Is the Ride to Happiness overrated?

Located within a 40 minutes drive of the car port in Calais you’ll find Plopsa De Panne, a largely family-focused park in Belgium with one coaster drawing people in from around the world, The Ride to Happiness.

This extreme spinning coaster is built by Mack rides and holds the record for most inversions on a spinning coaster and since its opening in 2021 it has gained quite the reputation in the theme park world as being one of (if not, the) best roller coasters in Europe.

After hearing the likes of Theme Park Worldwide and Coaster Studios rave about this coaster I was excited to finally ride it back in the summer of 2023 when I managed 4 rides and then, in December 2024 I returned to ride it again and I have to say…I think the Ride to Happiness is overrated and it’s not even in my top 5 coasters!

In an even more unpopular opinion, it’s not even my favourite coaster in the park and I personally think Anubis and Heide the ride are actually better coasters.

Everything that makes the Ride to Happiness a stand-out coaster

Now don’t get me wrong, the Ride to Happiness has a lot going for it and that starts before you even enter the plaza where the entrance is. Plopsa De Panne have done an incredible job at landscaping and theming the entire area around it.

The entrance to the queue-line looks fantastic and the queue is themed to a Europa Park standard with plenty to look at and not too much in the way of cattle-pen queue line. Likewise the station building is also beautifully themed and the trains are some of the best themed ride trains I’ve ever seen.

When you get on the ride there’s plenty to like too…the lap-bar restraints are super-comfortable and that slow inversion you do when you come out the station is unlike anything I’ve experienced.

The whole ride is also set to audio thanks to the onboard speakers and the ride does have some really fun elements and 2 fun launches (with the first one being the most powerful).

It’s also worth noting that because Plopsaland isn’t a massive park and, largely geared to families, queue times for the Ride to Happiness don’t get too big although, both times I’ve been they’ve started the day on 1 train operations and only put a 2nd train on when the queue has reached about 50 minutes. In my opinion this ride should be starting every day with 2 trains on track as reducing that queue down does make for a better experience, especially when many people visit this park simply for this coaster.

Why I think it’s overrated

For me, I really wanted to like this coaster…I love Mack coasters, launched coasters are my favourite type of coaster and it has some really interesting elements but the best word I can find to describe my feelings towards it are ‘meh’.

In fact, I wanted to like it so much that I returned in December 2024 to largely re-ride it and finally catch the bug but after 3 rides on it on that second visit (bringing my total rides to 7) I decided that actually I don’t get the hype and that’s just ok.

What it boils down to in my opinion, is that this ride is too unpredictable. The nature of a spinning coaster is that every ride is different depending on the weight and balance of the car you’re in and this just makes for an inconsistent ride. There’s some elements that are great going forwards but just uncomfortable when going through at different angles (and vice-versa). I like a good intense coaster but for me this just isn’t a good coaster.

The more I think about it the more I actually wonder if it would be a better ride without the spinning cars…so many of those elements would be a lot of fun going forwards and the spinning takes away from some of the inversions.

Does this mean Plopsaland isn’t worth visiting?

As someone in the minority of enthusiasts with my feelings on The Ride to Happiness I’m still going to say “no”. Go and ride The Ride to Happiness and make your own mind up.

On top of that, Plopsa de Panne is a beautiful park with some really nice theming. It also has plenty of other attractions including a log flume, Anubis (which I love…especially on the front), Heide the ride, some indoor dark rides, a star-flyer and some smaller coasters too.

It’s a park I’ve really enjoyed visiting both times I’ve been but, for me, probably not a park I’d return to until their next big attraction opens (I have some thoughts on the future of Plopsa de Panne which I’ll share on a future blog) whereas I know lots of people go simple for the Ride to Happiness.

My hot-take though: The Ride to Happiness is overrated.