| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
De Waarbeek is a family amusment park, located inthe city of Hengelo in Twente, Netherlands.
The park focuses primarily on children between three and up to twelve years. There are 44 attractions that usaully have an old-fashioned character. The most important attraction in the park is Rodelbaan, a custom-built in-house steel coaster and the 2nd oldest operating steel coaster in the world. Since 2015, the park refered itself as the "first amusment park fully powered by green energy".
History[]
The park opened on April 20, 1924 under the name "Theehuis De Waarbeek". The land was bought in mid-1923 by brothers Jan Hendrik and Herman Smith during a public sale at the request of the heirs of H. Hulshoff. Hulsoff Pol had laid out an English garden on these grounds earlier, including 2 ponds. One of these ponds is still in use as a rowing pond for the rowing boats. There was also a tennis court with a tea dome in the garden. The park was at first no more then a simple playground. In its early years, people could go from the Waarbeek station, which made a connection between Hengelo and Enschede. The first major attraction was the Rodelbaan coaster, which was placed in the park in 1930 by the park itself. Only in 2000 was the park classified as an amusement park for all ages.
In 2009, the park got two new owners, Joris Bengvoord and Arijan van Bavel, who gave the park a major makeover, with the addition of five new attractions.
Since 2013, there were summer evenings with celebrity television characters, such as Dora the Explorer and Bob the Builder, as a driving force. There were circus performances every day during the autumn holidays. In the December holiday period, the park was lit with a large Christmas tree and winter activities.
On 5 August 2015, the park achieved its record attendance with 4200 visitors.
In 2018, the park was sold to Kevin Moespot and Janna van der Linde, who continue to operate the park to this day.
Attractions[]
Present roller coasters[]
| Name | Manufacturer | Type | Opened | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rodelbaan | Custom-built in-house | Family steel coaster | 1930 | Operating |
| Rupsje Mae | Güven Amusement Rides Factory | Family steel coaster | 2022-04-02 | Operating |
| Raptor Adventure | SBF Visa Group | Family steel coaster | 2023 | Operating |
Past roller coasters[]
| Name | Manufacturer | Type | Opened | Closed | Relocated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goldmine Express | CAM Baby Kart | Family steel coaster | 2020 | 2021 | Knightly's Funfair |
Other attractions[]
A view of some of the attractions
- Twister
- Twekky's Springbuik
- Dinkie Toys' Race Track
- Nostalgic Arcade
- Twekky's Theater
- Venture River
- Duck Carousel
- Track track
- Golf Jet
- Skyflyer
- Hully Gully
- Rocking Roger
- Ferris Wheel
- Swing Mill
- Bumper cars
- Older timers
- Mini carousel
- Float mill
- Mini Train
- Nautic Jet
- Vintage cars
- Playground for small children
- Inflatable bouncer
- Aquaball
- Bungee diver
- Floating cars
Mascot[]
The park's mascot is "Twekky", a clownish figure with a large clock in the shape of a hat. Twekky can be seen in the park portrayed by actors.
External links[]
- De Waarbeek official website
- De Waarbeek at the Roller Coaster DataBase