Plopsa and Tomorrowland Develop Holiday Park Attraction and Merlin Plans Lego Discovery Centres

Plopsa Teams Up with Tomorrowland for Holiday Park Attraction

Plopsa Group is following up its runaway hit, “The Ride to Happiness by Tomorrowland”—the Mack Rides Xtreme Spinning Coaster at Belgium’s Plop-saland De Panne—with another collaboration with the Tomorrowland electronic dance music festival. Plopsa will open a new Tomorrowland-themed area at Holiday Park in Haßloch, Germany, in 2024. It promises to be a spectacular replacement for the long-running water ski stunt show at Holiday Park’s aqua stadium and lake, which was decommissioned during the pandemic. The attraction aims to immerse guests in Tomorrowland’s festival atmosphere. 

“We are very proud to be able to expand our range of attractions in Germany together with Tomorrowland,” says Steve Van den Kerkhof, CEO of Plopsa Group. “With the expertise of our own designers and the creative minds of the Tomorrowland festival, we will create a next-level attraction and themed zone at Holiday Park.”

Tomorrowland CEO Bruno Vanwelsenaers is enthusiastic about expanding the alliance. 

“We are very proud of this new cooperation,” he says. “Thanks to this partnership, a lot of people can get to know Tomorrowland, and we can continue to grow the experience.”

Construction is scheduled to start this year on the 15-million-euro attraction. The project is in addition to a series of investments that Plopsa Group has already made in Holiday Park, totaling around 20 million euros. These have included Holiday Indoor, an indoor adventureland (2019), the freshly themed “DinoSplash” water ride (2020), and a Wickieland area based on the “Vic the Viking” (2021) TV series. Plopsa’s future plans for Holiday Park include a hotel and water park.

Merlin Entertainments Expands European Experiences

In summer 2022, the first of Merlin Entertainments’ next-generation Lego Discovery Centres will debut in Brussels, Belgium. The development continues the successful partnership between Merlin Entertainments and the Lego Group. 

At the new Lego Discovery Centre, children and their families can build a space rocket out of Lego bricks and then digitally scan their ship and fly it in the Lego Space solar system. There’s an interactive “Imagination Express” train ride where families can gather points as they travel through an oversized Lego World, into a giant bubble bath, and out into the Lego ocean and space. Preschoolers have a dedicated indoor play area with a dinosaur-themed carousel and slides.

“We are delighted that our partnership with the Lego Group continues to deliver such fantastic opportunities for our guests,” says Justin Platt, Merlin’s chief strategy officer. Julia Goldin, chief product and marketing officer at the Lego Group, adds to this sentiment.

“By creating this highly interactive indoor Lego experience, we will give families a place to play, explore, create, and have fun together,” she says. 

Merlin Entertainments continues to grow in the Netherlands, too. This spring, it launched a Peppa Pig World of Play at the Westfield Mall in Leidschendam, adding to a portfolio of Netherlands attractions, including Madame Tussauds Amsterdam, The Amsterdam Dungeon, and a Sea Life aquarium and Legoland Discovery Centre in Scheveningen. It is also managing This is Holland, an immersive 5D flying theater attraction in Amsterdam.