Walibi Belgium
Wavre, Walloon Brabant, Wallonia, Belgium
This amusement park was started by Belgian Eddy Meeus and opened in 1975 as Walibi, a name derived from
combining the names of the nearby municipalities of Wavre,
Limal, and Bierges. Its mascot is the wallaby animal, a cousin of the kangaroo. Because the Walibi company started opening other parks, the park's
name was changed to Walibi Wavre in 1982. Premier Parks, the company that eventually took the name Six Flags, purchased the
Walibi chain in 1998, and the park was rebranded Six Flags Belgium in 2001. Six Flags was heavily burdened with debts due to its
over expansion in the late 1990s and early 2000s, so they sold all of their European properties in 2004. The park started the 2005 season with
the name Walibi Belgium. All of the Walibi parks were eventually sold to Compagnie des Alpes, a French company that started in 1989 as a ski resort
but has since expanded into the ownership of a handful of amusement parks. Walibi Belgium covers 64 hectares (158 acres).
Five roller coasters have left this park:
- Coccinelle (1999-2017) was a Tivoli family coaster built by Zierer. It was placed in storage and was going to be reinstalled in a different part of the park. As of 2024, it has not been rebuilt, so its future is uncertain.
- Grand 8 (1975-1983) was a Zyklon Z47 model built by Pinfari. It ran as Le Grand Huit, which is The Grand Eight in English, at Walibi Rhône-Alpes in France from the late 1980s until 1992.
- Jumbo Jet (1978-1991) was a Jumbo Jet model built by Schwarzkopf. After leaving Walibi, it traveled for several seasons, but has been sitting in storage a few years.
- Tornado (1979-2002) was a MK-1200 Corkscrew with Bayerncurve model built by Vekoma. It was Standing But Not Operating for three years, and was ultimately scrapped in 2006.
- Vertigo (2007-2008) was an unusual single-rail suspended coaster. It was the only coaster built by the Austrian Doppelmayr company. Severe mechanical issues with the strange ride forced its closure after only about one year.
