New Footage Shows Walibi Belgium's New Pulsar Water Coaster Testing

© Walibi Belgium

This season will see the debut of Pulsar at Walibi Belgium, a brand new type of water ride developed by Mack Rides.  Known as a PowerSplash, the ride uses larger boats like those found on shoot-the-chutes rides, but a modern launch system to move the vehicles along a half-pipe track.

In order to have the boats gain enough speed to climb up the spikes on either side of the ride, several launches are utilized - both forward and backward.  The boat climbs higher on each pass, gaining momentum until it reaches the highest point of the "forward" spike.  As the boat climbs that tower, the lagoon below has additional water released into it, making a giant splash as riders come down into it.  The water level is lowered before the next ride cycle so as to not interfere with the launches.

The system looks great in operation - here's a video of it all from Facebook - and if successful operationally I bet we will see more of these pop up.  There's also a small hill in the middle of the track that could possibly even give a bit of air!