Walibi Schtroumpf
Created | Updated Aug 16, 2002
"Ver are you all coming from?"
Remember the Smurfs? Those lovable/ irritating (delete as appropriate) little blue creatures who used to brighten/ ruin (more deleting required) your morning TV watching? Well, they're alive (ish) and well (sort of) in a theme park in the North eastern corner of France. Near Metz, to be precise. So you can go along in person and worship/ throttle (you know what to do) to your hearts content.
Walibi Schtroumpf is one of the European "sixflags" sites which have theme parks in France, Spain, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. The common website is www.sixflagseurope.com
Location
Situated north of Metz, towards the border with Luxembourg, the park is well signposted from the A4 autoroute. ( Take the Semmecourt exit). It is also accessible by train, with its own stop, again from Metz.
Rides
There are a variety of rides which ensure that all age ranges are catered for. For example, there is a reasonably good log flume ride (Walligator), but if that's too scary for little kids, there's also a smaller version (Aquaschtroumpf). Aside from the usual attractions (tea cups, carousel, monorail) none of which are exceptional, the following rides are the ones which are worth exploring:
Anaconda - the highest wooden roller coaster on Europe, with speeds of up to 110 km/hr.
Gargamel's Revenge - a unique attraction which shoots riders vertically for 55 metres in 2.5 seconds, experiencing a force of 5G, before letting them freefall drop for a number of milliseconds. I saw stars. Literally.
Comet Space - 1 loop and a couple of corkscrews.
Odyssea (raft ride) - a great guaranteed soaking with some nice touches such as a pass through a waterfall, and some yucky ones like the bridge on which thousands of pieces of chewing gum have been stuck.
What else is there?
There are a number of staged shows. Particularly good is "Le Tresor du Pharoah", an Indiana Jones inspired story of adventure. There are the usual eating establishments around, serving crepes, waffles, hotdogs, pizza. And there are a few souvenir shops. Oh, and of course there are Smurfs wandering round, waving, having their photos taken...
Cost
Day entrance is 21.80 euros for adults, 16.75 for 3-11 year olds. If you plan to visit some other European sixflags sites during the same year, consider getting a season pass for 49 euros.
