News about Plop's Woods

In May 2026, Plopsaland focused on one of The Forest of Plop's most persistent problems: capacity. The classic boat dark ride remained popular, but its relatively low throughput often resulted in long waits. The park therefore tested an adjusted queue layout.

During the trial, visitors could choose between two regular queues. One was intended for groups of one to three people, the other for groups of four or more. A separate line remained for Express Pass users. The two regular groups reached the station from different sides. According to a spokesperson, the test was designed to increase capacity and efficiency, and it was considered successful.

For visitors, this was practical news: the park was looking for ways to improve the waiting experience without rebuilding the ride itself. Historically, the test fits the broader direction around The Forest of Plop. After years of uncertainty and a major refurbishment, Plopsa had chosen preservation, but still needed to address the weak point of this cult classic.

In March 2026, an uncomfortable queue issue emerged around The Forest of Plop. Visitors had seen parts of the old Kabouter Plop music video Wij Dansen from 1999 in the waiting area. The clip shows Plop and other gnome characters in blackface, footage that Studio 100 no longer presents through its official channels.

Plopsa confirmed to Looopings that the wrong DVD had been used. A spokesperson said several DVDs were in circulation and that only Plop en de Wenssteen, a 2013 film without the controversial scenes, would be played from then on. The park also planned to create new queue clips, including French-language songs for guests from Wallonia and France.

The timing made the mistake especially sensitive. Shortly before, Plopsaland had introduced two darker-skinned gnome figures in the refurbished ride. The incident showed that The Forest of Plop is not only a nostalgic attraction, but also a place where older Studio 100 culture and modern sensitivities meet.

Shortly after the refurbishment of The Forest of Plop, a content change became visible. The attraction now also includes gnome figures with darker skin tones. Plopsaland confirmed to Looopings that several new residents had been welcomed during the major update and that the ride had been given the opportunity to become more contemporary.

These were not entirely new figures, but existing characters repainted in a different colour. Previously, all gnomes in the boat ride were white. Looopings placed the choice alongside similar updates in other theme parks, such as darker elves in Droomvlucht, and against the background of older Kabouter Plop material that is now considered controversial.

For visitors, such a detail does not change the ride mechanically, but it does change its cultural layer. The Forest of Plop is strongly tied to nostalgia from the late 1990s and 2000. By adjusting the figures, Plopsaland showed that preserving a classic does not have to mean keeping everything exactly the same.

One day after news of the refurbishment, fans could see The Forest of Plop for themselves. Looopings pointed to a complete onride video of more than nine minutes, showing the refreshed boat ride from start to finish. The renovation became visible in concrete details: fresher colours, adjusted lighting, restored scenery and animatronics that moved more smoothly.

The video also showed that the core of the attraction had been preserved. Guests still float past scenes representing the four seasons, with an adapted version of the Plop song in the background. Halfway through the 145-metre course, the small drop with a splash remains. Looopings listed the theoretical capacity at five hundred visitors per hour.

For the attraction's history, continuity was the important point. The base ride system dates back to 1979, when Meli-Park opened Apirama. In 2000, bees made way for Studio 100 gnomes, while the canal and boats stayed. The video showed how old and new continued to coexist in the ride.

In February 2026, Plopsaland Belgium made a visible choice for preservation. During the winter closure, The Forest of Plop was thoroughly refreshed. The park described a warmer, more colourful and more lively experience, with subtle lighting accents, refreshed sets and animatronics that move more smoothly than before.

The work went beyond simple repainting. The boats received new paint, the entrance a new logo, and attention was paid to planting and to the costumes worn by the gnome figures. Plopsaland used old photos and videos to check how the attraction looked at opening, and spoke with people involved in its original creation. New details and small easter eggs were also added.

For visitors, the key message was that the classic had not disappeared after years of uncertainty. Plopsaland said it was deliberately investing in the preservation of its classics. The tone around The Forest of Plop shifted from farewell to restoration, even though capacity and future questions did not fully vanish.

In July 2025, the story around The Forest of Plop took an unexpected turn. It was not a director, but Kabouter Plop himself, played by Walter De Donder, who gave a clear answer about the future of the Plopsaland classic. His message was deliberately double-sided: the attraction would go away, but it would also come back.

According to De Donder, the idea was to fully renew The Forest of Plop. Aimé Anthoni, who plays Kabouter Klus, underlined how closely the ride is tied to Plopsaland's identity: without it, the park would not feel like Plopsaland. That gave the fan sentiment around the attraction a very visible voice.

Looopings placed the remark within a longer history. For years, the ride had been discussed in terms of removal, preservation and renewal. It opened in 2000 as the successor to Apirama from 1979, meaning the ride system has been in use for decades. De Donder's comment made clear that Studio 100 and Plopsa could not simply ignore the emotional value.

In early 2025, The Forest of Plop received a rare behind-the-scenes moment. Photos of the Plopsaland dark ride's construction appeared online, showing how the hundreds of gnome figures and sets were created around the 2000 opening. The images came from Wulf-fx, the company of Eric de Wulf, a specialist in film sets and special effects.

The photos revealed the internal frames beneath the gnome bodies, faces before they received eyes, hats or beards, and an early mushroom scene inside a bare workshop. Looopings also noted that the figures move using compressed air, a detail that makes the nostalgic boat ride technically more interesting than it may first appear.

For fans, the images mattered because the ride's future was still uncertain. They made visible how much craft and Studio 100 history is embedded in The Forest of Plop. The debate about preservation therefore became more than a question of capacity; it also became a question of heritage.

In 2024, The Forest of Plop was still at a crossroads. Plopsa director Carl Lenaerts said in the Looopings Podcast that no final decision had been made about the future of the boat dark ride. That kept open a debate that had followed the attraction ever since earlier replacement plans were discussed.

Lenaerts described the dilemma clearly. The ride was dated and had low capacity, which made queues build quickly. At the same time, The Forest of Plop remained one of Plopsaland's most visited attractions, supported by families and by the emotional value of Kabouter Plop. A nearby technical workshop was also set to move, freeing up land in that part of the park.

The article placed the ride in a broader historical frame. Its 145-metre course, with a lift and small drop, dates back to Apirama, the bee-themed dark ride from 1979. Since 2000, guests have floated past hundreds of gnome figures. Lenaerts' message was clear: renewal was possible, but the value of Plop and his forest should not be underestimated.

In 2015, The Forest of Plop entered a period of real uncertainty. Plopsaland director Steve Van den Kerkhof told Looopings that there were plans to replace the popular boat dark ride within a few years with a major new attraction. That was striking, because the Kabouter Plop ride was described at the time as the most popular attraction in the park.

The issue was not visitor demand, but age and long-term viability. Van den Kerkhof pointed out that the ride was fifteen years old and housed in a very old building. Guests would still be able to ride for several more years; demolition was only expected after the arrival of a new wooden coaster.

For fans, the news started a discussion that would continue for years. The Forest of Plop was too loved to remove casually, but too dated to ignore. That tension between nostalgia, capacity and renewal became the central theme in the attraction's later history.