Plopsa is the theme park division of Studio 100, the company operates 8 (water) parks across

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

History

Plopsa began its operation at the end of 1999 when Studio 100 acquired

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. History The bee-themed amusement park was initiated by Alberic-Joseph Florizoone, owner of a honey company. Its mascot was a ...

in Adinkerke in the Municipality De Panne. After several renovations the park reopened as

Plopsaland Plopsaland De Panne is a theme park located in Adinkerke, Belgium - part of the municipality De Panne - owned and operated by Plopsa. The park reopened on 20 April 2000, before that the park was known as Meli Park from 1935 until 1999. History ...

on 29 April 2000. Several attractions got a layover with Studio 100 characters, such as

Kabouter Plop The Dutch Wikipage of Kabouter Plop Kabouter plop (''Plop the Gnome'') is the eponymous protagonist in a children's television series by Studio 100. History Kabouter Plop was born on August 27, 1997. Then the first episode, entitled "The ...

Samson & Gert ''Samson & Gert'' is a Flemish children's television series produced by Eline van Noppen, centered on the talking dog Samson and his owner Gert. In its entire run, the show was originally aired on TV1 from Christmas Day 1989 until 1 December 19 ...

and Bumba. In December 2005 the company opened a new indoor theme park in the Municipality Hasselt, named Plopsa Indoor Hasselt. This marked the opening of the first indoor theme park in Belgium. In the same year Plopsa also acquired Télécoo, an amusement park near the waterfalls of Coo. Several attraction got an overlay with Studio 100 characters, just like the attractions of the former Meli Park. July 2007 the park was renamed to Plopsa Coo. In 2010 Plopsa crossed the Dutch and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

border and opened an indoor theme park in Coevorden, similar to Plopsa Indoor Hasselt. The park officially opened its doors on 29 April 2010 and got the name Plopsa Indoor Coevorden. In Germany they acquired Holiday Park in Haßloch. Just like Meli Park and Télécoo the park got a layover with several Studio 100 characters. The name however remained the same. In 2015 the company enterend a new form of park entertainment with the opening of Plopsaqua in De Panne, a water park themed to the Studio 100 character

Vic the Viking ''Vic the Viking'' is a children's animated television ABC series, which began on Network Ten on 6 July 2013, and continued on Eleven on 9 November 2013. It was based on the 1974-1975 anime series ''Vicky the Viking''. The show aired 39 episo ...

. This park also received a subsidy from the Municipality, so the people of De Panne could use the facilities at a discount. Other Plopsaqua water parks are currently in active development throughout Belgium. The same year Studio 100/Plopsa opened their catalog of characters to other amusement park operators outside Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, France and The United Kingdom. Mayaland Kownaty, Poland and the yet to be built theme park in Prague, Czech Republic are examples of this, since these parks are (partially) owned by an investment company. Steve van den Kerkhof ''(CEO of Plopsa)'' stated that there's also interest in the characters from companies in China, The United States of America, Australia and Canada The latest location opened in

Torzym Torzym (german: Sternberg in der Neumark) is a small town in Sulęcin County, Lubusz Voivodeship, in western Poland. It is the administrative seat of the urban-rural Gmina Torzym. It was known as ''Toruń Lubuski'' between 1945 and 1946. Geograph ...

, Poland in September 2018 when Majaland Kownaty opened its doors. Majaland Kownaty is an indoor theme park similar to Plopsaland Coevorden in The

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. In contrary to the other 6 parks this park is partially owned by an investment company. The theme park is doing so well that Plopsa and Momentum Capital decided to build three other parks in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, Gdańsk and Katowice. At the end of 2019 Plopsa acquired the comic themed and struggling ''Comic Station'', located in a terminal of Antwerp Central Station. The theme park closed for a partial refurbishment and opened in October 2021 as Plopsa Station Antwerp.

Theme parks, Water parks and other assets

List of all theme parks, water parks and other assets of Plopsa that are open or in active development.

Investments

A list of all investments of the Plopsa Group in their current and new parks. During a corruption investigation to a city official of

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

in 2019 it was discovered that Plopsa was actively searching for a new site in The Netherlands to expand with a Plopsaqua and a possible second Plopsa Indoor. During an interview with RTL Nieuws Steve van den Kerkhof confirmed this and that Plopsa was in talks with the city of The Hague, but that they were also investigating other sites in The Netherlands. Since the interview no updates were given to the Dutch expansion.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official Plopsa website

Official Studio 100 website
Amusement parks in Belgium Amusement parks in the Netherlands Amusement parks in Germany Amusement parks in Poland Belgian companies established in 1999 Entertainment companies established in 1999 1999 establishments in Belgium