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Plopsaland
Plopsaland De Panne is a theme park located in Adinkerke, Belgium - part of the municipality De Panne - owned and operated by Plopsa. The park reopened on 20 April 2000, before that the park was known as Meli Park from 1935 until 1999. History Meli Park In 1935, Alberic-Joseph Florizoone opened Meli Park, a place where he could sell his own produced honey, but also teach the visitors about the process and the bee itself. Over the years - to keep up with competition - the park opened several attractions, turning it into a theme park. Plopsaland The family Florizoone sold the park in 1999 to Studio 100 and ''VMMa''. The park received a make-over during the following winter season, to reopen as Plopsaland on 20 April 2000. During the renovation several characters from Studio 100 were used - such as ''Samson en Gert'' and '' Kabouter Plop'' - to theme new and old attractions. The new park had some issues at the reopening with parking capacity and catering, these issues were ...
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The Ride To Happiness
The Ride to Happiness is a steel spinning roller coaster located at Plopsaland De Panne in Adinkerke, Belgium. It is Europe's first Mack Rides Xtreme Spinning Coaster, and holds the record for the most inversions on a spinning coaster. The attraction is Time Traveller Themed. History Reports first emerged in August 2019 that—amid increasing competition from Belgian theme parks—Plopsaland was looking into constructing a major new spinning coaster from Mack Rides, likely to be installed for the 2022 season. This backed up earlier reports that park director Steve Van den Kerkhof had been spotted inspecting the Time Traveler spinning coaster at Silver Dollar City in the U.S. state of Missouri. On September 24, Van den Kerkhof unveiled plans for the attraction under the working title ''Robo-Spinner'', confirming that it would indeed be a Mack Rides Xtreme Spinning Coaster. The coaster was said at the time to represent an investment of €15,000,000 and had been pushed up towa ...
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Plopsa
Plopsa is the theme park division of Studio 100, the company operates 8 (water) parks across Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany and Poland. History Plopsa began its operation at the end of 1999 when Studio 100 acquired Meli Park in Adinkerke in the Municipality De Panne. After several renovations the park reopened as Plopsaland on 29 April 2000. Several attractions got a layover with Studio 100 characters, such as Kabouter Plop, Samson & Gert and Bumba. In December 2005 the company opened a new indoor theme park in the Municipality Hasselt, named Plopsa Indoor Hasselt. This marked the opening of the first indoor theme park in Belgium. In the same year Plopsa also acquired Télécoo, an amusement park near the waterfalls of Coo. Several attraction got an overlay with Studio 100 characters, just like the attractions of the former Meli Park. July 2007 the park was renamed to Plopsa Coo. In 2010 Plopsa crossed the Dutch and German border and opened an indoor theme park in Coevorden, ...
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Meli Park
Meli Park was a theme park which was opened in 1935 in Adinkerke in the municipality of De Panne on the Belgian coast. History The bee-themed amusement park was initiated by Alberic-Joseph Florizoone, owner of a honey company. Its mascot was a bee. It was one of the first Belgian theme parks. Over the years some new attractions were added. The first ones were the labyrinth and the zoo. In the 1950s, a miniature golf course, french formal garden The French formal garden, also called the (), is a style of garden based on symmetry and the principle of imposing order on nature. Its epitome is generally considered to be the Gardens of Versailles designed during the 17th century by the l ...s, a fairytale forest, water organ were introduced. Over the years, it became one of the biggest attractions in Belgium as Antwerp Zoo and Caves of Han-sur-Lesse. Into the 1970s and the 1980s, with a growing variety of rides, Meli Park's visitor numbers reached 700,000 per annum. Its ico ...
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Zierer
Zierer Karussell- und Spezialmaschinenbau GmbH & Co. KG (Short name: Zierer ) is a German company located close to Deggendorf. Zierer manufactures Tivoli and Force line of roller coasters, as well as panoramic wheels, wave swingers, flying carpets, ''Hexentanz'', and ''Kontiki'' rides. The company also has partnered with Schwarzkopf to build '' Lisebergbanan'' at Liseberg and '' Knightmare'' at Camelot Theme Park. The name of the company, translated from German, is Zierer Carousel and Special Machine Construction. "Special machine construction" refers to amusement rides such as roller coasters or wave swingers. Zierer was founded in 1930, and is a subsidiary of Max Streicher GmbH & Co. KG aA. List of roller coasters As of 2021, Zierer has built 188 roller coaster A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along ...
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Gerstlauer
Gerstlauer Amusement Rides GmbH is a German manufacturer of stationary and transportable amusement rides and roller coasters, located in Münsterhausen, Germany. History In 1982, Hubert Gerstlauer, a former employee of the Anton Schwarzkopf-owned Schwarzkopf Industries GmbH company founded his own company, named Gerstlauer Elektro GmbH. With this new Gerstlauer-named company, he delivered electric and pneumatic equipment for Schwarzkopf's facilities. After final bankruptcy of Schwarzkopf Industries GmbH in 1992, Gerstlauer Elektro GmbH acquired part of their production sites and facilities, and continued the manufacture of amusement rides and roller coasters. In March 2007, Gerstlauer Elektro GmbH was subsequently renamed Gerstlauer Amusement Rides GmbH. Gerstlauer's first own-designed and manufactured roller coaster, the 'G'sengte Sau', a bobsled roller coaster, was built in Erlebnispark Tripsdrill, an amusement park in Baden-Württemberg, south-eastern Germany. Si ...
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K3 (band)
K3 is a Belgian-Dutch girl group with a Dutch-language pop repertoire, consisting of Hanne Verbruggen, Marthe De Pillecyn and Julia Boschman. The group's name is derived from first letters of the three first members from 1998: Karen Damen, Kristel Verbeke and Kathleen Aerts. Their signature style and iconocity relies in all three girls mostly wearing the same outfit, and in the fact that each girl's hair represents one color in the Belgian flag. Throughout their career, K3 has built a space within Dutch and Belgian pop culture. The rise to fame of K3 began with their running to represent Belgium in the 1999 Eurovision Song Contest with the single "Heyah Mama", eventually losing to Vanessa Chinitor's " Like the Wind". Despite receiving mixed reviews from the judges, the song peaked at two in Belgium (Ultratop 50 Singles) and at eighteen in The Netherlands. It was included in the debut album '' Parels'' (1999), which also met great commercial success in both countries. The band's ...
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Studio 100
Studio 100 is a Belgian production company with four television channels, four animation studios and 8 theme parks around the world. The headquarters of the group is based in Schelle, with offices in Breda, Munich, Paris, New York, Sydney and Los Angeles. History Studio 100 was founded in 1996 by Gert Verhulst, Danny Verbiest and Hans Bourlon. The three came together in 1989 when they created the show '' Samson & Gert'', in which Verhulst and Verbiest also starred. Besides the production of their original show they started creating a new series called '' Kabouter Plop''. Following the success of these two shows the company expanded into new fields in 1999. They produced two new television series, a movie, a musical and acquired a themepark. For the latter three they required co-funding from the Vlaamse Media Maatschappij. 2000 saw the acquiring of the girl group '' K3'' and in the following years the number of television series, movies and musicals produced by Studio 100 grew. ...
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Great Coasters International
Great Coasters International, Inc. (GCI or GCII) is a Sunbury, Pennsylvania-based roller coaster manufacturer which has created several award-winning rides since its formation in 1994. Starting in 2006 with Thunderbird at PowerPark in Finland, the company expanded beyond the United States and began building coasters in Europe and Asia. Günter Engelhardt GmbH handles the company's marketing rights in Europe. In addition to designing and building new roller coasters, GCI also refurbishes and re-tracks existing roller coasters, regardless of manufacturer. Roller coasters designed by GCI are known for their often curved drops, twisted layouts, and perception of high speed. Exciting elements such as the station fly-by and station fly-through have been incorporated in many of their layouts. History GCI was founded in 1994 by Mike Boodley and Clair Hain, Jr. Boodley was a coaster designer previously with Custom Coasters International and Hain had gained a reputation throughout the i ...
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Samson En Gert (TV Series)
''Samson & Gert'' is a Flemish children's television series produced by Eline van Noppen, centered on the talking dog Samson and his owner Gert. In its entire run, the show was originally aired on TV1 from Christmas Day 1989 until 1 December 1997, where it moved to Ketnet and continues airing all of its episodes to this day. History Originally Gert Verhulst was a continuity announcer. He wanted to make the announcements before children's television programmes more appealing by having an animal puppet next to him. He got in touch with puppeteer Danny Verbiest, who created the puppet dog Samson. Samson, a Bearded Collie, made his screen debut in the Christmas period of 1989. The pair's popularity grew very rapidly in Flanders and they were given their own television series in 1990. The show, named ''Samson'', premiered on 2 September 1990. During the show, Samson and Gert and their friends would encounter many funny and chaotic situations. The plot would be interrupted for c ...
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Launched Roller Coaster
The launched roller coaster is a modern form of roller coaster. A launched coaster initiates a ride with high amounts of acceleration via one or a series of linear induction motors (LIM), linear synchronous motors (LSM), catapults, tires, chains, or other mechanisms employing hydraulic or pneumatic power, along a launch track. This mode of acceleration powers many of the fastest rollercoasters in the world. Launched coasters mainly feature improved speed and acceleration when compared to traditional chain or cable lift coasters. They can be less reliable, however, and require increased maintenance.. Electromagnetic LIM / LSM Linear induction motor (LIM) and linear synchronous motor (LSM) coasters use propulsion via electromagnets, which utilize large amounts of electricity to propel the coaster train along its track into the ride elements (e.g. inversions, twists, turns and short drops). Ten design companies managing these types of rides are Vekoma, Intamin, Gerstlauer, Prem ...
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Spinning Roller Coaster
A spinning roller coaster is a roller coaster with cars that rotate on a vertical axis. Models Virginia Reel The first spinning roller coaster was the Sierra Sidewinder, first built in 1908 by Henry Riehl. Instead of trains, the ride had "tubs" with seats built around the perimeter facing inward. These tubs spun freely on their chassis as they travelled down the track, which was trough-like and similar to that of a side friction roller coaster. Virginia Reels did not have big hills or drops, but rather many sharp turns. Toward the end were two helices, and finally a drop into a dark tunnel. The last full size Virginia Reel closed at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in 1982. Spinning Wild Mouse roller coasters In 1997, the first Spinning Wild Mouse roller coaster opened at the defunct Dinosaur Beach pier at Wildwood, New Jersey. Based on the design of the Wild Mouse roller coaster, the ride features a track layout and cars similar to a Virginia Reel, except the ride is made of steel ...
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Vekoma Junior Coaster
The Vekoma Junior Coaster is a model of steel roller coaster A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides ar ... built by Vekoma. It is commonly referred to as a “roller skater” due to the roller skate shaped cars found on some of the installations, and is credited with greatly influencing the concept of the junior roller coaster, which is found at many theme parks today. Design and operation Most Vekoma Junior Coasters consist of a single train made up of several cars, each with a single row of riders. Some, such as Flight of the Hippogriff at Islands of Adventure in Orlando, operate with two trains. There are three basic models (85 meters, 207 meters, and 335 meters), although Vekoma also provides custom models. Instead of the chain lift found on most roller coasters, ...
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