News about #LikeMe Coaster

One day after the official opening, #LikeMe Coaster drew attention for a very different reason. Looopings reported that two fathers became involved in a conflict at the attraction. According to an eyewitness, the argument centred on whose children could sit in the front of the coaster train. The dispute escalated near the exit, after which a Plopsa security employee had to intervene. The park later said calm returned quickly.

The report does not change the technical or thematic history of the coaster, but it does add context to its opening period. The newly renewed ride attracted plenty of attention, and a mix of crowds, expectations and children wanting the best seats can create tension. For visitors, the practical takeaway is that queue management and staff presence matter even at family attractions. Within the broader story of #LikeMe Coaster, the incident is a small but striking footnote to an otherwise festive reopening. The ride had just been presented as a cheerful, music-driven draw for Ketnet fans; the aftermath showed that even family-focused moments still depend on calm guest behaviour and clear park organisation.

On 26 May 2022, #LikeMe Coaster received its ceremonial launch. The renewed Ketnet area had already been accessible to guests for several weeks, but Plopsaland held the official opening during the Ketnet Feestweekend. Actors from #LikeMe and other faces from the Flemish children's broadcaster attended the event. For a ride that had only recently been known as Viktor's Race, this was the public confirmation that its new identity had fully become part of the park's story.

For guests and fans, the opening was more than a ribbon-cutting moment. The ceremony connected the coaster to the living popularity of the series: not just sets and music, but cast members and Ketnet personalities made the retheme feel recognisable. The report noted that Plopsaland invested 2.5 million euros in the area and gave the coaster a new queue and station building designed as the school from the show. In doing so, the park made a classic family coaster feel current again without changing its accessible ride character. Historically, this was the moment when the name #LikeMe Coaster stopped being a construction project and became an officially opened chapter in the ride's long career.

In April 2022, guests were already able to enter the renewed Ketnet area, almost two months earlier than initially expected. Looopings reported that Viktor's Race had officially become #LikeMe Coaster, while the neighbouring water ride had been renamed Tik Tak. For the coaster, the most visible changes were in the presentation: a new station building, a covered queue, screens showing specially recorded footage and redesigned trains brought the world of the youth series into the park.

For visitors, this made the transformation tangible. The ride itself remained an accessible Zierer family coaster, but its tone shifted from a traditional children's corner to a more musical and contemporary Ketnet setting. The article also underlined the attraction's historical weight: the 1976 coaster is considered the oldest still operating roller coaster in Belgium and had already carried several identities over the decades. The early reopening was good news for spring visitors, even though some finishing touches still had to be completed. The official ceremony remained scheduled for late May, when members of the #LikeMe cast were expected to attend.

This report made the transformation of Viktor's Race official. Plopsaland confirmed that the family coaster in De Panne would receive a #LikeMe theme and become part of a renewed Ketnet area. The park described the project as a major makeover: not only would the decoration change, but the station building would be rebuilt and designed as the secondary school from the popular youth series.

For visitors, the announcement finally explained what was happening behind the construction fences. The coaster would no longer revolve around Kaatje or Viktor, but around a slightly older Ketnet audience familiar with #LikeMe's music and characters. Plopsa linked that choice to the popularity of the series and invested 2.5 million euros in the broader area, including the nearby Tik Tak boat ride. Historically, the article is especially useful because it sets the modern retheme against the ride's long identity trail: opened in 1976 as Keverbaan, later known as Dongo's Race and since 2013 as Viktor's Race. The #LikeMe version was therefore not a new roller coaster, but it did mark a substantial new chapter for one of Belgium's oldest operating coasters.

A few weeks after the first rumours, the makeover at Plopsaland became visible. Looopings reported that Viktor's Race and the neighbouring water ride Kaatje zoekt Eendje had been taken out of service without a major public announcement. Fan photos showed decorations already removed and the former Wereld van Kaatje being stripped back. For the family coaster, this was the moment when the old Kaatje identity visibly started making way for the next chapter.

The news mattered directly to guests visiting Plopsaland during winter or early spring: a familiar children's coaster was temporarily unavailable while the park worked on a broader Ketnet area. The report also placed the closure in the attraction's wider pattern of reinvention. This ride had changed themes before, but the intervention felt more substantial because the surrounding area was being reworked as well. The indication that #LikeMe and Tik Tak would become the new faces of the zone showed that Plopsa was doing more than maintenance. It was reshaping the target audience, tone and visual identity of one of the park's established family corners.

At the start of 2022, the first clear signal emerged that Plopsaland De Panne was preparing another reinvention of its long-running family coaster. Looopings reported that De Wereld van Kaatje, the themed area containing the future #LikeMe Coaster and a water ride, was set for a new look after nine years. At the time, the coaster was still operating as Viktor's Race, but the track already had a layered past, having previously been known through Dongo's Race and, before that, the old Keverbaan identity.

For guests, the news suggested more than a light refresh. Plopsaland appeared to be reshaping an entire children's area around a new television connection. The park remained careful in its official response and did not yet confirm the details, but the direction was clear: Ketnet would remain involved, while the characters around the ride would change. That makes the report an important early chapter in the attraction's modern history. Technically, the ride is a classic Zierer family coaster, but its meaning for visitors has repeatedly been rewritten by the stories placed around it.