News about TIKI-WAKA

In May 2022, TIKI-WAKA made the news because of an incident that had nothing to do with the ride's technology and everything to do with guest behaviour. In the queue, a visitor climbed over a fence and walked along the edge of a canopy above the water, heading toward the track while the coaster was operating. A bystander filmed the action. According to that eyewitness, TIKI-WAKA kept running throughout the incident and several cars passed while the man was close to the ride; the coaster reaches 55 kilometres per hour. The article matters because it highlights a different side of the attraction's safety history. TIKI-WAKA is designed as an accessible family coaster, but its surroundings remain an active rollercoaster environment. Unpredictable guest behaviour can turn that setting into a dangerous situation very quickly.

Three years after opening, TIKI-WAKA appeared in a different kind of news story: recognisability. Freizeit-Land Geiselwind announced a new exotically themed family coaster for 2022 called Taka Waka. Because of the almost identical name and similar theme, fans immediately connected it to Walibi Belgium's TIKI-WAKA. Looopings asked Walibi Belgium for a response, and the park answered with dry humour. A spokesperson said it was always easier to copy ideas than to invent new ones, while also joking that only A-brands get copied. For TIKI-WAKA's history, the article is interesting because it shows that the ride had developed a strong identity by then. Its name, Hawaiian tone and Gerstlauer bobsled formula had become recognisable enough to serve as a reference point beyond Walibi Belgium itself.

In August 2019, TIKI-WAKA suffered a notable technical incident. During a ride, Looopings reported, a car did not have enough speed to complete the course and ended up rocking back and forth in a curve. After evacuating the attraction, staff used a cable to pull the vehicle back toward a horizontal section of track. Eyewitnesses said passengers were stuck for around half an hour. Walibi Belgium did not confirm the precise cause, but referred to a technical malfunction and stressed that guest safety had been guaranteed throughout. The rescue operation temporarily closed off a large part of the park, including the nearby Challenge of Tutankhamon. For the ride's history, the article matters because it documents a rare operational disruption on a coaster otherwise positioned as an accessible family attraction.

TIKI-WAKA's official opening came only after the family coaster had already been operating for several weeks. The ceremony took place on a Saturday, attended by Walibi director Jean-Christophe Parent, Compagnie des Alpes director Dominique Marcel and a representative of the Walloon tourism minister. Looopings described the ride as Walibi positioned it: a funcoaster measuring 564 metres in length, 21 metres in height and reaching 55 kilometres per hour, accessible from one metre. The decoration was created by Jora Vision, and the ride formed the heart of Exotic World together with Tiki-Trail, near Challenge of Tutankhamon and Octopus. The broader message mattered most: Exotic World symbolised the larger changes coming to the park. This opening article is therefore more than a ceremony report. It records how TIKI-WAKA was presented as an early marker of Walibi Belgium's renewal.

On 7 April 2018, the public got its first true rider's-eye view of TIKI-WAKA. Walibi Belgium released onride footage of the new family coaster, showing the exact course of the Gerstlauer bobsled coaster, just over twenty metres high and almost six hundred metres long. A ride lasted about two minutes and reached 55 kilometres per hour. Just as important was the status of the attraction: TIKI-WAKA had not officially opened yet, but the park was already allowing some guests on board during a test phase. That marked the shift from construction project to operating experience. For fans, the video revealed the smooth, nimble rhythm of the layout. For families, the one-metre minimum height showed how accessible the ride would be. The article captures the moment when TIKI-WAKA became something guests could actually start to experience.

By late March 2018, TIKI-WAKA had entered the tense final stage before opening. Walibi Belgium had started testing and showed the ride vehicles for the first time: five cars seating four people each. At the same time, the schedule was under pressure. The park was due to reopen on 31 March, but the family coaster would probably not be ready for that date. A spokesperson told Looopings that recent weather conditions had slowed the work, making an opening before 7 April unlikely. For guests, that was practical planning information; for fans, it was a sign that the ride was almost there. The article also ties the operational run-up to the coaster's specifications: a Gerstlauer ride just over twenty metres tall, reaching 55 kilometres per hour and forming part of Exotic World with Tiki-Trail.

With the name reveal, Walibi Belgium's new coaster gained its identity. On 15 February 2018, the park announced that the family coaster would be called TIKI-WAKA. At the same time, Walibi introduced Tiki-Trail, a play course that would join the coaster inside Exotic World. Looopings listed the key figures: a Gerstlauer ride just over twenty metres high, almost six hundred metres long, with five four-seat cars, a top speed of 55 kilometres per hour and a minimum rider height of one metre. The schedule remained tight, as Walibi hoped to have the coaster operational at the start of the season. The article also places TIKI-WAKA inside the park's broader masterplan. It was not just a new family coaster, but an early building block in a multi-year wave of investment.

In early February 2018, construction of TIKI-WAKA visibly accelerated. Looopings reported that Walibi Belgium's new rollercoaster was rising: shortly after the first parts had arrived, a section of the track was already standing. That made the Gerstlauer family coaster much more concrete for guests and fans following the construction photos. The eventual name had not yet been announced, and no opening date had been confirmed, but the shape of the ride and its surroundings became clearer. The area near Challenge of Tutankhamon was set to become a Hawaiian village. For coaster fans, this was the kind of construction milestone that turns a promised ride into a recognisable attraction. TIKI-WAKA was still unfinished, but it had begun to define the skyline of its future park area.

By late January 2018, TIKI-WAKA had moved from concept to construction site. Looopings reported that the first parts of Walibi Belgium's new family coaster had arrived, with photos showing a large crane lifting blue track sections into place. The ride idea from the earlier animation suddenly became tangible. Walibi had chosen a Gerstlauer bobsled coaster for the former Coccinelle location, near Challenge of Tutankhamon. At that point the name, top speed and opening date were still unknown, but the outline of the project was clear. For guests and fans, this was the moment when the new Hawaiian-themed area began to rise visibly from construction fences, steel and expectation. TIKI-WAKA was no longer just a promise in a masterplan; it was taking physical shape inside the park.

Before the coaster even had a name, Walibi Belgium gave fans a concrete look at the project. During a fan event, the park showed a computer simulation with onride footage of the future family coaster. It confirmed that Walibi had chosen a wide-ranging Gerstlauer bobsled coaster with individual cars seating two rows of two riders. The video did not yet include decoration, but Looopings already reported that the surrounding area would become a Hawaiian village. The location also mattered: near Challenge of Tutankhamon, on the former Coccinelle site. For coaster fans this was the first real chance to judge the layout and ride rhythm. In hindsight, the article reads like an early blueprint for TIKI-WAKA, published before the name, colours and themed environment gave the project its later identity.

The first visible step toward TIKI-WAKA was not a piece of track, but an empty site. In September 2017 Walibi Belgium removed the children's coaster La Coccinelle, including its station, and fenced off the area. The cleared plot was reserved for a new family coaster due to open the following year. For guests, the work also brought temporary disruption: Gold River Adventure and Poneys closed for the construction, while MusicXpress disappeared for good. In TIKI-WAKA's timeline this is a useful starting point. It shows that the coaster was not simply dropped into the park as an isolated ride, but grew out of a broader reshaping of Walibi Belgium. The future Exotic World area literally began with this space being made available, replacing older family attractions with a more ambitious themed experience.