In December 2019, the Belgian Plopsa Group announced to take over the indoor park Comics Station in Antwerp. The park had already closed its doors for a couple of weeks due to financial problems. The park will eventually re-open as the Plopsa Station. After a few months without major updates, the Plopsa Group has now revealed a first concept art for the interior of the venue. The concept shows the main hall, which will be decorated with some of the well-known Plopsa figures.
Comics Station contained multiple dark- and show rides, all themed after a famous Belgian comic figures. Plopsa announced that most of these rides will remain in the park with their original theme. The group signed a contract with Standaard Uitgeverij to retain the IP rights for these rides. These include the DRdb entries Lucky Luke Adventure (an interactive theater) and Op Bezoek bij de Kiekeboes (a themed free fall). Only Het Magische Bos, a dark ride by Gosetto themed after the Smurfs, will receive a new theme.
The renewal of Comics Station takes longer than initially expected: the original opening date for Plopsa Station was Easter 2020. Steve van den Kerkhof, director of the Plopsa Group, declares that “after research we concluded that multiple things in the building are not right, and that we need a bigger investment to get them in order.” The group invests 5 million euros in the development of the park, which includes among others the addition of six new rides. Two of them are a flying bikes-ride and a carousel, as can be concluded from the new concept art. Construction starts in January 2021 and the expected opening takes place in October 2021.
The original Comics Station opened in April 2017, inside the main railway station of the Belgian city of Antwerp. The park conceived by former employees of the Plopsa Group, who built the indoor theme park dedicated to the many comics figures originating from Belgium. After a few years, the park faced financial problems and was eventually forced to close its doors in fall 2019. Plopsa is working on the development of Plopsa Station since December 2019.
