News about MECALODON

In November 2025, Mecalodon received a more technical follow-up story. Looopings reported on a Theme Park Science special in which coaster expert and engineer Jurnan Schilder explains what happens if the launched coaster fails to clear a hill. The subject goes straight to what makes Mecalodon interesting: three launches, lightweight Gerstlauer trains and a long layout that must manage speed efficiently. Schilder explained that lighter trains require less steel and less launch power, leaving more budget for a longer track and allowing shorter launch sections. At the same time, designers must account for temperature differences: warm trains run faster than cold ones. The article also described how speed graphs for fast and slow runs are used to stay within safe limits. If a train does stop, the launch system must be able to get it moving again. For enthusiasts, this added rare technical context to the ride experience.

In August 2025, Mecalodon drew attention for a different reason: not speed or theming, but the handling of lost items. A guest complained in a later-deleted TikTok video that her bag had fallen from the train during a ride. According to Looopings, passengers on Mecalodon were required to take their bags into the train and clamp them between their feet. When the bag ended up beside the track, Walibi Belgium asked 145 euros for a targeted search after closing time. The park explained that the fee covered two staff members searching for up to one hour in restricted red zones around attractions, areas not accessible to guests. The article is relevant because it exposes a practical side of the ride experience. Mecalodon has no inversions and is considered suitable for bags, but the combination of speed, open ride vehicles and a waterside setting still makes loose items a sensitive issue for visitors.

Not every story around a new attraction is about construction or ride experience. In mid-April 2025, Mecalodon became part of a striking merchandise issue. Walibi Belgium had produced new coaster magnets featuring technical specifications and track layouts, but several details turned out to be wrong. For Mecalodon, the most eye-catching error was the listed height: the magnet claimed the family coaster was 55 metres tall, while the real height is 15 metres. The article matters because it shows how closely fans watch the details around a new coaster, especially when a park has just opened a major investment. The mistake did not affect the ride itself, but it did affect the way the attraction was presented. Mecalodon was being promoted as the largest family coaster in the Benelux, and in that context accurate figures carry weight. Reactions from fansites and visitors made clear that merchandise is also part of the perceived quality of an attraction.

After opening, Looopings published one of the first fuller impressions of the ride and its surroundings. Mecalodon was described as a family coaster with unusual bite: smooth enough for a broad audience, but far from tame thanks to three launches, sharp turns and fourteen airtime moments. The photo report also showed how extensive the layout is. Mecalodon does not only run through Dock World; it also touches Exotic World and largely follows the waterline of the former Gold River Adventure. Part of the old boat station remained as a viewpoint, placing the predecessor’s history directly beside the new coaster. The article also highlighted the rich theming: a fishing village, mechanical sharks, playful film posters and a queue story involving Laura and her father. For visitors and enthusiasts, that context is valuable because it explains why Mecalodon is more than a list of specifications. It is a ride experience shaped by layout, setting and storytelling together.

On 5 April 2025, Mecalodon’s opening day, Walibi Belgium immediately gave fans the full ride in video form. The onride showed what months of teasers and construction updates had produced in practice: a roughly one-and-a-half-minute experience with three launches and a winding layout just above the water. Looopings listed the key figures alongside the footage. The Gerstlauer coaster is 925 metres long, 15 metres high, reaches 65 kilometres per hour and offers fourteen moments of weightlessness. The story behind the name was also highlighted again: Mecalodon combines mechanics with the extinct megalodon shark. For visitors wondering whether this family coaster would provide enough excitement, the video answered many questions. The ride was not only accessible, but also long, fast and tightly woven into the fishing-village atmosphere of Dock World.

On 3 April 2025, the most important practical news for visitors arrived: Mecalodon would open on Saturday 5 April, directly with the start of the new season. Until then, Walibi Belgium had kept the exact opening date quiet, despite multiple construction updates, test videos and reveals. The announcement showed that the park wanted Dock World to be the headline novelty from day one in 2025. For visitors, it meant there would be no need to wait for a later soft opening or phased handover. The 925-metre family coaster, promoted as the largest family coaster in the Benelux, would immediately become part of a regular park day. Looopings placed the opening within the wider 35-million-euro investment, where water, steel and a harbour environment come together. Mecalodon therefore became more than a new ride: it was the calling card for a fully renewed area of the park.

On 20 March 2025, Mecalodon moved from construction project to moving attraction. Walibi Belgium shared the first test-run footage, both offride and onride, showing the train travelling through the harbour scenery of Dock World. For enthusiasts, that kind of test moment matters: the track may already be in place, but only a moving train reveals how the layout looks at speed and how close it comes to buildings, water and existing attractions. The video showed Mecalodon winding past Tiki-Waka and running through harbour houses. Looopings also repeated the technical promise: 925 metres of track, 15 metres high, three launches, 65 kilometres per hour and fourteen moments of weightlessness. The opening date had not yet been confirmed, but the park said the Dock World team was working to make the experience available as soon as possible. That made the run-up to the season opening feel much more immediate.

When Walibi Belgium published its 2025 park map, Mecalodon suddenly became much easier to understand as part of the park. The name and train design were already known, but now the full track layout appeared on the map. Looopings explained how the 925-metre Gerstlauer launched coaster sits largely over the water and how Dock World was being built around it. For visitors, that mattered because the ride was not being placed in isolation. Mecalodon became the backbone of a new area with the Cannery Factory, a lighthouse, food outlets, shops and existing attractions receiving new names or looks. The map made clear how far-reaching the project was: a coaster, a themed land and a reorganisation of visitor routes all came together. For enthusiasts, the article offered the first practical view of the environment the ride would soon move through.

By mid-March 2025, Mecalodon had its face. Walibi Belgium showed the trains for the new family launch coaster after the cars arrived at the park. The design matched the leaked name perfectly: guests would ride in mechanical sharks, with a striking shark head on the lead car that appears to be assembled from old parts. For enthusiasts, this was an important moment because a coaster train often determines how strongly a theme is felt during the ride itself. Until then, most public information had consisted of concepts, construction footage and technical specifications. Now the mechanical megalodon of Dock World could actually be seen. The reveal also made the marketing concrete. Walibi used social media to announce that Mecalodon had arrived, turning the coaster from a construction project into a ride visibly entering the final stretch before opening.

In early February 2025, it became clear that Mecalodon would be more than a new coaster: it would also reinterpret an older part of Walibi Belgium. The former boat ride Gold River Adventure had made way for the launched coaster, but its station was not completely demolished. The old turntable where guests once boarded the boats was given a second life as a viewpoint and picnic spot. For enthusiasts, that context matters. Mecalodon was built in and around the pond of a 1978 attraction, meaning the new coaster was literally layered over park history. Visitors would be able to watch the family coaster from the wooden platform, while a recognisable piece of Gold River Adventure remained visible. The article makes the transition concrete: Dock World did not simply erase everything that came before. Some elements were deliberately folded into the new experience.

One week after the accidental name leak, Walibi Belgium made Mecalodon official. At the same time, the park offered a behind-the-scenes look at the construction of Dock World, helping fans understand how the new coaster fitted into the wider themed area. The news was not just about concrete, track and scenery, but about ambition: Mecalodon was being positioned as the centrepiece of a maritime zone that would also refresh several existing attractions. The specifications remained striking for a family coaster. Walibi spoke of 925 metres of track, three launches, fourteen moments of weightlessness and access from a height of one metre. The mechanical shark trains again served as the visual anchor of the theme. For visitors, the article made the project much more tangible. The name was final, the story was taking shape and the construction site was starting to reveal just how substantial Dock World would become.

In January 2025, Walibi Belgium’s new coaster unexpectedly received its name. It did not happen through a carefully staged reveal, but because Mecalodon suddenly appeared in the official Walibi app. For fans, that small leak carried real news value: the wordplay on megalodon immediately made clear that the ride would revolve around mechanical sharks and a nautical world. Looopings connected the reveal to the main specifications already known at the time. Mecalodon was set to be a Gerstlauer family coaster without inversions, featuring three launches, a top speed of 65 kilometres per hour, 925 metres of track and a height of 15 metres. Its place within Dock World also became clearer: Gold River Adventure had made way, and several existing attractions in the area were receiving new names and themes. The article therefore captures more than a leaked name. It marks the moment when scattered construction details began to form a recognisable attraction story.

On Christmas Day 2024, Walibi Belgium gave the first substantial look at the family coaster that would later be known as Mecalodon. In a video update, project manager Julien Simon explained that the still unnamed ride in Dock World would skim close to the water and was being built by Gerstlauer. That immediately gave the project a clear profile: not a mild children’s coaster, but a stretched-out family ride with speed, direction changes and airtime close to the ground. The coaster was described as the largest family coaster in the Benelux, with three launches, around one kilometre of track and a height of 15 metres. For enthusiasts, the bespoke nature of the design stood out most. The ride would link several themed areas and make deliberate use of the park’s water features. In hindsight, this article marks the public starting point of Mecalodon’s story: still unnamed, but already recognisable as the water-hugging coaster meant to anchor Dock World.