Lawrence and Ann receive us warmly. They have lived here for so long and have seen Bellewaerde ‘grow’ and ‘change’. “It started out – 71 years ago – as a bird park,” says Lawrence. ‘And today that is a strength of the park, that there is so much attention for ‘green’ and for the ‘animals’. And he is right about that. He talks about the attractions that have been added in recent years, and about all the news that is coming. I hang on his every word. Ariane is counting down…
It’s raining a bit, but we put on a hat and enjoy all the lights. Bellewaerde was completely decorated for the holidays. We are welcomed in the park by the Christmas elves. Even the attractions received extra lights & decorations, and Christmas music plays in the background. It’s cozy there. We start with some classics. ‘The flying chairs’, the ‘teacups’ – which now have marshmallows for the occasion. We allow ourselves to be taken into the illusion of the ‘House of Houdini’. And then things can go a little ‘faster’ for Ariane. She takes me to the ‘Wakala’, a rollercoaster with 2 ‘lifthills’ that picks up some speed. The end of the ride is especially special. You seem to be heading for a dead end rail, somewhere high in the sky. Suddenly you stop and fly backwards. I started this with a little heart, but it was so wonderful to do!
Then we headed towards the ‘pirate boat’. I immediately thought of that man, I think his name was Sam, who once spent 50 hours in this for the Guinness Book of Records. Wow, I wouldn’t imitate him…
We ended today with the ‘Amazonia’ – a top attraction for us! Truly one of our favorites! I love water attractions the most anyway (even in winter…). This is an attraction that you have not seen anywhere else. You have those round boats, made on such a thick black belt. You know that one. But here they are ‘lifted up’. Your boat is brought up with a lift, and from there you go up the slide and fly from left to right on a kind of ramp. Delicious! And when you think the attraction is done, there’s another bonus. We won’t reveal that. Then you should discover…