El Paso

As Belgian theme parks moved towards reopening in May 2021, Bobbejaanland director Yves Peeters used the Looopings Podcast to look beyond the immediate coronavirus worries. After months of financial pressure and limited capacity, he wanted to talk again about refurbishments, competition and future attractions.\n\nPeeters openly acknowledged that several older parts of Bobbejaanland were not yet at the level he wanted. Kinderland, the water ride Indiana River and the dark ride El Paso were named in that context. The comment mattered because it showed where the park itself saw room for improvement: not only in new investments, but also in refreshing existing favourites.\n\nFor visitors, the significance lay in the prospect that Bobbejaanland wanted to do more than recover from the pandemic. It also wanted to invest in quality again. At the same time, the park faced pressure from Belgian competitors, with major new roller coasters at Plopsaland and Walibi Belgium. The podcast therefore placed Kinderland and El Paso within a broader strategy, in which older attractions had to prove they still belonged in a park looking forward after a difficult period.

In March 2021, Belgian theme parks finally received a path toward reopening, but the easing of restrictions came with a clear boundary. The government mainly allowed outdoor activities. Covered attractions therefore had to remain closed until further notice, while parks continued to discuss the exact rules with the authorities.

For visitors, that created an unusual half-open season. Plopsaland De Panne could not use Mayaland or Het Bos van Plop and was still looking for solutions for covered queues such as the one at Anubis The Ride. At Bobbejaanland, Banana Battle, Indiana River, El Paso, Revolution, The Forbidden Caves and Kinderland stayed closed. Walibi Belgium had to do without attractions including Challenge of Tutankhamon, Popcorn Revenge and Palais du Génie, while Bellewaerde could not open Huracan, Bengal Express or Het Huis Van Houdini.

The relevance was not only the list of closed doors. Indoor attractions are normally valuable in bad weather and for families with young children. During the coronavirus reopening, that sheltered quality became a limitation. For Kinderland and similar attractions, the report explains why availability and visitor flows in 2021 cannot be compared with a normal operating year.

Bobbejaanland reopened in early July 2020 after a three-month delay caused by the coronavirus crisis. The return of guests was very different from a normal start to the season. Visitors first had to have their reservation checked and then scan their ticket or annual pass. In queues, shops, restaurants and toilet areas, green markers at two-metre intervals showed where groups were allowed to wait.

Ride operations changed as well. Rows were left empty in ride vehicles, and face masks were required on the more intense attractions, including Aztek Express, Bob Express, Dreamcatcher, Fury, Naga Bay, Oki Doki, Revolution, Sledge Hammer, Speedy Bob and Typhoon. Indoor queues such as Revolution received extra attention. Several crowd-pulling indoor experiences stayed closed for the time being: Kinderland, El Paso, Glijbaan and The Forbidden Caves. Roller coasters also ran without virtual reality headsets.

For guests, the park day became a sequence of new habits: keeping distance, disinfecting hands, paying by card and accepting that not every attraction was available. Historically, the reopening captured an exceptional moment in which theme parks traded spontaneity and full capacity for controlled visitor flows and highly visible health measures.