The theme park season in Belgium officially begun May 8th! Definitely one to remember as we got to ride the amazing new Intamin coaster: Kondaa. Let’s spill the tea on this brand new coaster for Walibi Belgium, unlike anything you’ve seen in the park before.
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The day started off a bit grey but after a long walk through the queue to enter the park, we went straight to the back to see if the hype is real. Kondaa became the major ride of the Exotic World area, which now features 2 popular coasters. A former karting race track now has a restaurant and the pathways over the river to go towards the square in front of this beast.
Let’s queue!
Yeah, quite literally a beast. The story talks about an ancient monster that has awoken once more. Not the most original tale but fair enough for Walibi Belgium to attach a light story to this Intamin Mega coaster.
You enter beneath the monsterhead where there’s three queues: regular, single riders and Speedy Pass. Note that since this year, the park offers an annual pass with unlimited Speedy Pass. Especially on this first day of operation, that drove up the regular queue quite a bit varying from 50 to 120 minutes. The latter wait time also got displayed due to technical issues.
In the queue, you have quite the view on the entire ride. Especially the first drop can’t be missed so expect to see quite some pics from that one.
As you approach the station again, you have some nice murals referencing the story of people trying to fight against this monster.
In the station itself, they did a great job decorating the ceiling with ripped curtains, mimicing a rock cave structure. Also the lighting looks pretty neat before you head up the lifthill for your adventure.
Ready to ride?
The first half of the ride will be loved by pretty much everyone. After a thrilling drop (especially towards the back), you go up the first airtime hill for some light ejector. The second one however is awesome in right seat towards the back as you literally remain lifted for quite a bit!
Next up is the Non-Inverting Cobra Roll. To be fair, it looks more impressive than it actually is. In front I personally felt more airtime but the drop back down back seat was the best way to experience that element. It could also have been because my second ride towards the end of the day was just more forceful in general.
After that, it’s one of many airtime hills that transitions into a ground-hugging curve for some positive G’s. Decent but not mind-blowing. After that you have the wall stall which disappointed as I didn’t quite feel a lot during my two rides.
The rest of the layout takes you back to the station with a series of several types of airtime elements low to the ground. Also here, it is not the kind of ejector that you might hope for but still airtime elements to transition back to the beginning. I did not have big expectations here so it was pretty much in line with what I thought.
A new Exotic World
Besides the Mega coaster, Exotic World got quite the extension with a restaurant and a relocated ride. Plus there’s even a small bridge playground element for the little ones who can’t ride yet.
But there’s more, the relocated ride now called Kondaala also offers something to do while waiting for the taller riders. Not the most incredible kiddie ride but decent still.
Another option is to get some food at the newest restaurant: Nsoso. I had hoped for something more than just fastfood but basically, it’s similar to Kentucky Fried Chicken. However, the inside of the restaurant looks pretty well done.
There’s another thing about the restaurant that I really like. It now serves as the heart of Exotic World, connecting the three different themes: Polynesian (the area of Tiki-Waka), Egyptian (the area of Challenge of Tutankhamon) and “the island” of Kondaa. Although they might not match 100% on paper, due to similar use of color, it really works for me.
The Verdict
Did Kondaa live up to the expectations? I have a hard time deciding. Maybe I expected a little bit more but I haven’t ridden the apparently infamous backseat row yet. So to have a final opinion, I’ll be visiting the park again at the end of the month. However I can already say that for me personally, Kondaa is a Top 20 coaster in Europe. I still can’t believe we have the ride in Belgium and for Walibi, it’s the long deserved iconic coaster for the park. Visually stunning and making it look as if the ride has been there for ages. Yet still, it sparkles and draws in the attention. The right decision and I can’t wait to ride it again!
