We visited the theme park Plopsaland De Panne and the water park Plopsaqua in Belgium, which are only around 15 minutes away from our La Licorne campsite in Dunkirk. Find out how we liked it there and whether it’s worth a visit in our travel report.
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About the theme park Plopsaland De Panne in Belgium
Plopsaland De Panne, which has been operating under its current name since 2000 (previously Meli-Park), is a family-friendly theme park on the Belgian North Sea coast near the French border. The park covers an area of around 30 hectares and is one of the largest and best-known amusement parks in Belgium. The 55 attractions include family-friendly themed rides as well as action-packed rollercoasters such as The Ride to Happiness, Anubis: The Ride and Heidi: The Ride. In the record year 2024, the theme park recorded over 1.3 million visitors.
Opening hours: Regular opening hours are daily from 10 am to 5 or 7 pm, depending on the season and event. In the high season (e.g. summer, Halloween events) or during special evening events, the park can even be open until 10.30 pm.
Admission: Children under 85cm tall have free admission. For children from 85-99cm the entrance fee is 19 EUR. Adults, young people and children over 1m pay 51 EUR.
Parking: Parking costs 10 EUR.
Overnight accommodation: The integrated resort offers accommodation with four options: the Plopsaland Theater Hotel (up to 6 people), the newly opened Plopsaland Village with luxurious villas for 6-12 people, themed Studio 100 chalets for up to 4 people and the Plopsaland Base Camp as a family-friendly camping area.
Plopsaland is divided into many themed areas around popular characters such as Heidi, Wickie and Maya the Bee. In general, we liked the entire complex very much, everything is super well maintained and designed with great attention to detail ❤
A map of Plopsaland De Panne
On the official website you will find an interactive map with detailed descriptions for each attraction and times for the shows.
A map of the Plopsaland De Panne theme park in Belgium
Maja Land
Our first port of call in Plopsaland was Maja Land. Maya Land is a lovingly designed indoor themed area that covers around 4,500 m² and has been offering families entertainment regardless of the weather since summer 2011. Here you will find 10 family-friendly attractions, including the flower carousel “De Bloemenmolen”, the freefall tower “De Valtoren”, the swinging attraction “De Swingboom” and several play stations such as a climbing garden, a large ball pool, a hands-on raft and a wave slide.
Maya Land really is perfect for families with children of pre-school and primary school age. And our little daughter is now a big fan of Maya the Bee 🙂
Wickie Land
Wickie Land was opened in 2013 and is a lovingly themed area based around the series character “Wickie and the Vikings”. The entire themed world was designed with a backdrop of around 2,500 m² of rocky landscape, 15 Viking helmets, 15 figures, 28 shields and eight wooden boats.
The two main attractions include “Wickie The Battle”, a wet and fun water ride on a 155 m long circuit through Viking Bay and “De Grote Golf” (The Big Wave), a spectacular Disk’O Coaster that swings at up to 70 km/h over a 92 m long track.
Fairground
The fairground (also known as “Kirmesplein”) is a themed world that combines traditional fairground charm with modern design. Originally a collection of older rides, the area was restaged in 2015 and now shines as a lovingly decorated square with figures from the Samson & Gert series. Here you will find classic rides such as a nostalgic carousel, a balloon carousel, a car carousel or bumper cars.
Circus Bumba
The Circus Bumba indoor theme area, which opened in July 2023, offers a lovingly designed circus world based around the popular Studio 100 clown Bumba. The attractions here include: a large ball pool (Tumbi’s Ball Pool), the Poppas climbing tower, a balloon carousel, the crazy bus and the themed ride “Bumba on a journey”, a slow dark ride with around 150 moving figures and 50 animatronics, in which Bumba travels the world.
Roller coasters & water rides
Plopsaland De Panne offers a total of seven roller coasters for different age groups – from family-friendly roller coasters to high-thrill experiences.
The roller coaster “The Ride to Happiness by Tomorrowland” has been Europe’s first Xtreme Spinning Coaster since 2021, with two launches, five inversions, freely rotating cars, a track length of around 920 meters and speeds of up to 90 km/h. “Anubis The Ride” is a launch roller coaster with three rollovers that accelerates from 0 to a fast 90 km/h in just a few seconds. “Heidi The Ride” is a wooden roller coaster with a height of 22 m and a track length of 627 meters.
There are also two water rides, the “SuperSplash” and the “Dino Splash”.
Other rides & attractions
There are of course many other rides and attractions on the site, such as a 70-metre high chain carousel (Night Watch Flyer), a leisurely ride with small tractors through a rural farm setting (De Tractors), the mini traffic park where children drive small electric cars through a child-friendly urban landscape (De Autorijschool) or the indoor park ride (Het Bos van Plop) through the enchanted forest of Kabouter Plop, the well-known garden gnome from the Studio 100 universe.
Plopsaland Parade & Shows
We also loved the 25 Celebration Parade, consisting of eight themed floats, accompanied by dance, music, a specially composed parade song and well-known characters from the Studio 100 universe such as Maya the Bee, Wikie and Bumba. And just before we left Plopsaland at 6.45 pm, we also went to see the Great Celebration Show.
Is a visit to Plopsaland De Panne worthwhile?
We have already visited lots of theme parks with our kids, such as Heide Park Soltau, Legoland Germany, Disneyland and Sea World in Orlando.
All the theme parks are really great and each one is a fantastic experience in its own right. But our kids have never been able to enjoy so many rides as at Plopsaland De Panne. This park really has a lot to offer for families with small children aged 2-6. While at Disneyland you sometimes have to queue for an hour for attractions, at Plopsaland you can get to them relatively quickly and can try out almost all the rides – even when we visited during the vacation season. The only thing our kids didn’t try out was the roller coasters.
That’s why we think Plopsaland de Panne is an absolute recommendation for a theme park with small children! 🙂
About the water park Plopsaqua De Panne
The Plopsaqua De Panne water park is located right next to the Plopsaland De Panne theme park. The indoor water park covers around 4,000 m² and was opened in 2015 with an investment of around €16 million.
Opening hours: Plopsaqua is usually open daily, with seasonally varying times. It is definitely worth taking a look at the official website.
Admission: Children under 85cm tall have free admission. For children from 85-99cm the entrance fee is 13,50 EUR. Adults, young people and children over 1m pay EUR 27.50.
A map of the Plopsaqua water park
The following map clearly shows the layout of the Plopsaqua water park. A detailed description can be found on the official website.
A map of the Plopsaqua De Panne water park
Attractions and themed areas
The design of the water park resembles a winter village. Everything is designed with ice landscapes and Viking figures. Unusual, but really “cool” 😉
Plopsaqua offers more than 15 attractions designed for all age groups. These include several water slides such as Sky Drop, Disco Slide and Sliding Tires. We really loved the “Wild River”, a wild themed river ride through caves and Wickie World scenes. There was also a great toddler area. There is also an outdoor area with a heated outdoor pool, whirlpool, sauna and Wickie Beach to relax in.
Is a visit to the Plopsaqua water park worthwhile?
The visit was perfect for us, as it had rained a lot during the first few days of our vacation. We and our kids definitely had a great time at Plopsaqua water park 🙂