News about Merry-go-Round

On 24 December 2024, the carousel marathon at Plopsaland De Panne reached its conclusion. Nick Jespers left the carousel after fifty hours and 6,380 laps. The action was about more than endurance alone. Together with a seniors' party, a children's party, an SMS campaign and cookie sales by Plopsa staff, the initiative first raised 11,250 euros before the final total was increased to 12,000 euros. The money went to De Warmste Week, which that year focused on fighting loneliness. Jespers endured two cold nights while colleagues kept him company inside the attraction. The warm response turned the nostalgic merry-go-round into the setting for a striking year-end charity story. In the Merry-go-Round's history, this is an unusual chapter: the ride was not in the news for technology or capacity, but because it became the physical centre of a long, public fundraising effort.

Once Nick Jespers' challenge was underway, the carousel became more than a spinning family ride in the Samson & Marie area. On 21 December 2024 Looopings reported that anyone could watch the marathon live on Facebook and YouTube. Jespers was spending fifty hours in the attraction, supported by colleagues who joined him in the merry-go-round and by park visitors who could cheer him on. Banners around the ride carried the campaign message about carousel rides against loneliness. A countdown clock was visible, and viewers could donate through a QR code. The effort ran from Friday 17:00 until Sunday 19:00 and was expected to produce hundreds of rides. For fans and guests, the moment showed how a modest nostalgic ride could briefly become a media stage. The experience remained familiar, but the livestream and donation drive gave the carousel a strong social role.

Just before the 2024 Christmas holiday, the carousel at Plopsaland De Panne became the stage for an unusual fundraising challenge. Nick Jespers, Plopsa's quality control manager and a theme-park fan, announced that from Friday 20 December he would remain seated in the merry-go-round for fifty hours. The aim was to raise money for De Warmste Week, the VRT charity campaign that focused that year on fighting loneliness. The challenge also had personal history. In 2007 Jespers had already spent 48 hours on the same carousel and raised 2,000 euros for Music For Life. Seventeen years later he wanted to break that record and collect more. For the attraction, the plan turned a classic family ride into a temporary stage for endurance, colleague support and charity. Visitors could see a familiar carousel become the centre of a park-wide social initiative.

In February 2023 Plopsaland De Panne confirmed that De Brandweer would leave the Samson & Marie area. The interactive children's ride from 2004 had to make way during a wider clean-up of the fairground, close to the future indoor area Circus Bumba. For the carousel, the news stood out because the park explicitly linked the removal to its plan to give the existing merry-go-round a better location. The story was therefore not only about the departure of a nineteen-year-old ride, but also about the carousel's place in the next version of this family zone. For visitors, the change meant a tidier and more coherent square, with more focus on the attractions that remained. In the history of the Merry-go-Round, this is a useful marker: the ride was not replaced, but was carried forward as part of the renewed Samson & Marie area.

In April 2021 Plopsaland De Panne visibly refreshed the former Samson & Gert fairground. Marie Verhulst, Samson's new companion since late 2019, was given a permanent place in the area. Flags and signs were changed, and the park announced a Marie statue near the kiosk while keeping the existing Gert statue in place. For the carousel, the change was not a closure or replacement, but it did alter the story around the ride. The merry-go-round remained part of the fairground alongside family attractions such as the fire brigade ride, bumper cars, safari trucks and balloon ride. That moved the attraction from the older Samson & Gert identity into the newer Samson & Marie setting. For visitors, the update matters because the carousel is shaped by its surroundings: the Studio 100 characters define the square's atmosphere and give a traditional ride a current family-focused context.