Plopsaland De Panne (Belgium) has given a special presentation on Saturday 17 December about the future of the Plopsa parks. Highlight of the novelties is the ‘Circus Bumba’ indoor area that is planned to open next year at De Panne. It will be home to a Bumba themed dark ride on which new information was presented during the Plopsa Fanday presentation on 17 December by Plopsa Group’s CEO Steve van den Kerkhof.
Plopsaland had announced the themed area years ago, with an original opening scheduled for 2020. The opening of Circus Bumba was delayed in favour of other projects, but construction on the area started in January of this year, when the ‘Fred Kroket’ restaurant and a small theatre were closed and demolished. Aside from the dark ride, a new restaurant, theatre as well as multiple flat rides will be part of the area. An investment of €12,5 million.
Circus Bumba will be themed around Bumba, the main character of the TV-show with the same name. The show takes place in a circus, and is aimed at children aged 1 to 4. The new indoor zone and dark ride were designed by Piet de Koning, who frequently designs rides for the Plopsa Group. According to Van den Kerkhof, the ride will be “the cherry on the cake, the most beautiful ride in the park.”
An official name of the dark ride has not been given yet, though some artworks show the working title to be ‘Met Bumba op Reis’ (Dutch for ‘Traveling with Bumba’). The ride will thus feature scenes depicting Bumba and friends travelling around the world and vising places like China, the bottom of the sea and even outer space.
The tracked car ride system will be built by Metallbau Emmeln. Concept arts for the ride show six-seater cars, which represent the car of Bumba. These six-seater vehicles are also a new product for the German manufacturer. Manufacturers of other aspects have not been announced yet but Van den Kerkhof assures us that ”the new experience will be presented utilising the latest technologies”.
The presentation was followed by a visit of the construction site. Parts of the ride system and a test vehicle for the dark ride have already been installed, which were shown off during the tour.
