News about Wakala

After months of planning, construction, testing and waiting, Wakala reached the point where guests were finally almost able to ride. Looopings published an onride video shortly before the 1 July opening. It gave the public a clear look at the experience: a 21-metre-high, 660-metre-long family coaster built by Gerstlauer and styled around a Canadian theme.\n\nThe article stressed that Bellewaerde could still present a major new attraction despite the coronavirus crisis. The 7.5 million euro investment featured two lift hills, three trains with twenty seats each and a top speed of 50 kilometres per hour. The dead-end section over the water, the backward motion and the switch track back to the station gave Wakala its own signature.\n\nFor visitors, the opening offered an extra reason to return to Bellewaerde after lockdown. For fans, the article closed a long build-up: from Canadacoaster and permit discussions to test footage and the first full onride. Historically, it marks the shift from construction project to operating attraction. Wakala became not only a new coaster, but also a symbol of an unusual theme park year in which a major investment could finally welcome the public.

With the first test footage, Wakala was finally visible as a moving attraction. Looopings highlighted a YouTube video in which a drone captured the layout of the new family coaster. Onride footage was also included, allowing fans to see how the lifts, turns, backward section and switch track worked together in motion.\n\nThe ride's key facts were confirmed again: Wakala stood in the Canadian themed area, was 21 metres high and 660 metres long, reached 50 kilometres per hour and was built by Gerstlauer. What made the coaster especially distinctive was its non-closed circuit. The ride does not simply return to the station, but uses a backward spike and switch track to complete the route.\n\nThe timing remained unusual. Bellewaerde should have reopened in early April, but the park was still closed because of coronavirus. As a result, fans saw the coaster digitally before regular visitors could board it. The article captures an important interim moment: Wakala was technically running and testing was underway, but the public premiere still depended on the park's reopening.

The arrival of a train is often the moment when a coaster project starts to feel real for fans. That was also true for Wakala. In April 2020, Looopings reported that Bellewaerde had received a first train for the new Gerstlauer family coaster. The attraction, which had until then mostly been seen as structure and specifications, now had a recognisable face.\n\nThe article placed the train within the broader story of the ride. Wakala was located in the Canadian themed area, featured two lift hills and a backward freefall, and carried a theme inspired by the Kwakiutl. The actual opening remained uncertain, however, because Bellewaerde was still closed due to coronavirus measures.\n\nFor visitors, the train delivery mainly meant that the opening was moving closer, even without a date. For fans, it was another sign that the 7.5 million euro addition was nearly ready for its first rides. In Wakala's history, this article marks the shift from construction to commissioning: the track was standing, and now the vehicle that would carry guests through the experience had arrived as well.

In April 2020, Wakala carried a double meaning. On one hand, the new coaster was almost ready for use: the full track was standing and Bellewaerde's technical teams continued working on the structure. On the other hand, the coronavirus crisis had frozen the normal season, leaving everyone uncertain about when visitors would actually be able to ride.\n\nLooopings again summarised the ride's essentials. Wakala was a 21-metre-high, 660-metre-long family coaster in the Canadian themed area, built by Gerstlauer and reaching 50 kilometres per hour. The layout with two lifts, tight turns, a dead-end section, a backward freefall and a switch track remained the defining feature.\n\nFor Bellewaerde, the timing was painful. The 7.5 million euro investment was ready to draw guests, but the official opening could not follow the normal seasonal rhythm. That gives this article historical value: it shows Wakala at the moment when the hardware was nearly ready, while the outside world delayed the attraction's debut. For fans, the anticipation grew because the coaster was visibly complete but not yet accessible.

At the end of January 2020, Canadacoaster finally gained a public identity. Bellewaerde revealed the name Wakala and released designs for the new family coaster. The project shifted from a technical construction file to an attraction with its own story. The theme referred to the Kwakiutl, also known as Kwakwaka-wakw, and fitted its location in the Canadian themed area.\n\nLooopings also listed the key specifications. Wakala would be 21 metres high and 660 metres long, with a top speed of 50 kilometres per hour. The ride would feature two lift hills and end with a forward incline, followed by a backward freefall and a switch track back to the station. Three trains with twenty seats each were intended to provide a theoretical capacity of one thousand riders per hour.\n\nFor enthusiasts, the balance between family accessibility and technical character was the real talking point. Wakala would be accessible from one metre in height, yet its layout went well beyond a simple kiddie coaster. The article also placed the ride within a broader Gerstlauer line-up inside Compagnie des Alpes, alongside Mystic, Tiki-Waka and Pegase Express. That made Wakala not only a Bellewaerde novelty, but part of a recognisable European coaster trend.

At the start of 2020, it became clear how quickly the future Wakala was rising. Looopings published photos showing a large part of the family coaster already standing in Bellewaerde's Canadian themed area. What made the update striking was that the park itself had barely communicated about the project since receiving the permit. The construction work almost spoke on Bellewaerde's behalf.\n\nThe coaster stood out with green supports and brown track, colours that matched the natural feel of the area. The working title Canadacoaster appeared again, while the final name remained under wraps. The investment of 7.5 million euros was also reiterated, making it Bellewaerde's largest ride investment since 1999.\n\nFor visitors and fans, this construction update made the project tangible. What had previously existed mainly as permit drawings was now visible inside the park. The location near Dawson Duel and the choice of Gerstlauer fitted Bellewaerde's ambition to create a family-friendly but distinctive coaster. In the run-up to Wakala's opening, this article marks the moment when the attraction became a physical part of Bellewaerde.

In September 2019, the decisive news arrived: Bellewaerde was allowed to build the new coaster. After the earlier withdrawal of the application, this was the moment when the future Wakala moved from plan to concrete project. The park could start ground and foundation work, aiming for an opening in spring 2020.\n\nLooopings reported that Bellewaerde had chosen a family coaster suitable for almost all ages. German manufacturer Gerstlauer was named as the supplier, a company already familiar to fans through rides such as Tiki-Waka, Fury and Gold Rush. The location next to Dawson Duel was also confirmed.\n\nFor Bellewaerde, the project was unusually significant. The park described it as its largest ride investment since 1999, with a budget of 7.5 million euros. That gave the Canadian themed area a major boost and showed that Bellewaerde was investing not only in its new aquapark, but also in a headline attraction inside the traditional park. In Wakala's story, this is the point where permitting uncertainty turned into construction certainty.

Wakala's development did not follow a straight line. Shortly after it became clear that Bellewaerde wanted to build a new family coaster, Looopings reported that the park had withdrawn its planning application. The issue was not the ride concept itself, but questions about its environmental impact: there was uncertainty about how many trees would have to be removed and whether compensation would be needed.\n\nFor visitors, nothing changed yet, but for theme park fans it showed that the coaster was moving through a sensitive planning process. The ride was intended for the Canadian themed area, a zone with existing greenery and a natural atmosphere. That made permits, nature regulations and timing important factors in the project's progress.\n\nThe article is valuable in Wakala's timeline because it shows that a new roller coaster is not only about steel, trains and marketing. Behind the scenes, Bellewaerde and the authorities first had to clarify the spatial conditions. The planned 2020 opening was still the ambition, but the report made clear that the road to Wakala was already being watched closely at an early stage.

Two days after the first report about the planning application, Bellewaerde remained noticeably cautious. Looopings asked the park for more information about the future coaster, but was told that the plans were still going through the permit process. The park wanted to respect the procedures and authorities involved, and therefore did not yet comment on the content of the project.\n\nThat silence made the development even more intriguing for fans. The application had already shown that Bellewaerde was working on an unusual family coaster in the Canadian themed area, with a backward element and a switch track. But the name, the exact theming and the opening timing were still unknown.\n\nThe article captures how Wakala gradually came into public view. First there were drawings and permits, then came a period of waiting. Bellewaerde was also preparing its new aquapark at the time, which helps explain the careful communication around the coaster. For Wakala's history, this is relevant because it records the tension around the project: a major new ride was clearly on the way, but the park was not ready to show its hand yet.

The first public clues about Wakala did not come from a press release, but from a planning application. In February 2019, Looopings reported that Bellewaerde wanted to build a new roller coaster in its Canadian themed area, close to Dawson Duel. The project had no public name yet, but the working title Canadacoaster already hinted strongly at the direction the park had chosen.\n\nThe drawings revealed an unusual ride concept for a family coaster. The layout would not form a simple closed circuit: riders would also travel backwards, with a switch track acting as the technical pivot in the route. The project was described as a non-inverting coaster, but with its own personality thanks to the mix of turns, hills and a reverse section.\n\nFor Bellewaerde, this was an important expansion. The park was also working on a major water park at the time, yet it was clearly investing in the ride line-up inside the existing park as well. For enthusiasts, the most interesting detail was that the coaster already looked more distinctive than a standard family ride. In hindsight, this article marks the starting point of Wakala's public story: the moment when the attraction had no final name, but its identity was already visible on paper.