News about Kinderland

A little over a year after the survey, Bobbejaanland Wintert became reality. Looopings described how the Flemish park invested 1.5 million euros in its first winter opening, running until early January. In less than three weeks, Bobbejaanland changed from a Halloween venue into a winter park, with hundreds of Christmas trees, around thirty kilometres of light garlands and many hundreds of thousands of lights.\n\nThe winter edition featured six decorated areas. Existing zones received new names, a free ice rink was placed on a pontoon in the large lake, and the offer included an alpine hut, a winter circus, a parade, fire and laser shows and meetings with winter characters. For Kinderland, the key detail was that it appeared on the list of open attractions, alongside major rides such as Fury, Sledge Hammer, Typhoon, Revolution, Dreamcatcher, Bob Express and The El Paso Special. Wondergarden, by contrast, stayed closed.\n\nFor visitors, this meant that Bobbejaanland did not start with a small Christmas trial, but immediately presented a full winter product. Director Yves Peeters said the initiative was meant to grow, just as Halloween had grown before. Bobbejaanland Wintert therefore became a strategic move: the park wanted to remain relevant beyond the traditional season.

In October 2024, it became clear that Bobbejaanland was seriously considering a winter opening. Through a public survey, the park asked guests about their interest in Bobbejaanland Wintert and presented several possible concepts. In doing so, it followed competitors such as Plopsaland, Bellewaerde Park and Walibi Belgium, which had already made more deliberate use of the winter months.\n\nThe ideas went far beyond a few Christmas trees near the entrance. The survey mentioned a laser show on the water, a fire spectacle, a drone show, a winter circus, a Christmas parade, light sculptures, an ice rink, a Christmas market and even a family-friendly haunted house with a Christmas theme. The themed areas would also receive a winter layer. Kinderland was imagined as a place where Santa Claus could appear, while Desperado City could become a toy-making setting.\n\nFor visitors, this was mainly a sign that Bobbejaanland wanted to stretch its season and use the park in a different way. At the same time, technical director Tom Knuts made clear how substantial the operation would be: maintenance, inspections and staffing were traditionally planned around an April-to-October season. A winter opening would therefore add atmosphere, but also change the organisation behind the park day.

In 2023, Bobbejaanland took another step in its move from a classic amusement park towards a more clearly structured theme park. The park was divided into seven separate areas: Welkomstplein, Wondergarden, Land of Legends, Adventure Valley, Desperado City, Kinderland and Mystery Bay. The new layout was meant to make the map easier to read, with each area receiving its own symbol and colour palette.\n\nFor Kinderland, the main change was its definition. The name no longer referred only to the familiar indoor play hall, but also to the surrounding area with Labyrinth and Oki Doki. That made the children’s zone feel broader and more visible. At the same time, Bobbejaanland introduced a smoking ban in Kinderland and Wondergarden, strengthening their family-oriented role.\n\nFor visitors, the reorganisation offered more guidance during a day at the park. Attractions, food locations and routes were grouped more clearly, while new signs in the updated house style and screens showing current wait times made the park feel more modern. The news shows that Bobbejaanland was not only investing in individual attractions, but also in how guests understand and experience the park as a whole.

Later in the 2022 Halloween season, Bobbejaanland added more substance to the expansion it had announced earlier. Alongside four existing haunted houses, the park built three new experiences, bringing the total to seven. At the time, that was an unusually large offer for a Belgian theme park.\n\nAlice in Horrorland received the most attention. The experience was placed inside Kinderland and used two floors to send guests through a macabre version of Wonderland. Familiar figures such as the Mad Hatter, the March Hare, the Queen of Hearts and Alice returned, but as threatening characters. The park presented the house as the highlight of the Halloween season and involved several specialist creative companies in its development.\n\nFor visitors, Kinderland temporarily changed from a safe family area into the largest scare experience in Bobbejaanland’s history. The expansion also brought practical choices: individual tickets, combi tickets, queues that could reach an hour and an expensive Horror Pass for those who wanted to do everything without waiting. Halloween became more than decoration; it turned into a full event product with its own rhythm and logistics.

Bobbejaanland made a notable move in Belgium’s Halloween race in 2022. The park announced seven haunted houses, more than ever before, and added three new names to the programme: Alice in Horrorland, Monastery and Corp Pest Control. For Kinderland, Alice in Horrorland was the key change, because it temporarily gave the indoor play area a completely different tone.\n\nThe decision to twist Alice in Wonderland into a horror experience showed how far Bobbejaanland wanted to push its Halloween theming. Kinderland, normally a place for young families, became the setting for a full haunted house. Other parts of the event were also refreshed: Corp Pest Control replaced the earlier Corp, Texas Butcher received extra scares and Bazaar Bizarre gained a disorienting tunnel.\n\nFor visitors, the announcement meant that Bobbejaanland’s Halloween became longer, larger and more ambitious. The season started on 8 October and continued through 13 November. In doing so, the park positioned itself directly against Walibi Belgium: more haunted houses and more Halloween days, with Kinderland as one of the most surprising locations in that expansion.

During the 2021 winter closure, Kinderland took on a role far outside its normal theme park setting. Bobbejaanland made the large indoor hall available as a regional vaccination centre. The existing source notes that residents from places including Kasterlee and Olen could receive booster shots there, while the venue was also used for vaccinations for children aged five to eleven.

The choice was both practical and symbolic. Kinderland offered ample covered space, clear circulation routes and enough capacity to manage appointments and visitor flow. A hall usually associated with children’s rides, play routes and family time was temporarily repurposed for public health. For park guests, this did not mean regular attraction access, but it did show how flexibly a large indoor area can be used outside the operating season. In Kinderland’s history, it is an unusual side chapter: the attraction zone briefly stopped being part of a day out and became a recognisable regional hub in the aftermath of the Covid pandemic.

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.

When Bobbejaanland was allowed to welcome guests again in the summer of 2020, the park did not simply return to normal. General manager Yves Peeters explained that several attractions would remain closed or be adapted so the restart could stay manageable and safe.\n\nIndoor and interactive experiences were hit hardest. Kinderland stayed closed, as did the shooting dark ride El Paso, Glijbaan and the 3D simulator The Forbidden Caves. Coasters such as Revolution and Dreamcatcher could operate, but without virtual reality headsets. Bobbejaanland also wanted face masks in larger attractions, especially roller coasters where riders tend to scream.\n\nFor visitors, the reopening therefore meant a park day with clear limits: the gates opened, but some familiar stops were missing. The first operating day became Wednesday 1 July after hoped-for test days were not approved. The report captures the balancing act theme parks faced during the first coronavirus summer, weighing capacity, experience and safety. Bobbejaanland chose a cautious restart, with Kinderland and other indoor attractions feeling the strongest impact of the measures.

In September 2019, Bobbejaanland was at a turning point. With the triple-launch coaster Fury and the themed area Land of Legends, the park had just opened its most visible investment in years. In the Looopings Podcast, commercial director Peggy Verelst even called it the year of truth: the new coaster had to strengthen not only the attraction line-up, but also the image of the Flemish park.

The conversation showed how carefully Bobbejaanland had to choose its spending. Owner Parques Reunidos decided how much money could be invested, so every budget decision mattered. A large share went into decoration and theming, something Verelst said required persuasion at head office. Fury therefore became a calling card for a park that wanted to show more ambition than its reputation sometimes suggested.

At the same time, Bobbejaanland looked ahead to older crowd pullers. Revolution, Kinderland, Indiana River and El Paso Special were mentioned as parts of the park that could eventually use a major refurbishment. For visitors, that mattered because the park did not only need new headline rides, but also care for its existing attractions. That combination determines whether an image improvement is temporary or lasting.

On a busy day in 2017, families at Bobbejaanland ran into an unexpected restriction: Kinderland closed at 15:00, three hours before the rest of the park. The existing source states that the covered children’s hall had been rented out for a private staff event. On a day with heavy attendance, a major part of the family offer was therefore removed from normal use.

The effect was larger than the early closing time alone suggests. Kinderland was a sizeable indoor zone with more than ten attractions, spread across three floors and roughly seven thousand square metres. For families with young children, that hall provided shelter, capacity and a fallback when the park was crowded or the weather was poor. The decision showed how vulnerable a family-focused area can become when external events cut through the regular guest day. In Kinderland’s history, this is a small but telling incident: not a technical failure or renovation, but an operational choice that visitors immediately felt when they had counted on the full park offer.

In September 2015, Kinderland at Bobbejaanland made the news for the wrong reason: visible damage to the building. At the indoor play paradise, part of the facade collapsed and sections of the roof also came down. The loose panels landed on a terrace in front of the building. No injuries were known, but a visitor warned that other boards, including some above paths used by guests, were clearly hanging loose.

For visitors, this was more than an unattractive maintenance detail. Kinderland is meant to be a safe, sheltered place for families with young children. When facade and roof elements visibly come loose, it directly affects trust, comfort and the impression that a park has its older buildings under control. The incident made deferred maintenance impossible to ignore.

Historically, the article matters because Kinderland is not a minor side building, but a major part of Bobbejaanland's family offer. The indoor play paradise was conceived by Bobbejaan Schoepen, covers around seven thousand square metres and opened in 1995. Five years after Schoepen's death, the incident showed how vulnerable such a legacy becomes when structural care falls behind.

In August 2014, the financial pressure at Bobbejaanland became visible to guests. A sudden cost-cutting round meant that a quarter of the cleaning shifts for terraces and squares were no longer scheduled. In an internal memo, director Roland Kleve referred to pressure from owner Parques Reunidos, which was facing disappointing results and wanted to save as much money as possible in a short time.

The measures were not limited to cleaning. Attraction operations were also reduced: several rides would only open two hours after the park's regular opening time. For Kinderland, the effect was very concrete. The indoor themed area for young children only became accessible around midday, leaving families without an important covered place during the morning.

Historically, this report is valuable because it shows how financial choices can directly shape the guest experience. Kinderland was not unavailable because of a breakdown or refurbishment, but because of staffing and cost policy at park level. For visitors, that could mean less comfort, poorer crowd distribution and a less well-kept park impression. For Kinderland's history, it helps explain why availability in older seasons sometimes differed from what families would normally expect.

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.