To mark Walibi Rhône-Alpes’ 45th anniversary, in summer 2024 the park unveiled Mahuka – the first and currently only Intamin Hot Racer operating within Europe. We recently flew over to France to check out both Mahuka and the rest of the park.
Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) debuted the single rail roller coaster in 2018 with their first Raptor model, Wonder Woman Golden Lasso Coaster at Six Flags Fiesta Texas. RMC began to dominate the market with multiple successful installations around America. Intamin then unveiled their rival single rail coaster in 2021 with Big Dipper at Luna Park in Sydney, Australia. The main difference to the American counterpart being the implementation of a tire driven launch system instead of a chain lift hill. Mahuka kicked off the single rail trend in Europe prior to YOY, a set of dueling RMC Raptors which opened this year at Walibi Holland.
Located within the Exotic World section of the park, Mahuka is now the flagship ride within this area. The story of Mahuka is that archaeological students discover the ruins of an ancient temple. In order to continue funding their excavations and research into the temple, guests are welcomed to come and visit the temple and to take a ride in a jeep around the ruins. The attraction has a similar aesthetic to Kondaa at Walibi Belgium which of course operates within the same chain. While still being a part of the Exotic World, this area is designed to cater more to thrill seekers whereas the rest of the area has a more family friendly focus.
Stepping onto the Mahuka trains, the ride features 9 rows of 1 person meaning that riders feel extremely exposed when on the ride. The restraints are very similar to those found on the majority of modern Intamin coasters yet feel slightly smaller, meaning the sides of the restraint can dig into your thighs. We assume that this is because of the slightly lower height restriction of 1.20 metres that this is the case. There have been some comments about the smoothness of the ride – there is minimal rattle within the front and back few rows, however the middle rows have a vibration to them which we hope can be rectified for future versions of the model.
Throughout the coaster, riders reach the top speed of approximately 42 mph and a height of 18.5 metres. While being a small and compact coaster, the ride still packs a punch with its intense transitions and powerful airtime. The coaster features three inversions which are an inside top hat, corkscrew and heartline roll. With the inside top hat being integrated within the track of the more conventional top hat, these elements form part of an incredible spectacle over the pathway beneath. Additionally, the heartline roll feels like a miniature version of the Mosasaurus Roll on VelociCoaster at Universal Islands of Adventure.
The airtime on Mahuka does not feel toned down for a smaller coaster at all – each hill feels like ejector airtime with the exception of the quadruple down which is the only moment of the ride which feels quite tame. Every element on Mahuka feels purposeful and is low to the ground meaning that the ride has some great pacing. Even with a short track length of 600 metres, the ride packs a punch and feels like it has a good ride duration due to the amount of elements that riders experience in such a small amount of time.
After experiencing both YOY and Mahuka this year, the Intamin design seems to have the edge with a stronger and more forceful ride layout, a more proven technological system behind the attraction and a better and more comfortable restraint system.
While over at Mahuka, the team at Walibi Rhône-Alpes were kind enough to provide us with a behind the scenes tour of Mahuka. Within this we were able to see the transfer track up close and step inside the workshop building for the ride. You might notice some familiar Mack Rides water dummies to the side of the workshop despite the ride being an Intamin, the park purchased these from Mack as they preferred their more rigid design. Along with this we were able to step inside the PLC rooms – there is one PLC room on Mahuka which is for the station, console, transfer track and brake run, and a second room for the equipment attached to the two launches which is adjacent to the launch tracks. In the console we were able to see some of the weekly and monthly checks which have to take place on the ride as well as the train setup on the screen and the block sectioning of the ride.
The rest of Exotic Island features lush tropical vegetation and colourful Polynesian style theming. The area features a log flume, Zierer junior coaster, a large water splash pad and a few family flat rides. This area feels well presented, although it is clear that some of the fencing is temporary and there in preparation for future expansion to the area.
However, arguably the best themed area in the park is Festival City. This area is based around New Orleans with lively architecture and colourful detailing which create a really nice town square with a central carousel. To one side of the central square there is a an area filled with colourful family flat rides. At the far edge of Festival City the area takes a dark turn with a transition into a Voodoo style area with Mystic, a Gerstlauer Infinity Coaster being the standout ride.
This coaster has been dethroned as the signature ride in the park since the opening of Mahuka, however the ride still packs a punch. The vertical lift hill and upside down spike are really imposing features of the attraction. The Gerstlauer attraction has a rattle to it yet is smoother than most thrill rides from the company. The coaster has some strong airtime, with the spike and backwards section adding some additional thrill to the ride experience.
Explorer Adventure is the third and final themed area within Walibi Rhône-Alpes. This is currently the largest of the themed areas at the park and takes up the majority of the left side of the park. Timber, a fun family Gravity Group wooden coaster is the standout ride in this area. Despite being on the rougher side, the ride has great pacing and some fun pops of airtime. The other thrill coaster within the area is a rethemed Vekoma Boomerang, the coaster was fitted with lapbar trains in recent years, however the ride feels out of place within the park. The wild mouse style coaster known as Woodstock Express has some nice theming on one side however offers an extremely painful ride experience. Explorer Adventure is well finished off with great landscaping and buildings. The area is supported by a few family flat rides, a monorail style attraction, a rapids and even a stunt show venue.
Overall, Walibi Rhône-Alpes is a small yet perfectly presented theme park – it feels like a smaller version of Walibi Belgium. It is clear that the park is well looked after and that is has seen a lot of care and investment in recent years. The majority of the park is based around family friendly flat rides, the major coasters all have low height restrictions in place to make them as accessible to everyone as possible. The majority of the rides in the park are low throughput but nonetheless suit the park that they are in. For future development, it would be great to see a high capacity ride added to take crowds away from some of the other rides within the park, additionally it would be great to see an indoor attraction added to the park for days where the weather might not be ideal.
We want to extend a massive thank you to Walibi Rhône-Alpes for their amazing hospitality during our visit to the park. All the staff were lovely and it was great to get to chat to Luc, the Director of the park.
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