Europe: Resurrection of Theme Parks in Great Britain & Benelux
Keukenhof, NL
At the beginning of April, the UK entered the second opening phase for many areas of public life – theme and amusement parks as well as zoos have also been allowed to reopen their outdoor areas since April 12. Among the facilities back in operation is Chessington World of Adventures, which already opened its new “Crock Drop” drop tower (by SBF Visa) to visitors on the first opening day. Also, with the start of the season, Paultons Park inaugurated its new theme area “Tornado Springs”, which will thrill visitors with no less than eight new attractions (read our article in EAP 3/2021). Also in the starting blocks for this season is the new “The World of David Walliams” theme area at Alton Towers, which will feature the “Gangsta Granny: The Ride” dark ride experience (the opening was originally planned for 2020, but had to be postponed). The park communicates May 17 as opening date for the ride.
Amusement parks in Belgium will also be allowed to reopen as early as May 8. The facilities are ready to go, among others the amusement parks Bobbejaanland and Bellewaerde are looking forward to welcome visitors again. Guests at Walibi Belgium can also look forward to a first ride on the new “Kondaa” mega coaster, which will be up and running when the park opens. You can read all about the “fastest and highest rollercoaster in the Benelux” in our upcoming May/June magazine issue (EAP 3/2021). Plopsaland de Panne, which with “The Ride to Happiness” will also launch a new large-scale rollercoaster this summer, will open its gates on May 8, too. The Pairi Daiza adventure zoo, which completed a 4.5-hectare expansion last season with “La Terre du Froid” (cf. EAP 6/2020), has already been open again since February 13. Among other measures, there is a face mask requirement valid throughout the entire site for visitors aged twelve and over. Unfortunately, the operators of water parks must still show great patience – there is still no concrete prospect for reopening. Pools may currently only be used for school swimming lessons and sports swimming.
In The Netherlands, the first easing of the hard lockdown lasting several months has been in force since yesterday (April 28), initially affecting retail stores, restaurants and cafés which can now reopen in compliance with strict Covid-19 protection measures. Theme parks – even Keukenhof, probably Holland’s most famous flower park – are not yet allowed to start into the season, but there is a concrete perspective for operators: From mid-May, the reopening of amusement parks could be possible. Efteling and Toverland express hope on their respective websites to welcome back visitors from May 11. Just a few days ago, Efteling announced its results for the 2020 fiscal year, which was shaped by the pandemic (cf. EAP news of 26 Apr 2021). Wildlands Adventure Zoo in Emmen and Burgers’ Zoo in Arnhem are also still closed and hope for the possibility to reopen from May 11. The same applies to adventure pools such as Tikibad (Duinrell Holiday Park) and Slagharen amusement park with its related water park Aqua Mexicana.
Read also our summaries Scandinavia & Poland, France & Southern Europe and DACH. (eap)
