With the arrival of YoY, Walibi Holland actually has two new roller coasters. There are two ride experiences that start at the same time. The YoY Thrill ride (green) has an adventurous course and goes upside down six times along the way. With the YoY Chill ride (blue), Walibi wants to appeal to a target group that chooses a less intense ride. – for example with younger children. The attraction is therefore more suitable for the entire family. Walibi has an international first; This is the first single track dual coaster.
Plans for YoY were already on the table in 2018. Now, the roller coaster has been built and completed by RMC Coasters from the US. There is a nice interaction between the two tracks, which start simultaneously. The track layout largely runs parallel, meaning you can also see and hear the experience on the neighboring ride. It is not the most comfortable roller coaster – especially if you are a bit tall and have to put your legs in an X to fit in. At the opening, it was immediately clear that the enthusiasm for 'YoY Thrill' is much greater than for 'YoY Chill'. Walibi director Macha Timiniau also prefers to join the 'Thrill' queue.
If we count the latest addition of YoY as two roller coasters, Walibi Holland currently has ten spectacular roller coasters. The position of Walibi Holland as the roller coaster specialist of the Netherlands has been emphatically underlined. The new roller coaster is somewhat sparsely themed, but that is probably not what the target group of this park is waiting for. The park profiles itself as a park with spectacular and exciting attractions and has a unique position in the Netherlands.
In addition to the new attraction, we find a new catering outlet with a terrace on the water. A modest toilet facility with pimped dixies was also added at the last minute. Is this a permanent solution?
Rollercoaster fans set the tone
It is of great importance for an amusement park that the primary target group embraces the new attraction. At Walibi, these are primarily the coaster fans who pay attention to every detail. Fortunately, we (the Pretwerk editorial team) also had an experienced roller coaster visitor with us that day; Joyce Dijkstra from Red Online Marketing , who looked at the details of the new attraction and marketing aspects. What stood out:
- In terms of marketing; good execution of the opening. By splitting it into two opening moments; one for the influencers and one for guests and journalists, you get full attention twice. Around the opening there was a nice show in which the surrounding rollercoasters gave their new brother / sister a warm welcome.
- The location of the new roller coaster is well chosen, improving the routes through the park; the Goliath is no longer in a remote corner, but is more a part of the whole.
- The preference of the die-hard roller coaster fans will undoubtedly lie with the roller coaster YoY Thrill. “I missed some airtime with both tracks. That was made up for with 'Thrill' by the six inversions where you sometimes remain upside down for a long time.
- The treadmill principle was used for boarding and disembarking, whereby the roller coaster continues to move forward slowly while people get on and off. This has proven to work well in practice and increases capacity.
- The decoration may be a bit sparse, but in this park it is not an essential requirement for the target group. Personally, I would find it an added value if the area were filled in a bit more with a theme and some smaller activities.
More information: www.walibi.nl/nl