originally posted on 6/4/2021 1:37:50 PM
Kondaa.
Photo: Courtesy Walibi Belgium. View full-sized image.
At the 2018 IAAPA Expo, Intamin and park operator Compagnie des Alpes formally announced two new coaster projects: a multilaunch coaster for Parc Astérix in 2023 and a megacoaster for Walibi Belgium, which was scheduled to debut in 2021. On May 8, the megacoaster Kondaa opened officially at Walibi Belgium (Wavre) as part of a themed area called Exotic World. The largest attraction in Exotic World, Kondaa came with a unique layout and a sinister backstory. It has already broken records as the tallest and fastest coaster in the Benelux region.
Who or what is Kondaa? According to the legend, Kondaa was an angry monster who lived 5,000 years ago and destroyed everyone who tried to fight it. Finally, one brave warrior managed to tame it and retrieve one of its eggs. Somehow, after all these years, the egg hatched, and now Kondaa has returned to get revenge on anyone who dares to ride the coaster carrying its name.
Parkgoers who have accepted the challenge first have to enter Exotic World, a park expansion that began in 2017 and now consists of almost 10 acres. By August 2019, land clearing had begun on the site. Kondaa’s station was constructed in early 2020, and the coaster went vertical in July 2020. Construction continued despite the COVID-19 pandemic, with the ride layout being completed in September. By November the megacoaster had a name, and in December it passed its first full-circuit test run.
Photo: Courtesy Walibi Belgium. View full-sized image.
Kondaa is the major attraction in Exotic World, and to ride it, parkgoers first must proceed under the monster’s head and enter the queue: the regular, single rider or Speedy Pass line. The heavily themed station is full of reminders of the monster. Murals along the walls illustrate earlier incidences of people trying to fight Kondaa, and torn curtains hang from the ceiling, suggesting that riders might be in a rock cave. Riders who are at least 52 inches tall board a 24-passenger train (there are two), the lead car of which is fronted by what is presumably the monster’s head.
Theming begins before entering the Kondaa station.
Photo: Courtesy Walibi Belgium. View full-sized image.
Kondaa is all about airtime, promising 15 airtime moments — the most of any steel coaster in the world — along its 3,937-foot layout. Riders climb a 164-foot lift hill at a 45-degree angle and after cresting the hill, experience a twisting 80-degree, 125-foot drop, followed by a climb to an outwardly banked airtime hill, which leads to the signature noninverting cobra roll — a world’s first. Another airtime hill is followed by a ground-hugging curve, a novel wall-stall and a change of direction for a return to the station.
The 80-degree twisting first drop on Kondaa is reminiscent of Germany’s Expedition GeForce.
Photo: Courtesy Walibi Belgium. View full-sized image.
The high-speed return includes an overbanked turn, more airtime hills, a low-to-the-ground wave turn and a world’s first side-banked double down. The ride ends with more bunny hills and a 180-degree turn as it nears the station. Sascha Czibulka, Intamin’s vice president, remarked, “The layout guarantees more than enough adrenaline until its very end — the finale is even crazier: In less than ten seconds the riders experience six airtime moments.”
During the 1:30-minute ride, Kondaa exceeds 70 mph. There are no inversions. Take a ride on Kondaa here:
How does Kondaa fit with the other attractions at Walibi Belgium? According to CEO Jean-Christophe Parent, “We already have an extensive portfolio of rides: inverted, suspended, launch, free fall . . . offering different kinds of sensations. However, we wanted to include more airtime into this portfolio. . . . Our goal was to offer the most varied ride experience possible, one that was never seen on a Megacoaster before. We chose to have an aerial first part with very high elements, then a second ground-hugging part to maximize the sensation of speed.” He added, “You need to ride it two times: once in the front and once in the back as the feeling is completely different. You can literally feel the speed smashing your face; in the back you get pulled by the 9.7 tons train and airtimes are crazy! . . . My personal favorites are the first airtime hill . . . and, of course, the noninverted cobra roll – [a] totally new sensation.”
The noninverting cobra roll is a unique element on Kondaa.
Photo: Courtesy Walibi Belgium. View full-sized image.
The total for construction of Exotic World and Kondaa was €25 million, the largest investment ever made by the park. Completion of Kondaa marks the end of a three-year park investment plan. Before its transformation into Exotic World, this western addition to the park had been nothing more than a prairie. Approximately 16,000 new plants and trees were added to contribute to the “lost territory” feel. Parent adds, “We have expanded the exotic theming to something darker, unspoiled, forgotten, more grandiose and impressive . . . just like the overpowering Kondaa. Two bridges will connect the two parts (the colorful and darker side of Exotic World). Once visitors cross the bridges, they will . . . become adventurers discovering the forgotten world. We have left certain clues (sculptures, paintings, skeletons) in the area and in the ride’s station to give an idea of what could have happened in this dark place with this immense creature. However, our goal is not to tell the entire story, we want to keep [some] mystery. It is up to visitors to use these clues to imagine what happened.”
Also included in Exotic World are a Gerstlauer bobsled coaster (Tiki-Waka), a restaurant (Nsósó), shops and a Zamperla Barnstormer (Kondaala) that has been rethemed and transferred from another part of the park. Since 2016, other new rides that have opened in Walibi Belgium include Pulsar (a Mack PowerSplash) and Fun Pilot (Zierer Force 190 family coaster). A Zierer Tivoli will be reintroduced next year, which will run the park’s total coaster count to 10. In 2019, the first Popcorn Revenge dark ride from Alterface debuted in the new Karma World zone. Walibi Belgium also has a waterpark, Aqualibi, which is scheduled to open in June.
— Lee Ann Draud, ACE Publications Director
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