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Meli Park

Meli Park was a theme park which was opened in 1935 in Adinkerke in the municipality of De Panne on the Belgian coast.[2]

History

The bee-themed amusement park was initiated by Alberic-Joseph Florizoone, owner of a honey company. Its mascot was a bee.[3] It was one of the first Belgian theme parks. Over the years some new attractions were added.[4] The first ones were the labyrinth and the zoo. In the 1950s, a miniature golf course, french formal gardens, a fairytale forest, water organ were introduced. Over the years, it became one of the biggest attractions in Belgium as Antwerp Zoo and Caves of Han-sur-Lesse.

Into the 1970s and the 1980s, with a growing variety of rides, Meli Park's visitor numbers reached 700,000 per annum.[5] Its iconic attraction was the Apirama dark ride, opened in 1979, featuring hundreds of animated bees.

The park closed in 1999. It was sold to the Flemish children's television company Studio 100 and rethemed as Plopsaland. In 1999 Alberic-Joseph Florizoone was inducted into the IAAPA Hall of Fame, an honor reserved for amusement industry innovators and pioneers.[6]

Attractions

Roller coasters

Thrill rides

Further reading

  • Canonne, Xavier, Gunzig, Thomas. (2011). Meli : l'autre royaume. Mont-sur-Marchienne: Musée de la photographie. ISBN 978-28-7183-065-8.
  • Florizoone, Alberic-Joseph. (1990). Meli, mijn leven. Anvers: Multimedia. ISBN 90-7259-200-X.

External links

References

  1. L'abeille est toujours reine à Adinkerke retrieved 13 June 2017^
  2. Expo: Er was eens... Meli Park retrieved 13 June 2017^
  3. Reportage over Meli Park (nu Plopsaland) YouTube, 22 April 2009, retrieved 13 June 2017^
  4. Meli Park - Reportage - 1998 YouTube, 2 January 2015, retrieved 13 June 2017^
  5. Meli Park reste à l'image de Florizoone son créateur retrieved 13 June 2017^
  6. IAAPA Hall of Fame Award -- Inductee Video Clips retrieved 13 June 2017^
  7. Junior Coaster retrieved 13 June 2017^
  8. A Meli, on fait Splash retrieved 13 June 2017^