Wakala at Bellewaerde is a fun Gerstlauer family coaster.
This attraction features a delightfully twisted layout amongst the trees and a surprise backwards
section for variety.
Gerstlauer has made some great family coasters over the years such as Dollywood’s Firechaser
Express and Parc Asterix’s Pegase Express.
Wakala is the newest, but is it the best?
Find out in this review.
Wakala opened in the summer of 2020 after two delays.
First, local authorities expressed concerns about the ride’s environmental impact.
After some replanning, Bellewaerde received approval for the project.
They worked with the Nature and Forest Agency and then Gerstlauer to design a coaster that
minimized the loss of trees, which results in some great near-misses for riders.
Second, the originally spring 2020 opening was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Unlike some parks that pushed ride openings out a year or two, Bellewaerde opened the
coaster that summer once the park reopened.
Wakala is located in the park’s Canada section.
The coaster is themed to the Kwakwaka’wakw natives in the Pacific Northwest.
Chief Wakala wanted to see the world in his canoe and thanks to magical spirits, his canoe
is able to fly.
It’s a simple premise, but it works.
And the trains are fittingly ship themed.
There isn’t any theming along the ride’s course- just some idols in the queue- but
the tree-inspired color palette for the track and proximity amongst the trees works perfectly.
And fitting tribal music also plays around the attraction to set the mood.
Since this is the park’s newest attraction, it usually has one of the longest waits.
Since I visited on a busy summer Saturday, I knew it was important to hit this coaster
early.
However, I couldn’t go there first since it had a staggered opening due to its proximity
towards the back of the park.
It opened a half hour after the park’s opening time.
I got to Wakala shortly after it opened and was able to ride twice in a half hour.
After my second ride, the wait time had swelled to nearly an hour according to the electronic
display out front.
The queue line snakes its way under and around the coaster, which offers some cool vantage
points of Wakala.
Due to covid-19, there were two operational notes.
First, the coaster had assigned seating.
I got the middle on one ride and the back on another.
I wish I could have tried the front, but luck wasn’t on my side.
Second, this coaster will normally have a single rider line, but it wasn’t in use
for the 2021 season.
I imagine that will save you a lot of time in the future if you’re visiting alone or
willing to split up your party.
Wakala features 3 trains with 10 rows, so each seats 20 riders.
All three trains were in use the day I visited and the crew was doing a pretty good job pumping
trains out.
It was fairly common to see two trains on the circuit at once.
The fast dispatches were aided by this ride’s simple restraints.
You have simple individual lap bars similar to the ones seen on Firechaser Express.
Once dispatched, you head up the chain lift.
The aforementioned tribal music increases in intensity as you ascend the lift.
I believe this lift takes you to the ride’s highest point of 69 feet or 21 meters and
then the real fun begins.
I was hoping Wakala would ride like Firechaser Express, giving several pops of airtime.
Unfortunately, this coaster offered no airtime- at least in the back half of the train.
But it shined in other areas.
One thing I want to highlight is that Wakala has very little straight track.
The track always seemed to be banking one way or another.
There were several bunny hills that definitely didn’t have to be banked, but Gerstlauer
seemed to add that in for variety which made it standout from other family coasters.
The first half starts with a twisting first drop that has some good whip in the back due
to the long trains.
You then snap to the left on this mildly aggressive S-bend.
It’s no Intimidator 305, but it has more whip than you’d expect for a family coaster.
You then slowly coast over a small dip and two bunny hills.
The dip and first bunny hill are rather dull since they occur so high above the ground,
but the second bunny hill banks to the left and then snaps to a right hand turn that continues
twisting towards the ground.
It’s a fun transition between the whip and speed you build up.
Wakala only has a top speed of 31 mph or 50 kph, but this next section feels faster than
that since you’re racing past trees on both sides.
You then slowly coast over a small dip and two bunny hills.
The dip and first bunny hill are rather dull since they occur so high above the ground,
but the second bunny hill leads into a snappy turn to the left that continues twisting towards
the ground.
It’s a fun transition between the whip and speed you build up.
Wakala only has a top speed of 31 mph or 50 kph, but this next section feels faster than
that since you’re racing past trees on both sides.
You then jump up this tiny hill and then navigate an ok overbank before zipping over this mildly
snappy S-transition that leads into a tight and fairly forceful upwards turn.
You then drop back down to the ground, zip past the queue line one last time, and bank
around another turn that leads into a booster lift hill.
Wakala has enough kinetic energy to make it up most of the lift, but the drive tires kick
in towards the end throwing the train over the curving drop with more speed than you’d
expect.
So if you’re in the back, you get some nice whip yet again.
Wakala then coasts over this super drawn out bunny hill before heading up the spike.
While the spike isn’t vertical, I was surprised how far the vehicle went up it.
It’s a stark contrast to the Vekoma family boomerangs and it was a freaky visual, especially
since the high front of the ship obstructs the end of the spike.
As you stall out and head back in reverse, you get some decent weightlessness.
And this sensation is better the closer you are to the front.
You then head over the prior bunny hill, this time in the opposite direction, before hitting
the brakes and heading back to the station.
While the backwards bit is pretty short, it still is a relatively rare feature for a family
coaster.
That ends the coaster’s 2165 feet or 660 meters of track.
And every single foot of it was smooth for me, but I have seen some others note it had
a rattle at points.
So what would I rate Wakala?
I would give this coaster a 7 out of 10.
This is a solid family coaster.
The ride has a great atmosphere with the light theming and music.
The ride is smooth.
And the ride is always doing something.
While I didn’t get any airtime, the coaster would throw in these little hops and extra
banked bits in-between elements to keep riders on their toes.
And the caused the ride had some decent whip to it on the largest drops and s-bends.
And then the reverse spike at the end is a fun finale.
Wakala was my favorite ride at Bellewaerde.
While it can’t top Firechaser Express, it’s a fun coaster and the type of family coaster
I wish existed when I was a kid.
It has a super low height limit and is a crowd-pleaser for all ages.
So those are my thoughts on Wakala, the newest roller coaster at Bellewaerde.
What are your thoughts on this Gerstlauer family coaster?
Do you think it’s a fun experience?
Let me know what you think down in the comments.
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