Plopsaland Belgium, April 2026

Day 2 of our Belgium roadtrip took us back up to the north of the country to De Panne, to visit Plopsaland Belgium.

This day was all about one ride, and one ride only: #LikeMe coaster. Yeah, right. We were there for what is regarded as the best coaster in Europe, and one of the best coasters in the world: Ride To Happiness!

Located about 40 minutes from Calais, Plopsaland Belgium (formerly Plopsaland De Panne) is set in the small coastal town of De Panne, and it’s a doddle to get to from the Le Shuttle station. We’ve watched Theme Park Worldwide say its a great spot for a first drive in Europe, and an easy park to get to, so we though we’d try. And it was easy to get to. We came at it from the other side, due to our visit to Walibi Belgium the day before, but it is just straight out of the train and don’t turn off the motorway until you see the signs, and then its a short drive into a small town. It is a bit odd as it just looks like someone’s dropped a theme park behind Coronation Street

So how much is a ticket for Plopsaland Belgium I here you all ask. Well, during the 2026 season, an undated ticket will cost you €56 for guests over 1m, under 1m for €20. You can buy dated tickets which are the cheaper option, or an undated ticket starting at €38. We booked a family ticket for €169 covering 4 people, which worked out cheaper than a dated ticket for our trip, and is also an undated ticket itself, so check that out if you’re visiting as a family. Car parking is an additional €15. All in all our visit cost $184, or £160 in GBP.

After parking up and strolling along the car park along the side of Heide The Ride, you come to the main entrance, with the hotel off to the right. At the centre of the entrance plaza, there’s a giant door. Doesn’t go anywhere, its just a massive open doorway. Nice for a photo, but I don’t get it. Though it does make for a unique centrepiece. Once the gates are open, you’re scanned in. there was no bag check or anything (that I remember) and straight in with no issues. Just inside there’s the entrance show with some of the park’s characters, and you’re into the main plaza with all the shows and the main stage.

Plopsaland is a park based on Studio 100 characters, and its a bit like a mini Disney. Its a family park at heart, with lots of cartoon characters and teen TV show themed attractions. There’s plenty of indoor and outdoor areas and attractions, shows at the start and end of the day and parades in between. The park is separated out into different themed areas and has a wide selection of rides generally aimed at children and young teens. And then, there’s Ride To Happiness.

Lets get into some of those fun rides!

Anubis was a great coaster, and a blessing as the height requirement is only 1,25m, so Elliott who’s only 1.26m tall could just about get on and he was chuffed to bits. Its a Gerstlauer launch coaster with 3 inversions, and that launch is pretty punchy! The ride is themed to a TV show called Het Huis Anubis, and the station is the school of this Egyptian treasure themed show, with animals on the walls and some office scenes. Not the best themed station I’ve ever seen, but the ride itself was great fun! I took some on-ride videos, and all you can hear is Elliott screaming all the way around. It’s just what he does.

We’re getting an Art Engineering Wild Swing at Paultons Park here in the UK in May, when Valgard opens its gates, so we were happy to give one a test run here. Another great family ride that’s a little more thrilling and we enjoyed it!

A fun, GCI wooden coaster in a Swiss themed area of Heidiland, for the Studio 100 character Heidi. It was fast, with a good layout and wasn’t too rickety. Jo wasn’t a big fan. It didn’t quite deliver the comedy thrashing that Loup Garou delivered the day before, but I liked it.

A fantastic dinosaur themed flume ride. I don’t mind a log flume on a hot day, Elliott isn’t a fan but we managed to persuade him to join us. Lots of good dinosaur models around the queue line, with giant firefly bugs with illuminated tails in the darker areas. The ride itself passes a brachiosaurus before heading up and dropping into a volcano, then down into the main splash where you’re greeted by a T-Rex. Not a massive soaker, but good fun.

a 220ft Star Flyer themed to a supernatural kids TV show. I love a Star Flyer, especially when they’re this tall so you can see all across the park. Elliott loves these too.

A Mack Rides SuperSplash with an original and catchy name. You go up a spiral tower in the dark, then a door opens and sends you down the chute to an epic splashdown. We got fairly wet, not a full-on pants and shoes soaker, but a good head-to-waist covering of rain kinda feel. After that its a leisurely boat ride around for a few mins and back to the station. Good fun on a warm day!

Wow. You can see why this coaster has the reputation it has gathered. Best coaster in Europe it may well be. Its got the look, the theming, great elements and a fun experience. The slow spinning loop out of the station alone is a visual highlight. Its just beautiful… for a rollercoaster anyway. A futuristic station building with a steampunk look to it.

The queue has an industrial feel to it large metal tanks with water in, then you have the green and gold steampunk archways outside. Inside the station has wood finished walls and ceilings, with green and gold cogs and wheels turning on the wall in front of the hologram AI face that introduces the ride. The trains have the same look and feel too, its just a visual masterpiece in theming.

And then there’s the ride itself. Its a Mack Rides xtreme spinning coaster with 5 inversions, boosts and launches, all with a spinning train. Its a different experience from wherever you sit. It gently inverts out of the station over the ride courtyard area, before sending you from the first launch, which is hilarious when you’re facing sideways, into a set of twists and turns, and even a banana loop. Not sure I’ve done one of those. All of this and on-ride audio for the complete package of a ride. It was just awesome.

I did miss out on 2 coaster creds, because both #LikeMe and K3 Roller Skater always had a queue, and I wasn’t waiting around for 50 mins for #LikeMe, when Ride to Happiness was only on 20. Both were only small coasters, which we’ll have to get back again to claim the creds for. Elliott did get on K3 and he wasn’t impressed.

Aside from coasters, you have The Big Wave, a fantastic themed Zamperla Disk’o and Wickie Battle, an equally stunning looking splash battle, both set in WickieLand. Bos Van Plop, an Indoor boat dark ride with some crazy characters, Draconis, a Mack Rides powered coaster that passes through the castle in Night Watch land and has some great effects inside.

Plenty of car rides, wave swingers, carousels, playgrounds, spinning boats, drop rides, pedal boats, balloon rides, slides, splash pads and even animals. I didn’t see any animals, but there are some!

On the way into the park, there is a little entrance show at the gate with music playing and some characters to greet the guests. During the afternoon, there’s a parade with the Studio 100 characters riding fancy floats. And for the end of the day, is the big finale show, with a stage filled with song, dance, fireworks and more to say farewell to guests.

We only caught a bit of the end show and parades, as the kids aren’t really for watching things like this when there’s rides to be done. It was our first visit after all, so maybe next time. What we did catch looked great. Vibrant and entertaining for the kids, but wasted on us as we don’t know the characters.

Lots of places to choose from, and here’s what we picked up. Obviously we had to try some Belgian waffles from one of the waffle stands, costing €6.50 and dripping in Nutella. They were nice, but nothing amazing. Over in Heideland there s a Pizza Hut, which felt a bit unexpected. You could either get a slice or a whole smaller pizza. We went later on and it was closing early, so just grabbed a few slices for the kids. Was around €7 for a slice.

The highlight of food for us was the Bratwurst from Schemermeer (Shadowmere) Barbecue in the Night Watch / castle area. They’ve got a full on barbecue going on in there and it was hands down one of the best hot dogs I’ve ever had. Lovely flavour, and with some curry ketchup on too, it was an absolute treat for €11, Also picked up a can of Jupiler 0% lager which was nice. Not usually a fan of a 0% lager but this tasted like a real lager. Think it was €4 for a can, which isn’t bad considering waster was €4.50 per bottle! Didn’t see any refill points around, but id imagine you could get refills in the restaurants if you ask.

Well, to extend your trip to Plopsaland Belgium, you can stay at the Plopsaland Theater Hotel, which we’d love to do one day as it looks really nice inside. We did price it up, but as usual with posh theme park hotels, it was a little pricey. Maybe next time. They also have other overnight stay options in the Plopsaland Village (for 6-12 people), the Studio 100 Chalets and even Plopsaland Basecamp nearby for camping and caravans.

Just a short walk further down from the main park entrance is the resorts water park: Plopsaqua De Panne. A small indoor and outdoor pater park with Viking theming and a few slides and play areas. Looks nice inside and would make a great 3 night break if coupled with a hotel stay and a few days in the park.

We headed into the big shop near the entrance at the end of the day which felt like a massive market. It had bits and pieces from all of the rides and attractions plus a lot of random toys. Plenty of things to buy and souvenir options. It is very expensive though, I did look for a Ride To Happiness T-shirt, but they were about £40! Hoodies were £80. We picked up the usual magnets and keyrings which set ups back around £26.

It was great to get to visit this park we’d heard so much about and finally claim the cred for Ride to Happiness. It is predominantly a family park aimed at young kids to early teens, and our kids fall within that category, so it was great for them, but it does cater for the thrill seekers too. And despite being 8 years old and quite small, Anubis with its launches and inversions was Elliott’s favourite.

Plopsaland Belgium a lovely park with great theming, fun shows and parades and an absolute tonne of different rides and attractions. The areas all look clean and vibrant with lots of fun indoor and outdoor areas, and its a park that’s evolving too. While we were there they were in the middle of building something new in the entrance area, which I believe will be a new 4D cinema experience, so who knows what they’ll add next.

Its definitely a park we’d like to visit again. We kinda just walked along the same path and missed some areas, so we need to see those, check out more of the rides, see the shows more and maybe stay at the Plospsaland theater Hotel. And it’s easy to get to from the UK too, so we’ll be back.

Get the full details at the Plopsaland Belgium website!