Speelland Beekse Bergen

Speelland Beekse Bergen
Type	Amusement Park
Location	Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands
Coordinates	51°31′37″N 5°07′30″E / 51.527°N 5.125°ECoordinates: 51°31′37″N 5°07′30″E / 51.527°N 5.125°E
Operated by	Libéma Exploitatie BV
Visitors	235,000
Status	Open April to October
Website	http://www.speelland.nl

Speelland Beekse Bergen is an amusement park and playground which is located close to the city of Hilvarenbeek and is a part of the Beekse Bergen group, which also holds Safaripark Beekse Bergen. Since it cooperates with Safaripark Beekse Bergen, there are also combination tickets possible for Speelland & Safaripark. The park is being exploited by Libéma Exploitatie BV. Speelland mainly offers playgrounds, a beach and water attractions. Furthermore, catering points and a souvenir shop can be visited.

History

Around the year 1960 a large lake arose between the cities of Tilburg and Hilvarenbeek because of a large sand extraction. After a few years the zoo Lion Park Beekse Bergen was opened next to the lake. At the same time another park opened its doors at the other side of the lake: Speelland Beekse Bergen. Later the zoo received a new name, which remained the same ever since: Safaripark Beekse Bergen. When translated into English, Speelland means Playland.

In the beginning Speelland mainly aimed at summer recreation. Later this park was enlarged with different playgrounds and attractions, which made the park more of a small attraction park than a playground or recreation lake. Due to privatization Speelland is a part of the company Libéma since 1987.

Park

Speelland mainly focusses on families with children until the age of 12. Most attractions are therefore aim at this target group. The park has a low amount of trees, but there are quite some plants and gardens throughout the park. A large part of the park is filled by a sand beach.

Attractions

In the following overview a list of attractions in Speelland Beekse Bergen is given. As can be seen, not all attractions are for free.

• Wave Rider, a carrousel in the water
• Aquashutlle, children are being launched into the water
• Waterslides
• Sahara buggy-track, children follow a track per buggy
• Trampolines
• Verkeersland (English: Traffic Land), children can drive around in their own 'car'
• Bumpy Boats
• Pedalos, visitors can explore the water per swan-boat
• Midgetgolf
• Funwheels
• Big Wheels
• Minicars €0,50 per time
• Kidcars €2 per time'
• Pony Riding
• Avontureneiland (English: Adventure Island), large playground
• Formula-1-pedal cars
• Water Guns For free since 2010
• Petting Zoo
• Cruise Boat, brings visitors to vacation park Beekse Bergen
• Schommeleiland, (English: Swing-Island), an island with only swings
• Ballenberg, (English: Ballmountain), a climbing tower made out of large balls
• Inflatable pillow
• Power Paddler, children can ride their own boat
• Speelstraat (English: Play Street), large playground

Events

Every season a number of events are being organised in Speelland Beekse Bergen. Most of the times these events are attached to a theme, such as pirates or cowboys and Indians.