What's Walibi?

Walibi Fright Night was on Saturday.

The day out was organized by ESN and only cost 45 euros for the whole trip: travel, ticket, lunch. It seemed like a good deal. We met on the uni campus around 12, picked up our packed lunch then promptly got on the bus. I think we arrived at Walibi at around 2 o'clock, possibly?

Anyway, I soon acquired a little team of people for the day. There was 8 of us, which was good, as it meant that we were never left abandoned on a ride by ourselves. And a got to deafen a few people with my panicked screams...

I might have stolen a few pictures from facebook for this...bad panda!

Question of the day: What is Walibi?

Dilemma: Is Walibi a Wallaby?

It didn't even occur to me to ask this question until someone enquired about it. But I have no idea what animal Walibi is. Can someone help me out here? See, now that I think about it, his ears do kind of make him look like a wallaby. And I guess that does make sense with his name. But I'm not a hundred percent convinced.

So what rides did we go on? In case you haven't figured it out yet, Walibi is a theme park! Woohoo! (P.s. That is an exclamation of excitement, not Sims getting sweaty *wink, wink*)!

First, it was the Xpress. You know that horrible feeling when you get in the cart, it moves off to the starting position, then stops? Yeah, that can only mean one thing. 0 to 90 kilometres, an hour, in 3 seconds! Gah! It was quite something! The loops were almost relaxing after such an intense start. But it was a nice way to begin the day - nothing too nerve-racking, although I was a little jittery afterwards!

Next it was off to Speed of Sound. It was quite something. The wait was over an hour long, which gave us plenty of time to over analyse, panic and desperately need to pee! Well, that's what I did anyway. Great combination for a roller coaster. Just excellent... It seemed like quite a short ride but there was a lot of build up to it. Once the cart was filled with people and ready to go it, very slowly, reversed backwards up a steep slope and into a enclosed tunnel. It was pretty intense with music blaring and lots of lights. It definitely added to the fear factor. My leg was shaking like crazy! So I'm totally freaking out at this point. And, of course, all the long pauses are making me want to jump out and run to the toilet. Much too late for that I'm afraid! Once it finally got moving, the first half was pretty good - nothing too terrifying. But it was the knowledge of what was to come that had me quivering. Once it finished all the loops and twist, we climbed up another slope and then did the whole thing in reverse. Nope. It was horrific. Fun, and a pure adrenaline rush, but horrific. It was kind of sore on your neck to go backwards as well... Anyway, once we were finally released I was laughing like a lunatic and shaking like a leaf. Amazing.

We didn't have a huge amount of time before the Fright Night was scheduled to start. But we were able to go on one more ride: G-Force, before sniffing out some food. Now don't get me wrong, compared to the others, this was almost a little kids ride. But, for me, it was the worst one yet. It was one of those ones where you don't get strapped in, but you still go upside down. Creepy. Plus, my little legs were far too short to reach the end of the compartment I was sitting in, which freaked me out! Felt rather ill and dizzy afterwards too. Reminded me too much of the teacups! Ha, me and my dad have very similar feelings about the teacups: no, just no. *vom*

But once my stomach had finally finished doing back-flips, I was quite happy to settle down to eat a waffle, smothered in melted white chocolate. Yum! Yes please!

The camera flash ruins the possibility of any atmospheric tension...

And that's when it started to rain. And oh did it rain! The heavens opened. We weren't going to let it ruin our day though! Instead, we dutifully waited in line for the Fun House of Fear, ran round it screaming and burst out the other end much too quickly. I was jumping and screaming every time I turned the corner. It was beyond ridiculous. I'm not even going to begin to describe it - I wouldn't do it justice. However, my one problem is that I have a fear of other people screaming. Yes, I know, I'm a ridiculous excuse for a human being, but I'll try to explain... So I was behind the group, they would scream at something I couldn't yet see, I would scream with them, then have a second turn at being frightened when it actually got round to being my turn... Such a dafty. 

Just picture this, with torrential rain. Wow.

The final attraction of the day was Goliath. Definitely saved the best until last. Truly amazing. Plus, the torrential rain had scared half of the crowd away - reduced waiting times! Woo! It was insane. Although, I felt bad for the guy I was sitting next to (you'll see why in a  moment). After the harnesses were released and refastened several times, the people behind us had decided to chicken out and get let off the ride at the last minute, which totally freaked me out. So as soon as it started I had decided that I was no longer up for it. Again, too late. Unfortunately, I was only able to contain my panic up until the point where we started the climb the first ascent. And, oh dear god, it was never ending! "Omg, Lewis. Lewis. No, no, no, no, no. I don't like it. Lewis help. Omg. F*cking, f*ckity f*ck f*ck. Lewis. LEWIS!!" The poor boy... I do apologise. But it was so good. Absolutely terrifying. For me, I'd give it 10 out of 10. It was seriously excellent. You should google it! 'Cause any description I come up with is, once again, not going to do it any justice. The rain was a great addition too - turned it into a water ride! Although, it also resulted in us not being able to open our eyes for most of it. Absolutely fantastic! I was soaked to the bone once it had finished though. *shivers*

Then it was toilet time. I couldn't possibly have went on another ride without wetting myself. At that point, I ventured inside, found a loo, and invested in a hot dog to warm myself up a little, while waiting for the rest of our little team to return.

Then it was home time. But even that was eventful. The bus broke down so we had to wait for a replacement. Which, thankfully, didn't take too long. It was almost fun to have a second adventure, but I was delighted to finally be on my way home at the end of the day. We didn't arrive back at uni until after midnight, and from there me and my bike pretty much swam home. Disgusting.

The ESN guys were really good though! They arranged the bus to drop people off all around Rotterdam since we had missed the public transport. They were actually dropping people of right outside my building, but I didn't fancy leaving by bike abandoned at uni!

What an amazing day! It has been, without a doubt, the best day of the week. Not that there was much competition. The remainder of my week consisted of:

• Rain, rain, and a bit more rain...
• Sitting in lectures soaking wet, for three hours.
• Finding my poor bike knocked over and lying under a pile of other bikes in the shed.
• Hurting my back while hovering. (Yes, apparently I am an 80 year old woman now. Deal with it.)
• Cutting my toe with the hover.
• Cycling in hideous weather (with a now dodgy bike and sore back).
• Having double the normal reading for our weekly class test on Friday. Ew.
• And, snapping my favourite memory stick (thank god I have a spare!)

It's been a wild one. Can't you tell?!

P.s. To whoever knocked over my bike (along with half the others in the shed), I am not a happy bunny. Seriously, just you watch, angry Nat is out and on the prowl! It's nice to know that the people I live with are so considerate *ridiculously overdone sarcasm*. Next time if you move, or knock over a bike (and, yes, it is easily done) at least make an attempt to put it back. Whenever that happens to me, I don't just abandon the bike on the floor! Clearly I've been wasting my time... *grumbles* Guess I'll be off to get my bike fixed in the next few days... *crazy eyed stare*

Okay, rant over. Calm thoughts and all that.