this is apparently the first of its kind, and one of the first few rides from Austrian engineers Input. According to the Rollercoaster Database, this is the only coaster they've built to date.

Then again, I do wonder if the sale of Walibi from Star Parks to Grévin & Cie early last year has also had something to do with the delays.

Interestingly, the staff seem mostly new this year, but we managed to find Fred (originally of Cobra fame), now hanging out at Radja River. Hi Fred!

The park really is very good; it just takes some time to get going at the start of the year. I like the place despite its short-comings, and I'm glad I got myself a season pass for the third year running.

This year, if I do manage to head over to the states for work, I'll try to get some guys together to visit Carowinds (about 1 hour 40 minutes drive from the office) — I'm very tempted to try this BORG Assimilator thing!