parkpoint

Old Timers

africanfreak — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 16:59:28 GMT

Bobbejaanland

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The Old Timers was a car ride in Bobbejaanland. It was located to where El Rio is nowadays. The ride opened in 1978, and was built by Gebruder Ihle. In 1983 the ride received new theming with dinosaurs. After the ride closed in 1999 the theming moved to the time tunnel.

The cars were painted in blue, red or green. And had an emblem of Ford on it. The ride was not very long, and not heavily themed. However, it had a nice and simple station, and the ride was in fact enclosed since the cars had a roof.

(video)

Did you know:
That the ride had a pretty boring layout? When leaving the station, the ride would turn immediately to the left. After a few dinosaurs it made a turn back to the station. When near the station, the track would turn back to the other side. After a few dinosaurs, it went again back to the station to end the ride.

- Popularity Attraction
This attraction was not very popular, probably because of the boring scenery, and the fact that the ride couldn't be photographed.

- Waiting Times
The waiting times were pretty short about 5 minutes.

- Theming attraction
This ride was simply themed. Most of the theming were the dinosaurs. The station was a simple wooden lodge.

- Riding Time
The riding time was about 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

- Disordering of attraction
This attraction was actually one without any serious problems, but sometimes it didn't work well.

''Old timers replaced by a rapid river, good choice!''

Mystery Hotel

africanfreak — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 16:48:13 GMT

Bobbejaanland

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Mystery Hotel was a walktrough ride in Bobbejaanland. It was a kind of comedy haunted house. The ride was located in the cowboy village where you can find now santa fé, the restaurant. The ride opened in 1985 and closed in 1997. The ride was built by Sparks.

The ride was mostly made glow in the dark with black light scene's. The scenery and theming was pretty simple and flat, but due the effects it looked like it was more realistic. However, some scene's were actually more detailed.

(video)

Did you know:
That the 2 cowboys on the tof of the entrance were used in 1998 for the entrance of the new coaster Speedy bob?

- Popularity Attraction
This attraction was popular, as it was indoor, but the quality was not very high to keep the ride alive.

- Waiting Times
The waiting times were about 5 minutes.

- Theming attraction
This ride was themed western. It had simple decorations to be light up with black light. Some scene's were pretty good themed, others were a pain in the ass.

- Riding Time
The riding time is unknown, it was a walktrough, so probably you were be able to walk trough it as slow or fast as you wanted. With an average time of 5 minutes.

- Disordering of attraction
This attraction was always open, since it had no advanced techniques.

''The Mystery Hotel is actually a big mystery.''

Motor bootjes

africanfreak — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 15:56:39 GMT

Bobbejaanland

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Motor bootjes was a boathire ride in Bobbejaanland. The boats were motorized. The boats were painted white with yellow, blue or red. The ride shared the dock with an other boat hire mode called Trapbootjes.

There is not much known over the ride, even the opening and closing date are unknown to us. What we do know is that it was located on the other side of the lake from the ferris wheel. Where indiana river is nowadays.

(video)

Did you know:
That this ride was most of the time called trap- en motorbootjes. However, since it are 2 different types of boats, we count them as separate rides.

- Popularity Attraction
This attraction popular with sunny days.

- Waiting Times
The waiting times were pretty short about 5 minutes.

- Theming attraction
This ride was not themed, it were just simply painted motorboats.

- Riding Time
The riding time is unknown, but we think there was a maximum of 15 minutes.

- Disordering of attraction
This attraction was actually one without any problems, the ride was always open when the weather allowed it.

''Boats for over the lake''

Mississipiboot

africanfreak — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 15:27:01 GMT

Bobbejaanland

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Mississipiboot was a boat ride in Bobbejaanland on the big lake in the middle of the park. The boat was themed to a classic mississipi boat. It opened in 1985 and closed after the 2000 season. It was in the park for 8 years, but not operational. They finally sold the boat in 2008, it is now a liveable boat.

The ride took 20 minutes, and so was one of the longest rides in the park. On the boat was place for 150 visitors. The capacity of the ride was 500 - 750 per hour, not very big. The boat was worth 250.000 euros. The reason for removing is unknown, but with the low capacity, the long riding time should probably be one of the reasons.

(video)

Did you know:
That the ride was one of the very few boat-rides in belgium? Most boat-rides in Belgium are logflumes or simple pedal boats. This one was the only ride with a big boat over a lake in the country.

- Popularity Attraction
This attraction seemed to be pretty popular. especially with a nice sun.

- Waiting Times
The waiting times were at least 20 minutes, since there was one boat.

- Theming attraction
This ride was themed to the well known mississipi boats. During the ride there was no other theming, just a cruise around the lake of the park. Also the platform to get on the boat was not themed, could have been better.

- Riding Time
The riding time was 20 minutes.

- Disordering of attraction
This attraction was always open, untill it closed in 2000 to 2008.

''Maybe gone to build a new rollercoaster?''

Mambo

africanfreak — Fri, 23 Dec 2016 19:52:17 GMT

Bobbejaanland

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Mambo was a thrill-flatride in Bobbejaanland. It was a Feria-Swing built by Mack Rides. It opened in 2000. The totem-decoration has been added in the 2001 season. The ride has been removed in the 2010 season, to make room for Dizz. The ride has been relocated in a french park: La Recré des 3 Curés.

The ride was a fast one with swinging cars, the ride would go up and down like a catterpillar ride. It's first location was a the cowboy village, near Aztec. It could probably stay there when the ride was not moved to an other location in the park. The ride went forwards and backwards during the 3 minutes, making it extra thrilling.

(video)

Did you know:
That Mambo changed location in 2003/2004? Due the removal of Rainbow, Mambo received a new spot in the park. But a small 6 years laters the ride has been removed for Dizz.

- Popularity Attraction
This attraction was not very popular, but was a nice thrilling infill ride.

- Waiting Times
The waiting times were pretty short about 5 minutes.

- Theming attraction
This ride was simply themed, the first year it looked simple, but in 2001 the totems have been added to the building, making it a nice ride. However we prefer a stone building, Bobbejaanland made it so that it looked quite good.

- Riding Time
The riding time was exactly 3 minutes.

- Disordering of attraction
This attraction was actually one without any problems, the ride was always open.

''Not old, but still sold''

Looping Star

africanfreak — Fri, 23 Dec 2016 19:34:48 GMT

Bobbejaanland

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The Looping star was a schwarzkopf coaster located in Bobbejaanland, it was the second, or thirth coaster of the park. Since it opened together with Alpenblitz. It was an iconic ride for Bobbejaanland. The looping was famous for it's location in the park. It was closed at 2 october 2003. A new coaster called Typhoon opened at the location of Loopingstar. When building Typhoon they wanted the looping on the exact same spot. The new coaster has more inversions, but has shorter trains and doesn't look as massive as Looping star was.

The ride has been scrapped because of the many problems the coaster had. It was a ride meant to ride with 2 trains, so the park bought a seconds train in 1997. However, due to the many usage (and probably bad maintainace in the beginning years) the ride's shape has been changed. Yhe ride went from 2 trains to 1 train in 2003 due safety reasons. The park hoped that it was possible to renew the ride. But due the changed ride shape it was impossible to rebuild the coaster. It was also not possible to built it in an other park. So they had to scrap the ride, and built a completely new ride.

(video)

Did you know:
That this was the first coaster in belgium with a looping? From 1979 to 2003 there came a lot more coaster in the country with loopings: 5 in total. However that is not a lot, it's a lot when compared to the amount of coaster in Belgium, there are not so many themeparks. After 2003 2 more coasters with loopings opened in Belgium.

- Popularity Attraction
This attraction was very popular, since it was the one and only coaster with a looping in Bobbejaanland, however, the new coaster is popular too.

- Waiting Times
The waiting times were about 10 to 20 minutes In the last year ramping up to 40.

- Theming attraction
This ride was not themed or landscaped, but the looping did fit the location and was very iconic. The colors were also pretty simple, gray and blue. Not the best themed ride for the park, but it could have been worser.

- Riding Time
The riding time was 2 minutes.

- Disordering of attraction
This attraction was mostly open, but the last years the ride did get more and more disorgering..

''The first loopingstar of the benelux to be removed''

Kleine Monorail

africanfreak — Sun, 04 Dec 2016 20:07:21 GMT

Bobbejaanland

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Kleine monorail was probably called Monorail in the park, but it's unsure because this ride is everywhere referred as ''Kleine'' Monorail. Which is dutch for Small Monorail. It was a smaller parcour than the modern Monorail. It had an open train, but also an enclosed train. The ride was without an operator in the train.

The station was where the Dino ride is nowadays. It was a simply round ride. It went to the ferriswheel, near Wervelwind back to the station. The track was painted white, but later green. It opened in the 1969 season, and was built by Schwingel. It closed in 1994.

(video)

Did you know:
That it was once operating together with the bigger monorail?

- Popularity Attraction
This attraction was popular, especially by the kids.

- Waiting Times
The waiting times were pretty short about 5 minutes.

- Theming attraction
This ride was not themed, but located above the park, wending over the pathways.

- Riding Time
The riding time was about 3 minutes we'll guess.

- Disordering of attraction
This attraction was always open.

''The first monorail of the park''

Jommekesland

africanfreak — Sun, 04 Dec 2016 19:56:48 GMT

Bobbejaanland

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This ride was a area with actually 2 small rides combines. The building contained a riding bull ride, which switched later from location. Outside was a simple playground for the kids. The ride opened in 1979. Bobbejaan met the drawer of Jommeke, and so this area was build.

However, it was for a short while, it has been closed after the 1982 season,

(video)

Did you know:
That this ride was built near the lake? Which is a little bit strange, the water is a danger for smaller kids, so a playground so nearby water, wasn't probably the best choice.

- Popularity Attraction
This attraction was not very popular. The playground however attracted some kids, but the park grew bigger, and the space was needed for more spectacular rides.

- Waiting Times
There were no waiting times for this ride.

- Theming attraction
This attraction was not really good themed, the playground was basic, but okay. The bull riding was inside a building with some bright colors. On that building was also Jommeke painted, but that was actually all the theming.

- Riding Time
The riding time was as long as you wanted.

- Disordering of attraction
This attraction was always open.

''A playground with a strip-figure theme, but not themed''

Indian Art Museum

africanfreak — Sun, 04 Dec 2016 19:39:48 GMT

Bobbejaanland

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The Indian Art Museum was an educative museum mostly used to learn something during schooltrips. It opened in 1978. It closed in 2006, after the park has been sold to a new owner. The objects in the museum were split in 2 parts. One half went to the university of Gent. The other half went to family Schoepen.

The most objects in the museum were like clothing, paintings, jeweld and bronze attributes. But one of the most noticable objects was the giant car in the middle. A real American Pontiac. It was one of the 2 Bobbejaan owned.

(video)

Did you know:
That you can still see some of the objects? A fansite organises a memorial day and every year they'll do that with coörporation of the family. On this special day it is possible to look at some of the objects from the museum, but also possible to get to know more about the park's history.

- Popularity Attraction
This attraction was not very popular. Because a museum in a themepark is never really popular. But with the educative option for schools it was still well visited. After selling the park to a new owner the popularity was gone, and so it was better to split up the items, and close the building.

- Waiting Times
There were no waiting times.

- Theming attraction
This attraction was not themed well from the outside, it was just a wooden lodge, but the inside was like how a museum looks like. Educational, and a lot of attributes to look at. Nicely done Bobbejaan!

- Riding Time
The riding time was as long as you wanted.

- Disordering of attraction
This attraction was always open.

''An educational museum, oh and a cool car''

Helicoptermolen

africanfreak — Sun, 04 Dec 2016 19:20:24 GMT

Bobbejaanland

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Helicopter molen was a small kiddy ride. It opened in 1979. After the 1995 season the ride has been sold to a french park. Parc Bagatelle. However, it is unknown how the ride was called there, and how long it operated there, since it is at this moment not in the park anymore.

The ride was a very simple funfair ride, it even didn't get a facelift in Bobbejaanland. The heli's were just the standard color as on the fun fairs. The ride wasn't themed, only the fact that there were heli's in different colors and that it had some simple, but nice fences around it was the only shape of theming in the ride.

(video)

Did you know:
That also the location of the ride is unknown? We don't have any good quality park maps of that period, but one the ones we can see, we'll guess it was in between of Revolution and Condor.

- Popularity Attraction
This attraction was not popular, it was an ugly ride when compared to other rides in the park, and it was for the smallest kids, which had already other better rides. So they decided to sell it to an other park who could use it better.

- Waiting Times
The waiting times were almost always under the 5 minutes.

- Theming attraction
This attraction was not really themed, there were some simply painted helicopters with a strange shape in the middle of the ride as decoration. The fences around it were painted white and red with a little ornament.

- Riding Time
The riding time was probably 3 minutes, like most flatrides.

- Disordering of attraction
This attraction was always open. Since it was a simple and proven ride concept issues were never very long.

''An ugly ride has been sold... and ended exactly where?''