Typhoon

Bobbejaanland introduced a new evening format for the summer of 2023. Under the name Summer Boost, the park stayed open until 9 p.m. on six Saturdays: 22 and 29 July, followed by 5, 12, 19 and 26 August. The programme was designed to stretch the regular park day with food trucks, live music and extra entertainment.

For guests, the most important promise was extra ride time. Almost all major attractions remained in operation until 9 p.m. There were clear exceptions, however: Typhoon and Oki Doki closed at 7 p.m., the park’s normal closing time. As a result, the evening offer was not spread evenly across every popular ride.

Around the attractions, Bobbejaanland built a broader summer atmosphere. Musical performances were scheduled in Desperado City between 3.30 p.m. and 8.30 p.m., mascot Bobbie appeared for photo moments, and the inhabitants of Mystery Bay were meant to bring the themed area to life after dark. PAW Patrol, a Nickelodeon show and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were also part of the line-up. Summer Boost showed how the park tried to get more value out of existing operating days without turning the season into a full music festival.

Bobbejaanland moved to another priority-access system in September 2022. The Express Pass, introduced earlier that same season, was replaced by Speedy Pass, a digital platform supplied by the British company Accesso. That shifted the park away from physical Express entrances with fixed usage counts and towards a model built around online wait times and virtual queues.

The options worked quite differently. Speedy Pass Bronze cost 14.90 euros and allowed guests to wait virtually instead of standing in the physical queue, while the waiting time itself remained the same. Silver cost 24.90 euros and cut the virtual wait by 50 percent. Gold and Diamond promised a 95 percent reduction; Gold was limited to one use per attraction, while Diamond was broader. One Ride tickets were available for a single queue.

Eleven attractions received a dedicated Speedy Pass entrance: Fury, Typhoon, Indiana River, Naga Bay, Speedy Bob, Revolution, Oki Doki, Wildwaterbaan, Dreamcatcher, El Rio and Bob Express. For guests, waiting became more visible and more commercial: live queue times moved online, and faster boarding became an even clearer digital premium product.

Bobbejaanland adjusted the Express Pass soon after its launch. The paid priority system had been in use for only a month when the park raised prices and changed several conditions at the same time. The move showed that the launch was not a fixed endpoint, but the start of a product that could be tuned quickly around guest behaviour and commercial goals.

The three versions remained. Small rose from 12 to 14.90 euros, but could now be used five times instead of four. Medium increased from 21.90 to 27.90 euros. Large went from 29.90 to 34.90 euros and still offered unlimited use. The Large version was personal and also included a 10 percent discount on food and beverage and part of the merchandise range. Small and Medium were not personal.

The Express Pass continued to apply to Fury, Typhoon, Naga Bay, Dreamcatcher, Oki Doki, Sledge Hammer, El Rio, Indiana River, Wildwaterbaan and Revolution with Mount Mara. For guests, faster boarding became more expensive, but also more clearly packaged as a premium product. For Bobbejaanland, the change marked the rapid professionalisation of a system that had only just been introduced.